Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / Eric Weddle on tonight's Utes season opener vs Idaho, Aaron Donald coming out of retirement with the Rams + more

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Eric Weddle on tonight's Utes season opener vs Idaho, Aaron Donald coming out of retirement with the Rams + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: This is the Sean O'Connell Show, your home of the
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: best inside.
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: Of your youths. Let's get back to OC.
• 0:09
  Speaker 3: From the Murdoch Chevrolet studio of ESPN 792.1 FM.
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: Don't stop believing.
• 0:19
  Speaker 3: Oh, welcome to our number three on the Sean O'Connell Show.
• 0:22
  Speaker 3: It is a game day.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: Utah kicks off the season against Idaho tonight at Rice-Echo Stadium.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: You heard from Devin Dampier. He wants you to get there.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: Morgan Scali wants you to get there. Our next guest,
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: he also wants you to get there. Legendary Ute. longtime
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: NFL veteran, Super Bowl champion, head coach of the Rancho
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: Bernardo Broncos, who are 2-0, baby, after a demolition of
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: the Brawley Wildcats.
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: Eric Weddle is our guest. E-Dub, welcome back. How are you?
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: What's up? What's up, my brother? Sorry for the change
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: of times and messing everything up, but you know how
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: doctor's appointments can go, and glad I'm done with it.
• 1:06
  Speaker 3: All good.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: Happy to move the schedule around a little bit for
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: the legend. Let's talk about the win over Brawley 44
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  Speaker 1: to zero.
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: Easy work.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, well, I wanted to see better football
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: play from, from our offense, defense, and that's what we
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: got out of that. And it always helps when two
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: of the best players on the other team don't suit
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: up because of the injuries. So We'll take it. And
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  Speaker 2: proud of the bunch. Proud of, you know, we talked
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: the first game, some of the mistakes in play that
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: was not up to our standard. And Gage came back
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: and did well offensively, 17-20 for 230 and three tugs.
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: That's an efficient day, and that's the expectation. And what
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: we need offensively at the quarterback position and didn't get
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: much work on defense, which is a good night.
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: And now it's Torrey Pines coming up on Friday. I
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: guess that's tomorrow night. What do we know about Torrey Pines?
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  Speaker 2: Shoot, man. Torrey's one of the better programs in San Diego.
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: I think we're both top 10 teams as of right now.
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  Speaker 2: And so they're 2-0. We're 2-0. It's a good opportunity
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  Speaker 2: to see where we stack up and see who's real
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  Speaker 2: and who's not and continue the momentum that we've built.
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  Speaker 2: So it's going to be a It's going to be
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  Speaker 2: a tough game, close game. Got to do the correct things.
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  Speaker 2: Got to take care of the football. Got to handle
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  Speaker 2: their physical nature. Like, they play hard. They're physical. Got
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: to handle the front and the stunts that they do.
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  Speaker 2: But I like our guys. I like our athletes. I
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: like our scheme. And we stay ahead of the chain.
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  Speaker 2: I think we put up some points. And our defense
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  Speaker 2: is going to suffocate them. So let's go get it done.
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: Let's go.
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: Let's talk about what we really bring you on here for.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: A little Utah football kicking off the season tonight. Morgan
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: Scali's first year as the head coach begins with the
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: Vandals of Idaho. And look, they're 0-1. They're coming off
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  Speaker 1: a Friday night loss to Cal Poly 38-34. That'll come
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: from behind victory for the Cal Poly Mustangs in that one.
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  Speaker 1: And now we're going to be watching this and expecting
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: Utah to make it look relatively efficient, relatively clean, relatively easy.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: What is efficient enough, clean enough for Eric Weddle to
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: feel good coming out of whatever the result is tonight?
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I want to see just an energized
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: group that takes on the persona of their head coach
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: and the vision. So I think you're going to see that.
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: I think you're going to see a connected team. a
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  Speaker 2: group that is excited for plays to be made and
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: excited for guys to be on the field. And ultimately, like, operation,
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  Speaker 2: getting in and out of the huddle, no pre-snap penalties,
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  Speaker 2: good form, good sound tackling, no bust in the secondary.
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  Speaker 2: Things that we expect good football teams to do, I
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  Speaker 2: want to see that tonight. And I want to see
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  Speaker 2: a shellacking. I don't want to see them have any hope.
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  Speaker 2: I want to have it... 50-0 at halftime, and then
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  Speaker 2: get some other guys some work.
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  Speaker 1: We keep hearing about rotation on the offensive line. They're
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: going to test out some things on the offensive line,
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  Speaker 1: and this is certainly the type of game that you
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: can do that in, or we hope this is the
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: type of game that you can do that in. Now,
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: some of it sounds like maybe bumps and bruises accumulating
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: through camp. has interrupted some plans here or there. But
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  Speaker 1: it's not something you see a lot of, or you
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: certainly don't hear coaches acknowledge that, hey, we're going to
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: play around with our starting offensive line and with the
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  Speaker 1: true ones.
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  Speaker 3: What do you think that looks like?
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  Speaker 1: I mean, do you want to see three, four series
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  Speaker 1: in a row before you watch a guy change out?
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  Speaker 3: Or how does Jordan Gross play with that.
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  Speaker 2: You think? Yeah, I think it shows that guys have
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  Speaker 2: earned playing time. And the five best needs need to
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: be figured out. And at this point that they just,
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: they're not ready to solidify that starting five. So, Hey,
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: let's continue to compete. Let's go get in a live
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: game atmosphere and go see how that, how each guy
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  Speaker 2: performs and then move around. And it may take a
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: couple of games. I mean, I don't really know, but, uh,
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  Speaker 2: I think that's really where you get the gist of it,
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: of the movement and continuing the development of these guys
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  Speaker 2: and see who, shakes it out and who's the best
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: guy for the job.
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: The Vegas over under on games one for Utah this
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  Speaker 1: year is set at eight and a half. And I've,
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: I've decided I'm going to hammer the over. I look
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: at the schedule, I go game by game. And I
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: think that this is probably at least a nine win season,
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: at least on paper. And even if it is an
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: eight win season, that's a really solid year in your
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: first year as a head coach. I know Morgan has
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: higher standards for himself than eight or nine wins. He
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: wants more than that. But, you know, I haven't had
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: anyone say anything, take the under. I haven't heard anyone yet,
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: because we're all fanatic at this point, say, yeah, I
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: think this is a seven or eight win year. I mean,
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: the way it lays out, how optimistic are we in
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: the full season outlook from the weddle standpoint?
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: I mean, this championship season starts tonight, baby. And, you know,
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: I'm biased. And that's okay. And I think and believe
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: that this team is going to do special things this year.
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  Speaker 2: I just feel it. I can see it. I can
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  Speaker 2: sense it. And I'm going to be there every step
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  Speaker 2: of the way. So every week I expect us to win.
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  Speaker 2: And in the playoffs, I expect us to win. So,
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: you know, over or under eight and a half, if
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: I was a betting man, I'd put a lot of
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: money on the over. Honestly, I see 11 or 12 wins,
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  Speaker 2: 13 wins going to the playoffs this year. That's just
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: my expectation.
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: It was interesting talking to some people, I guess, what
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: was it, Tuesday for media availability, getting some final thoughts
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: from guys. It was the last time we were going
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: to see them. All off the record and all coaches
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: and folks in the support staff, feeling really optimistic. I
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: had one guy say, you know, I'm actually higher on
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: this team than I was on last year's team. And
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: everyone was pretty high on last year's team for obvious reasons.
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: Cause on paper, you had all this production returning. You
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: had these projected high draft picks and things like that.
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  Speaker 1: So that was really interesting for me to hear someone
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  Speaker 1: who's been in the building, been close to it all.
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: And really seen year after year of Utah football say,
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  Speaker 1: I'm actually higher on this year's team than last year's team.
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  Speaker 1: I'm not ready to make that leap myself, but I
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: think it, It says a lot about the atmosphere that
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  Speaker 1: Morgan has created, the confidence that runs all the way
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: through the program, and that, of course, is what you
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: talk about, a product of the head coach.
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, when you apply position group by position group, we've,
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  Speaker 2: for the most part, the most important positions outside of
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: the offensive line, which outside the building is a question mark,
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: but inside the building is the expectation of high-level football.
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: So you go like quarterback, Devin's going to be a
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: year better after a really good season last year. Then
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: you look at the receiving corps. Have we upgraded or
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: stayed the same as the receiving corps? I think everyone
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: can say that we've upgraded there. So that's a net positive.
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: And then you go around to each other position groups.
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  Speaker 2: Like secondary, I think it's a positive. Another year better
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: with the depth and the youth that we have there.
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: You know, some of the D-line linebackers, you can– You
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: could say maybe a wash, but I think the grand
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: scheme of things, the new leadership, new vision, I'm more confident,
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  Speaker 2: like those guys say as well. The most important position
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: is a quarterback who had a really good season last
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  Speaker 2: year who's only going to get better and a new
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: offensive coordinator with new ideas and new vision. Therefore, yeah,
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: how can you not be confident about this team?
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: We had Colton Swan on for coordinator's corner, and I've
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: known him since my Weber State days. Love me some
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: Colton Swan. Excited for him to have this opportunity to
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: call a defense. You know this better than I do.
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: There hasn't been a lot of drastic change on this
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: defense for like 30-plus years now. It's all cut from
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: that same cloth, and each guy that has taken over,
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: Coach Witt, Coach Anderson, Kalani, Morgan, they've all had their
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: little flavors and twists that they put on it.
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  Speaker 3: What do you expect out of Colton Swann?
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: When I talk to Coach Swan, it's just be him. Like,
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: you're not Morgan. Morgan's a very unique, special play caller.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: So don't try to be like him. Be you. You
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: work hard. You care about the kids. You're a great coach. Like,
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: If the situation arises that you tend to be different,
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: then be different. Be you. Be confident. Inspire confidence in
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: the players, especially in situational football where those calls need
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: to be talked through. Why are we calling this? These
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: are the reasons why, et cetera, et cetera. So I'm
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: pumped for them. We've had a long time for this opportunity,
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: and I expect great things from our defense this year.
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: Eric Weddle is our guest here on the Sean O'Connell Show,
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: talking all things football here for a couple more minutes.
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: as Utah gets ready to kick off the season tonight
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: against the Vandals of Idaho. From an individual player perspective,
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: when you're going up against a matchup tonight, whatever position
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: you play for this University of Utah football team, tonight
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: you're probably going against someone who's going to give you
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: their best look but might be an inch or two
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: shorter than what you're going to face for most of
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: the year. Might be 10 or 15 pounds lighter. Might
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: be a half step slower. How do you stay disciplined
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: and make sure you're the best version of yourself, even
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: if the competition might not demand the very best version
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: of yourself?
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I think it starts from the top
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: and the head coach and coordinators and position coaches really
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: explaining and identifying what is our expectation, what is the
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: standard of how we play football here. And I don't
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: think that deviates from the opponent. It may just be
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: a shorter time. But every chance, every rep is a
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: chance for you to show what you're about. The eye
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: in the sky doesn't lie. And I know it's kind
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: of corny to say that, but it's true. Every time
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: a rep is played on Friday, Saturday night, Thursday night,
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: that is your resume. You have to answer to that.
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: And so for me, it didn't matter who we were playing.
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: my name is on that play. And I'm representing the
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: University of Utah. So I'm going to try to go
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: out there and destroy whoever's across from me and put
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: my best foot forward. Yeah, a mistake's going to happen.
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: That's football. But I'm not going to go out there
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: unprepared because this opponent is not up to our standard. No,
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: I'm going to make him feel what we're about and
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: get in and get out.
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: Do you have your eye on a potential breakout star
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: for this year? We're putting final predictions out because we
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: kick off tonight, right? I'm asking people, team MVP, offensive
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: player of the year, defensive player of the year. But
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: the one that intrigues me most is the guy that
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: kind of comes out of the shadows that maybe we're
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: not talking about enough. Is there someone on your radar
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: that you think could be this year's breakout star?
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, you know, I'm not. I'm not 100%
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: sure of the name, but the guy that played like
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: the rhino tight end.
• 13:13
  Speaker 3: Oh, yeah, yeah. Let me tell longer.
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: I think there's going to be an expanded role for
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: him within the team. So that could be an unsung hero,
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: whether it's offense, special teams, or even defense for that matter.
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: And so his name comes to mind. I think all
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: the newcomers have an opportunity to make huge impacts. And
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: then who's like, maybe a guy like Rabbit, who's kind
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: of been in and out when he's on the field.
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: He's played great. I want to see like a full
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: season of what he can really bring to our team
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: and how dominant he can be and how his play
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: and his physicality can really transform a defense. So he
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: kind of stands out to me. I want to see Ben,
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: he'd be a year better. And really, can he ascend
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: into a guy that could be a first date, first,
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: second day drafting at the next level. Like I want
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: to see that growth. And I know he's worked really
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: hard at it. So it was a couple, a couple,
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: and we're going to go as far as those quarterback
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: take us, especially dead. So, and I think he's ready
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: to have a, an all, all American type season.
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: I did ask this question.
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: The response from at least one person was, I think
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: that Jackson Benny is going to be the second coming
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: of Eric Weddle. I think he could have that kind
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: of an impact on this team. Now, Obviously, we saw
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: him a little bit on offense last year. I don't
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: know what that's going to be like this year. I
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: don't know what kind of crossover situation we're going to
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: get with Benny or with anybody else. But, you know,
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: people are starting to compare that young man to you.
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: So what do you think of him?
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: Geez, I mean, I could only hope and dream that
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: he'll be better than me, not only in college and
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: in the NFL. I think he's a more explosive, taller guy.
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: longer version of me, which is kind of crazy because
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: I was like an explosive dude, but he's way faster
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: than me. I don't know about the quickness, but you
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: could probably say it's on par. But like the physical
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: just explosiveness attributes, just on another level now, can you
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: match that with the mind and the instinct and all
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: the other stuff? That'll be to be determined, but he's
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: already shown that he can be a difference maker. And so,
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: and I know how hard he works. I know this
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: at his first baby, like he's going to be focused.
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: He knows the big picture and I can't wait to
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: support him. So, Hey, shoot for the stars, babe. Don't
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: be better than that old 32.
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: Good luck to anyone trying to be better than that one. Um,
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: We talked about this as a possibility. Moving on to
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: the NFL here with Eric Weddle as our guest on
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: the Sean O'Connell Show. We talked about this as a possibility.
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: We speculated on it. You thought it was going to happen.
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: I thought it was going to happen. Now it has
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: officially happened. Aaron Donald signed. He's going to play for
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: the Rams. Are they going to work it in slowly,
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: kind of like you did when you came off the
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: couch to help make a run at that Super Bowl?
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: Is it hit the ground running? He's had a lot
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: longer to work out and get ready than you did
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: in that case. How do you envision this reintegration of
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: one of the all-time greats.
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you're not paying him $ 20 million to sit on
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: the bench. So he's going to be in there, I expect. Now,
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: will he be playing 50 snaps out the gate? Probably not.
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: But I expect to see– I mean, this is going
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: to be really crazy to see two years off at
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: that position leaving– You know, he was still one of
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: the top guys at his position. How's he going to
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: handle just the physical nature of that position? How's he
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: going to handle, like, week six, taking on double teams
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: and freaking having 800 pounds falling on you? Like, how's
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: he going to handle and recover is my point. I
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: thought the big hiccup would be, like, would he be
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: willing to play or just, you know, money is, all relative, but, like,
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: if it was just, like, $ 5 million, like, would you
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: be willing to do that? But now it's what it is.
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: It's like, of course you're going to come back then.
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: You know, that's a crazy amount of money. I mean,
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: he's potentially going to be making what he was three
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: years ago. So I, from what I've heard and talked to,
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: he looks like AD of AD. It's more so you're
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: coming back for 18 weeks plus. How is the mind
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: and body going to hold up through that process?
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: If you're a safety in that defense or you're a
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: linebacker in that defense, how much does AD and Miles
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: Garrett and company up front change what you're doing on
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: the back end?
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: I mean, it's just the shot clock. We talk about
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: having a shot clock for quarterback. You want to be
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: on time. You want to be in rhythm, knowing that
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: if you hold the ball at that level, you're sacked
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: like it is. It's like one, two, three, check down, right? One, two, three. Well,
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: now you're like, you got four legit rushers. So majority
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: of the time, if you're an offense coordinator, you have
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: to either chip or seven-man protection, which just limits what
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: you could do offensively. And that gives you opportunity after
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: opportunity to go make plays in the secondary. So I
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: would just be teething on, of being able to play
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: in the defense like that with those guys up front.
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: I mean, I would be getting so many gimme picks
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: off tips and overthrows. So hopefully they get a bunch
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: of them because it's now or never for the Rams.
• 19:00
  Speaker 3: Well, it feels like they're pushing all the chips to
• 19:03
  Speaker 3: the center of the table.
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: They do it every year, though, so that's why you
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: got to love the Rams, baby.
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: Dude, they really do. There's a lot of teams that
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: are building for three years from now. The Rams don't
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: play that.
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: They don't. And what's crazy is I think in 2027
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: they have 80 million in cap space, and in 2028
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: they have like 200. Obviously they're going to restructure and
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: extend a bunch of guys, but they know what they're
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: doing over there, man. They're playing ahead of the game
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: than everybody else, and they've got to maximize staff. And then, shoot,
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: by the way, preseason looks like they got the– the
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: guy they wanted when everyone else didn't like to pick.
• 19:42
  Speaker 3: I was just about to say that, right?
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: I mean, you can only judge so much on the preseason,
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: but if you're judging by what is available. it looks
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: like that first-round quarterback selection, when a lot of people
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: were scratching their heads about it, might have been the
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: right move.
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, like,
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: I'm going to trust Les Snead and Sean before I
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: trust anybody else talking about quarterbacks and offensive play and...
• 20:09
  Speaker 2: I think we're always too quick to cut these quarterbacks
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: short on what they are and what they can become.
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: You need really a three- to four-year run of seeing
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: what they are. And I think we'll see. But I
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: think they wouldn't have picked a guy if they didn't
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: believe that he's going to be the guy to take
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: over and continue to win in the future.
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: Well, go smash Torrey Pines tomorrow night, and we'll talk
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: with you next week. We'll also see you next week because,
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: of course, Ring of Honor induction will be in that
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: Arkansas game.
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: We'll be there. All the Weddell crew will be out
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: there except Silver. She will be flying to Italy for
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: World Championships for Team USA, so we'll have to bring
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: a picture and put her on my shoulder or something
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: when we're out there at midfield or whatever we're doing.
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: I really don't know what's going to happen on... Saturday,
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: but I'm there, baby.
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: We'll put your pretty face on the big screen. That's
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: all the people need to say. All right.
• 21:10
  Speaker 3: We'll talk to you before then, but see you soon, man.
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: You got it, bro.
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: That's Eric Weddle, the Utah football legend, Super Bowl champion,
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: and right now 2-0 as the head coach of the
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: Rancho Bernardo Broncos with his own son, Gage, playing quarterback
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: and safety for him.