Latest / Say Who, Say Pod / Say Who, Say Pod, Ep. 205

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Say Who, Say Pod, Ep. 205 · Say Who, Say Pod

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_02: Pod.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_02: Pod.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome back to another episode at long last of Say Who Say Pod.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_02: He's Danny O'Neill.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_02: Not in a sports coat.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_02: I'm Christian Caple.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_02: That's probably the most meaningful introduction we've had in a long time
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_02: since it's been two whole weeks since we recorded an episode.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_03: I was going to quote from Public Enemy.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_03: The inimitable Chuck D when he said, once again back is the incredible.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_03: Rhyme animal, the uncannibal.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_02: Do you watch Ted Lasso by chance, the new season?
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_03: I do, I do.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_02: Nice Public Enemy reference in the first episode there.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_03: There are a few groups that I really regret not seeing in their prime, and that is one of them.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_03: I love Public Enemy.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_03: I'll always love Public Enemy.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_03: How you been?
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_03: I'm doing well.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_03: It's a little steamy here in New York, but football is getting cracking.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_03: I love, I think August, August is probably my favorite month of the year.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm pretty pumped.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_02: August is fun.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_02: It's busy.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_02: It's hectic.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_02: It's warm, though it's been quite temperate at Husky Spring Preseason Training Camp.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like we probably mentioned this before,
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_02: but is there a more ideal setting in terms of temperature and humidity
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_02: for college training camp than Seattle, Washington?
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_03: No, it's the best.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_03: It is.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_03: And you talk to other players.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_03: People will reference,
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_03: players will from time to time talk about,
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_03: is it difficult to get players to play in Seattle?
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_03: Every football player that you talk to will cite Seattle as just the ideal spot
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_03: for training camp.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_03: Because...
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_03: In general,
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_03: football's gone away from the hell on earth,
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_03: sort of deny players water, 1970s Junction Boys style of training camp.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_03: But it is still hot and sticky in parts of the country.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_03: And it is just, it's so pleasant.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_03: And both the training camps, Seahawks, Huskies take place right next to the water.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_03: It's pretty fantastic.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_02: Might not build as much character though.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_03: Isn't it funny to think,
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_03: and there are still people out there who will say, like, that's what you need.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_03: That's what fall training camp should be for.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_03: But, I mean, that's probably been the biggest change in football culture.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_03: Well, that and the sort of lionization of headshots.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_03: But those two things, you don't hear that.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_03: I mean,
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_03: that idea of not giving guys water and structuring workouts so they are as hard
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_03: as possible, like that's really gone away.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_02: Judd Fish said that Matt Cavanaugh was regaling the players with tales
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_02: of three-a-day practices from his playing days or maybe early coaching days.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_02: And it did remind me like,
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_02: When I started covering the sport,
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_02: certainly when you started covering the sport also,
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_02: like two-a-days were still a thing.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_02: And even Chris Peterson,
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_02: who I don't think super believed in that,
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_02: Their first few days of training camp would be their regular practice in
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_02: the morning,
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_02: and then they'd have a separate practice at like four o'clock just for newcomers.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_02: So they'd have,
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_02: they kind of used the rule allowing multiple practices in a day early
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_02: in training camp to like break it up and give the newcomers
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_02: a little more like specialized attention,
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_02: which wasn't all that long ago, but feels like a very long time ago.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_03: You know, this thought just occurred to me.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_03: Football might be the one place where overall improvement
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_03: in efficiency has translated to less work in a certain part of the calendar.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_03: And here's what I mean by that.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_03: Athletes in general,
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_03: and especially high-level college athletes and certainly pro athletes,
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_03: are in much better shape year-round now than they were 20 and 25 years ago.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_03: It's just the amount of work they put into their bodies, the...
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_03: And some of that is due to the money that's available, like clearly an incentive toward that.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_03: But guys are in better shape.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_03: I would also say that there's a number of different jobs,
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_03: including being a reporter,
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_03: where you do way more work now than you did 20 or 25 years ago
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_03: with constant online updates.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_03: But unlike the rest of the world where you just get more work,
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_03: it seems like football's kind of eased off on that.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_03: OK, we're not going to have hell on earth training camp anymore.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_03: We're not going to put you through full contact tackle practices on Monday during the season.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_03: It seems like that it hasn't been with increased efficiency has come a little bit of
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_03: a break for the guys doing the hard work.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_03: Are you buying my theory?
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_02: No, I get what you're saying.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_02: I would say even from the media perspective, though,
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_02: like there was a time in call it like early 2010s for most of that decade, really,
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_02: where if you covered a team,
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_02: the emphasis was like Volume, volume, volume, volume,
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_02: headlines,
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_02: headlines, headlines, blogging, blogging, more posts per day is better always.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_02: And I have seen legacy outlets go away from that, where it's still a lot of work.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_02: But in a different way.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_02: And it's it's less about like just flood the zone and overwhelm with content.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know,
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_02: from sun up until you go to bed at night,
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_02: you are writing and publishing and posting and, you know.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_02: Do you remember morning links for crying out loud?
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_02: You used to have a blog where you were just expected to have a post of links
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_02: to everybody else's work around the league you covered in the morning.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_02: When I was at the Spokesman Review, because I was just dedicated to like, I will not miss a day.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_02: We will have come hell or high water.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_02: We will have morning links every day.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_02: It was for some reason very important.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_02: And there were times when I would be...
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_02: At a friend's house or go out drinking or do whatever else.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_02: And we're all we're going to someone, you know, we're going to someone's house afterward.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_02: And I would bring my laptop with me because I need to get morning links done
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_02: before like I go to bed or whatever.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_02: Writing morning links from the road, whatever it might have been.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, man.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_02: Ridiculous things that we did as an industry.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I just I would say in general,
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_03: that's how I look at when people talk
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_03: about efficiency tools like this will make you more efficient or all of the benefits
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_03: of even to a certain extent, AI.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_03: They're like, this will, quote unquote, save you time.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, no, it won't.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_03: That's not my experience,
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_03: because when you work for someone, they find other stuff to ram in there.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_03: Yet it seems that football coaches never considered the most generous
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_03: of sorts have conceded that perhaps the Not grinding their players into the ground
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_03: in August and even during practice during the season is an advisable way
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_03: to oversee your team.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_02: You know where there's never been a need for increased efficiency?
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, I do.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_03: I do know.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_03: I do know because they've been doing it right for more than 40 years at this point.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_02: Family owned and operated since 1964.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_02: Chuck Olson Kia in shoreline.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_02: Family owned and operated by a family of University of Washington graduates with
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_02: a friendly,
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_02: low-pressure sales staff and a competitively priced selection of vehicles.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_02: We hope you'll make them your next vehicle-buying destination.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_02: When you do, ask for our friend Henry Olson.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_02: When you talk to Henry, tell him, say who, say pod.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_02: Say who?
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_02: Say pod.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_02: This episode of Say Who Say Pod also brought to you by our friends at Husky Mobile.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_02: Husky Mobile's partner directly with the University of Washington
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_02: to offer affordable phone plans for the Husky community.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_02: With up to 7% of each bill going back to UW Athletics,
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_02: subscribers can also enjoy game day perks like FastPass lanes,
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_02: seat upgrades, and giveaways, all while on T-Mobile's nationwide 5G network.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_02: Use code ONMOTLAKE at checkout to get your first month free when transferring your number.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_02: You can do that at GoHuskyMobile.com.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks again to Husky Mobile for supporting today's show.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_02: We only missed two shows,
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_02: but we did miss quite a bit of activity in the University
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_02: of Washington football realm.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_02: By the way,
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_02: two weeks ago we didn't record because travel and Big Ten Media Day and I was
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_02: in Chicago and there was this weirdness with schedules.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_02: Last week we didn't record because my Wi-Fi sucked and went out.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_02: Talking about increased efficiency.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_03: Technology betrayed us.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_02: We could have used some AI consultation on that, I suppose.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_02: Couldn't connect upstairs where we record.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_02: There was no other suitable place to do it.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_02: We battled,
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_02: led to me purchasing a new router,
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_02: so now the internet's faster than ever, and hopefully that'll never happen again.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_02: But here we are, Washington's five practices into training camp today.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_02: Wednesday is an off day.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_02: They're back on Thursday.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_02: Elyse Woodward is the new voice, the new radio play-by-play voice of the Washington Huskies.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_02: We haven't talked about that.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_03: Heck yeah, congrats to Elyse.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_02: Got an opportunity to talk with Landon Hatchet and Daman Williams Jr.,
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_02: In Chicago,
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_02: sort of about that 48-hour period in January that we're still kind
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_02: of wondering how is it going to affect Washington's season,
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_02: at least from an external standpoint.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_02: The vibe very much seems to be that that was put to bed shortly after Demond.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_02: Juan Williams Jr. returned to Washington's team.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_02: I was interested, though,
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_02: to learn that he did take,
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_02: a lot of folks are just wondering, like, how are they going to move past this?
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_02: Is there going to be like, are there going to be some apologies?
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_02: You're going to get up and, you know, what's this look like?
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_02: And he did seek out the offensive line, first and foremost.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_02: Landon Hatchett said that they spoke one-on-one,
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_02: then they spoke as a group,
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_02: the offensive line with DeMond Williams,
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_02: and just had the opportunity to ask, like, what happened?
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_02: And felt like he was very honest and direct with them about that.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_02: And they said, hey, you know, whoever needed to hear whatever...
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_02: Heard what they needed to hear and moved on.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_02: And like,
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_02: I know he's,
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_02: everything I've heard is that he,
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_02: I think is, is much closer with that group this year than, than he has been before.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_02: I asked him like, you know, who his best friends on the team are, for example.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_02: And he said,
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_02: he probably hangs out with the offensive line more than anybody,
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_02: which I think if you're a fan of,
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_02: of the Washington Huskies is probably what you want to hear about
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_02: the starting quarterback or hear the starting quarterback say,
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_02: um, just observing DeMond Williams in that setting.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_02: Seemed like this is someone who has a lot more ownership of the program now,
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_02: who feels a lot more comfortable in that leadership role.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know that that's the most natural thing for him, personality-wise.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_02: He's not this very arrogant, look-at-me type of personality.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_02: I think when you're a sophomore...
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_02: You're 18 turning 19.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_02: It's a lot harder to command a room of people, many of whom are older than you.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_02: He seems a lot more comfortable being a leader and being the guy everybody looks to.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_02: He talks about his teammates a lot more like the head coach might now
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_02: in assessing guys and hyping guys up and gets a little bit more detailed in,
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_02: hey, why is this guy good?
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_02: What does this guy do well?
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it was a second media day too, right?
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_02: You knew exactly what to expect and how everything was going to go.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_02: Just seemed a lot more comfortable.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_02: You know,
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_02: if you had no idea that what happened in January had happened,
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_02: you wouldn't have known it had happened.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_02: It just all seemed very normal.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_03: I've always thought the biggest challenge that he'll face after
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_03: the whole episode is going to be the public reception to him,
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_03: especially if things go sideways or there's a setback
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_01: in the
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_03: air.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_03: I've always thought that that's where you might experience or see
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_03: it be difficult.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_03: Relationships with his teammates...
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_03: Those things are generally pretty clear and straightforward how to fix it.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_03: Guys have a pretty high understanding of you do what's best for yourself,
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_03: and once you're in, you're in.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_03: Once you're back, you don't need to come and explain or apologize or anything.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_03: As long as we know you're here and committed, there is support and embrace for that.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_03: It is interesting to think, I mean, it's his third year.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_03: He is older now.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_03: The program is at a different point.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_03: This is a year that, I mean,
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_03: being ranked in the top 20 in the preseason,
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_03: it's a reasonable hope to make the college football playoffs.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_03: And if that happens, it's going to be because your quarterback's good.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_03: He's got the biggest hand, the biggest say.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_03: If this season goes well, it will be because you've got a playmaker at quarterback.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_03: And I don't think the style or the leadership type, some guys are quiet, some guys are moral.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_03: I've seen quarterbacks be very good who relate very much as peers to their teammates.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_03: I've also seen a team be very good with Russell Wilson who very much did not relate
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_03: to his teammates as peers.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_03: It really...
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_03: More than anything else, quarterback depends on results.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_03: That's what does it for you.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_03: And how you get results can vary.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_03: But it's ultimately, if they win with him,
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_03: that's where you're going to see the leadership.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_03: It doesn't matter how he does it.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_03: You just got to get it done.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_02: I think he's looked pretty sharp through the first five days of camp.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_02: Of course, it's, you know, very small sample size.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_02: Been a lot of red zone work so far.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_02: They haven't done any,
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_02: you know, it's only been five days, so they haven't done any live tackling yet.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_02: There's been some pad popping, Danny.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_02: The pads have been popping.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_03: I saw there was a little bit of a skirmish.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_03: It wasn't as a party, and I didn't see it.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_03: I read about it as a party, and Alineas Davis were getting into it.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and then as a party in Rylan Dillard-Allen got into it yesterday.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_02: Two guys who, I mean, I know it's like, I'm glad you're seated to receive that news.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_02: That is just very shocking that those two might be involved in a practice skirmish.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's that classic, like, you know...
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_02: As people saw probably like on the first episode of Hard Knocks, right?
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_02: Like Mike McDonald getting irritated by fighting and what he really cut right to
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_02: the point,
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_02: which I think is always like the biggest issue coaches have with that,
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_02: which is you're wasting time, right?
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_02: You're wasting our time.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_02: This is precious.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_02: These are precious reps.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_02: These are precious moments.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_02: We got a script.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_02: We're trying to stay on schedule.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_02: This is not helping us get better right now.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_02: But I do think you like to see the chippiness.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_02: I think coaches generally,
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_02: you'd rather see a team have an edge and play physical and get
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_02: in each other's faces every now and then, then have a team where that never happens.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_02: Certainly.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_03: Every good team I've ever seen has at least one offensive lineman
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_03: who rubs every defensive player the wrong way.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_03: I think you kind of need it.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_03: I think you kind of need one guy who always does a little something extra annoying
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_03: and is kind of just indifferent to bothering other people.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_03: And it seems like as a party might have that characteristic
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_03: for this Washington Huskies offensive line.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_03: They mix it up.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_02: They mix it up.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_03: Nothing wrong with that.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_03: As someone who attended school when Frank Garcia was there,
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_03: Frank Garcia was a very important part of that program.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_02: You need a physical DB who's willing to hit after the echo of the whistle.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_03: That's the best.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_03: You know who that dude was when I was there?
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_03: It was a Kaika Malloy.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_03: Kaika Malloy would thump people.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_03: And so, yeah, that was a good sign.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_03: I also saw Dylan Robinson made the freaks list.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_03: He did.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, not surprised.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_02: I would say
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_02: if you could not watch any film and could just evaluate,
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_02: like, look at every individual player, just lay eyes on him and watch him move.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know that there's anybody you'd say is a better NFL prospect than Dylan Robinson.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_03: Ooh, interesting.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, why do you think that?
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_02: Six foot three, 210 pounds, plays corner.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_02: He ran sub 10.8 in the 100 meter.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_02: Ryan Walters talks about how impressive his ability to get his hips around is
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_02: for someone that size.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_02: Ryan Walters, I mean,
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_02: every time he comes up,
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_02: Walters and Fish say he looks like a first round pick moving around the facility.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_02: He looks like a first round pick in workouts.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_02: And Walters even took it a step further.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_02: He's like, he looks like an NFL corner.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_02: He's like,
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_02: he looks like one of the highest paid NFL corners because there's just not a lot
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_02: of human beings who are that size who move the way he does,
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_02: who's able to play that position.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_02: Now they're counting on him.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_02: This year, as a day one starter for the on-field production to match that potential.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_02: And I think they have a strong belief that it will.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_02: He's also just like,
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_02: the one time we got to speak with him in the spring,
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_02: it's pretty obvious he's a very sharp guy.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_02: Very bright, I think, is a high IQ football player.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_02: And he just, like, you know, the way he punched the ball.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_02: And Ryan Walter's talking about it being like teach tape stuff, right?
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_02: Like that's,
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_02: that's a true freshman who just sort of has some instinctual football skills
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_02: that are difficult to come by for somebody that young.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_03: And I would also say like the idea of him being having a powerful lower body,
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_03: I think is a huge attribute for his.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_03: What I was most impressed with him as a corner,
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_03: as a true freshman was how calm he remained when the ball was in the air.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_03: That he continued to play coverage and stay in phase.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_03: All of the different phrases guys use.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_03: A lot of times for corners, the ball is in the air and it's a moment of panic.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_03: Even older corners.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_03: And he's got...
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_03: It's an athletic confidence that he's got.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_03: I love it.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_03: I was excited to see him on that list.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_03: I had forgotten about his track times, though.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_03: That's legit track speed.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think,
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_02: assuming he does go on to have a long pro career and everything,
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_02: like part of Dylan Robinson lore forever will be that he committed to Washington as
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_02: a corner.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_02: His other two finalists were Notre Dame,
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_02: which wanted him as a receiver, and UCLA, which wanted him at safety.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_02: So three finalists who wanted him to play three different positions.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_02: That's the other thing too, like John Richardson talked about this, that...
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_02: This is last year, last season was his first year, like truly focused on playing corner.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_02: He was a two-way player in high school.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_02: He's a really good receiver.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_02: He had,
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like he had a crazy like yards per catch number and like touchdowns per,
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_02: or like receptions per touchdown.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_02: He was scoring a touchdown like every few times he caught the ball.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_02: And so, you know, just one of these sort of do everything multi-sport guys who...
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_02: Once you focus in on that one position after kind of playing all over the place,
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_02: there's a learning curve.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_02: But you also, especially when you're as smart as he is, you make some strides pretty quickly.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_02: He took some lumps last year.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_02: He got beat deep pretty badly a couple times in the Oregon game in particular.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_02: But also,
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_02: another part of Dylan Robinson lore had his first start lining up across
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_02: from Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know,
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know that there were many plays from that game that anyone really remembers
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_02: of him looking like he didn't belong.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_03: There are no corners who don't get beat.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_03: Like the definite, what defines a good cornerback is their ability to shake those off.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_03: Like it is, it's unlike any other position that way.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_03: Richard Sherman was one of the best at it.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_03: And I was actually like watching like film.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_03: I hate the way that sounded.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_02: Were you grinding tape?
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_03: No, I wasn't.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_03: I was watching a replay of a game against the Jets in 2016 in
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_03: which Brandon Marshall kind of gave him some fits in the first half of the game.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_03: Second half,
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_03: Sherman comes back,
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_03: picks off two passes that were going to him,
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_03: and then afterwards is like, they went to the well once too often there.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_03: That's what you want from a corner.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_03: It's not that, oh man, he never gets beat.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_03: Jalen Ramsey's one of the best corners in the NFL, and he gives up passes.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_03: That's going to happen when you match up with dudes one-on-one.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I'm yeah, Robinson's one of the guys I'm super excited about.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_02: Now, as we talk about that, Hey,
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_02: just look at the guy,
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_02: look at his, look at his size, look at his, you know, his speed measurements.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_02: I know Feldman had some GPS stuff on, on Dylan Robinson as well.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_02: 38 inch vertical.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_02: I think he said also, um, And then watch the way he moves for the position he plays.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_02: I think Cody Green might end up on that freaks list in pretty short order.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_02: He is extremely impressive.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, he was not a five-star by accident.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_02: That guy is a legit...
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_02: How do you notice it?
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_02: Like, what stands out to you when you're watching him?
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_02: It's how fluid his movements are and how...
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_02: There are pass rush reps he has where he stones these edge rushers who are older
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_02: than him in a way that it looks like the rookie is trying to get around the veteran.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_02: He's not looking around confused on what he's supposed to do.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_02: You just...
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_02: Bill Simmons always talks about, I mean,
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_02: going back years when he was still writing his column,
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_02: I remember specifically the comparison between Greg Oden and Kevin Durant
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_02: and talking about how
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_02: you can tell someone who's 6'10 or 7 feet tall is
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_02: a professional basketball player,
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_02: a professional athlete,
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_02: because the way they walk is the way that someone who's 5'11 walks.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_02: The way they move is someone who, like, a normal-looking human being moves.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_02: And I remember him saying, and this is very anecdotal, non-scientific.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_02: He's like,
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_02: my first concern,
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_02: I'm paraphrasing here,
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_02: but an early concern he had about Greg Oden was that he kind
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_02: of noticed Greg Oden didn't really move like that.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_02: Greg Oden walked the way you'd expect someone that size to walk,
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_02: who maybe was hurting a little bit, right?
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_03: He also made the note, I think it was after they did some measurement.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_03: They don't have a combine, but they had like a pre-draft workout, I think.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_03: Simmons pointed out,
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_03: because I've read Simmons forever as well,
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_03: that one of Odin's legs measured longer than the other.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_03: How was that?
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_02: That's such perfect pre-draft coverage stuff.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_02: I wonder how many of us have one leg longer than the other.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_02: I need to get that checked out.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_03: It's from a, there's a line like that from a Frank Zappa song.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_03: He goes, one of my legs is longer than the other and both of my feet too long.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_02: Could have played for the Blazers.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_02: I say all that to say, like,
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_02: Cody Green does not move the way that,
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_02: you know, a six foot six, 320 pound person should move.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_03: So when I started covering the Seahawks was 2005, and that's Walter Jones' peak.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_03: Walter Jones' best year was 2005.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_03: And I remember writing a story where I was trying to describe,
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_03: okay, Like, what makes a great left tackle?
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_03: Like, what are the things?
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_03: And it was because it's not your straightaway speed.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_03: It's not even how much you bench.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_03: Like, it's not raw strength.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_03: The right tackle is usually physically stronger,
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_03: like a bigger, more muscular man than the left tackle.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_03: And I think it was Grant Wistrom,
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_03: who was a defensive end for the CX and had played against Walter,
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_03: who was just like...
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_03: It's how easy he moves for how big he is.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_03: Like, you feel like he could be running right next to you,
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_03: and he weighs 40 pounds more than you do,
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_03: and you wouldn't hear him because he's so light on his feet.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_03: And he's never off balance.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_03: So it's a great left tackle, and those truly gifted...
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_03: It's one of the most valuable positions in football.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, your left tackle, it's really like quarterback...
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_03: Big, big play, wide receivers, defensive end, left tackle.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_03: Those are the top four highest paid positions because of that grace.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_03: So that's exciting to hear.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_02: Two guys who, and I should ask this question.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_02: I remember asking a bunch of people this question in 2023 because Washington had
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_02: a few guys on that team who made the freaks list, or at least Romo Dunze did.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_02: Penix might have too.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_02: But I remember asking a bunch of people like, hey,
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_02: who would you submit as,
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_02: if you're putting together a UW-specific freaks list, who should be on it?
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_02: I wish I'd asked Jed Fish that.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_02: Based on the way he spoke to us after Tuesday's practice,
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_02: though, I can guess there's a couple guys he would put near the top of that list.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_03: Is one of them Christian Moss?
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_02: I think one of them might be Christian Moss.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_03: I had not told you.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_03: I have three audio clips from Jed Fish that I wanted to play as surprises.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_03: Synergy.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_03: And one of them is when you asked him about Christian Moss.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think Christian's a dude.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, he's a dude.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_00: He's made a lot of big-time plays throughout.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_00: Got to make them all, you know, but no one makes them all.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm loving how he's doing.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_00: He's taken every rep with the first offense at X, and he's earned that right.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_00: So he's just somebody that's put himself in a position that he's going
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_00: to be pretty special, I think.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_02: So...
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_02: That's the way they were talking about him before camp started also,
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_02: based on what they'd seen in summer practice.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_02: Remember, we didn't get to see him in the spring.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_02: He was out basically the whole spring with a hamstring injury.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_02: Everybody has hamstrings.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_02: He's 6'3", 200 pounds.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_02: So right there, like, okay, who's the X receiver going to be?
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_02: It's going to be someone who's built like that, right?
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_02: It's going to be someone who looks like that.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_02: He is an impressive looking athlete, right?
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_02: Another guy who just, hey, oh, that guy plays receiver and he's that size.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I want to see what he looks like in a football setting for sure.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_02: He looks the part, as you would say.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_02: It sounds like his speed testing was very impressive and they were talking
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_02: about his vertical, like it was in the 40 inch range as well.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so yeah,
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_02: I think like if,
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_02: if Jed Fish were putting together a UW freaks list,
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_02: I got I imagine Christian Moss would be on it.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_02: And you've seen him go up and get a ball over Emmanuel Carnley for
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_02: a short touchdown catch in a red zone period.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yesterday, he had a 37-yard catch from DeMond Williams Jr. on a hole shot up the left side.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_02: I'll be shocked if he's not their starting X receiver.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_02: Coming into camp, that felt like, hey, we really don't know.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_02: Is it going to be Christian Moss?
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_02: Is it going to be Jordan Clay?
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_02: Could Chris Lawson get involved at that position a little bit?
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_02: He's taken, like Jed Fish said, all the one reps.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_02: They were very high on him coming out of summer.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_02: He's only reinforced that belief, I think, through their first five practices.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_02: Would I say he's got it locked up?
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_02: Probably too early to say that,
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_02: but we've seen nothing from Christian Moss to indicate that he's not going
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_02: to be their guy and at least get those first opportunities there.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_03: How high on the list of Jed Fish,
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_03: like if you go 0 to 10,
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_03: 10 being the best player I've ever coached, where is he's a dude?
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_03: Is that a 7.5?
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_03: Is it 8?
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_03: How high, how big a compliment is he's a dude?
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_02: I kind of think it's pretty high.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's like, it's at least over a 7.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um...
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_02: I'm trying to think in,
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_02: going into year three here,
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_02: if there have been players that either Jed Fish or his coaching staff talked about
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_02: as clearly they think this guy is really,
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_02: really good who didn't turn out to be that good.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_02: And I, you know,
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know if there really have been any,
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_02: I guess like from a pure production standpoint,
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_02: someone might say like, well,
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_02: Zach Durfee only had four sacks last year or whatever,
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_02: but, um, Durfee was injured, though.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_03: He got after the quarterback, too.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_03: Durability might be a question, but that wasn't a question of he couldn't play.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_03: He could clearly play.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_03: It's just, unfortunately, he had a hard time staying healthy.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_02: Having a good camp in Jacksonville, also.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, he is.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_02: So...
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know that they've expressed this great degree of confidence in anybody
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_02: who just was like, eh, they kind of got over their skis or they were wrong.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_02: But perhaps that leads into,
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_02: I have a feeling if you took three clips from that post-practice session,
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_02: I can guess what another one of them was.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_03: Eh, this would be a dangerous game.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_03: Who's your next guess?
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_02: I'm guessing it's a freshman edge rusher who played his high school football
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_02: in Spanaway, Washington.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_03: That is true.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_03: It's at the very end.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_03: And so I have to, I will ask about that.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_03: It's at the very end of this clip when basically Jed was talking about
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_03: the new slash old defensive lineman that they've welcomed back to the team.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_00: We just have an unbelievable defensive line room.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_00: Those guys were so excited when Ty Ty got there.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_00: I had him come up in front of the team and introduce himself,
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_00: tell him where he played last,
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_00: talk a little bit about his experiences at his last school.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_00: And the guys were just, you know, they're just excited he's back.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_00: So Ty Ty, I mean, we have by far the most depth we've had in the defensive line room.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_00: Since I've been here or anywhere in the last six years that I've been,
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_00: and we got a lot of playmakers and a lot of guys that are going to make
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_00: a difference, starting with number 11, Ramsack.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_02: That is a question about Taitai Uyunglele's return, which we haven't addressed, by the way.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_02: He's back.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_02: So that's a 13-game starter,
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_02: fifth-year player who's back competing for time in the D-line rotation this year as
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_02: a result of the court ruling in Colorado.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_02: A response to a question about Tai Tai Uyunglele that ends with
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_02: an unprompted endorsement of Ramzak Fruin.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_03: How legit is that?
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_03: How legit is the buzz he's generating?
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_02: It's as legit as can be.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_02: Again, never played college football.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_02: He's got to go do it,
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_02: just like Cody Green,
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_02: just like Derek Holman, Brusa,
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_02: just like John Mills last year,
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_02: Desmond Roebuck last year, Ryland Dillard Allen, Dylan Robinson last year.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_02: It's gotten to the point where during spring it was very obvious,
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_02: okay, this guy's going to play this year, going to be in the rotation season.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_02: No doubt about it.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_02: They were sky high on him as a prospect.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_02: They were sky high on him on signing day.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_02: They were sky high on him throughout spring.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_02: They talked about him,
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_02: Ryan Walters talking about him after the spring game
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_02: as being their biggest splash player throughout the spring.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_02: If you just watched those 15 practices and someone said, hey, I...
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like I know this roster pretty well.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_02: Anyone we haven't seen yet who looks really good,
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_02: he's one of the first guys you're going to talk about.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_02: And he just looks like he has continued progressing.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_02: Walter's talked about him at the end of spring,
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_02: so I mean three months ago now, as being close to 240 pounds at 6'4".
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_02: He is as explosive as you'd want him to be.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_02: And he's just a playmaker.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, he intercepted a screen pass the other day.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_02: He...
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_02: Recovered a fumble that he also might have forced.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_02: It was kind of a weird, like, broken handoff exchange between quarterback and tailback.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_02: He's in there.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_02: You know,
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_02: he's not a guy that DeMond Williams Jr.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_02: easily runs away from on, like, a zone read keeper, for example.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_02: He's just involved.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_02: He's always in the backfield.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_02: And you talk about a guy who's got that edge and chippiness.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_02: And part of Jed Fish's appraisal of him was, yeah,
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_02: he's gotten a lot better at understanding how to practice and protect his teammates
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_02: and stay away from the quarterback,
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_02: which I haven't watched episode two of Hard Knocks yet, by the way.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_02: But I know Mike McDonald, from some clips I've seen, I know Mike McDonald gets after...
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_02: Gets after a certain Seahawks defender for that very thing.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, I mean, again,
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_02: do you want your up-and-coming freshman edge rusher to be a guy who never has
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_02: to be reminded to back off a little bit?
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_02: Or do you want it to be the other way?
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_03: The assistant coach Dean Demopoulos from the Seattle Supersonics had a quote that
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_03: if you have to tell him to run as a freshman,
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_03: you're going to have to tell him to run as a senior.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_02: There you go.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_03: Easier to say whoa than giddy up.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_02: Now they have,
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_02: Russell Davis is another guy who I'm very interested to see once he's kind
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_02: of fully unleashed.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_02: He took some number one reps in these first few practices.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_02: I think he was a little more limited on Tuesday.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_02: Isaiah Ward has been working through something that's got him limited.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_02: Devin Hyatt's been working through something that's got him limited.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_02: So like there's more opportunities for a younger edge rusher to get in there.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_02: I've gone from thinking like, okay,
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_02: Ramzak Fruin is going to be like a really nice piece,
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_02: situational piece for them as a pass rusher to wondering like,
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_02: could he compete for a starting job?
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_02: Like, could they be starting him two spots over from Derek Coleman-Brusa in game one?
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_03: It's wild to think about.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_03: Does he look out of place?
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_03: Does he look like he physically fits on a college, on a Big Ten defensive line?
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_02: Oh yeah, he does.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_02: He does.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_02: He's, you know, they recruited him as an inside linebacker.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_02: At that height,
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_02: you always kind of wonder like,
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_02: well, like as a 6'4 kid going to stay inside, he probably ends up on the edge.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_02: It's not like he is,
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_02: a tweener in terms of like, well,
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_02: he's too tall to play linebacker, but he's a string bean out there on the edge.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_02: Like, he doesn't look slim, you know, and obviously they wanted him to put on weight.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_02: I think he did in pretty short order.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_02: He doesn't look like somebody where you think, okay, well,
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_02: he's a dynamite,
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_02: twitchy,
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_02: explosive athlete,
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_02: but boy, he's a ways from being big enough to hold up against the run, for example.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_02: He's a freshman.
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_02: He will continue to refine his body.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_02: That's going to be an emphasis, but he's not someone who looks...
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_02: He just brings an energy and a vibe that you wouldn't necessarily expect
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_02: from somebody that young.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_02: He's precocious that way.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_02: Even really,
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_02: really good freshmen in the past,
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_02: guys who wound up being really good players,
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_02: you could tell were of the mind that I'm going to do all my talking with my play.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_02: I'm a freshman.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_02: This isn't my team.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not...
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not the center of the universe out here.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_02: I'd rather be seen than heard type of thing.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_02: And Ramzak Fruin has performed at as high a level as anybody on that defensive front.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_02: And I think also is not afraid of mixing it up personality-wise also.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_02: So I think,
• 37:02
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_02: kind of like,
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_02: and it's perhaps a lazy comparison because they went to the same high school.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_02: I think kind of like Zadrius Ranisale is the type of player who Combined,
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_02: you combine everything together, I think could quickly become a fan favorite.
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_02: If what we've seen in the spring and in camp translates to the season.
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_03: It's fun to watch how a puzzle is going to fit together.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_03: And there's always,
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_03: I think 50% of what you hear from coaches in training camp
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_03: in August is what they're seeing and 50% is what they hope it means, right?
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_03: Like there's a good dose of optimism there.
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_03: Mixed into their assessments.
• 37:41
  SPEAKER_03: But that question, they are figuring out how they think their puzzle is going to go together.
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_03: What is their roster?
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_03: What is their rotation going to look like?
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_03: And one of the things about the Huskies' recent recruiting classes is that
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_03: the talent that they brought in,
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_03: you're going to see more of those guys on the field sooner,
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_03: just like we did last year.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_02: The D-line depth has gotten very interesting.
• 38:07
  SPEAKER_02: I think they already felt like they had upgraded that position from what it was
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_02: a year ago,
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_02: just in terms of the caliber of athlete they have all around and the number
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_02: of healthy, available, competent bodies they could rotate through there.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_02: I think already you were probably feeling like they're pretty deep
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_02: and now they add Tai Tai Uyunglele back into that mix.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_03: How big of a surprise do you think that was?
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_02: So it's a very short list of guys who would have been eligible to return.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_02: It's the same class as Jonah Coleman and Ephesians Priceock and Takario Davis.
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_02: Those guys all got drafted and are playing in the NFL, right?
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_02: So scratch them off, obviously.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_02: But, you know,
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_02: like Omari Evans,
• 38:59
  SPEAKER_02: I think,
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_02: also signed an undrafted free agent deal, so probably wasn't eligible to return.
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_02: It's really just Taitai Uyengalale and Grady Gross, right?
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_02: And we'll see on Grady Gross, but...
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_02: I honestly,
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_02: as I thought about those names,
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_02: I kind of thought like, well,
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_02: I'm sure at the conclusion of last season,
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_02: if they'd known Tai Tai Uyunglele had a fifth year, hell yeah, take him back.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_02: Are you kidding me?
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_02: Started every game for them.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_02: He's one of their guys, right?
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_02: They recruited him in 2022 at Arizona.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_02: But thinking about it a couple of weeks ago,
• 39:37
  SPEAKER_02: I kind of thought like, well, gee, I don't, I don't know.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_02: They, they rebuilt that room.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_02: They added a bunch of new transfers.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_02: They seem pretty happy with what they've got.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_02: So I was only surprised in the sense that like, is there room for him?
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_02: Do they,
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_02: do they see a role for him now at that position in particular,
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_02: if someone wants to come back and you know,
• 40:00
  SPEAKER_02: the program is at a place and he's at a place where like,
• 40:03
  SPEAKER_02: I would imagine there was not a tremendous financial component to that.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_02: It's been said many times already in regards to this court ruling that
• 40:13
  SPEAKER_02: the money is spent at most programs.
• 40:15
  SPEAKER_02: It's August, right?
• 40:16
  SPEAKER_02: You've put together your team.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_02: If you've had room in the budget, you've used it.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know, though.
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 40:23
  SPEAKER_02: I won't pretend to know the details there.
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_02: So if a guy's choosing between, like, well,
• 40:27
  SPEAKER_02: do I go back to school or do I, like,
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_02: Either continue holding out for a pro contract or just like enter the workforce,
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_02: right?
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_02: Like go get a job.
• 40:35
  SPEAKER_02: What does the money look like?
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_02: It's a consideration.
• 40:38
  SPEAKER_02: So I just,
• 40:38
  SPEAKER_02: I thinking about all that together,
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, yeah,
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_02: I don't mean Ty Ty is one who really that would make sense,
• 40:43
  SPEAKER_02: but is there room and does it, does it make sense for both parties and.
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, he felt like it did.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, that's one more guy, right?
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_02: Like they added Joseph Pico out of nowhere to their 2026 recruiting class.
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_02: And it was kind of like,
• 40:58
  SPEAKER_02: man, that's a huge D-line class, but also like it's the interior D-line.
• 41:02
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you just,
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_02: the more you add,
• 41:04
  SPEAKER_02: the more opportunity you have for one of those guys to develop
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_02: into something special, the more fresh bodies you have to rotate through there.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_02: You're not worrying about redshirting anybody anymore.
• 41:11
  SPEAKER_02: So even if You know,
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_02: you got someone you feel like you can get four or five snaps a game out of
• 41:15
  SPEAKER_02: and it's going to help you like and certainly Ty Ty is,
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_02: you know, the expectation for him will be greater than that.
• 41:21
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, that suddenly turns into a very interesting competition on the interior.
• 41:25
  SPEAKER_02: I still would bet a lot of money on Alenius Davis and Derek Coleman Brusa beginning
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_02: the year as the starters, but.
• 41:31
  SPEAKER_02: Darren Conley,
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_02: Deshaun Watts, we're still waiting to see Kai McClendon come back from his injury.
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_02: He's been limited, but has been suiting up.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_02: Omar Khan looks like he's taking a step forward.
• 41:40
  SPEAKER_02: You throw Uyunglele into there with all the experience and the knowledge
• 41:44
  SPEAKER_02: that he's got,
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_02: and suddenly that's starting to look like a room
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_02: that could go six deep pretty easily.
• 41:51
  SPEAKER_03: I'll be very interested to see after NFL training camp cutdowns,
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_03: if you see players who are in that same boat with a year of eligibility who sue
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_03: to try and have eligibility reinstated.
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_03: Clear the NCAA or the position of college football is going to be,
• 42:09
  SPEAKER_03: hey, once you sign a pro contract, it's done.
• 42:11
  SPEAKER_03: But you had the weirdness with the basketball players last year, and it was...
• 42:16
  SPEAKER_03: Foreign-born players who had signed and in some cases played two-way
• 42:21
  SPEAKER_03: or G League contracts who had eligibility restored.
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_03: But I don't think we've seen the last of the court cases attempting
• 42:28
  SPEAKER_03: to restore eligibility for players this year.
• 42:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, the ruling that gave all 2022 signees a fifth year of eligibility,
• 42:37
  SPEAKER_02: which, by the way, the NCAA has not relented on.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_02: Like, they're not doing the JUCO thing where they're like, okay, fine, blanket waiver.
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_02: Like, they're still...
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_02: There's still an appeal pending here, so it's never over, right?
• 42:49
  SPEAKER_02: But this judge's ruling, this injunction, specifically does not supersede other NCAA rules.
• 42:58
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 42:59
  SPEAKER_02: So in theory, like a player returning could only return to the school they were at, right?
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_02: It doesn't give them the ability to enter the transfer portal outside of
• 43:09
  SPEAKER_02: the NCAA's portal windows, although as we know, that seems sort of fungible to...
• 43:13
  SPEAKER_02: I wouldn't be surprised to see somebody challenge that.
• 43:17
  SPEAKER_02: And it specified that players who have signed pro contracts are not eligible to return.
• 43:23
  SPEAKER_02: But that's just one judge's ruling.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_02: It's just one injunction.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_02: Like you said, we are sure to see after cutdowns, someone try that in court.
• 43:33
  SPEAKER_02: But then you're getting to the point where it's getting pretty late before a season starts.
• 43:39
  SPEAKER_02: It is.
• 43:41
  SPEAKER_02: But those guys are better players.
• 43:44
  SPEAKER_03: If they signed a pro contract.
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_02: That's the other thing with Ty Ty.
• 43:48
  SPEAKER_02: He's been trying to make a pro roster, right?
• 43:51
  SPEAKER_02: He just hasn't.
• 43:52
  SPEAKER_02: So he's, I'm sure, been working out and practicing to whatever extent he can practice.
• 43:58
  SPEAKER_02: And this isn't someone who's put football in the rear view for a number of weeks
• 44:02
  SPEAKER_02: and now all of a sudden has to get back in game shape.
• 44:04
  SPEAKER_02: I would imagine that...
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_02: Everyone else,
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_02: most everyone else in his situation who is trying to do the same thing,
• 44:11
  SPEAKER_02: you know, there's probably not like a huge physical ramping up necessarily.
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 44:18
  SPEAKER_03: Just watch what was happening with the Little League in Tulsa.
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_03: A team from Tulsa got kicked out of,
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_03: I think it's their regional, it's like the cluster of states.
• 44:31
  SPEAKER_03: I think West Texas is who they were supposed to play.
• 44:33
  SPEAKER_03: They were just qualified for using an ineligible player,
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_03: and then it was a series of court cases.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_03: I was like,
• 44:43
  SPEAKER_03: this is,
• 44:46
  SPEAKER_03: I can absolutely see scenarios like that in college football coming
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_03: where players' eligibility will be decided hours before games based on last-minute,
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_03: last-ditch appeals.
• 45:00
  SPEAKER_03: Danny Almonte was born in the wrong era, man.
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_02: He wasn't wrong.
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_02: He was just early.
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_03: All right.
• 45:09
  SPEAKER_03: You want my third question from Ian or the third clip I have
• 45:14
  SPEAKER_03: from Jed Fish's most recent availability?
• 45:17
  SPEAKER_02: Why not both as the gift goes?
• 45:20
  SPEAKER_02: Let's hear the third clip first, though.
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_03: Third clip regards an offensive lineman.
• 45:25
  SPEAKER_00: You know, Colt's very first time snapping the ball was in spring football.
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_00: And it was, I think, like practice six or seven.
• 45:33
  SPEAKER_00: I just kind of woke up one morning and I said to Switz,
• 45:37
  SPEAKER_00: I go, why don't we just get Colt snapping?
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I wrote this in my practice story from Tuesday.
• 45:42
  SPEAKER_00: I do wonder if they're to a point where he's the first guy off the bench at every position.
• 46:10
  SPEAKER_02: Now, Garen Hatchett's not full go yet.
• 46:13
  SPEAKER_02: You know, he's, he'll, he'll battle Champ Talalea at right guard.
• 46:19
  SPEAKER_02: If something were to happen at guard and you have Garen Hatchett fully healthy,
• 46:22
  SPEAKER_02: do you go to Garen Hatchett at guard specifically before you go to Colt Dietrich?
• 46:25
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe.
• 46:27
  SPEAKER_02: But it is seeming like,
• 46:29
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 46:29
  SPEAKER_02: I think the assumption was that, hey, he'd be the first tackle off the bench.
• 46:33
  SPEAKER_02: And I mean, it makes sense, right?
• 46:34
  SPEAKER_02: Like, You have Landon Hatchett coming back as your starting center,
• 46:38
  SPEAKER_02: and Garen Hatchett's got some center experience too.
• 46:42
  SPEAKER_02: But you went out and got Cole Dietrich for a reason in the portal,
• 46:47
  SPEAKER_02: and obviously he came to Washington without any guarantee that he would be starting,
• 46:52
  SPEAKER_02: and it's looking pretty certain that assuming full health for everybody,
• 46:56
  SPEAKER_02: he likely won't be.
• 46:59
  SPEAKER_02: It only makes sense to find ways to get him on the field however possible.
• 47:07
  SPEAKER_02: I've wondered if they wouldn't move John Mills over to left tackle,
• 47:12
  SPEAKER_02: or to right tackle, should something happen to Cody Green or Drew Azeopardi.
• 47:18
  SPEAKER_02: And I had wondered about that backup center spot.
• 47:22
  SPEAKER_02: It's funny, we were talking to Jed Fish in Chicago at Big Ten Media Day, and he was...
• 47:27
  SPEAKER_02: He was sort of going through this, right,
• 47:29
  SPEAKER_02: of like, well,
• 47:29
  SPEAKER_02: we're going to try, like,
• 47:30
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 47:30
  SPEAKER_02: Colts done some snapping, and,
• 47:32
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 47:32
  SPEAKER_02: Jake Flores obviously got all those number one reps at center during the spring,
• 47:36
  SPEAKER_02: and,
• 47:37
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 47:37
  SPEAKER_02: could we move,
• 47:37
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 47:38
  SPEAKER_02: the flexibility of, like,
• 47:39
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 47:40
  SPEAKER_02: talking about eventually, like,
• 47:41
  SPEAKER_02: the eighth,
• 47:42
  SPEAKER_02: ninth guys in the O-line rotation,
• 47:44
  SPEAKER_02: and he kind of stopped,
• 47:45
  SPEAKER_02: and he's like, man,
• 47:46
  SPEAKER_02: remember how we were talking about the offensive line, like,
• 47:49
  SPEAKER_02: the first time we did this in 2024 at Big Ten Media Day, and, like,
• 47:53
  SPEAKER_02: We're going to have three starters who like literally hadn't practiced with the team
• 47:57
  SPEAKER_02: yet, you know, as of August 1st.
• 47:59
  SPEAKER_02: And he's like,
• 47:59
  SPEAKER_02: and now here we are talking about,
• 48:02
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 48:03
  SPEAKER_02: the seventh,
• 48:04
  SPEAKER_02: eighth and ninth guys and how,
• 48:06
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 48:07
  SPEAKER_02: getting legitimate spring practice snaps for our number two and three centers.
• 48:12
  SPEAKER_02: And they got a little more depth, a little more depth than they did in year one.
• 48:17
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, I think you might end up saying quite a bit more than they had last year as well.
• 48:20
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, on both lines, I think that's pretty clear.
• 48:25
  SPEAKER_03: That the depth is significantly improved on both offensive and defensive lines.
• 48:31
  SPEAKER_03: And as good as they are,
• 48:34
  SPEAKER_03: or as good as it looks at some of the skill positions,
• 48:38
  SPEAKER_03: and in their secondary, that you really...
• 48:41
  SPEAKER_03: I think that's probably going to be the biggest improvement on this team,
• 48:44
  SPEAKER_03: is the depth along both lines.
• 48:47
  SPEAKER_02: If we were going to cynically adhere to...
• 48:50
  SPEAKER_02: The overarching assumption that all injuries are worse than anybody is saying.
• 48:56
  SPEAKER_02: Could the Colt-Dietrich at center development be read as...
• 49:03
  SPEAKER_02: Is there a chance Landon Hatchett's not back by the opener?
• 49:06
  SPEAKER_02: Or is there a chance that that return and that recovery is going
• 49:11
  SPEAKER_02: to run up close enough against the season that,
• 49:15
  SPEAKER_02: yes, you need Colt Dietrich to be able to do as much as possible.
• 49:20
  SPEAKER_02: It only benefits the team for him to be able to do as much as possible.
• 49:22
  SPEAKER_02: But is there maybe also some thought given to get someone ready to go if Landon Hatchett can't?
• 49:28
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I would tend to think that.
• 49:31
  SPEAKER_03: And just, I mean,
• 49:32
  SPEAKER_03: Landon's a really good player,
• 49:33
  SPEAKER_03: a really tough player, but he's gone through an awful lot.
• 49:36
  SPEAKER_03: So that was definitely how I read it,
• 49:40
  SPEAKER_03: that it was less last second brainstorm of like,
• 49:43
  SPEAKER_03: hey, let's just try this and see how it looks.
• 49:46
  SPEAKER_03: It was, you know,
• 49:48
  SPEAKER_03: if we're looking at making sure that we have our five best options on the field
• 49:51
  SPEAKER_03: at one time,
• 49:53
  SPEAKER_03: Seeing if Colt Dietrich can play some center and if he can get out there in that,
• 50:01
  SPEAKER_03: that might be something we want to look at depending on how things go with Landon.
• 50:05
  SPEAKER_02: Everything they've said is that it shouldn't be too long for both Landon and Garen Hatchett.
• 50:10
  SPEAKER_02: I don't mean to suggest that it won't be, but just sort of exploring all possibilities.
• 50:15
  SPEAKER_02: That is kind of where my mind goes.
• 50:18
  SPEAKER_03: Ready for our conversation with IP McFarland?
• 50:20
  SPEAKER_02: Let's do it.
• 50:22
  SPEAKER_01: Good morning, guys.
• 50:26
  SPEAKER_01: I sound and look terrible.
• 50:29
  SPEAKER_01: I took my kids to Benson Boone last night.
• 50:38
  SPEAKER_01: Too late for a Monday night,
• 50:41
  SPEAKER_01: and I have the middle-aged tinnitus thing where if you're in a loud room,
• 50:48
  SPEAKER_01: your ears just ring all night and you don't sleep.
• 50:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, credit where credit is due though.
• 50:54
  SPEAKER_01: I, I found him annoying just like every other artist my kids listened to before last night.
• 51:02
  SPEAKER_01: The guy can really sing and he's a hell of an athlete.
• 51:10
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, he's from Monroe.
• 51:13
  SPEAKER_01: If Uyagalole still has eligibility,
• 51:17
  SPEAKER_01: While I doubt Benson Boone has ever thrown or caught a ball of any type
• 51:22
  SPEAKER_01: in his entire life, he might be worth a call.
• 51:27
  SPEAKER_01: Because the guy's vert is insane.
• 51:32
  SPEAKER_01: Neither here nor there.
• 51:34
  SPEAKER_01: Camp is obviously underway.
• 51:42
  SPEAKER_01: The updates early in camp are always kind of all over the place,
• 51:45
  SPEAKER_01: but A lot of positives about the defense I'm seeing from you,
• 51:49
  SPEAKER_01: Christian, which is great to hear.
• 51:52
  SPEAKER_01: And brings me to my question,
• 51:55
  SPEAKER_01: is there a player on the roster who you did not have pegged as an NFL player
• 52:02
  SPEAKER_01: that you think now is?
• 52:05
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, some of the guys that come in are really, really highly touted.
• 52:08
  SPEAKER_01: You kind of say, okay, well, they're on track to be an NFL player if they just stay on track.
• 52:16
  SPEAKER_01: Alex McLaughlin comes to mind.
• 52:19
  SPEAKER_01: He's obviously a great playmaker.
• 52:21
  SPEAKER_01: He's a good athlete.
• 52:23
  SPEAKER_01: Size is good enough.
• 52:26
  SPEAKER_01: Is he going to play in the NFL?
• 52:28
  SPEAKER_01: And are there others that fit that bill?
• 52:33
  SPEAKER_01: I am going to go to sleep.
• 52:37
  SPEAKER_01: And it's morning as I record this.
• 52:41
  SPEAKER_01: Hope you guys have a good day.
• 52:42
  SPEAKER_01: Go Dawgs.
• 52:43
  SPEAKER_02: McLaughlin's a good answer.
• 52:45
  SPEAKER_02: I have another guy who comes to mind, but I'm curious what you would say.
• 52:48
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 52:48
  SPEAKER_03: First of all, what a good daddy in his.
• 52:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 52:52
  SPEAKER_02: Taking his kids to go see Benson Boone.
• 52:54
  SPEAKER_02: Just wearing it.
• 52:58
  SPEAKER_03: Coming back past midnight.
• 53:01
  SPEAKER_03: Sending in his video.
• 53:02
  SPEAKER_03: Good for him.
• 53:03
  SPEAKER_03: Good for him.
• 53:05
  SPEAKER_03: McLaughlin is a good candidate, especially because...
• 53:09
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I don't know how Alex McLaughlin is going to run,
• 53:12
  SPEAKER_03: but the one thing about players like him, it would be the same way for Miles Bryant.
• 53:18
  SPEAKER_03: Like, Miles Bryant has had a great NFL career because he is a solid tackling,
• 53:22
  SPEAKER_03: like, physical player.
• 53:24
  SPEAKER_03: Like, guys like that, you make your money on special teams.
• 53:28
  SPEAKER_03: We're players like that.
• 53:33
  SPEAKER_03: Who's another guy that I would think?
• 53:37
  SPEAKER_03: I mean,
• 53:38
  SPEAKER_03: Desmond Roebuck is such a good athlete that I'd hesitate to say that he would be
• 53:45
  SPEAKER_03: a surprise when you're a true freshman and making the catches and having
• 53:48
  SPEAKER_03: the productivity that he was.
• 54:00
  SPEAKER_03: There's not one that jumps off of this team.
• 54:04
  SPEAKER_03: I mean...
• 54:09
  SPEAKER_03: Rainy Saleh, but he's a pretty highly regarded recruit, right?
• 54:13
  SPEAKER_03: I think Rainy Saleh's frame is big enough.
• 54:18
  SPEAKER_03: I'll be very curious to see how his college career goes.
• 54:25
  SPEAKER_03: Who's the name that's jumping off for you?
• 54:27
  SPEAKER_02: So the first guy, just in terms of like...
• 54:31
  SPEAKER_02: You watch him through his first spring and camp and the start of the season.
• 54:37
  SPEAKER_02: And if someone were to tell you this guy will be an NFL draft pick next year,
• 54:41
  SPEAKER_02: you'd be like, hmm, that's not necessarily what we're seeing right now.
• 54:46
  SPEAKER_02: But that now I'd be very confident in saying is X-Ray Alexander.
• 54:51
  SPEAKER_02: Ooh.
• 54:52
  SPEAKER_02: Because they brought him in from the portal last year, I think, to be a starter.
• 54:58
  SPEAKER_03: Uh-huh.
• 54:59
  SPEAKER_02: And he wasn't.
• 55:01
  SPEAKER_02: He was playing behind Devin Bryant.
• 55:03
  SPEAKER_02: He was coming off the bench.
• 55:05
  SPEAKER_02: He was playing special teams.
• 55:06
  SPEAKER_02: I think he had a really good attitude about it,
• 55:08
  SPEAKER_02: but it was probably not what they were expecting of him right off the bat.
• 55:13
  SPEAKER_02: Buddha Alukta, day one starter, picks up everything.
• 55:16
  SPEAKER_02: He was kind of one of the leaders of the defense last year before he got hurt.
• 55:20
  SPEAKER_02: I know I've written this and mentioned this before,
• 55:23
  SPEAKER_02: but it's funny we talk about all this proven experience they have at linebacker,
• 55:28
  SPEAKER_02: and yet their two starters for day one last year were Devin Bryant and Buda Alukta,
• 55:33
  SPEAKER_02: and that's not going to be their starting duo this year.
• 55:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 55:37
  SPEAKER_02: But as the season went along,
• 55:39
  SPEAKER_02: the athleticism and the size was always there for X-Ray Alexander.
• 55:42
  SPEAKER_02: And the size and athleticism to do different things, right?
• 55:45
  SPEAKER_02: To play inside backer,
• 55:47
  SPEAKER_02: to blitz off the air,
• 55:48
  SPEAKER_02: to line up on the edge and rush the quarterback and return to kickoff in
• 55:53
  SPEAKER_02: the LA Bowl.
• 55:54
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 55:56
  SPEAKER_02: But I think it took him a while to kind of pick up the defense and handle things
• 56:00
  SPEAKER_02: the way that they wanted him handled and with all the different responsibilities
• 56:03
  SPEAKER_02: and everything.
• 56:03
  SPEAKER_02: And so other guys played over him.
• 56:05
  SPEAKER_02: He had a great attitude about it.
• 56:06
  SPEAKER_02: He kept working.
• 56:08
  SPEAKER_02: He eventually learned the playbook really well.
• 56:11
  SPEAKER_02: Buddha goes down, so they need someone to step up and play.
• 56:14
  SPEAKER_02: And he was one of their more productive players.
• 56:17
  SPEAKER_02: In certain games, the very most productive defensive player.
• 56:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 56:21
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, through the back half of the schedule last year.
• 56:23
  SPEAKER_02: And it was,
• 56:23
  SPEAKER_02: I think really like,
• 56:24
  SPEAKER_02: it was cool for him for that to all culminate with a bowl game MVP.
• 56:28
  SPEAKER_02: And he's got two picks in that game and he returns the kickoff and he's just kind
• 56:32
  SPEAKER_02: of all over the place.
• 56:34
  SPEAKER_02: And, uh,
• 56:35
  SPEAKER_02: He didn't have to pack up a U-Haul and move this offseason,
• 56:38
  SPEAKER_02: unlike his first two offseasons in college, transferring a couple of times.
• 56:42
  SPEAKER_02: And so like,
• 56:43
  SPEAKER_02: I think he goes into this year now thinking,
• 56:46
  SPEAKER_02: I talked to him a little bit at their pre-camp media day here locally about, hey,
• 56:50
  SPEAKER_02: you're You're one of the guys who's going to get a fifth year,
• 56:52
  SPEAKER_02: who otherwise you would have been a fourth year senior this year.
• 56:54
  SPEAKER_02: He never redshirted.
• 56:54
  SPEAKER_02: And are you thinking about this?
• 56:56
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, do you think you might come back in 2027?
• 56:57
  SPEAKER_02: And he was like, oh, it's just, you know, kind of depends how it goes.
• 57:00
  SPEAKER_02: He's like,
• 57:01
  SPEAKER_02: if I blow up,
• 57:02
  SPEAKER_02: you know, he's like, no, when I, when I blow up this year, when I have a great year.
• 57:05
  SPEAKER_02: I
• 57:08
  SPEAKER_02: think he's got his eyes on the NFL and more to the point on having the kind
• 57:13
  SPEAKER_02: of season that will put him in position to be drafted high enough
• 57:17
  SPEAKER_02: to feel like that's the right decision to go pro after this.
• 57:20
  SPEAKER_02: He said he would definitely be open to coming back if that's the right thing also.
• 57:28
  SPEAKER_02: But he's someone who I don't know if I thought we'd necessarily be talking about
• 57:32
  SPEAKER_02: that way this time last year,
• 57:34
  SPEAKER_02: where it was like, oh,
• 57:35
  SPEAKER_02: it kind of looks like Devin Bryant is going to get that other second linebacker job.
• 57:39
  SPEAKER_02: And he did.
• 57:40
  SPEAKER_03: That is a great call.
• 57:42
  SPEAKER_03: Because he probably had X-Ray Alexander...
• 57:46
  SPEAKER_03: And there were some younger players who moved in and increased their playing time
• 57:50
  SPEAKER_03: over the course of the season.
• 57:52
  SPEAKER_03: But that was more like, OK, that's a freshman getting up to speed.
• 57:55
  SPEAKER_03: That's a younger guy getting an opportunity.
• 57:57
  SPEAKER_03: X-Ray Alexander probably of veterans saw his role grow the most just out
• 58:04
  SPEAKER_03: of getting familiarized over the course of last season.
• 58:06
  SPEAKER_03: Because he became a player for them over the course of the season.
• 58:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it wasn't just like, oh, he's holding his own.
• 58:14
  SPEAKER_02: He was a value add.
• 58:16
  SPEAKER_02: He was a plus performer, right?
• 58:20
  SPEAKER_02: They were better defensively because of how much better he got throughout the year.
• 58:24
  SPEAKER_02: So if they gave away a Most Improved Player award, I got to think he'd have won it on whether...
• 58:34
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I guess I was going to say team-wide,
• 58:36
  SPEAKER_02: I think Drew as a party would also be in that conversation offensively.
• 58:41
  SPEAKER_02: Drew as a party and X-Ray Alexander are two guys who at the start of last year,
• 58:46
  SPEAKER_02: you're kind of wondering what's it going to look like this year.
• 58:49
  SPEAKER_02: As a party turned into a really good right tackle who is now also a plus player,
• 58:54
  SPEAKER_02: a value add, a guy who if you took off the field, they'd be worse for it.
• 58:59
  SPEAKER_02: And X-Ray Alexander is the same way, a linebacker.
• 59:02
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, as a party is probably the,
• 59:05
  SPEAKER_03: like if you pick X-Ray Alexander,
• 59:07
  SPEAKER_03: it's probably as a party is the one that I would choose because he's,
• 59:16
  SPEAKER_03: what you saw from him after the initial transfer,
• 59:19
  SPEAKER_03: it was kind of like, okay, he might not be a long-term fit.
• 59:22
  SPEAKER_01: He might not be the guy that you might have to upgrade over the top of him.
• 59:27
  SPEAKER_03: And instead, he's really grown into the role.
• 59:30
  SPEAKER_03: He's really grown into being...
• 59:34
  SPEAKER_03: A strong, and like you said, plus.
• 59:37
  SPEAKER_03: Drew Azapardi has developed since being at Washington.
• 59:42
  SPEAKER_03: Whereas when you first got there,
• 59:43
  SPEAKER_03: you're like, okay, man, there was so much churn at offensive line.
• 59:47
  SPEAKER_03: You're like, that might get turned over more.
• 59:49
  SPEAKER_03: And he's really grown into the role he's in.
• 59:52
  SPEAKER_03: Plus, it looks like he's kind of the, he's got a little bit of the edge.
• 59:57
  SPEAKER_03: He's got a little bit of the edge on that offensive line.
• 59:59
  SPEAKER_02: The red ass.
• 1:00:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, the red ass.
• 1:00:03
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and I,
• 1:00:03
  SPEAKER_02: you know, I,
• 1:00:05
  SPEAKER_02: I think you give the coaching staff some credit there too,
• 1:00:07
  SPEAKER_02: that in this era,
• 1:00:09
  SPEAKER_02: their conclusion after 2024 was not, we need a different right tackle.
• 1:00:14
  SPEAKER_02: Their conclusion was drew as a party can be a much better player than this, right?
• 1:00:19
  SPEAKER_02: He drew as a party is capable of great improvement and we're going
• 1:00:22
  SPEAKER_02: to put everything,
• 1:00:23
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 1:00:24
  SPEAKER_02: we're going to put, lay the challenge down for him to, to, to do it this off season.
• 1:00:27
  SPEAKER_02: And he met it, right?
• 1:00:28
  SPEAKER_02: He talked, they did a lot of yoga.
• 1:00:29
  SPEAKER_02: He worked on flexibility and, And got stronger.
• 1:00:32
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, he, he had that belief in himself too.
• 1:00:35
  SPEAKER_02: I spoke with him a little bit at the local media day and he just said like,
• 1:00:38
  SPEAKER_02: no, like I knew, I knew I could play at this level.
• 1:00:40
  SPEAKER_02: I knew that I was a better player than that.
• 1:00:43
  SPEAKER_02: And obviously like the coaching staff saw It's allowed.
• 1:00:46
  SPEAKER_02: It's allowed?
• 1:00:47
  SPEAKER_02: It's permissible?
• 1:00:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 1:01:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, there was an injunction issued recently that said development is still okay
• 1:01:20
  SPEAKER_02: in college football.
• 1:01:23
  SPEAKER_03: Dave Wyman used to have this very funny story.
• 1:01:25
  SPEAKER_03: I can't remember the dude he was with.
• 1:01:27
  SPEAKER_03: It was another linebacker.
• 1:01:29
  SPEAKER_03: But they were watching film,
• 1:01:30
  SPEAKER_03: and in one of the plays, a linebacker just kind of demolished a guard.
• 1:01:36
  SPEAKER_03: And he was kind of like, you're allowed to do that?
• 1:01:40
  SPEAKER_03: And Wyman said he turned to me and goes, yeah, actually, it's encouraged.
• 1:01:44
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:01:47
  SPEAKER_02: So Lorenzo Romar, I think it was Quincy Pondexter he's talking about, right?
• 1:01:51
  SPEAKER_02: Quincy thought he was going to be one and done,
• 1:01:54
  SPEAKER_02: didn't have the kind of freshman year he probably thought he was going to have.
• 1:01:57
  SPEAKER_02: He's a big-time recruit in that big-time recruiting class they had
• 1:02:00
  SPEAKER_02: with Spencer Hawes and Adrian Oliver and Phil Nelson, I believe.
• 1:02:04
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, a little better as a sophomore, but still not an NBA player.
• 1:02:08
  SPEAKER_02: And then pretty good as a junior, but not a first round pick.
• 1:02:13
  SPEAKER_02: And then really,
• 1:02:14
  SPEAKER_02: really good as a senior,
• 1:02:16
  SPEAKER_02: you know, probably should have been conference player of the year.
• 1:02:18
  SPEAKER_02: First round draft pick.
• 1:02:20
  SPEAKER_02: And I remember Lorenzo Romar being like, you know, that used to be okay.
• 1:02:23
  SPEAKER_02: That used to be okay for a guy to come in and like not be as good
• 1:02:27
  SPEAKER_02: as everyone thought he was going to be as a freshman and then get better and better
• 1:02:30
  SPEAKER_02: and better.
• 1:02:30
  SPEAKER_02: And then like by the time he's a senior, wouldn't you know it?
• 1:02:33
  SPEAKER_02: He's a really good basketball player, probably the best player in the league.
• 1:02:36
  SPEAKER_02: And become a first round pick and just have a four-year college career
• 1:02:40
  SPEAKER_02: where you progressively get better every year.
• 1:02:42
  SPEAKER_02: Like that used to be okay.
• 1:02:43
  SPEAKER_02: Not okay anymore, you know?
• 1:02:45
  SPEAKER_02: And that was before money got introduced, or at least legal money got introduced.
• 1:02:48
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, but it's also...
• 1:02:50
  SPEAKER_03: It's before money, but it was also...
• 1:02:54
  SPEAKER_03: There was an understanding that guys develop at different paces.
• 1:02:59
  SPEAKER_03: And I don't think there is that same understanding.
• 1:03:03
  SPEAKER_03: I think that most people...
• 1:03:05
  SPEAKER_03: I think it is increasingly common... Well...
• 1:03:09
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, as I'm thinking about it.
• 1:03:11
  SPEAKER_03: So some of it is, it used to be that way because the transfer rules were so difficult.
• 1:03:15
  SPEAKER_03: It was harder to leave.
• 1:03:16
  SPEAKER_03: And so now you can,
• 1:03:18
  SPEAKER_03: if things don't go the way you thought your first year,
• 1:03:22
  SPEAKER_03: and this goes both ways because coaches do this too,
• 1:03:26
  SPEAKER_03: of moving a guy out or a player moving on and like, okay, this didn't pan out.
• 1:03:30
  SPEAKER_03: If I'm sort of in the same spot I was 12 months ago,
• 1:03:35
  SPEAKER_03: why wouldn't I go somewhere and see if a change of scenery Pelskies are back
• 1:03:38
  SPEAKER_03: at practice Thursday morning.
• 1:04:03
  SPEAKER_02: So perhaps as you're listening to this,
• 1:04:04
  SPEAKER_02: I'll be journeying up I-5 for hopefully another sunny
• 1:04:11
  SPEAKER_02: training camp practice on
• 1:04:12
  SPEAKER_02: the East practice field.
• 1:04:14
  SPEAKER_03: And regardless, it will be temperate because it's training camp in Seattle, which is lovely.
• 1:04:18
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 1:04:19
  SPEAKER_02: Even if it's 90 degrees.
• 1:04:20
  SPEAKER_02: I will say though,
• 1:04:21
  SPEAKER_02: these first few practices are the only time I can remember where I check
• 1:04:26
  SPEAKER_02: the forecast and it actually feels warmer than At the East Practice Field,
• 1:04:32
  SPEAKER_02: on the water, then the forecast says the temperature should be.
• 1:04:36
  SPEAKER_02: Usually if it says 75, I'm like, oh, it's going to feel about 62 out there.
• 1:04:41
  SPEAKER_02: So I probably need,
• 1:04:42
  SPEAKER_02: like my rule has always been like,
• 1:04:44
  SPEAKER_02: the forecast has to be 80 for me to not bring a sweatshirt.
• 1:04:49
  SPEAKER_02: But it's been the other way around.
• 1:04:50
  SPEAKER_02: The humidity's been a little stickier these last couple of practices, but that's okay.
• 1:04:54
  SPEAKER_02: It's still been quite pleasant out there.
• 1:04:57
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah.
• 1:04:59
  SPEAKER_02: We'll figure next week out.
• 1:05:00
  SPEAKER_02: There's an off day in there that's not on Wednesday.
• 1:05:03
  SPEAKER_02: It happened to fall on our normal recording schedule this week.
• 1:05:05
  SPEAKER_02: So maybe we go early next week.
• 1:05:09
  SPEAKER_02: But we will talk to you next week.
• 1:05:11
  SPEAKER_02: Of that, I am sure.
• 1:05:13
  SPEAKER_02: Peace.