Preseason Week 2 Takeaways from 15 Games!

00:00:00
Speaker 1: When first they're down for Chicago third and five, William Zen ridden.

00:00:04
Speaker 2: There's the Kios Cineramados Zakios touching ten years on pitter Bears touchdown, thirty six yard touchdown to finish.

00:00:13
Speaker 3: Off a ninety three yard dry at the start.

00:00:17
Speaker 4: This game, I'll tell you what the Ben Johnson era, even though it's the preseason, couldn't have started. Watched the switch release here and what it does creating leverage by for Zakis, and then it's just man coverage runs past tomor Hamlin the safety and there's nothing but green grass ahead.

00:00:39
Speaker 3: The Bears are back, baby. I love that call. I love that we're overreacting. I love that the preseason is inching closer to an end. This is Greg Rosenthal, this is NFL Daily, and Nick Sook is joining me from across the country. Every year, SHOOKI we get one preseason game where a veteran type of team overperforms for like two drives. It's usually these weird Fox games that are in primetime for some reason, and then we get to make too big a deal out of it for the next three weeks. This is that game. The Bears got up twenty eight to nothing on the Bills backups. Let's go.

00:01:20
Speaker 5: Well, you mean to tell me the dress rehearsal doesn't matter what I thought. This is supposed to be the greatest preview of what we're going to get for the next eighteen weeks.

00:01:28
Speaker 3: I mean to Matt, it matters a little bit. And we are going to go through every single game that's been played in preseason week two. There's still one more to go on Monday night. But on Sunday Night, the fact that it was Caleb Williams, the fact that it was all by itself on National TV, and I know Joe Davis had his little tongue in cheek there saying that the Bears are back. But after what had been a rocky first couple of weeks of training camp and all the reports and them struggling, and then you've heard this drum beat of the joint practices are getting better and they had a good what I think with the Bills to this week, and some of the reporters just Caleb starting to look a lot more comfortable and then he goes down the field and yes it's against a lot of the backups, but that's just all I wanted to see, just a nice decisive Caleb Williams drive, and I'm excited for the Bear season.

00:02:15
Speaker 5: Yeah. I mean this is the drive that every Bears fan's going to point to you for the next two and a half to three weeks saying, and Johnson, there's this, his fingerprints are all over this. Man, We're like, we're back part there. Actually are going to point to this as that. But if anything, it's it's encouraging because it was such a disaster at times last season, and you felt bad for Caleb. He didn't have time to throw, he was hesitant to throw. It was just a nightmare of an operation. So to see them seemingly in sync and beyond Caleb, by the way, like Tyson Bagents ran this offense pretty well too. I mean, there's a lot of reasons to be encouraged. It is only the preseason, but I like the positives that came out of this game, just that.

00:02:57
Speaker 3: Yeah, they're understanding the offense because if you watch lot of Kayleb Williams last year, you know, you didn't see open receivers and it's like it's like the first throw of the games to Colston Loveland, actually that that was just a normal good throw and then you have wide open Cole Comet over the middle. Zakias on the long touchdown, we saw pretty wide open. Loveland had an eighteen yarder in there too. They overcame a penalty, they overcame field position, and they scored a touchdown. Now not as sharp. On the second drive, Caleb went one for four on that, and you're right. Bagent then lit up the Bear Bills. At one point in the first half, the Bears had twenty eight points, the Bills had twenty two yards. But you know, like I said, it was a lot of Bills backup, so I thought I'd see Josh Allen in this game. I guess they decided not. I don't have a lot of other notes here. The Bills might not put Curtis Samuel on this team. I'm starting to wonder, like he's not in the top three receivers right now. Elijah Moore is playing really well and is guaranteed money. Samuel's hurt. They like this guy, Tyrrel Shavers. But Samuel is due six point nine million dollars, So that's that's a little bit on my radar. He's guaranteed that money. Other than that, I didn't have like major Bills takeaways here other than Josh Allen apparently played well enough at the joint practices that they didn't felt feel like they needed to see him here.

00:04:14
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:04:14
Speaker 5: I wouldn't expect them to anyway. They know what they have in him. Is there a chance that kJ Hamler is still in the mix to fill out the back end of this receiving core or is he just a fun uh focus on hard knocks, because.

00:04:24
Speaker 3: Yeah, if you gets stay healthy, it feels like a focus, a fun focus on hard knocks. Although I have to do it. Yeah, this is the first hard Necks I haven't watched. Oh you know, I mean he's made me laugh a lot. Okay, they lost me a little bit the last couple of seasons they did.

00:04:42
Speaker 5: Yeah, and I agree there's there's some additional entry. There's some intrigue with the fact that, like they're a super Bowl contender. Like usually get the the underdogs and the teams that want to become something, but like these are there's some household names out there, and so it is kind of interesting. But I do want toy Bears for one one point only. Look, we've heard about Luther Burdon since his days of Suria as a receiver, but he blocked his ass off on Sunday Night twice he was responsible for goal line scores because he was willing to get in the mix. Crack back. He's not the biggest receiver, but he threw his entire weight at the defense right on the edge, created the lanes for two rushing touchdowns. And Greg Olsen was just shocked because most rookie receivers aren't willing to sacrifice their body like Luther Burdon is earning his targets.

00:05:28
Speaker 3: Great call. Shock that this show would have been incomplete without that information. And Burton popped off for three catches forty nine yards. My son Walker were watching the game together and he's like, oh, I'm going to draft Luther Burden, And I try to explain to him, like, yeah, but DJ Moore's first, and then room on Donesday's next, and I think both tight ends are in front of him. But if he's good, he's good, and whether it's reality or fantasy, he is going to help the Bears out. So, like I mentioned, we have fourteen other games we're getting to. One of those is not Backals Commanders because that's Monday night. But the Bengals you know, dropped some random news on us on a Sunday afternoon. I actually think it was Trey Hendrickson that dropped it. Either way, Ian Rappaport and Tom Pellasaro reported that the Bengals are listening to trade offers for Trey Hendrickson. When I saw some of the local reporters you know mentioned it, I got the feeling this is Trey Hendrickson trying to drum up business. I don't have the feeling that any trade is going to happen and that the Bengals are going to ask for way too much. So to me, until I hear something more, it's not a huge story, and this show is more about the games Shook. We had some wild games this weekend, just in terms of like crazy endings. If it was actually a regular season game like it would have blown my mind. This Saints Jaguars seventeen all tie had so many twists and turns in the fourth quarter and twist and turns in this quarterback battle. Tyler Shook gets the start. I thought they were set up for Tyler Shook to go win this job this week. Just the drum breat of the practices of him getting better and better and better kind of closing that gap. Being maybe a little better in the preseason opener. I thought this was his chance to win the job. I left the game being more confused, but overall thinking Spencer Rattler played better overall with the backups in the second half than Shuck did with the starters in the first half. Kellen Moore said he'd liked to make a decision sometime soon. His two guys haven't really made it easy on them. What do you think.

00:07:29
Speaker 5: It's not the only quarterback battle that is in this place too, by the way, this preseason, which is very strange at the position, and we will get to them. Yeah, I would agree. Shuck had a nightmares start. He looked overwhelmed, and then he did settle in later in the first half and posted a respectable stat line and looked like he could handle the responsibilities of the offense. And then Rattler comes in the second half and he just looks kind of like a natural, like I've been here before, I know what to do in this offense. I'm going to deliver with confidence, and it does complicate Matt, But I also tend to not like I know that coaches value joint practice is almost more than preseason games at this point, and it's because of who you're playing with and when you're playing in the game, and Shuck getting the start and finding his footing I think was encouraging enough that I still think they're going to lean in that direction. But it is close.

00:08:18
Speaker 3: Maybe, I think if you add up at the entire month, like Rattler's been better, and I think the fact that Chuck's made it closer lately gives you the thought, Well, the tye goes to the young guy, although he's not the young guy. He's literally older than Rattler. But ty goes to the rookie who this resume handpicked in the second round. But he kind of froze against pressure early. And I saw some Saints fans just excusing it, saying that these are free rushers on these plays where Shuck took two sacks, But yeah, you look kind of he just didn't look like an athlete while tripping over his own feet and kind of ducking on one of them and then the other, he just goes down and he holds the ball. He freaked out again pressure a little bit in his college tape too, whereas Rattler occasionally the pressure was getting to him. In this gate, he's doing spin moves. He makes some nice throws against pressure, even on shorter passes, and he had some big time plays and I thought he was stamping himself to win the job. And then he throws an interception deep in the Jaguars territory on a route that I thought Mason Tipton completely gave up, like he got a little disrupted and just stopped, and that kind of killed Rattler, who threw the ball with anticipation. He shouldn't have thrown it anyways, but Ratler responded and drove them down the field with almost no time remaining, got them to within two points, and then runs in the two point conversion. And that drive included a number of really good throws. And I thought that drive where he finally, instead of just playing it safe, I think he's tried to avoid mistakes throughout this whole process, actually ripped it and he had a couple of nice throws to Tipton, who's earning himself a bigger role. To me, that was like the best quarterback play I've seen out of this I want the agenda. I want Rattler to be weak one. I'm really not sure what they're gonna do well.

00:10:05
Speaker 5: I think it really comes down to what do you envision for this offense. What does it look like this year? Is it going to require a lot of improvisation. Because if that's the case, then Rattler's your guy. If you think that you want to establish an identity offensively and want a guy to play within a system, then Shuck's your guy. And the reason I lean on that is because of what you just described with Rattler as the improviser, but also I saw a Shuck reading coverage and quickly taking checkdowns understanding, all right, that's not there, I'm going to get the ball out. He did look bad under pressure a couple times. One of those sacks he had no chance, like, nobody's getting that ball out. I think it was the second of those two sacks.

00:10:37
Speaker 3: You don't have to look for some reason with him. He just doesn't look good.

00:10:41
Speaker 5: You know, there's moments where I'm like, yes, that's good, and then there's other moments where I'm like, oh God, that didn't look good. That looks like his college team.

00:10:49
Speaker 3: So yeah, I think the offensive line's been a problem for the saying throughout camp, like they haven't been able to really run the ball. Kendrick Miller is healthy for once, and I think is running hard, which actually gives them a little juice. Shuck had one good drive, like he had three drives, he scored three points and the one drive he went five for five before Olave just dropped a wide open good throw on third and long and killed the drive. So that is not really on Chuck. It's tough. You're you're also trying to manage like it's a rookie. Would we rather start with Rattler versus some tough games and then bringing Shook or do we just want to give Shook all the confidence and just start them right away? Who knows, we'll find out. On the Jaguars side, by the way, I just think true. I like what I see out of Trevor Lawrence. You know it's the preseason, but he's played a decent amount in these two weeks, just making some like faster decisions. Travis Hunter didn't play in this game. Brian Thomas Junior had a drop in this game, which has reportedly been a feature of his training camp. But a lot of Breton strange like on third and long and he's really been good. Parker Washington had a touchdown, they would have gone up and down the field on the Saints and scored two touchdowns if not for a fumble exchange with the running back that Trevor Lawrence had when his offensive lineman stepped on him. But just kind of like what I see, just we'll see it's Liam Cohen. It's new, but just like what I see out of the Jaguars so far.

00:12:02
Speaker 5: Yeah, I would expect a decent amount of Brenton Stranger this year. If you look back to the Buccaneers last year when they lost all the receivers and we got a lot of Kate Otten, it's kind of the same the concept. You know, Liam Cohen was the OC at that time, so that would surprise me. You know what else I really like about this team, And we don't know if this is going to end up being the final trio, but if it is, I actually really like what the running back room brings. Tank Bigsby looked explosive. You talk about the guys in preseason who clearly had the juice. He clearly has the juice. Etn looked solid. Facial Tooton starting to find his footing, as well, he scored a touchdown. I enjoyed what I saw from all three of those guys. So I'm a little bullish on this offense. As a team overall is still a bit skeptical, but I think that they are going to take some steps forward, and that's why they hired Liam Cohen in the first place.

00:12:41
Speaker 3: And the Jaguars did play their starters on both sides of the ball for a couple series, so Schuck, when he was really struggling, was going against the Jaguars starters and then they took him out. The Saints, on the other hand, played their offensive starters, but not their defensive starter. It's just if you're keeping score at home. All right, Let's go to the Broncos Cardinals. I don't have a ton on this game. The Cardinals got rolled twenty seven to seven. Troy Franklin had a couple of touchdowns. I did go back and watch his targets. What I like net now is he's showing some versatility, like we've seen him on a couple of go balls. Had a nice jump ball touchdown, but also a play in the slot where he went across the formation. They're really deep at wide receiver, like I want to be excited about Troy Franklin. After the game, Sean Payton was asked, like about his year two leap, and he's like, it's happening. This is the leap. But if you look at the depth chart, like he's probably wide receiver four because they sat there their starters, which is Devon Veley, Courtland Sutton, and Marvin Mims. So I just think they've got a lot of weapons, including Evan Ingram, who had a big play in this game too.

00:13:42
Speaker 5: Yeah, I was gonna mention me if you didn't. I mean, even like Adam Troutman made some place to them last year. Like, I like how they're they're too deep is at tight end as well. They're sneaky deep all over their offensive side of the ball, including And call me crazy, maybe I'm a little hyperbolic. Since it is week two of the preseason. Is Jared's did him one of the best backup quarterbacks in the NFL two weeks. Two weeks He's put together two really good outings. And I know the Cardinals starters weren't out there, and this was just a bunch of second, third, fourth stringers, And that's what you get in the preseason, but I don't know, he's putting together some good tape this preseason.

00:14:13
Speaker 3: I'm glad you you mentioned he had two hundred and forty yards and two touchdowns in a half in this game. I added up his two weeks. He's thirty for thirty eight for three seventy six and four touchdowns. And our old friend James Palmer, congratulations to him now working at the athletic with scoop City. Love James Palmer. He started just like thinking out loud on Twitter, being like, I don't know if you know a preseason MVP. That's not a thing, but if there was one, I think it would be Jared Stidham, And I thought, I'm saying, great idea, Palmer, great minds think alike. We used to hand out the preseason MVP award annually. At some point I stopped doing it. I remember one year it was a Matt McGloin of the Raiders versus Corey Washington, a wide receiver of the Giants who had a game winning touchdown somehow in three straight weeks. I think Stitta and a quarterback that we're going to talk about a little later are the co favorites for preseason MVB. So I'm glad you you reminded me that that that is a thing. By the way, Pat Bryant too, their third round pick at receiver, and R. J. Harvey, their second round pick at running back, both had really nice games. So just man, the Broncos look like they could be a wagon this year. We'll see. On the cardinal side, they didn't really play anyone. No, supposedly the joint practices like Marvin Harrison and Trey McBride the great. But we hit that a little bit on Thursday. I thought it was notable. Will Johnson was playing, not for long, but the rest of the starters weren't. So just maybe a sign like they just want the rookie to get a little more work. Maybe he's not quite ready. And I don't know if you're clocking this shook, but Zay Jones has won the wide receiver three battle there over Greg Dortch.

00:15:47
Speaker 5: Just an update there for you. You know, that's a big hit to those who love Greg Dortch, who like smaller receivers who make big time plays. But he's fourth, right, He's just made to be a fourth. He's a gadget. He's a gadget. And you can make gadget anyway. He doesn't have to just matter your ranks in the depth chart.

00:16:03
Speaker 3: Yes, and our old friend Will Hernandez I had mentioned he'd been a free agent a few weeks back. He's back with this team. And when I say old friend, I mean that we randomly hung out with him at this event during the Super Bowl for Latino football players run by one of my good friends. And he was so nice to my son Walker, like talk to him for like ten minutes and took a picture. So let's go. Will Hernandez back in the league, all right, Bucks and Steelers. Bucks win seventeen fourteen. I like to say the score every once in a while, Why don't you start give me any big takeaways if you have any from.

00:16:37
Speaker 5: I mean, I'm all over the in Mecca a Buka train And so I know he had one catch, but it was a touchdown catch, and it was a prime example of what made him a great receiver at Ohio State and why he's going to be a contributor in this offense with Tampa Bay. So I was excited to see that. Another one of those games where, like, you know, you don't get Baker Mayfield, but you do get a little Teddy Bridgewater a couple of touchdown passes out of Teddy two gloves back in the NFL, so that's fun. And Skyler Thompson not as prolific this week as he was last week for the Steelers, but put together a solid stat line as well. Look like Caleb Johnson goes eleven for fifty. That's solid because that's a guy that they're going to count and I think more, especially late in this season. Those are all positive signs. But it's one of those classic preseason games with two teams that kind of know who they are, don't need to test that much of what they have. They do need to see more out of Roman Wilson. Two catches for seventy two yards. That's more and a year ago at this time, Roman Wilson was battling an ankle injury was out of the picture. So that's super encouraging for this offense that they've said over and over again, whether directly or through sources, through reporters, they feel much better about this now we're starting to see little peaks of it. So I'm excited for the Steelers.

00:17:39
Speaker 3: Yeah, two big plays because that's not what you think of him. I mean it was a bomb down the field from Mason Rudolph. Now Rudolph through an interception on his first throw, I think, and that was intended for Wilson who maybe didn't totally help him out. But then he had a bomb down the field as like an outside receiver and then another crossing route. So that's great. I mean, two, two big plays. You can't ask for much more. You mentioned Abuka is only catch. Seeing Teddy Bridgewater back in the league throwing dimes to young men like Abuka, it just made me smile. So let's take a listen.

00:18:12
Speaker 6: Third and three a big one for the Steelers defense trying to get off the field, set up for three, a mecca of Buca in the end zone. Eckles in coverage. Yoebuka has that one and is a touchdown. He's the number one pick out of Ohio State. That's a five yard score from Bridgewater to Buka and Nichols was there. But it was just a really good pass and catch.

00:18:32
Speaker 3: You can totally tell if it's the home or the away announcers in these preseason games. That's what we have access to, and that was absolutely the Steelers. But man Teddy threw two touchdowns, the other with the Bucky Irving which was like another tight throw, and you do wonder if he's the backup because he came in he looked good right away. And Kyle Trass comes in, he was three for ten, almost had two interceptions, and it was just a reminder I did watch this one. Offensive line was not good for either one of those guys, and for the most part for Teddy, like it was the starters. But it's not just and worse, And so you do wonder when Baker gets back in there, and he is supposed to be back soon, you know, just will it be as good an offensive line Right now? They are running tests Nick on Jalen McMillan, who had an injury in this game, a little unclear what it was, whether it was a head injury or what. And then Jacob Parrish, who's played really well could be a starter for them, rookie cornerback who's challenging Jamel Dean for a time. Nick Krbig also left this game, but Mike Tomlin said afterwards he thinks he is okay. And I'm curious because you watch the big ten, like Caleb Johnson, I saw those numbers so I did. I did go back and watch his carries, and he played behind Gainwell like very clearly, and they just sat Jalen Warren. So to me, he might be third in line. And I know the numbers were good, but he's like a big a big back. It was a lot of East West, so I have a feeling they'll be trying to I coach him on just he had major holes in this game, like to run through, and so I'm not giving him too much credit and maybe it's a little concerning he's behind Gainwell.

00:20:10
Speaker 5: I also see him as a prospect who is going to take a little bit longer to ramp up because of the transition from Iowa football specifically, which is very much old school between the tackles, running ground and pound, to the NFL, and he has to adjust to that. And I also think that they draft him with the idea that they don't need to lean on him, but they hope that eventually he becomes the rugged back that Najie Harris was for them for so long, and they know that they can kind of make it work with Jalen Warren and Kenny Gainwell in between. So that's why a little bit surprising that you don't see him get starter reps though, because you would want him to get more reps in a preseason game, but then again, you're getting your starters out of there after a few series.

00:20:47
Speaker 3: Yeah, Derek Harmon, their first round pick, defensive lineman who I don't think we've mentioned on the show almost at all. In camp, the reports have all been really good. They say he's a week one starter. He had a sack, a big run stop in this game. So it's really been positives for the Steelers for Derek Harmon. You never know if those first round picks look like first round picks, and he does right away. All right, let's go to the Giants and the Jets. You know this is this was the Snoopy Bowl back in the day with Rex Ryan, way back when like Joe Namath was playing. This is how I can't understand what football was like then. Supposedly like a preseason game following the Jets Super Bowl Nick the guarantee by Joe Namath, Like the preseason game the following year, by all accounts, was a bigger deal than the Super Bowl the previous year, which is hard for our mind to really wrap around. But like in terms of audience fans there, Like people weren't really into the super Bowl back then, but the New York people were into the New York teams and the Giants were the It's hard to really imagine that being the case. I would not say it was that big a deal this year, But Drew Locke is coming bro like he might be the number one story of the preseason so far. Jackson Dart playing this well and kind of putting that that, you know, making that least just a little tighter on Russell Wilson. I think I think he is. I don't know what story is bigger, like a non injury story.

00:22:16
Speaker 5: No, I agree. Watching this, I thought Russ played pretty well.

00:22:21
Speaker 3: Yeah, good point. He had.

00:22:22
Speaker 5: He had a classic like Russ fade, nice, ripped down the middle type of thing, like played like Russ is expected to play. But then there was and I don't know if it was because of the portion of the game, because Dark comes in like the middle of the second quarter, right there's like seven thirty left from the clock, and suddenly darts in. It's almost as if like somebody took a syringe and just injected them with adrenaline as an offense. They just like ran a more competent offense. He was in complete control. I know, again it's mid second quarter, so you're not facing the full strength of what Russell Wilson might have been facing, but they just operated better. They just they seemed like an offense that could really move the football. I call me crazy, but after two preseason games and reading through the tea leaves and the lines of how Brian Able treated the first game, I would not be surprised if we saw Jackson Dart win that job and pull a classic Russell Wilson over Matt Flinn's situation at this point, it's crazy, it's New York, all the spotlights on him. But for all of that, I feel like Dart is actually capable of handling that, and he's played really well through two games.

00:23:20
Speaker 3: I agree with you. I am a little pushed off that by Dable immediately at the press conference after we're saying Russ is our starter. You know, that was the question. But we've seen coaches back off that after, you know, either watching more games or watching the film or talking to the two guys, So it's not that crazy. I saw Dan Duggan of the Athletic getting pushed back for basically writing a column not even saying that a lot that I keep wanting to call him Drew Locke for some reason, Jackson Dart. It just they just seemed so similar.

00:23:55
Speaker 5: Drew lock had that game he balled out last year.

00:23:57
Speaker 3: It's so similar in terms of vibes that all he was saying was, man, it might not be long till we see Dart. But that no challenge for week one. It's not crazy at all. And it was almost like when Dark came in the game, suddenly Dable is like just felt alive and was just doing everything from this offense was totally different. It was up tempo, it was playing all to Jackson Dart's strength. It was a totally different offense. And I kind of was thinking, like, well, if you're going to totally change the offense for the guy who's your future, it's like, why wait till we do it? Yeah?

00:24:33
Speaker 5: Right, yeah, just do it? Like we don't need the bridge quarterback is the bridge quarterback because you need to get to the other side of the bridge. If you already know or have the destination the route to the other side, go there, Just go there, skip the travel, just get to the next guy. I might be crazy. I might be again hyperbolic here, but I think that if you feel that confident about this guy, and he showed what he showed through two preseason games, just do it. Who cares?

00:24:56
Speaker 3: Who cared?

00:24:57
Speaker 5: You're coaching for your job, who cares? Take the guy you like?

00:25:00
Speaker 3: It just won't be long, like Russell Wilson will one bad game and he could get bench and and to your point, he did look totally fine in this game. That that shot that he had was a sixty hair yard plus throw. I mean, it was sweet, and they scored a touchdown on that drive. The you know, the receiver Bo Collins, undrafted rookie who I assume is making this team because he was starting, got like one yard short, you know. But then Russell Wilson the next couple drives, they didn't they didn't score. He actually went punt punt interception on a miscommunication the next four drives. So it wasn't like an amazing performance. Dart I didn't think was actually as flashy as the first start. He didn't make any as many wild throws. He just moved the offense and handled the screenplays and evaded pressure and everything was just like very professional on the Jet side, Justin Fields only went one for five for four yards. In two weeks Nick, he has averaged three point nine air yards per throw, which is just wild and like the Jets would say, we don't care. The second drive of this game, they ran the ball Nick ten straight times to start the drive before before Fields threw a pass eleven out of twelve in what was I think a touchdown drive.

00:26:16
Speaker 5: Yeah, and I'm not one to try to find excuses for Justin Field to this point in his career, but I do wonder, like opponent, you know, they like the Giants defense looked like world beaters against his offense with him on the field, no matter whether they ran or through. And it wasn't until Martinez comes in and you know, obviously you have your backups in they started to move the football and he looked pretty solid, you know, for a backup. So I just wonder, like it, did he have two challenging defenses that he went against in the preseason and as he's trying to figure out this offense or is it still this is just who they're going to be. I'm not one hundred percent sort we'll find out in the regular season, but not encouraging statistically, no, not encouraging.

00:26:51
Speaker 3: Well and coming off the joint practices where all the reporters were like the Jets didn't even try to throw the ball, And it's true. I mean like they're their number one receiver is very good Garrett Wilson, their number two is either Josh Reynolds or rookie tight end Mason Taylor. I mean, they are gonna run the ball a lot. I think it was noteworthy Breeze Hall was rotating, you know, with the starters with Braylan Allen, I just, you know, for fantasy, I just don't think he's gonna be that volume guy this year. And then we've just been talking, you know, so much about you know, the rookies in general, and Carter for the Abdul Carter for the Giants, and then Membu for the Jets, like how amazing they look the week go. So it's only fair to note that they had some down moments in this game. Membu definitely gave up a lot of pressure to the Giants, and on the flip side, Carter did not have the crazy standout game. He kind of had a welcome to the NFL moment where he just got knocked on the ground and hit silly, So it'll happen. I'm really excited though, to see those two guys when the regular season starts. Let's take a quick break. We've hit a couple of the quarterback battles. We've got more to come.

00:28:01
Speaker 2: Back.

00:28:01
Speaker 3: On NFL Daily, we just talked the Battle of New York. There is no greater rivalry in the City of Angels than Chargers Rams preseason, so it's not remotely true, but sneaky. I don't think these teams like each other. It's not really about the teams. It's more like you're sharing a building. Like I think it is a thing, but the preseason is not when you really find out much. Unfortunately, the biggest takeaway for me in this game Shook was the Chargers receivers, which had some good with the with the young players, but bad when it came to Quinton Johnston.

00:28:33
Speaker 5: Yeah, Johnson takes a hard hit, knocks them out of the game. You know, worried about head injuries. You're worried about depth on this team, and that's been a concern for us throughout this entire preseason. You know, we've we've heard you know, Jordan said that Trey Harris has some things, some stuff to him. I believe it's paraphrasing of what she said, and yet we still have a group that we kind of have to sort out. This is also a group that saw Mike Williams unexpectedly retire. They bring in Keenan Allen kind of plugged that gap. They're not in crisis, but it has not been easy for them as well. So this is not encouraging, But again it is It's okay that it's happening in week two of the preseason and not week two of the regular season. There was an opportunity though, as a result for some of these guys lower on the depth chart to make a difference. Trey Harris being one of them, you want to talk about having some stuff to him. Six catches for eighty five yards played really well in this game. Candre Lambert Smith two for sixty six as well, and then you get tight En Raheem Sanders getting involved with a couple of catches too. So it's not, you know, the worst, but again it's preseason. You have to kind of figure out, all right, well, who are they playing against? When you're evaluating, there are worst scenarios and situations at receiver elsewhere than the Chargers. But for a playoff team that is clearly going to be a run first team that wants to win in the trenches, you would like to have, you know, reliable options. Luckily you have Justin Herbert who's still going to make those guys better just because he's so good.

00:29:50
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's just so Chargers. Though they never play their starters in the preseason, Reportedly, it was Justin Herbert's decision more than anything, like was kind of pushing Harball like I really want to play. He was like, okay, and you're gonna play the starters. Then with him three plays in, he throws, you know, a beautiful ball down the field which gets deflected, then it goes through Johnston's hand, kind of an unnecessary hit by the Rams defender there who takes him out and he's out cold, and just like, man, this is so Chargers.

00:30:20
Speaker 6: Now.

00:30:22
Speaker 3: He immediately had feeling. He did go to a hospital, but it's a concussion. We're about three weeks till that Brazil game, so hopefully can get healthy in time. And it was good to see Trey Harris do something. He'd been relatively quiet in camp compared to Andre Lambert Smith, who was a fifth round pick. Trey Harris was the second round pick. Lambert Smith, I think it's safe to say had a better camp and definitely a better preseason before tonight. But then Trey Lance comes in and he starts forcing him some balls in difficult situation, and I thought this was Trey Lance's best game. I know Trey Lance has looked really good this preseason, but it's mostly been running. In this game, he tried a couple throws into tough spots that were advanced throws for him, and Trey Harris really stepped up, and you were like, Okay, it was great to see it. And then Lambert Smith, who also took a big hit when Herbert was still in the game and he went out for a minute, came back in and had two big throws. So I think you feel great that these two rookies have stepped up. Keenan Allen did start, though over both of them. I thought it was interesting how they used him and Mconkee. You know, one was in the slot Maconkee to start and Allen's on the outside, and then they kind of flip them during the drive. I think that's kind of how they're gonna use it, but for now it's Keenan Allen's job. All Right, let's talk rams because Stetson Bennett is becoming a thing, such a thing. I actually think it's time for Who Delivered, presented by Uber Eats Stet's invented Stetson Bennett Delivered. I mean I mentioned there's two candidates for preseason MVP earlier in the show, Nick, I think these are the two. I think it's Jared Stidham, you can tell me who else would be in there. And I think it's Stetson Bennett because you don't do much more than he did in this game, going over three hundred yards three touchdowns, had to pick but responded from it with a late touchdown to win the game and the Battle of La Rust.

00:32:15
Speaker 5: So you just made that catch at the bottom of your screen.

00:32:18
Speaker 3: Stetson stands in drills one end zone from the moment. I want them to the end of the house. True Jesus size, it's out there.

00:32:34
Speaker 5: I want to finish from stets and Bennett.

00:32:36
Speaker 3: My goodness, that was the trio that gets it done each and every week. Our friends JB. Long, Mina Chimes and Maurice Jones, Drew Stetson. Bennett had a fourth and ten nick at the forty eight yard line with nineteen seconds to go, and they hit a forty yarder and then an eight yarder to a man I wasn't familiar with true edwards for the game winner to win by one, I mean that it is very difficult to go from fourth and ten at the forty eight with nineteen seconds to go down to touch that and win the game. How about that?

00:33:09
Speaker 5: Oh? He also completed converted a fourth and three with forty one seconds to go for a five yard completion as well, like they had to convert multiple fourth downs in this final drive. Look, you can say what you want about his ceiling or whatever and the fact that they're playing in the preseason, but I hate to sound like a classic college coach here, but I'm going to Guy's a winner. Guy was a winner at Georgia. Yeah, he took some time away from the team as a pro. He's been back. He's back. You know, he's recentered himself. He's delivering in the clutch, which obviously falls under this Uber Eats Deliver award. And I think the question is what is he delivering via uber Eats other than w's and clutch touchdowns because I'm thinking, like what do I like to get delivered? Usually comfort food? Do I want fried chicken? Do I want? Like what is tasty? Because that was delicious for Stetson Bennett in the Rams.

00:33:57
Speaker 3: I mean, never never say that Nick Schuk won't do everything and more, I mean he's giving more value to this sponsor read than they even asked for. And you're absolutely right, and I think it could matter. You know, Saturday morning, Matthew Stafford was supposed to work out with the team. They asked officials about it during the game. The Los Angeles Times reported the Rams said, Sean McVay will address that Monday, So who knows. We don't need to talk about that anymore. But Bennett could matter for this team. He'd be the backup to Garoppolo and he has played outstanding. That was who delivered presented by Uber Eats. When football makes you hungry, get game day meals on Uber Eats, the official on demand delivery partner of the NFL. Order now. And yeah, the last thing I'll say on Bennett was, you know, the Chargers defense and Bennett played the whole game. They deserve credit. It was kind of a nightmare start to the Chargers because the Rams backups marched down the field and scored a touchdown on all the Chargers starters, so it was a reverse of what you normally here. And then they just let Bennett play the whole game. So he played the starters, the second stringers, the third and he played against and with everyone, and he scored a really good drive with Quor Matt running back and making nice throws against the starters. But in the fourth quarter, the defensive coordinator for the Chargers actually dropped a defensive tackle into coverage and Bennett got intercepted, and that defensive tackle just ran over Bennett. It was like one of the best highlights of the preseason. And then Bennett, you know, respond so fun, fun little preseason game. We had a couple this week. Let's go to the Ravens and the Cowboys, the Cooper Rush revenge game. Much less fun, chock. I didn't have a ton of huge takeaways here, other than like, if the Cowboys have to just feel backups this season, it will be the worst team in football because they have not. They have not looked good these first two weeks.

00:35:54
Speaker 5: Honestly, look, I'm not a hater without like some sort of you know, reason to be a hater. Joe Milton's looks really bad in the preseason. Now he finished nine for eighteen, but he was awful in the three for ten and it was terrible. It was absolutely two first first eight. Couldn't connect through another interception into double coverage in the end zone on a deep ball where we just let it rip. He's still sail and passes over guys. So yeah, if he has to play, you can leave the rest of the starters out there. If Dak can't play for some reason and they have to go to Joe Milton, it's going to be a bad scenario for the Cowboys. So that was my main takeaway. On the Cowboys side, I still hate their running back room, and again I sound like a hater, but Miles Standers and Jevon two Williams, I don't get inspired by that. Miles Standers was ineffective in this game as well. Liked what I saw from Tyler Booker when he was out there. But the rest of my takeaways come from the Ravens side, which is that they can run the ball at will still even with Ali as the main running back. He went nineteen for sixty two. Yeah, it's only three point three a pot, but he had some really nice runs, especially some that he was able to bounce outside. And my guy former Kent State Golden Flash, former North Carolina tar Hill, Devontes Walker was a key pass catcher in the first half. He finishes with six catches on eight targets for sixty one yards. Five of those came in the first half. Could have had a touchdown of Rush would have put it on him. It was kind of a scrambled drill play. Yeah, that's about it. Rush, you know, threw a couple of picks. Didn't look great, didn't look as good as he used to look. With the Cowboys, I think there's still an adjustment period for them before they turned to Drew Leary. So a classic preseason game where you look at it after me and you go, well that happened. I watched that game.

00:37:25
Speaker 3: The most notable thing was who didn't play, I think for the Cowboys, Javontae Williams sat and so I heard some talk after, especially from the local guys, like Okay, that's Javonte Williams winning the job. He is there starting running back. I think, and I think Phil MafA. This rookie who I talked up at training camp, who who I popped a big run on the day I was there, a fifty yard touchdown. I think he's going to make this team. He's played well. Jayden Blue is going to make this team. They might not even keep Miles Sanders there. Jonathan Mingo, who I wasn't sure was going to make the team anyways, hurt his knee. It's reportedly a PCL injury. So just a little bit of a note there. And after the game, John Harbaugh announced if there was any doubt, Tyler Loop is their kicker. Now, he did miss a fifty yarder in this game, but he is definitely their kicker. No surprise they are. Keaton Mitchell, who had missed all week of practice, has a hamstring injury. They do think he's going to be back. And yeah, in terms of the one sided natures of the backups, I mean, I know it's just backups, but you don't want your backups to get seven first downs and the other team backups to get twenty six first downs. But so that's where these two teams were at least over the week. And let's move on. We don't need to spend too much time on this game. The forty nine Ers and the Raiders to me were more fun because we got Geno out there, we got Brock Bauers out there with a really nice catch down the field, and then we got Ashton gent Y truck sticking someone to get.

00:38:56
Speaker 4: He is punching off defenders and dragged out and Max Crosby's the first one off the sideline to get a high five.

00:39:04
Speaker 3: Great call there by the Raiders crew that got me fired up. And yes, if you're listening to this in your ears, we do have a YouTube version of the show with the highlights when we get to the Sunday regular season. We're all about the highlights and the calls, and it's just nice to get that back in the mix. So check that out, like and subscribe. It was cool to see Ashton Genty shook just kind of look like Ashton Genty out there after a quiet first preseason week. I've seen.

00:39:30
Speaker 5: I've seen enough out of him. I don't yeah, yeah, he can go on ice for the rest of the preseason. I don't need anything to be proven to me. I know who he is and I know that his game is going to translate to the next level very well. And we saw multiple instances of this in that game, not just that truck stick run, but multiple runs for him. He finished off that drive with a touchdown run as well, kind of barrel through a defender. But you talked about having home calls on preseason games, and I know that that was the home call for the Raiders. But if you listen, you can watch, or you can listen no matter how you're consuming this podcast right now, you can hear the energy had voice right there right That was the energy emanating from Allegiant Stadium that day because Gino and Genty and Brock Bowers and Pete Carroll have injected so much life into this franchise seemingly overnight that it may it convinced me as I'm watching them go down the field and score, oh my god, the Raiders might be fun again. I might want to watch this team all season long. It's like a day and night transformation. I know it's the preseason, but it's been so long since the Silver and Black has taken the field and come out with like authority and an attitude, and they certainly embody that in this game. And I know again it's the preseason. But Gino was sharp. He looks like he's in complete command of that offense. I love the idea of him, you know, capitalizing with brock Bowers all year. That that throw that he had to brock Bowers, by the way, early in that game, he was not open. Brock Bowers just made a great play on a great ball by Gino. So super excited about their potential.

00:40:54
Speaker 3: Let's see that play. Genty who was right behind Geno Smith first down taking a shot over the safety Giret ground That's a pick up a thirty best on best that there were a lot of starters on the field for the forty nine ers, by the way, so it was starters. I liked how Gino, you know, was changing the protections, changing the calls, getting them into the right spot. A couple of surprises for the Raiders, you know. Right now, at least, I don't put too much into the preseas. But like Bowers is kind of like coming in and on and off the field, I'm just guessing that's that. Like, while Mayer just stays there, I'm guessing that's just the preseason. They don't want to put him too much on him right now, Jack Besh is definitely not a starter, not playing with the starters. The rookie Dante Thornton, drafted much later, is a starter. Jackson Powers Johnson, who was drafted high, is definitely not the starter. They confirm that at center it's going to be Jordan Meredith and jpj is competing just to start at guard. And then here was someone I had never heard of. I have to admit before, a man by the name of Q Blue Kelly Q first name blue, middle name or part of the first name, not sure, but two different words. Kelly was starting at cornerback and he had all week guy who had been on the practice squad previously, been in the league for three years. Their search in there, and they're just trying to find guys that Pete Carroll can believe them, believe in. He was actually with the Seahawks a couple of years ago, so he knows him and he might be their starting cornerbackets they are thin there. The forty nine ers are just trying to get through this preseason shook healthy and it's not really working. Dominic Pooney, their good young guard who played really well last year, is reportedly going to be out a few weeks with a PCL injury, and then they had a couple more running backs go down in this game. Not guys we know that well, Corey Kiner and Patrick Taylor, but Corey Kiner was an undrafted guy who was going to make this team and I counted it up. Now their top four backups behind Christian McCaffrey are all hurt. I don't think and even are super long term. But it's just weird that McCaffrey's like the one guy that's held and everyone else is hurt there.

00:43:02
Speaker 5: Yeah, and there was an injury that saw mcaffreck come out there to kind of, you know, console his teammate and it was just like you can almost see in his eyes like I'm reminded again of how fragile my career is. Like he's not even dressed. But yeah, it's a little concerning for their offense. By the way, brock Purty looked really sharp when he was out there before they went down the death charts of Mac Jones, who threw a pretty awful interception. But it kind of reminded me of you know, I talked so glowingly about the Raiders offense, I am concerned about this defense. For the reason that you just explained, and also they kind of got shredded. And I know Jeremy Chin has always been a playmaker at safety and made a play on that interception, but I think that's going to be a real weakness for them this year. I think they're gonna end up in a lot of relatively high scoring games because that's the only way They're going to be able to win based on what I've seen. And it makes me wonder, why did you go trade Jacorey and Bennett last week if you are so thin in the secondary? A lot to sort out there before we get the Week one.

00:43:57
Speaker 3: Yeah, not a scheme fit, I guess be the answer. But yeah, I will get to the Patriots, but they have one of the best matchups for fantasy or in reality their offense in Week one, going up against this Raiders defense. One guy we haven't mentioned that was good with when Pertty was on the field was DeMarcus Robinson, the former ram who they actually gave pretty good money to. He is expected to be suspended at the beginning of the season. He will be suspended at the beginning of the season, but when he comes back in like he will be a key part of their rotation, and Pierce all the hype for him as like a wide receiver one continues like he had a nice game. The forty nine is a reminder like they really needed a draft to hit, and I think it's gonna happen, But man, the draft is so unpredictable. Michael Williams has been hurt, but he's expected to start. Their first round pick, but I went and looked through it, and their second round pick, Alfred Collins taken forty three overall, just does not look ready to contribute as really struggled, might be pretty deep on that depth chart. And then their next pick, Nick Martin at linebacker really struggled last week, was a little better this week, but it's pretty far down the depth chart, so those guys aren't going to contribute yet. The two hundred and forty ninth pick Connor Colby might be their starting guard. The one hundred and sixtieth pick Marcus Sickly has been rising and might be their starting safety. And then Upton Stout was a late third round pick, the one hundredth pick in the draft and almost certainly is their starting nickel. So it doesn't really matter where you find them. But it reminds us we remember when we project, like, oh this guy will fit there. This is the draft classes, like you really don't know until you get to this time of the season. It sounds like they found some late round guys, but their mid round, you know, earlier picks not hitting as much. But you'll take it if you get three or four contributing rookies.

00:45:39
Speaker 5: And I have two takeaways from this. This is number one why draft grades are the most useless exercise in sports media, Like immediate draft grades, none of you have any idea how they're going to fit or how they're going to play in that team, or how they're going to actimate to the pro game. And the other is this is also why it's important to make sure that you attack position groups of need with veterans the offseason. And that was my main takeaway from this game for the Niners was that guys like DeMarcus Robinson, even Russell Gage, he made a really nice diving catch in this game where I was like, oh, yeah, he's on this team. He could make a difference because they're going to need these guys because I still coming back from the knee injury. It's it's I give credit to John Lynch for at least approaching this with from both angles. From all right, look, we may be a little thin there. Let's go pick up some veterans who might be on their last contract or second to last contract. Give them another shot, see if they can perform, and at least in this game, a lot of them did.

00:46:32
Speaker 3: Yeah, DeMarcus Robinson, I should clarify, is quote bracing for a three game suspension. And it's an automatic three game suspension usually when you plead guilty or no contest to a dui, which is what happened, But the suspension hasn't actually happened yet. So just just for clarification purposes, let's move on to the Browns and the Eagles, and we've got a trade on Sunday, kind of a challenge trade. I don't know what you would call it. The Texans traded John Metchi, the wide receiver and a fifth round pick I believe to Harrison to the Eagles for Harrison Bryant, a tight end and another pick. It was actually them trading back the picks that they had traded each other day three picks in the Chauncey Gardner Johnson trade, which is just like, why what are we even doing here? But I don't know if you have any takeaways. Mechi overcame, you know, cancer when he first entered the league, was on the roster bubble, and this is maybe a chance for him to stick with the Eagles when I'm guessing he wasn't like a lock to make this Texans roster.

00:47:47
Speaker 5: Yeah, a couple of takeaways. One Nick Casterio and Howie Roseman just apparently loved to talk to each other on the phone, because this is the second time that the Texans have traded a former draftic that they no longer like to the Eagles, the other one being Kenyan Green, the guard that they sent to the Eagles in the off season. So you know, I liked I think I talked about this on the show last week, which is that Metchi served an important purpose in their first preseason game as just a volume catcher. But I do think that as they sift through this depth chart, they probably just didn't see room for him and felt they needed to get something for him. And what they got is a body at tight end and Harrison Brian who's been around the league. He started his career with the Browns. He's an Ivy leaguer, and he's a guy that can fill a spot that was left open by Brevin Jordan's injury. So a guy that can compete for a job they have, you know, Dalton Schultz, Kate Stover, and Irv Smith Junior on that Dutscha as well. So there's no guarantee that he ends up even on this roster. But I think at this point, if you're making that deal, you're looking at Look, we have too many receivers. We don't think Mechi's going to make the team. Let's move him now to a team that might give him an opportunity get a player back that we would like to at least get into the mix before the end of training camp in preseason.

00:48:50
Speaker 3: Yeah. And to be clear, and this hurts my brain because they're trading the picks back and forth, but the Texans moved back up. In the previous trade. They had moved down from the fifth to the sixth, like swapping the two teams fix and now they move back up as part of this trade, which is indicating like Mechi is, you know, a little bit more valuable in this case than Brian. We'll see, because you know, he's got to he's got to go make that team. I really like what I've heard out of Johan Dotson. He's a solid three for the Eagles this year, so Mechi's kind of battling to be the four. In terms of the game, it was not Eagles Texans, it was Eagles Browns, and we got a whole new round of Brown's quarterback takes. Let's not talk about Dylan Gabriel's comment on the sideline at this point. Let's just talk shook about what you saw and have heard and think about where Dylan Gabriel and this Browns quarterback situation is at.

00:49:49
Speaker 5: You mean, you're grading me the opportunity to keep it on the field, keeping the excellent those My god, I feel so blessed in today's climate. Yeah, Dylan Gabriel started four for four. Heck of a first drop. I've completed three passes on third down to keep that drive going. They marched down the field, not quickly, but you know, methodically, and scored a touchdown and then you know, Twitter's at blaze. Oh my god, he looks so good. Now we see why he was a third round pick. The next drive, he fails to give up on a play that he should just thrown the ball away, throws it between two targets, a tight end, and Deontay Johnson tight end kind of gives up on the ball and it ends up in the hands of rookie Andrey mcoobaugh, who returns it for a touchdown. Deontay gave up on that play, but also can't really blame him. He was behind him, he wasn't going to catch him. So the highs and lows of a first appearance for Dylan Gabriel, I thought that, you know, he's a shorter quarterback, he doesn't have the strongest arm, but he went out there and clearly understood what he was supposed to do on a play by play basis and again through with a lot of conviction. I had listened to Kevin O'Connell talk about that with J. J McCarthy this week. He's throwing with conviction, that's what we need. And I saw that from Dylan Gabriel, which was encouraging. You know, from there he finished thirteen or eighteen, one hundred and forty three yards. The stat line doesn't look as good as she to last week. Everyone's gonna throw that graphic up on social media and point to that, but overall, I thought it was a solid appearance for him, and I still have no clarity on what's going on beyond Joe Flacco with this team, which really just just kind of the Browns in a nutshell.

00:51:13
Speaker 3: So after the game and then in a press conference later, Stefanski confirmed that he will announce the starter early this week. So you assume it's Joe Flacco, he's taking all the starting reps in the last few weeks in the joint practices, and you assume Stefanski just wants to talk to everyone after that. The question to me is just, you know, do you keep Kenny Pickett on the team or not? And what do you even do with him over the next week or two, because you've almost had a best case scenario in the preseason. Obviously you would have liked Gabriel and Shaudur to be healthier, but they both played better, I think, in the preseason than you would have expected. And so the whole point of this season, according to Stefanski, is just developing these quarterbacks. And to me, Gabriel, despite having two turnovers, which is a big despite, I really do blame the tight end on that play for totally giving up. Gabriel also shouldn't have made that throw, but I think it was white hard or whatever, like it was a it was a weird play and Gabriel forced it. But otherwise, like I thought, he was everything Kevin Stefanski wanted want in a quarterback. You right, you're right thrown with conviction. I mean, he almost has to take a crow hop to like, you know, get it in the year.

00:52:34
Speaker 5: Poor Man's Baker Mayfield. That's what I've said about him since they drafted him. He's poor Man's Baker Mayfield.

00:52:38
Speaker 3: Here's the thing, though, Like they took him in the third round because someone really wanted him, and I have to just assume Kevin Stefanski, who's the quarterback guy? Is that someone? And from after hearing that Gabriel had struggled early in camp, the fact that he reportedly played quite well in the joint practice and then in this game, like he had a really good week. I think shoulder had a really good week the week before. Good problem. And I bet they'll both play this year. I just I just bet they will. And Kenny Pickett doesn't really make much sense.

00:53:08
Speaker 5: So that's trade Kenny Pickett to the Cowboys. So that they don't have to lead on Joe Milton in case of emergency. How about that everybody wins.

00:53:16
Speaker 3: It's a pretty good idea to be honest, and and don't take less than like a fifth round pick because you know that Cowboys will overpay. Yeah, and the Browns. Browns would absolutely take a pick swap from the sixth to the seventh, just like anything, just.

00:53:30
Speaker 5: Because why not jack up the price? Jack just jack up the price. How would you very like to do that with Stephen Jones. We've learned that with you, Maari Cooper trade.

00:53:38
Speaker 3: That's a good call. That's our Browns. And Yeah, the comment by Dylan Gabriel, I believe the young man when he said this is a quote that I've given many times before. It's he almost was saying like, hey, I'm a really boring athlete who just falls into cliches like join the club. A lot of quarterbacks are like that. And I've said this any times and no one's ever And when he said that, I was like, Okay, well that makes sense, Like move on, Dylan Sampson looks like he's the starter at running back right now. And that's good. On the eagle side, they didn't play many starters. They didn't even play Tanner McKee like he's too good to even play in the in the preseason now. So not a ton of takeaways, but they still are searching for that second cornerback. And you mentioned to Coreyan Bennett earlier, and he had some nice plays and I think he's I think he's got a chance to win this starting job because Keey Ringo keeps struggling for this team. So you also mentioned Andrew mccooba with the pick six. He actually had two turnovers. He fell on a fumble, But you're trying to win a starting job as a rookie, like, that's how you do it. You get you get two turnovers.

00:54:44
Speaker 5: So it's basically him or Sidney Brown at that position. And I think it was statline wise, it doesn't look good beyond that, but like from the tape itself, guy's got an instinct for the ball and that's what you need out of your safety, especially that defense, so I think it's strong. Bennett had a really good pass breakup in cover where I was like, wow, the Raiders traded that guy. Again.

00:55:02
Speaker 3: I Likedrian Bennett. I liked him as a rookie at least I think he's like a natural. He kind of reminds me a little bit of a Dori Jackson who's also on on the Eagles. Johnny Wilson barely plays. He's kind of locked up like the fourth spot. That's why I'm like, where is Mechi gonna fit in there? And then aj Dillon just for fantasy heads out there definitely behind Will Shipley. Not totally sure he's gonna make this team.

00:55:25
Speaker 5: All right.

00:55:25
Speaker 3: That is a lot on the Browns and the Eagles, but I had a good time. Let's go to the Patriots and the Vikings. Drake Mays come out in these two games and looked a little skittish off the top, like a little lucky not to have more turnovers than he than he's had. Not a big deal, but just on my raidar just a little jumpy and he was out there. I do like that. Trayvon Henderson has just looked awesome in both games, just in limited work. And the cool thing to me shook was that he just started taking normal reps. He's got a back in front of him on the goal line, he's doing inside runs. It wasn't like, hey, this is our third down back. It was hey, this is a real running back.

00:56:08
Speaker 5: Yeah, and he broke a couple of arm tackles on that touchdown run. Seeing the physicality that we see from him at Ohio State, I love their backfield. If Vermandre can keep himself from fumbling the football, I think they're gonna be one of the more physical and potentially explosive, you know, classic backfields in the NFL, which I think bodes well when you're you know, entering a season with the second year quarterback on an offensive line that still has to prove itself and figure out how to gel, especially after how bad it was last year. So all of those are positives for me. I also, you know, you talk about Drake being skittish, and I agree, But there was that one play where he like broke the pocket right and threw kind of off platform to a wide open Mac Collins where I was like, oh, look at that arm Like I was just like, yeah, put it on him on the sideline. So I think that, you know, we're on track for him to have a various solid year too as well. And on the Viking side, there's like not really much to say because they.

00:56:55
Speaker 3: Didn't selly anybody. No, there wasn't much like the Max is it Max. Yeah, sometimes they I think they found something is Hee, a seventh round picker, undrafted guy. I think they found a guy that Kevin O'Connell's going to be excited to develop as the long term backup, and he might be the short term backup. I'm not sure, Like Sam Howell was bad in this game. Not sure like they'll keep a veteran with him. I would assume would be Howell not ripping, but uh Brosmer looks pretty good. Jalen Naylor hurt his hand in this game. They're already really thin at wide receiver. Let's get back on the field, justin Jefferson. At a certain point them saying it's not a big deal like this next week. If he's not back on the field, I start to be a little worried. And then just a couple of final Patriots notes Eft and Chisholm, who Jordan also says a little something to him like he's a big winner in this training camp. In this game, I think he goes six for seventy one, had two big joint practices. He's making this team, So they're just they're not going to risk putting him through waivers him. We talked about this big wide receiver group coming into camp. To me, the two biggest winners have been ft and Chisholm rookie undrafted and Kaishaon Boody, who I just didn't think was gonna be a guy who cemented himself as a playmaker who's gonna start for this team. But that is where he's at. He is going to start for this team. Also, their seventh round pick at tackle, Marcus Bryant, like is carving out a pretty big role either as their swing tackle or maybe even as a starter. Kyle Williams, my favorite young receiver on this team who's been pretty good too, has a concussion, so he probably is gonna miss this week of practice. Let's take one more quick break and we'll wrap up on the other side. We're taping this Sunday night, Shuk. I fear that predicting the Colts quarterback battle will potentially get out of date soon, but I have a strong gut feeling it's going to Daniel Jones and I don't like it. And the following quote from stike In is part of that feeling. Let's listen.

00:59:11
Speaker 1: It's everything right, the operation, the communication in the huddle, the checks, getting guys on the same page. The consistency of all that obviously is going to play a big factor in this. I've seen obviously three weeks of it, so I'd like to have a decision here shortly.

00:59:25
Speaker 3: Okay, that was stike in being asked, what's going to go into it? Consistency operation. It just sounds like Daniel Jones. And then I thought about the way he did this game shook that. You remember that they were going to left to flip flop because Richardson didn't really get his chance. Well in the end, Daniel Jones still got to play two hoole series and play the first quarter when Tyler Warren was on the field, when Michael Pittman was on the field, when Quintin Nelson was on the field. You know who's on the field with him, Daniel Jones. And I just think about the money they gave him. I don't like it, but it just makes me feel like the fix was in for Daniel Jones this whole time. That a tie goes to Daniel Jones, you would think it'd be a tie goes to Richardson. You know, the conspiracy theories shook that they were setting up sur to fail a little bit in Cleveland. Yeah, that might be a little more true in Indianapolis. Yeah, I mean I don't think they had.

01:00:28
Speaker 5: I don't think David o'java was an inside job, like you know, knocking Richardson out.

01:00:32
Speaker 3: Of the game in I'm not saying that either, but I'm glad you brought that up. I think that was the moment. I do think that was the moment. Yeah, that was the moment he lost his job.

01:00:40
Speaker 5: And it's it is a bummer because if you look at it just from snap by snap, it's very close. Like neither has been great and I would lean Richardson, but I agree with you when you read through the lines between the lines of what he's saying there, which is this is their big gripe with him in the past, was that he wasn't prepping like a pro, he didn't handle the job like a pro. He asked out of play in Houston last year because he was tired. And if that's what he's emphasizing at this point, yeah, it leans toward Daniel Jones. I hate it because I think their ceiling is low. I think it's pretty low. Regardless unless Richardson, like took a big step forward. But at least Richardson has that in him. I don't know if Daniel Jones does. But again, I feel like Stichen is feeling the pressure and if anything, he wants somebody that he can count on to at least get everything organized and set up correctly operationally and then let the chips fall where they may, right, Like.

01:01:28
Speaker 3: Daniel Jones started this game with two ugly passes and it got me thinking, this is what I'm talking about about, not the fix, but about pushing the scale a little bit. Then he came back out for another drive, like you didn't. They didn't want it to end on that, And to be fair, Daniel Jones had a couple of really nice throws on the second drive. But to me, it's very Daniel Jones that you win the job with a couple really nice throws on like a long, pretty boring field goal drive. You know, it was like, I don't know, Like Anthony Richardson also played like fairly well in this game after a slow start, but he was up, he was down. Just everything you hear makes it sound like these two guys have kind of been exactly what you would expect. And I just got to thinking, like, I think they know Anthony Richardson so well. If they believed in him, they would have been backing him a little more, you know what I mean. It's kind of been a worst case scenario because both guys are just like the sea version of themselves, which is like, no one is really winning.

01:02:33
Speaker 5: But what did you expect when you brought this pairing into camp?

01:02:36
Speaker 3: Right?

01:02:37
Speaker 5: And you thought Daniel Jones was just suddenly gonna turn over a new leaf because he's wearing a horsehoe on the side of his helmet. Now he's still the same guy he's been for the last few years. That was one of the things I jotted down while watching the game live. I'm just like, yeah, still the same guy. Oh that was a nice throats. That's there it is. That's Daniel Jones, same guy. And it just sucks because I would like more for Coltsonville.

01:02:58
Speaker 3: They'll both play in the end, right, I mean, what are they? Right? I was really taken by James Boyd to the Athletic had a great tidbit in a joint practice right up between the Giants and the Colts and it was Xavier McKinney, former Giant, former Daniel Jones teammate yelling at Daniel Jones as Daniel Jones just dinked and dunked down the field and kept throwing short on third and long in when they're going against the Packers, and he just yells at him, DJ throw it deep, like show off that arm. And then he did it, and uh, he like he throws it short again and he yelled yells at him again, and I'm like, man, you got Zaviy McKinney just yelling at you for being a dink and dunk merchant. Meanwhile, they had a ton of injuries in this game. Their offensive line has not played well. If you if you think I'm down on the Colts, I am. I am. Josh Downs got hurt in this game. They're maybe their best receiver. Let's talk about the Packers. Do you have Do you have anything to say on the Packers? They sat twenty nine players in this game, so at least from this game there probably isn't like a ton Yeah.

01:04:09
Speaker 5: I mean, their leading rusher was izy Abanaconda. And the main takeaway for me was, oh my god, this operation is so damn sloppy. This game was an absolute drag, like okay, I had two games on it once. They had twenty three combined accepted penalties for almost two hundred penalty yards. And the Packers, I mean, they robbed themselves of multiple scoring opportunities. Taylor Olgerzma, the Canadian quarterback who won the Canadian Heisman, throws a beautiful pass over the middle to a tight end who catches it on the goal line. Tough grab for a touchdown, wiped out by illegal formation. Same player. I had two illegal formation penalties on the same drive. I'm just like, I know, Matt Lafleur's gonna be pulling his hair out right now because.

01:04:50
Speaker 3: It's Anthony Belton. He had five penalties in the first quarter. You don't see that too much. Second round pick. He got shooed out by Lafleur. Lafl did reveal some thing over the weekend, though, in a press coverage I think it was Sunday saying the left tackle is a competition now. And Jordan Morgan, who started their first round pick from a year ago, played at left tackle in this game. It sounds to me like they like what they are seeing out of Jordan Morgan, and maybe they're going to elevate him over Rashad Walker, who's been their starter the last couple of years. So a little nugget there. And then Marshaun Lloyd, their running back was going to be the backup to Josh Jacobs. So if you're drafting like you can't trust this guy. Every time he plays, he gets hurt and he had a hamstring injury in this game. Let's go to the Texans. We mentioned them earlier in terms of their John Metchi trade, but they did play a game and they won. They won easy, twenty to three against the Panthers. Nick Chubb getting the start at running back shook and the offensive line showed some good physicality and Chubb it's interesting to me that he was first up, played all the snaps really with the starters, and when CJ.

01:05:59
Speaker 5: Strad was out there, yeah, there was a sequence where it was just like Chub up the middle, Chub up the middle, Chob up the middle. So it kind of robs you of the ability to judge whether he is getting some of his juice back. I thought he looked better than he did last year. He still doesn't look like the same old Nick Chubb. I don't think he ever is going to but he was a little quicker than he was last year, and you know, five for twenty five I think, you know, so five yards a pop that solid in a limited outing. I also really like what they have in Woody Marx, Like we've we've talked about, oh, what's the running back situation with Joe mixing out and Nick Chubb's like the lead replacement. I think what he Marx is gonna is going to factor into how they operate on the ground this season. CJ. Stroud's out there for a little bit, six of a for forty four yards, leads a nice touchdown drive, and Nico Collins is on the field at that time as well, So you know, I mean, it's they're playing the Panthers. The Panthers looked bad offensively against the Texans defense they're playing, and the Texans defense is going to make you look most teams look bad. So I looked low ceiling for the Panthers, low bar and that just not a lot to really glean from this game overall, because before long, Keaton's Lobas was in the game.

01:07:02
Speaker 3: Yeah, I watched as many of these running backs as I could this weekend, like just you know, just their snaps and because I agree with our friend Chris Westling, who would always say, you know, in preseason you can see the rookie runners that pop run. You know, it's not that hard to scout runners relatively, and I think you can see their ability against backups or not. Like Caleb Johnson to me, at least right now is running a little like not what I want to see. Yet. I think the guy I liked the best was Woody Marx, like of the like lower guys, like great lateral quickness, was doing some good inside runs, not just they're done. I mean he's smaller, but he runs hard. So if you get mixing back healthier, if it's a Chubb or Pierce combo with Marx, that'll work. And in general, I know our friend Seth Pain has just liked the cohesion, the aggression. The offensive line just looks more competent. That's all we're looking for, especially in the running game. Does it look more continent competent, And they looked pretty good here. Jayden Higgins also played a little bit with the first team offense, not a ton their second round pick, and man, his feet really moved well at that size. On the Panthers side, Yeah, you mentioned it. The first team for the Panthers had negative yardage in two series and then they just took Bryce hang out. There's just like, we don't want to mess with that. Andy Dalton hurt his elbow in this game, and so we don't know his situation. And I can't remember. I think I mentioned this on a previous show. Nick Scourton, the draft pick for the Panthers, had suffered a collapsed lung on Thursday's practice and it might be a little more serious than they realized, and we'll see what his status is. But the Panthers signed Bryce Perkins, who I think was like the UFL MVP or something, which does not bode well for Andy Dalton. Or maybe they just need another arm to show up at camp.

01:09:00
Speaker 5: No, it's just it's just the arm for camp unless unless the Dalton thinks serious. Don't think it's seriously. It's just an It's the Tyler Huntley of the Panthers. Essentially, they have another preseason game to play.

01:09:11
Speaker 3: Now that I think about it. Did John Metchi trade makes more sense to because Xavier Hutchinson was playing with the starters actually over Jaydon Higgins, because Higgins is kind of Nico Collins his backup, but Hutchinson is more of like a slot guy, and so maybe he is making this team if you're into that. Rico Dowdell was their third round, their third down back behind Chewba Hubbard. Let's go to the Dolphins and the Lions, two teams that did not play that many starters, which is good Shook because frankly, this show is going a little too long. I don't know. People love this show. This show people people just tell me they they love the Sunday Night Show. I think we can we can call two things from this game though. Number One, Kyle Allen is the backup quarterback for the Lions. He's just easily outplayed handed Okre. And number two, I've seen enough of Isaac to slah. I might have to put him into the preseason MVP mix just for how he's made me feel. It's more of a feel award.

01:10:07
Speaker 5: Yeah, I get real juiced up to watch the lines in the preseason just because I know Isaac just Law is out there, and frankly, I'm gonna be just as excited to see how he fits in this offense in the regular season, because I think he's going to make a difference. I love his tape at Arkansas, like this was one of my favorite guys coming out of the draft that ended up being a mid round guy. And it really is, you know, exciting and a little bit satisfying to see them carry over and instantly produce even in the preseason. He's just a natural fit. I think he's going to be great for them. I had another point, I think Zach Wilson is fine as your backup quarterback. He looked fay, he looked comfortable in that offense. I think he's fine.

01:10:39
Speaker 3: A little bit about quentinn Ewers bounce back to we mentioned that he went five for eighteen, so it's only fair to mention he looked much better this week. Jonah Sabaia and it was the only starter out there with the Dolphins and has struggled a little bit in the preseason in terms of their offensive lineman. That he was a second round pick. I believe the Patriots would have taken him over Travon Hender if he had been available. According to just piecing together a few reports, that might prove to work out well for the Patries just because Henderson looks like a good player. Devon ah Chan has a soft tissue injury and they say it could be days or it could be weeks. That's what Mike McDaniel said about both a Chan and Zach Sealer, who are both really important players. Obviously, Tyreek Hill also has been out with an oblique injury. They didn't play starters, Like I mentioned Cam Smith. By the way, the former second round pick barely played. I think he is going to get cut and Jalen Wright seems pretty locked into that, like Raheem Moster RB two role, maybe RB one if a Chan isn't healthy.

01:11:46
Speaker 5: Yeah, but I like what Jayalen Wright brings to the field. By the way, I keep an eye on him. I think he's an explosive guy that people don't really pay attention to because a Chan's in that backfield. Keep an eye on him.

01:11:55
Speaker 3: Taslad's going to be a factor. I had my doubts and Jeremiah was talking him up, and I think he's gonna matter in his season, which is a big surprise. This is what the preseason's for to learn nuggets like that because you can't count on that guy. Didn't see a lot of them, but he's in the right offense and man, he makes some awesome plays. We're going all the way back to Friday Night now Seahawks Chiefs. I don't know if I've ever seen a first round pick at guard Shook have a flashier debut. I guess this was his second game, but a flashier preseason game. Then Gray's Abel grays Abels is out there making crazy blocks in space, and suddenly the Seattle offensive line it's fixed, at least in the middle of August.

01:12:36
Speaker 5: Was it Nate Tice who posted the reel of all this great blocking? Yeah, oh, and so I'm watching it and I'm like, well that was good. Wow, that was great. Wow, he could really move. He's a load and he can really move and he's great on impact. And then it hits me, like on the third clip, I'm like, this is all zone runs. And then I went, oh, click, Cubiac throw c It's the class of Kubiak offense right there, like of course, and it all made sense to me, and it made sense why they drafted him because he has those physical tools. This was an offensive line that was terrible last year, and you don't make it into a stellar offensive line overnight. But getting a guard that can play that well, even if it's just in the preseason. Is a big step forward, especially for how they want to approach this offense and how you want to run out of the zone and you want to have the back to the quarterbacks, back to the line of scription run play action stuff like that. Big win for them, and yeah, a show off type of performance for him against Kansas City and you know the prime time there LIWLE West Coast primetime. I'm excited for him.

01:13:32
Speaker 3: It was preposterous how much they dominated running the ball against the Chiefs. So it was something like one hundred and nineteen yards I think in the first quarter. They just they did everything Like Sam Darnold was in there and was perfect, but all he had to do was do a couple you know, rollouts and boot actions and just throw these easy passes because they ran so well. They bring Jalen Milroe out for a toush push on third and short at midfield with Donald on the field. Yeah, like, give me some more. It was definitely giving Clint Kubiak early September Saints vibes. But I'll take it. Like the way that this offensive line has been in the past. They were in Unison, they were playing aggressive, They're healthier, they have Abe Lucas I think is a really important player for them, and so to me, you know, it's just the preseason, but reason for optimism. They also got Ken Walker back at practice on Sunday, and then Ucenu Nuosu passed is physical. They're very good pass rusher who's been on the NFI list, I believe. And now we'll start practicing with the team. So some good injury news there. The Chiefs weren't playing their starters and yet they had four guys hurt in this game that I think we're set to make the team really depth, mostly in the secondary, Mike Edwards, Nase Johnson, Noel Williams. So we'll see not a lot of takeaways for me with the Chiefs other than Taekwon Thornton is making this team. He's making plays and he's playing as either the fourth or the fifth receiver. I don't think sky Moore is making this team, which it's all he's a catch twenty two shook. He had a punt return touchdown at the end of the game, long play like maybe one of his best plays as a pro. And then but it's like the catch twenty two, it's like Kyle Dugger had an interception to end the Patriots game. Like, but he was playing. That's great, but you're playing in the final seconds of the fourth quarter. That's actually more bad than good.

01:15:19
Speaker 5: Ultimately, Yeah, I actually am surprised that. Look, I'm a Mac guy and sky Moore was a very productive receiver at Western Michigan and I was hoping for the best for him, And I'm surprised that the experiment lasted this long. So not at all shocked that he's not going to make this team. He just hasn't. He's never found us. And you know, I feel like receivers like that. You know, when you come to the league with like elite level talent, you can find a way to fit in Xavier Worthy, you know, elite level speed type, you can find a way to fit into the Chiefs offense. When you don't have quite that, I think it's harder for you to find your role within Kansas City's offense, especially team with such high expectations. So I don't think this is the end for him in his NFL career by any means. But I do think that they're pairing you know, soured a while ago.

01:16:04
Speaker 3: Yeah, and they have a fourth round pick Jalen Royals, who's making this team? And then you know who does have elite speed shook former Bill Belichick's second round pick, Taekwon Thornton's that's what he's got and he's making he's making plays. Let's move on to our final game. Titans Falcons. Falcons sat everyone, They sat their backups. They keep doing this. It's interesting to me that James Pearce and Jalen Walker keep playing when no one else is. I don't know if they just want to see more. He is playing a lot. Jalen Walker actually was hurt, I believe not playing, but but Pierce got a pressure in this game. Not many takeaways for me. DJ Sharks seems like he is not making this team. If you're curious, and Casey Casey Washington is Kim Ward did play not amazing shook, but he did have one really great throw to Van Jefferson and Van Jefferson dropped dropped, which.

01:17:01
Speaker 5: And I hate and don't want to be a hater, but as I watched it, I went, ah, there's Van Jefferson dropping a great ball again.

01:17:07
Speaker 3: Right.

01:17:07
Speaker 5: He also had a really nice throw and I know he completed like two to seven passes, so there's not a lot to work with, right, but it was I think it was might be the Ward's first throw of the game. Pocket collapses to the right and he's like backed up in the shadow of his own goalpost. He slides out of the pocket, feels the pressure, keeps his eyes downfield, and hits one of those like wrist flick throws that you saw him do at Miami a lot to Elic Iomanor and for a thirty five yard game. And I'm like, oh, yeah, there it is. That's it. Let me see more of that. But my biggest concern that I came away with after watching this game, like I could lose sleep over this realistically, are they going to ever have any guys who get separation, because if this is the situation for them all year, it's going to be rough for him. And it can't. It's not even gonna be his fault throughout that game. And I know Ridley and Lockett are not, you know, out there making plays and everything, but it just didn't see any separation from these guys. You gotta get open to take advantage of your first round pick, and you're number one overall picking camp.

01:18:00
Speaker 3: I am worried he's gonna have a Caleb Williams type of season that everything gets blown up. Au man Or that's what what we settled on for pronunciation me and.

01:18:10
Speaker 5: I think you're a different one.

01:18:11
Speaker 3: The Yeah, he does look good. He might be wide receiver two on this team. I actually wouldn't be surprised the fourth round rookie behind Kevin Ridley. They put him in motion. I think they're going to use him quite a bit. They're also going to use the rookie Gunner Helm. Let's let's wrap the show with at least one more highlights.

01:18:31
Speaker 2: First and ten for the twenty five of the Falcons. So you get a shot down the field to the end zone. Helm touchdown twenty five yards from Brendon Allen to Gunner Helm.

01:18:47
Speaker 3: That's what the preseason is all about. Gunner Helm does mossen people week after week. Weight room rookie tight end. Let's go.

01:18:56
Speaker 5: Weight room, show the guns off, get up there body two guys is to make a grab on the goal line. That's preseason. That's what it's all about.

01:19:03
Speaker 3: Right there.

01:19:04
Speaker 5: It is.

01:19:05
Speaker 3: Look, we're we're rolling here. I mentioned Jeremiah like, we've got two forties and free agents talking about the AFC South NFC South. Coming up this week, We've got a full slate of NFL Daily shows we actually shook. Only have one more of these preseason recaps next Sunday. So the preseason, they say it's six weeks, if you know, from the very beginning of practice to the end, it feels even longer. But we're getting close to the regulars.

01:19:33
Speaker 5: It used to be six games.

01:19:34
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, it's too much. We're going to be back in the studio. I'm gonna be talking to my friend JP Acosta. We're going to talk news. We're gonna talk the most intriguing offenses in the league. And I'm not gonna put the Titans there. But like when Gunner Helm is just mossing people, that is that's football being back.