Latest / Best of the NFL Podcast Network / MNF Recap, Colts Defense & Week 14 Rookie Draft

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MNF Recap, Colts Defense & Week 14 Rookie Draft · Best of the NFL Podcast Network

0:00
Speaker 1: And now move the sticks with Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks.
0:07
Speaker 2: What's up, everybody? Welcome to move the sticks, DJ, and
0:10
Speaker 2: my good buddy ht lewis here today. Bucket is out
0:13
Speaker 2: after a Jacksonville Monday night game, a game. We're going
0:16
Speaker 2: to get into it here in just a second here,
0:18
Speaker 2: rahtt But that was that was a tough one last night.
0:21
Speaker 1: Well yeah, if you're a Jaguars fan, especially if you
0:24
Speaker 1: were one of the ones swimming in that that pool
0:26
Speaker 1: late night, it's that's a that's a tough, a tough
0:30
Speaker 1: way to watch at ot loss and then to get
0:32
Speaker 1: out all soggy. But yeah, look, I thought that was
0:35
Speaker 1: a fun game. And I don't know that any of
0:38
Speaker 1: us necessarily expected Jake Browning to show up the way
0:42
Speaker 1: he did. And we'll get into all the angles of it,
0:44
Speaker 1: but man, I think I I've been more impressed with
0:47
Speaker 1: certain backup quarterback performances this year than than maybe any
0:51
Speaker 1: year I can remember. DJ. We've had some good ones.
0:54
Speaker 2: Yeah, no doubt. It's it's the year of the backup quarterback.
0:57
Speaker 2: And we can just jump into this thing right now.
0:59
Speaker 2: So let's get into the Monday night football recap and
1:02
Speaker 2: a game that was won shockingly. I would use that
1:05
Speaker 2: word not loosely by the Cincinnati Bengals, a road team,
1:08
Speaker 2: No Joe Burrow. We'll get into the injury to Trevor
1:11
Speaker 2: Lawrence in a little bit, but Jake Brown can see
1:13
Speaker 2: the numbers there, three out and fifty four yards and
1:15
Speaker 2: a touchdown, first career win. I was curious to watch
1:18
Speaker 2: the tape to see what it looked like, and it
1:20
Speaker 2: was about what I thought it would look like. It
1:22
Speaker 2: was a masterful job designing a game plan around a
1:26
Speaker 2: quarterbacks said, and so many times in scouting, you'll be
1:29
Speaker 2: in the draft room Rett and it's you know, guys
1:32
Speaker 2: would be going, oh, he can't do this, he can't
1:33
Speaker 2: do that, and then the voice of reason will go, yeah,
1:35
Speaker 2: what can he do? Okay, let's not worry about what
1:38
Speaker 2: he can't do. Jake Brown does not have a huge arm. Okay,
1:41
Speaker 2: he's not a big physical guy. But what he can
1:44
Speaker 2: do is he can throw a timing and touch anticipation.
1:48
Speaker 2: If you're going to get some you know, one on ones,
1:50
Speaker 2: if you're gonna play zone, he's gonna be able to
1:52
Speaker 2: dink and dunk and kind of pick you apart, which
1:54
Speaker 2: he did early in this game, quick out swings, quick hitters, hitches,
1:58
Speaker 2: and then you play a little man coverage. I'm gonna
2:00
Speaker 2: lay one right up over the top to my to
2:02
Speaker 2: my number one receiver and Jamar Chase and let him
2:04
Speaker 2: go get a big play. So I thought it was
2:07
Speaker 2: a really nice job of building the game plan around him.
2:10
Speaker 2: I think teams will adjust to them now that they've
2:12
Speaker 2: seen how they play with him. But when you have
2:15
Speaker 2: receivers like they have, I think they're I think they're
2:18
Speaker 2: still going to be able to generate offense.
2:20
Speaker 1: Yeah, and look, I think the game plan can probably
2:23
Speaker 1: best be described by looking at the average depth of
2:26
Speaker 1: target with both these teams. Obviously the Trevor Lawrence you
2:29
Speaker 1: were pushing the ball, you know, eleven yards average on
2:32
Speaker 1: depth of target, whereas Jake Browning and the Bengals, look,
2:35
Speaker 1: you were you were much lower. Right, you were at
2:37
Speaker 1: three and a half yards of target. So they were
2:40
Speaker 1: trying to keep him comfortable, keep him within his comfort zone,
2:42
Speaker 1: which is just great coaching, and it's also great discipline
2:45
Speaker 1: and efficiency from a player kind of understanding what's being
2:49
Speaker 1: expected of him and where he can find success too.
2:53
Speaker 1: And look, he did push it down down the field
2:55
Speaker 1: when he had to, as you mentioned with the Jamar
2:56
Speaker 1: Chase touchdown, which was fantastic and they were wearing it out. Now,
3:01
Speaker 1: the other part of it that I thought was interesting
3:03
Speaker 1: was this was maybe one of the more successful Bengals
3:06
Speaker 1: rushing attacks that we saw this year. And you know,
3:09
Speaker 1: while Joe Mixon, you know, was definitely a big piece
3:12
Speaker 1: of it, I don't know why it's taken this long
3:14
Speaker 1: to give Chase Brown some carries. And I know I
3:17
Speaker 1: was beating that drum all draft process long, you know,
3:19
Speaker 1: watching him rush for sixteen hundred yards in the Big
3:21
Speaker 1: Ten of Illinois last year. That dude's got vision and burst.
3:24
Speaker 1: And while he may not have some of the elite
3:27
Speaker 1: traits of some of the other running backs that were
3:29
Speaker 1: coming out in the draft last year, I was shocked
3:30
Speaker 1: that he went as low as he did into the
3:32
Speaker 1: fifth round. I just think he's got a real knack
3:34
Speaker 1: for it, and I think giving him some carries, you know,
3:37
Speaker 1: nine to ten carries a game is going to be
3:39
Speaker 1: a big deal for the Bengals moving forward, especially you
3:42
Speaker 1: know with Joe Burrow out now for the rest of
3:44
Speaker 1: the season.
3:45
Speaker 2: Yeah, I have to believe that maybe it was just
3:47
Speaker 2: concerns and passcro of why he wasn't getting run. Usually
3:51
Speaker 2: that with a young running back that they're not getting
3:53
Speaker 2: out of the field. That tends to be what it is.
3:54
Speaker 2: But it's another reminder this year if you look at
3:56
Speaker 2: some of the veteran running backs who have struggled, and
3:59
Speaker 2: you look at some of these legs getting opportunities and
4:01
Speaker 2: making things happen, another reminder of the young man's position.
4:04
Speaker 2: So get him up and run and get him out
4:06
Speaker 2: there and get those fresh legs going. So Cincinnati Bengals
4:10
Speaker 2: do that and get it going. By the way, if
4:12
Speaker 2: you're watching this right now wondering what the heck is
4:14
Speaker 2: going on, I am. I am in New York. I'm
4:16
Speaker 2: in a hotel room with maybe one of the one
4:18
Speaker 2: of the most beautiful pieces of art that I've ever
4:20
Speaker 2: run off Rett, And like.
4:22
Speaker 1: All of art, like all of our you know, loyal
4:26
Speaker 1: move the sticks, you know, viewers, listeners, it makes us
4:31
Speaker 1: all along for the days of the gears back behind
4:33
Speaker 1: your home office set was it really does. Like the circles,
4:37
Speaker 1: It just it feels it kind of feels comfortable. It
4:39
Speaker 1: feels like home again. So I appreciate you bringing that
4:42
Speaker 1: back for us.
4:44
Speaker 2: Yeah, this will probably date me as someone who's a
4:46
Speaker 2: little older than you, but who had sisters. Light Bright
4:49
Speaker 2: used to be a toy called light Bright that you
4:51
Speaker 2: could play with that would light up behind you. That's
4:53
Speaker 2: kind of what we've.
4:54
Speaker 1: Got going on with the background.
4:57
Speaker 2: It is nice and nice feels.
4:59
Speaker 1: Nice feel, I mean, and speaking of lightning lighting things up,
5:02
Speaker 1: I mean, this game provided some serious fireworks, right, I
5:05
Speaker 1: mean it was it was back and forth tie ball
5:08
Speaker 1: game left and right. I mean had I think like
5:10
Speaker 1: six it was either like three or four lead changes.
5:13
Speaker 1: There were five ties at one point. Then they go
5:16
Speaker 1: to ot Jaguars start putting together a terrific guard. By
5:19
Speaker 1: the way, credit to C. J. Bethard for coming in
5:21
Speaker 1: in a real tough spot. Felt like with Trevor Lawrence
5:24
Speaker 1: and all the air just getting sucked right out of
5:26
Speaker 1: that stadium when he goes down and he's you know,
5:30
Speaker 1: obviously in pain, he's helped getting off, getting helped through
5:32
Speaker 1: the tunnel, you know, just had that ankle kind of
5:35
Speaker 1: stepped on by Walker little as Trey Hendrickson was rushing
5:39
Speaker 1: and then gets kind of wrapped up and falls up
5:41
Speaker 1: underneath with his knee caught up. But sounds like the knees. Okay,
5:45
Speaker 1: just the ankle and maybe not as as serious as
5:47
Speaker 1: it looked initially, which is obviously going to be great news.
5:50
Speaker 1: But again, credit to CJ. Bethard for coming in there,
5:52
Speaker 1: I mean, and he was really efficient. I thought, I
5:55
Speaker 1: thought they had some real juice going on that on
5:58
Speaker 1: that first drive of overtime and then they end up
6:00
Speaker 1: getting backed up quite a bit and having a punter
6:02
Speaker 1: it away. But I thought both those guys, you know,
6:05
Speaker 1: Bethard and Browning did some pretty good things in this
6:07
Speaker 1: one obviously well and.
6:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, no doubt. And like you said, hopefully it's
6:13
Speaker 2: just it's an ankle and maybe a high ankle sprain.
6:15
Speaker 2: Will see how long he's going to be down. One
6:17
Speaker 2: of the cool things you see Trey Hendrickson there look
6:19
Speaker 2: like he was praying for him as he went down there.
6:23
Speaker 2: That shows you kind of a good dude he is.
6:24
Speaker 2: But the uh, you know, the Jacksonville Jaguars are going
6:27
Speaker 2: to be in a position that so many other teams
6:30
Speaker 2: are in, including the team that they played against last night, right,
6:32
Speaker 2: and that is relying on a backup quarterback, which goes
6:34
Speaker 2: back to you know, the team building philosophy of what
6:38
Speaker 2: you want in your backup. Do you want a veteran
6:40
Speaker 2: who's got experience, who may be a little bit limited physically,
6:44
Speaker 2: or do you want to try and draft a young
6:45
Speaker 2: guy in the middle rounds and and kind of bet
6:48
Speaker 2: on the upside maybe there's an opportunity to to spin
6:51
Speaker 2: him off, or he could take over for your existing
6:53
Speaker 2: starter with starter trade starter tools. I just know, man,
6:57
Speaker 2: I think you're going to see the impact of this
7:01
Speaker 2: year and this upcoming offseason of teams really investing in
7:06
Speaker 2: that position, and because you are allowed to carry a
7:09
Speaker 2: third now with the rule change and not cons me
7:13
Speaker 2: a roster spot there on game day, I think you're
7:16
Speaker 2: going to see teams are going to have three. They're
7:18
Speaker 2: going to have three, They're going to have a veteran,
7:19
Speaker 2: and they're going to have that box checked of hey,
7:22
Speaker 2: if our guy has to miss a chunk of time,
7:23
Speaker 2: this guy keeps us competitive. And then they're going to
7:26
Speaker 2: have maybe a young guy that you're working, you know,
7:28
Speaker 2: long term with the developed but the days of rolling
7:30
Speaker 2: with two guys and rolling the dice and then taking
7:33
Speaker 2: all your resources out of the backup quarterback position and
7:35
Speaker 2: spreading them around the rest of your team. I think
7:37
Speaker 2: this year is going to end that.
7:39
Speaker 1: And you know what, I think you'll also see and
7:42
Speaker 1: we started to see it this last year, but that
7:44
Speaker 1: third guy is going to be a dude with a
7:46
Speaker 1: ton of experience in college football. And we've seen that
7:50
Speaker 1: payoff in a big way over the course of this season,
7:53
Speaker 1: you know, with you know, guys like Dory Thompson, Robinson,
7:56
Speaker 1: you know who had a ton of starts at UCLA.
7:58
Speaker 1: I'm just going back and looking. I mean, Jake Brown
8:00
Speaker 1: started for forty years at Washington. Yeah, and that was
8:03
Speaker 1: even before the COVID situation, right, and I think we
8:06
Speaker 1: had them in the NFLPA Collegiate bull Back in twenty
8:08
Speaker 1: nineteen bounced around quite a bit. But again, you understand,
8:12
Speaker 1: like these guys have seen a lot of football, right,
8:15
Speaker 1: They're not just tradesy guys you know who have started
8:17
Speaker 1: for twelve or thirteen games in college and now they're
8:19
Speaker 1: going like, no, look, there's a place for that. But
8:22
Speaker 1: I think when you want a guy that you can
8:24
Speaker 1: have on your roster and count on, you know, as
8:27
Speaker 1: a second or third, you're gonna want that guy who's
8:30
Speaker 1: seen a lot of football and experienced a lot brock
8:32
Speaker 1: Perty again another example of that, and we keep kind
8:35
Speaker 1: of coming back to it. Those guys with experience and
8:37
Speaker 1: starts really do matter in this league.
8:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, And because with Trope, with the practice limits, you're
8:43
Speaker 2: not going to get reps and experience set when you're
8:46
Speaker 2: sitting on the sideline. So you have to have a
8:48
Speaker 2: catalog of reps and experience, which these guys do that
8:51
Speaker 2: have started forty and as we are experiencing with the
8:53
Speaker 2: COVID year for a lot of these guys. Now as
8:55
Speaker 2: you're talking about fifty plus starts for a lot of
8:58
Speaker 2: these quarterbacks. Something and keep an eye and as we
9:00
Speaker 2: get to the middle portion of the upcoming draft, our
9:04
Speaker 2: NFL Network Week fifteen tripleheader on December sixteenth is set. First,
9:09
Speaker 2: we've got the Vikings heading to Cincinnati to take on
9:12
Speaker 2: the Bengals and the Steelers and the Colts. They'll fight
9:15
Speaker 2: for the spot in the AFC Wildcard picture. That's going
9:18
Speaker 2: to kick off at four thirty, and then in primetime,
9:20
Speaker 2: the Broncos head to Detroit to take on the Lions.
9:23
Speaker 2: All three games exclusively available on NFL Network and NFL Plus.
9:30
Speaker 2: All right, we're looking at the Indianapolis Colts right, This
9:33
Speaker 2: is a defense, This is a front that digging in
9:36
Speaker 2: and studying them has been fun. You see the numbers
9:39
Speaker 2: here since November. I mean, they're at the top of
9:42
Speaker 2: the league and they won four in a row. They've
9:44
Speaker 2: got to lead the league in sacks pressure percentage. The
9:46
Speaker 2: third are thirty first in blitz percentage. So that showed
9:51
Speaker 2: itself when you watch the tape on them. It is
9:53
Speaker 2: a front four that absolutely gets after it with guys
9:57
Speaker 2: with the varying skill sets and sizes and mentions. But man,
10:01
Speaker 2: they all play with their hair on fire man and it.
10:04
Speaker 1: Is a lot of fun to watch and even you know,
10:06
Speaker 1: it's probably part of the reason why, you know, Shaquille
10:10
Speaker 1: Leonard was kind of viewed as, look, we've got other
10:13
Speaker 1: guys that are playing really well right now, and while
10:15
Speaker 1: you know, he hasn't been the same player since he
10:17
Speaker 1: came back from the back injury. Maybe he regains that
10:19
Speaker 1: in Philadelphia now, but it felt like it was anexpendable
10:23
Speaker 1: piece there because you got guys like Samson, eb you
10:26
Speaker 1: Camus guy sacks right now, he has been fantastic to
10:30
Speaker 1: Forrest Buckner is as steady as they come. You know,
10:32
Speaker 1: another five and a half sacks there, Deo Adangbo six
10:35
Speaker 1: and a half sacks. I mean, like they are getting
10:37
Speaker 1: contributions all over the place from those players. Quinny pay
10:41
Speaker 1: is playing like a first round edge rusher right now too,
10:45
Speaker 1: and then Zayer Franklin has been fantastic in the run game,
10:49
Speaker 1: kind of holding down that that second level. You know
10:52
Speaker 1: that we associated with Shaq Leonard for so many years,
10:54
Speaker 1: So like they've just got dudes out there. Kenny Moore
10:57
Speaker 1: is playing some really good football, had a couple of
11:00
Speaker 1: pick sixes as you saw in that Carolina game. Like
11:02
Speaker 1: they're getting contributions from guys who I think that you
11:07
Speaker 1: know they were counting on to being big contributors, and
11:10
Speaker 1: then others that have maybe stepped up and contributed even
11:12
Speaker 1: more in an exceeded expectation, which is always the sign
11:16
Speaker 1: of a good unit front to back.
11:17
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a fun group to study. I mean there's
11:20
Speaker 2: defensive lines that the tape is just you kind of
11:23
Speaker 2: kick your feet up. And we saw two of them
11:24
Speaker 2: play last week with San Francisco and Philadelphia that those
11:27
Speaker 2: attacking front. This is another one, and it's it's a
11:30
Speaker 2: team that's built for their stadium, playing indoors. Think about
11:33
Speaker 2: the old Colts defenses when they were rolling with Peyton Manning,
11:36
Speaker 2: you had Freeny and matthis rolling off the edge speed
11:38
Speaker 2: speed speed, well, Ebucam, he is a missile coming off
11:42
Speaker 2: the edge. He can convert speed, the power, the effort
11:45
Speaker 2: is outstanding. He explodes off the snap each and every
11:48
Speaker 2: time when you watch him, Quity Pay not only has
11:51
Speaker 2: some of that quickness, but man, he gives you real power.
11:54
Speaker 2: You'll see, you know, kind of that little shake bowl
11:55
Speaker 2: move that he has, that's kind of his patented moved.
11:59
Speaker 2: You go back through and studied Buckner, Buckner might be
12:03
Speaker 2: he might be kind of the most underappreciated superstar in
12:06
Speaker 2: the league. Like he's not. There's there's good players, there's
12:08
Speaker 2: great players, and then there's elite, that elite tier. He's
12:12
Speaker 2: up there. And if you're a defensive tackle, if you're
12:14
Speaker 2: a high school college defensive tackle, and you want to
12:17
Speaker 2: study somebody who uses their hands, nobody does it better
12:20
Speaker 2: than he does. You know, with his ability to pop
12:22
Speaker 2: and separate, his ability to swim blocks. He is a
12:25
Speaker 2: technician who also just happens to be a giant. By
12:28
Speaker 2: the way, right before we go through the rest of
12:30
Speaker 2: these guys, that I was going through here, Can we
12:33
Speaker 2: take a second and just remember that Buckner was on
12:35
Speaker 2: that Niner team. If somehow they had been able, if
12:38
Speaker 2: they would have been able to see the future right
12:40
Speaker 2: and known that they were going to be able to
12:42
Speaker 2: hit on a seventh round quarterback that was going to
12:44
Speaker 2: free up all this money that allow them to do
12:46
Speaker 2: different things, they could have kept on Buckner. Is that
12:49
Speaker 2: crazy thing that you're saying that after after his replacement
12:54
Speaker 2: had the best game of his career last week, it
12:56
Speaker 2: was finally finally got finally got a good game for
12:59
Speaker 2: his replacement.
13:00
Speaker 1: And on the forest, like I think for most interior
13:05
Speaker 1: defensive players, we're seeing them play what thirty to thirty
13:08
Speaker 1: five snaps usually a game. This guy plays sixty five
13:12
Speaker 1: snaps a game. But that's that's incredible in the interior
13:15
Speaker 1: to provide that kind of that, you know, to make
13:18
Speaker 1: that kind of impact that consistently from start to finish.
13:21
Speaker 1: And then Grover stored up there as well, kind of
13:24
Speaker 1: providing some of the bulk on the interior.
13:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, O d Ambos is a fun study because someone
13:31
Speaker 2: who if he doesn't get hurt in the in the
13:33
Speaker 2: you know, going into that draft process. Yeah, probably is
13:36
Speaker 2: a top fifteen pick. I mean he was trending in
13:38
Speaker 2: that direction in a freak like, freakish length, and now
13:42
Speaker 2: you're seeing it really come together. And again having the
13:45
Speaker 2: chance to sit there and play alongside the forest Bucknor
13:48
Speaker 2: who can work with him and teach him. I think
13:50
Speaker 2: it's been incredibly valuable. I mean there's guys that are
13:52
Speaker 2: long and then you watch him on tape and you're
13:54
Speaker 2: like that that is not normal, Like he is freakasally long,
13:59
Speaker 2: and he is an explosive Taekwon Lewis plays with big effort.
14:04
Speaker 2: You mentioned Gilver Stewart. I mean it's not like they
14:07
Speaker 2: have a you know, fourteen fifteen stack guy. But you
14:09
Speaker 2: mentioned some of the numbers. When Ebacam's got eight, Pay's
14:12
Speaker 2: got seven and a half, Odiego gets six and a half,
14:14
Speaker 2: Buckner's got five and a half.
14:15
Speaker 1: They're second now then sacked.
14:18
Speaker 2: The number is big and they're coming in bunches as
14:22
Speaker 2: of late. So I give I give Shane stake In
14:25
Speaker 2: a lot of credit for what he's been able to do.
14:27
Speaker 2: You know, on kind of the theme of the backup quarterbacks,
14:29
Speaker 2: which has been one of the unfortunate themes of the year,
14:32
Speaker 2: he's kept them competitive on offense, but on defense there,
14:35
Speaker 2: that's what's driving this train, That's what's driving this winning streak.
14:38
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, sure does feel like it. And I mean
14:41
Speaker 1: they are right in the thick of it here. I
14:42
Speaker 1: mean they are in the playoff structure and that I
14:45
Speaker 1: mean the AFC South is going to be It might
14:48
Speaker 1: be the most fun division down the stretch here if
14:50
Speaker 1: the Texans can figure out, you know, a way to
14:52
Speaker 1: stay explosive without Tank Dell for the rest of the
14:55
Speaker 1: way and as long as Trevor Lawrence doesn't miss a
14:57
Speaker 1: ton of time. But there is a window now for
14:59
Speaker 1: the Colts, make no mistake. And we talked about on
15:01
Speaker 1: the Monday Pod how well some of those receivers are playing,
15:05
Speaker 1: how they're developing, Michael Pittman, Alex Pierce, Josh Downs. Nice
15:08
Speaker 1: little trio there. They get their you know, their tight
15:11
Speaker 1: ends into it too. And if you can hold serve
15:12
Speaker 1: till Jonathan Taylor comes back for the fourth quarter, I mean,
15:15
Speaker 1: for you know, a final three to four game push.
15:18
Speaker 2: Colts are in it, man, Yeah, no doubt, no doubt.
15:22
Speaker 2: All Right, one other defensive topic. I want to hit
15:24
Speaker 2: one player. We don't spend a lot of time here,
15:25
Speaker 2: but I just want to give Josh to tell us
15:26
Speaker 2: a little love with the mental Vikings. It's one of
15:29
Speaker 2: the more kind of rare skill sets and rare usage
15:34
Speaker 2: with how he's used in their scheme. But eighty one
15:37
Speaker 2: tackles three fourth bubbles, one and a half sacks, has
15:40
Speaker 2: got an interception. I don't know that there's a better
15:43
Speaker 2: rushing third level defender in the NFL in terms of
15:46
Speaker 2: what he does off the edge. I mean, running backs
15:48
Speaker 2: against him is not a fair fight, no, I.
15:51
Speaker 1: You know, we we kind of had this. I had
15:53
Speaker 1: a little identity crisis and we were talking about the Vikings, oh,
15:57
Speaker 1: probably first month of the season, maybe four or five
15:59
Speaker 1: weeks in, and I'm like, you know, they're playing with
16:02
Speaker 1: with with like one, you know, two linebackers and I
16:06
Speaker 1: and I. But it's like, no, Mittellis is a safety
16:08
Speaker 1: by trade, right because he wears number forty four kind
16:11
Speaker 1: of throws you off. He's a smaller frame, you know,
16:13
Speaker 1: five to eleven, a little bit over two hundred pounds,
16:16
Speaker 1: but he lines up everywhere. And I was talking to
16:18
Speaker 1: some guys, you know, within the Vikings organization, and he
16:21
Speaker 1: has had to earn everything he is getting right now.
16:24
Speaker 1: He didn't make his first start till his third year
16:26
Speaker 1: in the league, had to make it onto the active
16:27
Speaker 1: roster through the practice squad and special teams. Pretty much
16:30
Speaker 1: knows every spot, they say, from front end to back.
16:34
Speaker 1: And on that note, just kind of going back and
16:36
Speaker 1: looking at where he lines up each and every week.
16:39
Speaker 1: I mean, he's got one hundred and forty seven snaps
16:41
Speaker 1: lined up on the line of scrimmage as like an
16:43
Speaker 1: outside linebacker slash edge rusher. He's got two hundred and
16:47
Speaker 1: eighty eight snaps more than anybody on the Vikings team
16:49
Speaker 1: as a slot corner, and then another two hundred and
16:52
Speaker 1: sixty six snaps in the box as like a second
16:55
Speaker 1: level linebacker. He doesn't rush like a ton, like, he
17:00
Speaker 1: doesn't have that volume, but man, he makes it count.
17:02
Speaker 1: I mean against the Saints he generated five pressures on
17:06
Speaker 1: nine rushes the whole game. Like that's that efficiency, you
17:10
Speaker 1: know what I mean right there? And by the way,
17:12
Speaker 1: also in run defense, he has not been credited with
17:15
Speaker 1: a single missed tackle this season.
17:19
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's insane. Again, that's insane, But he's having a
17:21
Speaker 2: great year and it is one of the more unique
17:23
Speaker 2: defenses in the league. So it's it's fun to watch
17:26
Speaker 2: how they're deploying him and how they're using him. It's
17:28
Speaker 2: been creative and it's been very, very effect.
17:31
Speaker 1: Laura's is rolling right now in Minnesota. No, yeah, no
17:34
Speaker 1: doubt on defense.
17:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, he might. He might find his way into another
17:37
Speaker 2: head coaching gig, especially concerning the sheer number of openings
17:41
Speaker 2: that we could end up having. All right, let's take
17:43
Speaker 2: let's take a quick break. We come back, we will
17:46
Speaker 2: do the rookie recap from the draft, and then we
17:49
Speaker 2: will have this week's draft with producer Drew stepping in
17:52
Speaker 2: for Bucky and handling his picks and see if see
17:55
Speaker 2: if we can make a buck pay for this. He's
17:57
Speaker 2: not going to be here. See if we can get
17:58
Speaker 2: out have a hot week. We need a hot week here, RTI.
18:01
Speaker 2: That goes, We'll get to that right after this. All right,
18:07
Speaker 2: welcome back. It is time to do our rookie draft.
18:10
Speaker 2: We do this each and every week, and last week
18:12
Speaker 2: it's unfortunate Buck he's not here because he can gloat
18:15
Speaker 2: a little bit after he collected seven points in the
18:18
Speaker 2: rookie draft, with Stroud Charbonnet winning the week for their positions,
18:21
Speaker 2: getting a point for pookin Nakua Rhet he's secured to
18:24
Speaker 2: wins the tight end position with Laporta and then also
18:26
Speaker 2: got a second place finished with Levis. I only got
18:29
Speaker 2: one point for Bijon Robinson being the being the second
18:34
Speaker 2: running back, but Tank Dell got hurt. Okay, that's tough,
18:36
Speaker 2: tough break and then bright down. I'm still waiting for
18:38
Speaker 2: that one. Still waiting for that good week. Maybe maybe
18:41
Speaker 2: it's this week. You never know. One name on there.
18:44
Speaker 2: We mentioned the other day, Rhett who's having the historical season.
18:47
Speaker 2: And historical season, I guess we'll be properly phrased Damn Laporta.
18:52
Speaker 2: He's got nine for a buck forty in last week's game.
18:56
Speaker 2: And then you start looking at the company that he
18:59
Speaker 2: keeps with some of the numbers that he's postings. It's
19:03
Speaker 2: quite impressive the year he's having compared to you know,
19:06
Speaker 2: you go back to like Pete Mitchell with Jacksonville, you
19:08
Speaker 2: go to Jackie Smith going back to nineteen sixty three,
19:11
Speaker 2: and then Iron Mike Ditka in nineteen sixty one. Like
19:14
Speaker 2: he's on pace to have a monster year.
19:17
Speaker 1: He's been fantastic and the way he operates in the
19:20
Speaker 1: middle of the field. We were talking about this play
19:22
Speaker 1: the outside, the the you know, the motion and then
19:26
Speaker 1: the cutback to the inside instead of you know, on
19:29
Speaker 1: an outcut has been big. Was big on that touchdown,
19:32
Speaker 1: and then he just I mean he's a stud, you know,
19:35
Speaker 1: in the way he runs his routes, the way he's
19:37
Speaker 1: got those strong hands. Now, I'm kind of curious about
19:41
Speaker 1: this from the roster construction standpoint, and we talked about it.
19:45
Speaker 1: Brad Holmes made the decision to trade t J. Hockinson,
19:48
Speaker 1: who a previous regime took in the top ten of
19:50
Speaker 1: the draft when he was coming out of Iowa. You know,
19:52
Speaker 1: I think we both loved the player that TJ. Hockinson,
19:55
Speaker 1: that we thought he could ultimately become a real gritty
19:58
Speaker 1: and physical block from the tight end spot and then
20:02
Speaker 1: you know, a definitely plus receiver. You know, I don't
20:05
Speaker 1: know if we got all that in Detroit. We're certainly
20:07
Speaker 1: seeing as receiving skills now in Minnesota. But the part
20:11
Speaker 1: I'm curious about DJ is, you know, obviously the college
20:14
Speaker 1: staff is doing all the work ahead of time, right,
20:16
Speaker 1: You've got an idea at some point what that tight
20:19
Speaker 1: end class is going to look like. But do you
20:21
Speaker 1: feel like that was part of the discussion when Brad
20:24
Speaker 1: Holmes and that's that valuation staff decide all right, let's
20:26
Speaker 1: part ways with Honkinson. Maybe we don't want to spend
20:29
Speaker 1: that kind of money on the tight end spot. We
20:30
Speaker 1: feel really good about some of these tight ends that
20:32
Speaker 1: are coming in that day to range, because obvious, you
20:34
Speaker 1: don't know where you're gonna end up in the draft,
20:36
Speaker 1: but like, hey, we like, you know, a cluster of
20:39
Speaker 1: these guys, feel like we may be able to get
20:41
Speaker 1: one of those guys that could really step in and
20:43
Speaker 1: be a more reasonable, serviceable option for us a tight end.
20:46
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that goes into the calculus. I was
20:48
Speaker 2: talking to a general manager the other day about, you know,
20:51
Speaker 2: even going tight end versus wide receiver in the first round,
20:55
Speaker 2: and you know, we see like this historical tight end
20:58
Speaker 2: class come in a lot, those guys got pushed down.
21:01
Speaker 2: And the reason being that, man, the gap between the
21:04
Speaker 2: salary for a wide out versus a rocky whiteout, the
21:07
Speaker 2: savings that you can have there, it makes more sense
21:10
Speaker 2: to take wideouts in the first round versus you get
21:14
Speaker 2: a tight end of the first round. You're almost pushing
21:15
Speaker 2: up towards the top of the tight end market amongst
21:18
Speaker 2: the veteran pool, whereas the wide receiver. I mean, you're
21:20
Speaker 2: talking with these guys get all getting over twenty now
21:23
Speaker 2: getting near thirty, and so it's a big gap there,
21:26
Speaker 2: which I think is going to lead us to a
21:29
Speaker 2: run over the next few years of second day tight ends.
21:32
Speaker 2: That's going to be you know, the tight ends are
21:33
Speaker 2: going to kind of be similar to the running backs
21:35
Speaker 2: and the day two is going to be their day,
21:37
Speaker 2: second third round. And then you look at the numbers
21:40
Speaker 2: there for second third round tight ends versus the top
21:42
Speaker 2: of the veteran tight end market. There's your savings. So
21:46
Speaker 2: they were able to spin off. They were able to
21:47
Speaker 2: spin off paying a tight end on a second contract
21:50
Speaker 2: a hefty amount of money and they were able to
21:53
Speaker 2: get out of that and replace the production with the
21:55
Speaker 2: cheap starter in the second round. So yeah, I think
21:57
Speaker 2: that's all part of the calculus. And give Brad Holmes
22:00
Speaker 2: and crew a lot of credit there for the way
22:02
Speaker 2: they've they've formed this roster and built this roster up.
22:05
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was gonna say, like this is just this
22:07
Speaker 1: is working out like to be a potentially historic draft
22:10
Speaker 1: class for Detroit. And like you think about some of
22:13
Speaker 1: the narratives, you know, drafting an off ball linebacker and
22:15
Speaker 1: a running back with your two first round picks, and
22:17
Speaker 1: it was like, hold on, now, what's going on here
22:20
Speaker 1: in Detroit? Well, they know what they want to do,
22:22
Speaker 1: they know what they want to they know how they
22:23
Speaker 1: want to play, and it's it's obviously paying off for
22:26
Speaker 1: him right now. Brian Branch at a pick and report,
22:29
Speaker 1: and then obviously Campbell and Jamior Gibbs.
22:32
Speaker 2: So yeah, I'm ready. Yeah, speaking of all right, let's
22:34
Speaker 2: go so uh, producer Drew is going to get in
22:37
Speaker 2: my ear. He's gonna get me BUCkies picks. So rtt
22:39
Speaker 2: you were going to leave us off. I'm in the
22:41
Speaker 2: two hole, and then Bucky's going to He's going to
22:43
Speaker 2: be picking three and four here, So go ahead.
22:45
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, I feel like you just got to
22:48
Speaker 1: take a win when you're in the first you know,
22:50
Speaker 1: when you're in this first slot.
22:52
Speaker 2: And C. J.
22:53
Speaker 1: Stroud has won the quarterback position what every week since
22:58
Speaker 1: we've been doing this, So I just even though he's
23:01
Speaker 1: going up against the Jets in a good pass defense there,
23:04
Speaker 1: I just feel like I don't know what they're doing
23:06
Speaker 1: at quarterback. I think CJ is gonna have enough opportunities
23:08
Speaker 1: to still secure the win at quarterbacks, So I got
23:11
Speaker 1: to take that at number one.
23:12
Speaker 2: Overall, I like it. I think that's smart, good play.
23:15
Speaker 2: I'm gonna I'm gonna go man. I could go in
23:19
Speaker 2: a couple different directions here, but I think I'm gonna
23:20
Speaker 2: go running back. I'm gonn I'm gonna go with Bijon.
23:23
Speaker 2: I'm gonna go Jeon Robinson here with my first pick.
23:27
Speaker 2: Need a big week from him this week, see if
23:29
Speaker 2: I can get back on track after a rough one
23:30
Speaker 2: for me last year.
23:32
Speaker 1: So that'll be That'll be that one Bijon against that
23:37
Speaker 1: Bucks defense been pretty good, especially up front Vitavea and company.
23:44
Speaker 1: I mean, I like it. I don't know that I
23:45
Speaker 1: would have done differently, but it's it's not a not
23:48
Speaker 1: a high quality matchup, uh. There that you like that
23:51
Speaker 1: you'd like to see, But nonetheless, I think it's something
23:53
Speaker 1: you had to do. What's Bucky doing?
23:55
Speaker 2: Uh? So Bucky's got back to back picks. He's gonna
23:58
Speaker 2: go Puka Nakua, which was gonna my calculus for the
24:02
Speaker 2: last pick. So I like that one for Buck coming
24:05
Speaker 2: off a monster week this last week. I got a
24:07
Speaker 2: little thing up, but still a hundred yard game and
24:09
Speaker 2: he's over a thousand yards on the season in credible,
24:11
Speaker 2: incredible rookie year. I think he's gonna go with the quarterback.
24:13
Speaker 2: He's gonna go Will Levis with his next pick, which
24:16
Speaker 2: I don't know, do we get credit for tackles if
24:19
Speaker 2: we do force bubbles, that could really they could really
24:24
Speaker 2: spike the total there. But now he goes with the quarterback,
24:27
Speaker 2: So that means I'm up next. There's no means for
24:29
Speaker 2: me to take the quarterback. There's only one left, so
24:31
Speaker 2: I can go to the pass catchers, and I think
24:35
Speaker 2: I'm going to go to the man of the hour
24:37
Speaker 2: that we just talked about. I'm gonna go Samuel Porta
24:40
Speaker 2: with my spot here as my pass catcher. That leaves
24:43
Speaker 2: me up next here.
24:45
Speaker 1: Yeah, So man, I think I think Jeffrey Simmons is
24:53
Speaker 1: going to miss a couple of weeks for the Tennessee Titans,
24:55
Speaker 1: and Devon h Chan is back in the fold at
24:58
Speaker 1: a couple of touchdowns. The rookie runner from Texas A
25:01
Speaker 1: and M, after a stint on IR and a little
25:04
Speaker 1: bit of a re injury in his first game back,
25:06
Speaker 1: is now seems to be back at full strength and
25:09
Speaker 1: full health. So give me Devon h Chan right there.
25:13
Speaker 1: As the Dolphins get the Titans in Miami, I think
25:16
Speaker 1: that's Dolphins are going to go to work on that one.
25:20
Speaker 1: And then from my pass catcher, you know, I was,
25:24
Speaker 1: I was definitely looking at Sam Laporta. We could get
25:27
Speaker 1: Dalton kincaid back into the mix here this week against
25:30
Speaker 1: the Chiefs. But I think what I like a little
25:33
Speaker 1: bit better is Zay Flowers. So I'm gonna go eh
25:37
Speaker 1: Chan and Flowers to close out my draft.
25:40
Speaker 2: All right, eh Chan and Flowers solid picks there. Okay,
25:44
Speaker 2: Now I've got a decision to make here at the
25:46
Speaker 2: quarterback position because Bryce Young has not treated me well
25:50
Speaker 2: unfortunately this year. I keep hoping that somehow it's going
25:53
Speaker 2: to happen. It's playing on the road against the Saints,
25:56
Speaker 2: so indoor, good environment there, Saints reeling a little bit.
25:59
Speaker 2: I could go in that dire action, but I'm actually
26:01
Speaker 2: gonna go Aidan O'Connell against Josh I need, I need,
26:10
Speaker 2: I need Minnesota's offense to get going in a little
26:12
Speaker 2: bit of a shootout here, I'm gonna go off the
26:14
Speaker 2: grid and go Aiden O'Connell. Uh as my quarterbacks selection,
26:18
Speaker 2: and then Bucky is going to round it up, round
26:20
Speaker 2: it up here. Last pick he has, Jamiered Gibbs is
26:24
Speaker 2: who he's taking ahead of the last player. Yeah, Bucky's
26:28
Speaker 2: got a chance of a big week with Puka and Gibbs.
26:31
Speaker 2: He could have another strong, strong week in the risky draft.
26:36
Speaker 2: But rtt this is uh, this is going to wrap
26:38
Speaker 2: us up for the day. Man, Kay could do good
26:41
Speaker 2: to be able to pull this off. I'm in New York,
26:43
Speaker 2: you're in Los Angeles. My picture is a little fuzzy,
26:46
Speaker 2: my audio is probably not great. But we get her done.
26:49
Speaker 2: We get her in, We get her done.
26:51
Speaker 1: Hey, it doesn't matter how. It just matters that you do.
26:55
Speaker 1: And that's that's what we do here and move the sticks,
26:57
Speaker 1: always delivering on the content front, no.
26:59
Speaker 2: No question. Hey, where else would I rather be on
27:02
Speaker 2: my forty sixth birthday than sharing this moment together? Yeah? Yeah,
27:07
Speaker 2: you know, you think Drew would care a little bit,
27:09
Speaker 2: maybe do a little research. I don't know, look at
27:11
Speaker 2: a Wikipedia page. No, it didn't happen, But I enjoyed
27:14
Speaker 2: this time together. This was my birthday present. It was
27:16
Speaker 2: getting to spend time with you today. RTT appreciate you.
27:19
Speaker 1: Yeah, you don't look at the I'm sure the cards.
27:22
Speaker 2: In the mail. I mean no, not at all. Forty
27:24
Speaker 2: four to be honest, you feel great? All right? Hey,
27:28
Speaker 2: I out of here. All right, I'll get you guys later.
27:31
Speaker 2: Fun day and we'll see you next time. Right here
27:34
Speaker 2: on move this sixth