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Best of Ian Furness 10-7 · The Ian Furness Show

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: There's Julie Barber. I was just saying, Julie, as we're
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: live on the air, that I can't believe I gave
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: you a thumbs down emoji. Derek Hall is sitting down
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: right now. Julie says, yeah, we're on the way with
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Derek Hall right now, and I hit the emoji. I
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: thought I was giving her a thumbs up, and it
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: was a thumbs down.
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: Oh, Lord.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: And nobody gives that lady a thumbs down, do we?
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: At all.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Not at all, right? No, sir. Derek Hall is with
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: us right now, Seahawk linebacker, pass rusher. I haven't talked
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: to you for a couple years, I don't think, but
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: it's good to see you. How are you doing, first
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: of all?
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: I'm blessed, man. I can't complain. Another year. Another year
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: to get going. Another year to get better. Another year
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: to produce with the guys. So it's been a blessing.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: We're going to talk about the game this weekend. Our
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: listeners loved Hard Knocks and loved hearing your story. And
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: we've told the story before about when you were born
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: and the challenges you had and your mother had and
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: everything like that. And where you are today is remarkable.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: The other part of it was the truck and the cars.
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: Tell folks about the love of cars. People didn't see it.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: Your love of cars and vehicles and just the fact
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: you work on them on your own, where did that
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: come from?
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, growing up in Gulfport, Mississippi, we have a lot
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: of vehicles, van scurrying the coast, jeep in the coast,
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: cruising the coast. So that's something I was always around,
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: having that opportunity to be around a lot of vehicles
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: at a young age. I got to college and started
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: getting your college stipend or whatever every single month, and
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: I didn't spend none of that. My first year, I
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: saved everything. I bought my first truck. And from then,
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: it's been rolling nonstop. So it's a passion. It's very addictive.
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: But I love it. I love it. It gives me
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: something outside the ball to go relax. And I just
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: enjoy doing it myself. You know, you save a lot
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: of money that way. And you also, like I said,
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: just get away with escape. So I enjoy it.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: How many vehicles do you have?
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: A lot.
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: A lot.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: Are they all big?
• 1:43
  Speaker 4: No, no, no, no.
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: Do you have a sport car, too, or anything like that? Yeah,
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: I just recently bought a yours. So I do have
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: a yours.
• 1:50
  Speaker 5: Okay.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: What's yours?
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: A Lamborghini.
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: Oh, okay.
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: It wasn't brand new. You can afford it now, man.
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: Bought it out of Texas. I still love the trucks, man.
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: Trucks are my thing. It'll always be my thing. But
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: I just wanted to get into something a little different.
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: So I love it. I enjoy it. And I do
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: have a lot of vehicles.
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: Derek, some guys, they'll play golf, maybe cards, video games.
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: This is your thing, though, right? Does it help you
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: just kind of– the world you live in right now,
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: it's 12-hour days. The pressure, the physically demanding, mentally demanding–
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: Is this what just kind of helps you decompress? It does.
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: It does.
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: And it's not something that you can't do. Yeah. Like
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: you're around, you know, you've always found a shop. I'll
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: go out to my boy and PLF sometimes, you know,
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: on Tuesdays on our off day, you know, for a
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: couple hours just to hang out, you know, tinker on something,
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: play with something, you know, just, just to get away
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: to decompress. And I'll go back home, lock back in,
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: watch a little tape. So it's relatively accessible, you know,
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: no matter the space, no matter where you are. So,
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: I enjoy it, but yeah, it's definitely my way. It's
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: definitely my way. Trucks, fishing, and hunting is what I do.
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: I love that. When you go do that, I'm fascinated
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: by this because I think it's really fun for people
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: to think, hey, this is a real dude, right? You're
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: in this town. Seahawks are on a pedestal. I was
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: doing the Kraken game last night, and Jalen was there,
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: and Charles Cross was there. and they show them on
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: the big screen, and then people go on bananas, right?
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: It's like Seahawks are a big deal. When you go
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: down to your garage and hang out with the guys
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: in Puyallup, are you just one of the guys? That's it.
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: That's it. That's all it is. And, you know, you
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: have a couple people. I mean, it's a regular generating business, right?
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: Right, right.
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: So they have regular people come in, you know, do wheels, tires,
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: you know, all this stuff done. And, you know, at
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: times I do take pictures and things like that, but
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: for the most part I try to decompress. I try
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: to stay in the back. get out of the way,
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: keep the shop door closed, and we just hang out, man.
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: We just kick it. We talk life, work on trucks,
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: have a good time. So shout out to my guy, Abe, man.
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: Is this your upbringing? Is this where you're– because you're about–
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: I mean, we see you on the sideline. We see
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: you on the field.
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: You're at a 10, maybe an 11 out of 10 sometimes.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: But is this your upbringing, just like how your mom
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: brought you up and everything else? For sure, for sure.
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: You know, my mom, she– everybody knows I love her.
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: She's the ghost. She's my queen.
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: She's everything. You know, she raised me the right way.
• 4:01
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: And that's why I try to, a lot of people think, oh,
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: this is how he is as a, you know, a
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: normal person. But off the field, man, I'm the most
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: caring guy. I love people. I'll give people the shirt
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: off my back is what I enjoy doing. You know,
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: I love giving back. I love just, you know, being
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: that bright light, always bringing joy. I'll be the same
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: guy every day. You ask me how I'm doing, I'll
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: say I'm blessed a thousand times. You know, it's just
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: who I am. But between the white lines, man, you
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: just got to find that place to be able to
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: go to and, You just got to find.
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: A way to separate the two. What a great attitude.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: You're a Seahawk now for a long time. What did
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: that mean to you when they committed to you? You
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: committed to them, but John Schneider and Mike McDonald and
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: this group said we're committing to Derek Hall. D. Hall
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: is our guy. What did that mean to you?
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: It meant everything to me, especially knowing that Mike, so
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: funny story, Mike came in his first year and we
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: were out there OTAs. He didn't know nothing about me,
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: knew nothing. He was like, bro, I like the way
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: you work and you're going to have a big year.
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: and I'm like, wow, like, that's, that's, and then, I'm
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: talking about this within, like, the first two weeks, he's like,
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: I love the way you're working, you're gonna have a
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: big year, that year, eight, eight sacks, you know, whatever
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: the stats were, last year wasn't as much, you know,
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: very productive, affected the passer, but just couldn't get the
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: sack numbers right, so, you know, that, that said a
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: lot about them, you know, who they think I can
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: become as a player, where I'm continuing to grow, you know,
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: this organization as a whole, I love it, you know, I'm,
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: I'm big on consistency, I'm big on, you know, being
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: in the same place, not having too much change, so,
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: It's perfect for me. I love it here. You know,
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: the way we work, the way we grind is different. But, man,
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: I wouldn't trade it for the world. I love Mike.
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: I love John. I love what we're doing and where
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: we're going.
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: We saw in Hard Knocks, I mean, you take it
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: to the edge. And Mike wants you guys to take
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: it to the edge. How hard is it to balance that? Well,
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: not just so much in practice. Training camp's different because it's–
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: I'll tell you this. Julie can tell you. From what
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: it used to be, like Mike Bennett and guys were
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: getting fights every single day. Like it's different now. The
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: world's different now. Practice is a little different. On the field, though,
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: Mike wants you guys to push it right to the edge.
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: That's that mentality of this defense. How hard is that
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: to balance?
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: I feel like it's challenging, right? Because you want to
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: go as far as the rule book allows you to go.
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: And it's also a point of going over the edge,
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: which you know that happened a lot to us last
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: week against LA. So it's coming back, correcting those things,
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: figuring out where we need to go. And guys help
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: guys along the way. It was a situation where Whatever
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: the case may be, you know, we don't like to call. Okay,
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: we're trying to do this and do that. And you
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: have guys, you have teammates coming up to you. Hey, bro,
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: calm down. Like, it's okay. Let's move on. Let's go
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: to the next play. And it's just the fire, man.
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: It's the fire, the love, the compassion, and the respect
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: that we have for the game. And it's just trying to,
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: like Mike said, like AD says, like our whole organization says,
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: just playing right over the edge but not falling off
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: the cliff. so I think that's something that we're continuing
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: to do continuing to grow and figuring out how to
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: do that but it's a very hard thing to do.
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: Derek Hall with us Ian Furness here at the Virginia
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: Mason Athletic Center for a couple more moments this is
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: the week though you can't give them extra downs this
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: is this is not a team that you can give
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: extra downs to right like that's that I'm sure that's
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: the message this.
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: Week for sure I mean that's every week yeah that's
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: every week right we want to play clean we want
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: to play dominant physical football but in the cleanest way
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: possible so especially, you know, with these guys. They're on
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: a hot horse right now. You know, I don't think
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: they've turned the ball over. The quarterback's playing an electric clip.
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: You got one of the best running backs, you know,
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: in football. You got one of the best O-lines in football.
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: Single-handedly one of the best tacklers ever played a game.
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: One of the best tight ends. I mean, so they
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: have guys all over their, you know, their offensive side
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: of the ball. So it's about playing a clean ball.
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: You know, it's going out, trying to be consistent. You know,
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: putting ourselves in the best position to go out and
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: be successful every single play while trying to play that dominant,
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: you know, violent style, but also not going over the edge.
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: Derek, is this a bigger week than normal? I know
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: you guys, I mean, it feels like it because of
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: who they are and the division. It's a divisional game
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: and all those things. Do you treat it any different?
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: Nope, none at all. Mike came in today, did the
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: same meeting he does every single Wednesday, hit the same
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: pointers that we do every single Wednesday. So, man, we
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: just continue to go with what's important now. You know,
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: after I get done with two, what's important? Get my
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: body prepared to go out and have a great practice.
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: You know, have a great practice, then come back in,
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: figure out what I can do better, grow from the
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: tape And then go home, get some rest, lean into tomorrow,
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: and come back and do the same process that we
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: do every single week on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, leading
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: up to that game on Sunday.
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: How come Purdy has not been sacked yet?
• 8:09
  Speaker 5: I don't know.
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: I don't know, man. The guy's elusive. He's a great player.
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: Let's start there. He can run. He can make all
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: the throws. He does the pump fake. He does the
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: spin it out. He does all the things that make
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: it hard to be able to bring a guy to
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: the ground. So for us, man, up front, it's going
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: to be continue to do what we do best, pass rush,
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: press the pocket, try to limit his throwing lanes in
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: the middle. you know, being able to compress the pocket
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: in the middle, being able to rush off the edge,
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: you know, make sure we're doing everything we can to
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: keep this guy in the pocket. Then when he does
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: get off the spot, just being relentless and rushing, you know,
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: continue to pursue, continue to plaster on the back end.
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: You know, our coverage guys are going to do their thing.
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: We have to be able to hold up our end
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: on the front to just have opportunity to get this
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: guy on the ground.
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: How good is Trent Williams? Amazing.
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: Amazing. I mean, you got to give respect where respect's due.
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: I mean, obviously, he's been a pro bowler freaking probably
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: almost every year of his career, all-pro player. still playing
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: the game at a very high level, be able to
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: do all the things. So we got our work cut
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: out for us, and I'm damn sure looking forward to it.
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: I'll wrap it up with this. This is the obligatory
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: fan question. But what– and I'll go back. You were
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: here in 2023.
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: Correct.
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: Pete's last year. And that's when I was still covering
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: this team full-time. I remember thinking that's the first time
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: in forever, that December game in 2023, where I felt like, wow,
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: Lumen Field isn't what it used to be. They had
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: a ton of fans here. It just was weird. And
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: Pittsburgh a couple weeks later. Things have flipped back. The
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: fans are back at Lumen. Not that they left necessarily,
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: but they're not selling their tickets anymore.
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: That's what Seattle does. You guys go to Arizona, it's
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: a home game.
• 9:36
  Speaker 6: Right.
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: It feels like that every game we go to, man.
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: Every game we go on the road, the 12 show
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: up and they show out. So that's amazing, man. We
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: have the best fans in the world, and just the
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: way they continue to show up for us is special.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: I'll just let you say to them, what kind of
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: difference can Lumen Field and the 12s make this weekend
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: against Brock Purdy and that team?
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: Huge difference. Huge difference, man. Bring the juice, bring the noise.
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: Continue to be loud. Continue to do what you best, 12s.
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: they they got that 12 name for a reason man
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: it's like a 12 player on the field they bring
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: the juice they bring the energy and obviously you know
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: we have to make create negative plays and do things
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: on the defense off the side of the ball and
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: uh you know ultimately all three phases of the game
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: include special teams be able to feed them plays You know,
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: get them loud, get them rocking. But, man, once we do,
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: continue to bring the juice, and we're looking forward to
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: seeing you all there.
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: I can feel all the texts coming in. People love
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: listening to you, man. Hopefully we can do this again
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: before the end of the season. I appreciate it. I
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: know you got your body ready and everything. These aren't
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: always easy to come in. Thank you, Julie. But thanks.
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: Can we do this again this year?
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: Of course, man. I'm really happy to.
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: You're the best 10 again. How are you doing again?
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: I'm blessed. I can't complain.
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: I love that. That's Derek Hall. We'll take a quick break.
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: Come back with more 93.3 KJR FM. Thank you.
• 10:38
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• 11:01
  Speaker 7: All right.
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: Welcome back in. Sports Radio 93.3 with KJRFM. You can
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: find us with you at Seahawk headquarters today. Getting ready
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: for the 49ers on Sunday. A bit of time to
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: talk a little college football with our good friend Stuart
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: Mandel from The Athletic and The Audible Podcast. Stuart, how
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: are you, my friend?
• 11:16
  Speaker 4: Good, Ian. How are you?
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: I'm good. I'm very good. Hey, I loved– this is
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: one of my favorite topics of conversation. Usually it's in August,
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: but I loved– people can take a listen to the
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: long form of The Audible Podcast from a day or
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: two ago. When you guys are talking about the AP
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: Top 25 polls, how the polls are working and the
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: issues with the polls, I found it very fascinating on
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: a lot of levels because how fans get upset, other
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: media get mad at other media and so forth. Let
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: me take a step back as we're here five, six
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: weeks into the college football season. What is Stuart Mandel's
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: stance on polls, both preseason and in-season, and how relevant
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: or irrelevant they should be?
• 12:02
  Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean, I take a much lighter approach. They're fun.
• 12:06
  Speaker 6: They make for fun debate. They tell you, oh, it
• 12:10
  Speaker 6: was a big game this week between such and such,
• 12:14
  Speaker 6: but fairly harmless. Now, I would love for the preseason
• 12:19
  Speaker 6: polls to be forgotten at this point.
• 12:22
  Speaker 3: We have five weeks of games to to judge the
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: teams on. We don't need to be like, well, USC
• 12:29
  Speaker 3: was 15th or whatever in the preseason, and they've.
• 12:32
  Speaker 6: Only lost once, so maybe they should be 18th instead of...
• 12:36
  Speaker 6: Have you watched USC?
• 12:38
  Speaker 5: Do you really think they're a top 25 team? We're
• 12:40
  Speaker 5: already talking about firing their coach because they look so bad.
• 12:43
  Speaker 6: But, you know, I think... I can't remember if it
• 12:47
  Speaker 6: was Bruce or Ralph. Somebody brought up the point of,
• 12:49
  Speaker 6: should the AP and the coaches end preseason polls? And
• 12:54
  Speaker 6: I said, even if they do, it's not going to
• 12:57
  Speaker 6: stop me from doing one.
• 12:57
  Speaker 5: It's not going to stop CBS Sports from doing like 24.
• 13:01
  Speaker 5: So everybody does offseason, preseason ranking, whether they're official or not.
• 13:07
  Speaker 5: And so when you get to September, everybody.
• 13:10
  Speaker 6: Kind of knows the pecking orders of the teams. So
• 13:13
  Speaker 6: I don't know why them getting rid of it would
• 13:14
  Speaker 6: change that.
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: Well, I think, too, what I like about them, I guess,
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: in a sense, is I think they're fun for fans,
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: which at some point needs to be remembered that college
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: football needs fans and not that they're going away at
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: large droves or anything. And when I say that the
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: fans like them, it's because if you're the underdog, and hell,
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: I'll use Nebraska as an example. Nebraska's trying to get
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: its first win over a ranked team in, what is it,
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: 30 attempts or something like that? If they do at home,
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: they're going to storm the field. That's fun. If they
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: were just playing a team that there was no number
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: next to the team, it's just another Big Ten game.
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: And so, I mean, I think they're fun. I guess
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: the question would be, does the college football playoff committee
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: ever look at the AP or coaches poll? Because that's
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: really the only thing that would matter and make it
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: a problem if preseason polls and baked-in biases are there.
• 14:06
  Speaker 8: Yeah, I mean, the committee makes a big point of
• 14:10
  Speaker 8: not starting their rankings until early November. and that they
• 14:14
  Speaker 8: start with a blank canvas, but then when it comes out,
• 14:17
  Speaker 8: it's not that different than the eight people. There's usually
• 14:20
  Speaker 8: maybe one or two teams that they have a bit
• 14:24
  Speaker 8: higher or a bit lower, but it doesn't look completely different.
• 14:28
  Speaker 8: And they're human beings. They read college football coverage. They
• 14:32
  Speaker 8: watch the games. They have the numbers in front of
• 14:34
  Speaker 8: the teams. It's really impossible to truly throw all that
• 14:38
  Speaker 8: stuff out.
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: Stuart Maddow joining us on Audible Podcast Athletic. All right,
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: let me get to the games this weekend, and we'll
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: use rankings just for fun and giggles and talk about them.
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: There are some pretty significant games. Let me start with
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: the game here in Seattle on Friday, and it's Washington
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: playing host to No. 20 Iowa. And you wrote a
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: story in the mailbag about the tier system in the
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: Big Ten. So I believe this is a– Tier 2
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: versus Tier 4. Sorry, Huskies. I think Stu's got you
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: in the fourth tier. Iowa Tier 2. This feels like
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: a massive game for Iowa. Almost like an elimination game
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: for them, in a sense, Stu.
• 15:20
  Speaker 6: Yeah, for sure.
• 15:20
  Speaker 8: I mean, obviously, there's no shame in losing to Ohio State.
• 15:27
  Speaker 8: But if this is going to be a year where
• 15:29
  Speaker 8: Iowa actually makes a playoff run as opposed to, congrats,
• 15:32
  Speaker 8: you won eight and four. It's a good season. This
• 15:36
  Speaker 8: is a game they have to win. And it's tough
• 15:38
  Speaker 8: because you're traveling out west on a short week after
• 15:42
  Speaker 8: a big– you saw what happened on Ole Miss the
• 15:45
  Speaker 8: week after LSU and all the hoopla around. There was
• 15:48
  Speaker 8: so much hoopla at Iowa. I don't think they're going
• 15:51
  Speaker 8: into this in a very good position today. but if
• 15:54
  Speaker 8: they lose, chances of making the playoff go become pretty slim.
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: What's your read on Washington? Jed Fish in his third year.
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: They go down to USC. They've got a chance. Unable
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: to overcome a USC team that most of us feel
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: is really not very good. Lincoln Riley's on the hot seat.
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: It was a hot day and all those things, but
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: Washington with that loss and the two losses and what
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: their schedule looks like, they're playing for whatever bowl they
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: can get into now. So what's your read on where
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: this Washington program is?
• 16:25
  Speaker 8: It's been a disappointing season, given the expectations coming in.
• 16:30
  Speaker 8: I will say they looked better last week. Now, maybe
• 16:33
  Speaker 8: that's a more USC thing than a Washington thing, but
• 16:36
  Speaker 8: at the end of the day, DeMond Williams is driving
• 16:38
  Speaker 8: them down the field with a chance to win in
• 16:41
  Speaker 8: the final minutes.
• 16:43
  Speaker 6: You know, obviously the.
• 16:44
  Speaker 8: Game turned in a hurry on the scoop and score. So, yeah,
• 16:49
  Speaker 8: they didn't get embarrassed by any means, but they also
• 16:52
  Speaker 8: weren't playing, you know, Indiana.
• 16:54
  Speaker 6: Or Ohio state. So you're right.
• 16:56
  Speaker 8: Like, I think at this point, a little bit of
• 16:59
  Speaker 8: goal resetting, but if they can get their act together
• 17:03
  Speaker 8: here and then play pretty well down the stretch, you know,
• 17:07
  Speaker 8: at least you feel good about it or you feel
• 17:09
  Speaker 8: better about it than you do right now.
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: The, you, you, the big 10 as a whole, is it,
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: And I kind of like the tier system that you
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: put together. But if we look at the Big Ten
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: as a whole, is it really top-heavy, kind of like
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: the SEC? How would you describe the Big Ten as
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: a whole? Ohio State, Indiana, Oregon all kind of feel
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: like maybe they're separate, and then it's kind of the
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: middle class, and then it's a lower class. But how
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: would you describe how the Big Ten is? Because I
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: think we all agree, the SEC and the Big Ten,
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: they're the big two. Then there's another two more power conferences.
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: But how would you describe the Big Ten from what
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: we've seen so far this season?
• 17:47
  Speaker 8: The thing is, all you can do is base it
• 17:50
  Speaker 8: on the results on the field, and the record speaks
• 17:53
  Speaker 8: for itself. Four and ten against power four. SEC went
• 17:57
  Speaker 8: ten and two. Maybe the Big Ten still goes on
• 18:00
  Speaker 8: to win a fourth national championship, but at this moment,
• 18:03
  Speaker 8: you can't really look at those two numbers and say, well.
• 18:06
  Speaker 6: They're just as strong as the SEC.
• 18:08
  Speaker 8: So it seems a little more top-heavy even than usual,
• 18:11
  Speaker 8: and Oregon is one of the teams that you would–
• 18:14
  Speaker 8: say is in that, that top tier, but had a pretty,
• 18:18
  Speaker 8: you know, humility, not humiliating, but a pretty humbling loss.
• 18:20
  Speaker 8: So now we'll see over the next couple of weeks,
• 18:24
  Speaker 8: Nebraska has a chance to make a statement this week.
• 18:27
  Speaker 8: UCLA has a chance to make a statement going to Oregon.
• 18:31
  Speaker 8: I pointed out that Northwestern's actually looks better than probably
• 18:34
  Speaker 8: any of the teams outside of that top group. But
• 18:38
  Speaker 8: it's not, you know, it's not that deep.
• 18:41
  Speaker 6: Let's, let's be honest.
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: Northwestern is a good story. 3-1, 1-1 in the conference.
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: Really good story. And it kind of goes to something
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: that we talk about here. I talk about a lot.
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: I'm talking about, I mean, my school is not a
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: power conference school, but I'm looking at first-year head coaches.
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: How has the dynamic changed in college football with the
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: transfer portal being as big as it is, NIL being
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: as key as it is along the way, where it
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: used to be you'd hire a new coach. And I
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: just mentioned Jed Fish. He's three years in. Um, you
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: hire a new coach, you give them a couple of
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: three years, you kind of see how the recruiting looks like.
• 19:17
  Speaker 5: Okay.
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: What's his first class, second, third, you know, by the
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: time he gets to year three, he's got his third
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: recruiting class in there. Those guys are maybe redshirt sophomores,
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: maybe true juniors, however it may be. And they're playing.
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: And then you start to judge a coach. It feels
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: like that has all changed. And I know Cignetti is
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: kind of an outlier, what he did, but what Bob
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: Chesney is doing at UCLA. Uh, and then you have,
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: you know, what, what Jamarcus Shepard's doing at Oregon state,
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: you go across Eric Morris at Oklahoma state, all across
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: the country. Summerall before last week at Florida. How has
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: the dynamic changed in terms of coaches and what the
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: expectations are? when they're first hired and maybe how short
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: of a leash they're getting in terms of expectations from
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: boosters and alums and so forth?
• 19:57
  Speaker 8: Yeah, there's truly no patience. Bruce had a story up
• 20:02
  Speaker 8: on The Athletic just today about what's wrong with Michigan,
• 20:05
  Speaker 8: how the offense is a bad fit. five games into
• 20:10
  Speaker 8: the Kyle Whittingham era. You know, things are pretty dire
• 20:15
  Speaker 8: in Penn State. Arkansas, they're wearing bags on their heads
• 20:18
  Speaker 8: to the games, right? These coaches just started. It would
• 20:21
  Speaker 8: be interesting to compare it to.
• 20:25
  Speaker 8: I mean, Kyle Whittingham got hired pretty late, and he
• 20:27
  Speaker 8: took over for a coach that was a ticking time bomb.
• 20:30
  Speaker 8: And in a previous era, maybe that would be a... Yeah,
• 20:33
  Speaker 8: you know, the first season could be a little rough,
• 20:34
  Speaker 8: but he.
• 20:37
  Speaker 8: Because there was a five-star quarterback already on hand, because
• 20:40
  Speaker 8: they weren't bad last year, they were 9-14, people certainly
• 20:44
  Speaker 8: expected better than this. And then I think Kurt Cignetti
• 20:49
  Speaker 8: raised the bar for everybody, what he was able to
• 20:51
  Speaker 8: do there that first year. But I like that you
• 20:54
  Speaker 8: brought up Jamarcus Shepard. I think that's one of the
• 20:57
  Speaker 8: best stories in college football right now that maybe not
• 20:59
  Speaker 8: a lot of people are aware of. Oregon State was
• 21:02
  Speaker 8: awful last year, and they were picked to finish last
• 21:05
  Speaker 8: in the new Pac-12. And even though they started the
• 21:08
  Speaker 8: season with two losses, you could already see they were
• 21:10
  Speaker 8: the big 12 teams.
• 21:11
  Speaker 6: They were competitive.
• 21:12
  Speaker 8: You could see this team is definitely better. And then
• 21:15
  Speaker 8: it's been, you know, they've been rolling ever since. And
• 21:18
  Speaker 8: suddenly Oregon State fans have something to be excited about. So, again,
• 21:21
  Speaker 8: like there are.
• 21:22
  Speaker 6: Instances where somebody takes over a rebuilding situation and it
• 21:27
  Speaker 6: takes off right away.
• 21:29
  Speaker 8: But now fans expect everybody to be able to do that.
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: It's funny, with Jamarcus Shepard last December when Wazoo was
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: looking for a coach, mutual friends, people that know him well,
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: and I had talked to some people, and he was
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: very interested in the Washington State job. Ended up going
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: to Kirby Moore. He gets the Oregon State job, and
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: a lot of people were saying, well, Oregon State, I
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: don't know about that hire and all that. Now, it
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: helps you have the best freshman wide receiver in the country.
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: That probably helps a little bit. But I think when
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: it comes down, but you know, one of the things
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: I look at now, it's talent evaluation. You know, I
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: think that was, I think that might've been kind of
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: in Bruce's story too, like what Kyle Whittingham's doing and
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: you know, what you did, you know, what Michigan did
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: three years ago with Bryce Underwood and paying him that money. And,
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: you know, Jed to a certain extent with the money,
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: like you're trying to identify players, not at the age
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: of 18 anymore, but also at the age of 20,
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: 21 and playing at lesser competition or other schools that,
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: Your more so talent evaluation seems to be one of
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: the biggest keys now in college football for coaches.
• 22:29
  Speaker 8: And Jamarcus Shepard had the best talent evaluation of anybody
• 22:32
  Speaker 8: because that freshman receiver, Jesse Legree, was a zero-star recruit.
• 22:36
  Speaker 6: Who nobody had even given an offer to.
• 22:39
  Speaker 8: And he gets them, you know, he finds them through
• 22:41
  Speaker 8: his contacts and gets them a few days before signing day.
• 22:44
  Speaker 6: And the rest is history.
• 22:46
  Speaker 8: But, yeah, there's good players everywhere. You just have to be,
• 22:49
  Speaker 8: you have to pick the right ones. Matt Campbell has
• 22:51
  Speaker 8: been kind.
• 22:52
  Speaker 6: Of an object of mockery for bringing all those.
• 22:55
  Speaker 8: Iowa State guys with him and the idea that, like, see,
• 22:58
  Speaker 8: now you're finding out the Big Ten's a lot tougher
• 23:00
  Speaker 8: than the Big 12. Well, Kurt Cignetti did it with
• 23:03
  Speaker 8: James Madison, guys.
• 23:05
  Speaker 6: There's good players everywhere.
• 23:07
  Speaker 8: But that doesn't necessarily mean that you have to be
• 23:13
  Speaker 8: really good at it.
• 23:13
  Speaker 6: You're right.
• 23:14
  Speaker 8: I think that's one thing I really like about this
• 23:15
  Speaker 8: new era of college football that everybody else complains about
• 23:18
  Speaker 8: is that There is a it rewards the coaches who
• 23:22
  Speaker 8: are either really good at evaluation or really good at
• 23:26
  Speaker 8: allocating their resources. It's not just the old days of like,
• 23:30
  Speaker 8: you know, who can who can woo the mom the
• 23:33
  Speaker 8: best and who.
• 23:35
  Speaker 6: Shows up in the living room and closes the deal.
• 23:38
  Speaker 8: Or let's be honest, who maybe has a way to
• 23:41
  Speaker 8: slide some money to the kid under the table.
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: Well, I used to always say, when you see Mike
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: Riley leads an Oregon State team to the promised land
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: and has success in one of his two stints there,
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: it's because he found guys, talent evaluation, under-the-radar guys, like
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: a Legree, who was a zero-star recruit, right, that ends
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: up being a really good player. Mike Price was really
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: good at that back in the day, and the good
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: coaches at some of the schools that find those guys
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: are two and three stars, and then they develop them,
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: but Yeah, it's a whole new thing. I want to
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: get to a couple of the games. I mentioned Bob Chesney.
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: UCLA-Oregon this weekend. Number 21 versus number 13, if we
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: want to use the numbers. What a massive game that is.
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: And I can't remember the last time I thought, wow,
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: UCLA is playing a really big football game. But they're
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: playing a really big football game this weekend.
• 24:29
  Speaker 6: Yeah, they're playing with a chance to make a statement.
• 24:32
  Speaker 8: And, I mean, they've looked great. They've scored 50 points
• 24:35
  Speaker 8: in the last two games. But they're playing Maryland and Purdue.
• 24:39
  Speaker 8: They haven't played... You know, even the Cal win in
• 24:42
  Speaker 8: the first game seemed pretty encouraging at the time. You
• 24:45
  Speaker 8: can tell Cal is a mess. So best opponent they're
• 24:49
  Speaker 8: playing by far so far this season. And, you know,
• 24:53
  Speaker 8: one thing to keep an eye on is when's the
• 24:56
  Speaker 8: last time Nico won one of these big games? And
• 24:58
  Speaker 8: he's going to go try to do it on the
• 24:59
  Speaker 8: road at Austin. So UCLA is still considered a pretty
• 25:04
  Speaker 8: big underdog. But if they can beat Oregon.
• 25:08
  Speaker 8: That tells me they have a chance to contend for
• 25:10
  Speaker 8: a playoff spot.
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: USC-Penn State. It's a bigger game for who and which coach?
• 25:18
  Speaker 3: Hmm.
• 25:19
  Speaker 6: As Bruce said, it's a loser-leaves-town game.
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: We had that last week.
• 25:25
  Speaker 4: You've got to say USC.
• 25:25
  Speaker 8: You've got to say USC because Matt Campbell is not
• 25:30
  Speaker 8: getting fired anytime soon. Lincoln Riley is definitely playing for
• 25:34
  Speaker 8: his job this season. And if they don't win this one,
• 25:38
  Speaker 8: they've got tougher games remaining. And frankly, these are the
• 25:43
  Speaker 8: kind of games he has not.
• 25:44
  Speaker 6: Won at USC.
• 25:45
  Speaker 8: Now, Penn State's not a ranked team. They don't look great,
• 25:50
  Speaker 8: to be honest. Everybody makes such a big deal out
• 25:56
  Speaker 8: of the whiteout, and the whiteout is great. It's great TV.
• 26:00
  Speaker 8: But other visiting teams have won during the whiteout. It's
• 26:02
  Speaker 8: not impossible to win those games. And so here's their chance.
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: The Georgia Bulldogs have not really been tested much this season. Alabama, well,
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: we kind of thought they'd be tested last week, and
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: they weren't. When it was all said and done, they
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: rolled to a relatively easy win. But Alabama playing host
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: to Georgia, you know what, Stuart? It doesn't matter. It
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: doesn't feel like it matters what year, who the coach is,
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: what's going on. This is just always one of those
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: circle the calendar, big games in the SEC. What's your
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: feel on this one? Because this is a heck of
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: a matchup. Number two, Georgia. Number six, Alabama. And Kaelin
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: DeBoer at 4-0 feels like he's got that thing humming,
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: especially with his quarterback.
• 26:44
  Speaker 6: Yeah, it's a toss-up game.
• 26:47
  Speaker 8: And we've seen Alabama play in more meaningful games than
• 26:51
  Speaker 8: we've seen that they have a phenomenal quarterback. Kaelin Russell
• 26:56
  Speaker 8: just tore up Mississippi State last week. Um, so I
• 27:00
  Speaker 8: feel really good about that. And Georgia has just kind
• 27:03
  Speaker 8: of been humming along. They're never Curry smarts.
• 27:05
  Speaker 6: Teams are never flashy. They just, they just go out
• 27:07
  Speaker 6: there and take care of business. And that's what they've been.
• 27:09
  Speaker 8: Doing against teams like Arkansas and Vanderbilt. And so we're
• 27:12
  Speaker 8: going to learn a lot about Georgia in this game.
• 27:14
  Speaker 8: We're going to learn a lot about Georgia's defense. Cause
• 27:16
  Speaker 8: I think Kaylin DeBoer now has that kind of offense
• 27:20
  Speaker 8: that you saw him have at Washington with.
• 27:22
  Speaker 6: A great quarterback and weapons all around him.
• 27:24
  Speaker 8: And, um, Can Georgia get a handle on that? Because
• 27:28
  Speaker 8: this is definitely a different, you know, the last two years,
• 27:31
  Speaker 8: the first two years of Kalen DeBoer, they just didn't have,
• 27:35
  Speaker 8: they didn't have it. Even though Ty Simpson got drafted
• 27:37
  Speaker 8: where he did, he didn't tear it up at Alabama
• 27:41
  Speaker 8: last year and they couldn't run the ball at all.
• 27:43
  Speaker 8: This is definitely his most potent offense so far.
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: I got it. Before I let you go, I got
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: to get your– actually, one more. Texas and Oklahoma. Oklahoma
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: is an interesting story. We've talked about them a lot.
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: I've got this perverse fascination with them because of Mateer.
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: But an Oklahoma win, which would be a massive upset,
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: can that kind of flip the script a little bit
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: in Norman? And what would it do to Texas?
• 28:09
  Speaker 8: I mean, it could absolutely flip the script in Norman.
• 28:11
  Speaker 8: And by the way, there have been crazy upsets. Like
• 28:13
  Speaker 8: the Red Rivers had quite a few crazy upsets like this.
• 28:17
  Speaker 8: where the coach is.
• 28:18
  Speaker 6: Feeling a lot of heat.
• 28:19
  Speaker 8: And I think somebody brought up 2015, Baker Mayfield was
• 28:23
  Speaker 8: at Oklahoma. Texas, Charlie Strong was, you know, really much
• 28:27
  Speaker 8: on the hot seat. And they were 1-4, and they
• 28:29
  Speaker 8: beat 4-0 Oklahoma. Like, crazy things like that happen. Sark,
• 28:35
  Speaker 8: you know, I wouldn't want that for Sark. That would
• 28:37
  Speaker 8: be pretty rough. They've got a lot of tough games remaining.
• 28:42
  Speaker 8: You've got to think that if Oklahoma beats them, that's
• 28:44
  Speaker 8: going to mean Arch had a bad game. you know,
• 28:47
  Speaker 8: continue that narrative. So pretty close to a must win
• 28:50
  Speaker 8: for the Longhorns.
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: Real fast, Georgia, Alabama, weather could be a massive issue, right?
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: Like I just looking down there, I've got relatives in Alabama.
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: That could be a pretty significant, who does it favor
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: in that game if the weather is bad?
• 29:07
  Speaker 8: Who does it favor if the weather is bad? I
• 29:09
  Speaker 8: guess Georgia, because they're less dependent on that kind of stuff.
• 29:11
  Speaker 8: But like, it's not going to be good for anybody.
• 29:14
  Speaker 8: I mean, it's, I guess the latest is that the
• 29:16
  Speaker 8: hurricane is going to have passed.
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 29:18
  Speaker 8: The hurricane is going to have passed, but it doesn't
• 29:20
  Speaker 8: mean it won't still be pretty nasty there. So who
• 29:24
  Speaker 8: knows that, you know, who's going to turn over the
• 29:26
  Speaker 8: ball more.
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Tuscaloosa is a far enough inland. They should be okay.
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: Final thing. I'm sitting here at Seahawks today. And I
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: remember the Mania news conference in the one year with
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: Jim Mora here as the head coach. And then, of course,
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: when he was fired, and I remember I said something
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: about it on the air, and Seahawks executive at the time,
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: Todd Laiweke, says, well, you around him, you know why
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: we had to get rid of him. And I'm like, yeah,
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: good point. That's a pretty good point. And then I
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: saw the epic classic Jim Mora on Saturday night. play-calling
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: duties get taken away from his defensive coordinator after two scores,
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: and then the guy walks off the field and quits.
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: Have you ever seen anything like that in college football, Stu?
• 30:09
  Speaker 4: No, not at all.
• 30:10
  Speaker 6: Not at all.
• 30:12
  Speaker 8: Moore is a good coach, but I think, obviously, his
• 30:15
  Speaker 8: intense personality has hurt him along the way. No, obviously not.
• 30:22
  Speaker 8: And just the press conference, I mean, it's just hilarious.
• 30:26
  Speaker 8: He went in there and he said it very succinctly.
• 30:28
  Speaker 8: They asked him, hey, we didn't see Tyson Summers on
• 30:31
  Speaker 8: the sideline.
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: What happened?
• 30:33
  Speaker 6: He got his play calling taken away. He left the field.
• 30:36
  Speaker 6: He's no longer with the program.
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: That's it.
• 30:38
  Speaker 6: That's all he had to say.
• 30:40
  Speaker 8: And the weird thing is that wasn't even the only
• 30:43
  Speaker 8: coordinator that got demoted the other day. Turns out Cal
• 30:47
  Speaker 8: did the same thing, but that guy didn't quit on
• 30:49
  Speaker 8: the spot.
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: No, and Kirby Moore waited to demote his guy until Sunday.
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: All right, Stu, great stuff. Appreciate it. As always, thank you.
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: Tell people about the Audible podcast. It's awesome, and what
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: you guys have going on there.
• 31:03
  Speaker 8: The Audible with myself, Bruce Feldman, and Ralph Russo is
• 31:06
  Speaker 8: live on Sundays at 8.30 a.m. Pacific, and then we
• 31:10
  Speaker 8: have shows on Tuesday and Thursday as well.
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: You're great. We'll talk to you next week. Thanks, Stuart.
• 31:17
  Speaker 6: Thanks, Ian.
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: Stuart Mandel joining us here on the Beacon Plumbing Hotline.
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: More to come, including a daily power play and Corbin
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: Smith at Seahawk Headquarters on 93.3 KJFM.
• 31:26
  Speaker 7: It's time to take a deep dive into all things
• 31:29
  Speaker 7: Seahawks with Corbin Smith, sports reporter for Emerald City Spectrum.
• 31:33
  Speaker 7: All Seattle sports, all the time. Brought to you by
• 31:36
  Speaker 7: Jim Elliott with Windermere Real Estate, helping homebuyers and home
• 31:39
  Speaker 7: sellers in Western Washington. Whether you're buying or selling, contact
• 31:43
  Speaker 7: Jim at 206-769-5466 or at Jim at soldbyjim.com. Now with
• 31:50
  Speaker 7: Corbin Smith, here's Ian.
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: Corbin Smith with us, joining us in the Virginia Mason
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: Athletic Center. As away we go here on a Wednesday afternoon.
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: I like these little face-to-faces we're doing here on the Wednesdays.
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: This is good. This is good.
• 32:05
  Speaker 4: It is. It beats the monotony of picking up a phone.
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a lot more personal. Plus, we're here. Let's get,
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: first of all, if we could, let's get the news
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: of the day. You were in there for the Mike
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: McDonald News Conference yesterday. So let's go through the news
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: of the day. First of all, just get injury report first.
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: Leonard Williams.
• 32:25
  Speaker 4: He is going to practice in some capacity today. So
• 32:29
  Speaker 4: who knows if that's limited, if it ends up being
• 32:31
  Speaker 4: a full participant. Mike McDonald reiterated twice that he is
• 32:36
  Speaker 4: going to be doing something today with that ankle. It
• 32:39
  Speaker 4: doesn't sound to me like they're probably just being cautious
• 32:42
  Speaker 4: more than anything. Ty Akata is going to practice.
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: How big is that?
• 32:46
  Speaker 4: Massive. It's massive. And the guys that have played have
• 32:48
  Speaker 4: done a good job, but that's why A.J. Finley, who
• 32:52
  Speaker 4: was in the locker room, so he clearly is back
• 32:54
  Speaker 4: on the practice squad, that's why they made that move
• 32:57
  Speaker 4: to cut him instead of cutting one of their running backs.
• 33:00
  Speaker 4: Because Ty Akata, I'd be really surprised. I think that
• 33:03
  Speaker 4: they could have tried to play him last weekend, but
• 33:07
  Speaker 4: it made sense to hold off one more week, get
• 33:09
  Speaker 4: him a few more practices. But he should be... barring
• 33:12
  Speaker 4: an unforeseen setback, he should be ready. And that's big.
• 33:15
  Speaker 4: They need him in this game.
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: Let's just go back to two weeks ago without Okada
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: and Love. What does that do to the Mike McDonald defense,
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: what he wants to do?
• 33:24
  Speaker 4: Look, I don't think it made that big of a
• 33:26
  Speaker 4: difference in that game. I think in terms of how
• 33:29
  Speaker 4: they use their safeties. Now, Julian loved the leadership aspect
• 33:32
  Speaker 4: and the communication. That's the biggest thing you're missing when
• 33:36
  Speaker 4: you don't have him out there or Ty Okada, who's
• 33:38
  Speaker 4: now been in the system for a few years. It's
• 33:39
  Speaker 4: just that That connection with the defense, with the scheme,
• 33:43
  Speaker 4: and being able to communicate it. Julian Love's playmaking ability
• 33:46
  Speaker 4: on the back end. Ty Akata's ability to come up
• 33:49
  Speaker 4: and blitz and do some of the stuff that he
• 33:51
  Speaker 4: can do. But I thought Rodney Thomas, I think he's
• 33:55
  Speaker 4: played really well in these four games. I think he's
• 33:57
  Speaker 4: done a nice job. And A.J. Finley, I know he
• 34:00
  Speaker 4: gave up a touchdown in that game, but I've made
• 34:02
  Speaker 4: this argument since that Commanders game. They did not lose
• 34:05
  Speaker 4: that game because of their safety situation. It was because
• 34:09
  Speaker 4: they turned the ball over and they gave up a
• 34:10
  Speaker 4: bunch of points off it. I'm not saying it's not
• 34:14
  Speaker 4: a big deal, but when you play a team that
• 34:16
  Speaker 4: has a really good quarterback, like the San Francisco 49ers have,
• 34:21
  Speaker 4: with the weapons that they have and the maestro that
• 34:24
  Speaker 4: is Kyle Shanahan, that team just gets injury after injury
• 34:28
  Speaker 4: and they just keep on rolling. They keep winning. He's
• 34:31
  Speaker 4: a top three head coach in the National Football League,
• 34:34
  Speaker 4: in my opinion.
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: I think if you were to rank coaches, let's just
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: say who are the top Let's say the top four
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: coaches in football.
• 34:40
  Speaker 4: Three of them are in this division.
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: And the other one's name is Andy Reid. Right? I mean,
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: you could probably make that argument. Maybe Sean Payton's five.
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 34:47
  Speaker 4: I think Clint Kubiak's making a run already. What he's
• 34:50
  Speaker 4: doing in Vegas is really impressive. It's a very short
• 34:52
  Speaker 4: sample size. Very short sample size.
• 34:53
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: Triple option. Seahawks triple option podcast. You guys, you, Rob Rang,
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: and Robert Turbin, who knows a little bit about running backs.
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: But you guys spent some time yesterday talking about the
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: newest Seahawk running back. Before we talk about him and
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: go down that road with Robert Henry Jr. just picked
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: up off the Commander's Practice Squad, let's take a step back.
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: And I'm sure you guys hear about it on the
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: podcast feedback on YouTube and everything else, or Animal City Spectrum.
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: I'm sure you're hearing a lot about it. Look at
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: what Ken Walker's doing. Look at what Ken Walker's doing.
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: And You know, Jadarian Price has hurt. He's been hurt
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: a lot since he's been here. We're four games into
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: the season. We're four games into his career.
• 35:35
  Speaker 4: Yep.
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: There's 14 million reasons why, along with JSN, Leonard Williams,
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: Jackson Smith, or Devin Witherspoon, et cetera, that they didn't
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: spend 14 million on a running back. Before we get
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: to the specific players, how would you describe the Seahawks
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: running back situation? Where it was, where it is, what
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: it could have been, what it should have been, or
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: what it is right now.
• 35:57
  Speaker 4: Well, as far as what it could have been, they
• 35:59
  Speaker 4: have been missing the juice that Janarian Price provides. He
• 36:02
  Speaker 4: clearly has a different gear than any of the running
• 36:05
  Speaker 4: backs that have been on the roster. George Helani and
• 36:08
  Speaker 4: Emmanuel Wilson. Wilson's playing really good football right now.
• 36:11
  Speaker 3: But.
• 36:12
  Speaker 4: He's got limitations in terms of the burst aspect. I
• 36:15
  Speaker 4: think he's more athletic than most 230-pound running backs. I mean,
• 36:19
  Speaker 4: he's got a pretty good accelerator for a player that size,
• 36:22
  Speaker 4: and he's got a little twitch to him. But his
• 36:24
  Speaker 4: game is getting downhill, one cut, barreling over dudes. That's
• 36:28
  Speaker 4: his game, and I love that kind of running back.
• 36:31
  Speaker 4: But they haven't had that back that can provide the
• 36:34
  Speaker 4: explosiveness with Price being hurt and the fumble issues. that
• 36:37
  Speaker 4: he's had, and that's one of the reasons you put
• 36:40
  Speaker 4: Rashid Shahid back there. And look, they need to do
• 36:42
  Speaker 4: that at least four or five plays a game moving
• 36:44
  Speaker 4: forward because it just creates the things you can do
• 36:47
  Speaker 4: in the passing game with that, too. We've seen him
• 36:49
  Speaker 4: put JSN in the backfield and make catches. You can
• 36:52
  Speaker 4: do so much. It creates a lot of conflict for
• 36:56
  Speaker 4: the defense, but you're also not going to have him
• 36:59
  Speaker 4: run the ball 10 times a game because he's 175,
• 37:00
  Speaker 4: 180 pounds. He's going to break.
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: You can't do that.
• 37:02
  Speaker 4: So they needed to add... some explosiveness, and some juice
• 37:09
  Speaker 4: to that room, Robert Henry Jr. is going to be
• 37:12
  Speaker 4: the guy that provides that.
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: Okay, and I know that you love what you saw
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: with him in college. I know Rob loved what he
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: saw with him in college.
• 37:21
  Speaker 4: Turbo had a fourth or fifth-round grade on him, too.
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: Okay, so with that said, why was he an undrafted
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: free agent, and why was he stashed in the commander's
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: practice squad where Seattle was able to go grab him?
• 37:32
  Speaker 4: I think there's two things here. One, he's not a
• 37:35
  Speaker 4: big back. He's around 5'9, 3 quarters, and 199 pounds.
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: I just laid eyes on him, and I thought the
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: same thing.
• 37:42
  Speaker 4: He's not a big guy. And I think the second
• 37:44
  Speaker 4: thing is he has had some fumbling issues. But I
• 37:48
  Speaker 4: will say this. Jadarian Price had a higher fumble rate
• 37:51
  Speaker 4: than what he did at UTSA. So the commanders felt
• 37:55
  Speaker 4: like they had a decent backfield there, and they just
• 37:58
  Speaker 4: signed Austin Eckler, who has a much different skill set.
• 38:00
  Speaker 4: He's a third-down guy. which that's not really Robert Henry's game.
• 38:04
  Speaker 4: He can catch the ball, but he's not a prototypical
• 38:06
  Speaker 4: third down back. I thought he had starter caliber skills
• 38:10
  Speaker 4: coming out of UTSA, and this was not a good
• 38:12
  Speaker 4: running back class overall. I had him as my eighth
• 38:14
  Speaker 4: best running back. I had a fifth-round grade on him.
• 38:18
  Speaker 4: I was stunned, and Turbo was stunned. We talked about
• 38:22
  Speaker 4: this right after the draft, like why– why is this
• 38:24
  Speaker 4: guy not drafted? And then we're like, why did Seattle
• 38:27
  Speaker 4: act like, we're like, you could have drafted another running
• 38:30
  Speaker 4: back late and I would have had no issue with it.
• 38:32
  Speaker 4: But he told us today that he had a lot
• 38:35
  Speaker 4: of correspondence with the Seahawks and they were a team
• 38:37
  Speaker 4: that he thought might draft him and it just didn't happen.
• 38:40
  Speaker 4: But he's, yeah, it's one of those mysteries. I think
• 38:43
  Speaker 4: that because this was not a good running back class,
• 38:45
  Speaker 4: there were some guys that kind of got caught in the,
• 38:47
  Speaker 4: got caught in the weeds a little bit, and I
• 38:49
  Speaker 4: think that led to some guys falling out of the draft.
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: What did you get from your impressions talking to McDonald today?
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: Is this guy going to be right in the mix?
• 38:57
  Speaker 4: That's what I gathered from it. He made it very
• 39:00
  Speaker 4: clear that they've had a strong evaluation of this kid
• 39:02
  Speaker 4: throughout the entire pre-draft process. Then he talked about his vision,
• 39:05
  Speaker 4: which his vision is really, really good. He's got that
• 39:10
  Speaker 4: ability to go from first gear to third gear, then
• 39:13
  Speaker 4: skip the second gear. His accelerator is elite. I don't
• 39:17
  Speaker 4: care that he ran a 4-5-2-40. Jackson Smith and Jigba
• 39:20
  Speaker 4: ran a 4-5-3.
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: Say that again.
• 39:22
  Speaker 4: Jackson Smith and Jigba ran a 4-5-3-40 yard dash.
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: Isn't that the same guy I just saw pull away
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: in a game a couple weeks ago? on a little
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: fourth down play?
• 39:32
  Speaker 4: The running back position, and Turbo and I have talked
• 39:35
  Speaker 4: about this a lot, Turbo's even further down on it.
• 39:38
  Speaker 4: I think the 40 is incredibly overrated. I look at
• 39:42
  Speaker 4: the 10-yard split. That matters to me, and his was average.
• 39:46
  Speaker 4: But when I watch it on film, it doesn't look
• 39:48
  Speaker 4: like it. there are just some guys that are faster
• 39:51
  Speaker 4: in pads. And Robert Henry Jr. is one of the guys.
• 39:54
  Speaker 4: He had very similar change of direction agility scores to
• 39:58
  Speaker 4: Raheem Mostert, who was the back that I had a
• 40:00
  Speaker 4: comp for. And Raheem Mostert's best years, actually most of
• 40:05
  Speaker 4: his career, was in a Shanahan-style offense, either in San
• 40:08
  Speaker 4: Francisco with Shanahan or in Miami with Mike McDaniel. And
• 40:13
  Speaker 4: he was incredibly successful as an undrafted back. I see
• 40:18
  Speaker 4: a lot of Raheem Mostert in this kid, which is
• 40:21
  Speaker 4: why I am... Look, mid-season acquisitions like this, you're usually like, yeah,
• 40:26
  Speaker 4: bottom of the roster guy. This one really has me excited.
• 40:30
  Speaker 4: I think that he could be a guy that down
• 40:32
  Speaker 4: the line can give you some significant snaps. And you
• 40:37
  Speaker 4: have to pay him three weeks as an active roster player.
• 40:39
  Speaker 4: You don't make that move unless it's a guy that
• 40:41
  Speaker 4: you really, really like.
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: What are the limitations of Emmanuel Wilson?
• 40:46
  Speaker 4: I think that it's just the athleticism. I mean, he's
• 40:48
  Speaker 4: not going to be a guy that's going to be
• 40:49
  Speaker 4: running away from guys. I think that he's got some
• 40:53
  Speaker 4: of that traditional junkyard between the tackles. And I think
• 40:57
  Speaker 4: you can win with guys like that in the National
• 40:59
  Speaker 4: Football League. But he just isn't going to hit home
• 41:01
  Speaker 4: runs with what Seattle wants to do offensively. With them
• 41:04
  Speaker 4: being a team that wants to run that wide zone,
• 41:07
  Speaker 4: they've got to have somebody that's got– and that's where
• 41:09
  Speaker 4: Jadarian Price is supposed to be. He's supposed to be
• 41:11
  Speaker 4: that electric playmaker that is going to be able to
• 41:13
  Speaker 4: create and hit some home runs. They just don't have
• 41:16
  Speaker 4: that on the roster right now with him being hurt, though.
• 41:19
  Speaker 4: Or they didn't have it on the roster. That's where
• 41:21
  Speaker 4: Robert Henry can fit in here as a guy that
• 41:24
  Speaker 4: I think he had six plays of 70-plus yards last year.
• 41:27
  Speaker 4: He had insane numbers with explosives at UTSA.
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: Did Mike McDowell give any indication on Charbonnet's?
• 41:35
  Speaker 4: We didn't hear anything about Charbonnet. We did find out
• 41:38
  Speaker 4: Monday morning from him that Charb's not playing this week.
• 41:42
  Speaker 4: So we know that that's not happening anymore. Thursday still,
• 41:46
  Speaker 4: if they were playing another Sunday game against the Broncos,
• 41:49
  Speaker 4: I think that that would be circled.
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: Such a short week.
• 41:52
  Speaker 4: I just can't. Yeah, I think he makes his debut
• 41:56
  Speaker 4: against the Chiefs, and what a storyline that's going to be.
• 41:59
  Speaker 4: K-9 coming back to town, Zach Charbonnet back in the lineup,
• 42:03
  Speaker 4: and those two going against each other as starters.
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: That would be fun.
• 42:06
  Speaker 4: There will be plenty of storylines in that game.
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: Corbin Smith with us. All right, let's talk about the
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: game this weekend. The 49ers roll in here. I had
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: Derek Hall in here, and he downplayed it, downplayed the
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: significance of the game. I listened to a little bit
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: of Cooper Cup. He was a little bit more, yeah,
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: this is a big game. Mike McDonald, I'm sure, is
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: telling you all the things, but what's the impression you
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: get from this team, talking to the guys in the
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: locker room about this week?
• 42:31
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I talked to a couple of the linemen, and.
• 42:35
  Speaker 4: I asked him, you know, what's the balancing act here,
• 42:37
  Speaker 4: trying to treat this like a normal game versus, you know,
• 42:41
  Speaker 4: understanding and embracing what this really is. And they all
• 42:44
  Speaker 4: just kind of chuckled and, well, we're going to treat
• 42:46
  Speaker 4: this like another game, but no. You can read my
• 42:48
  Speaker 4: body language. No, this is not another game.
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: It's 49er week. But not just that.
• 42:54
  Speaker 4: I mean, this could decide the NFC West, especially because
• 42:59
  Speaker 4: the Rams aren't playing very good football right now. You
• 43:03
  Speaker 4: fall two games. It would be a game and a half.
• 43:05
  Speaker 4: But you fall multiple games behind the 49ers at this
• 43:09
  Speaker 4: stage of the season. It could be tough to overcome.
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: You're 3-2. They're 5-0. And they have one game in
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: hand on. because they've won so that makes what which
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: actually would be two and a half yeah that's right
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: and which would happen and last year that happened and
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: they were able to make it up but you don't
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: have to keep doing that every year and you know
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: go down there and have to and let's.
• 43:29
  Speaker 4: Be honest and you have a first place schedule they've
• 43:31
  Speaker 4: got a third place schedule.
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: And there and when you went down there last year
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: and even the playoff game they were missing guys named
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: warner pretty good linebacker decent uh kittle etc right so
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: like like like A lot of things went right, and
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: I'm not saying Seattle didn't deserve it, but, I mean,
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: you don't want to have to put yourself in that position.
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: Let's talk about who they are, though, the 49ers. I'm
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: talking to Derek Hall. It's a remarkable stat. Now, it's
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: not a record yet in the NFL or anything, but
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: the fact that Purdy has not been put on his
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: back yet on a sack is remarkable.
• 44:01
  Speaker 2: It is.
• 44:01
  Speaker 4: He's getting the football so dang fast. And that's a
• 44:06
  Speaker 4: quarterback that's also.
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: That's between the ears and the coordinator, isn't it? It's
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: like a combination of.
• 44:10
  Speaker 4: Yeah, there's the scheme. Mike Evans has added a dimension.
• 44:15
  Speaker 4: I mean, I'm going to admit, I thought Mike Evans'
• 44:17
  Speaker 4: days as being a No. 1 receiver were done, but.
• 44:22
  Speaker 4: He's kind of proven me wrong. I know he's been
• 44:23
  Speaker 4: banged up here and there this season, but like his
• 44:27
  Speaker 4: presence with his size and his savvy, uh, he's, they've
• 44:31
  Speaker 4: had injuries in that receiving core and they just, they
• 44:33
  Speaker 4: just keep, and Debo Samuels come back and, and all
• 44:36
  Speaker 4: he did is have the longest receiving touchdown. That wasn't
• 44:38
  Speaker 4: actually a reception in NFL history a few weeks ago. Uh,
• 44:42
  Speaker 4: I mean, they call Shanahan again, just the guy is a,
• 44:46
  Speaker 4: he is a guru. He knows how to get his
• 44:48
  Speaker 4: guys in position and, That offensive line, they're protecting them
• 44:51
  Speaker 4: to an extent with how quickly they're getting the ball out.
• 44:54
  Speaker 4: You're going to have to take away some of those
• 44:56
  Speaker 4: early opportunities for Purdy. He's going to have to hold
• 44:58
  Speaker 4: onto the ball some, which other teams have not been
• 45:01
  Speaker 4: able to force him to do yet to this point.
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: I almost feel like they've been keeping Christian McCaffrey in
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: bubble wrap for bigger games. Seriously.
• 45:10
  Speaker 4: He's at the stage of his career that you have
• 45:12
  Speaker 4: to do that with him, too.
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: I don't expect him to only have 15 touches.
• 45:16
  Speaker 4: No, he's going to be much more heavily involved. They've
• 45:20
  Speaker 4: got a good rookie running back in Kayvon Black.
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah, a kid from Indiana. He's a really good player.
• 45:25
  Speaker 4: So they've got their heir apparent waiting here in a
• 45:28
  Speaker 4: few years if McCaffrey's no longer the lead guy. They've
• 45:33
  Speaker 4: had injuries, but they've still got... Now, I am curious,
• 45:35
  Speaker 4: and McDonald kind of talked about this a little bit, like,
• 45:38
  Speaker 4: How do they handle their personnel groupings without Kyle Juszczyk
• 45:41
  Speaker 4: and how that impacts your game planning as a defensive coach?
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: Well, let's talk about that, Corbin Smith. Let's talk about
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: that because, listen, the fullback is getting to be dinosaur-like
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: in the NFL for some teams, not in the Shanahan
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: offense necessarily. And it's one thing to have a fullback.
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: You know, Brady Russell fills that role with the Utes
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: out this season and stuff like that every now and then.
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: But Juszczyk is more than just that. He's an offensive
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: weapon for them. He is.
• 46:03
  Speaker 4: He can catch the ball. He can run the ball
• 46:06
  Speaker 4: when you need him to. Not like he gets a
• 46:07
  Speaker 4: lot of carries, but he is a focal point in
• 46:09
  Speaker 4: that offense with his ability to catch, and he's a
• 46:12
  Speaker 4: really good blocker. He's a big part of their run game.
• 46:15
  Speaker 4: How do they try to go about moving forward with
• 46:19
  Speaker 4: what they have? They're clearly not going to have anybody
• 46:21
  Speaker 4: in the roster that's going to be him.
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: No.
• 46:24
  Speaker 4: He's one of one in today's NFL. He's the closest
• 46:28
  Speaker 4: you're going to see to a John L. Williams-type guy
• 46:30
  Speaker 4: in today's league. Good luck finding somebody else going to
• 46:33
  Speaker 4: do that. I'm wondering if we see more two-back sets
• 46:36
  Speaker 4: where they have Kalon Black and Christian McCaffrey out there together,
• 46:39
  Speaker 4: which we've seen Brian Fleury sprinkle in that a little
• 46:42
  Speaker 4: bit this year, too. Fleury's influence being Kyle Shanahan.
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: Yes, exactly. Let's flip to the other side of the football.
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: Seattle's offense led by Brian Fleury. Now, while the 49ers
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: have not given up a sack, they're near the bottom
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: of the league in terms of sacks made. Without Bosa.
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: They don't have a great pass rush necessarily, but they
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: do have good linebackers and so forth. So what's the
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: challenge for Seattle's offense?
• 47:04
  Speaker 4: Yeah, they're going to be facing a defense that doesn't
• 47:07
  Speaker 4: blitz very much. They don't pressure very much, but they
• 47:10
  Speaker 4: are really sound on the back. And Cooper Cupp was
• 47:13
  Speaker 4: talking about this. There are teams that try to disguise.
• 47:17
  Speaker 4: The 49ers really are not one of those teams. They're
• 47:20
  Speaker 4: kind of like, this is what we're doing. We're showing
• 47:22
  Speaker 4: you what we're doing, but we're going to do it
• 47:24
  Speaker 4: really well. And we're going to make life difficult for you.
• 47:27
  Speaker 4: It is going to be on the receiver's. dealing with
• 47:30
  Speaker 4: seven and eight guys dropping back in coverage, and Sam
• 47:33
  Speaker 4: Darnall as well. You've got to be smart with the football,
• 47:36
  Speaker 4: which he's had a few turnover issues these last couple
• 47:38
  Speaker 4: weeks since he came back from his injury. You're going
• 47:41
  Speaker 4: to have a lot of tight windows that you're going
• 47:43
  Speaker 4: to have to throw into. You should have time, but
• 47:47
  Speaker 4: you have to be able to thread the needle and
• 47:49
  Speaker 4: get the ball into tight windows with that extra defender
• 47:51
  Speaker 4: or two coming back in coverage. And so far, the
• 47:54
  Speaker 4: opponents of the 49ers have played, including Matthew Stafford down
• 47:57
  Speaker 4: in Australia. have not been able to do that.
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: Can we throw that game out, though? Yeah. Yeah, because
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: I think that's the thing. You look at who they've
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: played and what they've done. It's like, well, they beat
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: the Rams. Well, yes, they did. They did. They beat
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: the Rams.
• 48:09
  Speaker 4: But the Rams were idiots.
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: Why?
• 48:11
  Speaker 4: It was like the whole, like, let's go.
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: One day before. Yeah, I put no stock in that game.
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: The volume for JSN is impressive. Do they need more
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: from other guys?
• 48:24
  Speaker 4: Yes and no. I think that this is an– I
• 48:27
  Speaker 4: mentioned this on our podcast the other day. If you
• 48:30
  Speaker 4: would have asked me this question a year ago, I'd
• 48:32
  Speaker 4: have been like, yeah, there's no way you can sustain.
• 48:34
  Speaker 4: But JSN is just different, man. And you're not going
• 48:40
  Speaker 4: to tell Sam Darnold to stop throwing the ball when
• 48:42
  Speaker 4: he's getting open.
• 48:43
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 48:44
  Speaker 4: If he keeps getting open and teams can't take him away,
• 48:47
  Speaker 4: you throw the ball to him. And it just opens
• 48:49
  Speaker 4: things up for everybody else. But I will say this.
• 48:52
  Speaker 4: I want to see more with 15. I want to
• 48:57
  Speaker 4: see Torrey Horton get more opportunities because every time he
• 49:01
  Speaker 4: gets a chance to make a play, he comes through.
• 49:04
  Speaker 4: Durability's been the biggest issue, but when he's out there,
• 49:08
  Speaker 4: he makes things happen. He's got some early Jermaine Curse
• 49:12
  Speaker 4: vibes going on here where every catch he makes is
• 49:15
  Speaker 4: like first down or touchdown. He's just one of those guys,
• 49:19
  Speaker 4: and I... he's far more athletic than Jermaine Curse ever was.
• 49:23
  Speaker 4: He's a legitimate 4-3 guy, 6-2. I want to see
• 49:27
  Speaker 4: 15 get some opportunities, especially this game. I think San
• 49:30
  Speaker 4: Francisco's corners could have some trouble with him.
• 49:33
  Speaker 1: I'm still, you know, if just when you look at
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: the numbers this season, the number that jumps off and
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: just in terms of individuals, yeah, JSN has got 32
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: catches and cups got nine. And then after that, the
• 49:42
  Speaker 1: drop off is significant as far as the receivers. I
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: guess Rashidi count as a receiver, but they use them
• 49:47
  Speaker 1: in the backfield. They do different things with him, but,
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: but Elijah Royal one catch.
• 49:52
  Speaker 4: That's been really disappointing. Just the tight end usage in general.
• 49:56
  Speaker 4: I expected a lot more, but some of it, I mean,
• 49:59
  Speaker 4: there's only got nine. There's one football to go around.
• 50:02
  Speaker 4: And when JSN is gobbling, like, again, you can say
• 50:05
  Speaker 4: that's a yes or no thing, but if he's getting open,
• 50:07
  Speaker 4: I'm getting the ball to the best receiver in the NFL.
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: But they're only 31% on third down. It's not like they're,
• 50:12
  Speaker 1: you know, moving the football at a high rate. Right.
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: So like there should be an opportunity for somebody there.
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: If JSN is not seeing the ball. But, yeah, I.
• 50:20
  Speaker 4: Think Torrey Horton, Elijah Arroyo, I'd like to see more
• 50:23
  Speaker 4: opportunities for those guys. I'd like to see a little bit.
• 50:26
  Speaker 4: I mean, A.J. Barner has been getting a little more
• 50:28
  Speaker 4: active the last few games. But I would like to
• 50:30
  Speaker 4: see a little more balance in terms of how they're
• 50:33
  Speaker 4: distributing the football. But it's a fine balance because I'm
• 50:37
  Speaker 4: perfectly fine with JSN getting a 36% target rate when
• 50:41
  Speaker 4: he's going to do what he does.
• 50:43
  Speaker 1: What's your assessment of where Sam Darnold is right now?
• 50:49
  Speaker 4: It's so crazy. If you have been checking in on
• 50:54
  Speaker 4: social media, you would think that Sam Darnold has been
• 50:58
  Speaker 4: playing the worst football in the NFL. I can't tell
• 51:01
  Speaker 4: you why. I mean, I get it. Drew Locke played
• 51:03
  Speaker 4: great in Week 2. But you would think Drew Locke
• 51:06
  Speaker 4: was the one that led this team to a Super
• 51:08
  Speaker 4: Bowl last year. The way that some fans are like,
• 51:10
  Speaker 4: they're just like, we're going to put two in, and
• 51:12
  Speaker 4: it's like... I know Sam's thrown some picks the last
• 51:14
  Speaker 4: couple weeks, but he's also got six touchdowns in those
• 51:18
  Speaker 4: two games. I just think he needs a little more
• 51:20
  Speaker 4: time in this offense with this play caller. I know
• 51:23
  Speaker 4: it's a very similar system, but it's a different play caller.
• 51:27
  Speaker 4: And I think that they're still working through some stuff.
• 51:29
  Speaker 4: You got to remember, he didn't play all in the preseason.
• 51:31
  Speaker 4: Then he gets hurt six plays into the season opener.
• 51:33
  Speaker 4: He hasn't had much work in game action. I think
• 51:37
  Speaker 4: he's doing perfectly fine. Okay.
• 51:40
  Speaker 1: Uh, perfectly fine would also speak to this guy that
• 51:43
  Speaker 1: did social media the other day.
• 51:44
  Speaker 4: Like, uh, Seahawks can't win a Superbowl with Sam. I'm like,
• 51:48
  Speaker 4: wait a second.
• 51:49
  Speaker 5: What?
• 51:49
  Speaker 4: I said, I was like, they're like, we, as long
• 51:52
  Speaker 4: as we have Sam in there, we can't win a super.
• 51:53
  Speaker 4: I'm like, uh, well, my Wikipedia page says that.
• 51:56
  Speaker 1: That is where were you?
• 51:57
  Speaker 4: I was thinking of the Maury Jeff where he's like,
• 52:00
  Speaker 4: that's a lie.
• 52:01
  Speaker 1: Where were you last February, fella?
• 52:03
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 52:04
  Speaker 1: Come on.
• 52:04
  Speaker 4: It was just, I'm just saying, I guess it's just a,
• 52:06
  Speaker 4: there's a very strong and drew Locke.
• 52:09
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 52:09
  Speaker 4: And I guess with backup quarterbacks, that happens.
• 52:11
  Speaker 1: Always is the case.
• 52:12
  Speaker 4: But it's really bad here.
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: Well, because Locke, here's the thing. Darnold hasn't looked like
• 52:17
  Speaker 1: he did last year necessarily. Now, he had no preseason games,
• 52:20
  Speaker 1: played a couple snaps in one game, then got thrown
• 52:22
  Speaker 1: in the fire. Boom, here we go. He's won a
• 52:25
  Speaker 1: Super Bowl for his team. He's fine. But then the
• 52:27
  Speaker 1: other part is Drew Locke played great. Like, that's the
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: other thing.
• 52:30
  Speaker 4: Yeah, he's so likable, too. I think that he's kind
• 52:32
  Speaker 4: of got that. He's still got that swag that very
• 52:36
  Speaker 4: few QBs in the league have. So I think a
• 52:38
  Speaker 4: lot of fans love that about him.
• 52:39
  Speaker 1: His personality to me reminds me of Minshew. It's a Minshew.
• 52:44
  Speaker 1: You like the guy.
• 52:46
  Speaker 4: He's easy to root for.
• 52:48
  Speaker 1: It's cool I'm here. This is awesome. I'll go out
• 52:50
  Speaker 1: and play some ball, whatever. Here we go, bro.
• 52:51
  Speaker 4: I'm going to sling the ball around a little bit.
• 52:53
  Speaker 4: But he's been much more. The last few starts he's had, though,
• 52:55
  Speaker 4: he's been so much better about protecting.
• 52:57
  Speaker 1: The football on top of it.
• 52:58
  Speaker 4: He's found that balance.
• 53:00
  Speaker 1: And that's the perception.
• 53:01
  Speaker 4: And he would start. I'm telling you, I've watched a
• 53:03
  Speaker 4: lot of bad quarterback play in this league this year.
• 53:06
  Speaker 4: There are five or six teams. Atlanta now, with Penix
• 53:10
  Speaker 4: playing the way he is, I can take them off.
• 53:12
  Speaker 4: But there's five or six teams that I'm like, Drew
• 53:15
  Speaker 4: Locke would be... head and shoulders above what you have.
• 53:18
  Speaker 1: If you put the truth serum in the Tampa Bay
• 53:20
  Speaker 1: Buccaneers $ 100 million quarterback room and said, would you rather
• 53:24
  Speaker 1: have $ 100 million Baker or Drew Locke right now?
• 53:26
  Speaker 4: Oh yeah, that's... I think Baker's a good quarterback, but
• 53:30
  Speaker 4: that's the problem with these quarterback prices. The middle class
• 53:34
  Speaker 4: is getting paid like they're elite by some of these teams,
• 53:37
  Speaker 4: which I don't think that impacts... I think Sam Darnold
• 53:40
  Speaker 4: is going to get that contract next year, and I
• 53:42
  Speaker 4: think he's going to be worth it. But I know
• 53:44
  Speaker 4: there's going to be a lot of fans like, Why
• 53:46
  Speaker 4: not just pay Drew Locke to be our guy or whatever?
• 53:49
  Speaker 1: All right, Seahawks Triple Option podcast. I heard it's just
• 53:52
  Speaker 1: going great right now.
• 53:53
  Speaker 4: Oh, we're having a blast. The vision that we had
• 53:56
  Speaker 4: going into it and making fun of ourselves, especially me.
• 54:00
  Speaker 4: If you want to see a clip of my slow
• 54:02
  Speaker 4: old fart running around, Touchdown from 20 years ago. We
• 54:07
  Speaker 4: had it on the show last night. Nice, nice. That
• 54:10
  Speaker 4: might scare some people from watching the show. But, yeah,
• 54:13
  Speaker 4: we're having an absolute blast. It's three of the last
• 54:17
  Speaker 4: four days we've set records for audio downloads. Beautiful. We're
• 54:21
  Speaker 4: having a lot of fun.
• 54:21
  Speaker 1: If you're a Seahawks fan, it's Seahawks Triple Option. So
• 54:24
  Speaker 1: check that out wherever you get podcasts.
• 54:26
  Speaker 4: We have a scout. A legitimate scout, obviously, Rob, a
• 54:30
  Speaker 4: legitimate beat reporter, and a former NFL player Super Bowl
• 54:33
  Speaker 4: winner on the same show. The perspectives that you get
• 54:35
  Speaker 4: every day, you're not going to have that anywhere else.
• 54:39
  Speaker 1: iHeartMedia, if all the folks listening right now on the
• 54:42
  Speaker 1: iHeart app, you can get it on the iHeart app.
• 54:44
  Speaker 1: So if you're on the iHeart app right now, go
• 54:46
  Speaker 1: make sure you subscribe or wherever you get your podcasts. Also,
• 54:48
  Speaker 1: Emerald City Spectrum.
• 54:49
  Speaker 4: Emerald City Spectrum, we are going to be migrating to
• 54:52
  Speaker 4: a new hosting platform soon. That's not going to impact
• 54:54
  Speaker 4: any of our subscribers, so I just want to make
• 54:56
  Speaker 4: that clear. So it's still $ 6 a month. When we
• 54:59
  Speaker 4: migrate over, we're going to have a few new tiers
• 55:01
  Speaker 4: for people as well. And I'm going to be bringing
• 55:03
  Speaker 4: back my Behind the Paywall film breakdowns.
• 55:06
  Speaker 1: That will be on one of the tiers as well.
• 55:08
  Speaker 1: So we're excited. And we'll see you at Spectrum. Go
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: subscribe today. It's local Drew. No AI?
• 55:13
  Speaker 2: Oh, my God. No.
• 55:14
  Speaker 4: No.
• 55:14
  Speaker 1: Thank you.
• 55:16
  Speaker 4: I've used AI like twice on my graphics.
• 55:18
  Speaker 1: That is it.
• 55:19
  Speaker 4: Like 90% of my graphics I make myself. But even that.
• 55:23
  Speaker 4: We don't use AI writing.
• 55:25
  Speaker 1: All right, let's go do this. We'll turn you loose.
• 55:27
  Speaker 1: Go check it out. Make sure you listen to the podcast.
• 55:29
  Speaker 1: Those guys do a great job. We'll take a break.
• 55:30
  Speaker 1: We'll come back. Speaking of AI, we have a little
• 55:32
  Speaker 1: bit of fun on our show with this. Ashley, are
• 55:35
  Speaker 1: we calling it texticles? Texticles.
• 55:38
  Speaker 4: Texticles?
• 55:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah, because it's text that we're putting to music, so
• 55:41
  Speaker 2: it's like a musical with text.
• 55:43
  Speaker 1: Texticle. We're going to do this once a week, probably.
• 55:46
  Speaker 1: If you send a text in to 49451, we're going
• 55:48
  Speaker 1: to put it to music. What's our music choice today?
• 55:52
  Speaker 1: We're going New Wave. New wave. All right, that's coming
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: up next, 93.3 KGRFM.