The Ringer NFL Show - Spotting Sleepers and Remembering Dwight Clark | GM Street (Ep. 269)

Episode Date: June 18, 2018

The Ringer’s Michael Lombardi and Tate Frazier project some sleepers based on strength of schedules (04:00), discuss Mike McCarthy's philosophy about vets and minicamp (14:30), and share some memories of Dwight Clark (37:45). Credits: Hosted by: Michael Lombardi and Tate Frazier Produced by: Jim Cunningham Brought to you by: The Ringer Podcast Network Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today's episode, GM Street, is brought to you by The Ringer Podcast Network, where the Ringer NBA show has you covered for all things NBA draft. I went on heat-checked this morning with John Gonzalez, and also on the Bill Simmons podcast to talk about what the Charlotte Hornets are up to and why Michael Jordan will finally listen to his GM. You can check out our new music podcast, Own Shovel, hosted by Micah Peters, as well as our yummy new food podcast, The Dave Chang Show.

And as always, be sure to check out the ringer.com. Where we have Westworld coverage, NBA takes. There's just so many of those around here. So many NBA takes. Infinity War, in case you missed that movie, please go check that out. All the coverage is still there, I'm sure. It does not go away on the internet.

And of course, a ton more. But before you go do that, listen, because GM Street is coming up right now. Welcome to GM Street, part of the Ringer podcast network. It is Monday. It is June 18th. And joining me on the line from New Jersey, it is Michael Lombardi. Lombardi, how you doing?

Tate, I am doing well. Couldn't be better. NBA draft week, I like it. This is like my favorite time of the year. I get to watch guys put hats on and then not really be sure that they're going to those team with the hats. That's what I like the most about this time of the year. It's the hat collection. It's the hat collection, yes. It is the second most popular professional sports league draft that's out in the world. There's a lot of coverage that's happening on the Ringer and in the Bill Simmons universe for sure. I went and did a mock draft on the Bill Simmons podcast

this morning to talk about the Hornets taking the 11th pick this season back-to-back years. And, you know, I think that Kevin Knox was the guy that I could see them taken there with coming out of Kentucky. But the big question that everyone is talking about is, where do the Philadelphia 76ers are going to do with that 10th pick

because they're obviously a playoff contender. They view themselves as a team that can really contend in the east. They're trying to get another piece after what happened last year with Fultz. I just have to ask you, Lombardi, do you buy into the McHale Bridges thing coming out of Villanova and going there.

Getting a championship winner and a guy that understands culture in the building for the Sixers? Out of the player, he can defend. He's got, you know, I think a 7-2 wingspan. If I'm not mistaken, he's long in terms of that. So, you know, there's not great coverage. You can't really get, unless Wojo drops a bomb, you really don't get a lot of stuff on the team. So, you know, for me, you know, there's a lot of talk that the Sixers might try to move up

or get a piece that's a big piece and they can utilize, which would be interesting to see if Brett Brown does it. Now that he's operating it on his own, you know, I think it's going to be Coach Covington and the 10th pick going to would do that deal. That looks, you know, you would think the Sixers would jump all over that, but I don't buy it.

Yeah, it's one of those things where, I mean, obviously Robert Covington is the first team all defense selection. So that had some value there, and the Spurs may have some interest. But it is funny to me that every single team in the NBA somehow is a Coilander deal, you know, mapped out for how he's going to come to their team. And it's always done from the perspective.

It's always done from the perspective. It's never done from. And then when the trade happens, everybody's like, oh my God, I can't believe they gave up that much for him. They could have had him for, no, no, don't you understand? You could have never had him for what you're talking about because what you're talking about is the realistic. And let's be honest. I think it blows me away. It blows me away, too, that no one even wants to talk about the fact that the Spurs don't have to trade Kauai Leonard.

Just because he is leaking it out to the world that he wants to be traded does not mean that R.C. Buford and Greg Popovich won't to trade him or will trade him for that matter. So that's all NBA news, guys, if you haven't caught up on that. stay tuned this week. All the draft coverage will be happening. We've got to talk about the NFL. I'm going to be on it. I promise you, I'll be all over it. I'll be all over. I'll be reading everything. I'll be reading it all, and I won't believe any of it, but I'll be reading it all.

Don't worry about it. Tate Fraser. We'll follow Michael Lombardi's Twitter. It'll be a good time. You'll hear all the conflicting, you know, back and force between what the Sixers should do and will do and won't do. And Brett Brown, a lot of pressure on that guy, so I hope he figures it out. But we've got to talk about a lot of pressure on a lot of NFL teams as they get into we get out of voluntary workouts, we started getting to OTAs, and we have the strength of schedule is a big topic of discussion, and we're going to try to map out a formula for finding the sleeper teams

and teams to watch out for this season. And as we go through the 2018 strength of schedule, the number one team on that list is the Green Bay Packers. And we did this by the opponents combined 2017 win percentage and the opponents combined 2017 record. So that's what it's based off of. So the Green Bay Packers are number one on that. that list. If you look back at

2017, the Denver Broncos were number one, go heading into last season. That did not quite work out as far as the playoffs. The Chiefs, though, were the number two team, and they had a nice little run and a start to the season, and a lot of people viewed them as a contender. So Lombardi, what is the formula for

understanding strength of schedule and how it can impact your team? And how do we locate these sleepers that are out there? This season, you know that Houston has the easiest schedule. And so it's fairly easy. You know, whenever you go to Vegas and you bet the over wins and all that, you know, Houston's an attractive team

to bet because, A, they have an easy schedule and B, they get half their team back, right? So they get all their defensive players, whether it's J.J. Watt, Marcellus, they get the quarterback, DeShaw Watson back, they get the running back four minutes off of the Achilles. So they pick up some pieces back to their team and their schedule tells you it's easy.

The higher schedule, when you look at Green Bay, who has the hardest schedule going into the season, you say to yourself, okay, it wouldn't negate that. I mean, Chiefs last year had the second highest toughest schedule, and they still made the playoffs. So I think what you really need to do when you look at strength of schedule is you need to look at the teams in the middle of the pack. The 10th easiest schedule were the Eagles. The 17th easiest schedule were the Rams. Okay, from 10 to 17, every one of those teams made

the playoffs, with the exception of the Tampa Buccaneers. Atlanta made the playoffs, the Saints, the teams made the playoffs. And so you say to yourself, there's those middle-of-the-pack teams, what do they have, a quarterback play? The Rams got it last year with golf. They have some kind of defensive temperament, and they're probably got a schedule that favors them where they're not going to go on four or five game losing streets, so they're going to knock themselves out.

And so therefore, the middle of the pack. Now, you always look at the bottom of the pack and say, okay, last year the Colts had the easiest schedule in football. And they proved it for a 50-minute team. They played 50 minutes really well. They couldn't close, you know, they had more leads into the fourth quarter than most teams in the NFL, except they couldn't win any games.

Probably not because the team. from 27 to 32, four of those six teams made the playoffs. The Vikings, the Steelers, Jackson, and say, okay, let's see, who's down there at the bottom this year? Schedule. This year, they have the 24th easiest schedule. You've got to think they're going to take advantage of it. Absolutely. And one of the benefits, I mean, we should say this. If you are in the AFC South, you are conditioned to have an easier schedule just because of the way the AFC South has been much maligned over the years. But obviously, the Titans have taken a step up.

We saw that make the playoffs. We've seen, you know, Houston with Deshawn Watson. and there's a lot of upside there. Andrew Luck is now throwing a football, even though it is a college-sized football. He is now throwing a football. We have video evidence of that, so that's some exciting stuff for AFC South fans. I want to look at what you were talking about, the middle of the pack, and try to find some of these teams to look out for.

And I look at the 12th team that's right there, and that is the Carolina Panthers, which is followed right behind by the Atlanta Falcons, the Washington Redskins, the 49ers, the Dallas Cowboys, the Miami Dolphins, the Buffalo Bills. And then we get to the Super Bowl champion, Philadelphia Eagles. That's right in that sweet spot that we saw a workout, last year. So if we're on that same trend, those are a lot of teams right there in the middle of the pack that could be some real contenders and some definite playoff teams. And then as you look down

a little bit further, you get to the Baltimore Ravens, a team that is trying to find their identity right now with Lamar and the Joe Flacco situation. But then we get to New England, you know, with the juggerner out that they are. And who knows right behind them, the Indianapolis Colts, what we'll see with Andrew Luck coming back. And then like you said, at 24, we have the Chargers. And I think that's really the cutoff line because then we hit Jet. Steelers, Jaguars, Broncos, Raiders, Bengals, Titans, Texans to finish it all out. But that little middle-of-the-pack period right there

with all those teams, I mean, if you are a Dallas Cowboys fan or you are a Falcons fan, or if you are, you know, even a Buffalo Bills fan, you're right in that range based on what we saw last year to maybe make a run and obviously, you know, be in playoff contention. Right. Now, you know, Vegas doesn't think Miami's going to be very good, but they're sitting in a sweet spot with Tannihil coming back. You know, maybe they can find a way,

have a schedule that's conducive to it, but I think the 49ers at 15. You know, they're sitting there perfectly primed with their young team coming back. Garoppolo is going to get to play the full season. Their defense should be better. They got a running back. They're going to have more weapons for their offense. They got a good head coach that I believe is a good head coach. So to me, I look at San Francisco and say, you know what, they could be the Rams of last year.

The Rams this year have to have the fifth highest schedules. You know, last year we saw the Rams get behind in Dallas and make this great comeback in the second half. But when the Rams played the Vikings, when the Rams played Washington early in the season, when Washington was healthy, when the Rams played the Eagles, when they played those better, now they had a great year, don't get me wrong, but they didn't beat. They couldn't beat New Orleans at home. That was a problem. You know, beating Seattle, does it really count anymore? I don't know.

You know, and that's another team to look at. Here's Seattle, when you look at Seattle, Seattle's got the fifth hardest schedule next year. I mean, Seattle is a declining team with the fifth hardest schedule. and if you believe that if you believe Russell Wilson's the guy, then go with it. But I think there's a lot of pieces still have to come together for Seattle for you to be convinced that they can do it. And you mentioned the Rams. I mean, I think that they could be caught in a little bit of what we saw with the Cowboys. You know, they have that great season where they get 14 wins, and then they basically just run it right back.

And then they struggle last year. I mean, there could be a little bit of a regression with the Rams, especially with this schedule. But they did, as we know, add a bunch of talent on the defensive side of the football. So they did tweak some things. it's not like they're going to bring back the exact same roster that they had last year. You obviously was Sue and Talib and Donald, you know, waiting on his new contract. So those are some

teams to watch. I want to talk about the team that has the hardest schedule, though. And one more thing before you go to take, Frazier, I think this, I think Pat Riley has an effect on this. So I think Pat Riley, the disease of me, has an effect on this strength of schedule. And there's some team in here that affected by the disease

of me. And could it be the Rams? Sure, it could be. Could it be Seattle? I think there's a lot of controversy in Seattle. Could they, even though they didn't make the playoffs. Let's be honest. I mean, the Legion of Boom is basically, you know, over at this point. And I think the disease of me has already, you know, infiltrated Seattle over the past couple of seasons, to be honest. No doubt. And then here's the one team that I think you've got to be careful of. Minnesota. I mean, we all loved, you know, Case Keenum got a huge contract. He played the 27th easiest schedule last year. Plus he played that schedule was easy for him last year. And then he played that easy schedule without Aaron Rogers. Okay. So now this year, Kurt, Cousins comes into a tougher situation. He's got to play the eighth hardest schedule in the NFL. Now, a lot of people think the Bears are a team to wreck it with. Well, the Bears have

a tougher schedule. Same thing with the Lions. Lions have the second hardest schedule. So, to me, I think it's a combination of those things. I think Minnesota players and Cousins is in there, but now the strength of their schedule is much different. Them and the Rams, you have to be worried about. The other key factor here at Tate Fraser is this. 50%

of the teams that make the playoffs from one year to the next, don't return. So there's six teams that aren't going to make it from last year to this year. Who are those? And I think this is where you look, and that middle of the pack is where they get replaced. I think you're looking at the Tennessee Titans. Just kidding. Just kidding, Tennessee fans. I mean, look, the Titans, they walk down the street. They have the 31st Ease schedule.

You're right. You're right. And that's the draw. But that being said, I think Houston is, which skews that a lot, because Houston's schedule, Houston's team last year wasn't Houston's team. Now, the John Gruden-led Raiders, they have the 29th easiest schedule. Gruden comes into a situation, he takes over a team with the 29th easiest schedule. You've got to think

that team is prime. Offensive mind, tights to say to yourself, that team is prime to make the run. Denver's not primed to make the run. The Chargers may be, we know that the Chiefs are,

you know, chiefs are going through a new quarterback. I think that's the one team that jumps out if you say, wait a minute, here it is. You get a new coach, get a new guy come in here,

easy schedule. Here they go. I want to talk about before we move on. Now I want to talk about some other teams. The two teams that are tied for 25th,

easiest schedule. The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Jacksonville Jaguars, two teams that are obviously juggernauts in the AFC at this point, especially on the defensive side of the football. But Blake Bortles and Ben Rothesburger are having that setup with that, you know, with that draw of a schedule. I mean, those are teams really to watch out for too, right? They can really make it right. No doubt. But remember, Cleveland's 016. So that adds those 16 losses go into Pittsburgh's schedule, it softens it up. So if Cleveland's a little better, that schedule's not going to be soft. Same thing with Jackson was by Houston last year. soft than their schedule up. So I think there's some anomaly here and you've got to kind of,

that's why I don't think this is, and I'm not a statistician, but this is when you look at the lower level teams, you have to be really careful thinking they're going to make an immediate jump because that strength of schedule isn't really accurate, because you must understand that there was an aberration within those numbers. Whereas the middle of the pack, there's typically not an aberration. Yeah, I forgot about Huey headlines and, you know, he can never forget. He went swimming in Lake Erie. Can you, he took the whole team with him. Absolutely. Messing up the mean, though. That's what he's up to. Let's talk about the team with the hardest schedule and how they've been in the headlines. Mike McCarthy, this is a new system that he's been putting in. Obviously, we remember the CBA in 2011. It changed.

Some of the makeup with off-season workouts. I mean, they used to start in March, and then they were pushed back to April. There's a lot of non-contact, a lot of people wearing shorts, a lot of no pads. But Mike McCarthy, his new thing is, I have the veterans. I know that the veterans, you know, are up to speed on everything that's going on in Green Bay. Let's give them the time off. So Mike McCarthy is letting guys that are veterans of four more years, they don't have to come in. And if you are a rookie or up to your fourth year of the NFL, then you do come in and do some extra work because he wants to work with these guys who are younger and help groom them a little bit.

Just that philosophy. Can you talk about that, Lombardi? I think it's really smart. I think it's probably the right thing to do. because look, how many times is Aaron Rogers going to throw a Y stick? How many more times is he have to run H2 pass? You know, like he can do that. Like, you've got to get other players ready to play football.

And because they've laxed the rules in terms of letting the rookies and the free agents come in there, you've got to catch them up. So, you know, you've got to think of it this way, Tate Fraser. You're in them, but basically the rookies are like, right? So they're studying in world history and they come in six weeks into the class. Meanwhile, the other people have had it for six weeks, so they're behind. It's not a game that you can play with fast and you can play with quickness if you don't know where you're going. You've got to know where you're going first.

That's why Dungey was so successful with his defense. He made his defense so simplistic that young players could play, and young players didn't require a lot of thinking so they could use their skill set to play fast. And I think what McCarthy's doing here is very good. I think it's revolutionary. I think it's important for that to get the young players. They need all the reps they can get because fans. don't understand.

They have so many reps, and if you're giving them to the players that you know can do that job, you're taking away from guys you're trying to develop. So what he's doing is essentially starting a farm system there in Green Bay. He's to vet. He's in the day's camps. I used to think there should be just nothing but for the young players. injury-wise, because it's all in the ground that somebody hurt. So when you go out to practice during the season, Tate, you never worry about injuries

because the players know how to practice. But when you go out to practice and I want to practice, what McCarthy's doing is it's different. so obviously people are going to second guess them, but I think it's the way it should go. And there's a little bit of nostalgia there with Mike McCarthy. He is, you know, in the 2012, like right after the new CBA was launched, I think it was Jeff Saturday, if I remember in this story correctly, he came into camp and it was during the summer,

and they were running 11 on 11, and they had pads on, and he made some comment, like, does this look like non-contacted you guys? Because McCarthy was still basically running things as they had always run it. And McCarthy, you know, has never gotten reprimanded by the league or anything like that. But he is a guy that believes in building, like you said, a school. I mean, he was known for having the quote-unquote quarterback school. He got Aaron Rogers in there and worked him, you know, from March all the way through just to get him ready. And he came in his second year and was trying to get him prepared for everything.

And, you know, Deshaun Kaiser is a guy they have in there now. And they're trying to get him, you know, in there and get as much as reps as possible. And Brett Hunley, we've seen there. So McCarthy is a guy that wants to have the time with these players. It seems like he understands that he has to dedicate it to the young guys to make sure that they are up to speed. Because without this time and without him basically making up the lost time that they used to have, you know, he's trying to make it a better situation for all of his guys, especially in the quarterback room, because it seems like he keeps bringing up the fact that he loves having Brett and Sean,

you know, and making them feel comfortable because, you know, he really believes in developing guys as we've seen with Aaron Rogers. You know, and I think it's really, you need your young players to be able to come in and play. And early in the season, yeah, that's great. but what they really need to be is veteran players in November, December, and into January to help you in that playoff wrong. By doing this, he solves two problems. He keeps his older players fresh for late in the year. I mean, this is the whole thing about Brady and Gronk and all this stuff.

They're missing camp and everybody's up because they hadn't done it in the past. The Patriots basically have played an extra season than most teams. When you've gone to seven conference championship games in a row and you've gone to Super Bowls, you're playing almost, you're playing into late January. Most people are done the end of December. So they're playing a month every year. So they've added a year.

They've added seven months to their – think about that, right? So at some point, you know, Brady needs to just like do nothing. You know, Gronk needs to do nothing. But they need to get their other players ready. And I think sometimes – one time, and Todd Phil Cox was taking a lot of the reps and great quarterback, but he was taking a lot of the reps in December. And I went – but sometimes we need to see Cozor for a white stick.

You know, he's right. You know, it's like how many more times do you need to see Eli Mani? throw. What they should do with Eli Manning is rest him. Guy gets his reps and came to offense, but it hurt when he's holding out. You know, you want running back. Leonard Fournette, don't even worry about practicing. You know, don't worry about preseason games. Like, just get him ready for the opener.

So I think there's a lot of merit to what Mike's doing. I think it's smart. Should we call it McCarthyism? This is the new version of that where he's just, you know. I really do. But let's, you know, let's take it. We're going to talk, you know, like, okay, John Gruden's complain about Christian Hakenberg.

You know, he trades for Christian Hackenberg. and then he blames it on the system saying that Hakenberg's been a product of the system how he's not been able to develop as a quarterback. What is John talking about? Like, explain to me. I mean, John's a smart guy. John gives reps, John wants all his veterans taking all the reps.

John doesn't want to develop any quarterback. Then he cuts the guy, and he blames it on that. Well, why would you trade for him? The same problems that occurred for Hakenberg before you trade it for him are the same problems after you trade it for him. Like, if you trade for Hakenberg, before you say, okay, we're going to take it. Hakenberg are. Here's the plan how we're going to handle

Hakenberg. They're going to bring him in here. He's going to get X amount of reps, and after four weeks, we're going to evaluate him and see where we are. You just don't make a trade and say, oh, time for Hakenberg, it's the system's fault. How dumb is that look? Yeah. You trade for Hakenberg. You trade him and say, look, okay, look, I know the guy hasn't played in two years. He's the only quarterback in NFL history who was drafted in the second round or higher and he never took an NFL snap. So we know he's had no reps.

Now, we also know that he, when he, at practice, he really could have the side of a bar. I mean, the ball, you know, you talk about the guy from Major League, you know, the guy in Major League, he couldn't make a throw ever, right? Exactly. So, you know, that's Hakenberg. He's all over the place. But the point here is, it's like, once you trade for a player, you've got to make a plan for how you're going to develop the player.

Gruden's blaming it on the system. McCarthy's saying to himself. Yeah, absolutely. And we should say, I mean, John Gruden is, you know, he had probably his FFCA advisor when he made that trade because he did love Hakenberg when he was coming out for the draft. But he loved everybody. I mean, that's the point. He loves everybody.

And then when he cuts the guy, he doesn't want the guy mad at him because he cut him. And so he blames it on somebody else. I mean, that's the worst thing to do. I used to say that all the time. Like, look, the one thing is when you cut a player or you release a player, let's not have this in an organization where I wanted to keep you, but the first thing you can do. Or, you know, it's the CBA's fault. You know, players don't want to hear that. Players see right through that.

You need to say to the player, look, here's why we cut you. Here's our thinking. We could be wrong, but this is way we usually. be a man and tell him what you think. Don't sit there and I'll blame it on the system. Well, the system was in place before you traded for him. Yeah, be straightforward, be up front, and the rest will usually work out well. That's what they say.

I want to talk about a quarterback that is drawing eyeballs and is making lots of conversation. I mean, there's been conversation that he is going to be involved in the offense in some way, whether it is he is a quarterback or not, and that is Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens. RG3 said that he wants to nurture Lamar Jackson, and it can't wait. to see him fly away and take off this season. So there's just a lot of buzz around Lamar Jackson and what's going on with the Baltimore Ravens. Obviously, we understand the situation with Flacco being there in a semi-lame duck scenario.

So just Lamar Jackson himself, what are you hearing? And is this good for the Ravens, you know, to have a guy like this? I think Lamar did exactly what we thought he would do before the draft. And we were talking on the draft shows on GM Street. We talked about how he's going to go in there. And what he's going to do is he's going to mesmerize the veterans. and that's a veteran-dominant team. I mean, T. Sizzle controls that team pretty much.

So when he watches this guy and sees how fast he is and watches him do the things, and some of the things he does are not great. I mean, let's face it, he's been inaccurate at times during practice, I'm told. He's been, you know, all over the place. It's not middle the road. It's feast or family. He's going to be great, maybe have a few bad plays.

And I think what he's doing is exactly what I thought he could do in the draft. Is what a lot of people in the NFL thought he could do is he's coming in there and he's dazzling him with his. athleticism, and his speed, which everybody, including Michael Vick, said he was better than Michael Vick. So I think it's just the stats, funny, and gridiron genius, the book,

I think, you know, could you imagine the Sean Watson and Lamar Jackson on the field at the same time? Who plays quarterback? Who plays wide receiver? Who does what? Who does this? Or running back? Can you play anything? Right. How hard? How hard is that to defend? I'm like, God, who's the quarterback? You know,

you've got to change this, and it is, and because the offenses can stay simple, and the plays are explosive, and the quarterback can do some damage. I think this is pretty slim in some way to get him indoctrinated into the offense. And there's a team, they know everything's on the line. I mean, look, Steve, Bashaddy. And we should say,

it has been reported out of Ravens' camp that they are toying with the idea of doing some two-quarterback stuff with Flacco and Lamar, both out there together. You talk about veterans that have been, you know, had glowing reviews for Lamar Jackson. I mean, Eric Weddell, the safety, said that he was as talented of a player that he's

ever seen and that believes he has a bright future ahead. You know, Lamar Jackson, the first team offense for an entire day at minicamp on Friday, I believe. So it seems like everything is going in the right direction, and he's obviously worth that 30-second pick, and that was a great move to move back into the first round and take him. I think he's going to be worth... When they drove him off the lot,

the car ended up being worth more than it ended up before they bought it. There's no depreciation. And there's no doubt he's got appreciation. And I think, you know, when you get guys like Weddell or Derwin James said the same thing about him when he played against him when he was at the Florida State, when you get guys say this kind of stuff about a player, they see it because they're watching it all the time. And, you know, I was watching Brett Farr with Gruden on the 101,

and he didn't think he could make the throw and gets covered too. And I think what you see is players watch Lamar do things that they've never seen done before, and that's what separates. So now, sometimes it's not going to be very good. Sometimes he's going to throw the ball in the dirt, you're going to get wonder. And maybe the third down percentage won't be as high. But those spectacular plays he makes, watch out. And speaking of spectacular plays, we need to talk about a guy that has been known to make a few,

back with the New York Giants. He was obviously traded in that big blockbuster trade down to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And that is Jason Pierre Paul, JPP as he's known. Dirk Cutter, the head coach of the Buccaneers came out and he said he's fine with JPP missing OTAs. It was sort of a family situation. I think he was dealing with, you know, taking his kids to school or like they're making the transition down to Tampa Bay, it seems like. But he is a, you know, a generational talent with being able to rush the passer. If you are, you know, someone in that Buck's front office, obviously. Dirk Cutter says he's fine with it.

Are you concerned with JPP, or are you just going to, like you said, let a veteran sit out and get ready for the season? I think the key for them is to get him ready to play. I mean, obviously, he's got to be the dimension that they believe he could be. I haven't seen it since the firecracker incident with his hands. I haven't seen him be the same player he was as a rookie that I thought he was the most dominant player. I mean, remember, the Eagles took Brandon Graham ahead of him. And they took a lot of heat for it. And Brandon Graham has ended up being a totally better player than JPP.

Initially, he wasn't. A huge year for JPP to really show that he has not lost any of his skills. How he gets in shape, I'm not sure. Having Vinnie Curry on the other side will help. I think having Noah Spence with the rotation as well. And then, of course, having McCoy in there helps him tremendously. So to me it's a big year. If the bucks are able to sneak out of that and get to the top of the NFC South

and be able to do it, look, they're sitting right there at the print of the schedule at next year's football. So they need that defensive line to be able to rush the pass. Because remember, Mike Smith's all zone. back size, he's going to break on the ball, and he's going to rely on four guys to get pressure on the quarterback, James Winston. And JP on paper with Gerald McCoy

seems like a formidable front line, the kind of line that you would want to have if you want to get four guys rushing up the field, so you can drop back in those zones, as Mike Smith likes to do. So we'll keep our eyes on that. James Winston said that, obviously, winning cures everything,

so he's hoping they can get on the right train this season and see what happens. I really think James Winston's the pressure's on him. I think at this point in his career, he's got to have the big year. He's got a, he's had big talk. Everybody's talked about how great he is. Everybody's talked about, you know, how he just needs to take the next step.

And a lot of people forgive his interceptions. A lot of people forgive his inability to guys that, you know, he'll miss 15 shots and he'll still shoot the threes. He got a little J.R. Smith at him at times. You know, I hate to criticize the guy like that. I don't mean it in that harsh of a way. But, you know, to me, this is a huge year for him because when you watch him, he's got, he has more of a fascinating thing is what he can do and what he can do. can turn around. He's got the coach he wants. I mean, he handpicked the coach and career when you look

at them and you say, okay, the wins. Because at 45 starts, you know, I mean, to me, this guy's got to really take the step up. And I think that's going to be the determining factor. This year is either going to be James Winston is going to be the quarterback of the future for the bucks or they're going to have to seriously consider what they're going to do. Yeah, and reevaluate the position and really just to reevaluate that that core group of guys that they have down in Tampa Bay and really decide if they're going to stick with those guys and keep it going or if they're going to try to do a process of rebuilding and trying to figure out what the future looks like. So that's something to keep an eye on there with James for sure. I mean, the other thing is Dave Fraser. He's 19, you know, he's 18 and 27 in those

45 starts, you know, and so, you know, you got to feel like you've got to feel like he can turn that thing around. And, you know, 18 wins and 45 starts, not going to be good enough. It's not good enough. And obviously, you know, for people that watched Hard Knocks last year, you saw, I mean, the biggest thing that that organization is trying to impress upon James Winston is we have to value the football. We cannot have bad turnovers. And the Buccaneers are a team that have struggled with turnovers, especially James. So if he can, you know, bring some of that down, you know, we could see James, you know, be a different player for the Buccaneers this season. Speaking of a guy that, you know, was in a new situation and trying to find himself, the former defensive coordinator for the New England Patriots,

Matt Patricia, now the head coach of the Detroit Lions. It's a rookie head coach. He has taken on the moniker that we always see with New England, aka Do Your Job. That's what they say there in New England, do your job. He is trying to bring that mentality to the Detroit Lions, a team that is more, you know, a lot of the players in Detroit were more laid back under Caldwell, which is very similar to Tony Dungey,

which is, you know, basically treat people like men and treat them like professionals. And, you know, Matt Patricia was coming in with a very, I would say close to a college outlook on things as far as he's making guys run suicides he's making guys do push-ups when they mess up a rep or whatever it is

and some of the players I mean the Detroit Free Press there was an op-ed that came out said you know Matt Patricia is in danger of losing his players already so I just kind of want to talk about philosophy you know you come from the Belichick way of doing things and you go into the Tony Dungy way of doing things

those are two totally different philosophies on how to manage players obviously both have been successful in different capacities, but do you think Patricia's going to have a problem with some of the vets in Detroit? You know, Tate Frasier, I think the hardest thing for these guys that work with Bill is to really find their authenticity. You know, I've done a lot of, you know, since I've got some free time, I've read so many books.

And one of the books I read is called Legacy, and I think every young coach who's out there should read the book. It's by James Kerr. It's about the all-black team, the rugby team from New Zealand, and ensure within the building. And the key thing that are more Belichick, you don't look off. That's got to be really smart to be able to say, can't necessarily always go down the same path. That came to Cleveland in 1991, people compared him to Parcells.

He wasn't Parcells. He wasn't trying to be Parcells. He never was trying to be Parcells. He was trying to be Bill Belichick. Now, the media might have compared him to Bill Parcells. He was trying to be Bill Belichick. And I think that's what Matt Patricia has to do. If he can't sell that, if he can't sell that to his team,

he will lose the team. You do push-ups, standard procedure. Most teams have those kind of, and all they are is trying to get you to focus on, be authentic, and take some of his ideas. But Chuck. Yeah, and Matt Castle is a guy that is the number two option, most likely. There was the backup quarterback, obviously.

He was with the Patriots for a while. We remember him, you know, filling in for Brady. When Brady got hurt in 2008. But, you know, Castle said that, you know, Patricia is basically picking up, you know, what Belichick used to put down with the whole do-your-job, a lot of daily reminders of goals and mindset that are important to the team, making guys run laps like you're saying.

So he said it was very similar to the New England makeup of how he's trying to do things. And that takes time. You know, like you said, to build a culture, it takes time. And that will be an interesting situation to watch out for because, like I said, a lot of these veterans, it seems like they are a little taken aback by what Pruditsia is bringing to the table. And also you mentioned the Bill Belichick, Bill Parcells. If you haven't watched, you know, this is for the listeners, If you haven't watched the two bills, the 30 for 30 on those two guys, you need to,

and you will absolutely understand what you're saying about those guys being so different, because that was a lot of the times they had, their issues came from the fact that they were so different. But Parcells had a way of doing things, and Bill had his own way of doing things. And he let Bill operate with some autonomy a lot of the time, especially with LT and that D line. But at the end of the day, Parcell was calling the shots. And they had different outlooks. and it's very cool to see how those two guys handle things. Because you can have the same result by doing it totally different ways,

and Patricia has to find his own way. Bill's not going to go to press conference, and he's not going to walk around the team and pregame and crack jokes and try to passively aggressively, try to motivate a guy or call a guy out. I mean, Bill's going to do it exactly how he does it, and Bill Parcells did it exactly how he did it. And I've often said this many times.

I mean, Belichick is more of a slower, meticulous builder of what he's doing. Parcells is one of those. guys, he could go in and build three or four homes at the same time. Belmont I end up with Winner. That's what Matt has to really do. If I'm Matt Patricia, I'm spending my summer trying to figure out how to create Belichick's culture by going down different streets.

Read legacy. Read books about it because the only way I can do it, I want Rick Mangini when it failed at the jet. I can't do it the way Romeo Cornell did it in Cleveland. I can't do it the way Charlie likes to do it. You know, I got to find a way. Look, there's too much of a sample size saying that maybe I should take the next Saban approach and do it his way. Now Nick couldn't do it in pro football because it would

do. You have to find your niche and that's what he's got to do now. I'm going to transition here to a very somber situation and talk about a guy who is an absolute legend. He was, you know, Kinston, North Carolina native, Dwight Clark, the San Francisco 49ers tied in and wide receiver. The man that made the catch passed away at 61 from ALS. And, you know, these are some of my favorite times on the GM Street podcast where we get a little bit of a Michael Lombard. Story Time with Michael Lombardier's, as we'll call it. And can you just give us a little bit of insight into Dwight Clark and the man he was? And obviously, losing him and losing a legend like him who did so much for the game of football is always tough to see.

You know, it's funny. When you look at the 49ers success in the draft when Bill Walsh took over the team in 1979, he went to work to Los Angeles to work out a quarterback, to work out a wide receiver, James Evans for Joe Montana, had Joe in Los Angeles. Now, today that would have been against the rules because Los Angeles is neither Joe's home or his college campus, so he couldn't have worked out there. Had him work out for Bill, and Bill fell in love with him, and the receiver.

And so who caught balls for Steve Fuller at Clemson, but the one and only Dwight Clark. And he drafted him in the 10th round. He drafted Montana. It wasn't because the 49ers had this incredible scouting system. I mean, most people thought Dwight Clark was too slow. But my favorite memory of Dwight Clark was sweet. He was a night before Sweet.

He was watching TV thing, Houston television, and it was Southern. In the aisle, Michael, get me every tape you can on this kid here, Rice. So I went downstairs. That, Jerry Glanville was a defense coordinator. It was the grits when we win the game. Nice. Wow.

And it came in off the field. The first, you had no rookie camp. She had no OTA days. And he said, Mikey, smooth and wrist. And I mean, the one thing I learned from that, always so many guys from that team tend to. Yep. Dwight Clark, two-time Super Bowl champion, an all-pro in 1982,

the receptions leader in 1982. The great number 87. and I will point this out, Dwight Clark, I knew him from North Carolina basketball circles. People talked about how great he was at basketball, and I think that was actually his first sport, his first love was the game of basketball. And he was a lot of people's top pick

to go to a school like North Carolina or NC State, and I think even Appalachian State at one time. He almost transferred to Appalachian State, I think, was a story my dad told me one time. So Dwight Clark... See, that little nugget there is so important in scouting. Do you realize Joe Montana almost went to North Carolina State to play basketball?

that Joe Montana's first love was basketball, that he wanted to play two sports, and he went to Notre Dame thinking maybe he could, and he couldn't play basketball at Notre Dame, even though he was good enough to play basketball. See, that's the kind of information that you need to know as a scout. Like, you know, the white conscribed his athleticism as a basketball,

and that little ins separates good scouts from bad scouts. And there's also a difference between time speed, running a drill versus knowing how to be quick and knowing how to have speed within the, within the game. And I think guys that have played different sports and understand how to play whatever game that they're playing.

It's just a different level of skill set that goes into it. It's not all about measurables. Speaking of all the NBA drafts out this coming up, it's not all about your shuttle time or whatever it is. It's about what you do in the context of a game. And that's why someone like Donovan Mitchell may not have the best measurables last year at the NBA draft, but you watch him play the game of basketball

and he knows how to do things and he knows how to use what he has. and the skills that he has to be a superstar. So that's always good news. And let's talk about, we have the summertime, obviously. We're on summer vacation. A lot of people are trying to figure out what they want to do in this dead period of sports. Obviously, the NBA draft once that's over, we really hit the dog days of summer.

But you have some recommendations for what coaches should do on their summer vacation. You know, Tate Fraser, I think I learned this a long time ago. Henry Kissinger said in his memoirs, when you go to Washington, you borrow the intellectual power you bring, and you can't renew it once you're there. And the NFL is a little bit like that. If you're an assistant coach, like my sons or anybody, you know, this next four weeks are probably the only time you're going to develop and grow yourself.

As anything, as a leader, you know, all those things. And you've got it, the only way to do it is to read. You know, I mean, Warren Buffett reads 500, but he reads it. I mean, he makes time to read an hour of traveling out every Saturday morning. Fabulous, man, reads all day long. But I think what you have to do is on summer vacation, you've got to find a way to read. I know Belichick will find time to, A, get himself ready for the season. You know, he spends a lot of time on the college draft.

I mean, there's got to be two to three hours a day that you can cultivate yourself to improve. And I think if you read, and reading is the only you can do. You can study tape, you can study tendencies. But unless you want to enhance your mind, the list is listening to this podcast, I would read Legacy. Smarter, faster, better. It's a fascinating book, Tate Fraser, and it's really what's wrong with the NFL draft. Think mentality and how bad group think is.

It's a great book to read. The other book, I dream. Yes. Great insight into Coach Wood. Fascinating read into Coach Wood. The other one I thought was great was Shoe Dog. You know, like when you read Shoe Dog about Phil Knight, you see Phil Knight today and you see one of the richest men in the world, but when you love what is called the Boys in the Boat.

It's about the 1936 Olympic Rowing Team for the United States and how they came together as fascinating read about the power of people working together. So those would be the five books I would read this summer. I think you could read Shoe Dog in a day and you can read Coach Woodman. day. So it really is. Absolutely. I should say that Shoe Dog is Bill Walton's favorite book for people that didn't watch college basketball during the Maui Invitational Bill Walton read Shoe Dog while he was on the air

during the middle of a basketball game. So that's how good I think it is. And he's not, and the thing I like about, and I hope people that read my book, it's not a self-serving book. Like my book has, I know the title's gridiron genius, but it's not about me. It's about the geniuses I worked for. And so I am to be able to have learned from still. You get a sense of the humbleness of Phil Knight. And group think doesn't work. Yeah, in the words of Bill Walsh, if we're all thinking alike, no one is thinking.

Ain't no one thinking, Tate Fraser. Absolutely. This has been another edition of GM Street. We will be back in a couple of weeks to get you all caught up on everything that's going on in the world of the NFL. Next week, Kevin Clark and Robert Mays will be back on this feed. Until then. Thank you, Michael McBray. Thanks, Tate Frazier.