The Ringer NFL Show - Examining the New Faces in New Places

Episode Date: August 30, 2022

Jason and Austin start their conversation with Jimmy Garoppolo's new deal in San Francisco and discuss how this will affect Trey Lance's start to the NFL season. Next, they talk about Marcus Mariota and Carson Wentz and speculate how they will perform for their new teams in Atlanta and Washington, respectively.(8:39) They then examine some of the coaches around the league that are either taking on new roles with familiar teams, like Matt Patricia and Joe Judge in New England, or making their head coaching debuts, like Mike McDaniel in Miami and Josh McDaniels in Las Vegas.(19:16) Finally, they touch on the offensive changes in Pittsburgh and some of the exciting WR rookies like Garrett Wilson and Treylon Burks.(31:17) Hosts: Jason Goff and Austin Gayle Production Supervision: Arjuna Ramgopal and Conor Nevins Production Assistance: Chris Sutton Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it's Bill Simmons. I have some good news for you. The hottest take. It's back. Oh, yeah. Monday through Thursday, four times a week you hear from me. Chris Ryan, Sean Fantasy, Mallor Rubin, Wazding, Lambre, Van Lathan, June Lippman. Many other ringer staffers. You get one take. You got a defendant to the death. Sports takes. Pop culture takes. Food takes.

Airplane takes? Oh, yeah. It's coming back. First episode drops August 29th. It's Gailen Golf on the NFL Ringer show. Double G. Yeah, double G. We got lists, we got rankings, and we got everything you need over the next, I don't know, 30, 45 minutes, whatever the case may be, however long they let us talk. Austin, how are you doing on this beautiful Tuesday morning?

Doing fantastic. It's exciting to be completely done with kind of the tape review of the preseason. I think that was super important to see a lot of these debuts, right? And that's what we're going to be looking at on this podcast today is looking at new faces and new places, rookies, coaching regimes, that kind of stuff. Some small things that you can glean from the preseason with the caveat and the grain of salt. that is not a lot of the preseason matters, right? Like, not a lot of coaches are showing their full hand. Rookies are still rookies.

So I do think that there is a grain of salt with a lot of this conversation. But it's the first time we've seen a lot of these people in these positions. So I do think that there's a lot of opportunity in looking at the tape. And then even looking at some of the data on 11 personnel usage and how much that changes, right? And how much they're doing pre-shift motion and that kind of stuff. Yeah, no doubt. Hey, listen, as a Bears fan who sat here and watched Luke Getsy and Justin Fields get on the same page, last couple of weeks of the preseason.

Who says preseason isn't there for you as a football fan? I's actually one of those fans that say it's not there for us at all because preseason football is messy as much as it is rewarding. So let's get into it. Like you just mentioned, new faces, new places, but this one has a little bit of a wrinkle because we're going to start in the base. Speaking of Chicago, their first opponent, week one, the 49ers and Jimmy Garoppolo agreed to a one year,

six and a half million dollar restructured contracts. So he is now among the highest paid backup quarterbacks in all of the NFL. Now, this thing, AG, is weird to me because if you had told me that you go out and trade two first round picks for your signal caller to be the franchise, the foundation, and Trey Lance, and Jimmy Garaplo hasn't been in a meeting, hasn't returned calls, whatever the case, like all the stuff that was being thrown out there by my name. Neither am I. Yeah. So now, so now we're on the press position. the season and you've got that guy in your quarterback room. Shout out to Brian Greasy, by the way, because enjoy, enjoy handling that situation. But what do you make of Jimmy Garapolo

and how this affects Trey Lance? Is Trey Lance good enough? Is this Kyle Shanahan maybe hedging a bet because they didn't get anything for him? Like, what do you make of this move? Expectations for this kid are unfairly high. Unfairly high, in my opinion. He was so talented at North Dakota State, obviously did not play in the 2020 COVID-impacted season. And then San Francisco, who has had a lot of success with their current quarterback in Jimmy Garoppel. Went to a Super Bowl with Jimmy Garoplo, trades two future first round picks to go get Tray Lance, a guy that hasn't played football in a year that's coming from the FCS. That has all this talent, but we haven't seen it consistently, right?

That's when the bar got set high. It gets set even higher when Jimmy Garoppolo leads them to the NFC championship last year. But he again has the success within the Shanahan scheme that, No, there were that Jukwoski-Tart interception away. I think that was Jokwati-Tart from going to the Super Bowl. I mean, that's how different this thing could have been. And then the bar again continues its rapid assent as Jimmy G. is not traded away from this football team, and he is now the highest paid backup in the NFL.

And every single person in that San Francisco 49ers coaching staff and every single person in the front office would say, this does not mean Trey Lance's Jobs in Jeopardy. This does not mean have any impact on him as a starter. False. False. I was going to say like, hell it does. they start out one and three. It's a wrap.

Jimmy Garavlo is objectively presents a shorter leash than Brock Purdy. You know, he does. Like if you don't, if Traylands doesn't start the, you know, season well, say they go one and four, one and five to start and he doesn't look good and he's thrown picks. If Brock Burdy is a backup, Traylans is staying. They don't have a choice. They know that not going to have more success with another rookie. But if Jimmy G's there and you have the chitter chatter, the same chitter chatter of the

Miami Dolphins have experience for like, man, I think tuition should start. Oh man, I think Ryan Fitzpatrick should start. You start to have some of that. You'll leave yourself no choice. And Jimmy Garoppel could be starting for this team this upcoming season. So I do think when looking specifically at Tray Lance, and that's kind of the goal of this is looking at kind of this debut, we just haven't seen anything.

You know, the highs of him have people cheering at the top of a roller coaster. The lows are a little bit scary. And all of it is too far and in between. The analogy I want to make is you go to a Mexican restaurant. He served the flaming fajitas a couple times. And all the restaurant, the restaurant looks and like, man, I wish I got the fajitas. The pehitas look really good. Oh, wow, he put him on fire.

He hasn't served consistently the chips and salsa that come at every restaurant, that come at every table. And we just haven't seen enough of it. In the preseason, he's completed two passes over 10 yards down the field. In his career, in the regular season, 16 passes 10 yards down the field. That's just not enough. The sample size is still too small. So the sample size is this big. And the expectations are skyscraper levels.

So I worry about the pressure, right? I mean, we've had some conversation about teams, bust, players don't. You know, I think that more often than not, that's true. And this is a situation where if the expectations weren't as high and the pressure wasn't as mounting, I think there would be a longer release for Tray Lance and less of a shadow behind him and Jimmy G. And that ultimately could affect, maybe not negatively impact wholesale, but affect his development and affect how he approaches this upcoming season. There are high expectations for the San Francisco 49ers team.

They're minus 220 to make the playoffs. They're very close behind their Los Angeles Rams to win this division. If you look at Fandual pricing, and high expectations that Trey Lance has to get to very soon. You know, it's crazy because I've been kind of scouting or trying to watch as much San Francisco 49 and preseason football as I possibly can because the Bears are their week one opponent. I'm here in Chicago. Right now, the line is at six and a half, you know, minus six and a half for the San Francisco 49.

If I am a Bears fan or if I am a person out there who loves Fan Duels Sportsbook as much as I do, I'm pounding the bears on this. They up the notch in terms of pressure on Trey Lance. You want your quarterback to be free and easy going into what is his first season as the undeniable, unquestioned starter. And what did you do? You put a level of deniability in question back in the room. Now, flip the script, this might prove beneficial if you were looking at it from a cost control situation. Because now that you've got Jimmy Garablo on a six and a half man,

dollar contract only for this year obviously right like he's going to be playing his ass off he's going if he does get in there jimmy garoplo is going to be as attentive as he possibly can be because one he doesn't want to be a 49er anymore and two he doesn't want to make six and a half million dollars ever again after getting the money that he got so calshanahan is known as a you know a mini wizard and he's been successful taking some offenses to super bowls with atlanta and of course he's done that here with the san francisco 49 is i just i don't see the percentage in not just outright releasing them unless, unless, like you just mentioned, they've seen things in the preseason or in the practices. They think, okay, this team might be ready to rock, but this quarterback is, and we might

have to give them a little bit more time. Come on through for $6.5 million, Jimmy. And Nora Prizziati, who is a staff writer here at the ringer, wrote an excellent piece on, on Tray Lance and, you know, how this like training camp process has gone from him and even some of the preseason. And she mentions kind of roller coaster days, you know, in that piece, she talks about maybe a down day and then a high day that fajitas reference maybe wasn't in there, but we'll save that one for this podcast. Shame on you, Nora, for not putting the flaming fajitas in the damn in the piece. The last thing I'll mention about kind of the Jimmy G. situation for any doubters out there that are like, oh, this doesn't matter, this doesn't

matter. They just want a good backup. Jimmy G was in tears at a press conference saying goodbye to San Francisco 49ers. He knew that part of the plan was to leave. Like, he knew. Like, it was probably communicated to him from the 49ers brass. At some point, that changed. And I don't think that's because Jimmy G's playing better.

I think that's because of some of the stuff that you've said and some of the roller coastersness of, you know, Tray Lance and training camp in the preseason. All right. So new faces in new places. That is the theme of this here podcast. So give me what you got. I just mentioned Atlanta because Kyle Shanahan is notorious in Atlanta for what happened in that Super Bowl against the New England Patriots. But they don't longer are relying on Matt Ryan. He is in Indianapolis.

Marcus Marriota. Now, this is the Rich Gannon effect that I have with quarterbacks, Austin. Like, I've seen you and I know what you are. But every once in a while, you turn into Rich Gannon out here. That happens like once every 10, 12 years, we're like, wait a minute. This dude was bouncing around. And all of a sudden, he's out here competing for a Super Bowl. I don't think Marcus Marriota is that guy.

But what can Atlanta Falcons fans expect as they try to figure out what this quarterback position is going to look like? Not only this year, but going forward. I'll address the elephant-sized, I guess elephant in the room. I ruined that expression. I like elephant, by the way. I like elephant. I think I'm actually going to refer to them as elephants from here on now. It feels classy.

The elephant in the room is that the Atlanta Falcons are going to be bad, right? I mean, they're one of the favorites to get the number one overall pick. They're not expected to win more than seven or eight games next year are a long shot to make the playoffs. And I think Falcons fans are entering with that expectation. But that doesn't mean they're not going to be fun. And why I wanted to bring up Marcus Mariotas is because he at least looks fun. I mentioned that 10 plus yard stat for Trey Lance, and you can say that, oh, the offense isn't opening up or whatever it is.

10 plus yards down field, Marriota's 5 or 5 or 140 yards in a touchdown. He is dealing and looks comfortable in this offense. I think comfortability from him, and even the rookie out of Cincinnati, Desmond Ritter, is a site for sore eyes or maybe site for unexpected eyes, right? No one has high expectations for this Falcon team. I think even some felt the Marcus Mariotta, Desmond Ritter campaign, would be a hard-to-watch tanking situation. I don't think it's going to be hard to watch.

I think it's going to be very fun. I think Mary Rota has a lot to prove, and you can see that. He's like taking dives in the preseason. He's not making boneheaded jump-inside decisions like Zach Wilson that kind of got his knee all messed up. He's definitely making decisions to win this job. He's making decisions to really show that he still has it. And I think that's really exciting for a Falcon's team that is objectively in rebuild mode with porous roster on defense and an offensive line that is very up and

down. They have Drake London, the rookie receiver at USC, who I do think that got hurt in the preseason, but we'll be playing soon. And then Kyle Pitts, who arguably is one of the most dynamic receiving options in the NFL. So I guess I'm really excited to bring him up. I think Marcus Marriota is a redemption story. I can get behind. I know a lot of people in Las Vegas really did like him as the backup behind Derek Carr. I think a lot of people now should be and are excited for his tenure in Atlanta. Think about the number one and number two picks and how recently this happened between James Winston and Marcus Marriota and now where we're at. It just just leads you to further understand the volatility, especially at that position in terms

of developing guys, no matter what their pedigree is, if guys get banged up, if guys start to see ghosts, or if guys just don't have it. You know, we talk about 4A players in baseball, right? You're in the minors, you're starring, and then you get to the majors and you're like, what the hell's going on? Why can't this translate? sometimes those stories kind of flattened out. Sometimes they show themselves.

I think Marcus Marriota still has a decent amount of talent. It's just the situations haven't been rewarding enough or fruitful enough, the infrastructure around some of these things. And speaking of situations not being rewarding. You know, Carson Wentz of the Washington commanders, Carson Wentz went from like the hottest person in the bar, you know, having a great time. With or without fajitas?

I'm trying to picture. If you got a bar that has fajitas and shit, sign me up right now. But he went from the hottest person in the bar on a weekly basis to now, you know, we won't let you in. Like he sounds, he feels like a guy who's not allowed in the we talk about you quarterback club. So what the hell is going on with Carson wins this preseason and how short is that leash in Washington? I don't think the leash is short, right? because they know Taylor Hineke behind him is not the answer either, right?

And they know they've placed a pretty decently sized bet in Wentz when they traded, I think was multiple third-round picks and for the entirety of his contract this awesome. So I don't know if the leash is short. I just think it's going to be tough, right? And he's coming off of a week 18 collapse where I believe the Colts were 10 point plus favorites and win in their end postseason type of situation and they lose in a blowout fashion in a roller coaster fashion that only Wentz is even capable of. And looking at a lot of the training camp reports coming out of DC,

inaccuracy, inconsistency, a lack of comfortability. And when you talk about new faces, new places, all this stuff, I think comfortability is one of those things you look for. You look for someone who feels like they're ready. You know, feels that they're ready in this new offense, feels that they're ready in this new team. Wentz has not looked at. And I think that the offense through the preseason has a lot of training wheels on it,

to be honest, a low average depth of target. He's not throwing the ball down field. And when you look at specifically on non-play action passes, which I think is a sad that it consistently look at because it isolates for true dropbacks, right? And legitimate progressions, five of 11 on non-play action dropbacks for less than 50 yards through the preseason. It just shows, I think, a lack of comfortability and still some progress to be had in terms of really operating this offense efficiently. And that's concerning for a Washington team that is simply not talented enough to, you know, doesn't have enough talent to have this type of concern at quarterback. and it's still surprising that they made this bet on Wince in the first place. Now, could it be better in the regular season?

Absolutely. But I do think that the debut has been, has sputtered at least to start. I just hope we don't lose fun bad, Carson Wince, you know, the guy who throws an interception across his body, or sometimes not even looking at the side of the field that he should be looking at, or, you know, just not facing the defense and throws it out there with a left hand. Like, I still want the Benny Hill music, by the way, that's going to age me terribly. But I still want the Benny Hill music in the background. as Carson Wince is doing his thing.

I don't have any high hope for the Washington commanders. You shouldn't either. Terry McLoran is about all I need to watch on their offense, and that's about it. But if Carson Wins, once again, referencing Rich Gannon, shout out to Rich, if Carson Wins can make a turnaround. Because, I mean, before Nick Foles came in there and took his job and did it mightily, so,

Carson Wins was revered as one of the best young quarterbacks in the game. So the back injuries and then, you know, the locker room turning on them or the locker room appreciating Nick Foles more and then you go to Indianapolis and you hear and sees more the same. At some point, we got to start talking about this dude being a backup quarterback and I think this is his last chance to do so. I do think that with Carson Wentz, even going back to that season, I think I've written multiple things and had multiple discussions about that season specifically where he did get her and Nick Foles goes on and win the Super Bowl. Even when you look at the success that he had within that season, it was in a lot of like high. volatile areas. That's working on third downs. That's working under pressure. That's red zone stuff. And that has rained true even through this roller coaster ride that we've seen since that Super Bowl campaign, that he's still oftentimes good in those areas where he's not consistently good as accuracy.

And that is showing up in training camp reports already in D.C. I worry about that. And I do think that even in that Jacksonville Jaguars game with the Colts in week 18, there were throws in that game down the field. They're like, oh my gosh, there's like maybe two or three quarterbacks who can make that throw. And that's what always has, I think, teams, you know, kind of drooling, right? It's this high side of variance with Wence that people are flocking to. And I don't think there's enough of that anymore for it to be worth the investment. I also don't know if there's enough of it for him to be a habitual backup in the league, right? I think you want consistency behind your top end quarterback, not necessarily, you know, more volatile play. So I think his style would have to

change pretty significantly if he is going to, like, stick around as this consistent backup. But We'll ultimately see. I do think that it's, again, always important not to overreact the preseason, let alone to overreact even like the first three, four weeks of the season. I just know from the sample size we saw in Indianapolis last year, a lot of concern. Here he goes into Washington. We're seeing a lot of the same problems. I think that's enough to be a little bit concerned. NFL kickoff is still a few weeks away, but you can get in on the action now on Fandle's Sportsbook with their new NFL Super Win bonus. Right now, anyone who places at least a $50 Super Bowl winner bet, We'll get $5 back for each win your team has during the regular season. What NFL Super Bowl bet would you like to make? You could get the Rams to repeat at Plus 1100. Maybe Lamar Jackson for the Ravens to lead a championship at Plus 2000. Do you have a dark horse, maybe, a team down in the odds, but one that you think could make a play?

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All right, so we go from signal callers to actual play callers and head coaches, new places, new faces. Who's first up on the docket for you? Who's tickling your fancy in a new location these days? That sounded wild as hell, but, like, that might be their most amazing sentence I have put together. since I've been here at the ringer. Who's tickling your fancy in a new location, Austin, Gail? I need you to answer the question. It's hard to say.

No, there is. He, now you did it. Now, I'll come back. Who one? You know, the first people on my list are, you know, technically familiar faces in returning places. Matt Patricia and Joe Judge, who have been assistance of the Patriots before, are now this situation is absolutely fascinating.

If you are interested in reading any single team training camp reports or reporting, go look at what the Patriots are doing on offense because the Bill Belichick press conferences are layered with that only he can do ambiguity and vagueness and stubbornness that is so great when people are asking who's calling plays. It's like he's essentially saying, I don't know, it's hard to say. There's a system in place. Matt Patricia is doing some of it. Joe Judge is assisting. So Matt Patricia, longtime defensive coach in the NFL is now I believe the senior offensive assistant or senior football advisor. and offensive line coach, who's calling plays essentially, or the de facto offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots.

Joe Judge is assisting in some way. He's the quarterback's coach and the offensive assistant. They both have apparently called plays this preseason, but I think Patricia will be the main play caller in the regular season. And the offenses looked ugly. I brought up the training camp reports in D.C. And a lot of that same concern, not necessarily with accuracy, but with clunkiness, had been coming out of New England.

And that Mac Jones doesn't look comfortable, right? And this is a new offense. Josh McDaniels leaves. he's now the head coach in Las Vegas, who I want to bring up a little bit later. And Mac Jones has to make this transition. We've talked about before how much a different offense coordinator can really impact development for young quarterbacks.

And I think how about not just a different offense coordinator, a guy that's never been one? Like Matt Petition has literally never been an offense coordinator. He's now tasked with the development of Mack Jones. And there is always, always anytime we bring up the New England Patriots for as long as this guy is in the cutoff hoodie on the sideline, this obvious caveat that Bill Belichick knows what the hell he's doing and has done that way for a long time.

And this defense is still going to be good. And he knows how to, you know, quit and experiment quickly if things are going well with Patricia or a judge, whoever it may be. So I do think that the long-term prospects for Mack Jones aren't necessarily as in jeopardy as the short term. And I do worry about what the start of the season looks like for a Patriots team that has, it's been a little bit of a mess along the offensive line. The receiving core is less than ideal.

And I think Taekwon Thornton, a guy who's impressed in the preseason, is so bad on a little bit of an injury. I worry about the development of Mac Jones. I worry about how quickly they can get out to a hot start and what is now a competitive AFC East with the bills and the dolphins. And I worry about just how quickly we're going to jump. The dogs are going to jump on Patricia and Judge for just not having it for Mack Jones

and an offense that actually looked good last year. Like the Patriots offense looked good last year. I worry about how quickly this will take place. Yeah, well, I'm looking forward to it crashing and burning. Because the hubris that comes along with the entire New England Patriots and Bill Belichick thing, I mean, One, they've earned it. You know, it's an absolute dynasty since he's been there.

But since Tom Brady has left, we've gotten to see some of the cracks and some of the things that maybe Tom Brady was covering up along with Bill Belichick. And now, you know, they lose assistance, you know, seemingly every year because people want to hire them when that losing starts. So not that losing, but when that dominance starts to kind of settle and subside a little bit, you start to see retreads coming back. And a guy like Matt Patricia, he knows the system, but his defense. I thought he was a defensive coach, right? And Joe Judge, I mean, didn't really do anything great in New York. So I saw Matt Jones, saw a number that he was the most blitz quarterback in the NFL last year. And then you go back to that game where he threw three or four passes just because Bill Belichick was trying to prove a point.

Meanwhile, stunting the growth of his quarterback who needs every single live rep that he can get. I don't know. I think going into this season, if he would have threw all the quarterbacks from last year's draft class in a barrel and said, okay, who are the guys? like Mac Jones had himself a fine season for a rookie. I don't know if that step is going to be able to be taken with obvious liabilities or unknowns, shall we say, as playcaller. So, you know, if quarterback coach, offensive coordinator, head coach,

and quarterback are the most important relationships on the field, then you're already starting, to me, at an impasse when you have clear deficiencies when it comes to just knowing what to do when those bullets are firing on a game day from that side of the ball. Matt Patricia can be a terrific defensive play caller all he wants or know how to coach guys up on the line or the linebackers, but

when you're dealing with, and maybe it's easier than I'm aware of. And maybe we've just been putting way too much into you being able to coach one thing. But, you know, not having a designate, well, not having one designated to us in the media is one thing. But when the reporters who

have sources on that team are talking the way that they're talking, there's obviously some tumult in the New England Patriots locker room, especially on the offensive side of the ball. I couldn't agree more. I think the two more things I have on that are, I think it's a unique situation where a rookie quarterback, especially a first round quarterback, has a really talented offensive coordinator right out of the gate and loses them immediately. You know, like Josh McDaniel, which is one of the more talented offensive minds in the NFL and has been that way for a long time. And normally when you're getting these first round quarterbacks, they're going to bad football teams that don't have proven

coordinators. And when they do, you see what the Brian Dable situation and the Buffalo bills, they stick longer and all that stuff. So I almost think it's harder. And maybe this is big braining. I almost think it's harder for a rookie quarterback's development to have a lot of success early on with one coordinator and then now have to reshift versus maybe struggling really early and then having to build maybe with a better office coordinator or new office coordinators or at least more stability with the same one you have. And the other thing too is I think the bets that they've made, the Patriot specifically and maybe Bill Belichick specifically on improving this roster offensively in signing Nelson Naglor, you know, signing Hunter Henry, signing

John Smith, I just don't know if they're enough, right? I don't know if there's enough support from a weaponry standpoint to even. And that's when I mentioned like two talented, they're not talented enough to be this clunky. You know, they're not talented enough to not have comfortability in the offense. So that I think is going to be, again, a product of what could be a really slow start for the Patriots. All right. Let's stay right there in the AFCs. A lot of money being put on these Miami Dolphins, new head coach, Mike McDaniel, quite the offseason the Miami Dolphins had, right? Whether there's the Brian Flores stuff, and then you get into all the things that happened where it's like, all right, where you guys trying to lose, all the things that leaked out.

And then the NFL said, hey, you got to try this year. So they go out and they acquire Tyree Hill, put him next to Jalen Waddle. And of course, to Atonga Vialoa, you know, the clock is really, really starting when you start to add some of the pieces that they've added. Mike McDaniel, you're your thoughts on not only what he's done this preseason because, you know, people are wondering if he's been showing too much. That's what I've been reading. Is he trying to show people why they should be invested in Miami Dolphins football while also showing the rest of the NFL very early what his offense is going to look like? Obviously, a first year head coach in the NFL, very young coach in the NFL, and I have read some of those same reports. I do agree that he is throwing more complexity out there, at least taking more like risks than other offenses are.

And that has resulted in what? no offense in the NFL this preseason has led or has a higher EPA for play average than the Miami Dolphins. It's working and they're playing well. And I almost think that that confidence level is worth maybe tipping that you have an ace or one of those cards in your hand. And it's also super important for Tuatung Vailoa. Like he needs to see that he can win in this offense. 12-015 for 179 yards and a touchdown this preseason is great for a Tuotung Vaila that obviously is often doubted and his battle injuries throughout his career.

And then when you even look at backups, Teddy Bridgewater, and then the rookie Skyler Thompson out of Kansas State, both of them had very similar efficiency in this offense, which I think speaks to the scheme. And Mike McDaniel's hold on this offense. They've thrown the kitchen sink at building around Tua. They bring in left tackle to Ron Arnestead. They obviously trade for Tyree Kill.

Very little excuses for Tua Tuaunga by Lua not to have success within this offense. And my opinion is with the talent that they have added and the talent they even have defensively, if McDaniel can take Tua from tragedy to even mediocrity, this Dolphins team is making the playoffs, right? This Dolphins team is a lot better than maybe they were last year. You don't have to turn Tua Tung by Lowe into Justin Herbert, which he will often be compared to because of how closely they were drafted together. You just have to turn him into average, just slightly above average, and keep him healthy.

I think the offensive line does that. I think Tyree Hill does that. Second year of Jalen Waddle, and obviously Mike McDaniel does that as well. All right. You mentioned Josh McDaniels because you wanted to get into the Las Vegas situation. situation. This is a second go at it. And we've seen the Denver vibes. And we saw him gesticulating on the sidelines that pissed a whole bunch of NFL people off that he was so, you know, so into it on the sidelines as a young coach. This is his second go at it. What do you expect?

Derek Carr, obviously, with Devante Adams, Josh Jacobs seems like he is not going to be long for. So things are changing a little bit. Things are changing a little bit on that offense. What do you expect? not only from Josh McDaniels, but from this Raiders' offense this year. Things are changing, and it's absolutely fantastic. This is coming from someone who is from Oakland, California. I had season tickets for 10 years with my dad. I was in the stands for Jamarcus Russell's first pass. I was there for Carson Palmer.

I was there for Jason Campbell. I was there for Andrew Walter. I was there for Kerry Collins. I've seen it. I've seen it. I know what it looks like. And it's been bad for a very long time. And the change that is, is that this Raiders team finally has something that really

hasn't had since you mentioned Rich Gannon since 2002, and it's a plan, and they're sticking to it. You know, the ad Chandler Jones and Free Agency, they pay him big bucks to improve the pass rush. Right after that, they traded Negan Gacquay, the edge defender to the Colts for a problem area, a cornerback in Rockassim. They trade for Devante Adams and make a power move to give Carr no excuses offensively to build a great offense. And then they signed him to a contract extension that is essentially a one-year prove-it deal with team options layered back into that. they don't pick up any first year options from the 2019 draft class from hell of Cleland Furl, Jonathan Abram, and Josh Jacobs.

It's an open competition across the board. Furl's probably not even going to make the roster. Abrams on a short leash. Alex Leatherwood, the team's 2021 first round pick, the last first round pick of the Gruden Mayock era, might not even make the team either. Might get traded or cut. If not, he's a backup. And that is consistency and a plan that the Raiders desperately need.

They need someone to come in like a Josh McDaniel. like a Dave's League Ziegler, who also comes from that Patriots tree, right, the new GM there in Las Vegas to come in with a plan, not take any bullshit, and actually put together a competitive roster. And it's not, in my opinion, enough maybe for them to win the AFC West. They're still in a very competitive division with Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert. And they might be the most improved team in the NFL that doesn't actually make the playoffs next year after making the playoffs last year. But it's just such a breath of fresh air to see team-building philosophy and even on the football field, you see a lot more screen usage and a lot, I think, a more complex and a more consistent offense, it's just such a breath of fresh air for Raiders fans that have been up and down

through the weeds, a carousel of coaches, a carousel of talent, terrible first-round picks, terrible team-building strategy. To see some consistency here in a lot of the moves that they've made, it's just fantastic. And I do think that even if the Raiders don't make the playoffs next year, this is the track to success. The track to success is having a plan. And that's finally what Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler seemingly have. All right, let's go to Pittsburgh because there is a plan in place.

Kenny Pickett seemingly is the future, but Mitch Trubisky is fighting as hard as he possibly can. You know, we act like Mitch Trubisci is 30 years old. You just drafted a few years ago and thrown into a horrible situation here in Chicago. Obviously, where was a Musi Muhammad back in the day saying this, it's where wide receivers go to die. Well, if they do, that means that the quarterbacks are usually driving a hearse in this city because they usually aren't put in an opportune position to help them. Kenny Pickett, your thoughts on what you've seen this preseason

and also the quarterback battle every year we do this where should a player play immediately? What's the best situation? Case by case. Do you start the clock? Because I grew up in a day where it was five years that you had to kind of get your program together. Now it's two and maybe sometimes one year.

So what do you think? with Mike Tomlin being a long-tenured guy there and having, you know, gone through these quarterback cycles before, what do you think is the best situation for Kenny Pickett to start the season as the quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers or to come off the bench? And what have you thought of his preseason so far? To start with how he's looked and I keep on saying grain of salt, but here it comes. He has done it against backups, right? I mean, he's playing with the second string. He's playing with the first string. He has had some reps with starters. But it's against back of sports looked good. And my favorite piece of it is it's looked on time. And with rookie

quarterbacks, it's very difficult to come out on time. And behind a Pittsburgh Steelers' offensive line that is arguably the worst in the NFL, maybe Chicago beats him out, you need to be on time. You know, Ben Rossberger had the quickest average time to throw last year, not because he was part of it because he's good at getting the ball out quickly, but also because he had to. And I think that's what Pickett will have to do. That's what Trubisky will have to do. When this offense breaks down, it's when the quarterback is holding on to the football. And that's what Pickett can't afford to do if he is going to get starting opportunity this upcoming season.

And Trubisky, you've seen some high end from him, but you also see him hold the football too much, and he's going to have to change kind of how he approaches that as he goes on to start this year. But Pickett has looked good and on time and accurate and has had some moxie in some of these fourth quarter comebacks and all that stuff. In terms of what I think the ideal situation is, Pittsburgh has something that Chicago did not, in that they have job security. You know what I mean? Like they were making short term.

You think about naggy and pace. They were making short term decisions because they had to, right? They were making, they trade it up for Justin Fields. They trade up for Taven Jenkins. They trade for Cleomack. They're looking to maximize this window and move quickly. One, because they felt like they had something in Mitchell Chubisky, but also because, you know, they're looking to actively just win more football games.

And I think Pittsburgh, if they have anything, say, you got longevity. Tomlin's not going anywhere. Neither is, you know, the new GM there in Pittsburgh. So they don't have to play this quickly and they don't have to compete in a division where the roster just isn't good enough. As good as pick it might be, they don't have to throw him to the dogs. Like I said, one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL

just to give him the reps, right? They can play the best player at the time and slow play him into the NFL. And if he even doesn't play this year, and they go full Mahomes with it, where he maybe plays just the last game of the season like we saw in Patrick Mahomes rookie season, I think that might be an ideal outcome because you don't suscept him to

creating bad habits behind a bad offensive line. I think the two reasons you sit quarterbacks are you don't want them to get hurt. You know, if you are playing behind a bad offense line, you don't want to develop bad habits behind a bad offensive line. Bad habits being bailing out of the, you know, pocket early, you're trying to be too much of a superhero and running in a traffic, not necessarily recognizing glist and not being benefited by some of the tackles that you have. So I do think that avoiding starting picket and having maybe some of those bad habits

progress because of this offensive line could be the ideal situation, especially for a Pittsburgh Steelers team that does not have to make short-term decisions to maintain power. our head coach NGM. Yeah. And on top of it, like you just mentioned, that offensive line is porous. So that means you're going to get the ball out as quickly as possible. So that means Deontay Johnson and Chase Claypool and George Pickens, the rookie that everyone loves to watch push people in these highlights these days.

Those dudes are going to have to, you know, corners and secondary and defenses alike, don't be sitting because they know you're going to be able to get to the quarterback. One, you got a rookie signal caller, or you got a young guy, Mitchell Chubisky, and two, you know, your offensive line ain't going to allow you to have double move routes and get into the route tree really, really hecticly. So it's going to be interesting. Speaking of wide receivers,

not named George Pickens, there are a few wide receivers that people are taking a look at around the league. The New York Jets have one, the Seattle Seahawks have one. The acclamation to the league when it comes to rookie past catchers. Has it gotten easier? Has it gotten

harder? Are the talents that much more extreme? And when we see guys like Jamar Chase and Justin Jefferson jump into the league and become stars immediately. You got the Jets with Garrett Wilson, of course, the Titans with Traylon Burks. What do you think not only of these two players, but also what you've seen as of late

in terms of first year past catches and they're getting used to the league? So I think first and foremost, it depends on in terms of when will they see the field, how quickly can they acclimate it depends on the receivers ahead of them, right? And the expectations within the offense. Are you, you know, what route tree are you asking certain receivers to do. And in the Titan situation, the first one I'll bring up

with Traylon Burks, who they traded their first round pick, or they traded A.J. Brown for a first round pick, and with that pick, grabbed Traylin Berks, who has a similar size profile. I think he did draw some comparisons to Brown in the pre-draft process. I think they're vastly different players, but still, Berks was brought in the first round to be an impact player for a team that's losing their best receiver. So far through the preseason, you know, new offense coordinator, Todd Downing has talked about wanting more consistency, and he's been playing deep into the third and fourth quarter because I think they want to see more from him. And now, doing large part because you aren't seeing some of that consistency in camp and in preseason,

he's not even in line to start. But another rookie is. You know, Kyle Phillips, the rookie receiver out of UCLA, is going to start in the slot for this Titans team. Robert Woods, 30-year-old veteran who's coming off the big A-cel injury with the Rams will start. And then Nick Westbrook Aquina will be the other receiver opposite of Robert Woods in this offense, which I think the opportunity for Burks to pass Westbrook-Akeena is there. It just looks like it's going to take more time. That's not to say, Berks isn't a phenomenal talent.

He's big, he's fast, he's explosive, ton of production at Arkansas. When I talked to his head coach, Sam Pittman, he said, we just fed him the football, and that's how we won football games, right? I mean, he was just one of the best players that we had. And I think he can be that for this Titans team. It's just not here yet. And it's not that different to Garrett Wilson. Garrett Wilson, who had criticism for inefficient feet in his routes, kind of a freelancer,

kind of a dancer, not unlike maybe even a Jerry Judy in Denver, in that gets a little creative, gets a little saucy. to a point where maybe you're not getting to your spots as quickly and as efficiently as other, not necessarily more polished receivers, but more intentional receivers. And Garrett Wilson got away with that, Ohio State playing against worst corners. I think he'll continue to get away with that in the NFL. But more efficiency is what they're looking for. And that's why in New York, I do believe that he is the wide receiver for right now,

at least will be rotated in experimentally. But they like Braxton Berrios a lot in New York. They like obviously Corey Davis and they like Elijah Moore, the second year receiver out of Ole Miss. So I do think Garrett Wilson will be competing for reps with those guys. And most recently, I think he only played two snaps with the starters in that week three preseason game for the Jets, whereas Berrios, Davis, and Moore are playing more. So don't put your hand on the panic button. Don't call Garrett Wilson and Traylon Burks busts by any means. But just know that it's going to take some time with these guys.

And when we're looking at new faces and debuts, I think the debut for Wilson and Berks, while maybe there are expectations that they start right away and they're their new number one targets, I think it's just going to be a little bit slow to go, especially from a fantasy perspective, if you are looking at fantasy football stuff, slow to go before they're seeing significant target share. There it is, ladies and gentlemen. This is how we do it. And this is what we will be doing every single Tuesday here on the NFL ringer show. Austin Gale, Jason Gough, will be listing your head off every single chance we get, you know, giving you some rankings. Austin obviously has all the metrics that you could ever want.

You know, he threw the EPA out there at you. He's got all the, he's going to make. me a smarter football fan. And I hopefully will make him a softer, kinder football fan. We will figure this thing out as we go and we got 20 some odd weeks to do so. Austin, always good to chat with you, my man. Let's do it again next Tuesday, brother. Absolutely. Thank you. Austin Gale, Jason Goff signing out right here on the NFL Ringy Show.