Latest / Guy Football Focus with Guy Haberman / From Melbourne with Guest Nick Wagoner - Melbourne Reactions - How The 49ers Overcome Injury And Beat The Rams

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From Melbourne with Guest Nick Wagoner - Melbourne Reactions - How The 49ers Overcome Injury And Beat The Rams · Guy Football Focus with Guy Haberman

• 0:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: from Melbourne, Australia.
• 0:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: This show is brought to you by Volvo cars Marin.
• 0:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you to the amazing people at Volvo cars Marin, Matt Gordon, the GM and his team.
• 0:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: Thanks to them, the Habermans are riding around in safety and style in the gorgeous XC90, T8.
• 0:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's a great car.
• 0:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: We got the Captain Seats.
• 0:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: We got so much room for strollers and car seats and people and it's awesome.
• 0:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: We love it.
• 0:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: The sound system is great.
• 0:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: The drive ability is great.
• 0:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: The plug in is great.
• 0:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: So thanks to Matt and Volvo cars Marin.
• 0:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: If you are looking for a new or used Volvo, look no further than Volvo cars Marin.
• 0:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's going to be a great experience for you.
• 0:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: All right.
• 0:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: Let's get on to the show from Melbourne.
• 0:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: What's up guys, guy here and boy are we lucky?
• 0:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: Nick Wagner is coming up on the show.
• 0:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: He is so good at the breakdowns at the Intel, at the context, at the understanding what means what, how big of a deal is it that Alfred Collins hurt his patella for the 49ers and is out for the year?
• 1:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: Right now we're at Amy Park, the 49ers.
• 1:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's Wednesday afternoon here.
• 1:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: The 49ers are training, as they say.
• 1:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: training practicing right now on the field and they'll they'll get a little you don't kind of walk through thing on Thursday and then we'll play the game on Friday so we are less than 48 hours away from kickoff of this thing week one of the NFL season cannot wait I've had a great time so far here in Melbourne and ready to get this get this game going
• 1:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: Nick is gonna join us right now.
• 1:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: Nick is bringing the, I just was recording the intro and then Nick just showed up.
• 1:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: So this is perfect.
• 1:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: There you go.
• 1:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is fantastic timing.
• 1:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: Look at that.
• 1:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: He brought me.
• 1:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: I asked if anyone was in here.
• 1:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
• 1:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: And they said no.
• 1:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: I know it's like, I was like, I think that's like a direct shot at my guy.
• 1:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think I think what they were doing was protecting me.
• 1:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: Protecting you.
• 1:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
• 1:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: With just from like, interlopers.
• 2:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's fair.
• 2:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, a lot of that going on around.
• 2:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: We're out of recording, so yeah, here we go.
• 2:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: This is the first half.
• 2:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: We're always recording the greatest mic I've ever felt in my life.
• 2:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's a secret microphone.
• 2:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: OK. Yeah, that's it.
• 2:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: interesting.
• 2:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: But I was recording the intro and then you just showed up.
• 2:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: So this is perfect.
• 2:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: There you go.
• 2:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think I introduced you.
• 2:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not sure.
• 2:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: Nick Wagner of ESPN and I said what a perfect person to talk to.
• 2:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: Nick is brought to you by Westel.
• 2:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: Nick is piling up the Westel gift cards.
• 2:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: He keeps coming back because he loves Westel Mexicano Moderna where I guess you could watch this.
• 2:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: Oh no, he can watch the game.
• 2:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's night time.
• 2:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: on Thursday night.
• 2:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: So go to Presto and watch the game on Thursday night.
• 2:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: We're less than 48 hours away from this one.
• 2:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: We have had countless espresso's.
• 2:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think this is a long blast.
• 2:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: This is yeah yeah I would have to go with like figure out exactly how many of each drink I've had but this is roughly coffee number 16 since I've been here something like that.
• 2:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: Nick's been eating a lot for the locals at Hector's Delling which is outstanding yes, but the coffee has been my my primary my primary obsession there's a lot of really excellent coffee this one has the best name because it's in a stadium and it's called groundskeeper so that's pretty good very true very true it's good stuff all right you got work to do nighters are practicing behind us it's closed portions so we're not watching but
• 3:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: We wouldn't be in Niners week without a curveball, so Alfred Collins, Patel Andrew, would you make it that what do you think?
• 3:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well, first of all, brutal for him.
• 3:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, this was such a big year for him, and the opportunity was there for him to take a step forward and have a significant role.
• 3:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: They had set him up for that.
• 3:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: I know that last year,
• 3:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: they were pretty pleased with the overall progress they made.
• 3:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: It wasn't like a linear thing, right?
• 3:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: But they saw enough glimpses that they really liked where he was headed.
• 3:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: He had a rough preseason and he had the shoulder thing that he was coming off of, which slowed him a little bit.
• 3:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: But now, a Petellar engine, a Petellar tendon injury for a guy, his size, too.
• 3:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: That is going to be a tough road back for him.
• 4:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: So certainly brutal already.
• 4:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: But guy, I think you would agree with me, like going into the season that
• 4:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: DT position next to also Digi Zoo was already a big question mark like we didn't know what they were going to have and not at least having Collins who again may not have been the answer right away, but you would hope what it would kind of be ascending as the season goes on it makes it an even bigger question and you look at the options that they have right now and you don't really know
• 4:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: or feel comfortable necessarily with what they have because nobody's really proven in that spot.
• 4:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, the first thing that the first thing I think what you said was exactly right.
• 4:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: The next thing you think of is you really like to have Bryson Eason back.
• 4:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: He had to cut him and the chief signed him on the 53-man roster.
• 4:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: He did keep James Thompson but he will find out whether or not he practiced or not today.
• 4:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: You have Sebastian Valdas who was elevated three times to the 53-man roster last year.
• 4:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: Got, you know, kind of bonus but never went to the 46-man roster.
• 4:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: You have Kevin Givins who has been on it off your roster throughout training camp, you know, you're not big, Thompson's big, but you're not big, so you're point you're not experienced, and you know, I think we talk about Raheem and the DBs and Bosa, but like stopping the run, so litifying the middle is like a baseball team building your team from,
• 5:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: into the middle, obviously you have Fred and Dre, so that helps, but you don't want Fred and Dre to have to leave the league and tackles or something like that.
• 5:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: So how significant is that even understanding that Alfred was not... Yeah, I think the way to frame it based on what you just said is that I was already concerned about what the run defense might look like.
• 5:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: And now I think it's exacerbated further just because it takes away an option.
• 5:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: Even if you didn't feel great about where he was going into this season,
• 5:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's another option, it's another player who potentially could have, like I said, ascended as the season goes on, and I think the other X-Factor in this guy is you talk about Reem Morrison schematically, and he's trying to figure out where these pieces fit, and it's hard to do that when you don't have the guys that the team has drafted potentially to be the guys that you're counting on moving forward, and so I think you're in a position now where you have Reem Morrison probably like, well,
• 6:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't really know what I have, so how do I know how to deploy these guys to some extent, right?
• 6:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: So, you know, a guy like Alfred Collins, you look at him and you say his side, he should be a guy that is a two-gapper, right?
• 6:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like he could potentially be that kind of guy, but again, schematically, I am curious to see how this impacts things, and maybe it doesn't directly do it, but maybe in more of a trickle-down kind of way it does.
• 6:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: I wanted on the show yesterday, are the Rams had an advantage because
• 6:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: the ramps off against the Niners defense are the ramps at an advantage because they've played five-man fronts before or variations of this defense now Rahim got him good last year that Falcons beat him yeah uh whereas these 49ers players maybe weeks three right
• 6:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: They'll be a well-oiled machine on defense, but this is the first time they've played this defense Yeah, and I mentioned that to somebody they said well, no, Reims they got enough different stuff That it's not gonna be with the Rams are used to seeing but what do you what do you think?
• 7:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's interesting you bring that up because I asked Kyle I'm sorry asked where he Morris yesterday
• 7:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: because he had made a couple of references during training camp to the idea that well everyone thinks 13 is the new hot thing and Sean McVay has probably already moved on to the next thing.
• 7:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I asked him, I said, well, you work with Kyle, who, if anyone is going to understand what McVay might be thinking about what the next thing is, it's Kyle, like, how much do you talk to Kyle about that?
• 7:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: And where he did say, like, you know, without giving specifics, like, yeah, it's great in the sense that I've gone up against both of these guys in practice, and I can pick Kyle's brain.
• 7:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I can at least get some idea of what that next thing might be.
• 7:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now, you have to prepare for what you already know and trying to prepare for what you don't know with way more difficult, right?
• 7:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: Because it's guess work.
• 7:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: But I do think that at least having someone who, you know, in the mind of Sean McVeigh, operates in a very similar way to Kyle Shannon.
• 7:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: It probably helps.
• 7:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't, it's not the end all be all and it may not matter if you don't have the person out for it.
• 8:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's certainly kind of that chess match within the game that's going to be really interesting.
• 8:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm just looking away from you because I wanted to find this that, so I had, you know, I had kind of joke like, oh, I'm ready for the Rams to run, to not run 13 personnel at all.
• 8:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: Right.
• 8:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: One running back, three tiny.
• 8:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: Right.
• 8:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: Right.
• 8:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: And it's like five wide, something like that.
• 8:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 8:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 8:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I think.
• 8:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: Cliff King's very running shoe.
• 8:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: They're great.
• 8:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Exactly.
• 8:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 8:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 8:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 8:29
  [SPEAKER_01]: you know it's funny because like not all 13 personals created equal like they got divante and puka right so it's different then everybody else running 13 personnel and throwing out a third tight end that like can't catch but but the reality is last year that the Rams ran 13 personnel 331 times
• 8:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: Second was the Steelers 130.
• 8:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: So if they're gonna deviate and totally flip the script, it would be a major change.
• 8:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: And it is an event like they do it because for them, it does put them in an advantageous situation.
• 9:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: And they still have the personnel to do it.
• 9:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like that there wasn't like a mess.
• 9:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, right.
• 9:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: There wasn't a mass accident at Titan or whatever it was.
• 9:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like they still have the guys that they believe in to make it work.
• 9:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, I'm sure we will still see it.
• 9:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm guessing there'll be some wrinkles that maybe we haven't seen yet.
• 9:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: And even a guy like Ferguson, right?
• 9:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like who didn't have a huge role
• 9:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, he's a little bit more of kind of a hybrid type of tie-dend where maybe he can make some things, which, Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVay always talked about.
• 9:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: You want to make everything look the same and do different things off of it, and that's probably where McVay is going to be more so than just wholesale person-el-change.
• 9:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: It feels so good to be less than 48 hours away.
• 9:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think I can't.
• 9:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: The game, the game, the game, the game, the game.
• 9:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: I've spent a week trying to,
• 9:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: to remember to look right and not get hit by a car because I'm looking left and finally we're just going to be in a football stadium and play a game.
• 9:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: So what do you think about it as you think about this game, aside from what we just talked about, like questions about the Niners, some of the young guys, Stafford, didn't throw an interception in the division last year through 19th of a chance, no interception.
• 9:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: division oldest first time MVP winner like he's going to be that guy again obviously we're not going to get the year and Donald but those were just some of them what's on the year.
• 10:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well there's so many things I mean the Aaron Donald thing was was a big deal to me and and it's funny because we were talking to Clay Kubi at yesterday and one of the questions I asked him and said you know what Aaron Donald back.
• 10:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: How much do you have to factor in when you're figuring out the left guard situation someone with the least a little bit Right, so not a Connor Colby is not a grizzled vet by any means, but at least he's played in the NFL versus Carvilles He kind of openly volunteered the idea of like we could rotate and then I said so you're gonna rotate and he's like, well, maybe And it's like
• 10:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, so you're just saying if the game right right really maybe a hot-handed, but I wouldn't be surprised if they rotated You know like they've done it before we've seen it to me.
• 10:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: I interpret it the only way they wouldn't rotate is if someone's just Kind of close to displaying right exactly that's it that's how I felt to it And it was like he's the one that volunteered this information so but I say that to say like
• 10:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: not having air on the other side.
• 10:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't make it easy by any means because they're still really good players on that rams interior, but it's one thing that's maybe not as devastating because you can put more attention toward Miles Garrett and the trickle down of that.
• 11:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: Everybody still has to do their job and block the man for them, but it's not as daunting.
• 11:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think the other thing for me coming into this season is
• 11:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: The 49ers pass rush to me is still the biggest question on the team.
• 11:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's the thing that we all said in the Opsies and they have to fix.
• 11:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know that they fixed it.
• 11:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, I think also Dick Zuo will definitely be a positive in that regard.
• 11:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: But we don't know what they're going to get from Nick Bosa.
• 11:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: We do know he's going to play.
• 11:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: But we don't know how many snaps.
• 11:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: We don't know what he's going to look like.
• 11:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: And we don't know what the rest of the edge of your situation is.
• 11:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: And then when I look at that and work backwards at the rest of the defense, safety is a question that I've had.
• 11:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: for two years now.
• 11:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: Much like left guard didn't get significantly addressed in the off season.
• 11:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: And so if that past rush isn't firing, that is an area where you could be exposed potentially.
• 11:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: So those are the things that I'm kind of thinking about when it comes to this game match-up wise.
• 11:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: And then the bigger picture takeaway for me is that it just feels like the Niners really need this game.
• 12:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: And you know, a lot's being made of like all they better win if they're going to go in the week early.
• 12:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't care about that.
• 12:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, what I do care about is, is that their first two road games are the Rams and the Seahawks.
• 12:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: And if you're going to have any chance to win the division, you've got to find a way to get one of those games.
• 12:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think this one sets up in a way that they have a much better chance than going up to Seattle in week five.
• 12:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was just based on the fact that they are in a, it's kind of a neutral game, more than it is, a road game and up in Seattle is very difficult.
• 12:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: They've had success there recently to be fair, but I just think from a, from a matchup standpoint, from, you know, the Rams kind of,
• 12:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: With the travel and all that kind of stuff that there's just there's just more factors in this week one, which as we both know and everyone knows Weird stuff happens in week one, so I think I just feel just feels to me like I would never call it a must-win it's week one But it just feels like a more get-able game as we set here.
• 12:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah
• 12:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: And you know it turned out last year was a get was a what I mean they want them both actually the first Rams game yeah, yeah, yeah, the Rams game was in week five in the CRS game was week one I'll tell you what I'm thinking a lot about it's it we spent I think we spent so much time on the defense rightfully Yeah, and I think this is a great game to come out of it and go
• 13:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: Is this offense going to have to score 30 points a game every week again, or can they get a little more from the defense because to your point about the past rush and the safety's if they have a pass rush it solves two problems if they don't have a pass rush exactly eight's two problems right not just not getting the pressure, but also now you're exposing a secondary that we'll say correct now you get triggering law like you like he's play I don't know how many games days going to play this year hopefully it's 17 for them, but just playing in this one and that's significant.
• 13:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: came on black looks so I want to talk about him and you know struggling sure because I think those guys if it's going to turn into you got a score 30 and even if it's not they are you know Brock is the bridge to the next window well if you walk into that if you if you look out three years and you're like we yet came on black and you got the chance dribbling or even next year right who knows yeah Christians could be sooner than later I'll be very interested
• 14:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: to see how much do they think Kail on Black can't not just help them now but they need to have him become the guy for the future and how much to see it right like no one can take carry some question yeah right can this guy be the guy that can't because he looks so explosive and so fast I want to come back to the point you made about perty is the bridge in a minute but but to address Kail on Black and and Dijon
• 14:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's a great point and I think to your point about just the idea of if they're going to need to be a team that scores 30 points a game.
• 14:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: They're going to have to have other people contributing and I go back to even 2022 and the closest thing we've seen to them spelling Christian McAfrey was when they would put Elijah Mitchell in in late in the third quarter early fourth quarter of games and he could kind of salt the game away.
• 14:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: It would give Christian McAfrey break.
• 14:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now, to be fair, they're blowing teams out.
• 14:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I don't know if this team is built to do that, but I do think that with K-Lon Black, it's a guy that you have to feel good about, that you can plug in and look, Brian Robinson, he was a veteran, he'd been around, but there was not a lot of juice there.
• 15:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: This guy's got juice, and that's the word I keep using.
• 15:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: I used it during camp multiple times, but their rookie class is a whole.
• 15:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: There's juice there, Grace and Holden.
• 15:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: Juice.
• 15:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know, we didn't talk about him without him.
• 15:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and we could go back to that if you want, but
• 15:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: But I definitely think that you talk about personnel changes, right?
• 15:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like the Niners have never been a heavy 11 personnel team relative to the rest of the week.
• 15:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm curious to see if we'll see that change because Dayjohn's dribbling almost gives you another like in blocking ability and then of course what he can do as a receiver.
• 15:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's almost giving you another tight end in a way.
• 15:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: So, um, I think there's a lot of different things they can do and I think particularly when it comes to Kyle Shanahan's offense.
• 15:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: What do we know is the staple of the passing game all the time?
• 15:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: It is 15 17 yard intermediate crossers, dig routes, pierigar, son was so good about that stuff for so many years.
• 15:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: Days on Stribling has the physical attributes to do that.
• 15:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: He's not afraid to go over the middle.
• 15:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: He doesn't get the alligator arms.
• 15:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like, I think he's going to be involved heavily early and often.
• 15:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: And then I think you're going to see more kale on black.
• 16:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if it's going to be right off the bat, but I definitely think those two guys
• 16:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like you say, not just for 2026, but for beyond, it's a huge, huge piece of the puzzle for this team.
• 16:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: Um, you wanted to make a pun on Brock too?
• 16:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I just wanted to say, I think you said it so well.
• 16:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: You talked about him being the bridge, right?
• 16:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: Because you and I talked about it on this show all the time.
• 16:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: this nucleus of guys that's getting closer to the end and they are the beginning and then you wonder who is the next nucleus and the only guy we know right now that's in that nucleus and is signed for the long term is a rock pretty which is a good thing I use was I use was but but that we know right now is and you could be could probably put the norm there if you wanted to but
• 16:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's a good thing because he's your quarterback so that is it's the position that matters the most but you gotta find some guys who can that he can bring along with him that are going to be in that group and he's going to this season.
• 16:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: Brock I think is as locked in as trusted and trusting as he's ever been he had he told me he felt like he had the best camp he's ever had he just feels it right and I think he's in a situation where he's also going to be the longest tenure quarterback Kyle Shanahan has ever
• 17:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: either as a starter or either as a head coach or as an offensive coordinator.
• 17:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like there's a lot of things that play into this and so like I think Brock pretty is poised for a really big year.
• 17:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: So long as those other pieces are kind of in place.
• 17:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I think compared to the other teams of recent vintage I've been really good 49ers teams, they're going to need Brock to be the man more than those other ones.
• 17:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: That and that is like what everyone talks about, right?
• 17:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: the Avengers right right okay now what happens when you got to be the man now you You know, but he's ever been great without great like no one's want to change of course great players and obviously this group has really he's got really good players around him.
• 17:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think Debo's poised for a very good year I think you feel Debo on the practice field in a way that I didn't notice as much That he was gone until he returned like I've filled I'll show people I did it yesterday There's a great video of him
• 18:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: that I took going up to Fred Warner and then like trying to pretend like he was going on with three green law and then the same thing again today just just connecting people.
• 18:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm with you.
• 18:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think Brock has been so not that he wasn't dialed in before but watching him work is he everything feels so precise.
• 18:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: uh... he is it's everything just feels so solid that he does feel look to me like like maybe he'll be a little more explosive this year uh... the other my other prediction is back to black i got a few like i think we're gonna get in here and up to stouts the best corner back on this team okay
• 18:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think it's going to be really hard to your point about three wide receiver offense.
• 18:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think it's going to be really hard to take dribbling off the field because I think you will feel when he's not on the field.
• 18:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I think you'll kind of feel when Kaylon Black's not on the field, given how fast he is looking.
• 18:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: They haven't played a real game.
• 18:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: Sure.
• 18:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: But so far, when it elevated, they looked at the same, right?
• 19:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I think dribbling like, I know it's just a preseason series, but the first series against the chargers in the preseason, I think it got three first downs, maybe two, and then the next one they needed, they went the feral, and it just like, it's the whole thing, it just fell apart, because it...
• 19:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: I just, it's really interesting.
• 19:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think he's not my Kevin's, no.
• 19:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: And he's not Debo, and he's not Kittle, and I said this yesterday in the moment, I thought about it, I hadn't really thought of it, but they're not him either, like he's different than those guys.
• 19:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think the thing everyone talks about with him is what they missed last year, which was speed, right?
• 19:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's so easy to get caught up in the four, three speed.
• 19:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: Which is great, they needed that, they needed that juice because the stat was that they didn't have a single ball carrier on offense last year, who hit even 20 miles an hour on the GPS, right?
• 19:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's great.
• 19:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: But again, when I go back to what is the Kyle Shanahan offense asked you to do down in and down out because it's not running nine routes and catching 60 yard bombs.
• 19:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's, can you run a 15 to 17 yard in and made route?
• 19:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: Can you create some form of separation, catch the ball and stride, make somebody miss, take a big hit, all of those things.
• 20:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: And we didn't even get into like what you can do for the run game, right?
• 20:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like,
• 20:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: That is a thing that Leonard Hankerson and I talked about this in the spring and then we talked about it again this summer They did not believe that they're run blocking as a receiver group was nearly up to power last year and it wasn't and I think that affected a lot of You know everyone makes a big deal of the Christian McCaffrey
• 20:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: rushing at which in some of that is yeah probably maybe a half step has been lost there but he wasn't getting that extra block on the outside that could turn a six-year gain into a 15-year gain and that those are the things that dramatically change a rushing average so yeah I think I think a lot of the season it's a little scary for them probably that hinging on rookies I know calcium hand probably wouldn't prefer that but I think you have to really mature rookies guys that are a little bit older and in this case you know sometimes that can be detriment
• 20:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think in this case, it's really good for where this team is right now and what they need out of those guys right away.
• 20:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I will throw great, like Grayson Halton's getting.
• 20:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: He's not been like those guys, but he's been good.
• 21:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's been a shame for him that he hasn't been able to be on the field as much, but when we've seen it, there is the juice, the juice is the word I have used, and I use it during camp a few times, but just that energy, even Trent Williams saying, like, oh, this young kid makes me feel young again, you know, just because it's cool.
• 21:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: he's ready to bring it every day.
• 21:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: So they're going to need him.
• 21:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: OK, I've just dive into football because I'm excited that the game is here.
• 21:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: We haven't done any.
• 21:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: Like, tell me, what are you feeling here?
• 21:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: You've covered a lot of NFL games.
• 21:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: I've covered international games.
• 21:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: I've done London, Mexico City.
• 21:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: So this we haven't been inside a stadium we've walked around the MCG several times it's historic It's important to this place that the everyone here is like I've everywhere I go like people want to talk about it Yeah, because it's so immediately obvious that are you here for the game?
• 21:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah
• 21:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: What do you expect a 100,000 people to feel a little bit different?
• 22:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: Kyle was asked, does it feel like it's super bold to you?
• 22:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: Which I thought was a fair question?
• 22:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: He said, no, because I'm just in the hotel.
• 22:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: We do a week long trip, but it definitely feels special.
• 22:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: What's it feel like to you?
• 22:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I mean, it's been awesome.
• 22:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: I've really enjoyed my time here.
• 22:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: The people have been awesome first and foremost.
• 22:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: We talked about the coffee a little bit earlier, but I think like,
• 22:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: you hear kind of the reverence they have for like it's like hollow ground right the mcg and I'm looking forward to just get in there and kind of seeing what it's like because I don't really know what to expect I've covered a game at Wembley which I was assume is probably at least you know the way it's set up is probably somewhat similar But I think it's going to be a great atmosphere and I think that you know you're probably going to get a heavy amount of 49er's fans I think that's what they're expecting but
• 22:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: When I talk to Lee execs about this game, leading up to this stories that I have coming out and have written for this.
• 22:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: The two things they said about why they chose Melbourne because they considered Perth and they considered Sydney and they considered Melbourne.
• 22:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: Why they ultimately came here was number one was the MCG because it is such an iconic stadium.
• 23:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's a largest stadium in the southern hemisphere, I believe.
• 23:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: And then number two is the walkability of the city, which I have also found to be very true.
• 23:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: I've walked everywhere, and I've never walked for more than 20 minutes to get to a destination.
• 23:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: So maybe a little faster in some situations and others, but
• 23:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: I see what the appeal is, and I think the other thing that has stood out to me, and I think this will probably come through, even on TV, for people watching this place loves their sports, they drink their sports, and I think that's come through a lot, and I think you're going to get a lot of that, because I think a lot of times when you, especially go to your new market, like, I don't know if the fans don't really know when to cheer and when not to, I feel like these fans probably have studied up, and they're going to be rocking and ready to go when it comes, right?
• 23:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and it does just feel like they're like,
• 23:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, we'll just you just let us know like well, we'll be fired up You know the ones who don't know exactly this definitely feels like a little lead of those who know 10 30 a.m.
• 23:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's gonna be like a little holiday around here.
• 23:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: So yeah 7 7 a.m.
• 23:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: They'll start they'll start opening the gates I'm sure they'll be some they're gonna open the gates I believe so at least to the like the to the to the area there.
• 24:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not sure when you can come into the game, but
• 24:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: I know that the league had to take special measures because they're like, oh, like, arc start time.
• 24:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: We better have breakfast items on the concession menu.
• 24:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like, all those little things like logistically that they had to do.
• 24:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: So it's going to be, uh, it's going to be a fun.
• 24:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm looking forward to it.
• 24:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: All right.
• 24:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: You got to get back to work.
• 24:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: Thanks for making time.
• 24:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: Thanks for the call.
• 24:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: Always.
• 24:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 24:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely.
• 24:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: All right.
• 24:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: There he is.
• 24:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: Nick Wagner.