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Transcript

Green and Gold Brothers Episode 7 · Green and Gold Brothers

• 0:04
  SPEAKER_03: Hello and welcome to the Green and Gold Brothers Podcast, D Play, all things packers related.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_03: You can find us on X at GRNGLD Bros, on Facebook at Green and Gold Brothers, and anywhere you get your favorite podcast.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome back to the Green and Gold Brothers Podcast.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_02: I'm Zach.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm Cody.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_02: Today we got a special guest for you guys with week one coming up here right around the corner.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_02: Figured it was a good idea to get an old friend of mine, Connor.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_02: He's a Vikings fan, so we're gonna get his perspective on things and have some good predictions coming up here.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of Packers Vikings week one matchup talk, so hopefully you guys are ready for that.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_03: Be nice to get a little bit perspective from the other side on this one coming week one.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_02: So uh yeah, Connor, thanks for thanks for joining us.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, thanks for having me.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh yeah, long time Vikings fan, grew up uh Vikings fan.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: My dad's from Minneapolis, so he raised us right.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: And uh all through all the heartbreak and everything, still still die hard.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: Can't can't break it.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_02: I give you credit for that.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_03: I was just gonna say I I have no fault in that whatsoever.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we've had our fair share of heartbreaks as well, but a couple Super Bowls makes it a little bit better throughout the years.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_02: So um right away here we'll hop in.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um roster cuts happened about a week ago, a little over a week ago.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so we'll just talk a few little uh tidbits here on a few guys that made it, some surprise roster guys.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_02: Um J.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_02: Michael Sturdevant was a big one that we've been talking about for the last couple months here.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_03: That uh makes twenty-two consecutive years for the Packers uh having a an undrafted free agent make the opening day roster.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_03: Uh wasn't sure if it's that was gonna continue this year.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_03: Um I think Savion getting hurt kind of helped.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_03: Although I think Goody did say that if they uh even if he wouldn't have had to go on IR, they probably were gonna keep him.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_03: So they could have made some crunches somewhere else.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_03: But uh other than that, I didn't really have many surprises uh personally.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_02: No, I thought it was kind of cool.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um signing John O'Smith the day before cuts, I think it was.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, we did call that that the tight end three was not gonna be on the roster when we talked about it last.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and actually we they doubled down on us and brought in two new guys, which I'm actually really excited about both of them.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, the the second guy, um Michael Redman.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_02: I think it yeah, I know uh came from the Rams.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_02: I saw some stuff there and uh seemed like he was ecstatic to be a Packer.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I saw that too.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_02: But there was almost he was almost crying happy tears when he found that out because he was probably gonna get cut.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I don't know if he was a cut candidate for the Rams.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_02: Potentially, yeah.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_02: But they ended up trading a sixth or a seventh round pick.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_03: I think it was a sixth, yeah.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_02: Sixth round pick for him, so he's our new tight end four.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, uh speaking of that too, as long as we're on that topic, uh Caleb Johnson coming in.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, running back.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_02: That's a big one for sure.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_03: That one is uh a little more exciting, maybe.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_03: Um you know the the tight end is gonna obviously serve a very important role.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_03: Uh I think he's more of an inline blocker type, um, not the fastest guy, but somebody that is gonna fill that need.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_03: Um Johnson, however, has a real shot to get some real real time.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_03: Um he's gonna be probably the third running back coming into week one.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_03: Uh obviously depending on what happens with Josh Jacobs uh with that whole thing moving forward.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_03: Um but it's yeah, it's looking like he's gonna have a real shot to to really get some run.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, definitely.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_02: I I like the move, especially with Marshawn Lloyd's availability the last couple years.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_02: You don't know if he's gonna make it through the first game.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: So in depth there, and he was a I was a big fan of Johnson coming out, so it's always tough when I see people that I like go to the Packers.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: Dang it.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um but yeah, I like your guys' running back room all around.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: I was a big fan of Lloyd as well coming out, so I think there's a couple sneaky guys you got there, even with Jacobs.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you know, I'm that's a that's a great point.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I think that's good to hear.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_03: Uh it feels like there's not a whole lot of talk around our running back room right now, at least not positive.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_03: So the fact that somebody else likes it makes me feel a little better.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I'm like I said, I'm kind of with both of you too.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_02: I think he was a third round pick two years ago out of Iowa.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_02: Johnson, yeah.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I don't think he's had much last year.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, last year was his rookie year.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I don't think he had a whole lot of opportunities there.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_02: He kind of got uh shoved to the curb pretty quick after a few rookie mistakes.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_02: So yes.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_03: If you remember on our get to know us episode, I talked about being uh sort of 1A, 1B Steeler fan.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so I got a chance to kind of get some good insight on him, uh, but also not as much because, like you said, he kind of got buried.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_03: Um he was the third running back anyway, and then he had had that mishap on special teams, and after that he kind of fell out of favor, I think, and didn't really get much much of an opportunity.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_03: But yeah, I agree.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_03: Like out of Iowa, I I loved him.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_03: I wouldn't have been upset if we took him two years ago.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_02: So well, I guess we'll hop into well, I guess any um any surprise roster moves for the Vikings?
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_02: Come cut down time?
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_01: Uh yeah, they had a couple weird things.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um they kept four quarterbacks initially, which you know the the talk, I don't know how plugged in you guys are to the Vikings, but the talk was are they gonna trade J G JJ McCarthy?
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: Are they gonna cut him or all kinds of stuff?
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: And so they kept him, and he actually was listed second on the initial roster, and then they kept uh Wentz and Brosmer, and then a day or two later cut Brosmer.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_01: So another weird thing was they kept four tight ends, like you guys have four.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um that's not super common.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then they only had they only kept eight O linemen.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but that's kind of the one, the interesting one to me.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, the eight O linemen.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_03: Um we typically have gone with ten.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_03: This year was only was it ten or was it nine?
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_03: I don't remember.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_02: I think it was nine initially.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_02: I don't can't remember if anything's it might have been what it stuck with.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_03: I know they kept a couple guys in the practice squad, but yeah, nine sons, right?
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_03: We're usually on the opposite and we keep extra.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_03: Maybe not extra, but ten can be a lot for backups.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_01: I think you need to have nine or ten just with the with the issue, especially last year.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: Vikings had really tough O-line depth issues.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: So that was that was a little surprising, and then two days later they signed two guys off waivers, so now they have ten on the roster.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: So I feel a little better about it now.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_01: Uh but all right.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I guess we'll hop into some uh week one talk.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_02: It's just around the corner here.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, football's starting in a couple days here to kick off the season, and then we'll it's true, it's only two days away.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and then we'll have week one.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's 325, correct?
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_02: Green Bay against uh Minnesota in Minnesota.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_03: Yep, on CBS.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's gonna be fun.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_02: I think uh JJ Watts on the on the call.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_02: That'll be very interesting to see how how that goes.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_02: I'm kind of looking forward to that.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_02: But um I guess Kyler Murray, let's uh let's get your thoughts on that.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, I was a little the initial signing back in you know the spring, I was a little uneasy, but also we had to do something, couldn't go in with with McCarthy again.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um so I started to feel better about it, and as it went through camp, I think he started to get a little more uh acclimated to the system.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's KOC is kind of known for having a very complicated system, um, a lot to learn.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: So I think we saw that, you know, from all the camp reports and videos and everything coming out that he he kind of slowly progressed.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_01: Uh early on, there were there wasn't a lot of uh oh, he's amazing, he's looking awesome, he's really taking control.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: But ever since he got named the starter, all the reports have been like, oh, he's he's really taking hold of it now.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that gave him some confidence and he's like, Alright, this is my team.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and the connection by our reports with with JJ is great, which is the most important thing to me.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um get Justin Jefferson involved.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_01: If he has another season like last year, I'm gonna rip my hair out.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_02: So Yeah, kind of sounds like uh like Jordan Love when he first kind of took over, you know, the first year in La Fleur system, or before, I guess, when he after Rogers left, you know, there was a lot of highs and lows with him a little bit, and the Fleur system's fairly complicated as well, I would say.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_02: And uh yeah, I mean I'm looking forward to uh the NFC North this year.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_02: There's it's gonna be fun.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I think all four teams are are gonna be pretty decent.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_03: It might be your division winner might be a 10-win team just because they beat up on each other, honestly.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: I had a buddy ask me the other day, uh, what what's your predictions for the NFC North?
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, dude.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: I you could make any order and I would believe you.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_01: I don't I don't know.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: If if you had the Lions first and the Vikings last or flipped or Packers first, whoever you put, I it I don't think it would be a shocker.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_01: That's a really good point, actually.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_03: Like thinking about it, there's been a lot of you know experts who are kind of dumb sometimes, but there there hasn't really been a consensus for the most part, where you know it the order, it's depending on who you ask, the order is always different.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_01: So that's well, you saw it last year too, is the lines were fourth.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: And then the year before they, you know, they had their 15 and two seed.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_02: Number one seed, I believe they were.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_03: There I think there's a real world where they uh uh send three teams to the playoffs again, I think.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's gonna be between us and the NFC West too, a stack.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that that's true.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, it would not surprise me.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_02: I did see something the other day.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_02: It was uh I was just looking at playoff odds, and I think the Vikings have like the 10th best odds to make playoffs.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_02: I think like Green Bay's in there, obviously Chicago, Detroit, but I mean the Vikings aren't that far out of making it happen, so it's definitely a possibility.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_02: And injury plays a huge factor throughout the season, too.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, usually it's the healthiest team that ends up making it to the Super Bowl, and we'll see what happens there.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_02: But uh yeah, overall, I think it's gonna be a very fun year, probably stressful at some points.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_01: Kind of a division, it's one or two games, you know.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_01: So I I don't expect I mean we could see it, but I don't expect there to be one team 14 wins and another team seven.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_01: I think it'll all be pretty tight in the 9 to 11 range.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_02: Sure.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I guess we'll talk some more week one stuff here.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um Kyler Murray's obviously been with the Arizona Cardinals his whole career up until this season, and his head coach for the last three was Jonathan Gannon, who's the Packers' new defensive coordinator, so that'll be a kind of a fun little offensive defensive battle there.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_03: For sure that's gonna be a chess match there because you know Gannon's a defensive guy, but also, like you said, he was his quarterback, so they had to have some sort of a relationship anyway.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, uh, it's gonna be probably a lot of stuff that neither side has seen from one another.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_03: True, very true.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_03: Even if it's like uncomfortable, like sometimes new is better than th showing them something that they already know about.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_02: I will say, I mean, Ganon obviously being his head coach and um all that, there's gonna be some tendencies that he might be able to pick up on, you know, if Kyler decides to roll out a certain way and Ganon knows that he might send a certain pressure up the middle or this situation exactly and sure.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_02: He obviously doesn't know the offense super well.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_02: Not not Kyler, I'm saying like Ganon, it's Kyler in a new offensive scheme, so it's not the same Kyler that we've seen, but um, I'm really looking forward to that.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_02: Like you said, kind of a chess match chess match.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_03: I feel like it's gonna come down to who which side picked it up faster.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_03: Obviously, the quarterback is the most important position.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_03: Uh so how fast did he pick up O'Connell's system and then vice versa with the Packers defense?
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_03: Like how comfortable are they?
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_03: I like what the preseason looked like and what everybody, all the players that they talked to have mentioned that it was a fairly quick transition, and they they all felt pretty comfortable, so that is at least a positive, you know, optimistic outlook, at least.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I'm glad you didn't bring up the Vikings preseason because that was one of the worst things I've ever seen.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: Was it?
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: It was bad, yeah.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_01: But we they didn't really play starters much.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Kyler and the starters got one drive, went and got a field goal, and then the other games.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: Like they got you guys blew out the Broncos, right?
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: And then we played the Broncos and got blown out.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm like, oh no.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: That's yeah, that doesn't feel good.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: But it was it was week three preseason, a bunch of depth guys that didn't make the team.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_03: So Peyton Manning's Colts used to go winless in the preseason all the time, so that's not a super good bar.
• 13:22
  unknown: No.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um, something else I'm kind of looking forward to on the flip side, talking about Brian Flores' defense against Jordan Love.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_02: Flores' defense spooks me a lot just because he sends heavy pressure, but on the contrary to that, I think Jordan Love is one of the highest.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_03: I think he was second.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_03: Against the Blitz.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, against pressure, his uh heavy pressure rate, and his numbers are I don't want to say through the roof, but they're significantly higher than most of the league.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, his completion percentage, his quarterback rating under pressure is very phenomenal.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_02: As long as he doesn't start fading off his back foot like we've been talking about for a long time.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_03: If he's got time and he does it, sometimes it looks really cool.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, but like under duress, he fades off his back foot and under throws it or throws a goofy interception.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_02: But no, that's gonna be a fun, fun match there, too.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_02: Our new offensive line or younger offensive line, different, I guess.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_02: Against the Flores defense is gonna kind of give me headaches a little bit.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_01: He's got a couple new pieces I'm excited about and see how he does with a a little bit deeper D-line.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_01: Last year we had a couple old guys um on the team.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_02: We got one of those old guys on our team now.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Hargrave.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_01: And then we had Allen, and they they just didn't thrive in in Flores' system, and now we got some younger, more athletic D-linemen that I I'm really excited about.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think his scheme matches well with that.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_01: But um smart, quick decision makers seem to do pretty well against Flores' defense.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_01: I think of Goff, who actually does pretty well against him, Stafford does really well against him.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: So we'll see.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: I think um especially with a smart play caller, I'm a little worried uh about what you guys can do, but it's also something I'm more confident in is that defense being a top five defense last year, and then I think they did get better.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_01: So we'll see week one.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it's a it's a good test right away.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I do like uh Dominique Orange for you guys, the rookie.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's a really good pickup.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_01: Banks gonna play?
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_01: Do you know?
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_01: I think uh out of the two right now, it's looking like Orange uh ahead of him.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_01: Banks is so raw.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um he had the foot injury.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um I just think he's got a lot to work on.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_01: He's a big he's a big boy, but he relies on that, I think, too much more than technique.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: So did he miss some time already?
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_01: Well, he missed time.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_01: He's been playing in the preseason.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_01: He missed um like early mini camp and stuff, but then he's been he's been there for training camp.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_01: I thought I read something about that.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_01: I wasn't sure which part it was.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he's been playing, but he's a lot of like concerning parts on tape already from training camp, and then some awesome plays.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_01: So I think he's really gonna be an up and down guy as rookie year.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um kind of similar.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_01: I do honestly kind of view it the same way I did, or the same way it happened with Dallas Turner.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_01: Two years ago, where he was a raw prospect, took him first round, um, and then he played like twenty-twenty-five snaps a game as rookie year, which was it's not a lot.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: No, no, no.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_01: But I really I think the last year we saw Dallas Turner playing a full-time role, and now he's like they shipped off Jonathan Grenard for a reason they really believe in Turner.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_03: So I like Turner a lot too.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_03: I think he's sort of underrated, even still.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_03: Like he's definitely got some ability.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I'm excited for him.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: So I see a similar developmental trajectory for banks, probably.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_01: Uh as Viking fans, Vikings fans, we gotta probably be a little patient and say he might not be what we want him to be uh year year one.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we kind of dealt with that with Lucas Van S, to be honest with you.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_02: Um just still waiting.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_02: Still waiting, and there's there's light at the end of the tunnel.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_02: He's definitely progressed every year.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_02: Injuries was his big thing last year, I think.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_02: Actually, most of his career, I think he just pretty much missed a little bit of time here and there, and you know, so yeah, definitely know what you what you're talking about with that.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_03: Um you had mentioned before that you have a bunch of rookies.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_03: Um, is that mostly on the defensive side?
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I think it was four of the first five picks were defense, and so we're looking at Banks, Orange, as we mentioned, on the D-line, and then we got Jake Golday from Cincinnati at linebacker, um, and then Jacob Thomas or Jacoby Thomas, and we have a Jacob Thomas um at safety, so that's confusing.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: But uh so we we went heavy defense, and all those guys have flashed and shown potential, so I'm excited about that.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think Golday will start, but he'll get some run too.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_01: He's kind of uh he seems to be in the Van Ginkle mold style of player, so that it seems like Van Ginkle, you know, he's 32 now.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um that's kind of the succession plan for him, it seems, and I like him a lot.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_03: We're drafting developed too, so totally get that.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we're not, we haven't been for years with under Quasy, so we're hoping that that this is a change of the tide that we can start to get some guys that from the draft and not rely so much on free agency like we have been.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm glad that we get you in Minnesota week one with all those rookies.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_03: I think that kind of get them before they know what they don't know, and uh maybe not not before they know what they or don't know what they know, but just kinda hopefully before they settle in and really pick it up for a full game.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_03: Preseason is one thing, but then there's so many teams that oh yeah, they look awesome in the preseason, and then real lights come on and all of a sudden they're fish out of water.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_03: Not saying it's gonna happen, but it it has to many teams.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we'll definitely see what happens.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you had mentioned uh safety there, one of your rookies, and I'm just gonna bring it up now just because why not?
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_02: Harrison Smith just came back for you guys too, which is pretty pretty cool.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we need that.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um I mean, he's definitely not what he once was, but I think last year he was he was good, you know, and I think he's a really with all the rookies we have, he's a really good veteran leadership press presence in the secondary, and um, you know, our safety room I would say is probably even still one of the more worrying worrisome parts of our roster.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um so with Theo Jackson and Josh Metellus being our guys, it's like I don't I don't feel great about that.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_01: Matellus isn't even a a true safety, he's kind of a nickel hybrid D back that you kind of just put anywhere.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_01: So I like having that stabilizing smart guy on the back end to help with some of the unstable stuff.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so I feel good about that.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_02: Nice.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_02: Um, what do we want to get into here now?
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_02: We got uh I guess we can just talk about some matchups that we're looking forward to week one.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, my big one is I just want to see what Brandon Cise does.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_02: I know we had talked right before we started recording that um you had mentioned, Connor, that Justin Jefferson really hasn't had man-to-man coverage throughout a whole game, which I think in the NFL now it's not super common anymore.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_02: Not so much, but uh I'm I'm looking forward to just seeing Cisei in general.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, the Vikings have three really good receivers and Jordan Addison, Justin Jefferson, and uh Juwan Jennings.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_02: So Cisei's gonna be out there.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_02: He's CB1 for sure this year.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_02: And um, I'm confident in him.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_02: I think he's gonna do well.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you're gonna have rookie moments, he's gonna probably get burned.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_03: But um took the words right out of my mouth.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_03: I was gonna say, let's pump the brakes on him being a Hall of Famer week one.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_01: I'd like to see him one-on-one.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_01: That'd be great.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_01: If he could just do that, that would be fun.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_01: Tell them to just have man coverage with him.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that'd be good.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, usually JJ gets bracketed.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_01: There's a safety kind of just on his side that that helps out.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_01: So and you see how KOC calls it differently.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_01: He'll he'll do a lot of uh intermediate routes because of that and try to you know split the difference and find find zones in there.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_01: Uh JJ's one of the best in the league at at that intermediate crosser or you know, those deep curl routes.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_01: So we'll probably see a lot of that and then hopefully work off of that and get uh Addison involved.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: Zach, you were talking earlier how you're um pretty optimistic about him this year, and I do see if if we can get back to JJ being Respected and the number one option and getting all that attention, then I do like how that can open up.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I do like Jordan Anderson for sure.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_01: On the other side, especially if uh he's covered by Nixon.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's a big question mark there with Nixon.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_02: I just don't we're gonna see what we got.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_02: I know preseason's been up and down with him, and there's just been a lot of reports and just a lot of a lot of negativity on him, which I have said on this podcast I don't trust the man anymore, and I would have been fine if he got released at cut down times or even traded.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_02: And I still think there's a possibility come deadline time.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_01: Is he your CB2?
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_01: Or is there someone else that by default?
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_02: I think right now it'll be it'll be Brandon Cise one, um Keyshaw Nixon two.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_03: Assumingly, like we're the we haven't seen the depth chart yet, but just the way the practice has been going and the way that they've run him out there.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_02: And then Javon Bullard will be our slot corner.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_02: He's kind of that safety hybrid type too.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_03: I think he's a safety on the depth chart, but I think they sort of updated that, and there is actually nickelback now, like a um, because technically I think we only kept three safeties, but then he's listed as a nickelback, which I mean it doesn't really make a difference, I guess.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_03: But uh as far as I'm sure it has something to do with contract numbers.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, I'm sure definitely way for the owners or the NFL to slip in a technicality there, but yeah, and then who else?
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Karen Carrington Valentine, who I'm still high on him.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_03: He's a good cover guy, but he has shown less than zero interest in tackling.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_02: So if you ask him to tackle, it's it's not gonna happen.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um and then we signed Benjamin St.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_02: Just in the offseason, which tall could be a sneaky signing.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, I think he's I think we've said that before, he's 6'2 or 6'3.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, he's got some good speed to him.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_03: Um we watched him jump a pass for pick six at training camp when we went.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it was pretty sweet.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_02: Nice.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, I overall I just I don't have faith in Nixon, but he's gonna be out there.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_03: And he is an NFL caliber corner.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_03: Like people do kind of forget that, including us sometimes too.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_03: But he uh you know he's got some ability, he just needs to struggle back it up.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_02: He struggles with the mental gate.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_02: There's been multiple times he's just given up on plays.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um, he'll see a tackle opportunity coming and he'll step out of the way and not try to tackle.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_02: And it's like, come on, dude, like we need you.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_02: You're out there.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_02: He two years ago he pronounced himself Packers CB1.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I this is who I am.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_02: This is I'm done returning kicks, I'm gonna be a corner, a lockdown corner.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_01: And now he's so is he just full of himself or is he it's it's tough to say because obviously we're not in the lock room.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_03: I was just gonna say that's what it feels like in the media, but the locker room still seems to be behind him at least enough.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, from an outsider's perspective, I mean I know he's got the talent and he can he's proven it, but there's just too many boneheaded plays, and that just the thing that bothers me outweighs the the pros when you 15-yard penalty because he can't stop running his mouth or stuff like that.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_02: But um yeah, I'm looking forward to that.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_02: I'm looking forward to our newly molded offensive line, Jordan Morgan at the left tackle position.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm excited about that.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_03: Still some question marks there, but I feel better about it, I think, than what uh what we had in the past.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_02: Definitely.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um Aaron Banks, we kind of talked about that a couple episodes ago, how it seemed like his job was kind of up in the air, but right after we recorded that episode, I think he started practicing every day.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_02: He must have listened to us.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_02: His job was in jeopardy.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so he's seems like he's healthy now.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_02: And um, yeah, overall, just the O line against the Vikings, uh defensive line and edge rushers, and that's gonna be a very fun matchup.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_03: I feel pretty confident about it, but we are one or two injuries away on the offensive line from I like our depth a little bit better uh than than what we had last year.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_03: It was basically the our five and then nobody, and unfortunately, we dealt with a ton of injuries.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so the nobodies had to play.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_02: Jagger Burton, that's uh big plus for me.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_02: I do like him as a depth piece.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_03: Uh I'm I'm excited about Jacob Monk.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_03: Uh we were we were wrong.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_03: We we thought he was in jeopardy of getting cut, and quite the opposite.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_03: He's looking like he's gonna be the right guard.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_03: Oh wow.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_03: So starter.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, very exciting for that.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_02: Uh John Williams, too.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_02: That's another guy you talked about quite a bit.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, he he looked good in the preseason.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_03: Uh he kind of had a red shirt year last year.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_03: I think he was a fifth or sixth round, or maybe he was a seventh-round pick, actually.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_03: I think he was a seventh rounder.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_03: Um, out of Cincinnati, and he didn't, I don't think he suited up for any games last year.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_03: Hurt the whole season, but I tried to pay attention to him in the preseason.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_03: I thought he looked pretty solid.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_02: He might be that like swing tackle, that extra offense line when we bring in when we I think so too.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_02: Run uh run the jumbo package or whatever it's specified as I guess 11 personnel or how however that works, he comes in.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_02: But um, yeah, uh overall, just looking forward to that matchup.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_03: I think on the flip side too, uh the Packers defensive line against the Vikings offensive line, uh obviously you know, the game's won in the trenches.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_03: The the flashy guys are fun, Justin Jefferson included, Christian Watson, but the game most games are won in the trenches.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_03: Whoever can can run block and whoever can stop the run or get to the quarterback.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_03: So I think we we mentioned on our last episode about that the Packers uh D-line depth has really improved and is probably the best it's been in a handful of years, uh just top to bottom with including edge rushers, even though we only kept four.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_03: Uh I think that they're gonna maybe elevate for the first couple, I would see, uh before Micah comes back.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_03: But uh the defensive tackle and sort of ends now in the the new 3-4 system.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_03: I I really like, you know, you got Wyatt and Brooks and Hargrave, who once he came back to practice, the reporters couldn't stop talking about him.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_03: He was winning most of his reps.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_01: Hargrave?
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_03: It could be.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_03: I mean I was excited when we got him, but I also understand he's 31, 32 years old, and those guys age fast sometimes.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_01: Well, he even said that like Flores' system wasn't great for him.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_03: That's why I'm a little bit more optimistic on it, I think, because now he's coming back with Ganon, who he had double digit sacks as a nose tackle in Philly.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_03: Like that's that's insane.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_03: Uh so I think kind of getting back to some of that familiarity and just knowing how to make the system work for him.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_03: Uh just Gannon being able to use that your interior defensive lineman like that as well.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, with Wyatt, who is, you know, kind of what Hargrave was, maybe a little bit smaller, uh, but more of a kind of a pass rushing guy.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_03: And you could see it last year too, once he got hurt, our run defense disappeared.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it was pretty abysmal after he was.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_03: He's not always graded as the best run defender as an interior guy, but once he got hurt, it just disappeared.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and there was no depth last year.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, right.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_02: You had Carl Brooks, you had Kobe Wooden, who that's something I wanted to bring up here, too.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so we traded for Zaire Franklin from the Colts.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_02: We gave Kobe Wooden up for that.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_02: Kobe Wooden got released.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yep, he got cut.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_02: So we got Zaire Franklin for free, essentially, which I thought was kind of kind of interesting, but um didn't mean to change the topic completely there.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_01: So would you say that your D line is your best position uh on defense at least?
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_02: I'd say our safeties, in my opinion.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, probably the safeties.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_02: Xavier McKinney and Evan Williams.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_03: And then Bullard, too, technically.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_03: Again, yes, depending on how you look at him, but he he's drafted as a safety, he's a safety.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_02: The depth there isn't great, but I mean just the two the three guys that you could potentially play at the safety positions.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_03: Uh in my eyes, that's McKinney wasn't all pro two years ago.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_03: I think Evan Williams could be on his way, whether that's with us or somebody else.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_03: I don't want to think about that, but potentially down the down the line.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and Bullard seems to be playing with a ton of confidence and really picking up the system.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_02: So the linebackers, too.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_02: I kind of I'm really excited to see Edrin Cooper in year three, I believe.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_02: And then with a veteran right next to him and Zaire Franklin, that's gonna be exciting.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_02: I think in Ganon's system, before Micah comes back, I think you're gonna see a lot of interesting stuff with Edrin Cooper.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, um, I think he's gonna get a lot of pressures.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I think it was two years ago.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_02: I was showing Cody some of the highlights.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_02: We actually played the Vikings.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_02: You guys creamed us, but I think um Edrun Cooper had like four or five tackle for losses in that game, and he was just firing it all cylinders.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_03: So it was teach tape.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_03: I remember that.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_03: This stuff was incredible.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_03: So to answer your question, I actually would think would say yes after we were just talking about that.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_03: Sure.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_03: The safeties are probably the best top-end talent.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_03: The linebackers are fun, but we're we're thin there too.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_03: So D-line, I feel like probably has the most talent top to bottom as a unit.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it sounds like you guys, besides the corners, it sounds like you're fairly high on your defense more than from the outside looking in.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_01: I I view them maybe your defense not as that scary.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe I'm wrong about that.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_02: It's hard to say right now, too, not seeing uh actual in-game game plan from Ganon and preseasons playing how things are gonna work.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um kind of go based off of what he was doing Ganon when he was in Philly.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_02: And their defense was scary and you know, quick, all guy a bunch of guys flying to the ball at the same time.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_02: Um, turnovers.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, that's something last year I think we we were bottom league and yeah, pretty, pretty low.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_03: We weren't the Jets with no interceptions, but yeah, our turnovers weren't uh weren't as good as they were the previous year, and McKinney had some drops, you know, right in between the numbers, dropping a couple interceptions, and there were opportunities we just didn't come through.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I might personally just be a little too hyped on our defense because probably I don't know what's gonna be there, but the talents there in my eyes, and Gaynan's uh a veteran uh coordinator, yeah, coach.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_02: He's got all that experience.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_03: I think it was either it was either Hargrave or Franklin who he's been with on other teams.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_03: Um, one of them said when they asked him about it, uh the reporters did that this defense that he's running in Green Bay is nothing like they had when they were together before.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_03: So that's kind of exciting because he was successful at it.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_03: Um I think he's got the ability to kind of you know maybe tweak and and work out the best way to get the best out of his players.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_03: Um and I think we have we have talent.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_03: It's not a a lack of talent.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_03: Uh I think it's been a little bit maybe lack of depth.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_03: Uh we lost some guys and that really hurt last year.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_03: Uh you know, Halfley got a head head coaching job because of the defense, which looking back was maybe a lucky break.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_03: But um I think I do think the defense is gonna be better than what they were last year.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_01: If that's the case, then um that makes me more worried about the Packers because I look at I look at the rest of the division and I say this division is so tough.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_01: Where do the Vikings have an edge?
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_01: And I think it's defense.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_01: I think the Vikings probably have the best defense last year.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_01: They would still agree with that.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_01: And so then I'm like, well, alright, we have this clear, you know, head above every other team, but if the Packers I I guess I would say the Packers probably do have the next best in the division because Bears and Probably Yeah.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of reports coming out of training camp for the Bears is their defense is atrocious.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_02: I think they played most of their starters.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_01: They just had three injuries in the secondary.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_02: And they lost some guys in free agency.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, they didn't bring back their safeties.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, Kevin Byard and uh Jaquan Brisker, they're both gone.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_03: So with a rookie and Kobe Bryant, who is done for the season now.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_03: So that's gonna be tough.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_01: And with all the good wide receivers in the north, I don't exactly every team has got good good wide outs, good skill players.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_02: Speaking of wideouts here, I just want to get your uh your thoughts.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_02: I know we did uh we did a draft together last week, and I had overheard some comments about uh Christian Watson.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_02: I just want if I can speak fantasy draft?
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we did a f we did a fantasy draft together last week, Connor and I did, and um was hanging out at his parents' house while we did the draft, and I just heard some comments from him and his brothers about Christian Watson.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_02: I kind of kept my mouth shut for the most part.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_02: I don't think Christian Watson is like amazing, amazing, like the best wide receiver.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_02: Like a lot of Packers fans seem to think that Christian Watson is he's better than Justin Jim.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_02: Like, no, shut up, like stop.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_02: But overall, I mean, just your thoughts on Christian Watson as a player, his abilities.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_01: You don't have to talk about the contract at all, but we can just yeah, I think that's what it was surrounded with.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_01: It was that's the conversation was that we thought that was a ridiculous contract.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_01: But well, I'll go back and say when Watson was drafted, I remember wanting the Vikings to take him.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_01: I think we traded with you guys.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_01: And that was um that sounds right, yeah.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_01: Was that the year before what what year was he drafted?
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um I think that was the year before we took Addison.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_03: 21, I think.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, it was his contract was at the end of his rookie deal.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_03: So like that was his first contract.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_01: So I like him as a two.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_01: I always thought he looked like you know, we already had JJ, obviously.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_01: So I thought he'd be a good compliment as a two, and I still view him that way.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_01: So I guess that would be any, if you want to call it, you know, negativity about him is that I don't think he would be a number one.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_01: So and you guys seem to to do that a lot, is like you you take these guys that are number twos, and then you have three number twos or yeah, four number threes, or whatever.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_01: I've I've never been a big fan of Dobbs.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_01: I think he had his role, but trying to make him a number two.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um that's totally fair.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_01: I agree.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_02: We've talked about that.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_02: I know I've kind of pushed pushed the Romeo Dobbs narrative to you a lot, just because I mean we had there for the healthy.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, that was the big thing on Watson too, is he had the hamstring injuries and and the ACL.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_02: So Dobbs was our guy, and I I think you said it perfectly.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_02: He knew his role, he fit his role, he played it perfectly.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_02: And uh yeah, I just wanted to kind of get your thoughts on Christian Watson.
• 36:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so Watson, um, I think he's got flashes, but I've I've even said I can't wait till he plays 17 games just so it can show that he's not a true number one.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_01: But I I mean, could I be wrong?
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_01: Sure, but I just don't I don't view him that way.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but also the way the Packers offense is, I think LaFleur is really good, and I think um he works around that type of thing.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_01: And so if you have two two number twos or three number two, you know, quality wide receivers, and then you add in Tucker Kraft, who I think is probably a top five to seven tight end, like really high on craft.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, if he didn't have his injury, who knows what how that would have looked last year.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_01: He's just on such a crazy pace.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_01: He was on his way to a crazy season.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_02: I think, yeah, all pro for sure he would have been.
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_01: So I think it'll work.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_01: Uh your offense will work.
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_01: And I you guys obviously don't need convincing of that.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_01: No, definitely not.
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um I was just kind of curious, like I said, it was just the conversation we had talked about, and a lot of it was kind of just the contract, which we don't need to get into all the numbers and everything on.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_02: He is, that is true.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_02: But um, yeah.
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_01: He's making more than Nico Collins.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_02: For no for now.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_03: The Texans got to steal with that one, then I think we're in the same boat on that one, uh, to an extent.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_03: I think Packer fans are ready to see him play at least most of the season.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_03: We talked about it on one of our episodes 17 is probably unrealistic for anybody.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I think it was 20% of players to play all 17 games.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_03: So our goal was like 15.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_03: If like 14 to 15 games would be uh a solid sample size.
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_03: Uh so Packer fans are waiting for that also to see him play.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_03: But I think, and I think there's a good number of people that if he does get there, he's gonna put up good numbers.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_03: He'll put up wide receiver one numbers, not necessarily say an all-pro or top five, but you know could see him catching 65, 75 balls for 900 to 1100 yards.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, you know, seven to ten touchdowns potentially.
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, if he's healthy.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_03: I think I think he showed last year the difference he makes on the offense.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_03: Well, especially as a blocker, too.
• 38:59
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, absolutely.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_02: Pretty much all our I'm assuming it's the same with Kevin O'Connell's offense.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, your receivers are expected.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_02: Sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off, but yeah, receivers are expected to block.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_02: It's not just you go out there, you run your routes, and that's it.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_01: I mean Yeah, I mean, that's one of the main reasons they brought in Juwan Jennings.
• 39:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he's known as the best, if not one of the best uh wide receiver blockers in the league.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_03: So I can't believe that one didn't get more publicity.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_03: That was sort of an under-the-radar lag.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_03: I think he's good.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_01: He is good.
• 39:33
  SPEAKER_01: I think he's perfect number three.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_01: He's a veteran, he's uh a good blocker, and I mean, even going back to what we started talking about in the run or in the trenches for this game, that's probably what I'm most excited to see because the Vikings, they brought in Frank Smith um as their O-line or run game coordinator, technically, but um to change the run game to do more of an outside zone scheme.
• 40:00
  SPEAKER_01: And uh by all accounts and reports, is it's been totally positive for the the linemen for the running backs, like they're all raving and excited and like kind of keeping it under the radar, like just watch the run game.
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm excited about that and seeing that, you know, that's why I asked about your D-line.
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_01: Like that, that'll be a really interesting thing to watch, I think, week one, because uh I'm not super excited about our running backs.
• 40:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's you know, if you went through all the teams in the league and you look at our running back room, it's probably definitely bottom half.
• 40:35
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, we got Jordan Mason and and uh Aaron Jones, 30 whatever year old Aaron Jones.
• 40:41
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, you got him after we squeezed all the juice up that way.
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_02: I think so.
• 40:47
  SPEAKER_03: He did have a good first year.
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, absolutely.
• 40:49
  SPEAKER_03: That kind of was bittersweet that he still looked pretty good.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_01: Well, decent enough anyway.
• 40:54
  SPEAKER_01: He was he looked um amazing to us coming off of having Alexander Madison.
• 41:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, sure.
• 41:01
  SPEAKER_01: And then the next year we get Aaron Jones.
• 41:02
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, yeah, he's so good.
• 41:04
  SPEAKER_01: We have a running back again.
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_01: Because he Alexander Madison's the slowest guy in the league.
• 41:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um, shoot, what were we doing here?
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_03: We were we're just bouncing ideas back and forth on each other, but uh that's interesting you say that about the run game because I feel like uh our run game has kind of gone through similar transformation, maybe, or at least tweaks.
• 41:25
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I feel like we tried the the power run down your throat, you know, a gap to a gap, and now it seems like we're going a little more outside zone again, uh, with going a little bit lighter on the offensive line.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_03: With I think that's a big reason Monk is probably gonna be the starter over Belton.
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_03: Uh and we've sort of tried to get back to that.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_03: And then um bringing in Caleb Johnson, I know that was one of the the key talking points was that he fits an outside zone scheme better than what Pittsburgh had too.
• 41:54
  SPEAKER_03: Uh so that he he fits better in Green Bay, which again is you know sort of one of those under-the-radar things, but I think hopefully that can help improve our just complete lack of run game last year.
• 42:08
  SPEAKER_03: Uh it's also I think we're seeing an opportunity for Jordan Love.
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_03: I feel like we're we're leaning into the pass a little bit more.
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_03: Um I one of the reporters for for the Packers said basically, like um it's not always super like definitive, but typically you practice what you're gonna be trying to play, obviously, in training camp and stuff, and they were throwing the ball a lot more than normal.
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 42:35
  SPEAKER_03: So if that's the case, uh the for me, the arrow points up.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_03: I think Jordan Love is ready, is capable.
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I think the offense is capable to to really take off in that sort of a system.
• 42:48
  SPEAKER_03: Um, not saying they're you know they're not gonna be the greatest show on turf like the Rams were, but I do think that is probably their their strongest asset, and hopefully if we lean into it a little bit more, maybe those games aren't coming down to a field goal.
• 43:02
  SPEAKER_03: They're 10, 16, 21 points in the fourth quarter where it's gonna take a miracle every week rather than you know having the Bears pull something out of their hat like that.
• 43:14
  SPEAKER_01: So you're not worried as much about losing Jacobs potentially?
• 43:18
  SPEAKER_03: Actually, no, I'm really not.
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_03: Well he he averaged under four yards of carry last year, so we really didn't have a whole lot of a run game.
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_03: Um, it almost felt like it was force fed because that was the system.
• 43:31
  SPEAKER_03: That's what we played.
• 43:33
  SPEAKER_02: He was pretty banged up towards the end of season two, and he wasn't I don't think he was getting the opportunities that he normally would just because his injuries were kind of holding him back a little bit.
• 43:43
  SPEAKER_03: The offensive line was, you know, held together a fishing line, and then he was banged up, like you said, to so it's a little bit of a skewed sample because nobody was at a hundred percent.
• 43:55
  SPEAKER_03: The run game was absolutely hurting.
• 43:57
  SPEAKER_03: But I say Not worried.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_03: That's maybe not totally accurate.
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, he's obviously a proven guy, but I think it's exciting having the unknowns of Marshawn Lloyd and Caleb Johnson.
• 44:10
  SPEAKER_02: I'm with I'm with you on that.
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_02: Like I like our depth, but I think I'm personally having time to think about it here.
• 44:19
  SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm a little worried about not having Jacobs.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, he just I know you said he only averaged what under four yards of carry.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 44:27
  SPEAKER_02: Which I mean you have that with age, and it's just he I'm not saying he's old, but I mean he's just getting older getting away.
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_02: He's running back old though.
• 44:34
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 44:35
  SPEAKER_02: I'm kinda I'm kind of spooked about not having Jacobs.
• 44:37
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I believe in Marshawn Lloyd, he stayed healthy for the first time in his career, which is great.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_02: Caleb Johnson, he's only been there a week and a half.
• 44:47
  SPEAKER_03: Big.
• 44:48
  SPEAKER_02: I know he is.
• 44:48
  SPEAKER_02: I I saw some videos of him.
• 44:50
  SPEAKER_02: He's bigger than I thought.
• 44:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, he's he's a big dude.
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_02: But no, I'm definitely spooked a little bit about not having Jacobs.
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_02: I do hope we throw the ball more just because I believe in Jordan Love and I'm just excited to see it.
• 45:01
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, I I'd be on I'm on the opposite of what you were saying there, man.
• 45:05
  SPEAKER_03: That's that's fair.
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, don't get me wrong, I would probably prefer to have him.
• 45:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, but I'll especially as a receiver, too, which I think Marshawn Lloyd's gonna be amazing.
• 45:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 45:14
  SPEAKER_02: As a receiving back out of the back.
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_03: Touchdown we had in Denver was uh was incredible.
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that was that was fun to watch.
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, again, it was just a simple choice route, but just to see that that guy has, yeah, is very exciting.
• 45:29
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, I'm kind of on the opposite end of the worry with the running back.
• 45:33
  SPEAKER_02: I like the room, but not having Jacobs for the foreseeable future kind of worries me a little bit.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_02: That's fair.
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_02: So uh yeah, we got uh the game coming up.
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_02: We just want to do some predictions here quick and before we get into that.
• 45:50
  SPEAKER_03: We just real quick, we kind of talked about a little bit, you know, how the division is could be anybody's game, really.
• 45:57
  SPEAKER_03: What is your thoughts on on the Vikings?
• 45:59
  SPEAKER_03: What's kind of a best case scenario, worst case scenario, maybe?
• 46:02
  SPEAKER_03: Good question.
• 46:03
  SPEAKER_01: Oh man, yeah, I mean I I see it as under KOC if he gets quality quarterback play and and they finish the season, it's gonna be a good season.
• 46:18
  SPEAKER_01: That's how I view it.
• 46:19
  SPEAKER_01: So can he can he get quality quarterback play from Kyler Murray?
• 46:24
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, if we have the same defensive um prowess that we had last year under Flores, I do see it as probably on the higher end of of the range, but like I said, there's also because of how hard the division is, I think the range is pretty uh pretty narrow.
• 46:45
  SPEAKER_01: So I'd put it in the the 9 to 11 win range is what I would expect from them.
• 46:51
  SPEAKER_01: I mean they hadn't people forget it was a disaster of a year last year and they went nine and eight.
• 46:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 46:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um now they won the last game and no one I did they play the Packers week 18 or they they played our JV.
• 47:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's what I'm saying.
• 47:04
  SPEAKER_01: So Vikings fans, the people I listened to too, love to be like, we went nine and eight, we won the last five.
• 47:10
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, the last game we were out of contention, Packers didn't play their guys.
• 47:15
  SPEAKER_01: So either way, we had you know a good little streak at the end and had at least eight wins, legitimate wins.
• 47:22
  SPEAKER_01: And so I see that as the floor, hopefully.
• 47:26
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 47:26
  SPEAKER_01: And then the higher end would be, I mean, two years ago they went 14 and 3.
• 47:30
  SPEAKER_01: So, but that's that's a little bit out of the ordinary.
• 47:33
  SPEAKER_01: So I would say 10-11 win wins is where I'm looking, um, and it can go a bounce of a football here or there would determine what that is in the division, because I do think it's just gonna be so close, and all those games I expect to be really tight uh games.
• 47:49
  SPEAKER_01: So we're very familiar with that concept.
• 47:52
  SPEAKER_03: I feel like we were one or two bounces away from a two seed last year and we snuck in as a seven, so it's it can be frustrating, but that's the way it goes.
• 48:02
  SPEAKER_01: So if you want me, you want my prediction now?
• 48:05
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 48:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 48:06
  SPEAKER_01: So if you want my prediction, I would say Vikings go eleven and six.
• 48:12
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna be yeah, I'm gonna say they go eleven and six.
• 48:16
  SPEAKER_01: Uh win a playoff game.
• 48:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the KOC needs it.
• 48:24
  SPEAKER_01: I think he's his seat's not hot, but I think it's glad you brought that up.
• 48:29
  SPEAKER_01: Slightly warm, slightly warm.
• 48:31
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 48:31
  SPEAKER_01: Because he fifth year now, hasn't won a playoff game.
• 48:35
  SPEAKER_01: Offensive genius, quote unquote, quarterback whisperer, quote unquote.
• 48:39
  SPEAKER_01: I think this is the prove it season for him.
• 48:42
  SPEAKER_03: Um I think the optics were tough kicking the eventual Super Bowl winner to the curb.
• 48:47
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, dude.
• 48:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, worse decision.
• 48:50
  SPEAKER_01: And was that KOC?
• 48:51
  SPEAKER_01: Was that Quasey?
• 48:53
  SPEAKER_01: And KOC's kind of done what he can to put himself away from that.
• 48:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like I didn't make that decision.
• 48:59
  SPEAKER_01: That was Quasey's decision.
• 49:01
  SPEAKER_02: Not that he said that, but you can kind of see in how he says things, and he's such a politician and how he talks, and uh we won't get into that, but uh funny that you brought that up because we talked about that when we did the draft too, when they announced Kyler Murray as the starter over JJ McCarthy, and it took KOC seven minutes to pretty much get the words out of his mouth that were going with Kyler.
• 49:24
  SPEAKER_02: Just cracked me up.
• 49:26
  SPEAKER_02: Very careful and like media trained, yeah.
• 49:28
  SPEAKER_01: JJ McCarthy was his top ten pick, so you you know, and he's still in the building, so you have to be careful with how you word things.
• 49:35
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 49:37
  SPEAKER_02: Um prediction for the game on Sunday.
• 49:41
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, the game, yeah.
• 49:42
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 49:42
  SPEAKER_02: Uh no, I I I love the season prediction.
• 49:45
  SPEAKER_01: I let me see.
• 49:46
  SPEAKER_02: If not, I can throw some.
• 49:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you start.
• 49:48
  SPEAKER_01: Let me think.
• 49:49
  SPEAKER_02: I'm thinking, um, kind of thought about it for a little bit here.
• 49:52
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's gonna be a close one.
• 49:54
  SPEAKER_02: I think um Green Bay is gonna edge edge him out.
• 49:57
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's gonna be 27-24, somewhere in that range.
• 50:02
  SPEAKER_02: Um, a one possession game.
• 50:04
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not saying it's gonna come down to a a field goal here at the end or a savior from Trey Smack, but I I think I think we win.
• 50:12
  SPEAKER_02: I think our offense does what it can against um Brian Flores' defense.
• 50:19
  SPEAKER_02: I think Jordan Love's gonna look really good out the gates.
• 50:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um and I think our defense is is gonna take take advantage of a few opportunities.
• 50:29
  SPEAKER_02: Um hopefully we can get a few turnovers.
• 50:33
  SPEAKER_02: But I think it's gonna be a close game, and I think we win.
• 50:35
  SPEAKER_02: I think we start the season uh one or no.
• 50:37
  SPEAKER_03: I think I will say that we prick predicted 12 and 5 at the beginning of this.
• 50:44
  SPEAKER_03: Uh we uh are probably will stick to that as best we can.
• 50:48
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 50:49
  SPEAKER_03: Definitely gonna be some revisions later on.
• 50:52
  SPEAKER_03: Uh you know, just because we picked them winning a game at that time before the rosters were set before we even put pads on doesn't mean that, you know, week 12 or 13 all of a sudden maybe Jordan's hurt or somebody's out that wasn't expecting, whatever.
• 51:07
  SPEAKER_03: But I agree.
• 51:08
  SPEAKER_03: I think we we went with Minnesota or with uh us winning in Minnesota.
• 51:13
  SPEAKER_03: I think there's gonna be a little bit of sloppiness with both sides of the ball for the the Packers defense and the Vikings offense kind of being new.
• 51:26
  SPEAKER_03: Um I'm gonna say 2117.
• 51:29
  SPEAKER_03: I think there's just gonna be a little bit of a learning curve on offense uh for four quarters with all the same starters, normal guys.
• 51:37
  SPEAKER_03: And I think the same thing with the Packers.
• 51:39
  SPEAKER_03: I feel like yes, maybe a a short field here or whatever, maybe a turnover that results in a quick touchdown.
• 51:48
  SPEAKER_03: Uh and then yeah, 21-17, I think maybe maybe a late score, or it it also could be a boring one.
• 51:56
  SPEAKER_03: It might be, you know, a touchdown, a quarter, and then all of a sudden the game's done.
• 51:59
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 52:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm totally with you with the boring slow game.
• 52:04
  SPEAKER_01: I I just I was just looking up the the odds on it.
• 52:07
  SPEAKER_01: So the Vikings are favored by one and a half.
• 52:09
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 52:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's now home.
• 52:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I was gonna say that's typically the home field.
• 52:13
  SPEAKER_01: It's basically a toss-up, and then uh the over-under is 45 and a half, which I would take the understanding.
• 52:19
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna smash the under on that.
• 52:21
  SPEAKER_01: So mine would be 23-17 Vikings.
• 52:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, of course, I'm gonna take the Vikes.
• 52:27
  SPEAKER_01: I think the defense um is probably gonna lead the way for us, and then if we can get a couple touchdowns and then rely on Rikard, that'd probably be our best bet to win by a uh field goal or two.
• 52:42
  SPEAKER_03: So my uh little bit of PTSD.
• 52:47
  SPEAKER_03: I hope it doesn't come down to special teams in any way, shape, or form.
• 52:51
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 52:52
  SPEAKER_02: I believe in our new kicker now.
• 52:53
  SPEAKER_02: He's he's done everything right.
• 52:55
  SPEAKER_02: I hope we don't have a blunder on you know the punt punt team where we get a blocked punt, or that's what I'm saying.
• 53:02
  SPEAKER_02: The other thing too didn't mention earlier, it just popped into my head now.
• 53:05
  SPEAKER_02: We talked about it on our last episode.
• 53:07
  SPEAKER_02: Um Matt Orzik ended up being our long snapper going into the season, so he hadn't played all of training camp.
• 53:14
  SPEAKER_02: We went and signed um Edomidas, uh guy off of the street, free agent, essentially.
• 53:20
  SPEAKER_02: And he's our long snapper, and the operation was perfect throughout training camp throughout well throughout preseason for sure.
• 53:27
  SPEAKER_03: I will say I did notice in the last game we didn't, you know, recap that one, but he did have at least two, maybe three snaps that were high.
• 53:34
  SPEAKER_02: On the punt?
• 53:35
  SPEAKER_03: Uh field goals.
• 53:37
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 53:37
  SPEAKER_03: They were I I noticed, you know, Whalen had to go up and kind of make a nice save on the operation there.
• 53:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I just figured I'd throw that out there.
• 53:46
  SPEAKER_02: I figured we were gonna keep Adam Midas just because the operation seemed smooth, you know, throughout the process, and why mess with a rookie kicker with a you have a brand new long snapper?
• 53:56
  SPEAKER_02: Oh no, so we brought a new long snapper in during training camp, and our original long snapper was on the PUP list.
• 54:04
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 54:05
  SPEAKER_02: So throughout training camp, we went with that new guy we signed.
• 54:07
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 54:08
  SPEAKER_02: And we both kind of assumed we were gonna keep the new guy because the operation was I think we both kind of you know swung throughout camp.
• 54:14
  SPEAKER_03: It was okay, this guy's just gonna be a placeholder, and then it kept looking better and better and better, and like maybe there's a real shot he stays.
• 54:21
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I screw it up.
• 54:22
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, because of a rookie kicker.
• 54:23
  SPEAKER_03: If it had been a tenure vet, like whatever, no big deal.
• 54:26
  SPEAKER_03: But yeah, because we've had struggles with kickers, and now we have a rookie who has looked positive, like you said, why change that?
• 54:34
  SPEAKER_01: But I guess it is what it is, and yeah, they ended up letting him go, and they brought Matt Orzik off the PUP, and that's the Vikings have a similar weird you don't really think about this stuff as like game changers, but you know, one bad snap when we're talking about them uh being a a player two difference in some of these games.
• 54:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 54:54
  SPEAKER_01: Vikings have a similar thing is well, first off, they have a new punter, brand new punter.
• 55:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so they let go of uh well they brought in Johnny Hecker, didn't they?
• 55:06
  SPEAKER_01: Johnny Hacker, thank you.
• 55:07
  SPEAKER_01: I couldn't remember.
• 55:08
  SPEAKER_01: They brought in Hecker and then they they got uh Brett Thorsen, who is actually undrafted uh rookie.
• 55:14
  SPEAKER_01: Nice and he it looked like they're gonna keep Hecker.
• 55:17
  SPEAKER_01: It was one of the surprises, is that they kept Thorsen, who has uh what do they call the banana ball?
• 55:24
  SPEAKER_02: So apparently like the rugby, like a rugby kick?
• 55:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he's got like he's got like a patented banana ball kick where it like spins a different way, and apparently interesting.
• 55:35
  SPEAKER_01: We'll see.
• 55:35
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm I'm actually as a a fan of all that weird stuff, looking forward to paying attention to that.
• 55:43
  SPEAKER_01: So watch watch out for the rugby kick hunter.
• 55:45
  SPEAKER_01: But the other thing I'm more worried about is the um Vikings have their center, Blake Brandle, um, who last year, I don't know if you guys remember, they had um he just retired.
• 55:58
  SPEAKER_01: I can't think of his name.
• 55:59
  SPEAKER_01: He was from the Colts.
• 56:00
  SPEAKER_01: We brought him over.
• 56:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um what's his name, dude?
• 56:05
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Ben Jones?
• 56:07
  SPEAKER_01: Ryan Kelly.
• 56:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, now yes.
• 56:10
  SPEAKER_01: So he retired because he had concussion issues and everything.
• 56:13
  SPEAKER_01: So we we were looking at, you know, as Viking fans, are they gonna draft a center early?
• 56:18
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe well, we have Blake Brandell, who has been all across the line.
• 56:22
  SPEAKER_01: He played guard, he played tackle, he's been kind of a depth piece to swing around whenever we have injuries.
• 56:29
  SPEAKER_01: Then he settled into center, and we're like, are we gonna keep him at center?
• 56:32
  SPEAKER_01: And he was kind of the only question mark on the whole line.
• 56:35
  SPEAKER_01: We kept him at center, he's our guy.
• 56:36
  SPEAKER_01: Well, through camp, the one big worry, it hasn't been his balking ability or anything like that, it's been his snaps.
• 56:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so it's like, especially with Kyler being four foot two, it's like he snaps the ball over his head all the time.
• 56:51
  SPEAKER_01: It's like every every few drives, it's a high snap.
• 56:55
  SPEAKER_01: So maybe that could be the big play.
• 56:58
  SPEAKER_03: Interesting.
• 56:59
  SPEAKER_03: Even if it's not a turnover, a play like that can ruin a drive, and then you've got a punt, and maybe it's shank from a rookie, and all of a sudden you're getting the ball at the opposite 40.
• 57:10
  unknown: All right.
• 57:10
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I think that kind of wraps it up.
• 57:12
  SPEAKER_02: Um, thanks for coming on, dude.
• 57:14
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely, we appreciate it.
• 57:16
  SPEAKER_02: We'll have you on in the future for sure again.
• 57:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you're our first guest now in in the history of this podcast, so that means something special to us.
• 57:25
  SPEAKER_02: And um, yeah, looking forward to the game and excited to keep breaking this down and previewing and just doing all the finally here.
• 57:34
  SPEAKER_02: We made it.
• 57:35
  SPEAKER_02: We made it.
• 57:36
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah.
• 57:36
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for listening, and uh, we'll catch you guys soon.