Latest / Football Junkies podcast / Ep.34: The curse of the 1st

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Ep.34: The curse of the 1st · Football Junkies podcast

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No bag alerts today, but we still have a lot to talk about today folks.
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Okay.
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And it's somewhat of, well, it's not really breaking news because it's already been broken.
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It's already been more than 24 hours to really been discussed about it on these other things,
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but don't care about that.
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Okay.
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Don't care about that.
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There's going to be a light episode after I then gave you guys a banger on Monday.
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We're going to keep things light because there's probably going to be another episode
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that may come out today or maybe even tomorrow.
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Who knows?
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I don't know.
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Who know?
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I don't know.
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Bryce Young gets benched.
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The Ravens lose another game.
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The Chargers are on the roll.
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The Justin Fields experiment continues.
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My thoughts on the Eagles and the Falcons game and the Cowboys got blessed with an unholy
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L. Yes.
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I'm going to talk about the Cowboys.
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It's always a great day.
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Okay.
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When the Cowboys get decimated.
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Okay.
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If you're ever having a bad day, just know if the Cowboys lose, it just makes everything
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a whole lot better.
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Okay.
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All of this and more.
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Okay, folks.
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Okay, folks, because guess what?
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I told you.
1:09
I'm going to try to keep things very light.
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I'm going to try.
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No promises, but I'm going to try to keep things light.
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Just know this is going to be a very stat padded type of episode.
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You're going to hear a lot of stats being flown around, but just know, guess what?
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I'm going to guide you through the entire store.
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All right.
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All of this and more.
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This is the 34th episode of the greatest football podcast that you can possibly listen to on
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a day to day basis.
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Whether that means that you are cleaning up your room, cleaning out your car, washing
1:40
dishes, whatever the case may be.
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I am the person that you want to listen to when it comes to football podcast.
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Okay.
1:47
It's me.
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Your GM.
1:49
Okay.
1:50
The person who is still scouting.
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Okay.
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I have been scouting for the last few months now.
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Things have been a little bit rocky, but it's okay because you know, I already got a mock
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draft that's already been out, but guess what?
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I won't release it to the public because guess what?
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You guys don't need to know what I am thinking right now because we got football, football,
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football.
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Okay.
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All of this and more.
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I am your host, your GM, your chief bagro, your chief head of the table, chief meteorologist,
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bagro meteorologist to be specific.
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And most importantly, I am just a host with the most.
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Okay.
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Kale, you already know what I'm getting ready to say.
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So guess what?
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I'm going to say one, three, one, two, three, less locking.
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All right, folks, let's just not wait any longer.
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Let's get into the meat and potatoes of everything that is going on in the national football
3:25
league.
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There may be even an episode that may come out for college football this week.
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Who knows?
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Stay tuned.
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You never know.
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You never know.
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Now, we're going to talk about the biggest news that has unraveled so far and that is
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Bryce Young, former first overall pick Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young has been
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benched and Andy Dalton will be starting for their next game.
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Now, there's a lot to unpack with this situation.
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It is a lot to unpack from the situation.
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So we're going to, we're going to try to go through everything and you know, just, just
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go from there.
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When we look at this entire situation, this was somewhat of a expected move.
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Okay.
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And it's not because of, you know, oh man, he's a bust and whatnot.
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Let me let, well, actually, you know what?
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Before I go any further, let me just say this to any of the people that say that Bryce
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a bust or anything like that.
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Let's stop.
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Okay.
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This is a very sensitive moment for him.
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This is a very sensitive moment, you know, for the team as well.
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I've seen a lot of people from Mel Kuiper to Stephen A to various other people that
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are saying that Bryce Young is a bust and whatnot.
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And I've even heard people say that he's worse than Jermak is Russell.
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And I'm just like, no, he's not better.
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He's not worse than Jermak is Russell.
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This is the, and this is something that this is somewhat of an episode I've been sort of
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waiting to put out, but I just haven't, I haven't had the adequate information and I
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was just waiting for the right situation for it to happen.
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And you know, this is the curse of the first.
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Yes.
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Better yet, boom, that's the title of the episode right there.
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Curse of the first seed.
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See, this is, this is exactly why this is the grace football podcast in the world.
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Okay.
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What people don't understand is the price of being the first overall picked is most likely
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you are going to be put in a crappy situation.
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Most likely you're going to be put in a situation where there is a lot of dysfunction.
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Most of the times you are going to be, there's going to be a lack of talent around you and
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you are basically going to be pushed into the fire and basically told to turn a mud
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into golden breaks.
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That's basically what it is at this point.
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And you know, I want to paint a picture with you guys, right?
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You're being a quarterback where you came from a situation where you had everything
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that you need to be successful.
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You had one of the best offensive lines in college football, one of the best receiving
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course in all of college football, a good, a really good running back, probably one of
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the best running backs in all of college football, a Hall of Fame coach, one of the greatest
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college football coaches of all time as someone that can direct you and show you what you
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need to do game in and game out.
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Imagine having that, right?
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And then you go into a situation where you have nothing.
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You have nothing.
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Okay.
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You are in a situation where literally you do not have, you barely have a reliable receiver
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to rely on.
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You barely even have a tight end.
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You barely even have a productive running back.
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And that's not even going to the offensive line as well.
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Let alone you have a coach originally when he was first drafted that, you know, really
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didn't really want to draft you, but instead wanted to draft CJ Stroud because he knew
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that CJ Stroud was a more NFL ready quarterback than what you were.
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Imagine all of this.
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And then finally you get benched.
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That's a lot to take on.
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That's a lot to deal with.
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And that is what's going on with Bryce Young right now.
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When we look at this, Bryce Young has, you know, was put into a situation where he were,
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you know, his growth was going to be very limited.
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Let's just be honest here.
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You go into a situation where you don't have a lot of weapons, where you don't have a lot
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of, you know, potential or any of those things.
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Of course, you're not going to be successful.
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That's for any person.
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Now there are, now there are some people case in point Tom Brady, who was like the outlier
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in this entire situation, but even then he had Bill Belichick.
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He had been, he had Bill Belichick.
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He always had a really good offensive line.
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They always had a really good running game.
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He had Gronk and he had Julian Adam.
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And if not then then he had Danny Amandolo or Chris Hogan or he's had, well, you know,
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I actually know that's probably a bad one.
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That definitely is a bad one.
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But I say all that to say this.
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It is hard and you can't, you can't label him a bust when he was drafted into a bad
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situation.
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Right.
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And I remember leading up to that draft, you know, there were people that were saying,
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Oh, you know, Bryce Young is definitely a really good quarterback this and the other
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blah, blah, blah.
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And I'm just like, I, I didn't see it personally.
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And it's not because of, you know, his physical, his physical assets.
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I think it had to do more with, you know, Alabama quarterbacks.
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Alabama quarterbacks historically have not been really good quarterbacks when they transition
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from college football to the NFL.
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They have not been really successful.
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When you perv example, Mac Jones, Mac Jones was the first round pick.
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Guess where he is now?
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He is now a backup quarterback for Trevor Lawrence and Jacksonville.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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So you have that.
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You've now have Bryce Young who is getting, is getting benched.
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You know, it's, it's that is, that is the, the price that a lot of, you know, that, oh
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man, there's so much that has to be said.
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It's just a nasty situation.
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It is Alabama quarterbacks do not transition well.
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And a lot of times they are some, they have someone of a fall from grace type of moment
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because a lot of times they are put in a situation where they have the best of the best talent
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on, on their team.
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And then they go into a situation where they're thinking they're going to have that same,
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you know, that, that same type of system and they don't.
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And then they're barely able to, to flourish.
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They struggle and then they either become career backups or career journeymen.
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That's just that, that, that's just what it is at this point.
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And you know, when you, when, when you look at the situation in itself, in the way that
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the Panthers got Bryce Young, it was already a messed up situation from the beginning.
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Okay.
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Let me just tell you before I even get into his stats, let me just tell you the trade
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package that was given up for the Panthers to get that first overall pick.
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Chicago, Chicago got DJ Moore, two first round picks, two second round picks and one fourth
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round pick.
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Okay.
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That's what they got for, for the, for the first overall pick.
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Now let me tell you what happened with those picks that, that Chicago got those two first
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round picks, turn into Darnell Wright and Kaylin Williams, those two second round picks
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turn into Tyree Stevenson.
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Now the second, the second, second round pick, that doesn't happen.
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That doesn't, they, they, they're just now getting it with everything that hasn't transpired
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with Bryce Young.
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That means nine times out of 10, that's going to be a very high second round pick come next
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year's draft.
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And then they also have Tori Taylor, who's a punter, who's supposed to be a pretty good
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punter.
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Now, when we look at this, Kaylin Williams, somewhat looks pretty productive.
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Darnell Wright was definitely, you know, productive as, is a productive tackle as well.
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So they got all of that and DJ Moore, right?
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And DJ Moore, who was a very productive receiver, even in Carolina, he was a productive receiver.
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And guess what, and guess what the Panthers got?
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Just a pick, just a pick, just to say that we have the first overall pick and we can
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make the decision on getting Bryce Young.
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Now mind you, mind you, mind you, mind you, the Panthers for the last few years have made
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some of the worst trades that you can possibly think of.
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They have trade, they just recently traded Brian Burns to the Giants.
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Did they get a first round pick for that?
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No, they did not.
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They traded away all pro, future Hall of Fame, running back and Christian McCaffrey to the
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San Francisco 49ers.
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Did they get a first round pick from that?
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No, they did not.
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They have been horrible with these draft picks and you know, it's come back and it's come
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to haunt them.
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It has because when we look at it, their picks, their last few picks and their last few drafts
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classes have been absolutely deplorable.
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They have been horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible picks, horrible draft classes.
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No sure you may have your diamonds in the roughs and whatnot as to any team does, but
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the fact of the matter is they have not drafted well.
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They have not been able to surround Bryce Young with the adequate tools in order for
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him to be successful.
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But at the same time, you know, to the people that say, well, Bryce Young is a bus this,
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this, that, and the other blah, blah, blah.
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I get where you're coming from and you may have a point, but this is what I would say.
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If Bryce Young was as athletic as a Kyler Murray or he was, you know, as strong as a Russell
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Wilson who is able, you know, when he was first playing with Seattle, he was able to
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roll out and run and do all those different types of things.
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We wouldn't have no problem.
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But because of, you know, but because of the, the situation that he's in and him, you know,
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only being 5'10 and his arm looks, his arm doesn't really look that good.
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He doesn't really look that athletic.
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He's very limited.
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He's very limited.
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And, you know, the situation that he's in right now, all he has is a Deontay Johnson
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who most likely is going to get traded by the, by the trade deadline and old Adam Thielen,
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who at this point should probably just retire and Xavier Legat.
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That's all they have.
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They don't have anything else.
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I don't even know who, who they're, who they're running back as I think they're running back
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is a Chubba Hubbard.
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That's it.
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That's all they have.
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They don't have anything else.
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And so when, when we look at this, the Panthers are, it's, teams view the Panthers as an easy
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W. That's just what it is.
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They view him, they view them as an easy W. If a team looks at a schedule and it shows
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that they have to go up against the Panthers, oh, oh, that's, that's, that's going to be
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easy game.
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That's going to be Habachi.
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That's going to be a game where, you know, they can, you know, ball out and, and sort
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of show, show, you know, why, you know, why they deserve to get paid a little bit more
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if they're looking for more money or, you know, whatever the case may be, right?
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That's just the running joke for the Panthers.
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And you know, if you're the league, you will want to keep your eye on this entire situation.
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But at the same time, you're going to have to step in because this is bad.
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This is a really bad situation for the league because you're seeing pictures of the stadium,
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not even really being filled, barely being filled.
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You are seeing more empty seats than people in seats.
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And from what I've heard, the ticket prices are cheap.
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I'm talking about dead cheap.
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I'm talking about the cheapest thing you could possibly think of.
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If you have a date and if you trying to save money, take it to a Panthers game, take it
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to a Panthers game.
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You'll probably get some chicken strips and, you know, some large drinks and probably some
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nice seats and whatnot for probably less than $300.
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I guarantee it.
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You could probably look it up right now.
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Go on any of these sites you want to.
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Game time and seat geek or, you know, whichever ones.
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That's how bad this situation is.
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And they're not bringing in any money.
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The team is not good.
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Their best player is out for the season in Derrick Brown.
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What do you have on this team to say, okay, there is, there's some potential, none.
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You don't have any.
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And you know, for the head coach, Dave, David Canalis, he has no ties with Bryce Young.
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He has no ties because he did not draft him.
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That's not his guy.
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He inherited him.
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Yes.
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But that is not his guy.
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And so now you are starting to see a situation where most likely a transition is going to
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happen, a transition is going to happen.
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And most likely Bryce Young will probably be moved and, you know, put, you know, traded
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somewhere.
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I wouldn't be surprised.
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I just wouldn't.
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But let's, let's get into these stats.
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Okay.
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So in 2023, he, his stats were 315 completions out of 527 attempts, 2,877 yards, 5.5, I can't
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even speak 5.5 yards per pass attempt, 59.8 59.8% completion, completion, I can't speak
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completion percentage, 11 touchdowns, 10 inceptions, right?
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Cool.
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Now let's look at 2024 31 completions out of 56 attempts for 245 yards, 4.4 yards per
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pass attempt, 55.4% completion percentage and three interceptions.
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You see that there is a major decline from 2023 to 2024.
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And it's probably even worse now.
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So you can see that, you know, his confidence in himself is, it's shot.
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You can see that he, he is, he is being ragdoll.
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He's being beaten up and he doesn't have a, he doesn't have anybody that he can rely
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on.
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He doesn't, he just doesn't.
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Now there were, there were some times where he was definitely missing, you know, a few,
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a few of his receivers that were open and whatnot and every quarterback does that.
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But the fact of the matter is he is struggling significantly and he has regressed significantly
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and you know, this is not good.
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This is not good at all.
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But you know what, but we're going to go a little bit deeper into this, into the situation
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because this opens things up for a bigger conversation, right?
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So I decided to do a little bit of digging, right?
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So according to, I think it was a NBC sports article that they came out recently and they
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basically did a, did a poll, well not a poll, but they did, they, they ranked the most frequent
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positions that are drafted first overall quarterback is the number one.
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34 quarterbacks have been drafted first overall.
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23 running backs have been drafted first overall.
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16 defensive linemen have been drafted first overall.
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16 offensive linemen, five wide receiver slash tight end, five linebackers, one defensive
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back have been drafted first overall.
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Now let's go, let's go even a little bit more deeper into this conundrum.
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Okay.
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So according to a hembo, if you don't know who hembo is, hembo is one of the producers
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for get up and he always posts, you know, a crazy, crazy stat that, you know, that they,
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that he has, you know, the, the, um, the people to, you know, to guess if, you know, to guess
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the answer, a lot of times he gets them right.
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A lot of times they get them wrong, but he decided to do some digging, right?
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And he found, he, he found some data that's actually pretty crazy that, that, you know,
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could probably open up to other different conversations as well.
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So this data is from 20 drafts spanning from 2000 to 2019.
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Okay.
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So apparently quarterbacks have a 46% hit rate, 46%.
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I want to say that again, 46%.
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26 quarterbacks have hit that were drafted in that, that were drafted in the first round.
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30 of them have missed in total 56.
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Do you want to know the position that has a hot, that has the highest hit rate and you,
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and you probably will be surprised.
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And it's the one position that everyone says you don't draft in the first round.
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Guess what it is?
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Center.
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Centers have a 92% hit rate.
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11 centers have hit only one was a miss.
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I want you to think about that for a second, but, but, but I'm not even done yet.
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Okay.
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Cause we're going to keep on going down cause I really wanted to do some research because
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I, because I understood that this was going to be a very highly talked about, um, you
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know, uh, situation.
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So when you look at the first overall picks who made it to the whole fame, Bill Dudley,
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Charlie Trippie, Chuck, uh, Benark, Paul Hornick, Ron Yari, OJ Simpson, Terry Bradshaw,
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Lee Roy, Selman, Earl Campbell, John L. Way, Bruce Smith, Troy Aikman, Orlando pace and
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Peyton Manning.
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That's a very small list that were former first overall picks that made it to the, you
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know, that made it to the hall of fame, right?
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And even then let's look at some current players right now that were first overall picks.
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Trevor Lawrence is career record right now is 20 and 32, according to stat news.
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Joe Burroughs career, career record 29, 24, one, Baker Mayfield, 44, 47, Bryce Young,
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two and 16, Trevor Walker, 16, 16 and 18, Kyla Murray, 29, 37 and one, Miles Garrett, 47,
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54 and one.
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That is the curse of the first.
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That is the cursed most of the times you're going to struggle.
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The times you are going to have to be the guy that tries quote unquote air quote big
22:19
air quotes to try to raise the team up and to put them into a situation where they are
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contenders, where they are talked about, where they are popular, where players want
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to go there and play with you and all those different types of things.
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That is the price.
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That is the curse of the first.
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Now, when we look at Kayla Williams situation, that's someone of an outlier, but that's
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only because of how they mishandled the situation with Justin Fields.
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They realized that they messed up.
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You know what they did?
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They say, you know what?
22:50
Guess what?
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We're going to do better now that we have the first overall pick.
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We're going to do right.
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Guess what they did?
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They made a few moves in free agency, patched up a few holes here, there, everywhere, traded
23:03
for Keenan Allen, got this person, got that person, got DeAndre Swift in free agency.
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So now he's put in a situation where he has a receiving core, he has a productive running
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back, has a good offensive line, have a productive tight end and cold command and has a good
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defense.
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That is how first overall pick quarterback is supposed to be put into.
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That's the situation that you want them to be in.
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Not in a situation where, you know, like the Panthers where, you know, you don't have,
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you don't have anything really to show for.
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And the players that are there, I wouldn't be surprised if they ask, you know, to be
23:39
released or to be traded fairly soon.
23:41
I wouldn't be surprised because it's just a nasty situation.
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It's a situation that does not make you want to go into play.
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It does not.
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It doesn't.
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It's a horrible situation.
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It's a very messy situation.
23:56
Honestly speaking here, but this is the price that, you know, must be paid when you are
24:03
the first overall pick.
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And you know what?
24:05
It even makes things worse because with this upcoming draft class next year, some of those
24:10
quarterbacks, there's a chance that they might get drafted by the Panthers.
24:14
And if that happens, that's even worse because then nine times out of 10, they really won't
24:19
have anything.
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So it's like, do you pull somewhat of an Eli and be like, you know, I'm not going to play
24:25
for, I'm not going to play for that team.
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If they draft me or what, because I mean that's just, that is a situation.
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It takes you a good five to six years to like really get some motion.
24:38
Right.
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It really is like, okay, they overpaid for Robert Hunt.
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Really hasn't, what has he really done?
24:48
Other than that, what else do they have on that team?
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Nothing.
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Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing.
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And granted, I get it.
24:56
Every quarterbacks are hard.
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It takes some time and a lot of times when you have a great quarterback and you try to
25:04
find the next, the next great quarterback after that, it's hard.
25:08
You're going to go through a phase where you're going to be, you're going to be missing more
25:12
than hitting, right?
25:13
Because ever since Cam Newton, they've had Teddy Bridgewater, Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold,
25:19
who else, who else, who else, who else, who else, who else, who else, who else.
25:22
Is that it?
25:23
Bryce Young, now Andy Dalton.
25:25
Like they've, they've had a, they've had their own little cycle of quarterbacks.
25:29
But I think this also opens up a situation where that's why you see a lot of times quarterbacks
25:36
favor the Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVeigh system a whole lot simply because, and I know, I
25:42
know I'm talking about, I know I'm talking about this for a long time, but best believe
25:46
we're, we're going to get into other things because trust and believe there's a lot to
25:49
talk about.
25:51
But that is why you see a lot of times a somewhat of a resurgence when quarterbacks go into
25:58
the Sean McVeigh and Kyle Shanahan system.
26:01
That's why a lot of their personnel are so sought after once the off season is, is over
26:07
with because they see the production, they see the change of what happens when they are
26:12
put into that system.
26:14
Case in point, Baker Mayfield at one point was, was starting to look like a bust.
26:19
He was starting to look like a career journeyman, right?
26:23
After, after he was traded from the Browns to the, to the, to the Panthers, he was starting
26:29
to look like a bus.
26:31
Then he goes to the Rams.
26:32
He spent the rest of the rest of the season with the Rams.
26:36
And after that went over to the Buccaneers, they gave him a trial and then afterwards
26:41
they paid him.
26:42
And so far he's looked pretty good.
26:44
Now I'm not saying he looks like an elite quarterback.
26:46
No, but he looks like a pretty good quarterback.
26:49
Why?
26:50
Because Sean McVeigh, you know, they, they work, they work the kinks out, they fix some
26:55
things, tweak a few things and they put them back out and he's good.
26:59
It's somewhat to, to me, they're the Shanahan and McVeigh system is sort of like a rehab
27:04
for quarterbacks where if you're, where if you are lacking in, in certain areas of whatnot,
27:11
they have a way to tweak it and to help you be a better quarterback and then put you back
27:16
out and then, you know, you, you're, you're, you're a whole lot better compared to any,
27:22
anywhere else.
27:24
That's why you see so many of, so many, I wouldn't say disciples, but so many people
27:30
that are coming from those two systems, Case and Point, Matt LaFleur, Clint Kubiak, Mike
27:36
McDaniels, who else, who else, who else, who else, who else, who else, who else.
27:40
I know there, there's so many different people that come from that system.
27:44
You would not be surprised, right?
27:47
And you know, if I'm Bryce Young, I will probably try to see if I can get traded to, you know,
27:53
to one of those, to, to somebody that comes from that tree, whether it be directly or
27:58
indirectly from that tree, because you know that you're, that, that they're going to work
28:03
with you and that they're going to try to tweak the things that, that you're doing wrong
28:08
and try to cover your, your, your Achilles heels, so to speak, compared to being put
28:17
into a situation and you're not really doing the best and then they just kick you to the
28:20
curb, you know, two or three, two or three years afterwards, right?
28:26
So there's that.
28:27
That's my whole, that's my whole spill with the whole Bryce Young situation.
28:31
Now, moving on to the games that have happened because we, we're still playing catch up.
28:36
And I think, I think we, we, we, this episode, we might be done playing catch up.
28:40
I think let's talk about the Ravens and the Raiders.
28:44
Okay.
28:45
This is what I will say for all the Raiders, for all the Ravens fans out there, I feel
28:50
your pain.
28:51
I see your frustrations.
28:53
I see all of those things and you have every right to be upset.
28:57
If you would have told me that the Ravens would be 0 and 2 with two games that they
29:02
could have easily won, I would have called you a liar.
29:05
I would have historically, well, not historically, hysterically laughed in your face because there
29:12
is no way under God's green earth that they should have lost to the Raiders.
29:17
And I'm not saying that the Raiders are just absolute dog water and they're boo boo and
29:22
everything.
29:23
No, I'm not saying that, but come on guys, come on, come on, John Harbaugh, what are
29:29
we doing?
29:30
You are coaching horribly right now.
29:33
The offense looks like a deer in headlights.
29:37
It does.
29:40
This is probably the worst that I've seen from the Ravens in the earlier parts of the season.
29:45
And granted, I get it.
29:47
The early parts of the season, everybody's still working through the kinks and whatnot.
29:52
Not a lot of players played in the preseason and whatnot, all those different types of
29:56
things.
29:57
I get that.
29:58
But come on, come on.
30:02
Even the stats somewhat show, well, let me just give you, I'll just give you the stats
30:09
and then we'll go over everything.
30:11
Lamar, 21 for 34, 247 yards, one touchdown, one pick, 7.3 yards per 10 and 81.4 pass a
30:19
rating.
30:20
Gardner Mentshu, 30 for 38, 276 yards, one touchdown, one pick, 7.3 yards per 10, 94.7 pass a rating.
30:28
Now, when we look at things, right, this was a game, a very winnable game that, you know,
30:34
once again, the Ravens do Ravens things and they shoot themselves in the foot.
30:39
Every single time they shoot themselves in the foot.
30:42
There is no reason why John Harbaugh should have challenged the call for Devonte Adams,
30:48
sideline toe tap.
30:50
There was no reason because he was in.
30:52
You can clearly see that he was in.
30:55
So why in the world would you challenge that?
30:58
Very yet, why would you call a timeout before the two minute warning?
31:02
Why would you do that?
31:03
You just wasted two, two critical timeouts that you would need if you was really going
31:08
to try to march down the field real quick and either, you know, kick a field goal or,
31:14
you know, try to score a touchdown to, to seal the game and you didn't do that better.
31:18
Yeah.
31:19
Why in the world would you have Marlin go up against Brock Bowers and you have a safety
31:24
and Kyle Hamilton who would be a perfect, perfect dance partner for that, for that matchup?
31:31
Better yet, let me read you Brock Bowers stats.
31:35
Brock Bowers was nine for nine, 98 yards, 10.9 yards, 10.9 receiving yards per reception.
31:44
I'm going to read that again very slowly so you can hear exactly what I said.
31:47
I'm going to say it a little bit closer in the mic so you can hear exactly what I just
31:52
said.
31:53
Brock Bowers was nine for nine, 98 yards, 10.9 receiving yards per reception.
32:02
If you, if you would have had Kyle Hamilton on him, I guarantee you he would have not,
32:07
he would have not had that stat line because Kyle Hamilton is big enough, strong enough
32:13
and rangy enough to where he can cover someone like a Brock Bowers.
32:18
What's been their problem, you know, basically since last season is that, you know, they,
32:24
they try to put a corner like Marlin on a tight end thinking that it's going to do something
32:28
and it's not.
32:30
At this point, Marlin Humphrey needs to be put in the slot.
32:33
He cannot play on the outside and try to do one-on-one matchups.
32:38
He cannot do that at this point.
32:40
That's why you drafted Nate Wiggins so that Nate Wiggins can, can do that.
32:44
You put Marlin in the slot because he is still physical enough to, to, to cover slot receivers
32:51
and then you have Kyle Hamilton to cover the tight ends.
32:54
You do that and you shouldn't, you should have little to no problems, but to continue
32:59
to play this very reserved lackluster play calling is just absolute deplorable.
33:06
It is.
33:07
It's just absolutely deplorable.
33:08
Now I will give the defense a little bit of leeway because the defensive coordinator,
33:13
this is his first, you know, his first stint and whatnot.
33:17
And so he still, the defense is still trying to learn everything and whatnot.
33:21
And I get that.
33:22
It takes time, but come on guys, come on.
33:26
What are we doing here?
33:27
This is absolutely atrocious.
33:30
It was a very atrocious game.
33:32
It was a game that they could have easily won and then you have the, the bad, you know,
33:37
quote unquote face mask that was not a face mask.
33:40
Even the people, because I was looking at the game, even the, the, not the journalists,
33:46
the, the, the commentators was like, no, that's not a face mask.
33:51
They even zoomed in.
33:52
He was nowhere near the face mask.
33:54
Now what, now what David Ajaubo did, if that was called, that's definitely a penalty.
34:00
That is a penalty 100% of the way, but fro, but, but to pull, pull a flag out for Nnamdi
34:07
uh, Medabookay, no, that was uncalled for.
34:11
They should have took that, uh, that flag back, but it is what it is at this point.
34:17
If I am the Ravens, I am playing like my, like my life depends on it against the Cowboys.
34:24
I am playing like someone has just lit a fire on top of my head because if you don't, if
34:31
you go on and three, you are putting yourselves in a, in a crater.
34:36
You're putting yourself in, in a big, a big hole because you've already lost the two AFC
34:42
teams, right?
34:43
So that, that's already going to, that's going to, that's going to come back and haunt you
34:47
once it gets time for, for seating for the playoffs and whatnot.
34:51
Cool.
34:52
If you lose to the Cowboys, oh my God, you are never going to hear the end of that.
34:56
You are never, ever going to hear the end of that.
35:01
Okay.
35:02
I don't just leave it there because if I don't, there will be specific Ravens fans that will
35:08
want to come and haunt me.
35:09
So I'm just going to leave it there.
35:11
Just, you know, stealers are on the field by the way, just putting it out there.
35:16
Now moving on.
35:17
Okay.
35:18
Uh, let's talk about the Chargers.
35:20
Okay.
35:21
So the Chargers right now have been, have been on a hot streak surprisingly.
35:24
So, so far they, they have, they've been, they've been doing their thing.
35:28
They really have been doing their thing.
35:30
So Justin Herbert, 14 completions out of 20 attempts, 130 yards, two touchdowns, one pick,
35:37
6.5 yards per, per attempt, 70% completion percentage, 23, 23 times he dropped back.
35:44
Now I see what they're trying to do, which is they're not trying to have Justin Herbert
35:49
throw the ball a lot, but when they do, but when they do have them throw the ball, it
35:54
is, you know, they're getting down to the field, they're making plays and whatnot.
35:59
And granted it's working.
36:01
It is working because there was a point in time where Quentin Johnson was definitely
36:05
being labeled a bust.
36:08
It was, and now he's having this resurgence in his career and it's like, yo, that's what
36:14
they've been waiting for.
36:16
It's like that meme from SpongeBob.
36:18
That's really what it is.
36:20
JK Domins, he's having a resurgence in his career.
36:23
This is probably the best JK Domins that we have seen probably since, since when he was
36:28
at Ohio State.
36:30
Okay.
36:31
I'm going to give you the last two games.
36:33
I'm going to give you the stats for the last two games.
36:37
17 attempts for 131 yards, 7.7 rushing yards per carry, one touchdown, and he had four
36:44
rushes that were over 10 plus yards.
36:50
Think about that for a second, folks.
36:52
Now you're the other stats for the other game.
36:56
17 attempts for 135 yards, 13.5 rushing yards per carry, and one touchdown.
37:03
That is a very productive running back.
37:07
And you know, for, it also helps that they drafted Joe Alt with their first pick.
37:13
You have Joe Alt on once and you have Rashawn Slater on the other side.
37:17
That's a really good tackle duo.
37:19
Okay.
37:20
That is a really, really, really productive tackle duo.
37:23
And you know, granted, you know, they definitely caught a lot of flak when they were, you
37:28
know, when they let go of Mike Williams and they traded away Keenan Allen, but so far,
37:33
it's looked pretty successful.
37:34
We're live on the defense, very physical defense.
37:38
You still have Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa and Durwin James and, you know, a really good
37:44
run game in JK Domins.
37:47
And then, you know, the quarterback do quarterback things.
37:49
And that is somewhat of the cycle that we are starting to see in the league now is that,
37:55
guess what?
37:56
Teams are starting to go back to relying on the run game more.
37:59
They are starting to favor, you know, having a very physical defense, low scoring games,
38:05
keep things close when the game.
38:08
That's that's sort of the mantra.
38:10
That's sort of the cycle that we are going back into.
38:13
And so, you know, that's why you're seeing, you know, players like a JK Domins have these
38:18
type of games.
38:20
That's why that that's really why.
38:22
And that sort of entails to another team that sort of has that same, you know, mantra as
38:28
well with with the Steelers.
38:30
Yes, I have to talk about the Steelers.
38:32
I'm not going to do it.
38:33
I'm not going to do it because no, just not going to do it.
38:37
So the Justin Fields experiment continues.
38:41
Yes, it definitely continues.
38:44
Now when we look at things, you know, it is a situation where he gets a where he gets
38:50
well, not him, but the team actually gets a real life, you know, in real time look at
38:58
him and how he plays in games, not preseason games, not preseason, not not games where,
39:04
you know, the starters are not in and this person, that person is in.
39:07
We're talking about real games that have real effects on if you go to the playoffs, the
39:11
Super Bowl, all those different types of things.
39:13
There so far he's been playing well.
39:16
And basically the model that the Steelers are having is play non mistake football.
39:23
Don't turn the ball over, rely on the defense, have a, you know, have a productive run game,
39:29
rely on the Titans and George Pickens when the game and it's worked.
39:34
That's why they are undefeated.
39:36
But at the same time, if we are being real here at some point, you know, the offense
39:44
is going to have to do more.
39:46
It's going to have to do more.
39:47
Now granted, they did beat the Broncos, but I mean, 13 points is not enough.
39:54
It's not.
39:55
You have to put up at least 20 some points in order to be in a really good position.
40:01
Because if you don't, teams can easily come back and beat you.
40:05
And you know, Justin Fields has looked pretty, he's looked okay.
40:08
I'm not saying he's looked great.
40:09
I'm not going to say he's looked amazing.
40:12
Not going to say he looks like he could be the starter, you know, moving forward and
40:16
in the future or not, not saying any of those different types of things.
40:19
All I'm saying is Justin, feel I feel like we should want more of Justin Fields because
40:25
we know the potential that he has, right?
40:28
And you know, they have to be, they have to do better with the play calling or whatnot
40:33
because that second half of that Broncos game was absolutely atrocious.
40:39
It was on the offensive side.
40:40
It was atrocious.
40:42
And you know, if the, if the Broncos had a few good, few good plays and they were putting
40:48
some points on the board, they could have easily came back and won that game.
40:50
I'm just being completely honest here.
40:53
And you know, they have to start feeding George Pickens at the ball.
40:56
George Pickens is their best option at receivers since, you know, they failed in getting Brandon
41:01
and Eulac and other receivers, but we're not going to talk about that.
41:04
Okay.
41:05
We're just not going to talk about that.
41:06
But when we look at things, they have to do better.
41:12
Now I, I, as usual, I do like to look at the, the Tom and Tuesday podcast because there's
41:19
a lot of insightful things that he'd be saying on those, you know, on those Tuesdays and basically
41:25
he's saying for the, you know, for the time now, Justin Fields will be, you know, the
41:29
starting quarterback until Russ can, you know, properly participate in it practice and whatnot.
41:36
So which I, which I completely agree on, but at some point, you know, I think it does have
41:43
to start to make you wonder like, okay, the longer that this draws out, does this mean
41:49
that, okay, once Russ is healthy, that's when they're probably going to put him in or, you
41:55
know, what, what exactly is going on with Russ and his calf strain.
41:59
They've been very, you know, button lip about it and, you know, it shows.
42:04
Now the only thing I think that really had me on, not really on pins and needles, but
42:09
had me confused was them continuing to rotate between Broderick Jones and Troy Fautano.
42:14
Now Troy Fautano, you know, coming out of Washington was a more refined tackle than
42:21
Broderick Jones.
42:22
Broderick Jones was raw.
42:24
He was a very raw prospect and they knew they was going to take him some time before, you
42:30
know, he, he gets to the place where they feel comfortable with him.
42:34
But I think at this point, I think, I think you have to consider sitting him down because
42:42
for one, you can tell that he is injured.
42:44
You can tell it and you, it's not an injury that you can, you know, play through.
42:49
We originally, he messed up his elbow.
42:52
He just had the brace.
42:54
And now he's having, but now it's looking like they're putting more and more stuff on
42:58
that, on that elbow area.
43:01
And it looks like it's limiting him from being able to not only hold up his blocks, but to
43:06
punch.
43:08
And you know, you, you can't do anything if your elbow was messed up.
43:12
You just can't.
43:13
So at some point, I think it would be best if they was to rest him a little bit and maybe
43:18
see exactly what's going on compared to trying to, you know, try to see exactly what's, what's
43:26
going on at this point.
43:27
Troy Fatah Ngu look good.
43:29
He did, but you continuing to, okay, Troy is out.
43:34
Broderick is in, Broderick is in, Troy is out.
43:36
No, no, you save that for practice.
43:39
That's, that's when you, that's when you do those type of things.
43:42
You don't do those type of things during, you know, during the game.
43:45
You just don't.
43:46
You know, if Justin Fields continues to win games and if he actually gets better, like
43:53
he has a better stat line and the, the offense is starting to be productive, I would not
43:58
be surprised if they make a decision and they have Justin Fields be, you know, the remaining
44:04
starting quarterback for the rest of the season.
44:06
I just would not be surprised.
44:08
So this is still the drama still continues for quarterbacks and with the Pittsburgh Steelers,
44:14
who knows what will happen, twist and turns, twist and turns, all those different types
44:19
of things.
44:20
Now onto the Eagles and the Falcons game.
44:23
Yes, it was a very good Monday, Monday night football game.
44:27
It was a game that had a lot of twists and turns, but yeah, Kirk O. Kirk O being Kirk
44:34
O that that's, that's just the best way to put it.
44:36
Kirk O being Kirk O. Kirk O came back and he put on a show.
44:41
Okay, Kirk Cousins was 20 completions out of 29 attempts, 241 yards, two touchdowns,
44:48
1117.2 pass rating, 8.3 yards per attempt, a 69% completion percentage.
44:56
Okay, not to mention Kirk Cousins was five out of six during that 70 yard touchdown drive
45:03
to seal the game.
45:05
Okay, Jaylin Hertz was 23 completions out of 30 attempts, 183 yards, one touchdown, one
45:10
pick, a 88.6 pass rating, 6.1 yards per attempt, 76.7 completion percentage.
45:17
Now when we look at this, the Eagles were definitely starting to really march down the
45:23
field when they started to rely on Saquon Barkley and things were starting to look good.
45:28
And then out of the blue, they just, I don't know for whatever reason, they just stopped.
45:34
And once they stopped, they messed up.
45:37
Now we'll say this, that defense does not look good.
45:41
A defense has a lot of growing pains that they still have to go through.
45:46
And you know, it's probably going to take them some time like it does for any other
45:50
team, but I still have high hope for them.
45:53
I'm not sleeping on them because they have enough firepower on that defense where they
45:57
could make some moves.
46:00
And granted, for the offensive side, back to the offense, the Eagles didn't have AJ Brown.
46:05
So they tried to do the best that they can do, which at first they were doing it.
46:10
They were, but then they decided to make, well, not they, but Nick Siriani started to
46:16
make stupid decision making and always trying to go forward on fourth down.
46:20
If you're the first time that they went, the first time they went, they went for, I think
46:26
it was like they were, they were near the red zone and whatnot.
46:29
You should have just kicked the field goal.
46:30
You should have just kicked the field goal and you would have been, you would have had
46:33
some points on the board.
46:35
Prior to trying to go for it every single time on fourth down, this isn't mad.
46:40
And this isn't a situation where, you know, you can try to do something crazy and then
46:45
get the first down like, no, just kick the field goal, play reserved and just keep it
46:50
pushing.
46:51
That's just what you do at this point.
46:54
And you know, it's, I don't know.
46:57
I don't know.
46:58
It, when we look at this, they, the Falcons got their money last night with Kirk Cousins.
47:04
They got their money.
47:05
Okay.
47:06
Kirk Cousins was doing Kirk Cousins things when they needed him to do it.
47:11
And so far he actually, he looked a whole lot better, a little bit more comfortable in
47:16
this game than what he did in the game against the Steelers.
47:19
But you know, time will only tell with everything moving forward.
47:24
Now, this is what I will say.
47:26
Uh, Giants, you messed up.
47:29
You messed up horribly.
47:31
Because again, the owner said, I would lose some sleep if we lost Seyquan Barkley and
47:37
you see exactly when it's happened so far with them losing Seyquan Barkley.
47:43
I want you to look at the stats for Seyquan Barkley and then look up the stats for Devin
47:47
Singletary that now plays for the Giants, compare those two and then come back to me.
47:51
Better yet, leave that in a comment down below on Instagram at, at football underscore junkies
47:56
pot.
47:57
Yeah, let's just do that.
47:58
Let's go on to the final game to talk about.
48:02
Yes.
48:03
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, the final game.
48:05
Yes, the Cowboys, the Cowboys doing Cowboys things.
48:10
Okay.
48:11
Cowboys doing Cowboys things.
48:14
Cowboys got decimated.
48:16
Okay.
48:17
They got cooked.
48:18
They got grilled.
48:19
They got pan seared.
48:20
They got reverse pan seared.
48:22
They put the thyme and the garlic and the butter in the pan and they started basting it real
48:27
good, making sure that it was that golden brown color.
48:32
Let it sit, let it rest for a little bit and then served it.
48:36
Serve that hot fresh L. Okay.
48:39
They got served with a hot fresh L by the Saints.
48:43
Okay.
48:44
That press card.
48:45
Yes.
48:46
It doesn't, all it doesn't fall on, on that shoulders, but I mean, Lord, this is who that
48:53
that Saints offense was cooking.
48:55
They were, they went in there with intentions of violence.
49:00
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, fellow junkies.
49:02
Okay.
49:03
That press cards stats are as follows.
49:07
27 completions out of 39 attempts, 293 yards, one touchdown, two picks, a 78.3 passive rating,
49:15
7.5 yards per attempt, 69.2 completion percentage.
49:20
Now, he was pressured 11 times and he was sacked three times.
49:25
Okay.
49:26
Cool.
49:27
Then we look at Derek Carr, Derek Carr, 11 completions out of 16 attempts, 243 yards,
49:31
two touchdowns, one pick, a hundred, a 125 passive rating, 15.2 yards per attempt.
49:39
I'm going to say that again, 15.2 yards per attempt and a 68.8 completion percentage.
49:48
Now here's a little fun fact here.
49:50
Here's a little nugget.
49:51
Okay.
49:52
A little junkie nugget.
49:53
I don't know that actually might be a new thing now.
49:55
See, greatest podcast in the world.
49:59
Come on now.
50:01
Carr used play action on nine out of 17 drop backs.
50:05
Okay.
50:06
At 59, at 59%.
50:09
The highest rate in nine seasons, in nine seasons.
50:14
And mind you, their offensive coordinator is Clint Kubiak.
50:17
Again, who came, who comes from the 49ers tree.
50:22
Just saying, just saying.
50:24
Alvin Camara, 20 attempts for 115 yards, 5.8 rushing yards per carry, three touchdowns.
50:33
And he had four rushes of 10 plus yards.
50:36
Now when we look at this, you know, the, the, the cowboys where they just couldn't stop
50:43
it.
50:44
They could not stop Alvin Camara.
50:46
There was nothing that, that they could do to, to neutralize him.
50:50
They, they wasn't able to really make a comeback.
50:53
It was just the saints were just doing their thing.
50:55
It was one of those games.
50:57
And you know, granted, I understand that, you know, the cowboys, they, they got a new defensive
51:02
coordinator and all those different types of things, but Lord have mercy.
51:06
This is absolutely deplorable.
51:08
This is not good.
51:10
And you know, the cowboys have to have a rebound game, especially defensively, they have to
51:14
have a better, a better game.
51:17
They just have to, because if not, they will be the rotating door, not only in their division,
51:23
but for other teams that have to go up against them.
51:26
Okay.
51:27
It, I, I get it.
51:29
It's overreaction.
51:30
It's only the second week of the season.
51:32
Everyone is still having their growing pains of learning and all those different types of
51:36
things, but good God almighty.
51:39
This was a horrible game.
51:42
This was a horrible game, but I'm going to end it here.
51:45
I told myself I was going to keep things light and clearly I didn't because we're almost
51:49
at an hour again, but you know, I do this because I love you guys also much.
51:54
So if you guys like what you guys are listening, please, please, please, please leave a five
51:59
star review on anywhere that you guys can listen and get your daily fix of the greatest
52:04
football podcast.
52:05
You will possibly think of that is the pool, the football junkies podcast.
52:09
Okay.
52:10
Now follow us on YouTube football junkies pod.
52:14
Okay, football junkies pod Instagram football underscore junkies pod junkies pod.
52:19
It's not what it is together not spaced.
52:27
Okay.
52:28
Same thing for tick tock football underscore junkies pod again, football underscore junkies
52:32
pod.
52:33
Now when you go on the Instagram, uh, there, oh, yeah, the Instagram and the YouTube, there
52:38
is a link tree.
52:39
You click on that link tree.
52:40
The link tree will take you to any, any of the other places that we have available where
52:47
that be our social media or other places you guys can listen to the football junkies podcast.
52:52
You can also listen to this great, great, great, great podcast on Apple podcast, Spotify
52:58
and anywhere else that you listen to podcasts on.
53:03
Okay.
53:04
Now, as always, I hope I gave you guys the fix that you guys need.
53:08
Stay tuned.
53:09
There may be more episodes coming out this week.
53:11
I'm thinking about maybe doing a preview for Thursday's night game.
53:14
I don't know.
53:15
Maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe not.
53:16
I don't know.
53:17
We'll, we'll figure it out.
53:18
But as always, I love you guys.
53:21
I appreciate you guys so much.
53:22
Thank you guys so much for listening to this episode pretty soon.
53:26
We're going to be hitting 40 episodes pretty soon pretty soon.
53:30
But as always, I love you guys.
53:32
I preach guys peace and love.
53:34
I'm out.
53:35
Bye.