Latest / The Thunder Down Under Chargers Podcast / IT’S HERE! Chargers Wk 1 vs. Cardinals Preview + Bold Predictions & Mailbag

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IT’S HERE! Chargers Wk 1 vs. Cardinals Preview + Bold Predictions & Mailbag · The Thunder Down Under Chargers Podcast

• 0:02
  Who's got it better than that? No way! Robert
• 0:06
  is being chased, thrown on the lawn, and it is
• 0:09
  caught! Touchdown! Keenan Allen! What a great
• 0:13
  goal! My goal is not to break, my goal is to
• 0:15
  make you harder to break. Number six! Number
• 0:19
  six! Suspense by Joey Bosa! Grab your lunchboxes
• 0:36
  and go attack this day with an enthusiasm unknown
• 0:39
  to mankind! What is going on everyone? Welcome
• 0:46
  to the Thunderdown Under Chargers football podcast.
• 0:49
  Andy, Jack and Alistair here tonight to have
• 0:51
  a little fun end to the off season. A bit of
• 0:54
  TDU mailbag going on. Some buy, sell and hold
• 0:57
  on the season 2026 expectations and tropes. And
• 1:01
  of course the preview for the much anticipated
• 1:04
  week one matchup against the Arizona Cardinals.
• 1:06
  But first, just a pulse check fellas. How are
• 1:09
  the excitement levels? Jack? It's up. I can't
• 1:13
  bite. It's going to be at less than what is it?
• 1:16
  Maybe just over 48 hours. I will be in Melbourne
• 1:19
  to see you guys and we will be heading to the
• 1:21
  MCG to see the 49ers versus the Rams to see Aaron
• 1:24
  Donald to see Miles Garrett to see Stafford Purdy
• 1:28
  McCaffrey. Oh God. It's going to be a heck of
• 1:31
  a day. I am so, so, so, so, so excited and it's
• 1:36
  the end of my official paternity leave. So it's
• 1:38
  a really good way to kind of finish this four
• 1:41
  weeks that I've had with my new daughter Matilda.
• 1:44
  Dust off the passport for reentry to the mainland.
• 1:47
  Excited to have you back. How are you feeling,
• 1:49
  man? We've had a lot of listeners comment that
• 1:52
  we're a little bit pessimistic on last week's
• 1:54
  show. But you know what? I put on the Herbert
• 1:57
  jersey and you know, everything just feels a
• 1:59
  little bit better, doesn't it? Brennan Thompson's
• 2:01
  practicing again. Keaton Mitchell's back at practice.
• 2:05
  Life's just getting a bit better. Wake ones here,
• 2:08
  boys. MCG. And boy, isn't the coffee in Melbourne
• 2:11
  good or so I've heard. And the food is so good.
• 2:18
  The people are great. Yep. Welcome to Australia.
• 2:22
  Welcome to Australia where that's not all you
• 2:24
  see all the time. All right. Kick us off. TDU
• 2:28
  mailbag. Ladies and gentlemen, hashtag TDU Mailbag.
• 2:44
  Sage Sarat, hey? Sage Sarat. Isn't that a blast
• 2:47
  from the past, Kev? Well, we found the old memory
• 2:50
  stick on Jack's computer. I don't know where
• 2:52
  it's been. Up his clacker. But he's found it,
• 2:55
  and we've got all of our audio back from season
• 2:58
  one. Listeners, thank you for submitting your
• 3:00
  questions. We have a fulsome... mailbag on today's
• 3:04
  show, so let's get straight into it across different
• 3:06
  platforms. Big Daddy E on X. Let's start us off,
• 3:12
  Eric. This is to you, Jack. If this season didn't
• 3:16
  yield a playoff appearance or if the Chargers
• 3:18
  lost in a wild card round again, would Hortiz
• 3:21
  or Harbour's seat start to get warm? Enjoy the
• 3:25
  football game next week, boys. Thanks to us at
• 3:28
  Big Daddy E. Thank you so much. We will enjoy
• 3:31
  the football game. I think absolutely. Yeah,
• 3:34
  there has to be some hate there. Uh, I guess
• 3:38
  the only caveat to that is Beardish has gone
• 3:40
  down one of the big pieces for the offensive
• 3:42
  line. You never know what other injuries will
• 3:45
  happen if we lose another tackle or if we lose
• 3:47
  a premier piece in the offense or the defense,
• 3:49
  then you can always go back to that and say,
• 3:51
  well, you know, we had injuries again, but I
• 3:54
  definitely think if we, if we don't make the
• 3:57
  playoffs, uh, that's that's very hot. If we lose
• 4:00
  in wild card again, limping through, depending
• 4:03
  on what happens to the season, I think it's medium
• 4:06
  hot. Uh, but if we, if we make a wild card game
• 4:09
  and win, I think we're good to go. What do you
• 4:11
  think? Yeah, I'll give you context, Andy, because
• 4:16
  of this flew under the radar. Apparently Habora
• 4:19
  and Hortiz both signed five year extensions or
• 4:22
  five year deals after the Houston loss in Jan
• 4:25
  2024. So apparently if AI is correct, they're
• 4:28
  both contracted until the end of the 2028 season
• 4:32
  together. Yeah, cool. I think things like how
• 4:39
  Ortiz didn't approach or maybe didn't approach
• 4:42
  the interior offensive line will come to light
• 4:44
  a lot more and there will be pressure. But I
• 4:49
  think it'll just be sort of warming up. I don't
• 4:52
  think it'll be cause for blood to be spilled
• 4:55
  just yet. So but I think that's fair if we If
• 4:58
  the team Fails to make the playoffs and certainly
• 5:02
  and it'd have to be some pretty dire circumstances
• 5:06
  to To lose it in the wild card again for it to
• 5:11
  sort of fly under the radar But I don't I also
• 5:14
  don't think that the outside noise is the same
• 5:15
  as the inside noise I don't think you translate
• 5:18
  so I think you know what the media says and stuff
• 5:21
  like that is different to what the front office
• 5:24
  thinks of the situation Yeah, all I'll add before
• 5:28
  the next question is, could there be a difference
• 5:31
  between Hortiz's seat and Harbaugh's seat? The
• 5:34
  interesting thing will be if they do make playoffs
• 5:36
  and then lay a big egg in the playoffs, and suddenly
• 5:38
  you've got ownership saying, Hired Jim Harbaugh
• 5:42
  is the experienced guy who gets it done in the
• 5:44
  playoffs. We think the roster's been pretty good.
• 5:46
  Maybe Mike McDaniel has one foot out the door
• 5:48
  and is getting handkerching interviews. That
• 5:50
  would be an interesting scenario, but a lot of,
• 5:54
  yeah, a lot of steps to take between now and
• 5:57
  that kind of situation. Thanks, Big Daddy E.
• 5:59
  All right, Judge Dredd, bolts from the blue.
• 6:01
  I'll take this one. It's a quick one. What can
• 6:04
  the Chargers do to lower the amount of Herbert's
• 6:06
  battered passes this year? Well, I think schematically
• 6:11
  rolling the pocket screens all that kind of thing
• 6:14
  but Looking at some of the batted passes data
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  with Justin Herbert, I think this year could
• 6:21
  be one to expect more battered passes and not
• 6:25
  less of them. Because I think battered passes
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  tend to happen with quick game and shorter average
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  depth of target throws. When Lombardi was the
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  OC, Herbert, unfortunately, was second in the
• 6:34
  NFL with 20 battered passes, Joe Lombardi. Whereas
• 6:39
  last year, he was actually tied for 22nd with
• 6:42
  only six because Greg Roman passed a little deeper
• 6:45
  down the field. So I don't know, just, and we
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  already saw one battered pass in that third pre
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  -season game. So something to monitor Judge Dredd,
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  but there is, you can always roll the pocket
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  and get on the move and then it's less likely.
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  Yep. Am I right to believe the reason why in
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  a quick game you have, or you perhaps have more
• 7:05
  battered passes is because the rush knows that
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  they're not going to get to the QB, which means
• 7:10
  their eyes are up during their rush phase to
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  go where his eyes, therefore I'm going to stick
• 7:15
  a hand up to try and disrupt the passing lane.
• 7:17
  Is that kind of, is that philosophy? I believe
• 7:20
  so. Yeah, I think so. I think that'd be tells
• 7:22
  where they think it's coming on a three step
• 7:24
  drop, five step drop. They're focusing more on
• 7:26
  getting their hands up into throwing throwing
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  lanes. But we shall see Andy. This comes from
• 7:33
  Paul Chiburi on X. Good question. This one Paul,
• 7:37
  who will be the most impactful rookie this season?
• 7:40
  I'm going with the big fella Nick Barrett, dude
• 7:43
  going to eat. Wow. Okay. Cool. I'm hoping it's
• 7:50
  Jake Slaughter and it's a quiet sort of season
• 7:55
  in terms of the noise around him. But Mezador
• 7:58
  would probably be my second. I think he has a
• 8:01
  potential to really blow it up. Yep, Andy's really
• 8:04
  gone out on a limb picking the first and second
• 8:05
  round picks. Jack, what do you think of that
• 8:07
  one? Well, I was going to say, I've got that
• 8:11
  down for defensive rookie of the year, actually.
• 8:15
  So, uh, here we go. If I'm not sure if you saw,
• 8:18
  I think whether it was NFL or Madden had a post
• 8:22
  up today where Madam predicted the, uh, the 2026
• 8:25
  Super Bowl winners and it was the charges and
• 8:27
  Akim Mesadol was the defensive rookie of the
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  year. Derwin James is the Super Bowl MVP. So
• 8:34
  Mesadol for me, Mesadol is going to be super
• 8:37
  important. And digest Andy, I think it's, that
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  was the obvious answer. I mean, he's thrust into
• 8:43
  the starting lineup. It's such an important position.
• 8:45
  Jake Slaughter is going to have a massive impact
• 8:47
  on our, on our hopes and dreams this season.
• 8:49
  Thank you. Thanks for validating me. No wuckers,
• 8:52
  mate. Fiat Boo, or Fiat Books on BFTB. Long,
• 8:58
  long time listener of the show. Jack. So, tight
• 9:03
  end room. Gadsden's pretty much a big wide receiver.
• 9:07
  Joku, and Joku is a physical beast and a red
• 9:09
  zone guardian, but historically speaking will
• 9:11
  only play 10 games -ish. Also doesn't block well.
• 9:15
  Cola can block like an offensive lineman, but
• 9:17
  he also has college production that says he could
• 9:19
  be an 800 yard player. How does McDaniel deploy
• 9:23
  this group to be optimal? Oh, wow. That's a big
• 9:30
  question. I mean, we saw quite a lot in the,
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  we see a lot of Gadsden in the pre -season as
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  well. He was doing a lot of moving across the,
• 9:40
  from the, on the back of the offensive line.
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  How to best deploy it? Well, clearly it's going
• 9:45
  to be in Joku and Cola and big personnel. Do
• 9:50
  you call it 13 personnel when you've got three
• 9:51
  tight ends? Is that right as well? Yeah, so 13
• 9:54
  personnel will be interesting because I think
• 9:57
  saying that Gadsden is a big wide receiver and
• 10:00
  is not great at blocking is a bit rough on him.
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  I thought he actually improved throughout last
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  year and I think that's going to be a big part
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  of his game where he's going to improve again.
• 10:10
  How to best deploy them? I think that I'd say
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  in Joku is going to be a red zone threat. Gadsden
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  is going to be the sneaky guy on third downs
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  when he's going to be the guy that sort of pops
• 10:23
  up where the defense is not covering him. Kola
• 10:26
  I don't see as being a giant receiving threat,
• 10:30
  but again will help out in the stretch run games.
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  That's how I see that Alistair. Give me a bit
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  of Kola on the tight end league. Yeah. They'll
• 10:38
  both be good on that. Good answer. It's hard
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  to know what to do with it, Andy. I'll set you
• 10:42
  up with that's a stinger. Yeah, without prep.
• 10:45
  So yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Sorry. Sorry. I should
• 10:48
  have done but done a bit better. Last year of
• 10:51
  1100 ish total snaps. Gadsden was on the field
• 10:54
  for 627 of them. So what's that 60 ish percent?
• 10:58
  Fisk was next with 232. That's almost like a
• 11:02
  third of Gadsden snaps. Do you think Andy really
• 11:05
  matters if there's a clear tight end one in terms
• 11:09
  of utilization to get an optimal output. Do you
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  think sharing the load equally is a better way
• 11:15
  to go about it? Or do you trust in McDaniel,
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  not have a strong view? Yeah, well, I think it's
• 11:22
  apples to oranges comparing sort of tight end
• 11:24
  usage in Greg Roman's scheme compared to Mike
• 11:26
  McDaniel. And you'll see probably more tight
• 11:29
  ends grouped in McDaniel's offense. Difference
• 11:37
  that way. I think the best the best philosophy
• 11:39
  would be to play each to their strength. So Just
• 11:44
  however, you know as you said Jack I think in
• 11:46
  joku is definitely the prime candidate to be
• 11:48
  that sort of the man up in the red zone and things
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  like that so Yeah, I don't think you necessarily
• 11:54
  need to share it around but the vibe I'm getting
• 11:57
  is the hot is the the player with the hot hand
• 11:59
  kind of gets the call Yeah They'll be jockeying
• 12:04
  in that first week or two. You've also got to
• 12:08
  add in gold to that group too. I know he's not
• 12:09
  a tight end, but he's a fullback. So I think
• 12:12
  the way that he's going to be used in those heavy
• 12:14
  personnel sets is also going to eat into some
• 12:16
  of their usage too. Um, because I reckon he's
• 12:19
  going to be a really, really good safety valve
• 12:21
  for her. But if, you know, they walk up to the
• 12:23
  line, they're in a run and he makes an audible
• 12:26
  because of what something, what he sees, there
• 12:28
  could be some really big yardage of a little
• 12:30
  sneak out the back to in gold or something like
• 12:32
  that. So, um, yeah, exciting. I think that's,
• 12:36
  that's a good point, Jack. I think that's a pretty
• 12:38
  under rated or underspoken kind of aspect of
• 12:42
  this offense. Um, so far there's as always, there's
• 12:46
  a lot of noise around the charges, offensive
• 12:48
  line and getting Hampton back and how Mitchell's
• 12:53
  injuries going. But Alec Ingold is just, you
• 12:56
  know, I think he's flying under the radar a little
• 12:57
  bit and it definitely opens up a few, a few extra
• 13:00
  doors for McDaniel. Cool dude Ingolt. I listened
• 13:05
  to his press conferences Jack. Alright and a
• 13:09
  quick one for your books. I'll take this one.
• 13:11
  So similarly the running back room. Hampton could
• 13:12
  win the rushing title this year. Maybe not likely
• 13:15
  but he could. Vidal basically saved the playoffs
• 13:17
  for the team last year. Keith Mitchell's a straight
• 13:20
  up dude. Who gets the carries? Looking at the
• 13:25
  distribution last year was more of a 50 -50 split
• 13:28
  between Vidal and Hampton, partially because
• 13:30
  Hampton was injured. But I'm thinking we might
• 13:34
  see a really heavy reliance on Hampton this year.
• 13:38
  I'm looking at Devon Archand had 238 carries
• 13:42
  for Mike McDaniel last year with 1 ,350 yards.
• 13:47
  And Vidal didn't look super duper comfortable.
• 13:49
  with his carries in the preseason. Keith Mitchell
• 13:52
  has struggled to stay healthy, is more of like
• 13:55
  a, not even drive to drive, more using him to
• 13:58
  hit an explosive on a handful of carries a year.
• 14:00
  So I think Hampton has a true chance to get amongst
• 14:03
  like top five carries in the NFL, just riding
• 14:06
  him and seeing if that can be like the linchpin
• 14:09
  of the offense. That's my prediction. Jack, before
• 14:12
  we move on, that question got me thinking about
• 14:15
  Herbert's legs. Can we expect, do you think we
• 14:18
  can expect to see him use like similarly to last
• 14:21
  year where Roman lent into that? How are you
• 14:24
  thinking McDaniel sees it? Okay. Did Roman lean
• 14:29
  into that or did it just so happen that the pocket
• 14:32
  collapsed and Herbert had to run for his fricking
• 14:34
  life? Uh, that's maybe, I don't know the answer
• 14:38
  to that. It's a good qualification. Yeah, but,
• 14:41
  but, but why would you, I think Herbert's going
• 14:43
  to be moving in a lot of those play action and
• 14:45
  peel offs and he's going to be throwing on the
• 14:47
  move a lot more. He's probably going to be a
• 14:49
  little bit more dynamic in that and maybe make
• 14:51
  the decision, not necessarily from the pocket
• 14:53
  as much to go, okay, I'm going to run now. I
• 14:56
  see the gap between the fucking center who's
• 14:58
  literally in my grill and the whole right side
• 15:00
  has collapsed and bloody Bechtons eating a slice
• 15:03
  of pizza. Thanks mate. I'm going to go. It's
• 15:05
  going to be like, I'm going to peel out or no
• 15:07
  throw there, no throw there. Oh, there's maybe
• 15:09
  five yards, I'm going to get out of bounds on
• 15:11
  sort of one of those sort of wider runs. So that's
• 15:14
  how I sort of see it. Just on the Hampton one,
• 15:18
  Alistair, do you have him as the rushing leader?
• 15:20
  See, I would have maybe had him as more of a
• 15:23
  pounded in touchdown guy. Like we get there,
• 15:26
  we get there and we're within five yards and
• 15:28
  he could be looking at 12 plus touchdowns. That's
• 15:31
  just another view that I maybe had rather than
• 15:33
  the rushing leader. I don't know who would be
• 15:36
  the rushing leader if we used him in more of
• 15:38
  that red zone kind of role. That's all. When
• 15:40
  I think about some of the guys - Did you mean
• 15:43
  NFL or did you mean team? Oh, team. The question
• 15:48
  was about who gets the carries for the charges.
• 15:50
  Okay, sorry. I misinterpreted that. I thought
• 15:52
  it was that he's going to be the leader, the
• 15:54
  rushing leader of the NFL. I don't think that's
• 15:55
  going to happen. Yeah, maybe not. But why not
• 15:59
  both? I'll take all of it. All right. So Kev
• 16:03
  Diego. friend of the show. Looking forward to
• 16:06
  seeing you Kev in December mate. Alright, he's
• 16:11
  fired a few different questions here as is his
• 16:13
  want. So let's go Andy and make sure you get
• 16:17
  this putt in the hole Kev. All right, Andy, how
• 16:21
  much value do you believe quality positional
• 16:24
  coaches add to team success? I think having a
• 16:27
  quality staff is an underappreciated advantage.
• 16:30
  I think this year they've built a much better
• 16:33
  offensive staff, which will serve them well.
• 16:36
  How much value, Andy? Yeah, I don't know how
• 16:40
  to quantify it, but I put a high value on it.
• 16:44
  You see what Mark Ellison has done with the defensive
• 16:46
  line. Sanjay Lal, Klingscale. So, and butch Barry
• 16:52
  seems like a, an intense dude. So, and the list
• 16:57
  doesn't stop there. So I think that there's a
• 17:00
  high value on good positional coaches. And look,
• 17:03
  a lot of the really good ones you see, you see
• 17:05
  guys like Mike McDaniel was a tight end coach
• 17:08
  way back when. So, um, yeah, you find those ones
• 17:12
  that are geniuses before you know it kind of
• 17:15
  thing before they're broken out. Good comment
• 17:19
  Kev a few diamonds in the rough for sure and
• 17:21
  now he I'll take this one He's asked about coordinators.
• 17:23
  How much do they add to team success? I think
• 17:26
  this they might be a bit overvalued, but still
• 17:29
  critically important I'm super excited to see
• 17:31
  what McDaniel can do with her but same answer
• 17:35
  as Andy's I I don't actually think they're overvalued
• 17:38
  I think In the playoffs, what we see is everything
• 17:42
  gets accentuated, right? Your strengths and your
• 17:44
  weaknesses. You have a middling to below average
• 17:47
  coordinator coming up against a star coordinator
• 17:50
  and you get what we saw with Greg Roman in the
• 17:53
  playoffs the last couple of years. And I think
• 17:55
  you can point to a lot of the Super Bowl winners
• 17:57
  and they've had ascendant coordinators on at
• 17:59
  least one side of the ball. So I think they're
• 18:02
  very important, especially on defense. And I
• 18:04
  too, Kev, I'm super excited seeing as I think
• 18:07
  we've got a top three one in the NFL. Jack, this
• 18:10
  is a good one. Where do you think Herbert ranks
• 18:12
  among current quarterbacks? Most experts put
• 18:15
  Mahomes first, which I guess he's earned with
• 18:17
  all the success, but the dude turns 31 next week
• 18:20
  and is coming off major knee surgery. I think
• 18:23
  Pat's best ball is behind him. I think Justin
• 18:26
  is top five, maybe top three. This should be
• 18:29
  the year we find out what Herbert really is.
• 18:31
  Where do you rank him right now, Jack, in the
• 18:33
  NFL? It's really hard, right? because you can
• 18:37
  say, well, who would you rather build your franchise
• 18:40
  with right now or who is the best at the moment?
• 18:42
  I think I think Stafford at the moment in terms
• 18:47
  of his play and what he's been is better than
• 18:50
  Mahomes at the moment. So I put Stafford at one
• 18:52
  Mahomes is I think is probably third because
• 18:56
  I put Josh Allen at number two as well. And then
• 18:59
  I go Mahomes. Jackson or I put somewhere Herbert
• 19:04
  between the four to six range. I think, I think
• 19:06
  for me he's probably number five. That's where
• 19:09
  I put him right now. Uh, in terms of his arm,
• 19:12
  I still think, I think he's probably got him
• 19:14
  and Stafford have got, Oh, Josh Allen's arms
• 19:16
  pretty good too. Nah, he's number five for me.
• 19:19
  Yep. Five. Good answer. I won't invite you in
• 19:22
  on this yet, Andy, cause this next question isn't
• 19:24
  too dissimilar. Uh, and you can stay in the hot
• 19:27
  seat Jack, cause if you were starting the Melbourne
• 19:29
  expansion team and could pick any one NFL player,
• 19:33
  NFL player, who would it be? Justin Herbert.
• 19:38
  He epitomizes what Australians are, I think,
• 19:43
  which is tough, loyal, uh, you know, relatively
• 19:46
  understated. He's not, he doesn't, he doesn't
• 19:50
  have a lot of bravado to him. Uh, he leads through
• 19:53
  what his experience, you know, he doesn't seem
• 19:57
  to say much on the outside. So I think he's perfect.
• 19:59
  He's not a tall poppy, which in Australia, we
• 20:01
  have a bit of a syndrome against cutting down
• 20:03
  tall poppies. So and the absolute guts he's showing
• 20:07
  to Just play through broken ribs broken hands,
• 20:12
  you know, just an offensive line that is so porous
• 20:15
  It's you know, he's gonna get his legs snapped
• 20:17
  every every second or every snap. So Justin Herbert
• 20:20
  for me I'm taking every single day and he's exciting
• 20:23
  because he's big six foot six big arm with the
• 20:26
  cannon I think he's great. Love you, Justin Man
• 20:32
  me it's really hard to not be biased and say
• 20:35
  Herbert is it? I think in the realm of who's
• 20:40
  the first person you'd pick, I think it has to
• 20:43
  be the best quarterback. I think that's, I think
• 20:46
  that's the way that I'd look at it. And Herbert,
• 20:52
  Josh Allen, I don't think is the bravado -y type
• 20:54
  that you're sort of putting a dash against. Um,
• 21:01
  yeah, geez. If you're taking Herbert, I'll take
• 21:04
  Josh Allen. There you go. Yep. My home. I think
• 21:07
  they're the two best answers. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 21:08
  Stuff that. I can't deal with them. Yep. Here's
• 21:11
  me. So on the on the big screen every every week,
• 21:15
  either of those two answers, I like Josh Allen
• 21:17
  as an answer to Andy, you know, and then the
• 21:20
  the weather sucks a bit here in Melbourne. So
• 21:22
  he'd be used to that with Buffalo and he's got
• 21:23
  that good oomph and bit of dog in him. But Justin,
• 21:28
  there's plenty of coffee shops and plenty of
• 21:29
  beautiful restaurants to take Madison out to.
• 21:32
  You know, you'd be, you'd be treated. I'll mind
• 21:33
  you the media and probably destroy him here.
• 21:35
  Anyway. You go back to being a sommelier, Jack.
• 21:40
  Excuse me, Mr. Herbert, can you take the tannins
• 21:43
  on that one? Touche, Touche, Touche. We'll all
• 21:50
  answer this one. Who scores the Chargers first
• 21:56
  touchdown this season, Jack? David and Joku.
• 22:05
  Ooh, like that as a lift of center. Andy? QJ.
• 22:14
  That's my answer too. Love it. Start off with
• 22:18
  a big bomb, just like you did in pre -season
• 22:20
  week three. That's sort of where it's coming
• 22:22
  from. And last one, Andy, you can just, just
• 22:27
  you for this one. What do you make of all the
• 22:29
  pundit charger pessimism? I don't know who you're
• 22:32
  referring to, Kev. I saw someone the other day
• 22:34
  predicting nine wins and no playoffs, but Harbaugh's
• 22:37
  144 and 52 in college and 66 and 31 in the NFL.
• 22:42
  In his NFL tenure, he's won less than 11 games
• 22:45
  once. Eight wins in his last year in San Francisco.
• 22:49
  I think 11 wins is the floor for this team with
• 22:53
  the ceiling being a championship. I don't know
• 22:57
  what the question is there. What do you make
• 22:58
  of all the pundit pessimism? Yeah, I tend to
• 23:05
  agree. I think 11 wins is the floor too. Even
• 23:09
  with a harder schedule. I find it odd that this
• 23:15
  sort of hiccupping in the wild card in the playoffs
• 23:19
  not being able to get through the wild card week
• 23:21
  translates into the charges becoming bad the
• 23:26
  next season when I think we've made we've improved
• 23:30
  more than we've lost pieces or you know I got
• 23:34
  injured we're getting healthy guys back a great
• 23:37
  coordinator so Yeah, I don't quite understand
• 23:42
  it. I don't make much of it, Kev. That's all
• 23:48
  I got. I think it's stupid. Thank you, Kev. Thanks,
• 23:52
  Kev. We'll press on. LAL Bolts, I'll take this
• 23:55
  one from Stormcloud. Punter, is there any recently
• 23:59
  cut punter who can come in and challenge for
• 24:01
  the Chargers job? I think this is now moot with
• 24:06
  JK Scott being on the roster. There was Mitch
• 24:08
  Wichnowski. hanging around unsigned the Australian
• 24:11
  punter but he's been picked up by the pats. Johnny
• 24:14
  Hecker is the only other guy who's sitting around
• 24:17
  not signed. He's now 36 years of age and he's
• 24:21
  released so maybe if things aren't working in
• 24:23
  weeks one or two we could see a move but for
• 24:25
  now JK Scott appears to be safe. Jack this one
• 24:29
  comes from old Dominic Muchachito from Rivers
• 24:32
  Lake Yacht Club. Is Jack actually the Pink Panther
• 24:37
  account on X? We might take that as rhetorical,
• 24:46
  although you can answer if you want to. No, we'll
• 24:47
  go rhetorical. I don't know if Jack has that
• 24:50
  kind of acerbic, quite the tolerance for offending
• 24:54
  people as Pink Panther does on X. No, I sort
• 24:58
  of have to think very even though it would be
• 25:00
  a pseudonym that would be linked to my IP addresses
• 25:03
  and could be used against me in a very serious
• 25:06
  and defamatory way. So it's definitely not me.
• 25:09
  It's definitely not me, Dominic. Okay. I'll take
• 25:13
  this one. E -Wing fighter pilot. Biggest roster
• 25:19
  gap, biggest depth position. We've talked about
• 25:23
  roster gaps, left guards, the obvious one. I'm
• 25:26
  now going to say RB2 is a bit of a roster gap,
• 25:29
  just until we see what Vidal looks like and Keaton
• 25:32
  Mitchell with the health. I think that's maybe
• 25:35
  a sneaky underrated one. Do you guys want to
• 25:38
  throw any others for roster gaps before I switch
• 25:41
  around? Cornerback. We did discuss cornerback
• 25:45
  and how thin that is. And there's not a lot of
• 25:49
  first round or second round talent there, if
• 25:51
  anything, actually. So maybe cornerback. Yep.
• 25:53
  Yeah. Another good one. And biggest depth position.
• 25:57
  You can jump in on that one, Andy. Biggest depth
• 26:00
  position. Uh, I think, well, I mean, you've got
• 26:04
  sheer numbers. on the offensive line, but I think
• 26:07
  safety with the six that they've got is probably
• 26:10
  the obvious one for me. Yep, that was my answer
• 26:14
  as well. I was going to go with wide receiver.
• 26:16
  I think there's wide receivers very deep. Very
• 26:20
  young though, I think. Yeah, but I think there's
• 26:23
  quality there and with McDaniel, he's going to
• 26:25
  be able to use some of those guys quite interestingly,
• 26:27
  I believe. So yeah, I'll say it's deep there.
• 26:30
  Good answers. Thank you, E -Wing fighter pilot
• 26:34
  Ash Holic. Three more questioners. Andy, this
• 26:38
  one's for you from Clips Bolts Sports on X. Considering
• 26:42
  Mack is possibly playing his last season, do
• 26:44
  you think Akeem Mezador will take the starting
• 26:47
  edge role from him at some point this season,
• 26:50
  or will Harbaugh stick with the proven vet even
• 26:53
  if getting outplayed? Yeah, it'd have to be a...
• 27:01
  injured, returning on sort of a snap count and
• 27:05
  then not kind of getting back to it. I don't
• 27:08
  see... I think Khalil Mack can change a game
• 27:10
  in an instant, so I don't think that he'll lose
• 27:15
  the starting job. Do you think there's an element
• 27:18
  of Harbaugh's personality that's relevant to
• 27:20
  that, Jack? Do you think he's more of a stick
• 27:22
  to the proven vet guy? Will he do what is best?
• 27:29
  But what does taking the role mean? I mean, Mack
• 27:33
  could start on the first defensive snap and then
• 27:35
  he subbed out and then Mezodors in the other
• 27:37
  packages. No, no. I think Mack is the leader.
• 27:41
  Dermot James is the leader. The defense is not
• 27:43
  only built around them, kind of from a schematic
• 27:46
  point of view, but from a philosophical and leadership
• 27:48
  point of view. Those are the guys. You don't
• 27:50
  upset the leadership. through the middle of the
• 27:52
  year, even if the rookie is playing really well.
• 27:55
  And nor would Joaquin Mezodore, I think, want
• 27:57
  to do that. I mean, arguably Tully has kind of
• 28:00
  become the lead of that edge room anyway with
• 28:02
  his play. But who is the leader? It's Khalil
• 28:06
  Mack and will be. Good answers. All right. Buck
• 28:10
  Melanoma, four quick hitters. Stormcloud. I'll
• 28:15
  take this one. What do you think's the sticking
• 28:17
  point with Tully's extension? How important is
• 28:19
  he to the future of the team? I don't know is
• 28:23
  the answer. I like I was trying to think is it
• 28:24
  a particular aspect of the contract? It's probably
• 28:27
  the the total amount he's asking for. I don't
• 28:29
  know if it's like total guarantees. And I think
• 28:32
  the charges are just saying two years of so so
• 28:35
  production, one year of very good production,
• 28:38
  but with a pass rush win rate that was not so
• 28:40
  good. Was it fluky? Do it again, man. And if
• 28:44
  you prove us wrong, we'll give you the bag because
• 28:46
  we think you're really important. But we're not
• 28:48
  going to commit to 35 million a year right now.
• 28:51
  We're going to let you play out on this deal.
• 28:53
  I think you can probably take that position and
• 28:57
  still view the guys important to the future of
• 28:59
  the team. You just think it's the most responsible
• 29:02
  thing to do from a cap perspective. Like what
• 29:04
  if he goes out and gets injured in the middle
• 29:06
  of the year like Slater did? And then you think,
• 29:08
  well, we just gave him a $150 million deal. We
• 29:10
  don't want to do that again after what happened
• 29:12
  with Rashawn last year. So yeah, I don't know.
• 29:15
  The sticking point, overall cash, but I still
• 29:18
  think he's important to the future of the team,
• 29:20
  Buck. Jack, what's your opinion of the possibility
• 29:25
  to platoon the left guard position? Keep in mind,
• 29:28
  one of the players platooned will be Pipkins
• 29:31
  and they'll be next to a rookie center. Oh my
• 29:33
  god, platooning. Well, maybe there is too much...
• 29:42
  Respect or I don't know, like there's too much
• 29:44
  put on the factor. You need consistency in the
• 29:47
  offensive line. Maybe you don't. I mean, Hortiz
• 29:49
  was a really interesting listen to his days at
• 29:52
  Baltimore and they had issues on the offensive
• 29:54
  line. So they decided to shift things up and
• 29:56
  they ended up being relatively successful. So
• 29:58
  maybe there's a bit of a misnomer to think that
• 30:01
  we need consistency. Maybe McDaniel is going
• 30:03
  to be running these guys in and out tempo. Let's
• 30:06
  get going. Hey, come on, push, push, push. So
• 30:10
  I'll take glass half full and go if they're gonna
• 30:12
  go with the platoon, let's go it may the best
• 30:15
  man win and good luck Justin Herbert I'll leave
• 30:17
  it at that my question back to you is do you
• 30:20
  think Harbors still would be saying this if a
• 30:24
  left guard had really stood out in a positive
• 30:27
  way during training camp Do you think it suggests
• 30:32
  no one's really earned the job? What do you think
• 30:34
  the opposite? Habos is we've got so many guys
• 30:36
  who've earned the job. We can't make a decision,
• 30:37
  man I reckon it's probably that, like, there's
• 30:41
  a little bit of that. And, okay, let me then
• 30:44
  put it back. If Tyler Beardish wasn't injured,
• 30:47
  do you think we'd be worried about or be going,
• 30:49
  hey, we've got Slater, Ault, Beardish, who cares
• 30:53
  what's happening in the guard spots? Because
• 30:55
  who cares on McDaniel's scheme? Who cares? We've
• 30:57
  got the three pieces that are super important.
• 30:59
  So I put it back to you that way. So it's circumstantial.
• 31:02
  And Platoon is a fantastic movie. So let's continue
• 31:05
  to say it on this show. Also horrendously horrendously
• 31:09
  kind of upsetting as well. Quite macabre. Yep.
• 31:13
  Let's hope for better outcomes than the cast
• 31:15
  of that film. Who's Tom Beringer? Yeah. Not me.
• 31:21
  Hopefully Pippen. All right, Andy. What do you
• 31:25
  think Herbert's numbers will look like in this
• 31:29
  offense? Actually, I'm going to go back and forth
• 31:32
  with you guys. Okay. Buck is thinking, Andy,
• 31:35
  5 ,000 yards plus. Do you think he's going to
• 31:38
  do that? Herbert had 5 ,014 yards one time in
• 31:42
  his career as 2021. Tua had 4 ,624 in 2023 under
• 31:48
  Mike McDaniel. Will Herbert surpass 5 ,000 passing
• 31:50
  yards? Gosh, what did Waddle hit that year? that
• 31:54
  Tyreke was close to 1 ,800? 11 or 13, I think
• 31:59
  it was 11 or 13. I put the numbers in our offline
• 32:02
  chat once, but it was something between them.
• 32:05
  They're massive numbers. I'll believe it when
• 32:08
  I see it. I don't think he'll hit 5 ,000. Yep,
• 32:13
  fair enough. He's only done it one time in six
• 32:15
  years. Yeah. Jack. 35 to 40 touchdowns is Buck's
• 32:23
  prediction. Herbert's most ever is 38 in 2021.
• 32:28
  And then 31 touchdowns in 2020. So you're saying
• 32:35
  between 35 and 40 is around that. I reckon 30.
• 32:39
  I reckon 35 is the top. I'd be worried that anything
• 32:43
  more than that, then our running game's gone
• 32:45
  to absolute. dog shit. So I'm hoping that 35
• 32:49
  is the I'm hoping that 35 is the top. Well, listen,
• 32:52
  it'd be great if he threw a sign 50, but that's
• 32:55
  probably not gonna happen. I reckon 35 would
• 32:57
  would be would be a really, really good season.
• 32:59
  And we're looking at however many on the ground.
• 33:02
  Nice. He only had 26 last year. So 35 would be
• 33:06
  a nice jump from that. Two more stats on Herbert
• 33:10
  Andy 60 plus percent completion rates. He's actually
• 33:14
  never had less than 65 % in his career. Yeah,
• 33:17
  I think 60 is a pretty bad year for Herbert.
• 33:24
  Will he get over 65? He had 68 .2 % in 2022.
• 33:30
  I think so. I think early you might see some
• 33:32
  timing issues, especially where QJ is involved.
• 33:38
  So that first touchdown is a dropped interception
• 33:41
  that just falls into his lap. Over the goal.
• 33:48
  Yeah, I expect over 66, 67. Okay. And Jack, fewer
• 33:56
  than 10 in deceptions. Herbert had 13 last year,
• 34:00
  Tua had 14 in 2023. Yeah, fewer than 10. Definitely.
• 34:05
  I think he's, he's one of the least turnover
• 34:08
  worthy players in the NFL. Something unbelievable.
• 34:10
  I saw us. I don't know what it was, whether it
• 34:12
  was Brady and someone was up there, but his numbers
• 34:14
  are unbelievable in that sense. And I think he's
• 34:16
  going to be looking after the ball. So yeah,
• 34:18
  definitely. Are we counting playoff games or
• 34:22
  just in the regular season? Okay. So yes, definitely
• 34:25
  less than 10. Rain man. Do you have any reference
• 34:30
  of what a 35 and nine season looks like in the
• 34:35
  past. Aaron Rogers. Yeah, it looks like MVP candidate
• 34:39
  for sure. Yeah. Four to one ratio. That felt
• 34:44
  MVP, I think. Stay in the hot seat, Jack. Prediction
• 34:48
  on Mezador's overall numbers. I think it's possible
• 34:52
  he hits. I'm excited football's back. I think
• 34:57
  it's possible he hits double -digit sacks with
• 34:59
  half of them coming from the inside. Jack, give
• 35:02
  me his pressures and his numbers. And just to
• 35:06
  give you some references, all right? In college
• 35:08
  last year for Miami, including the playoffs,
• 35:11
  he had 69 pressures and 13 sacks. 15 games. Last
• 35:16
  year, Tully had 75 pressures and 14 sacks. Mack
• 35:21
  had 42 pressures and 6 sacks. What? is a good
• 35:25
  year for mezador what's he gonna do? I don't
• 35:28
  know why I'm thinking this but maybe I sort of
• 35:31
  felt a lot of the sacks for mezador in college
• 35:33
  were gutsy set like hard working sacks broken
• 35:36
  pocket chasing down really working hard. I just
• 35:39
  don't think you get that many in the NFL sort
• 35:42
  of they just don't come along as as easy. So
• 35:45
  I'm thinking that that his work rate will lift
• 35:49
  his sack total, but he's going to get some gimmies.
• 35:52
  I don't think he's getting more than 10 are going
• 35:54
  to put it at 9 .5, but I think his pressure rating
• 35:58
  might, I'd like to think that he's getting, what
• 36:00
  was Max? 40 pressures. I'd like to think that
• 36:02
  as a rookie, he's sitting around the same as,
• 36:05
  as, as Mac. And remember, he's not going to be
• 36:07
  getting double teamed if he's on the field with
• 36:09
  Mac and Tully as well. So I'm kind of thinking
• 36:12
  that he's gonna, his, his pressure rating is
• 36:15
  going to be, his pressure is going to be higher,
• 36:17
  but his sacks that there's also an art to sacking
• 36:19
  at the NFL level quarterbacks are a little more
• 36:21
  slippery. you know, you over commit somewhere
• 36:24
  and all of a sudden you've missed them. So I
• 36:27
  think that that's that's where I'm sitting there.
• 36:29
  Good one. Thank you, Buck. Buck says thanks.
• 36:32
  Looking forward to the next show. Enjoy the game.
• 36:34
  Thank you, Buck. Our last question for the mailbag
• 36:37
  and then I'm going to lead us into an article
• 36:40
  by this fellow because I've got questions for
• 36:42
  you guys on both. Ryan Watkins. How to kick pods
• 36:47
  good friend of the show and he's never ever been
• 36:50
  carried home by him in a wheelbarrow I'm sure
• 36:54
  Ryan asks This is a good one out of the last
• 37:01
  ten Super Bowls This is Ryan's opinion seven
• 37:04
  of them were team first principles three were
• 37:06
  full of elite players Seven had star quarterbacks
• 37:09
  three had mid -tier guys five had elite defenses
• 37:12
  five or average There is no correlation there
• 37:15
  and therefore there is no consensus way to win
• 37:18
  a championship. So my question is a two part
• 37:20
  one. First, if you had to build a team in the
• 37:24
  modern era, Jack, pick two of these assets to
• 37:28
  have. Elite quarterback, elite defense, deep
• 37:32
  roster, star names on offense, non QB. Pick two
• 37:38
  of those four and let me know if you need me
• 37:40
  to repeat them. Star QB, deep roster. That's
• 37:44
  what, that's, that's where I'd be going. Yep.
• 37:46
  Star QB, deep roster injuries are such a huge
• 37:51
  thing in the NFL and we know it as charges fans.
• 37:54
  It's you can have, and we've had a decade of
• 37:58
  Tom Telesco building a team of guys who were
• 38:02
  names to lead each position group, but all of
• 38:05
  a sudden they get injured. They go down. Who
• 38:08
  have you got? I don't know. Nobody. So I'm going
• 38:12
  with a deep roster and you got to have a star
• 38:15
  quarterback. That's right. I think, I think I'm
• 38:17
  going to change the second part of the answer
• 38:20
  to a lead defense. Cause if you can promise me
• 38:22
  the quarterback and the defense are both elite,
• 38:25
  I might just risk on not knowing what the roster
• 38:27
  is deep roster, but you know, with a deep roster,
• 38:30
  it's probably going to be a pretty good defense
• 38:32
  anyway. So maybe potatoes, potatoes, follow up
• 38:34
  question. Is all of that considered? Why can't
• 38:39
  Jack? The Chargers win the Super Bowl, considering
• 38:43
  the variables that every season experiences by
• 38:46
  the time February rolls around. Why can't they,
• 38:49
  Jack? Uh, well, if I'm going to use the star
• 38:53
  quarterback and deep roster, this is possibly
• 38:55
  one of the deepest rosters that we've ever had.
• 38:59
  So why, why can't they, uh, I mean, not having
• 39:02
  a center and a rookie at center, I think is going
• 39:04
  to be a big thing. The quarterback room, we might
• 39:08
  get picked on. Uh, especially by other elite
• 39:11
  quarterbacks, I think in, in that sense, uh,
• 39:16
  and we still don't know what McDaniel looks like.
• 39:19
  We still don't know what McDaniel looks like.
• 39:22
  So kind of do that. So that's what I'm going
• 39:23
  to say. Why? That's what I'm going to say. Why
• 39:25
  we can't, but yes. Yeah. Ever the balance logician
• 39:29
  you have to play. You have to weigh it up. Those
• 39:31
  would be the reasons, but I feel like we're feeling
• 39:33
  pretty good on tonight's show. I'm feeling, I'm
• 39:35
  feeling pretty good. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Bit hard.
• 39:39
  All right. Thus ends the hashtag TDU Mailbag.
• 39:42
  Thank you for everyone who submitted questions.
• 39:44
  But before we move on, Jack, I do want to raise
• 39:46
  maybe a five minute discussion about an article
• 39:50
  Ryan posted on Stormcloud. Listeners, make sure
• 39:53
  you go onto stormcloud .blog and read this article.
• 39:57
  Ryan does fantastic work. The amount of research
• 40:00
  he puts into them schematically is absurd. The
• 40:04
  article is called Why Chris O 'Leary's Chaos
• 40:06
  Defense is Mike McDaniel's Perfect Match. And
• 40:09
  what he did guys is he looked at some of the
• 40:12
  trends of Chris O 'Leary this preseason versus
• 40:15
  Jesse Minter during the regular season last year.
• 40:18
  A couple of numbers. The blitz rate on passing
• 40:21
  downs under O 'Leary was 30 % in the preseason
• 40:24
  to 22 .9 % with Minter during the regular season.
• 40:28
  The odd front usage. So... 3 down linemen or
• 40:32
  5 down linemen as opposed to 2 or 4 was 50 .2
• 40:36
  % for O 'Leary 16 .4 % for Minter so bodies on
• 40:42
  the line and the neutral box rate so men in the
• 40:46
  box 7 or fewer neutral is 7 32 .4 % for O 'Leary,
• 40:53
  24 .5 % for Minter. What Ryan says in the article
• 40:58
  is, Minter's aggression never really matched
• 41:01
  the origins of the scheme he championed, which
• 41:03
  is built by Rex Ryan and Wink Martindale. Aggressive
• 41:06
  guys. For two straight years his defense put
• 41:08
  the team in position to win. Both times the offense
• 41:11
  wasn't elite enough. The lesson for Harbaugh
• 41:14
  was painful but clarifying. A conservative, consistent
• 41:17
  style only wins a championship when its stars
• 41:19
  are genuinely transcendent. A couple more quotes.
• 41:23
  To my eye, I think this brand of football is
• 41:25
  the final piece of the puzzle. An offense that
• 41:27
  can manufacture explosive plays gives a defense
• 41:31
  permission to gamble. Nothing about O 'Leary's
• 41:34
  tape suggests he's interested in playing it safe.
• 41:37
  While Minter built a defense to minimize mistakes
• 41:40
  and grind down games, O 'Leary has seemingly
• 41:43
  built his defense to attack. What, start with
• 41:47
  you Jack, what do you think about the premise
• 41:49
  and contention? Is this aggressive O 'Leary the
• 41:52
  perfect pairing with Mike McDaniel? Before I
• 41:57
  answer that, my first gut feel with Comparing
• 42:01
  what O 'Leary does in preseason versus what Minter
• 42:05
  does during the season. is if my memory serves
• 42:09
  me correctly, didn't Minter also blitz a heck
• 42:13
  of a lot in preseason last year? And he was sending
• 42:17
  linebackers through the A and B gap. I don't
• 42:20
  know the numbers, but I do remember having conversations
• 42:23
  being like, wow, is Minter actually going to
• 42:25
  be sending all sorts of disguise pressures and
• 42:27
  doing all this kind of stuff? Because I remember
• 42:28
  people like Perryman and Henley and Die and all
• 42:33
  these guys getting sacks or at least, you know,
• 42:37
  get getting pressure. So my only thing by saying
• 42:40
  this right now, the caveat would be that, well,
• 42:43
  we don't really know what O 'Leary's in season
• 42:45
  defense looks like. So I love it. I mean, it
• 42:49
  would be incredible if we had this defense coordinator
• 42:51
  that's just gonna go hammer and tongs with odd
• 42:54
  fronts and really put pressure on the protection
• 42:56
  schemes, um, of the opposition offensive line.
• 43:00
  I don't know where I sit because I don't, the
• 43:06
  The glass half full would love uber aggressive
• 43:09
  on either side and just let's just keep up with
• 43:11
  this guys. Good luck The only thing is that if
• 43:14
  any of that goes wrong like can McDaniel? Control
• 43:17
  again without putting up 70 points. Can he actually
• 43:20
  go? Okay, looks like we're probably only gonna
• 43:22
  score about 21 here. Do you have enough flexibility?
• 43:26
  I wonder without going a yin and yang sometimes
• 43:29
  there that you're all going too much yin and
• 43:32
  you've just, it's like smash mouth football looks
• 43:34
  great when you win by 70 points, but looks terrible
• 43:38
  when you lose by 24. That would be my only sort
• 43:42
  of consideration here, Andy. Yeah, I just, I
• 43:45
  don't think that it, I think that they've got
• 43:47
  the wherewithal that if the, the offense is stumbling
• 43:50
  that are leering will be a little bit more protective
• 43:53
  of the field and not take those risks. Just because
• 43:57
  he is blitzing at a higher rate, let's say 30%,
• 44:03
  doesn't necessarily mean that he's gonna do it
• 44:06
  all the time when the team's struggling to put
• 44:08
  points or move the change. So I think it is a
• 44:14
  good compliment. If anything, you... just sort
• 44:17
  of to go back on what Jack was saying regarding
• 44:20
  the, you know, the sample space of using pre
• 44:23
  -season and things like that. We saw last year
• 44:26
  at Western Michigan that O 'Leary tended to blitz
• 44:30
  kind of more than we were used to Minter doing.
• 44:34
  I think Minter just had a greater ability to
• 44:38
  disguise sending four. And look, the... it's
• 44:43
  still out there to determine whether O 'Leary
• 44:46
  can do the same thing and be creative enough
• 44:49
  to protect the field, but also pressure the quarterback
• 44:53
  in different ways and break up the passing game.
• 44:56
  Yeah, and I will say Ryan actually addresses
• 44:59
  the sample size point in his article. He says,
• 45:03
  you know, three games is a noisy sample from
• 45:05
  O 'Leary, but Minter did... emptied the blitz
• 45:08
  bag in one preseason game. But Ryan observed
• 45:12
  in the other five games, he really didn't do
• 45:13
  that as much. Whereas O 'Leary three out of three
• 45:16
  showed these aggressive trends. So he thought
• 45:18
  there was a bit of a difference. I think my response
• 45:22
  on this one, I was thinking about it today, because
• 45:25
  I read the article a couple of times, Ryan, it
• 45:27
  was so good. I think the obvious starting point
• 45:31
  is you want to be most points scored on offense
• 45:34
  and fewest points allowed on defense. That is
• 45:36
  obvious. Turns out there are lots of different
• 45:39
  ways you can have allow the fewest points on
• 45:41
  defense I looked last year and I'm just going
• 45:44
  to describe these defenses as either attacking
• 45:46
  or conservative It's a generality but based on
• 45:49
  how much they blitz in their coverage structures
• 45:51
  So top ten defenses last year Seahawks first
• 45:54
  I'd call them conservative ish Texan second aggressive
• 45:58
  Broncos third aggressive Patriots fourth aggressive
• 46:02
  Eagles fifth conservative Chief sixth aggressive
• 46:06
  Viking seventh aggressives Jags eighth balanced
• 46:10
  Chargers ninth conservative Rams tenth conservative.
• 46:14
  I think you can do it Any which way as long as
• 46:18
  you're elite at what you're doing. My question
• 46:20
  though is if you know Mike McDaniel's gonna produce
• 46:24
  a top eight offense in point scored. Say you
• 46:27
  know that, then the question is what kind of
• 46:31
  defense should you play? And I think the attacking
• 46:34
  style probably has greater variance, as you were
• 46:37
  saying, Jack. I mean, some weeks it might go
• 46:39
  really well, some weeks it might go really poorly.
• 46:42
  So when Ryan says an offense that can manufacture
• 46:45
  - Shout out this shootout, right? Right. So when
• 46:47
  he says your offense manufacturing explosive
• 46:50
  plays give us a defense permission to gamble,
• 46:52
  I kind of think - What it means is the opposite
• 46:55
  a bit for me. If the defense... But why would
• 46:58
  you? Yeah. Why do you have to? Yeah, if your
• 46:59
  offense is scoring seven each time they get the
• 47:01
  ball, keep them to three, make them matriculate
• 47:04
  the ball downfield. But I'm just speaking generalities.
• 47:08
  I'm sure what O 'Leary would do is game plan
• 47:10
  to game plan. Some quarterbacks, you want to
• 47:12
  blitz them and heat them up. Other guys, you
• 47:13
  don't. Either way, I thought it was a really
• 47:16
  good article, Ryan. Any parting thoughts from
• 47:18
  you, Jack, before we move on to your segment?
• 47:20
  Yeah, I mean, there's pressure. that's put on
• 47:24
  by the defense, but then there's also, I think,
• 47:27
  a greater pressure in the game of football, which
• 47:29
  is scoreboard pressure. So why would you, if
• 47:32
  you're down by three touchdowns why would you
• 47:35
  decide on a third down to even give the other
• 47:38
  team a hint of a big play because you know you
• 47:41
  might mess up the coverage because you're deciding
• 47:44
  to go with a nickel blitz and something happens
• 47:46
  all of a sudden they get a big explosive they
• 47:48
  get in field goal range then something happens
• 47:50
  on the offense all of a sudden there's this flicker
• 47:52
  of hope or do you just go hey you're gonna have
• 47:55
  to beat us we're gonna lock you down in terms
• 47:57
  of coverage we're gonna get pressure on you with
• 47:59
  three or four guys good luck you're gonna turn
• 48:01
  the ball over you're gonna give us the ball I
• 48:03
  don't know. That's the conservative person in
• 48:05
  me. And do we really think that old Harbaugh
• 48:09
  sitting up here who believes that America should
• 48:12
  be back in where it should be? 1945 should be
• 48:15
  there as a conservative man is going to be going,
• 48:17
  Hey O 'Leary, just calm down chief. I don't know.
• 48:20
  Unless a leopard changes its spots. Who knows?
• 48:23
  Anyway, that's my problem. I was not even watching
• 48:25
  the game at this point. So who knows? Maybe they've
• 48:27
  got carte blanche. Yeah. All right. Uh, thanks.
• 48:32
  Thank you so much to everyone also. Yeah. For
• 48:34
  the questions. They're awesome. Um, let's move
• 48:37
  into a really quick rapid fire game preview of
• 48:41
  the Cardinals boys, a little bit of a different
• 48:44
  kind of, uh, go. Ooh, it's quite loud. Uh, but
• 48:49
  who are, who were the 2025 Cardinals? They were
• 48:53
  pretty crap. Don't know where bird flu emanated
• 48:56
  from, but I reckon that's probably somewhere
• 48:59
  in Arizona. Three and 14, fourth in the NFC West.
• 49:04
  Ended the season on a nine game losing streak,
• 49:08
  guys. Michael Fleur comes in as their head coach
• 49:13
  as the former Rams offensive coordinator, part
• 49:17
  of the McVay tree. Hackett's there, Rallis is
• 49:20
  there. Don't know how to pronounce this name,
• 49:22
  but I think it's Gahobrial. is there on special
• 49:25
  teams. You've got my boy Trey McBride who I absolutely
• 49:29
  love. You've got Marvin Harrison Jr. who forgot
• 49:32
  his hands. And you've got Jeremiah Love who is
• 49:35
  nursing a bit of an ankle because of the weight
• 49:37
  of pressure that has been put on him by this
• 49:41
  brand new team that he finds himself on. Alistair.
• 49:45
  Where are we? Is this team as bad as the 2025
• 49:50
  3 and 14 records suggests? What say you and where
• 49:53
  do you want to start this preview? I don't think
• 49:59
  many teams are as bad as 3 and 14 in multiple
• 50:02
  successive years Jack and I think this team has
• 50:04
  enough Explosive playmakers that they can expect
• 50:07
  to luck their way into a few games I mean, I
• 50:09
  know the quarterback is the most important position
• 50:12
  in the sport and they're lining up with Jacoby
• 50:14
  Brissette No one's idea of a fantastic quarterback.
• 50:17
  I'm a little disappointed They're not throwing
• 50:19
  Carson Beck out there to the walls after a brilliant
• 50:22
  Hall of Fame game It would be interesting to
• 50:24
  see him come up you know, as an unknown, unscouted
• 50:27
  quarterback in week one. Alas, it's not to be.
• 50:30
  But Jack, this team do have enough ways to hurt
• 50:33
  you. You've mentioned your love child, Trey McBride.
• 50:36
  Marvin Harrison Jr. is yet to find those hands
• 50:38
  two years into his career, but they're there.
• 50:41
  I seen them on the tapes back in the day. Michael
• 50:44
  Wilson just inks a big extension underrated player
• 50:47
  and they've got a couple of talented players
• 50:49
  in the running back room, Jack. So I don't think
• 50:52
  we should completely discount that this team
• 50:55
  could threaten some teams, but the margin for
• 50:59
  error is pretty thin because I don't like the
• 51:00
  depth jack and I don't know if the defense is
• 51:02
  much chop. Where do we want to go next? Well,
• 51:06
  let's think it just on Jacobi Brisset finished
• 51:09
  with 300. 3 ,366 yards, 23 touchdowns, but if
• 51:14
  we're talking about that touchdown to interception
• 51:17
  ratio, he only had eight interceptions. So whilst
• 51:20
  they were, I think they were one and 11 in his
• 51:23
  run, not too bad at the quarterback position.
• 51:27
  Andy, um, where, where are you sitting on this
• 51:29
  team as a whole? Do you think that Michael Fleur
• 51:32
  is going to bring this offense and it's going
• 51:34
  to be something that we're not super prepared
• 51:36
  for as, as, as sort of a charges organization?
• 51:39
  Or do you think it's going to be Brissette that's
• 51:41
  going to have a bit more stability and knows
• 51:43
  what he's doing or anywhere else? What, what
• 51:46
  say you in this sort of big picture kind of,
• 51:48
  I mean, essentially the Cardinals are resetting.
• 51:50
  So, uh, what do you reckon we can expect there?
• 51:52
  Well, it's kind of a nice start for you. Don't
• 51:55
  want to talk the cupcakes of the schedule, but
• 51:58
  when you're coming up against one of the worst
• 52:00
  teams from last year, a lot of new pieces and
• 52:04
  to be fair, a lot of question marks on some key
• 52:07
  players, be it the ankle sprain to love Marvin
• 52:10
  Harrison and his drop issues there. And there
• 52:14
  was a big reliance on Trey McBride. So to see
• 52:17
  him do it again would be. would be great. Uh,
• 52:20
  but really, will he be able to do it again? Uh,
• 52:23
  so a lot of pieces and this Chris O 'Leary defense
• 52:28
  has been practicing all, uh, training camp, everything
• 52:32
  against a Shanahanian offense. So we're kind
• 52:35
  of ready as much as we can for the, the generalities
• 52:39
  of the, the wide zone scheme. Um, and you know,
• 52:42
  whatever variances Lafleur will run on that.
• 52:45
  So, uh, yeah, I think. There are definitely pieces
• 52:50
  to not take for granted. Jacoby Brissette didn't
• 52:53
  turn the ball over that much, but a lot of his
• 52:55
  pressure, uh, he succumbs to a lot of pressure
• 52:59
  from the inside. So I'm really unfortunate for
• 53:02
  the Cardinals again, that chase Basantes is out
• 53:04
  for the season because that right guard was a
• 53:07
  real, sorry, left, the left -hand side of the
• 53:09
  line, left guard and left tackle are the big
• 53:12
  question marks. Nope. Right. I meant the right.
• 53:15
  Which side's Paris Johnson and Sula Malu on?
• 53:17
  They're on the left, aren't they? They're on
• 53:19
  the left. Right. Yeah. Okay. So the right, that
• 53:21
  right -hand side of the line is, is a bit of
• 53:23
  a question. Look at the way they trust me. So
• 53:29
  I think, can we sort of say the conclusion here?
• 53:31
  Your daughter would probably know more than us
• 53:32
  considering you read her all these things. I
• 53:35
  recited, I go left guard, Paris Johnson, left
• 53:37
  guard, Isaac Sayamalu, center, Hyati Frohluk.
• 53:41
  Yeah. Depth chart number 31. Listen, I think
• 53:46
  Arizona is possibly better than a typical three
• 53:49
  win team on paper. Uh, but it must prove it.
• 53:52
  And we're the first year head coach who knows
• 53:55
  Alistair, let's get a little bit more into the,
• 53:58
  uh, the offense of the Cardinals and from a defensive
• 54:04
  standpoint, uh, which Arizona weapon should the
• 54:07
  charges prioritized to stop now, my boy, my boy,
• 54:11
  Trey McBride. I love you baby. I love you so
• 54:13
  much. I think he's the best title in the NFL
• 54:15
  personally. 126 receptions around 1200 yards,
• 54:19
  11 touchdowns in 2025. Do we start there? Or
• 54:22
  are we going to see something different under
• 54:23
  Le Fleur? What should the charge do defensively?
• 54:26
  Yeah, you got to start there because what was
• 54:28
  I think on our preseason, like offseason opponent
• 54:31
  series, we were saying this could be the deepest
• 54:34
  running back room in the entire NFL because we
• 54:36
  were talking about Jeremiah Love, Tyler Orgea,
• 54:38
  James Connor, and Trey Benson as like second
• 54:42
  round pick who's fourth on the depth chart already
• 54:46
  Benson's on season ending IR and James Connor
• 54:48
  is on IR designated to return can't play until
• 54:50
  week five so that great running back room is
• 54:53
  now Jeremiah Love with a sore ankle and Tyler
• 54:55
  Augier so I was going to come up with a cute
• 54:58
  answer Jack but you just got to play do any man
• 55:01
  coverage on Trey McBride as much as you can up
• 55:03
  close and getting physical with him maybe some
• 55:05
  bracket occasionally if you need to and commit
• 55:08
  some resources Dare Marvin Harrison Jr. To exploit
• 55:12
  one of our outside cornerbacks or Michael Wilson.
• 55:14
  Until I see that Jack, I'm loading the box and
• 55:17
  I'm stopping Trey McBride from spoiling this
• 55:20
  game. Yep. I think stopping the running game
• 55:23
  first, I think completely removes that play action
• 55:26
  foundation that I think Le Fleur's going to bring
• 55:29
  with with Brissette and it's just going to, I
• 55:32
  just think we just sort of put force them into
• 55:34
  obvious passing situations. Andy, you brought
• 55:37
  it up the right hand side there sort of little
• 55:41
  bit rebuilt or the offensive lines being rebuilt.
• 55:43
  How should the Los Angeles attack that? that
• 55:47
  rebuilt line. What, what are you thinking in
• 55:49
  terms of pressure packages? Who are you, who
• 55:51
  are you really going to lean on in this first
• 55:52
  game? Are we going to look to those veterans,
• 55:54
  Tully and Mack, or is it going to be some other
• 55:56
  areas that we might be seeing some bit of fun?
• 56:00
  Uh, well, I think without being able to sort
• 56:02
  of define your, uh, pressure packages as such,
• 56:06
  um, the, the floor's really open and Justin Aboigbe
• 56:10
  has a really big chance to, to operate out the
• 56:13
  middle. And look, if we're seeing odd fronts,
• 56:17
  kind of even five, whether they all rush, we
• 56:22
  can get linebackers in there too. So I think
• 56:24
  it's really open and I'm excited to see what
• 56:27
  Chris O 'Leary can do to exploit it. Absolutely.
• 56:32
  I think the, you know, Kyle Murray has now gone
• 56:35
  to play Xbox in some other state with some other
• 56:37
  team so you know Brissette is definitely not
• 56:39
  the running threat that Murray was right so I
• 56:43
  think the idea here is and I might actually go
• 56:45
  against what Ryan sort of said earlier in his
• 56:47
  article I think This recalls for like discipline,
• 56:50
  sort of four man pressures, really setting the
• 56:53
  edge and strong edge containment L and just those
• 56:56
  selective stunts where possible. And as you said,
• 56:59
  leaning on Derwin to just absolutely bracket
• 57:01
  and smother McBride. Okay. Cardinals defense.
• 57:05
  Alistair, I'll throw it to you. What's Justin
• 57:07
  Herbert going to do? What's going to be McDaniel's
• 57:10
  game plan here? Philosophy. Let's be aggressive
• 57:13
  early on that side of the ball Jack. I agree
• 57:15
  on defense. We don't need to overdo it because
• 57:17
  the Cardinals allowed Brissette to be pressured
• 57:19
  a lot last year. I think Thule, Lee, Mack and
• 57:22
  Mezador can get pressure on their own in one
• 57:25
  -on -ones if they really need to. Some some stunts
• 57:27
  and games. Be conservative that side, but on
• 57:29
  offense Jack. Let's do what we did early in the
• 57:32
  game against the Rams because Nick Rallis ran
• 57:34
  the third most quarters coverage last year. McDaniel
• 57:38
  has shown a real propensity to attacking those
• 57:41
  play styles because what is supposed to be an
• 57:43
  umbrella coverage can actually be exploited as
• 57:46
  long as you get one of those two safeties just
• 57:49
  to bite down slightly, stop their feet, you can
• 57:51
  hit a deep post over the top of their head like
• 57:54
  we saw happen with Quentin Johnston. So I'm thinking
• 57:56
  Lad McConkey, I'm thinking QJ Jack for that first
• 57:59
  touchdown. of the game. Let's get a lead nice
• 58:02
  and early and be aggressive with some shot plays.
• 58:04
  Their secondary is not great. Booter Baker, Andrew
• 58:06
  Wingard, let them crash down in the box, throw
• 58:09
  it over their head. Love it. Yeah. I think, um,
• 58:13
  yeah. Test the run defense, uh, of the Arizona
• 58:16
  Cardinals, I think. Yeah. And you're right. Use
• 58:18
  that success to open up those holes on the back
• 58:21
  end. Andy. tough, tougher question here. How
• 58:25
  should the charges and sure, let's let's before
• 58:28
  we even answer that and Alistair might let you
• 58:29
  in on this one as well. Should the charges be
• 58:32
  prioritizing to protect Jake Slaughter in his
• 58:35
  very first outing? Walter Nolan's on there. He's
• 58:38
  very quick. He's probably one of their main kind
• 58:41
  of weapons. What should we be worried about Jake
• 58:46
  Slaughter here? Do you think what's your What's
• 58:48
  your level of sort of scaredness of this? Are
• 58:51
  we, are we sort of like, Oh God, I hope he holds
• 58:53
  up or like, Oh, he's going to be okay. I'm going
• 58:55
  to go with medium spicy, medium hot. Um, it's
• 59:01
  like a nice trial by fire without it being charges
• 59:05
  versus Rams week one. And I think there's a little
• 59:08
  bit of sort of leniency in the past protection,
• 59:11
  um, with the ball coming out quickly and. Let's
• 59:16
  just hope that Nolan doesn't disrupt the timing
• 59:19
  too much in the zone running scheme. Welcome
• 59:22
  to Nandos. Can I take your order? Medium hot.
• 59:24
  Thank you very much. What are you thinking, Alistair?
• 59:32
  What are you thinking here is what could we do
• 59:35
  offensively to sort of maybe protect or help
• 59:37
  Jake out? There's lots you could do but I don't
• 59:40
  want to do it to start this game because I want
• 59:42
  to see what Jake's slaughter is made of and I
• 59:44
  think Walter Nolan is more of a mercurial player
• 59:47
  with some effort issues Explosiveness. I'm don't
• 59:51
  worry about him being like the Powerful massive
• 59:55
  workhorse guy who might overwhelm slaughter with
• 59:58
  strength I do think he relies on swim moves and
• 1:00:01
  that kind of explosive athleticism slaughter
• 1:00:03
  has a fighting chance until Until we see him
• 1:00:06
  getting warped, I want us just to run our normal
• 1:00:09
  offense and not worried about having, you know,
• 1:00:11
  extra guys in to protect. It's pretty hard to
• 1:00:13
  game plan against interior rushes in the first
• 1:00:16
  place. If we can avoid doing it, I think the
• 1:00:18
  better because otherwise it might limit our offensive
• 1:00:20
  play calling a bit too much. Trust in the rookie.
• 1:00:23
  He's ready for it, Jack. Four year starter of
• 1:00:25
  Florida. Let's go, Jake. Love it. And back on
• 1:00:28
  the hot seat. Do you think McDaniel's going to
• 1:00:30
  run any tempo? What's your, what's your, what's
• 1:00:32
  your best? Yeah, because we haven't really seen
• 1:00:35
  much in the preseason. I don't think we've seen
• 1:00:38
  hardly anything actually tempo. But again, one
• 1:00:41
  way to really protect not only slaughter, but
• 1:00:43
  the offensive line is to run that tempo to not
• 1:00:46
  get the defense into that sort of rhythm. Do
• 1:00:48
  you think that McDaniel is going to do that?
• 1:00:50
  I don't. And I think in the preseason, we ranked
• 1:00:54
  first in motion rate, it was up to like 83 %
• 1:00:57
  of drop backs. Motion slows you down, right?
• 1:01:00
  You can't really just go up and snap the ball.
• 1:01:02
  I think we might use that lever throughout the
• 1:01:04
  year, but week one against a defense we think
• 1:01:06
  we're just better than. I think we're going to
• 1:01:08
  go up there and just do our funny business and
• 1:01:11
  hope that the window dressing creates some explosives
• 1:01:13
  against a young secondary. Good question though,
• 1:01:15
  Jack hadn't thought about it. Interesting one.
• 1:01:18
  All right, Andy, let's just jump into to finish
• 1:01:19
  this off. What do you think matters most for
• 1:01:23
  the charges? If they are to win can be anything
• 1:01:26
  can be offense, defense, tempo can be game style.
• 1:01:29
  What do you think matters most? Uh, the, the
• 1:01:33
  harmony between offensive line quarterback and
• 1:01:37
  just offense in general. I think that matters
• 1:01:39
  the most and just getting through unscathed,
• 1:01:43
  getting through unscathed really, um, all of
• 1:01:46
  that stuff. I think there's sorta, there's more
• 1:01:49
  eyes on, I think on the, on the offense. Uh,
• 1:01:54
  how it's going to work with McDaniel. Absolutely.
• 1:01:57
  Very exciting. And the ceiling is huge, but we
• 1:02:00
  need to sort of test the bathtub before we jump
• 1:02:02
  in. Um, I think a little bit. So, uh, yeah, that's
• 1:02:07
  how I say it. Al, what are you thinking? Yeah.
• 1:02:10
  One thing we must mention is we don't have Perryman
• 1:02:13
  and they do have Jeremiah love and Lafleur is
• 1:02:16
  going to want to change this team from 32nd ranked
• 1:02:18
  in rush attempts. So just be careful. Whoever
• 1:02:21
  that second backer is, if it's wax or die. Gotta
• 1:02:24
  read the flow with that outside zone running
• 1:02:26
  game and not allow a cutback lane to go for a
• 1:02:29
  70 yard touchdown. That will be a key to an upset
• 1:02:31
  loss in this game is if early on we can't stop
• 1:02:34
  them running the ball and Jeremiah Love looks
• 1:02:36
  like the freak that he is. So bit of pressure
• 1:02:38
  on whoever it is who gets the call up to start
• 1:02:41
  next to Dayon Henley. He's expected to start
• 1:02:44
  week one. Love? Yeah, I believe so. Early in
• 1:02:48
  the week, but I don't think so. Uh, for me to
• 1:02:52
  put a bow on it, uh, before I pass it over to
• 1:02:53
  you, Andy, for some buy, sell or hold, uh, we're
• 1:02:56
  going to go, I'm going to say that what, what
• 1:02:58
  is important is that we play patiently. We have
• 1:03:01
  the better quarterback. We have the better roster.
• 1:03:04
  Um, we need to just remain composed. They're
• 1:03:07
  going to come out there and try and do is all
• 1:03:08
  this tricky diggy stuff that we probably haven't
• 1:03:10
  seen on tape before. Just just go and win. Don't
• 1:03:13
  play too out there. McDaniel, don't get too much
• 1:03:16
  swag going. Just we've got Justin Herbert. That's
• 1:03:20
  the most important position on the field. We're
• 1:03:22
  far better at that position than the Arizona
• 1:03:24
  Cardinals. Win the game, baby. And I guess we're
• 1:03:27
  going win, win, win, win. Score predictions.
• 1:03:30
  Oh, score predictions. Score predictions. I'm
• 1:03:32
  going to go 38 to 17. Okay. 34, 10 big, big multi
• 1:03:38
  -score win. I like that. I was thinking 27, 10.
• 1:03:42
  Nice. Nice. All right. Let's go baby. Sadly,
• 1:03:47
  the last pre -season show of 2026, not sad at
• 1:03:52
  all. Regular season is on the horizon, a bit
• 1:03:56
  of season related propositions for our buy sell
• 1:03:59
  hold tonight. So Al, I'm going to start you off.
• 1:04:03
  And just a topical one to kick things off with,
• 1:04:07
  the Rams have totally bungled this PR effort
• 1:04:10
  by maintaining consistency with their players
• 1:04:13
  routines and only arriving in the country for
• 1:04:16
  their home game 36 hours before kickoff. I'm
• 1:04:22
  buying that take. I think there is something
• 1:04:25
  to be it doesn't mean I think they'll lose the
• 1:04:26
  game But I think the way the 49ers have played
• 1:04:28
  it they're embracing the city of Melbourne. They're
• 1:04:31
  drinking the coffee. They're watching the AFL
• 1:04:35
  football They're getting their bodies ready and
• 1:04:38
  their minds right and that they're gonna be locked
• 1:04:40
  in focus and sleeping Well, the Rams are treating
• 1:04:42
  this as like some short notice business trip.
• 1:04:45
  I'm buying that take I'm interested to see the
• 1:04:48
  results All right Jack Justin Herbert will scream
• 1:04:55
  at his o lineman this year at least once that
• 1:04:58
  is captured during a main broadcast and replayed
• 1:05:00
  and Herbert will be asked about it in the post
• 1:05:03
  game press conference for that game. Like I'm
• 1:05:07
  I'm give me more of that just bye bye bye bye
• 1:05:10
  bye. I reckon it's going to be like at least
• 1:05:12
  five times. It's going to happen. I love it.
• 1:05:14
  Okay. Yeah. I think it's, I think it's good in,
• 1:05:16
  I mean, he hasn't done it particularly. I'll
• 1:05:19
  go three. Yeah, I'll go three. I'll go three,
• 1:05:22
  but I am, but I am buying that. It's the year,
• 1:05:24
  you know, this is the year that he should be
• 1:05:27
  pushing towards a championship game. Black blocks
• 1:05:30
  better than that. What's your fiance blocking?
• 1:05:34
  Um, uh, I'm going to go right back at you. Alistair
• 1:05:37
  Caleb Williams will win the MVP and take Chicago
• 1:05:40
  to the NFC championship game. I'm selling that
• 1:05:46
  take Jack. Caleb needs to show a little bit more.
• 1:05:49
  It's a really competitive NFC. Too many guys
• 1:05:52
  I have above him in the MVP. I'm going to sell
• 1:05:54
  that take, but I like that you're coming around
• 1:05:56
  on Caleb Williams. Andy, Justin Herbert fitting
• 1:06:02
  question after our show with Sam. Justin Herbert
• 1:06:04
  will receive at least one NFL MVP vote for the
• 1:06:09
  2026 season from the 50 voters. Had a very similar
• 1:06:15
  question for Jack along those lines. Yeah, I'm
• 1:06:19
  going to I'm gonna buy it Yeah, I'm gonna buy
• 1:06:24
  it love it me too Al back to you Ruben Bayne
• 1:06:31
  jr. Proves 11 teams wrong by winning defensive
• 1:06:33
  rookie of the year like that I'm gonna sell the
• 1:06:38
  take Andy Not because I disagree, just always
• 1:06:40
  take the field if it's an individual award. I
• 1:06:43
  just got to say being the raw numbers guy, there
• 1:06:46
  are too many other guys I like in this class,
• 1:06:48
  man. Peter Woods, Mansell Delane, yada yada,
• 1:06:50
  Kim Masador. Masador. But Ruben Payne was my
• 1:06:54
  second ranked player. So he's got as good a chance
• 1:06:56
  as anybody. Jack, Fernando Mendoza will have
• 1:07:01
  fewer than six starts in the 2026 NFL season.
• 1:07:09
  Uh, I will sell that. I think the patience is
• 1:07:14
  gonna wear thin with the Raiders if Kirk Cousins
• 1:07:18
  is not the man there. And if they start off very
• 1:07:22
  rough and if I start getting absolutely belted,
• 1:07:24
  which I hope they do, they're going to want to
• 1:07:27
  see Mendoza out there, I think. So I'm going
• 1:07:29
  to sell that. Uh, Andy, Quinton Johnson will
• 1:07:32
  catch more touchdowns than Lad McConkey. I don't
• 1:07:40
  want it to be true, but we caught eight last
• 1:07:43
  year. Uh, yeah. Yeah, I can, I can, I'm going
• 1:07:49
  to hold, I'm going to hold and sit on the fence
• 1:07:52
  with it. Good use of the hold. Yeah, good use
• 1:07:55
  of the hold. First use of the hold tonight. Uh,
• 1:07:58
  I, I think there's, there's just probably a better
• 1:08:01
  chance than 50 % that, uh, he scores more tighties
• 1:08:06
  than lad. Okay. Okay. Um, Al on the NFL MVP,
• 1:08:15
  parlaying Herbert in with the Chargers Superbowl
• 1:08:18
  win is not something you'll curse the team with
• 1:08:20
  this year. I would have to sell that take. I'd
• 1:08:27
  forgotten. I'd forgotten about that. And listeners,
• 1:08:29
  I always put a cheeky 400 or 500 bucks at the
• 1:08:32
  start of each year for something ludicrously.
• 1:08:34
  All right, mate. All right, lawyer. The important
• 1:08:38
  cut cabinet is the only gambling I do the whole
• 1:08:41
  year. It's just the one bet. Invariably it loses.
• 1:08:45
  This might be the year it wins Andy. I'm glad
• 1:08:47
  you reminded me, mate. You can ask me again,
• 1:08:51
  um, 10 drinks deep, hand me the bet three, six,
• 1:08:53
  five app and yeah. I don't want you to do it.
• 1:08:56
  I shouldn't have brought it up. That's the squeaky
• 1:08:58
  wheel in the offset account, I think. Yeah. Kirsten,
• 1:09:02
  he listened to this for $400. That's a nice meal
• 1:09:05
  out. Yeah. Yeah, tricky Chinese massage parley
• 1:09:10
  is actually good food. All right. Andy, you keep
• 1:09:16
  holding it. Jim Harbour refers to glide theory
• 1:09:22
  at least one more time in a press conference
• 1:09:25
  this year. And for those who don't know by now,
• 1:09:28
  it's the, you know, the, you know, start the
• 1:09:29
  season slow. You're at the top of the runway,
• 1:09:31
  the plane gathers momentum, then you're gliding.
• 1:09:33
  And then you're real. We've got to sit through
• 1:09:35
  that at least one more time in a presser this
• 1:09:37
  year. For sure. He'll be as the season grows
• 1:09:40
  on, he'll be talking about the different phases
• 1:09:41
  of the glide theory. So, you know, we started
• 1:09:44
  off on the go through turbulence and now you
• 1:09:46
  keep your seat belts on. Yeah, that's evidence.
• 1:09:51
  It's like an onramp, you know, your car onto
• 1:09:53
  the highway. And we see the bar week is like
• 1:09:55
  the eye of the storm. But and now the plane's
• 1:09:58
  just going back through it. Yes, bye. Ah, al
• 1:10:04
  Bengals make a return to play off football this
• 1:10:06
  year. What am I? Am I chopped liver? I'm getting
• 1:10:09
  no questions here. You're up next, mate. I'm
• 1:10:11
  gonna sell the take Andy. It's it's close. They
• 1:10:14
  got a good chance to bounce back. And I like
• 1:10:16
  what they've done with Dexter Lawrence. adding
• 1:10:19
  some pieces, but I still don't think they're
• 1:10:21
  quite gonna make it. It's partly because Burrow
• 1:10:23
  just can't be trusted to stay healthy, and if
• 1:10:25
  he loses and misses games again, they're not
• 1:10:27
  gonna get enough wins. So I'm selling that take.
• 1:10:31
  Jack, the NFL comeback player of the year will
• 1:10:34
  not be Patrick Mahomes, it will be Aaron Donald.
• 1:10:39
  Oh, I love this one. Buy it, buy it. I hope,
• 1:10:43
  I hope it is. I mean, is he eligible? He would
• 1:10:46
  be eligible. I assume he's coming back from retirement.
• 1:10:48
  So sure. I don't think my homes would, I don't
• 1:10:50
  think my homes would be eligible. How many games
• 1:10:52
  did he short price favorite in my homes at the
• 1:10:54
  minute? Donald's third. Is he? There's no rule
• 1:10:57
  about it. Philip Rivers was a comeback player
• 1:10:59
  of the year after having 18 interceptions. 25
• 1:11:02
  kids. That's like the greatest now year award
• 1:11:12
  ever. Uh, Andy, uh, quick one. Miles Garrett
• 1:11:16
  is going to break the single season sack record
• 1:11:19
  with the Rams. What does he need? 23, 24. I think
• 1:11:23
  he said last year or two seasons ago himself.
• 1:11:26
  He's going to break. He's going to get 25 sacks
• 1:11:29
  sack lunch baby. Oh man. It's such a hard thing
• 1:11:32
  to do. I'm gonna sell it. I don't think he's
• 1:11:35
  gonna break it again this year Jack I'm going
• 1:11:39
  to go as sort of part B to the question that
• 1:11:42
  I asked Al Considering his answer that the Bengals
• 1:11:45
  missed the playoffs Does that make Zack Taylor's
• 1:11:49
  seat the hottest of all NFL coaches? I'm trying
• 1:11:55
  to think of other coaches that would be that
• 1:11:56
  would be four four years in a row. I think that
• 1:11:59
  they've missed playoffs. Yeah Yeah. I mean, Burrow
• 1:12:03
  being injured didn't help last year. Uh, is it
• 1:12:08
  the hottest? He'll be up there. I think. Yeah.
• 1:12:10
  Yeah. With the, with Higgins, you know, with,
• 1:12:14
  um, chase. I mean, they haven't done too much
• 1:12:17
  on defense, but, um, yeah, I think it'll be about
• 1:12:20
  time. So yes, I agree. I'm going to buy that.
• 1:12:23
  Yes, I'm going to buy it. Andy, this is an interesting
• 1:12:26
  one. And I don't know, just really quickly, if
• 1:12:28
  you want to get the standings up for the divisions
• 1:12:31
  last year, but I'm going to say at least one
• 1:12:34
  team that won its division last season will finish
• 1:12:38
  last in their division in 2026. Alistair, I might
• 1:12:43
  throw that to you as well, just so if you've,
• 1:12:45
  if you've got a bit of time, because it's an
• 1:12:47
  interesting one, because they're always fascinating
• 1:12:50
  to look at. Yeah, I don't know off the top of
• 1:12:53
  my head if that happened for last year, a team
• 1:12:56
  went from first to last. I don't essentially
• 1:13:01
  what we're looking at is it's Patriots, Steelers,
• 1:13:05
  Jaguars, Broncos, or it could be the, uh, where
• 1:13:11
  are we? That's 2026. The Bucks are the ones who
• 1:13:15
  I think could happen if something goes wrong.
• 1:13:19
  Bucks finished second. Oh, the Panthers. But
• 1:13:22
  that has to be, that has to be the most like
• 1:13:25
  baseline even division, uh, where anything could
• 1:13:30
  happen. They could all finish it on like, I don't
• 1:13:33
  know, eight and nine. Uh, and it's just a tiebreaker
• 1:13:36
  and the Panthers finished fourth somehow. So
• 1:13:40
  yeah. Yeah. I'd go with that. Yep. So yeah. So
• 1:13:44
  you're going to buy it. So at least, are you
• 1:13:46
  going to sell it? At least one, at least one.
• 1:13:50
  No, I'm gonna sell it. I'm gonna sell it both
• 1:13:54
  sell. Okay like it Andy can I ask you one? Yeah,
• 1:13:58
  at least one of this year's Super Bowl participants
• 1:14:00
  will be a team that's never won a Super Bowl
• 1:14:02
  There are 12 of them left They are the Cardinals
• 1:14:06
  the Falcons Bills Panthers Bengals Browns Lions
• 1:14:11
  Texans Jags Chargers Vikings Titans at least
• 1:14:17
  one of those will be in the Super Bowl this year
• 1:14:25
  Yeah Yeah, I'm gonna buy that nice Take the field
• 1:14:29
  teams in that Texans Jags Chargers Bills Yeah,
• 1:14:33
  not many in the NFC Lions, maybe Mmm. Yeah, it
• 1:14:37
  is a pretty I have so yeah, it's kind of cutting
• 1:14:39
  out the odds, isn't it? But I think Four of those
• 1:14:44
  teams will probably be playoff teams. So with
• 1:14:46
  all with a chance of making it Uh, for me, uh,
• 1:14:55
  Jack, buy, sell, hold all LA Superbowl. I'll
• 1:15:00
  allow your Madden predictions. Oh God, that'd
• 1:15:04
  be fun. Wouldn't it? Uh, no, I'll have to sell
• 1:15:07
  that one too many variables. And as a smart man
• 1:15:09
  with the glasses sometimes says, take the field,
• 1:15:11
  boys, take the field. I've got a cheeky $500.
• 1:15:14
  I'm going to put that somewhere. Uh, Andy, right
• 1:15:17
  back at you. Not playing two fields This is another
• 1:15:25
  one neither conferences number one seed will
• 1:15:27
  reach the Superbowl That's a rarity I reckon
• 1:15:36
  I'm gonna sell that I reckon one of the number
• 1:15:44
  one One more edge. Yep, Al. Detroit are on the
• 1:15:53
  decline. It was all Ben Johnson. No playoffs
• 1:15:57
  for the Lions. If you'd stopped after the second
• 1:16:05
  seat sentence, I would have said, yeah, I'll
• 1:16:07
  buy it. I love my boy Ben Johnson, but they could
• 1:16:09
  still sneak in and make the wild card or something
• 1:16:11
  this year. And I still don't think they're the
• 1:16:13
  same team without Ben Johnson. I think they just
• 1:16:16
  lack the schematic advantage. I won't qualify
• 1:16:19
  it. I'll buy it. They're in decline. They'll
• 1:16:20
  miss the playoffs. Yeah. Yep. Yep. Yep. I've
• 1:16:27
  looked at the teams I've got for the NFC playoffs.
• 1:16:28
  It doesn't include the Lions. So F -erf Dan Campbell.
• 1:16:32
  Go eat some nails. All right, last one, Jack.
• 1:16:35
  Aaron Rogers will openly blame a wide receiver
• 1:16:37
  at least one time this year in a post -game press
• 1:16:39
  conference. It's already ticked that off in the
• 1:16:41
  pre -season throwing Roman Wilson under the bus.
• 1:16:43
  Roman Wilson under the bus. Yeah. He will do
• 1:16:45
  it again one more time. Yes. Buy that, buy that,
• 1:16:48
  buy that. And I don't know. Are there subway
• 1:16:51
  tunnels in Pittsburgh that he can go on mushroom
• 1:16:53
  adventures with? Who knows? Uh, Andy last, probably
• 1:16:58
  probably parks. He can forage in at least just
• 1:17:01
  under the bridge. I don't know. The only bridges
• 1:17:03
  in Pittsburgh. Um, Andy, Andy, Andy, Andy, Andy,
• 1:17:08
  Andy, Andy. I am going to be, this is, do I end
• 1:17:11
  on a pessimistic one? I do. The charges defense,
• 1:17:17
  not the offensive line will prevent them from
• 1:17:20
  becoming genuine Superbowl contenders. The charges
• 1:17:25
  defense. The charges defense will be the missing
• 1:17:28
  link. Sell. Sell. Good. And I'm positive. Good.
• 1:17:34
  I'll be positive. Yep. I'll be I'll be positive
• 1:17:38
  that I'm bloody excited for Friday to see Jack
• 1:17:42
  to see some NFL football in our not so small
• 1:17:46
  but humble enough in the world scheme city and
• 1:17:50
  another shout out just for everyone who's throwing
• 1:17:53
  some money our way for some beers we really appreciate
• 1:17:57
  you guys we appreciate all the listeners and
• 1:17:58
  all the support and don't forget to hit the subscribe
• 1:18:01
  button Yes, mate. I was gonna say, are we going
• 1:18:04
  to be doing any live X sort of maybe videos?
• 1:18:07
  So if people are interested to tune in, we might
• 1:18:10
  be uploading some videos. We have we thought
• 1:18:13
  about that. That could be quite fun. Yeah, we'll
• 1:18:16
  see how we're going to discuss it. That'll be
• 1:18:17
  a game time decision. I will echo you there Andy,
• 1:18:25
  like the traction and the growing viewership
• 1:18:28
  and the engagement and the people listening on
• 1:18:30
  audio, it is fantastic to see. We thank you all
• 1:18:33
  from the bottom of our hearts. We are getting
• 1:18:35
  so excited about. the content we can put out
• 1:18:38
  for you guys, the different ideas we have, it
• 1:18:40
  really energizes us. We're really excited to
• 1:18:42
  watch this game together and to start this season
• 1:18:45
  going through it together with a bold fan. So
• 1:18:46
  thank you very much, TDU crew. See you on the
• 1:18:48
  next one, Chargers win week one. Let's get it!
• 1:19:14
  River's back, Piddle's looking, Fiery has got
• 1:19:16
  Floyd turning, got it! Six and a half, ten, five,
• 1:19:19
  high step, touchdown!