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NFL REPORT: Free Agency & Getting to Know 2024 Draft Class · NFL Game Previews

0:05
Speaker 1: I'm Terry Fao, general manager of the Atlanta Falcons, and
0:08
Speaker 1: this is the NFL Report.
0:11
Speaker 2: Welcome into the NFL Report, James Palmer, Steve Whitch with you.
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Speaker 2: Terry's working his tail off right now, getting ready for
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Speaker 2: the combine and the draft.
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Speaker 3: And Steve, what is Wait a minute, you look like
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Speaker 3: you're in a press box right now?
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Speaker 4: Where Steve?
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Speaker 3: Yeah?
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Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm in a press box of at Yeoman Stadium
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Speaker 1: on the campus of Tulayne University watching practices for the
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Speaker 1: HBCU Legacy Bowl, which will air Saturday, four pm Eastern
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Speaker 1: on NFL Network. Met Bucky Brooks, Sherry Burris, and Charles
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Speaker 1: Davis on the call, top one hundred draft LGI players
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Speaker 1: from HBCUs. It's always a great week, JP, But I
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Speaker 1: got good WiFi in here too. These pictures have been
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Speaker 1: real clear.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, you look great. You look great. You know who's
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Speaker 3: also in that press box you mentioned him? Bucky Brooks.
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Speaker 2: He's gonna join us talking about some deepest part of
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Speaker 2: the draft, maybe some specific positions that some teams might
1:01
Speaker 2: be intrigued by. We're also going to have Saints head
1:05
Speaker 2: coach Dennis Allen join the show.
1:07
Speaker 3: Let's go.
1:07
Speaker 2: Also NFL Network insider Tom Pelisara joins his talk franchise
1:11
Speaker 2: tags and a couple of quarterbacks and Kirk Cousins and
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Speaker 2: Baker Mayfield. But let's start off with Justin Fields, Steve.
1:18
Speaker 2: And we're not saying that solely. You know, we didn't
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Speaker 2: connect Terry Fontnou to introduce this show to Justin Fields,
1:24
Speaker 2: because we do know that's a potential landing spot that
1:26
Speaker 2: some teams are trying to connect. Let's talk about the
1:29
Speaker 2: best fit for Justin Fields. And I say this Steve
1:33
Speaker 2: specifically because to my understanding, the Bears are kind of
1:37
Speaker 2: finalizing in this week. They're kind of their their mindset
1:41
Speaker 2: on what they want to do at the quarterback position,
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Speaker 2: and then when they get to Indianapolis, probably a lot
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Speaker 2: of discussions will be had about what teams would be
1:49
Speaker 2: interested in Justin Fields that started amobile, and we'll continue
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Speaker 2: in possible landing spots that he could wind up in.
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Speaker 2: So with that said, and on the you know, a
1:58
Speaker 2: couple of days before the combine, what's the best fit
2:00
Speaker 2: for Justin Field, Steve?
2:02
Speaker 1: It's first off, Jap isn't interesting how the conversation is
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Speaker 1: really no longer the Bears retaining Justin Fields.
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Speaker 4: I mean that seems like the ship is sales.
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Speaker 1: We don't know, We really don't know, but it seems
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Speaker 1: that the conversation has swung so much to them using
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Speaker 1: that number one pick on Caleb Williams' quarterback that Justin
2:21
Speaker 1: Fields has gone. So to answer your question, it's not Atlanta,
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Speaker 1: it's not Pittsburgh.
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Speaker 4: It is the Las Vegas Raiders for his.
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Speaker 5: Former law.
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Speaker 4: Gets he takes over. But here's why I think he's
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Speaker 4: a great fit.
2:38
Speaker 1: I look at what their offense is, right, you know,
2:41
Speaker 1: he comes into their quarterback. They've got I think they're
2:44
Speaker 1: gonna bring back Josh Jacobs so they can have a
2:46
Speaker 1: dual threat run game. They've got a pretty good offensive
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Speaker 1: line there. They've got DeVante Adams, They've got some players.
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Speaker 1: They've got a tight end, right, They've got Meyer, They've
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Speaker 1: got some players he can get the ball to.
2:58
Speaker 4: They're a physical club. Plus all of.
3:01
Speaker 1: Those great offensive head coaches in that division, Jim harbaughch
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Speaker 1: On Peyton, Andy Reid, they haven't had to defend a
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Speaker 1: quarterback like Justin Fields. I think he could go there,
3:13
Speaker 1: and in a division where Antonio Pierce the only defensive
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Speaker 1: coach facing some of the greatest coaches that we have
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Speaker 1: seen in modern football having somebody like him to confuse
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Speaker 1: them to hold the ball and have explosive play potential.
3:27
Speaker 1: To me, I think he's a raider all day. Fits
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Speaker 1: the culture. I could see him smoking a cigar with
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Speaker 1: Max Crosby and AP. I think that's the perfect fit.
3:38
Speaker 2: Well, that's a various It also like rich Gangarillo joining
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Speaker 2: that staff, who maybe an underrated developer of quarterbacks in
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Speaker 2: this league, is very, very talented in terms of working
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Speaker 2: with quarterbacks.
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Speaker 3: I just look at.
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Speaker 2: Pittsburgh and I look at Atlanta, and I look at
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Speaker 2: the skill position players that would be around, justin fields.
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Speaker 2: In terms of guys like you know, George Pickens goes
3:59
Speaker 2: up and gets ball, Steve right he goes up and
4:01
Speaker 2: gets balls that are fifty to fifty type of balls.
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Speaker 2: I also think that those guys exist in Atlanta as well.
4:06
Speaker 2: What I'm curious about this process and I wanted to
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Speaker 2: add this more than just a typical landing spot. This
4:12
Speaker 2: was a crazy stat sent to us by our research department.
4:15
Speaker 2: The Bears had a ten or more point lead in
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Speaker 2: the fourth quarter in eight games this season. They lost
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Speaker 2: three of those. Nobody else really lost more than one
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Speaker 2: game that had that type of lead. I want to
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Speaker 2: know what the league considers if this is on Justin Fields,
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Speaker 2: the quarterback, or if this is on the situation in Chicago.
4:34
Speaker 2: He had the worst passer rating in football in the
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Speaker 2: fourth quarter amongst qualified passers. So I want to know
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Speaker 2: how this evaluation evolves. Because the guy hasn't been dealt
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Speaker 2: the greatest of hands in Chicago. He is actually extremely
4:45
Speaker 2: well liked by the front office and the people within
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Speaker 2: that locker room. I want to know if they want
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Speaker 2: to do him a solid Steve, do they want to
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Speaker 2: send him to a decent location.
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Speaker 3: That's what I'm curious about.
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Speaker 1: And I do think that's a great point, because when
4:57
Speaker 1: you trade away somebody who is a good player or
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Speaker 1: who has those types of feelings, you want to trade
5:02
Speaker 1: him to a situation where he could possibly succeed. But
5:05
Speaker 1: I want to go back to what he said, is
5:07
Speaker 1: this conversation about the Steelers continues to intrigue me because
5:12
Speaker 1: Arthur Smith, he was the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons,
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Speaker 1: wanted no parts of Justin Fields.
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Speaker 4: He had the possibility to draft him, they.
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Speaker 1: Took Kyle Pitts. We asked Terry Fondo. This last week
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Speaker 1: they took Kyle Pitts, a tight end. They bypassed Justin Fields.
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Speaker 1: Why all of a sudden with the head coach who
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Speaker 1: designs the offense take a liking to Justin Field. That's
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Speaker 1: why this conversation when I hear the Steelers and Arthur Smith,
5:38
Speaker 1: Ougho'd be a perfect fit. Why Arthur Smith didn't want
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Speaker 1: him once? Why would he want him right now? It's
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Speaker 1: just that that linking, I may be completely off base.
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Speaker 1: I don't see I don't see that link. Real quick, JP,
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Speaker 1: since we're talking about Chicago Bears with the number one pick,
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Speaker 1: possibly you're likely using it on quarterback Caleb Williams.
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Speaker 4: A number two sets to Washington Commanders.
6:03
Speaker 1: I think they are going to be more draft day ballers.
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Speaker 4: Than the Bears.
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Speaker 1: I think they've got the potential to move from two
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Speaker 1: to four, still, get the quarterback that they want, pink
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Speaker 1: up some extra picks, They've got cap space to add
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Speaker 1: people in free agency.
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Speaker 4: To me, that is the team to watch with the draft.
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Speaker 1: That's where the draft really starts, because I think they've
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Speaker 1: got some pieces and they've got.
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Speaker 4: Some time there.
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Speaker 1: They've got a grace period to put things in place.
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Speaker 1: Where that's going to be the big mover all around
6:32
Speaker 1: the early part of the draft.
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Speaker 2: Listen, Steve, if they're the ones grabbing all the attention,
6:37
Speaker 2: I'm nervous for Ryan Poles. I'm nervous if he gets
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Speaker 2: overshadowed with what he has set up leading into this draft.
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Speaker 2: I do think the Fields trade actually happened sooner rather
6:46
Speaker 2: than later. They'd like that to happen. There's more teams
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Speaker 2: that need a quarterback now than when it gets closer
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Speaker 2: to the draft. I think that's plays with this as well.
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Speaker 2: And I think you're right. I think number two is
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Speaker 2: where the draft starts. Because everybody's assuming it's Kayleb Williams
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Speaker 2: at number one that's locked in. It's gonna take a
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Speaker 2: historic Hall, as Ian Rappaport reports. So number two seems
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Speaker 2: to be the start of the draft, but at number
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Speaker 2: nine is also the Bears.
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Speaker 3: So I'm fascinated by this.
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Speaker 2: Thought process that you have to where it could be
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Speaker 2: the Washington Commanders hurting all the heads as opposed to
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Speaker 2: the Chicago Bears.
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Speaker 3: I'm fascinated to see what happens. But that's why you
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Speaker 3: went and got Adam Peters, right, Steve.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, and was he Adam Peters. He's wheeling and
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Speaker 1: dealing before before the draft when it comes to those
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Speaker 1: types of picks when he was with the forty nine ers.
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Speaker 1: We'll see if he does it again, you know what, Jap.
7:33
Speaker 1: When we come back after the break, we've got Saints
7:37
Speaker 1: coach Dennis Allen. They are revamping their with a new coordinator,
7:41
Speaker 1: a new scheme. We're gonna talk to him about that
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Speaker 1: and how that affects Derek Carr when we're back on
7:48
Speaker 1: the NFL Report, roll.
7:50
Speaker 4: That state bell.
7:51
Speaker 1: See it's time for the lead block, presented by T
8:01
Speaker 1: Mobile for Business. A sport as fast as football deserves
8:05
Speaker 1: America's fastest five G network, businesses go further with T
8:09
Speaker 1: Mobile for Business. All Right, welcome back to the NFL
8:13
Speaker 1: Report and JP, I am so looking forward to this
8:16
Speaker 1: because we are now joined by New Orleans Saints head
8:18
Speaker 1: coach Dennis Allen.
8:20
Speaker 4: I've known DA way back. Gosh, it's been about fifteen years.
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Speaker 1: We go back DA back to Atlanta, and first off,
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Speaker 1: thanks for joining us, but we want to have you
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Speaker 1: on because this has been such an eventful off season
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Speaker 1: in terms of changing of your coaching staff. On the
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Speaker 1: offensive side, you hire Clint Kubiak as your offensive coordinator.
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Speaker 1: Just kind of what went into that and what are
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Speaker 1: you expecting now for your offense?
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Speaker 4: Is it going to be a radical.
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Speaker 1: Change or do something you think fits philosophically what you
8:49
Speaker 1: want to do with this team.
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Speaker 6: Yeah, well, look, obviously, we went through an extensive search
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Speaker 6: in terms of interview and a lot of people for
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Speaker 6: this position. I think we I think we interviewed eleven
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Speaker 6: or twelve offensive coordinator candidates, a lot of really qualified guys.
9:09
Speaker 6: I felt like, you know, we really needed to do
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Speaker 6: a deep dive into a lot of different schemes and
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Speaker 6: a lot of different personalities.
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Speaker 7: I wanted to really look at.
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Speaker 6: You know, what was going to be the best fit
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Speaker 6: for the New Orleans Saints, for our players that we
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Speaker 6: have here, and the things that we need to try
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Speaker 6: to get accomplished.
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Speaker 7: And I felt like Clint Kubiak was.
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Speaker 6: Obviously the the person of choice. And I've known Clint
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Speaker 6: for a long time. I feel like I've known the
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Speaker 6: family for you know, probably over twenty thirty years. I
9:51
Speaker 6: remember watching Clint's dad, Gary play quarterback back at Texas
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Speaker 6: A and m you know, growing up. So I feel
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Speaker 6: like I fe I've known this family. I feel like
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Speaker 6: I've known this scheme for a long time and and
10:09
Speaker 6: and I feel like this is the best scheme that
10:13
Speaker 6: gives your players the best chance to have success that's
10:16
Speaker 6: going in the National Football League right now. And and UH,
10:20
Speaker 6: I think Clint is highly intelligent. UH, he's extremely hard worker.
10:26
Speaker 6: I think we've put together an outstanding UH staff with
10:31
Speaker 6: a little bit of a mixture of some older veteran
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Speaker 6: coaches that have been there, done that, UH, with some
10:40
Speaker 6: younger progressive mindset type of guys. And and I think
10:45
Speaker 6: it's gonna be a great mixture for our for our organization.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, before we move forward to what we want to
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Speaker 2: talk about philosophically and scheme wise, And you touched on
10:54
Speaker 2: it there a little bit.
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Speaker 3: I know I've been told back in the day.
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Speaker 2: You know the way Gary when he ran it at
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Speaker 2: its highest level, it's almost Doenguardle sometimes if it's done
11:01
Speaker 2: the right way, the way this offense can be run.
11:03
Speaker 2: But specifically Clint coming from San Francisco and the way
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Speaker 2: you've seen coaches depart out of San Francisco and have success.
11:11
Speaker 2: What is it that you learned maybe in that interview
11:13
Speaker 2: process with Clint about what that building is doing right
11:17
Speaker 2: to have guys prepared to make a jump like you're
11:19
Speaker 2: having Clint do.
11:21
Speaker 5: Yeah.
11:21
Speaker 6: Well, I just think it's really about, you know, having
11:25
Speaker 6: having a system that you believe in UH, and then
11:29
Speaker 6: being able to clearly identify the players that fit that system,
11:33
Speaker 6: and then being able to acquire the talent that fits.
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Speaker 7: That And and I think.
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Speaker 6: I think they've done as good a job as any
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Speaker 6: in San Francisco being able to do that. I think
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Speaker 6: they have a belief system of things that they really
11:47
Speaker 6: firmly believe in, and they don't vary from that. Obviously,
11:51
Speaker 6: the scheme has has evolved as it's going gone along.
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Speaker 6: You know, this goes back to you know, Mike Shanahan
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Speaker 6: coaching back at Denver h through you know kub going
12:04
Speaker 6: to Houston UH and then and then carrying that scheme along,
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Speaker 6: you know, when he went back to UH Baltimore and
12:13
Speaker 6: then he went to Minnesota, and you just see this
12:15
Speaker 6: scheme having a lot of success.
12:17
Speaker 7: There's probably a little bit more window.
12:20
Speaker 6: Dressing within the scheme now than maybe what there was
12:23
Speaker 6: you know, ten or fifteen years ago. But I just
12:26
Speaker 6: think it's it's a system that's quarterback friendly UH and
12:31
Speaker 6: and I think it relies on being able to run
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Speaker 6: the football and uh and get your play action passing
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Speaker 6: game going.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, I love I love hearing you talk about this
12:39
Speaker 1: because you're a defensive guy, right, You've had the scheme
12:41
Speaker 1: begainst this, so you know how what the challenge it
12:44
Speaker 1: is schematically. You just said it, this is a quarterback
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Speaker 1: friendly system. How do you think this is going to
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Speaker 1: benefit Derek Carr?
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Speaker 6: Well, look, I think Derek's going to do exceptionally well.
12:57
Speaker 6: You know, I thought there was a point in time
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Speaker 6: this past season where you know, we started incorporating a
13:04
Speaker 6: little bit more of the play action passing game and
13:06
Speaker 6: I really felt like that's where our offense started to
13:08
Speaker 6: take off. I thought that's where Derek really kind of
13:11
Speaker 6: started to take off. And you know, it's interesting because
13:14
Speaker 6: you know, I've had communication with Derek throughout this process, uh,
13:19
Speaker 6: you know, and talk to him about some of the
13:20
Speaker 6: different candidates that you know, we were bringing in. And
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Speaker 6: his brother, David had played for Gary and and UH
13:28
Speaker 6: in Houston, and that was David's last year in Houston.
13:31
Speaker 6: I was kind of a little bit concerned that, you know,
13:35
Speaker 6: maybe that wouldn't go over that great and and uh,
13:37
Speaker 6: and David had some really good things to say, you know,
13:41
Speaker 6: about the offensive scheme, uh, and about how he uh,
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Speaker 6: you know, really appreciated the scheme and the things that
13:48
Speaker 6: they were doing, and and and really enjoyed playing for
13:52
Speaker 6: for Gary and felt like, look, if, if, if there's
13:55
Speaker 6: some similarities, which I think there's a ton between Gary
13:58
Speaker 6: and Clint, that uh, it was going to be a
14:00
Speaker 6: great fit. And so I'm really kind of excited about that.
14:04
Speaker 3: It's interesting you bring up Houston.
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Speaker 2: I was a beat guy there when Gary was the
14:07
Speaker 2: head coach, and I remember those drafts da of him
14:10
Speaker 2: kind of finding the guys that fit this game we're
14:12
Speaker 2: talking about throughout the draft. So I'm kind of curious
14:15
Speaker 2: now that you make this switch on offense, what have
14:17
Speaker 2: the meetings been like, and does your draft philosophy maybe
14:20
Speaker 2: change a little bit in the style of player maybe
14:23
Speaker 2: you're looking at on the offensive line or some other
14:25
Speaker 2: spots with the way that Clint wants to run this.
14:28
Speaker 7: Yeah, no, I think that's a great question.
14:30
Speaker 6: You know, you know, a few years back defensively here,
14:36
Speaker 6: I remember back in twenty fifteen, kind of twenty sixteen,
14:41
Speaker 6: we weren't sure exactly what we wanted to be defensively
14:45
Speaker 6: three four four to three, Seattle three defense, New England
14:50
Speaker 6: single high man. We kind of went through a little process,
14:54
Speaker 6: and it was really kind of in sixteen where I
14:57
Speaker 6: kind of took over, and I think we clearly identified
15:01
Speaker 6: exactly what we wanted to do defensively and exactly what
15:05
Speaker 6: we were looking for in each position, and so therefore
15:08
Speaker 6: we were able to go out and find those guys
15:11
Speaker 6: twenty seventeen draft and on, and I think we became
15:15
Speaker 6: a lot better defense because of that, because we clearly
15:17
Speaker 6: identified what we were looking for. And I think that's
15:21
Speaker 6: the process that we're going through right now. We're in
15:24
Speaker 6: the process of having our February draft meetings with the scouts,
15:29
Speaker 6: with Jeff Ireland, Mickey Loomis, myself, we're in there talking
15:32
Speaker 6: through these guys, and we had a chance to get
15:35
Speaker 6: the offensive coaching staff in here over the weekend and
15:40
Speaker 6: really sit down with the you know, with the scouts
15:44
Speaker 6: and with the people in the draft room and kind
15:47
Speaker 6: of go through, Look, this is what we're looking for
15:50
Speaker 6: at the quarterback position. This is what we're looking for
15:52
Speaker 6: in an offensive tackle, this is what we're looking for
15:54
Speaker 6: at the receiver position. So I think that's been I
15:58
Speaker 6: think that's been great for our group, and I think
16:01
Speaker 6: we'll have to continue to have those discussions as we
16:03
Speaker 6: go throughout you know, this draft process and really not
16:06
Speaker 6: just the draft process, but free agency also.
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Speaker 3: M hm.
16:10
Speaker 4: I mean, I know that's invigorating.
16:11
Speaker 1: I mean it's got to be like so cool now
16:12
Speaker 1: to have these types of discussions with the new staff
16:15
Speaker 1: and kind of hear new ideas and and to really
16:17
Speaker 1: do this. So let's let's kind of flip it to
16:19
Speaker 1: the other side of the ball, DA, you know, that's
16:21
Speaker 1: where you've just had one of the best defenses in
16:23
Speaker 1: the NFL for just the longest time. And I want
16:27
Speaker 1: to look at Cam Jordan because last year see him
16:29
Speaker 1: like just such an aberration. You know, you only had
16:31
Speaker 1: the two sacks he wasn't putting up, you know, the
16:33
Speaker 1: typical Hall of Fame type of numbers we've seen him
16:35
Speaker 1: put up.
16:36
Speaker 4: Do you consider that just kind of.
16:38
Speaker 1: A blip on the radar, you know, And what does
16:40
Speaker 1: he maybe need to do to get back to the
16:43
Speaker 1: Cam that we have seen for more than a decade.
16:46
Speaker 6: Yeah, Well, look, I think I think the thing that
16:49
Speaker 6: I would say about Cam, you know, probably where the
16:52
Speaker 6: dip occurred a little bit. Is just his ability to
16:55
Speaker 6: finish on the quarterback. I think he was still effective
16:59
Speaker 6: and kind of being able to get around the quarterback,
17:01
Speaker 6: he just didn't finish as well on the quarterback. And so, uh,
17:05
Speaker 6: I think that's one of the things that we've got
17:07
Speaker 6: to continue to look at and work at. I think
17:09
Speaker 6: he's still one of the better run players in our
17:12
Speaker 6: league at the defensive end position.
17:14
Speaker 7: But look, let's be honest.
17:16
Speaker 6: I mean, as we as we all get older, we
17:18
Speaker 6: we we start to slow down a little bit. I
17:21
Speaker 6: don't think he's at that point where I think he's
17:24
Speaker 6: still got some good football left. And I think it's
17:27
Speaker 6: up to us to try to find the positions and
17:29
Speaker 6: the places to put him in, uh, to allow him
17:32
Speaker 6: to still be successful, you know.
17:33
Speaker 7: And so.
17:35
Speaker 6: Look, the other thing is he injured his ankle at
17:39
Speaker 6: some point in the season. I think it might have
17:41
Speaker 6: been the Minnesota week. And look, he's such a tough
17:45
Speaker 6: competitor that he just battled through and fought through it.
17:48
Speaker 6: But I think it was probably, you know, six weeks
17:51
Speaker 6: before he started feeling more like himself.
17:54
Speaker 2: Yeah, you mentioned you mentioned Cam's age, and I'm not
17:56
Speaker 2: pushing him out the door by any stretch.
17:58
Speaker 3: He's one of my favorite players to watch.
17:59
Speaker 2: But as a head coach, now that you're in this
18:01
Speaker 2: position and you're going through this, when a roster starts
18:05
Speaker 2: to get a little bit older, how do you figure
18:07
Speaker 2: out gauging you know, a guy still, as you mentioned, Cam,
18:10
Speaker 2: still has this much left in your mind, gauging between
18:14
Speaker 2: we have to try to maybe flip this and get
18:16
Speaker 2: younger in some aspects, but we still want to value
18:19
Speaker 2: what this guy brings. Because you have a lot of
18:22
Speaker 2: those type of players that still bring a lot to
18:24
Speaker 2: the table.
18:24
Speaker 3: How do you gauge that?
18:26
Speaker 6: Yeah, Look, I think it's a delicate balance, you know,
18:29
Speaker 6: because not only do these players I'm talking about guys
18:36
Speaker 6: like Cam Jordan, I'm talking about guys like Tyron Matthew,
18:39
Speaker 6: I'm talking about guys like to Mario Davis. We're speaking
18:42
Speaker 6: specifically on the defensive side of the ball. Look, they
18:46
Speaker 6: can still play, and they can still play at a
18:49
Speaker 6: winnable level, and it's all those other intangibles that they
18:54
Speaker 6: can bring to your football team that don't necessarily always
18:58
Speaker 6: show up on the stat sheet, but they they they
19:02
Speaker 6: show up in terms of the culture and and uh
19:06
Speaker 6: and the way you go about doing things. And so look,
19:09
Speaker 6: it's a delicate balance and it's hard because you know,
19:11
Speaker 6: these guys have been such great players for such a
19:14
Speaker 6: long time. Uh that's that's the challenging part of this business.
19:18
Speaker 6: But uh, as long as they can play and play
19:20
Speaker 6: at a level that allows us to be able to win, uh,
19:24
Speaker 6: then then uh, I think they're valuable pieces to our team.
19:28
Speaker 1: Da Hey, one last question before we let you go here,
19:30
Speaker 1: and and this is important. I'm in New Orleans for
19:33
Speaker 1: the the HBCU Legacy Bowl. The HBCU Combine was running
19:37
Speaker 1: your facility, and the Saints have such a rich history
19:40
Speaker 1: with players, coaches and supporting black college athletics. Even last
19:46
Speaker 1: year you guys adding Mark Evans, the offensive lineman at
19:48
Speaker 1: Arkansas Pine Bluff. Just what about your organizational commitment to
19:53
Speaker 1: continue to find talent on and off the field to
19:57
Speaker 1: make you guys better year in and year out.
20:01
Speaker 6: Yeah, well, look, I mean I think I think it's
20:03
Speaker 6: really just a commitment to trying to find the best
20:07
Speaker 6: people and the best players that we can find, regardless
20:09
Speaker 6: of where they come from.
20:11
Speaker 1: Uh.
20:11
Speaker 6: And I think this uh, you know, this Legacy Bowl,
20:15
Speaker 6: and we had the combine over here at the facility
20:19
Speaker 6: yesterday where I think there was probably about you know,
20:22
Speaker 6: fifty kids that got an opportunity to get in front
20:24
Speaker 6: of the NFL scouts, uh and and go through some
20:29
Speaker 6: you know, positional uh drills or skilled drills to get
20:35
Speaker 6: get there, get their name, and get their face in
20:37
Speaker 6: front of uh some NFL evaluators and give them an
20:40
Speaker 6: opportunity to maybe have a chance to uh, you know,
20:44
Speaker 6: either be drafted signed as a free agent. You know,
20:48
Speaker 6: we look football players coming and and all shape sizes
20:53
Speaker 6: and areas and backgrounds and all those kinds of things,
20:57
Speaker 6: and and uh, you know, we're willing to look anywhere
21:01
Speaker 6: we can to find somebody that fits our culture, that
21:04
Speaker 6: fits our program, uh, that can help us, you know,
21:08
Speaker 6: be a successful organization wins the football games.
21:11
Speaker 1: Hey da, man, we appreciate the support. We appreciate you
21:15
Speaker 1: taking the time with this.
21:16
Speaker 3: Man.
21:16
Speaker 4: You're the best.
21:16
Speaker 1: Thank you, you know, and you're taking out time when
21:19
Speaker 1: the middle draft prep and putting the staff together means
21:21
Speaker 1: the world.
21:22
Speaker 4: So can't thank you enough. Joining James and I here
21:25
Speaker 4: at the NFL report.
21:26
Speaker 6: Yeah, absolutely, guys. I always got I always got fifteen
21:29
Speaker 6: minutes for you.
21:30
Speaker 1: Guys there we go, We're gonna follow you back.
21:33
Speaker 3: We're going to hold you to that day. Yeah, we
21:35
Speaker 3: are all right.
21:37
Speaker 1: NFL Report our top Pella zero is going to talk
21:40
Speaker 1: about some key NFL free agents. That guy Kirk Cousins
21:45
Speaker 1: he be available. That's next on the NFL Report. All
21:50
Speaker 1: the tape, l Fie.
21:52
Speaker 3: That's a wrap for the.
21:53
Speaker 1: Lead block presented by Team Mobile for Business. A sport
21:56
Speaker 1: as fast as football deserves America's fastest five G network,
22:01
Speaker 1: businesses go further with t Mobile for Business.
22:11
Speaker 2: Welcome back to the NFL Report. James Palmer, Steve Whitch
22:13
Speaker 2: with you now. NFL insider Tom Pellisero joins us and
22:18
Speaker 2: tom My first question to you is this, we broke
22:20
Speaker 2: bread multiple times in Vegas during the week long stay
22:23
Speaker 2: we had in there, which is far longer than the
22:25
Speaker 2: forty eight hours everybody recommends. Your favorite meal in Las
22:29
Speaker 2: Vegas that you had with me was what.
22:35
Speaker 8: Let's see.
22:36
Speaker 9: I believe I bailed on one of them about halfway
22:38
Speaker 9: through because I had an engagement that I needed to
22:41
Speaker 9: get to. I believe that one lotuses I am had
22:44
Speaker 9: the potential to be really good. Everybody raided about it after,
22:46
Speaker 9: but the potent in the Cosmo. It was a fantastic
22:52
Speaker 9: meal that we had together.
22:54
Speaker 3: Oh, that was fantastic. That one was really really good,
22:57
Speaker 3: really really good.
22:58
Speaker 2: And all right, speaking of fantastic, let's get to the
23:01
Speaker 2: wide receiver position. Potential franchise tag candidates.
23:05
Speaker 3: There's two. I'm looking at the first one. T Higgins.
23:10
Speaker 2: To me, this is a fascinating situation with Cincinnati and
23:13
Speaker 2: he if you give him a contract, then you're just
23:15
Speaker 2: resetting a floor for Jamar Chase, which you have to
23:17
Speaker 2: do down the road. Do you want to pay two
23:19
Speaker 2: wide receivers? Do you move on now or do you
23:21
Speaker 2: try to maybe just run it back on the tag
23:24
Speaker 2: and try to get a Lombardi in twenty twenty four?
23:26
Speaker 2: Where do things stand in your opinion with T Higgins
23:29
Speaker 2: and the Cincinnati Bengals.
23:32
Speaker 9: You're right, James, because somebody, if T. Higgins were to
23:34
Speaker 9: get to the open market, would pay him like a
23:37
Speaker 9: number one wide receiver on his own team. It's pretty
23:40
Speaker 9: clear Jamar Chase is that number one guy when he's
23:42
Speaker 9: out there and fully healthy. The Bengals are not strangers
23:45
Speaker 9: to using the franchise tag. They have done it in
23:48
Speaker 9: the past with a wide receiver not that long ago.
23:50
Speaker 9: In aj Green and had him play his final season
23:53
Speaker 9: there on the tag, So certainly a possibility that they
23:56
Speaker 9: could keep t Higgins on the franchise tag for a year.
24:00
Speaker 9: Nobody's preference, generally speaking, is to end up with somebody
24:03
Speaker 9: on the tag, but they've got enough flexibility right now
24:06
Speaker 9: in terms of their salary cap that that would be
24:08
Speaker 9: an option if they're not able to consummate a deal
24:11
Speaker 9: prior to the negotiating window opening up on March eleven.
24:16
Speaker 3: JB.
24:17
Speaker 1: I'm gonna let you follow up since you said you
24:18
Speaker 1: had a second wide receiver you want.
24:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, I kind of blocked out because I was thinking
24:24
Speaker 2: of STK real quick. How about Mike Evans down there
24:28
Speaker 2: in Tampa Bay, Because I know there's plenty of teams
24:30
Speaker 2: around the league that are going this is still an
24:33
Speaker 2: unbelievably productive receiver and if he finds his way out,
24:37
Speaker 2: this is somebody just like the Higgans, and teams are
24:40
Speaker 2: going to jump at.
24:43
Speaker 9: Well, it's a big number for Mike Evans if you
24:45
Speaker 9: were to franchise tag him based off last year's salary
24:47
Speaker 9: cap number. Also, you have to think what a player
24:51
Speaker 9: has had the type of career that Mike Evans has
24:53
Speaker 9: had at the Buccaneers one thousand yards every single season
24:57
Speaker 9: being a franchise legend. Do you go that harout if
25:00
Speaker 9: you're not able to work out a deal, or do
25:02
Speaker 9: you say thanks for the memories, thanks for a Super
25:05
Speaker 9: Bowl win, We're gonna let you move on with your
25:07
Speaker 9: career right now. Those are organizational decisions that the Bucks
25:10
Speaker 9: are going to have to make. I know that certain
25:12
Speaker 9: people were making a lot of fact they didn't get
25:15
Speaker 9: a contract done a couple of days ago before a
25:17
Speaker 9: void date. Voids are not magic, They're not hey, he
25:21
Speaker 9: immediately becomes a free agent. They just mean it's a
25:24
Speaker 9: matter of accounting differently for future cap numbers onto the cap.
25:28
Speaker 9: Nothing precluding them from being able to move forward here
25:31
Speaker 9: with a deal on Mike Evans. But let's also be
25:34
Speaker 9: very clear, Mike Evans has earned it. He's one of
25:36
Speaker 9: the most consistent players that the NFL has seen over
25:38
Speaker 9: the past decade. Here he's got one more big bite
25:42
Speaker 9: at the apple. I would not think that he would
25:44
Speaker 9: want to be on the franchise tag. I would think,
25:47
Speaker 9: and again a lot of different ways that this could go.
25:49
Speaker 9: Teams have the right he used the tag, But I
25:51
Speaker 9: would think if they can't get a deal done with
25:53
Speaker 9: Mike Evans. He quite possibly we're in a new uniform
25:56
Speaker 9: in twenty twenty four.
25:57
Speaker 1: I would agree Tom because look, he'll always be viewed year. Yeah,
26:01
Speaker 1: even if he has to play another team, he always
26:02
Speaker 1: be viewed as a buccaneer. His his legacy is solidified.
26:05
Speaker 4: There. Let's come off the tag.
26:07
Speaker 1: You know, maybe later we can talk about, you know,
26:09
Speaker 1: Tony Pollard to say, Kwon Barkley and this and that,
26:12
Speaker 1: but let's.
26:12
Speaker 4: Get some guys with some inspiring contracts.
26:14
Speaker 1: Kirk Cousins is the more, if the more, one of
26:18
Speaker 1: the most I should say, intriguing guys out there. Because
26:22
Speaker 1: Minnesota we know they probably would like to keep him.
26:24
Speaker 1: But he's coming off that achilles, there's the age. What's
26:27
Speaker 1: his situation.
26:31
Speaker 9: Well, I would anticipate Steve that kirk Cousins is going
26:33
Speaker 9: to have a strong market, even going on to his
26:35
Speaker 9: age thirty six season and coming off.
26:37
Speaker 8: Of that torn achilles.
26:38
Speaker 9: The Vikings want to keep kirk Cousins, but to this point,
26:42
Speaker 9: there's really been no substantive communication. That's normal for the Vikings.
26:46
Speaker 9: They do a lot of their contract talks with their
26:48
Speaker 9: own free agents. At the combine that begins next week
26:51
Speaker 9: in Indianapolis. At that point, I would think that everybody
26:54
Speaker 9: involved have a pretty good idea of what that market
26:57
Speaker 9: for Kirk Cousins is going to be. At the same time,
27:00
Speaker 9: Vikings are exploring all options in the event that the
27:03
Speaker 9: price tag just becomes too high on Cousins if he
27:07
Speaker 9: goes elsewhere. Wouldn't think that they'd be in the Baker
27:10
Speaker 9: Mayfield mix. There's not a lot of other starting caliber,
27:12
Speaker 9: clear starters available in free agency. I think it may
27:16
Speaker 9: be more of an economical type of veteran Let's say
27:18
Speaker 9: a Sam Darnold coming in, which would buy them some
27:21
Speaker 9: time to bridge the gap to bringing a young quarterback
27:24
Speaker 9: as well. Maybe even somebody that they could draft or
27:26
Speaker 9: sitting there at number eleven could go up to go down.
27:28
Speaker 9: That would be a possibility. Minnesota in general, guys in
27:31
Speaker 9: a really unique situation right here, because there's not a
27:34
Speaker 9: lot of times you've got three players on your roster
27:38
Speaker 9: who all could be thirty million plus per year players
27:41
Speaker 9: with Kirk Cousins who can't be tagged, the Neil Hunter,
27:44
Speaker 9: who is also a penny free agent, can't be tagged,
27:47
Speaker 9: and then justin Jefferson who has a pretty big vested
27:49
Speaker 9: interest in what happens with Kirk Cousins in that quarterback situation.
27:53
Speaker 9: So a lot of moving parts for Quasia doofo Mensa
27:56
Speaker 9: and Kevin O'Connell to soar through here. Again, the Vikings
27:59
Speaker 9: usually do a lot of what they take care of
28:01
Speaker 9: is at the combine, coming off of that and leading
28:04
Speaker 9: up to March eleventh March thirteenth, that's where you'll get
28:07
Speaker 9: a better idea of exactly what direction these are gonna go.
28:10
Speaker 2: Can I just say with all the time he missed
28:12
Speaker 2: justin Jefferson season still was absolutely remarkable and what he
28:16
Speaker 2: was able to do with even the games that he missed,
28:19
Speaker 2: he was He's incredible. You mentioned Baker there real quick, Tom,
28:23
Speaker 2: you look down there in Tampa. We mentioned Mike Evans,
28:25
Speaker 2: We talked about him, and then you could look at
28:27
Speaker 2: the franchise tag and maybe that's going to Antoine Winfield
28:29
Speaker 2: Junior their safety. Maybe that's where that tag goes. What's
28:32
Speaker 2: what's the status with where things stand with Baker maybe
28:35
Speaker 2: re signing in Tampa because he becomes available. There's not
28:38
Speaker 2: a lot of veterans, as you mentioned, signal callers that
28:41
Speaker 2: teams are maybe desiring and he might be one a
28:43
Speaker 2: on a decent price.
28:47
Speaker 8: Well, here's what we know, James.
28:48
Speaker 9: The price is gonna be higher for Baker Mayfield than
28:50
Speaker 9: it was a year ago when he went there on
28:51
Speaker 9: a one year deal worth five million dollars plus incentives.
28:54
Speaker 9: The question is going to be how high does that
28:57
Speaker 9: price go and does another team it's serious, involved and
29:00
Speaker 9: make a push for Baker Mayfield. Now we know the
29:04
Speaker 9: Bucks have expressed an interest they want Baker Mayfield back.
29:07
Speaker 9: Mayfield said during Super Bowl interviews that getting that offensive
29:11
Speaker 9: coordinator in place, the fact that the guy he knows
29:13
Speaker 9: in Liam Cohen, that was one of the big pieces
29:15
Speaker 9: that had to be in place before he evaluates his situation. Now,
29:18
Speaker 9: I've talked to a lot of people within the league,
29:21
Speaker 9: other general managers who are trying to project this thing out.
29:23
Speaker 9: They all believe Baker Mayfield ends up going back to Tampa.
29:27
Speaker 9: If for no other reason then he's been on so
29:29
Speaker 9: many teams from Cleveland, Carolina to LA to Tampa over
29:33
Speaker 9: the past couple of years that up ending once again
29:35
Speaker 9: and going to another new team probably isn't what he
29:38
Speaker 9: really wants to do. I mean said that Dave Canalis
29:40
Speaker 9: isn't there anymore? The guy had success with in Tampa
29:43
Speaker 9: last year, he's now the Panthers head coach.
29:46
Speaker 8: How much does that impact things?
29:47
Speaker 9: And also remember this, okay, Liam Cohen worked with Baker
29:50
Speaker 9: during that time that he's spent with LA a couple
29:52
Speaker 9: of years ago. So did Zach Robinson, who's now the
29:54
Speaker 9: Falcons offensive coordinator.
29:56
Speaker 8: They have an acute quarterback feat.
29:58
Speaker 9: I'm not saying that the Falcons are going to make
29:59
Speaker 9: a run at this, but in the same division, if
30:02
Speaker 9: they got involved, that's the type of thing that can
30:05
Speaker 9: really make that price go up.
30:07
Speaker 1: And Raheem Morris was the DC for the Rams when
30:09
Speaker 1: Baker came in and played well at the end of
30:11
Speaker 1: the season a couple of years ago too, so there's
30:13
Speaker 1: that tie as well. Let's get back to the running
30:15
Speaker 1: backs and potential franchise tag with Tony Pollard and Saquon
30:18
Speaker 1: bark That would seem almost a steep for what both
30:22
Speaker 1: teams got from those running backs last year. Even on
30:24
Speaker 1: the tag, that would seem like a steep number for
30:28
Speaker 1: both of those players.
30:30
Speaker 4: Am I am? I kind of off base?
30:32
Speaker 1: You're thinking that an eleven million dollars twelve thirteen million
30:35
Speaker 1: dollar tag for both those guys is serviceable enough.
30:38
Speaker 9: Again, the steepest tag actual would be for Josh Jacobs
30:43
Speaker 9: in Las Vegas. That one could go to fourteen million
30:45
Speaker 9: plus based upon the foundation upgrade contract a couple extra million.
30:50
Speaker 9: Saquon and Tony Pollard played it essentially the base tag.
30:53
Speaker 8: Barkley did a new deal.
30:54
Speaker 9: They added like nine hundred and nine thousand dollars in incentives,
30:56
Speaker 9: but they were all tied to team performance. When you're
30:59
Speaker 9: the Giants and you lose your quarterback and you play
31:01
Speaker 9: with Tommy DeVito and.
31:02
Speaker 8: You win like six games, you're not hitting any of
31:04
Speaker 8: those incentives.
31:05
Speaker 9: So for Saquon, he's said many times he wants to
31:08
Speaker 9: be a Giant for life. The Giants organization has a
31:11
Speaker 9: great affinity for Saquon Barkley. John Marris certainly is in
31:14
Speaker 9: that bucket as well. It would make a lot of
31:16
Speaker 9: sense for them to try to get a deal done.
31:18
Speaker 9: But remember last year, New York made multiple runs at this.
31:21
Speaker 9: They did it before the startup Fur agency, before the
31:23
Speaker 9: tag window. Last year, Saquon turned down a fairly substantial contract,
31:27
Speaker 9: albeit within the context of running back contracts, so they
31:30
Speaker 9: had to pivot tag Saquon and resign Daniel Jones to
31:33
Speaker 9: an extension.
31:34
Speaker 8: Again.
31:34
Speaker 9: They made another push to resign Saquon d'uring the bye
31:38
Speaker 9: week last year, again didn't end up doing it. So
31:41
Speaker 9: all of that leads you to a situation now and
31:43
Speaker 9: again before July as well. So several times they've tried
31:46
Speaker 9: to make a run of getting something done with Saquon.
31:49
Speaker 9: It hasn't worked out to this point. You would think though,
31:52
Speaker 9: again they would like to get something done. The question
31:54
Speaker 9: is going to be the number. And then when it
31:55
Speaker 9: comes to Tony Pollard, obviously his numbers weren't great in
31:58
Speaker 9: his first year as the back three point nine yards
32:01
Speaker 9: per carry. I talked to Emmett Smith in an interview
32:04
Speaker 9: during Super Bowl Week. I asked him, what would you
32:05
Speaker 9: do with Tony Pollard? Emmittt said, I think you have
32:09
Speaker 9: to resign him. His argument was, it is different being
32:12
Speaker 9: the number one back versus the number two back. Cowboys also,
32:16
Speaker 9: based on how they played offense, didn't necessarily always commit
32:19
Speaker 9: to being a running football team, in Emmett's point of view,
32:22
Speaker 9: and I respect that more than anything I'm going to
32:24
Speaker 9: say on this show.
32:25
Speaker 8: Let's be honest here.
32:26
Speaker 9: He felt like there's more that they could unlock with
32:28
Speaker 9: Tony Pollard moving forward, but tagging him again at twelve
32:31
Speaker 9: million dollars plus to your point, Steve, that does seem right.
32:35
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a deep number, Tom p good stuff. Have
32:38
Speaker 1: fun during franchise tax season, combine season. You two go
32:42
Speaker 1: get a meal. I'm not saying it to what. We'll
32:45
Speaker 1: break bread there too.
32:47
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, you have me. Tom's gonna dip.
32:52
Speaker 1: Out again too halfway because he got a more important
32:53
Speaker 1: engagement again, JP, do take that.
32:55
Speaker 3: That's probably what happened.
32:57
Speaker 1: Can we come back on the NFL report. Caleb William's
33:01
Speaker 1: the number one quarterback. We're about to talk about him
33:05
Speaker 1: and others might not be, or maybe they are.
33:09
Speaker 4: We're back on the NFL Report.
33:19
Speaker 1: The top draft eligible players from historically black colleges and
33:22
Speaker 1: universities put on the pads one last time to show
33:25
Speaker 1: they're worthy of getting drafted.
33:27
Speaker 4: The third annual.
33:28
Speaker 1: All State HBCU Legacy Bowl Saturday at four pm Eastern,
33:33
Speaker 1: exclusively on NFL Network and streaming on NFL Plus. Speaking
33:40
Speaker 1: of the HBCU Legacy Bowl, Bucky Brooks, who now joins US,
33:44
Speaker 1: will be on the call with me and Bucky and
33:46
Speaker 1: I right now are at Tulane Stadium, about a third
33:49
Speaker 1: fourteen away from one another in the press box here
33:54
Speaker 1: Stadium at T Lane JB.
33:56
Speaker 3: Bucky, B.
33:57
Speaker 4: Appreciate you joining us. We're gonna get to some of.
33:59
Speaker 1: The these HBCU players who are participating in practice this week.
34:03
Speaker 1: In just a minute, there's the horn, kind of signaling
34:06
Speaker 1: practice is over.
34:07
Speaker 4: Well, Bucky, let's get to the overall draft class coming in.
34:11
Speaker 1: Since we're in that window the NFL Draft combine starts soon,
34:15
Speaker 1: we can just tell us overall about this draft class.
34:19
Speaker 10: You know, Steve is a really solid draft class up
34:22
Speaker 10: at the top of the board. Now, this would be
34:25
Speaker 10: the first year where we see some of the I
34:27
Speaker 10: would say, the negative effects of nil, some of the
34:30
Speaker 10: COVID stuff where the draft is not as deep when
34:33
Speaker 10: we get to Day three. But the first three rounds
34:36
Speaker 10: should be loaded with players that can come in and
34:37
Speaker 10: make contributions in those things. As it relates to positions
34:41
Speaker 10: that are really loaded with talent, I would say the
34:44
Speaker 10: quarterback position, you got solid prospects. You have a ton
34:48
Speaker 10: of big time playmakers at wide receiver. Probably the deepest
34:52
Speaker 10: position of the draft. Offensive line, particularly offensive tackle, is
34:57
Speaker 10: loaded with playmakers and talent.
34:58
Speaker 5: Where you can see a bunch of first round come
35:00
Speaker 5: off the board.
35:01
Speaker 10: On defense, you have a solid pass rushing class, like
35:05
Speaker 10: you have guys that are intriguing, but it's not as
35:08
Speaker 10: deep as past some past years. And then I would
35:11
Speaker 10: say cornerback, you have a bunch of big cornerbacks, guys
35:14
Speaker 10: that are over five ten, five or eleven that can
35:17
Speaker 10: play the game, usize in a variety of techniques.
35:19
Speaker 5: So you're in need of kind of what we call
35:22
Speaker 5: the core positions.
35:24
Speaker 10: You can find those guys passers, playmakers, pass protectors, hand
35:28
Speaker 10: full of pass rushers, and then some defensive playmakers.
35:31
Speaker 5: At corner you can get those guys. You just won't
35:33
Speaker 5: find a.
35:34
Speaker 10: Lot at running back, in linebacker. That's where you kind
35:36
Speaker 10: of have to go shopping elsewhere.
35:39
Speaker 2: Okay, I like it, I like it. We'll start with
35:41
Speaker 2: the most important one. It's the quarterback spot bucket. And
35:43
Speaker 2: this is not my Ohio State blood right here throwing
35:47
Speaker 2: shade at JJ McCarthy and what he's done to my
35:49
Speaker 2: team in the game. What I'm curious about is what
35:53
Speaker 2: do you see in your evaluations in talking people in
35:56
Speaker 2: terms of size and in terms of it just seems
35:59
Speaker 2: like he hasn't had to be the guy in big moments.
36:03
Speaker 3: The team's been brilliant around him.
36:05
Speaker 2: Is that kind of I don't want to say a
36:07
Speaker 2: knock on him, but when you haven't seen him have
36:09
Speaker 2: to do that as much? What happens in your evaluation
36:12
Speaker 2: process when you don't have a whole lot of examples
36:15
Speaker 2: of that.
36:15
Speaker 3: And you're going to need him to do it at
36:16
Speaker 3: the next level.
36:18
Speaker 10: Yeah, No, I mean, I think that's a very valid
36:20
Speaker 10: concern to think about JJ McCarthy. The things that will
36:23
Speaker 10: go well for him will be winning pet agree. He's
36:27
Speaker 10: done it on a big stage on a ton of
36:29
Speaker 10: games at Michigan. He'll go down maybe as the greatest
36:32
Speaker 10: quarterback to ever play there, just based on how the
36:34
Speaker 10: team succeeded.
36:35
Speaker 5: He's been a guy that has just kind of managed the.
36:37
Speaker 10: Team, driven the bus and found a way to get
36:40
Speaker 10: the team into the winner circle.
36:41
Speaker 5: But when you watch him play athletically, he's intriguing.
36:45
Speaker 10: He can run the ball, he's a legitimate duel threat quarterback,
36:48
Speaker 10: super athletic, has a strong arm and delivered deadly strikes
36:52
Speaker 10: and those things. You just don't have a lot of
36:55
Speaker 10: visual evidence on tape to say that he could be
36:58
Speaker 10: the guy that is the drive for us of the offense.
37:01
Speaker 3: That's it.
37:02
Speaker 10: When I look at him, it reminds me a lot
37:04
Speaker 10: of the same evaluation that I had with Justin Herbert.
37:07
Speaker 10: Justin Herbert when he played at Oregon was not asked
37:09
Speaker 10: to do a lot of stuff, played in the more
37:11
Speaker 10: of a conservative offense, but then he gets to the
37:13
Speaker 10: National Football League and flourishes. I think JJ McCarthy is
37:17
Speaker 10: intriguing because people see the traits and the tools, They
37:20
Speaker 10: see the athleticism, they see the strong arm, they recognize
37:24
Speaker 10: and appreciate the intangibles. That's why he's going to be
37:27
Speaker 10: a gutess of interest in the first round.
37:29
Speaker 1: Wow, Bucky, sound like people evaluating some Dean Smith tar
37:32
Speaker 1: heels back in the day because they had so many
37:35
Speaker 1: good players. None of them were have to drive. But
37:39
Speaker 1: you talked about how great this receiving classes. We know
37:41
Speaker 1: how the very top there's Marvin Harrison Junior, who might
37:43
Speaker 1: be the best player.
37:45
Speaker 4: Overall in this draft.
37:46
Speaker 1: What about the top end depth and what type of
37:50
Speaker 1: players are these teams getting Because we've seen wide receivers
37:54
Speaker 1: buck the norm over the past five or six years
37:56
Speaker 1: and come in and have an immediate impact.
37:59
Speaker 10: Yeah, I think what we're seeing is the byproduct of
38:02
Speaker 10: what we call seven on seven culture. The wide receivers
38:05
Speaker 10: that are entering the league now are more experienced, more
38:08
Speaker 10: polished than they've ever been. Part of the reason is
38:10
Speaker 10: because they're catching more balls, running more routes than they
38:12
Speaker 10: ever have. From the time there and Pop Warner to
38:16
Speaker 10: the time they graduate college, these guys have really played
38:19
Speaker 10: football year round, and it manifests itself in guys like
38:23
Speaker 10: Marvin Harrison Junior. Being a very polished player that comes
38:27
Speaker 10: out reminds me a lot of Larry Fitzgerald in terms
38:30
Speaker 10: of just guessing when you see him. He's a plug
38:31
Speaker 10: and play pro. You can run rouse, he can catch
38:34
Speaker 10: it over the middlefield. He has speed to burn. But
38:36
Speaker 10: to me, he's a legitimate number one receiver because he
38:40
Speaker 10: not only commands double coverage, but he can defeat cover coverage.
38:43
Speaker 10: It's easy to envision him being the anchor of a
38:46
Speaker 10: passing game, but it extends beyond him. Rome a Doonsday
38:51
Speaker 10: from Washington is another guy that people are buzzing about,
38:55
Speaker 10: and one of the reasons they're buzzing about the Washington
38:58
Speaker 10: standout is because he's big, he's physical, does a great
39:01
Speaker 10: job of catching the ball in his hands. He wins
39:04
Speaker 10: the fifty to fifty balls and really, when you watch him,
39:07
Speaker 10: he reminds me a lot of Jamar Chase, physical imposing
39:11
Speaker 10: presence even though he doesn't have I would say superior size.
39:15
Speaker 10: He plays with a rugged game that means he's gonna win,
39:19
Speaker 10: and he's gonna win a ton on the perimeter. And
39:21
Speaker 10: the last guy we got to talk about is Lsu
39:23
Speaker 10: Standout Molik Neighbors just a total package. Can catch it,
39:28
Speaker 10: run and catch specialists and separate, does a great job
39:31
Speaker 10: of making things happen. And even though like he shared
39:34
Speaker 10: the marquee with another talented player, he is another guy
39:37
Speaker 10: that is ready to roll. These three players will vie
39:41
Speaker 10: for the number one spot. Even though we've talked about
39:44
Speaker 10: Marvin Harrison Junior being the number one, these other guys
39:47
Speaker 10: would get him a run for their money because I
39:49
Speaker 10: think it comes down to ice cream shops. What kind
39:52
Speaker 10: of flavors do you like to go in your favorite
39:54
Speaker 10: waffle cone. These guys bring a lot to the table.
39:57
Speaker 10: That's why so much how many people are buzzing about.
40:02
Speaker 3: I love the analogy buckets.
40:03
Speaker 2: I want to use it for what Terry Fontineau told
40:05
Speaker 2: us on this show last week. He was on with
40:08
Speaker 2: us and said, they're really excited about the round two,
40:11
Speaker 2: round three picks that they have because he believes that
40:15
Speaker 2: group right there, you have the ability to find a
40:18
Speaker 2: lot of talent in different spots. I'm curious if maybe
40:21
Speaker 2: you could read into what he's saying. We don't know
40:23
Speaker 2: how the draft is going to fall by then, right,
40:24
Speaker 2: it always can kind of fall and there's runs at
40:26
Speaker 2: different spots. But maybe in that could you kind of
40:29
Speaker 2: maybe with what you've looked at round two, round three,
40:32
Speaker 2: what's he talking about of what maybe value you can
40:35
Speaker 2: find there?
40:37
Speaker 10: Well, I mean, like I don't necessarily think that the
40:39
Speaker 10: Atlanta Falcons and the wide receivers, but we have seen
40:42
Speaker 10: in recent years wide receivers come from every round of
40:45
Speaker 10: the draft and have an immediate impact. Everybody would talk
40:48
Speaker 10: about Fuku Nakua, but let's just talk about the impact
40:51
Speaker 10: that Tank Dale was having the Houston Texas when he
40:54
Speaker 10: jumped out and made a ton of plays. There are
40:57
Speaker 10: more of those kinds of players were supplying to me. Look,
41:00
Speaker 10: the supply is overwhelming when it comes to the wide
41:04
Speaker 10: receiver position, but it also would be an opportunity for
41:07
Speaker 10: teams to look at offensive tackles and if you need
41:10
Speaker 10: to fortify the offensive line, there are a bunch of
41:12
Speaker 10: intriguing players that can come off the board. We always
41:16
Speaker 10: talk about the first rounders, but look, man, there's an
41:19
Speaker 10: offensive tackle class of Joe aut Tullis Fuaga, Amarius Men,
41:25
Speaker 10: JC Latham, troy Na that are going to be available
41:30
Speaker 10: at the bottom of the first round, top of the
41:31
Speaker 10: second round, so you can get some of those these
41:34
Speaker 10: feel and also on the interior, because as I'm thinking
41:36
Speaker 10: about the Atlanta Facons, I think really the main thing
41:39
Speaker 10: is them fixing quarterback and continue to upgrade.
41:42
Speaker 5: The offensive line.
41:44
Speaker 10: Ram Barton, Jackson, Powers, Johnson Hooper, BB, Chris Haynes. There
41:48
Speaker 10: are a lot of players on the offensive side of
41:51
Speaker 10: the ball that are available in the second and third
41:53
Speaker 10: rounds that'll be able to come in and get you starters.
41:56
Speaker 10: And then if we talk about, like literally I talk
41:58
Speaker 10: about the draft nine being plentiful in terms of running
42:02
Speaker 10: backs and linebackers, but that's where those guys are gonna
42:05
Speaker 10: come off the board.
42:05
Speaker 5: We have a namesake in Jeremiah Trodde Junior.
42:08
Speaker 10: There will be a nice fit second, third round instinctive
42:12
Speaker 10: active in those things. I think the reason why general
42:14
Speaker 10: managers get excited is because they know if I don't
42:17
Speaker 10: want to expand the first round pick, there are some
42:19
Speaker 10: positions that I can talken in the second and third
42:21
Speaker 10: rounds and really upgrade my roster.
42:24
Speaker 1: All right, but we're talking about some day two, day
42:26
Speaker 1: three guys. We are here at the HPCU Legacy Ball.
42:29
Speaker 1: The first day of the full practice is just wrapped
42:32
Speaker 1: up here at Tulane University. Team Robinson, players made up
42:36
Speaker 1: from the Swack and the Ssayak just finish their drills.
42:39
Speaker 1: But later on it be Team Gaither and their quarterback
42:42
Speaker 1: Davius Richard from North Carolina Central.
42:46
Speaker 4: Is that, dude? Do you tie me a heck Player
42:48
Speaker 4: of the year, A great runner, a great thrower. He
42:51
Speaker 4: blew up the combine.
42:53
Speaker 1: What about a player like him who is so accomplished
42:56
Speaker 1: at this level, who has all the physical specs about
43:00
Speaker 1: him getting into a camp and getting a shot, especially
43:03
Speaker 1: with the duality he poses.
43:05
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think this year.
43:08
Speaker 10: I mean look even previous years, like last year we
43:10
Speaker 10: saw as a Shawn Clifford go in the fifth round
43:13
Speaker 10: and dtr during Thompson Robinson going the fifth round and
43:17
Speaker 10: have an opportunity to play. I think teams are kind
43:19
Speaker 10: of getting hip to the fact that you need to
43:21
Speaker 10: continue to take quarterbacks just due to the nature of
43:24
Speaker 10: the position, the value of the position, and the injury
43:28
Speaker 10: situations that we see in the position.
43:29
Speaker 5: You need to have a bunch of guys in the stable.
43:31
Speaker 10: When you talk about Davis Richard, one of the things
43:34
Speaker 10: that will intrigue teams about him is the spectacular playmaking
43:38
Speaker 10: ability that he possesses, not only as a thrower but
43:41
Speaker 10: as a dynamic runner. When you watched him at n
43:44
Speaker 10: C Central, he made plays. He had the ability to
43:46
Speaker 10: put this offense on his back. People will need to
43:50
Speaker 10: look no further than the Celebration Bowl a year ago
43:53
Speaker 10: when he knocked off Coach Primes undefeated Jackson State team
43:56
Speaker 10: and did it in splendid fashion. This is a big
43:59
Speaker 10: time playmaker. And the thing that I like about him, Steve,
44:02
Speaker 10: is when we had an opportunity to talk to him
44:04
Speaker 10: after the combine, the ability to articulate and to really
44:09
Speaker 10: explain the wise behind.
44:11
Speaker 5: What he does on the field.
44:13
Speaker 10: To me, that is valuable because when you talk to teams,
44:16
Speaker 10: they want guys that can take board the information from
44:19
Speaker 10: the board to the field.
44:21
Speaker 5: Richard is one of those except one of those guys
44:23
Speaker 5: that can do that.
44:26
Speaker 2: But when you've seen quarterbacks over the last couple of
44:28
Speaker 2: years come out and Brock perty's one that jumps out
44:30
Speaker 2: obviously with everything he's done, but experience, right, you've played
44:33
Speaker 2: those snaps in the game, and now it seems like
44:35
Speaker 2: teams are seeing that.
44:36
Speaker 3: You know, it's important to almost go up.
44:39
Speaker 2: I have to finish with this because this is what
44:40
Speaker 2: Steve and I show is about. It's about offensive linemen
44:43
Speaker 2: and it's about the nickel corner position. For some reason,
44:45
Speaker 2: we talk about those two more than anything else on
44:47
Speaker 2: this show. Have you seen in team's evaluations, Buck, over
44:52
Speaker 2: the last couple of years the way that nickel spot
44:55
Speaker 2: has become more and more important to finding that on
44:58
Speaker 2: your defensive side of the ball? Trent Duffee, obviously, what
45:00
Speaker 2: he did with the Super Bowl champs just jumps out
45:03
Speaker 2: of us. You know, repeatedly, What have you seen in
45:05
Speaker 2: terms of the evaluations and the importance of finding that
45:08
Speaker 2: spot over the last couple of drafts?
45:11
Speaker 5: Yeah, so I think it's been changing for a while.
45:14
Speaker 10: It's become now where teams consider defenses to have twelve starters,
45:19
Speaker 10: and that nickel corner is considered a starter. And it's
45:23
Speaker 10: not only considered a starter, but now you're scouting for
45:25
Speaker 10: play a specific set of skills to play at the
45:29
Speaker 10: nickel position, because when you're playing nickel corner, I want
45:32
Speaker 10: people to understand back in the day, the nickel used
45:35
Speaker 10: to be your best corner, because what you're asking them
45:38
Speaker 10: to do is to be.
45:39
Speaker 5: A hybrid player.
45:40
Speaker 10: He's a hybrid linebacker slash defensive back who is tasked
45:44
Speaker 10: with being assigned to sometimes the slipperiest wide receiver, but
45:50
Speaker 10: also being factored into the running game. So guys need
45:53
Speaker 10: to tackle well, they need to have quickness to be
45:55
Speaker 10: able to shadow in space, they need to be high
45:58
Speaker 10: IQ guys because you ask them to do a lot
46:00
Speaker 10: of things at that position, and if they have pass
46:03
Speaker 10: for a skills where they can blitz off the edge,
46:05
Speaker 10: it really makes them a very valuable commodity. So when
46:08
Speaker 10: you talk about guys like Trent McDuffie and the work
46:11
Speaker 10: that he was able to do last year for the
46:12
Speaker 10: Kansas City Chiefs, people are going to look at that
46:15
Speaker 10: and they want players who can kind of impact the
46:18
Speaker 10: game in a variety of ways. I just think it's
46:20
Speaker 10: the nature of the way the NFL is going. You're
46:23
Speaker 10: seeing teams blitz more, You're seeing teams play more man
46:26
Speaker 10: to man, and you continue to see the evolution of
46:28
Speaker 10: the defense where you having positionless players manning multiple spots.
46:33
Speaker 10: The nickel position is that spot that has really become
46:36
Speaker 10: a huge position for championship caliber defense.
46:42
Speaker 3: Love.
46:42
Speaker 2: I don't know, Buck, I don't know how many guys
46:44
Speaker 2: that play that spot.
46:45
Speaker 3: Steve and I have had on the show this year.
46:47
Speaker 2: I might be half a dozen of those guys, Kenny
46:49
Speaker 2: Moore and a couple of those guys that have been
46:52
Speaker 2: on the show, and we've absolutely loved chatting with them
46:54
Speaker 2: about the position. You know it so well and you
46:56
Speaker 2: broke it down brilliantly. Listen, we stole Bucking from moved
46:59
Speaker 2: the sticks for our but make sure you keep an
47:01
Speaker 2: eye listening to him and Daniel Jeremiah throughout this entire
47:05
Speaker 2: draft off season or for in season, for you, off
47:08
Speaker 2: season for me.
47:08
Speaker 3: But I appreciate it, man, Please can join us.
47:11
Speaker 2: Again before this draft rolls around on the NFL report, Buck,
47:14
Speaker 2: awesome stuff, Thank you.
47:16
Speaker 5: Hey man, thanks for having me.
47:18
Speaker 3: All right. Coming up, Matthew Slater announces his retirement.
47:21
Speaker 2: Can a man with one NFL reception as a wide
47:25
Speaker 2: receiver make it to the Hall of Fame.
47:28
Speaker 3: We're going to debate that next on the NFL Report.
47:36
Speaker 1: You're listening to the NFL Report podcast, but you can
47:39
Speaker 1: watch me, Steve Weich and my co host James Palmer
47:41
Speaker 1: on The NFL Report at seven fifteen Eastern Time on
47:45
Speaker 1: Mondays and Thursdays on the NFL App and free streaming
47:49
Speaker 1: platforms on the NFL channel on Roku two b Peacock,
47:52
Speaker 1: Pluto TV and other free streaming apps.
47:59
Speaker 2: Welcome back to the NFL Reporters. We close things out.
48:02
Speaker 2: James Palmer, Steve Whtch with you alongside Tom Brady and
48:05
Speaker 2: a recently retired Matthew Slater. The Special Team's Extraordinary for
48:11
Speaker 2: the New England Patriots. Brady's saying the best teammate and
48:14
Speaker 2: even better man, Congratulations on the perfect career. A ten
48:19
Speaker 2: time Pro bowler, Steve, two time All Pro who had
48:23
Speaker 2: eight career targets. He's listed on your roster as a
48:26
Speaker 2: wide receiver, but eight targets in his whole career one catch.
48:31
Speaker 2: You know so much about the Hall of Fame? Does
48:33
Speaker 2: Matthew Slater get into Canton.
48:36
Speaker 1: This is gonna be real interesting because, look, Devin Hester's
48:38
Speaker 1: going in as a member of the Class of twenty
48:40
Speaker 1: twenty four.
48:41
Speaker 4: He's the greatest returner ever.
48:43
Speaker 1: We have two of the greatest kickers John Stenenrud and
48:45
Speaker 1: Morgan Anderson in the game in the Hall, the greatest
48:49
Speaker 1: punter ever, and Ray guy in the Hall. Got what
48:53
Speaker 1: about one of the best coverage guys, blocker setup men
48:55
Speaker 1: ever in Matthew Slater. Interesting because Steve Tasker, the legend
49:00
Speaker 1: of the Buffalo Bills. People have been clamoring for him
49:03
Speaker 1: to get in for more than a decade. Do you
49:06
Speaker 1: put Matthew Slater, who you see right here. You know
49:08
Speaker 1: how hard this is to pick somebody up on the
49:11
Speaker 1: run as you see him on that type of play.
49:14
Speaker 1: Does he get in before Steve Pasker? This is going
49:17
Speaker 1: to be a very interesting debate becaus Matthew Slater is
49:21
Speaker 1: far more decorated as a special teamer than any non
49:24
Speaker 1: returner or punter or kicker to get into the Hall JP.
49:30
Speaker 2: And Steve, I'll throw this on his resume as well
49:32
Speaker 2: real quick, and I've talked to people in New England
49:34
Speaker 2: about this. His role in the Second Dynasty Essentially, the
49:38
Speaker 2: Patriots have is massive, a special teams player that took
49:42
Speaker 2: the attention to detail in operating, in coverage and kick
49:46
Speaker 2: return to all those aspects added to the attention to
49:49
Speaker 2: detail in the culture that Bill Belichick created there. If
49:52
Speaker 2: you talk to people in that building, they will tell
49:54
Speaker 2: you he played a far bigger role than people outside
49:56
Speaker 2: the Boston area understand in how that dynasty was developed.
50:01
Speaker 2: It was Teddy Bruski that handed the baton essentially to
50:04
Speaker 2: Matthew Slater. How crazy is that? A special team or
50:07
Speaker 2: an unbelievable career. Remember our time has changed, Steve by
50:12
Speaker 2: fifteen minutes, so don't miss the first team fifteen minutes
50:14
Speaker 2: of the show. We are remember Mondays and Thursdays, seven
50:18
Speaker 2: o'clock on the NFL channel that's on Roku and twob
50:22
Speaker 2: and Peacock and everywhere, and then all later it'll be
50:25
Speaker 2: on YouTube.
50:26
Speaker 3: Steve, the picture still looks great. The time's just a
50:28
Speaker 3: little bit different.
50:29
Speaker 1: Times are a bit different, and we're still a podcast
50:31
Speaker 1: that you can listen to whenever, when you're out walking
50:34
Speaker 1: your dog, when you're up on the slopes, when you're
50:36
Speaker 1: watching the NFL combine, next week, your Thursday JP