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11-4 H2: 12th Man News, Fact or Fiction & Keep or Cut · Chuck in the Morning

• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Chuck in the morning, Sports Radio 93.3 KJR FM. Headlines
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: are brought to you by Frostbrood Coors Light. Cold as
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: the Rockies here at 7 o'clock on a Wednesday morning.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: As I mentioned earlier last segment, the college football rankings
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  Speaker 1: have been released.
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  Speaker 2: The top five are as follows.
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  Speaker 1: Miami number one, Georgia number two, Utah number three, Indiana
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  Speaker 1: number four, and Alabama number five. At this point, Ohio
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: State would actually be out of the college football playoff.
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  Speaker 1: If it ended today, an undefeated UCLA is also number eight,
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  Speaker 1: which was a surprising part of things going on there.
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  Speaker 1: The Seahawks gear up for a game against the Arizona
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: Cardinals on Sunday. Apparently, Brandon Ayuk has applied to be
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: reinstated and plans to report to the 49ers on Friday.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson is in concussion protocol today. The
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: status versus the Saints is unclear. The Ravens have announced
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: that their backup quarterback, Tyler Huntley, is also out for
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  Speaker 1: the season. Just a lot going on there in Baltimore.
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: All of a sudden, there's just a ton of backup
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  Speaker 1: quarterbacks playing there. Russell Wilson interviews to be the head
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  Speaker 1: coach of NC State with also Phillip Rivers as another
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  Speaker 1: candidate for that job. The Kraken play the Calgary Flames
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  Speaker 1: later tonight. But first, let's talk to Greg Bell about
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: some Seahawks right now.
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  Speaker 3: As part of our continuing NFL coverage for the 12th man.
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: This is 12th Man News, part of Chuck's daily visit
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: with our own Greg Bell. Brought to you by Emerald
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: Queen Casino, bringing you the best in live music, entertainment, dining,
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  Speaker 3: and gaming. Emerald Queen Casino, always entertaining.
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  Speaker 2: For more info, visit EmeraldQueen.com. Good morning, Greg.
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  Speaker 4: Good morning.
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  Speaker 2: All right.
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: I want an update on the injury status of Mr.
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: Greg Bell. Are we probable, questionable, out, or are you
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: going on IR?
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  Speaker 4: That's about the only one I can give you since
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  Speaker 4: the Seahawks are off yesterday. They're better. He's better. He's
• 2:27
  Speaker 4: not going on injury reserve. Onward. On to the next.
• 2:31
  Speaker 4: All right.
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  Speaker 1: Good, good, good. You're playing hurt, so to speak. So
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  Speaker 1: a lot of people do at this time of year.
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  Speaker 1: Let's dive right into it, sir, because, I mean, there's
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  Speaker 1: discussions around not just fans. I think it's... seeping into
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  Speaker 1: analysts now about Brian Fleury's job status. Is there any
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  Speaker 1: sort of question with that on the line at this
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  Speaker 1: point in the season, the Seahawks 4-4 and the offense sputtering?
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  Speaker 4: Not to me. It would be against Mike McDonald's leadership
• 3:02
  Speaker 4: principles to get rid of someone at midseason. It would
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  Speaker 4: also tell the locker room that he's panicking, and I
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  Speaker 4: don't think he's doing that. He wants to get back
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  Speaker 4: to an aggressive, dictating approach on offense, and to do
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  Speaker 4: that you have to run the ball, and you have
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  Speaker 4: to run the ball effectively so that you have the
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  Speaker 4: ball more than 27 plays through three quarters like they
• 3:22
  Speaker 4: did against the Bears. So they have to block better
• 3:26
  Speaker 4: and run better, simply. And it'll help if Jeffrey Simmons
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  Speaker 4: is not standing in their way. That's really what is
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  Speaker 4: going to help them against Arizona this week. They will
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  Speaker 4: run the ball more often because they're going to run
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  Speaker 4: the ball more successfully on early downs. The game will
• 3:41
  Speaker 4: look more offensively like Mike McDonald wants him to look,
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  Speaker 4: which will get him to move the Seahawks way and
• 3:47
  Speaker 4: the things that he's been talking about since the end
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  Speaker 4: of the Chicago game about it not looking like us.
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  Speaker 4: It's going to look more like them against Arizona and
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  Speaker 4: probably against Las Vegas the week after that. The question is,
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  Speaker 4: can they look like themselves against the best teams in
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  Speaker 4: the NFC right now? And so far that answer has
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  Speaker 4: been no. They've lost to Chicago. They've lost to San Francisco. Yes,
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  Speaker 4: they beat Kansas City, but they'll never see them again.
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  Speaker 4: So the teams they have to beat to get into
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  Speaker 4: and deep into the playoffs, can they play their way
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  Speaker 4: and beat them is the biggest concern for the Seahawks
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  Speaker 4: right now. We won't know the answer to that until
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  Speaker 4: Thanksgiving weekend when they go back to Santa Clara.
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  Speaker 2: I can't remember the last time I asked you questions, Greg,
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  Speaker 2: but nonetheless.
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  Speaker 4: Man, I go on time, man. I always appreciate this.
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  Speaker 5: The Seahawks, they have definitely struggled to establish the run.
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  Speaker 5: A consistent running game, I should say. Having their running
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  Speaker 5: backs healthy again. Do you believe their primary issues are
• 4:49
  Speaker 5: the offensive line? Is it Brian Flory? Offensive scheme? Or
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  Speaker 5: the running backs execution? I won't put Sam on there.
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  Speaker 2: He's okay. Running game only.
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  Speaker 3: Okay. Yeah.
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  Speaker 4: I think the running backs have been a huge part
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  Speaker 4: of the problem. Before, it was Emmanuel Wilson miscast. He's
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  Speaker 4: supposed to be a short yardage back. He's trying to
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  Speaker 4: reach wide zones in the holes. The lanes disappeared before
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  Speaker 4: he got there. He just wasn't quick enough to get there.
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  Speaker 4: Against the Bears, they did have Jadarian Price and Zach
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  Speaker 4: Charbonnet on a pitch count, obviously. Charbonnet only six carries
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  Speaker 4: and disappeared for about four series in a row from
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  Speaker 4: the end of the first quarter to deep in the
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  Speaker 4: third quarter. That's not going to be the same going
• 5:29
  Speaker 4: forward if Charbonnet responds his leg and Reconstructed Knee responds
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  Speaker 4: okay from Monday night, he'll get more than six carries
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  Speaker 4: against Arizona and Las Vegas. So it can only get better. Now,
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  Speaker 4: whether they run effectively will prove whether they run the
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  Speaker 4: ball more. And if they run the ball more, we've
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  Speaker 4: seen now for a couple seasons that Sam Darnold is
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  Speaker 4: so much better at quarterbacking and not turning the ball
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  Speaker 4: over and making mistakes when he has a running game.
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  Speaker 4: and he doesn't hold the ball as long, which means
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  Speaker 4: he's not as prone to getting as pressured, which means
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  Speaker 4: he's throwing it on time and getting the ball out,
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  Speaker 4: which means he's not getting thrown to the other team
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  Speaker 4: or he's not getting sacked. It's a simplistic way to
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  Speaker 4: look at it, but if they can run the ball effectively,
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  Speaker 4: they'll run the ball more, and if they run the
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  Speaker 4: ball more, Sam Donald's a better quarterback. Sam Donald won't
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  Speaker 4: turn the ball over. If they don't turn the ball over,
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  Speaker 4: they have a defense that can win most games. Now,
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  Speaker 4: having said that, the defense let them down against the
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  Speaker 4: Bears as well. But if they can run the ball
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  Speaker 4: and not turn the ball over, they're going to win
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  Speaker 4: most games. Most teams they play with their defense, it's
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  Speaker 4: not going to be the Bears and Ben Johnson and
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  Speaker 4: Caleb Williams every week.
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  Speaker 1: Speaking about the run game a little bit more, are
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  Speaker 1: you surprised that Emmanuel Wilson didn't get a single touch
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  Speaker 1: on Monday Night Football?
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  Speaker 2: Not saying that he should have been the.
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  Speaker 1: Featured back, right, with both Price and Charbonnet back, but
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  Speaker 1: A guy that ran for 100 yards not getting a
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  Speaker 1: single touch the following game is a little surprising to me.
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  Speaker 4: Yes, I think I was surprised. Probably he was surprised.
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  Speaker 4: But again, they only had 27 runs through three quarters,
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  Speaker 4: and they only had 17 total runs by running backs
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  Speaker 4: in the entire game. So if you're going to give
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  Speaker 4: Price 10 of them and you're going to give Charbonnet
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  Speaker 4: an even limited pitch count, that's not many reps left.
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  Speaker 4: And that's all because they had so many drives that
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  Speaker 4: were three and out. Five of their first nine possessions
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  Speaker 4: were three and out. And was it three of their
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  Speaker 4: first five were three and out, and the fourth one
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  Speaker 4: was a four-play drive. So you're not getting into much
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  Speaker 4: of any of your playbook. If you run one of
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  Speaker 4: those downs and try to throw for the first down
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  Speaker 4: on two of them, you're running the ball once every
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  Speaker 4: 20 minutes of real lifetime. That's– I talked after the
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  Speaker 4: game to Charbonnet and Price about that, and they said, yeah, man,
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  Speaker 4: it's tough for an offense and a running back to
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  Speaker 4: get in any kind of rhythm when you're running once
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  Speaker 4: every half hour. So that's the big problem here. Donald
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  Speaker 4: outlined this after the game. Be better on first and
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  Speaker 4: second downs so the third downs are makeable and we
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  Speaker 4: don't go one for 11 on third down. They went
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  Speaker 4: from 10 of their first 12 against the Chiefs on
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  Speaker 4: third down because most of them were third and eight
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  Speaker 4: Excuse me, third and three and third and four. They
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  Speaker 4: got converted a couple long ones against Kansas City, too.
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  Speaker 4: But they went from 10 for 12 to 1 for 11.
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  Speaker 4: And that's how you lose. When you're 1 for 11
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  Speaker 4: on third down and you're putting the ball back to
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  Speaker 4: the other team all the time, field position's not in
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  Speaker 4: your favor. The defense is coming back out on the
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  Speaker 4: field after just coming off of it. They had to
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  Speaker 4: go right back on the field after a.
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  Speaker 4: Eight and a half minutes, 17 play drive after the
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  Speaker 4: Bears scored their first touchdown. So that's the whole complimentary
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  Speaker 4: football that we all roll our eyes when we hear
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  Speaker 4: Mike McDonald say, but there is truth to it. If
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  Speaker 4: the offense isn't doing its part, the defense suffers. That's
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  Speaker 4: a lot of what went on the other night.
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  Speaker 5: Greg, how much time do you think it will take
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  Speaker 5: for Quentin Nelson and Gray's able to develop chemistry on
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  Speaker 5: the O-line and how significant could that partnership be to
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  Speaker 5: the Seahawks' offense success moving forward.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, Chris, I think everyone, maybe even Zabel, underestimated how
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  Speaker 4: difficult it was for him to go from left guard
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  Speaker 4: to right guard in the middle of a game week.
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  Speaker 4: And he said it after the game. I'm not making excuses,
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  Speaker 4: but it was different. And there were some things that
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  Speaker 4: he didn't get right. And there were a couple times
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  Speaker 4: Jeffrey Simmons blew right by him because his footwork was
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  Speaker 4: all messed up. And he was not off the ball
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  Speaker 4: as quickly as he normally is. Normally, Graves Abel often
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  Speaker 4: gets off the snap quicker than the center does. That's
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  Speaker 4: how quick he is. And he wasn't doing that, which
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  Speaker 4: means he was thinking too much. And any football player
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  Speaker 4: at any position, but especially at the point of attack
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  Speaker 4: on the offensive line, if you're thinking, you're slower. It
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  Speaker 4: takes time to think. instead of move you want to
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  Speaker 4: be able to move instinctively because you're not thinking and
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  Speaker 4: Zabel was thinking so the more he's on the right
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  Speaker 4: side the less he should be having to think at
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  Speaker 4: the snap but I think we all underestimated yeah here
• 10:13
  Speaker 4: comes Quentin Nelson woohoo but we all underestimated moving Ray
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  Speaker 4: Zabel over in the middle of the season.
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: How would you characterize Sam Darnold's 2026 season so far?
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  Speaker 1: I think there's a lot of frustration amongst fans about
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: his inability to really continue to what made him successful
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: last year.
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  Speaker 2: So two-part question here. How would you.
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: Categorize how he's been in 2026? And is it starting
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  Speaker 1: to become a question whether they want to keep him
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  Speaker 1: around next year at a $ 43 million cap hit?
• 10:47
  Speaker 4: Yeah, you nailed it. The word I would use for
• 10:50
  Speaker 4: his performance this season is alarming. And not just alarming
• 10:54
  Speaker 4: for now, but they have a decision to make before
• 10:56
  Speaker 4: next season. Are we going to have him go into
• 10:59
  Speaker 4: his contract year without a new deal? Or is John
• 11:02
  Speaker 4: Schneider going to do what he's done? Does he consider
• 11:05
  Speaker 4: Darnold a foundation guy? And if he didn't consider a
• 11:08
  Speaker 4: foundation guy, he's going to give him a new deal
• 11:10
  Speaker 4: that's been his M.O. The GM's M.O. in 17 years
• 11:13
  Speaker 4: is to give their foundational guys New deals going into
• 11:16
  Speaker 4: the final year of their deal, of their contract. Next
• 11:19
  Speaker 4: year will be the final year of Darnold's contract. Coming
• 11:22
  Speaker 4: out of the Super Bowl, it looked like a $ 50
• 11:23
  Speaker 4: million a year proposition. That was near the top of
• 11:26
  Speaker 4: the quarterback market. Now, they absolutely, McDonald and Snyder, have
• 11:33
  Speaker 4: to be thinking, wait a minute, do we want to
• 11:36
  Speaker 4: pay $ 50 million a year for this? A guy who's
• 11:39
  Speaker 4: second in the NFL with nine interceptions in seven games,
• 11:42
  Speaker 4: one regular season after leading the league in turnovers, or
• 11:46
  Speaker 4: do we think he's the guy who did not have
• 11:47
  Speaker 4: a turnover from Week 18 through the Super Bowl, and
• 11:50
  Speaker 4: so we won all four of those games and won
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  Speaker 4: it all? Which guy is this? And the rest of
• 11:56
  Speaker 4: the league is looking at it and going, is Sam
• 11:58
  Speaker 4: Darnold the guy who played from the front most of
• 12:01
  Speaker 4: the season for a 14-2 Vikings team and threw 4,500 yards,
• 12:04
  Speaker 4: 35 touchdowns, or is he the one who got bludgeoned
• 12:08
  Speaker 4: with nine sacks against the Rams in that playoff game
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  Speaker 4: and then led the league in turnovers last year and
• 12:14
  Speaker 4: is at the top of it again this year. Which
• 12:17
  Speaker 4: guy is this? Is he the guy that's been for
• 12:19
  Speaker 4: the Jets and the Panthers and the seven other years
• 12:22
  Speaker 4: of his career, or is he the 14-2 Vikings and
• 12:26
  Speaker 4: the Super Bowl champion Seahawks version? That's all the calculus
• 12:30
  Speaker 4: going into Snyder and McDonald's decision at quarterback for beyond
• 12:33
  Speaker 4: this year. So this performance and the fact that Seahawks
• 12:37
  Speaker 4: are 4-4 have ramifications down the line. they thought they
• 12:41
  Speaker 4: were set at, coming into this year, they thought they
• 12:43
  Speaker 4: were set at quarterback to 2030 and beyond, right? They
• 12:47
  Speaker 4: were going to have a 29-, 30-year-old quarterback that they'll re-up,
• 12:51
  Speaker 4: a Super Bowl champion, and they're set at the most
• 12:53
  Speaker 4: important position for the foreseeable future. Now, maybe not. And
• 12:58
  Speaker 4: to me, that's where alarming comes in. He's got nine
• 13:01
  Speaker 4: more games to solidify his place on the Seahawks in
• 13:06
  Speaker 4: their plans for well beyond this year. Complicating all of
• 13:09
  Speaker 4: this is, Your backup, who has been splendid every time
• 13:13
  Speaker 4: you've had to use him, Drew Locke, his contract ends
• 13:16
  Speaker 4: after this season. So you don't have that as your
• 13:18
  Speaker 4: fallback plan anymore if he wants to go out and
• 13:21
  Speaker 4: find another job because he's going to be turning 29
• 13:23
  Speaker 4: years old. Is Jalen Milrow your quarterback of the future?
• 13:28
  Speaker 4: Nothing to suggest in the preseasons in the first two
• 13:31
  Speaker 4: years suggests that. So, yeah, they've got a little bit
• 13:34
  Speaker 4: of quandary now. One, do they want Sam Donald to
• 13:37
  Speaker 4: be the guy of the future? And two, how much
• 13:39
  Speaker 4: do we pay him? Is he performing at the top
• 13:41
  Speaker 4: of the $ 50 million a year market right now? No way.
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: All right, Greg.
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  Speaker 5: I've also pivoted in my stance for a trade because
• 13:50
  Speaker 5: I think last week I was thinking of, oh, the
• 13:52
  Speaker 5: Seahawks should just go get another edge rusher in Tui
• 13:56
  Speaker 5: Paloto from the Chargers. He would come in, be fine.
• 13:59
  Speaker 5: You can keep him for long term. But then I
• 14:01
  Speaker 5: look at the offense, and I'm like, oh, my goodness.
• 14:03
  Speaker 5: It's literally number 11, and that's it. So I'm curious, Greg,
• 14:07
  Speaker 5: should the Seahawks really try to get another weapon on
• 14:10
  Speaker 5: the offense? And I know these names are not popular,
• 14:14
  Speaker 5: especially Brian Thomas Jr., who can't seem to catch the
• 14:16
  Speaker 5: football consistently. But what about a Rashad Bateman? Going after
• 14:20
  Speaker 5: a number two, do you think that would actually help
• 14:23
  Speaker 5: this team try to get to the next level, just
• 14:25
  Speaker 5: having another set of eyes, not just on JSN the
• 14:28
  Speaker 5: entire time?
• 14:30
  Speaker 4: I think, Chris, their problem is they need to fix
• 14:33
  Speaker 4: the running game. If that means bringing in another running back,
• 14:36
  Speaker 4: If that means, I don't know what they would do
• 14:38
  Speaker 4: to the offensive line. They've already changed three guys out
• 14:41
  Speaker 4: in three positions this last game. But I don't know
• 14:45
  Speaker 4: that it matters who else they would bring in at
• 14:46
  Speaker 4: wide receiver until they fix the running game. Because Sam
• 14:50
  Speaker 4: Darnold is so affected by having a running game and
• 14:53
  Speaker 4: when he doesn't have one. There's an A.J. Barner still
• 14:56
  Speaker 4: on this team. If he wants defenses to take your
• 14:59
  Speaker 4: retention off of number 11, throw it to the tight
• 15:02
  Speaker 4: end more. Well, to throw it to the tight end more,
• 15:04
  Speaker 4: you need to run the ball more effectively to do
• 15:06
  Speaker 4: some play-action passes to get Barner open other than just
• 15:09
  Speaker 4: on checkdowns. So there's a lot of domino effect that
• 15:14
  Speaker 4: the running game is affecting right now. Their offense basically
• 15:18
  Speaker 4: is run into a brick wall a couple times and
• 15:20
  Speaker 4: then throw it to 11 and hope he makes a
• 15:23
  Speaker 4: stupendous catch against coverage. That's really it. And in the meantime,
• 15:27
  Speaker 4: hope that their quarterback doesn't get hit or thrown interceptions.
• 15:30
  Speaker 4: So they need to get out of the running into
• 15:32
  Speaker 4: a brick wall and hope that the brick walls get
• 15:34
  Speaker 4: blocked for a change. And now they think they have
• 15:38
  Speaker 4: the running backs, now the Price is back to do that.
• 15:41
  Speaker 4: They're putting a lot on Price. He's only had 10
• 15:45
  Speaker 4: carries in the last month and change. But he's the
• 15:48
  Speaker 4: key to the rest of the season. He needs to
• 15:50
  Speaker 4: get back running while they drafted him in the first round.
• 15:52
  Speaker 4: He needs to be healthy until after the game. He
• 15:55
  Speaker 4: didn't feel anything with the ribs. He's fine. Good, good.
• 15:58
  Speaker 4: But ride that guy and see why he's the number
• 16:01
  Speaker 4: one draft pick, why you drafted him to replace Kenneth Walker,
• 16:04
  Speaker 4: and let's see what the running game looks like after
• 16:06
  Speaker 4: a couple games of Price going against Arizona and Las Vegas.
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  Speaker 4: I think it's going to look different. I think they're
• 16:13
  Speaker 4: going to unleash Price. They won't have a governor on
• 16:15
  Speaker 4: him like they did the other night. And if they
• 16:17
  Speaker 4: can just convert a few damn third downs and not
• 16:20
  Speaker 4: be going three and out all the time, the offense
• 16:23
  Speaker 4: will look a lot different. I get why everyone's on Fleury.
• 16:27
  Speaker 4: You go from a Super Bowl-winning coordinator who got a
• 16:29
  Speaker 4: head coaching job his first one to a coordinator who's
• 16:31
  Speaker 4: 4-4 with an offense malfunctioning. Of course he's going to
• 16:34
  Speaker 4: get fingers pointed at him. But he also needs some
• 16:37
  Speaker 4: productivity from the people who are on the field. That's
• 16:40
  Speaker 4: the blockers and the runners.
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: What about the other side of the ball?
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: Rarely, I mean, a lot of discussions have been about
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: the offense, but the defense, I think, had some glaring
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: holes against the Bears on Monday. I still think it's
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: an elite defense, but for whatever reason, Greg, they struggle
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: to keep teams out of the red zone when they
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: get inside the 20.
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  Speaker 2: Why is that?
• 17:02
  Speaker 4: Yeah, they're last in the league in touchdown percentages on
• 17:05
  Speaker 4: red zone. 15 of the last 17 trips opponents have
• 17:08
  Speaker 4: made in the end zone, they've scored touchdowns. They're also
• 17:10
  Speaker 4: 27th right now in third down conversion defense, and that
• 17:14
  Speaker 4: means teams are extending drives to get into the red zone.
• 17:17
  Speaker 4: If you get better on stopping them on third down,
• 17:19
  Speaker 4: they don't even get into the red zone to score touchdowns.
• 17:21
  Speaker 4: So that's two big issues of situational football working against
• 17:24
  Speaker 4: Seattle right now. The guys are talking about the red zone.
• 17:27
  Speaker 4: The defensive players are, man, we need to stop. Those
• 17:30
  Speaker 4: are four-point plays in the red zone, obviously. If you
• 17:33
  Speaker 4: turn them away with field goals, multiple four-point plays win
• 17:37
  Speaker 4: or lose games. and most games are within eight points
• 17:40
  Speaker 4: in the NFL. So two different instances of red zone
• 17:44
  Speaker 4: stops could win you a game. They are keenly focused
• 17:47
  Speaker 4: on that. They got outcoached. Mike McDonald got outcoached in
• 17:53
  Speaker 4: many key situations by Ben Johnson. Ben Johnson and Mike
• 17:56
  Speaker 4: McDonald are two of the best young minds, as we know,
• 17:59
  Speaker 4: on the offensive and defensive sides, and Ben Johnson got
• 18:02
  Speaker 4: him a few times. The biggest defensive play of the
• 18:06
  Speaker 4: game proved to be 20-17 in the fourth quarter, the
• 18:09
  Speaker 4: third and nine after the delay game penalty that the
• 18:12
  Speaker 4: Seahawks had to take. And they run the wide receiver
• 18:15
  Speaker 4: lateral to Kalief Raymond. That play, they had the McDonald,
• 18:20
  Speaker 4: the play before that got blown dead by the delay game.
• 18:23
  Speaker 4: Nicky Mallory was on the line, came in off the
• 18:26
  Speaker 4: left edge, unblocked, and dumped Smith for a five-yard loss
• 18:29
  Speaker 4: that didn't count. The next snap, he had even more
• 18:33
  Speaker 4: five yards off in coverage behind Josh Jobin, like a
• 18:36
  Speaker 4: stacked coverage. The Bears came out and stacked receivers on
• 18:40
  Speaker 4: the right side, and Eamon Worry was behind the corner
• 18:44
  Speaker 4: as more of an over-the-top safety coverage. And the Bears
• 18:48
  Speaker 4: and Ben Johnson had the perfect call for it. Oh, okay,
• 18:51
  Speaker 4: you don't have the disruptor on the edge of the field.
• 18:53
  Speaker 4: We're going to throw the ball out to Raymond and
• 18:54
  Speaker 4: have him run by Eamon Worry. Eamon Worry got blocked
• 18:57
  Speaker 4: by the right tackle, who pulled out after the screen,
• 19:01
  Speaker 4: and he was out of the play. And it was
• 19:03
  Speaker 4: three blockers on two on the outside. Raymond goes for
• 19:07
  Speaker 4: 39 yards to the five-yard line. They score a touchdown
• 19:09
  Speaker 4: in the next play game over 27-17. Ben Johnson got
• 19:13
  Speaker 4: Mike McDonald on that play call. If Nicky Morey had
• 19:16
  Speaker 4: been in the same spot he was in the delay
• 19:18
  Speaker 4: of game play, the delay of game snap, I think
• 19:20
  Speaker 4: he would have disrupted and probably tackled, either knocked the
• 19:23
  Speaker 4: ball down, athletic as he is, or tackled Raymond before
• 19:27
  Speaker 4: the tackle got out to him. But because he was
• 19:29
  Speaker 4: five yards off the line of scrimmage, the tackle had
• 19:32
  Speaker 4: time to go out and get him, blocked him, And
• 19:34
  Speaker 4: that's what created the 39-yard play. That's a chess move
• 19:38
  Speaker 4: that Ben Johnson won on. So sometimes the defensive genius
• 19:43
  Speaker 4: gets beat, and I think he got beat on that play.
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's just they won the down, and it was probably,
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: I agree with you, the turnoff. point in the game
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: was right after the Seahawks had scored their touchdown and
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: had momentum, and they had a chance to get off
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: the field and tie or take the lead at that point.
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: All right, Greg, what do you got coming up on
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: your show here at 10 o'clock today?
• 20:02
  Speaker 4: Well, the Seahawks have a different schedule today, so Mike
• 20:05
  Speaker 4: McDonald's actually going to be live in his press conference
• 20:08
  Speaker 4: at 1040 a.m., so I'll be at Seahawks headquarters. We're
• 20:10
  Speaker 4: going to broadcast the show from there, and then we'll
• 20:12
  Speaker 4: carry that press conference live at 1040. At 11 o'clock,
• 20:16
  Speaker 4: we're going to go to Arizona, the beat writer for
• 20:18
  Speaker 4: the Arizona Republic, to talk about Gardner Minshew mania that
• 20:22
  Speaker 4: they're feeling in Arizona right now, and also the status
• 20:26
  Speaker 4: of Jeremiah Love, who's now got an injury concern heading
• 20:28
  Speaker 4: into this game, the number three overall pick. and running
• 20:31
  Speaker 4: back for the Cardinals. We'll talk Cardinals and opponent as
• 20:33
  Speaker 4: we always do Wednesday at 11.
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: Awesome, awesome.
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: All right, that sounds good, Greg. We'll listen at 10
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: o'clock and appreciate you hopping on the show today.
• 20:40
  Speaker 4: Thanks, guys.
• 20:41
  Speaker 5: Have a good day.
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: All righty, always good hearing from Greg Bell at 7
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: o'clock almost every single morning. We just discussed it there
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: with Greg, but coming up next, what is your confidence
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: in Sam Donald right now and what do you do
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: with him in the long term? Christopher and I will
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: discuss next on Sports Radio 93.3 KJRFM.
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: Welcome back, Chuck, in the morning.
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: Sports Radio 93.3 KJR FM. We got Factor Fiction coming
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: up in a few minutes. Christopher Kidd will give us
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: a pick and hopefully get us back in the game
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: here as we had a rough week last week. But first,
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: we just kind of discussed it a few minutes with
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: Greg Bell there. But, you know, the Sam Donald conversation
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: continues to be I think, more and more interesting as
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: his struggles continue. I don't think there's a lot of
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: Seahawks fans, at least the ones that I'm seeing, maybe
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: I'm completely wrong on this, that want a change of
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: quarterback right now. But I think you would have to
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: be very much in the apologist category if you're thinking, oh,
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: he's for sure a quarterback of the future. Paying him
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: $ 42 million a year, which is what his cap hit
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: is next year, is is easy. You can't get any
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: better than, than that right now. So Christopher, I'm wondering
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: where you stand with the Sam Donald discussion, because I
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: think making a similar to the offensive coordinator discussion that
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: we had earlier in this show, making a giant quarterback
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: change right now, while probably easier to do than changing
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: your entire offensive scheme with a new coordinator is, Still
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: doesn't seem like, and Greg mentioned this, it would kind
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: of incite some panic from Mike McDonald if that were
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: to be the decision. I still think they believe in
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: Sam Darnold. They just need to get back to what
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: made him successful in getting into favorable game scripts in 2026.
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: But what's your kind of outlook on your confidence level
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: in him right now and moving forward for the future?
• 22:40
  Speaker 5: I'm pretty confident in Sam. I think he can figure
• 22:43
  Speaker 5: it out. I think he does need a structure around him.
• 22:47
  Speaker 5: If the structure is going to be what it is
• 22:49
  Speaker 5: for the rest of the season, then I think we
• 22:51
  Speaker 5: all know how that ends.
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: You don't have that opportunity to go to the Super Bowl.
• 22:56
  Speaker 5: And the question mark of Sam returning as a starting
• 22:59
  Speaker 5: quarterback is probably even further down the line. So that's
• 23:03
  Speaker 5: where I'm at. I'm confident that he can do it,
• 23:05
  Speaker 5: but he definitely needs help around him. It's not going
• 23:08
  Speaker 5: to be just hey, man, we need you to make
• 23:10
  Speaker 5: plays because you're athletic. You can do all these things.
• 23:12
  Speaker 5: We need you to be a part of the run
• 23:15
  Speaker 5: game as a quarterback. That's not his game. He needs, obviously,
• 23:19
  Speaker 5: a strong running game to produce. And when he does that,
• 23:24
  Speaker 5: you saw what happened last year. No turnovers in the playoffs.
• 23:28
  Speaker 5: Went toe-to-toe with Matthew Stafford to win the NFC Championship
• 23:31
  Speaker 5: and got the Seahawks to the Super Bowl, along with
• 23:34
  Speaker 5: a great defense and a run game. So you see
• 23:37
  Speaker 5: what the best of Sam gets you. This is kind
• 23:39
  Speaker 5: of the not-so-best, when the run game is non-existent and
• 23:44
  Speaker 5: not where it needs to be. You only have one
• 23:46
  Speaker 5: guy you trust, and that is number 11, Jackson Smith
• 23:48
  Speaker 5: and Jigba. Tough reality, but that's just the situation they
• 23:55
  Speaker 5: are in right now. So while I believe that he
• 23:57
  Speaker 5: can get out of it, it's going to be that
• 23:59
  Speaker 5: much more of a challenge if they don't.
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: Address the issues at hand. Yeah, I think he's a
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: guy that can't carry an offense.
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: And that's okay. That's okay.
• 24:08
  Speaker 5: There's not very many guys that can. Yeah, there's like
• 24:10
  Speaker 5: three quarterbacks in the league that can carry. All right?
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: And that's a lot to do.
• 24:14
  Speaker 5: So I think what the Seahawks witnessed or what the
• 24:19
  Speaker 5: Seahawks fans saw last season, why wouldn't you want that
• 24:21
  Speaker 5: every year? Why wouldn't you want a guy that can
• 24:23
  Speaker 5: come in with a good running game, talented receivers, a
• 24:27
  Speaker 5: good tight end room, elite defense, good special teams, and win?
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: Does that sound bad?
• 24:32
  Speaker 5: No.
• 24:33
  Speaker 4: No.
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: And as Greg mentioned, what made him successful in 2024
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: with the Vikings and 2025 with the Seahawks, he was
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: playing on successful teams. He was playing in favorable game scripts.
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: And what he means by that, I think it's a
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: little oversimplifying it, but it's a trickle-down effect. The Vikings
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: played the fewest snaps while trailing of any team in
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: the NFL in 2024. The fewest snaps while trailing. And
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: the same thing happened last year with Seattle, obviously. A
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: lot of the times you were playing from ahead. You
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: can lean on the run game. And he threw only
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: 169 passes while trailing last year. He's at 137 now.
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: That's already almost to that level. And we're in Week 8.
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: So he's asked to be doing a lot more at
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: this point. I just don't know if he's ever going
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: to be that guy that can, you know, play from
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: behind a bunch and carry you to victories. And Greg
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: mentioned this too. If you're able to, you know, get
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: the run game going where you don't have to ask
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: him to do that. I think he can be a
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: guy that you do feel comfortable, comfortable paying, but I
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: don't know. We'll see if that ends up actually happening
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: with the rest of the team. Cause that at that point,
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: it's not on Sam. It's on, it's on everything else.
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: All right, let's play some fact fiction.
• 25:54
  Speaker 6: We're set to go glad you're with us it's your
• 25:56
  Speaker 6: shot at our weekly thousand bucks and the ten thousand
• 26:00
  Speaker 6: dollar grand prize it's fact or fiction proudly presented by
• 26:04
  Speaker 6: lucky eagle casino and hotel where every day feels lucky
• 26:09
  Speaker 6: fact or fiction is on sports radio 93.3 kjr fm.
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: All righty we're already on one Already 0-1 this week,
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: thanks to Christopher's button-down football pitch.
• 26:21
  Speaker 5: Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: Thanks to the Seahawks. Don't thank me. All I do
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: is pick them. That's fair. That's fair. Look at how
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: energy's had to spin that, but I get it. I
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: suck right now. No, we all do. We all do.
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: I'm having the worst season of my fact-fiction career at
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: this point. Well, if you can top my record of.
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: 1-14, I think it was. You were 1-14?
• 26:41
  Speaker 5: I think a few years ago. I wonder if you
• 26:43
  Speaker 5: have the... I'm not going to get into that. You
• 26:45
  Speaker 5: ready for my pick, guys?
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: Here it is. Here it is.
• 26:47
  Speaker 5: This team just came into Seattle and handled business. That
• 26:50
  Speaker 5: would be the Chicago Bears. They have a home game
• 26:52
  Speaker 5: next Sunday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: Minus six. I think it's quite simple.
• 26:58
  Speaker 5: Give me the Chicago Bears minus six at home versus
• 27:02
  Speaker 5: the Buccaneers.
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: I like this.
• 27:04
  Speaker 5: I like it, too. I think it should be. They
• 27:07
  Speaker 5: should win by 10 or more. That's just my gut feeling.
• 27:09
  Speaker 5: The way the offense is playing. They just got Jeffrey Simmons.
• 27:13
  Speaker 5: I know they're riding on a high.
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: But they're going up against a Bucs team that's fighting
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: for their life.
• 27:17
  Speaker 5: They're going to put up a fight, obviously, but I
• 27:19
  Speaker 5: think the better team just wears down on them, and.
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: That better team happens to be another team with the B,
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: and that's the Bears. Yeah, I think that's... Think about it.
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: A Bear versus a Buccaneer in the wild. Who wins?
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: It's the Bear every time. Depends on if the Buccaneer
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: has a gun. They usually do. It doesn't matter. It's
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: a Bear.
• 27:37
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: You got to get a couple headshots in, buddy. There's
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: two ways to think about this game, because.
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: A lot of people would think, okay, trap game, emotional
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: victory over the Seahawks in prime time, coming up against Tampa,
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: who can be very much overlooked, especially what their record is.
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: I mean, Baker Mayfield didn't throw a pass last week.
• 27:57
  Speaker 5: I know. I mean, he didn't complete a pass. He's
• 28:00
  Speaker 5: not doing that again and winning ever again.
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: I don't think he's going through a game without completing
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: a pass again that he's starting. But I actually think...
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: they're going to have an even better response after the
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: emotional victory versus the Seahawks. That's why I like this pick.
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: It's also it's I think it's Sunday Night Football.
• 28:22
  Speaker 2: Correct. So it's another primetime game for the Bears.
• 28:25
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: So it's hard to really have a trap game on
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: primetime when you're like everyone's watching you yet again. Everyone's
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: drinking the Kool-Aid now. You feel what you got. And
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: Jeffrey Simmons, and he changes everything with that defense, apparently.
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: I thought that defense was good, but not great. But
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: they looked great against the Seahawks on Monday. I actually
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: think they're going to take the momentum and ride the wave,
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: so to speak. So this is almost a they're going
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: to play better than if this was just coming off
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: of a regular game on a Sunday afternoon, right?
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: So I like this pick.
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: Chicago minus six versus Tampa Bay is Christopher's pick. If
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: you agree with it, text FACT to 49451. If you disagree,
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: text FICTION to 49451. It's four chances every single day
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: to get your picks in 735, 1135, 235, and 335.
• 29:19
  Speaker 2: It's your chance.
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: To win $ 1, 000 thanks to Lucky Eagle Resort and Casino
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: where every day feels lucky. I had a couple people
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: texting in, why is it so hard to update the
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: standings and picks? I'm usually very good about it. This week, obviously,
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: for obvious reasons, has been a little bit slow for me.
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: I've been hosting a show.
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: It's a little bit.
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: different responsibilities, but I promise I will get those standings
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: updated with the picks as well. So if you agree
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: with Christopher's Chicago minus six against Tampa Bay on Sunday
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: night football, text fact to 49451. If you disagree, text fiction.
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: All right. Coming up next, we'll play a little game
• 30:00
  Speaker 2: called Keeper Cut.
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: With the Mariners. We have discussed a little bit with
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: the Mariners manager. Now let's, let's kind of turn the
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: page to the rest of the roster. This is Chuck
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: and I's favorite time of the year with the Mariners
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: off season. And we may have a long one to
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: be completely honest. So we're going to spread it out
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: all the love throughout the entire off season, but we'll
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: play some keeper cut with the starting nine positions off
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: from last year from your Seattle Mariners. That's coming up next.
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: Sports Radio 93.3 KJR FM.
• 30:44
  Speaker 4: Welcome back.
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: Chuck in the morning.
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: Sports Radio 93.3 KJR FM.
• 30:49
  Speaker 2: Anderson Hurst, Christopher Kidd filling in.
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: While Chuck is on vacation, he'll be back a little
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: bit later on this week. You'll hear from him regarding
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: the Mariners manager, regarding the Seahawks loss. I'm sure he'll
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: have lots of thoughts. We'll kind of turn the page
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: towards Arizona since it is a hump day, a Wednesday
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: as we normally do. So the next step for Seattle
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: is to try and get the win against another division rival,
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: in Arizona, who is switching to their backup quarterback and
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: another backup running back as well with the Jeremiah Love
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: being out for multiple weeks. But let's talk about some Mariners.
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: I think the big discussion is obviously with Jason Kanzler,
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: the coaching hire. But I want to play a little
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: game called Keeper Cut. And I know the game is
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: called Keeper Cut, but for semantic purposes.
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: This is more of a do you feel confident with
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: this person starting at this position next year for the
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: Seattle Mariners? And I'm just going to go through the
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: entire lineup basically for the way the roster is currently constructed. Obviously,
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: that will look different slightly or a ton different depending
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: on what they do in the offseason.
• 32:02
  Speaker 2: But.
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: I just want to go through with you, Christopher, about
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: what positions you feel if this player you feel confident
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: in starting more often than not in twenty twenty seven
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: or if you think that an upgrade is needed. Let's
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: start at catcher with Cal Raleigh. What are your thoughts there?
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: I think that's pretty simple. Yeah.
• 32:21
  Speaker 6: Is it?
• 32:21
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 32:22
  Speaker 3: OK.
• 32:22
  Speaker 2: Even with how bad of a season he had last year?
• 32:24
  Speaker 5: Yes, keep.
• 32:25
  Speaker 4: Okay.
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: Especially the way he finished off the year. I think
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: he looked more like the Cal Raleigh that we know
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: and love. So I agree with you. Keep Cal Raleigh
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: a catcher. First base, Josh Kneeler.
• 32:37
  Speaker 2: Keep.
• 32:37
  Speaker 3: Keep.
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: That's a more questionable keep from what I hear.
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: I'm going with it. I'm going to stick with Naylor.
• 32:43
  Speaker 2: I think... Oh, go ahead. No, you're good.
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: I think you kind of have to at this point
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: because of how much you signed him to, but that
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: doesn't mean you feel terribly confident about it. There are
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: a lot of signs from what we saw last year
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: from Josh Naylor that there are some warning signs about
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: him moving forward and his ability. Hopefully he can find
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: it again. If he becomes a good defensive first baseman
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: and get some power back, I think that'll be a
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: good sign moving forward. Second base, Cole Young.
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: Keep.
• 33:14
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 33:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: This is, to me, one of the more obvious ones
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: on this list. It's not the biggest name, but the
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: dude won a gold glove. and he's very young. His
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: name's Cole Young, and he still has a lot of
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: room to grow offensively. I think a lot of people
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: were ready to anoint him as a full-on offensive breakout
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: last year. He still finished the season with an under
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: 700 OPS, which is not great, but when you play
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: a really good defensive second base, enough to win a
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: gold glove, And you're around a 700, maybe 725 OPS.
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: That's kind of what we're looking for. That's a ton
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: of value. Keep Cole Young.
• 33:50
  Speaker 2: I agree.
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: Here's a big one for me is shortstop right now
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: is Colt Emerson.
• 33:57
  Speaker 2: Keep young talent.
• 33:59
  Speaker 5: And that's probably I see. I could see people saying no,
• 34:03
  Speaker 5: but I think I think he's young. and the upside's
• 34:07
  Speaker 5: huge for him.
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and this is where the name of the game,
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: Keeper Cut, will maybe confuse some people. I'm not saying
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: cut Colt Emerson, but it's more of, do you feel
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: confident with him as your starting shortstop for 2027?
• 34:21
  Speaker 2: To me, I.
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: Fall a little bit lower on the confidence level with
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: him than I think a lot of people do, including Chuck.
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: I just, it's such an unknown. We saw, yes, maybe
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: a couple weeks of MLB level or play from him
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: in 2026. But not much more than that. Yes, he
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: was playing through an injury.
• 34:44
  Speaker 2: It came out.
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: So hopefully that was the big reason why I just
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: to me, I don't have a ton of confidence that
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: he's going to be an everyday player in 2027. So
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: I have to see it first. But if I am projecting, yes,
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: I mean, they paid him for a reason. They obviously
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: believe that he is kind of part of the core
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: for years to come. And as Chuck has mentioned multiple times,
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: he's on the Cole Young path just a year behind him, right?
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: Cole Young kind of came in, had flashes, but struggled
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: a lot in his first year. Took that step up
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: to more consistency, but still maybe not to the ceiling
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: that we want to see, obviously, in his second year.
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: Hopefully that ends up being Colt Emerson in 2026. What
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: about Brendan Donovan at third base?
• 35:36
  Speaker 2: Oh, we're going to say keep. Really? Really?
• 35:40
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: See, I could see going both ways with this one.
• 35:44
  Speaker 2: But I would also add if there's value out there. Okay.
• 35:48
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: I'm 50-50 there. So to me, there's just too many
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: red flags. I think when he did play, he was
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: a good offensive piece. That is a big win because
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: he was injured for like three quarters of the season.
• 36:03
  Speaker 2: So he is entering his last year.
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: There will be an incentive, as we just saw with
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: Randy Rosarena, for him to have a good season right
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: before his free agency hits. So I'm curious as to
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: maybe that changes his availability a little bit, as we
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: often see in baseball. But to me, there's two things.
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: Number one, his injury history or not even history, just
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: his injuries last year. And number two, that he's not
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: primarily a defensive third baseman. He was OK when he
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: played there and finally got some reps. But the Mariners,
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: I think, need... That's a position where they can definitely
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: look to upgrade. And maybe that is moving Colt Emerson
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: to third base and getting a shortstop, right? But one
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: of those two spots, I think you can definitely look
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: to upgrade in the offseason. I'm going to say Randy
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: in left field because technically, technically... He is still on
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: the roster. They did extend the qualifying offer to him.
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: It is not expected that he accepts it. But technically,
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: at this point, he has not hit free agency yet. So,
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: Randy or Rosarena?
• 37:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah, bring him back.
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, if we're playing the game here, if
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: you're choosing yes or no, you want that guy in
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: your lineup. But it's not likely to happen.
• 37:21
  Speaker 2: I think he.
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: So the way it works is once a player ends
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: their controllable years, so to speak, and they hit free agency,
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: the team that has control over them can offer them
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: the qualifying deal, very similar to the franchise tag in
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: the NFL, where it's all the same number across the
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: whole league. I think it's about $ 23 million. They did
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: extend the qualifying offer to Randy Rosarena. He can either
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: accept that and sign that as a one-year deal, Or
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: he can decline it and hit free agency and the
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: Mariners get a draft pick out of it. I think
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: that the latter is more likely to happen.
• 37:54
  Speaker 2: Let's quickly go through the rest of the outfield. Julio Rodriguez.
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I've been well documented with my thoughts on his struggles.
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: And it's disappointing how overall his trajectory has gone slightly
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: down from his rookie year. I still feel like there's
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: untapped potential there. Maybe a new manager helps get that
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: out of him.
• 38:16
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: But the more that goes along with Julio, the less
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: I feel confident that a true like full on MVP
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: season is coming. That doesn't mean he's not a valuable player.
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: So you still obviously keep him. But yeah, it's I
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: wish we could got more out of him. Dom can
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: zone in right field.
• 38:36
  Speaker 2: Keep. Yeah, I think that's a pretty easy one.
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: If you're not trading him, which there are rumors that
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: the Mariners might be looking to move him, right now
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: is the time to do that since his value is
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: probably about as high as it's ever going to get.
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: That's a guy you're keeping there. And then finally, Laz
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: Montez slash Michael Arroyo at DH. That's both kind of
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: guys that came up late last year. It didn't really
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: show a lot, so how confident do you feel there?
• 39:00
  Speaker 2: You could probably find something. I would say.
• 39:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah, if the opportunity presents itself, go and get something.
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think relying on, similar to the Colt Emerson situation,
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: relying on young guys you don't know a lot about
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: to be an everyday player for a contending team is
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: always a dangerous proposition. All right, that's a fun little
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: game we play. I know we didn't have a ton
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: of time for it, but we'll kind of revisit those
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: thoughts throughout the year or throughout the offseason, I should say,
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: as we move on. on from the 2026 season into
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: the 2027 season. Speaking of Mariners, we're going to talk
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: to Ty Dane Gonzalez. Coming up next of Locked On Mariners,
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: we'll ask him about the Jason Kanzler hire and much
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: more on Sports Radio 93.3 KGRFM.