Dynamic Rookie Debuts + Can Caleb Downs have a Ronnie Lott-esque impact?
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
43 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Aug 18, 2026
Published
Tue, August 18, 2026
17
Player insights
15
Players mentioned
Topics
Drew AllarGarrett NussmeierAlec PierceAnthony RichardsonBreece HallBrock PurdyChristian McCaffreyFernando MendozaHaynes KingJalon DanielsJeremiyah LoveJordyn TysonJosh DownsKeenan Allen
Player analysis
Player insights
Alec Pierce
NegativeInjury32:18
Alec Pierce is on track to return for the regular season opener, though his role as a vertical threat may be complemented by the addition of Keenan Allen.
Insight pageAnthony Richardson
NegativeProjection20:54
Ty Schmidt suggests that Anthony Richardson's struggles in his NFL career are largely due to a lack of collegiate experience, having started only 14 games before being drafted, emphasizing the importance of reps for rookie quarterbacks.
Insight pageBreece Hall
NegativeInjury6:15
Breece Hall went down at Jets camp with a non-contact injury, raising concerns about his health and the potential impact of offseason training schedules on player durability.
Insight pageBrock Purdy
PositiveProjection21:21
Ty Schmidt attributes Brock Purdy's success to his extensive experience at Iowa State, where he started over 80 games, allowing him to adapt quickly to the NFL level.
Insight pageChristian McCaffrey
NegativeInjury6:54
Adam Schefter clarifies that Christian McCaffrey's absence is not related to a contract dispute, but rather the team being smart with a veteran player to ensure he is ready for opening day.
Insight pageDrew Allar
PositiveProjection15:16
Drew Aller looked like a completely different player in his preseason debut, showing improved mechanics and looking like he belongs on an NFL field. Ty Schmidt credits Mike McCarthy's coaching for the quick development.
Insight pagePositiveProjection22:18
Drew Aller impressed in his first preseason game with a 154.8 passer rating, part of a group of eight rookie quarterbacks who performed exceptionally well in week one.
Insight pageFernando Mendoza
PositiveProjection19:23
The number one overall pick, Fernando Mendoza, looked like he belonged in his preseason debut, with Adam Schefter suggesting it is only a matter of time before the Raiders turn to him.
Insight pageGarrett Nussmeier
PositiveProjection19:53
Garrett Nussmeyer looked good in his preseason debut, maintaining a solid passer rating of 80.6.
Insight pagePositiveProjection22:06
Garrett Nussmeyer recorded an 80.6 passer rating in his first preseason game, contributing to a historic performance by rookie quarterbacks where four of eight posted ratings above 100.
Insight pageHaynes King
NegativeInjury19:30
Haynes King performed well in the Hall of Fame game before suffering a hamstring injury.
Insight pageJalon Daniels
PositiveProjection19:40
Jalen Daniels looked capable of backing up Baker Mayfield for the Buccaneers after a strong preseason showing.
Insight pageJeremiyah Love
NegativeInjury3:34
Jeremiah Love suffered a high ankle sprain during the preseason opener after receiving a heavy workload. Adam Schefter criticizes the team's decision to play him extensively, noting he should have been protected until the regular season. While there is optimism he could be ready for opening day, the injury creates uncertainty about his health and potential lingering effects into the season.
Insight pageJordyn Tyson
NegativeInjury4:24
Jordan Tyson is dealing with a hamstring issue that is expected to keep him out for a couple of months. Adam Schefter notes he may start the season on the PUP or IR list, significantly impacting his availability for the Saints.
Insight pageJosh Downs
NegativeInjury32:25
Josh Downs is currently dealing with a groin injury, contributing to the Colts' thin depth at the wide receiver position.
Insight pageKeenan Allen
PositiveRole31:15
Keenan Allen's signing with the Colts is viewed as an ideal move due to his familiarity with Shane Steichen's offense; he is expected to serve as a reliable, sure-handed target to move the chains.
Insight pageTy Simpson
PositiveBreakout12:15
Ty Simpson impressed in his preseason debut, silencing critics who questioned the Rams' decision to draft him 13th overall. Adam Schefter notes that Simpson looked like he belonged on an NFL field, demonstrating the ability to play immediately despite previous doubts about his draft position.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00This episode is brought to you by Welch's Fruit Snacks.
0:03Back-to-school season can be tough on parents, but choosing a snack you and your kids can both get behind doesn't have to be.
0:11Stock up on Welch's Fruit Snacks, made with whole fruit, and now made with no artificial dyes.
0:16It's a snack kids already love, and one you can feel good about giving them.
0:21Go back to school with Welch's Fruit Snacks, now made with no artificial dyes.
0:26Welcome back to the Adam Schefter Podcast as we head into week two of the NFL preseason and think about all the
0:33news, headlines, insights, and information that will come out of this week just as they came out of week one of the NFL preseason.
0:41It never fails. The games start, you start to see some things, and right away, some things become immediately apparent and obvious to the naked eye.
0:50And it happened this week, and we're going to go over all that and more with my friend, my colleague, the co-host
0:57of the Pat McAfee Show, Ty Schmidt, for this week's Six Pack, which is brought to you by ZipRecruiter.
1:03Try it for free at ZipRecruiter.com slash Adam. Meet your match on ZipRecruiter.
1:08Ty, this week's Six Pack. Thank you very much, Shefty.
1:11Good as always to be with you. You hit the nail on the head.
1:15I think I've watched more preseason football in this last week than I maybe have in my life combined.
1:22Really? Yeah, I think so. I don't know. It does seem like there is something interesting in nearly every game, whether it's
1:29rookies that you want to keep an eye on and kind of see how they perform, new players maybe in new places,
1:36or, you know, hey, is this team going to play their starters?
1:40I've just been a little bit more invested. I don't know why.
1:44I don't know if that'll continue. And then on top of it, some of these games have actually been fairly entertaining, which
1:51I feel like is something we never get in the preseason.
1:55But yeah, you know, one week of the preseason down, going into week number two, and I feel like the picture for
2:02the regular season is starting to get a little bit clearer.
2:06Obviously, a lot of stuff still to get figured out, but it does seem like I can feel it.
2:12I can smell it. I can taste it. The regular season is almost here.
2:17That's awesome. See, I just love to put it on.
2:20And last week, it was very funny because my wife said, oh, football?
2:24I'm like, yeah. And she's like, every night? I'm like, every night now.
2:29That's it. We had football Thursday, Friday. I can't tell you how excited she was, Ty.
2:34Very excited about that. Oh, yeah, I bet. Yeah, real excited about that.
2:38But listen, that's the world we're living in right now, and it'll be that way for the next couple of weeks.
2:45And then there'll be that little break as teams set their final rosters for opening day, and then we get into the regular activity again.
2:53Yeah, can't wait for that. And I think a big reason why maybe I've been paying a little bit more attention brings
3:00us to topic number one of this week's six-pack.
3:03I've kind of been doing so almost with bated breath, almost like watching it in between your fingers, almost like watching a car crash.
3:11There have been, we say it every year, there have been so many injuries, just a rash of injuries that have come up.
3:19What do you make of that? What are some that have really caught your eye?
3:24And obviously, we talked about this last week, the expectation is kind of that this is only the beginning, right?
3:30And there will be more. Well, a couple of things.
3:34First of all, we have Jeremiah Love, the first running back selected in April's draft, suffering a high ankle sprain.
3:40He was out there an awful lot in the preseason opener.
3:44And to me, it's almost like you have this Ferrari.
3:47You got this brand new car. And like, let's go take it around New York City and drive it through potholes and drive it through times.
3:56Like, what are we doing with Jeremiah Love in the preseason opener?
4:00And he suffers a high ankle sprain. Now, I think he's got a shot to be ready for opening day.
4:06But why should that even be a question that we're talking about right now?
4:11He shouldn't be brought out of the garage until opening day when you really need him.
4:16To me, that's the way I look at it.
4:19He was out there more than any other rookie running back was in preseason week one.
4:24And it was kind of crazy. Jordan Tyson, the second wide receiver selected in the draft, has a hamstring issue.
4:31Looks like a couple of months now. Looks like he could start the season on PUP or IR, however they do it.
4:38And so he's going to miss some time. But beyond that, there were a lot of injuries early on in camp.
4:45Shock to the system, muscle issues, ACL, whatever it may be.
4:49There have been a few people that have called me and it doesn't make them right.
4:54They're not doctors. They're not scientists. But a few people have called me and they've complained about the NFL schedule and how
5:01it doesn't do the players any favors. And if we go back into the last CBA, one of the biggest issues that
5:09players fought for was more time off. And the opinion of some people I've spoken to take it for what it's worth,
5:16they are of the mind that that has not been helpful to players because they're getting all this time and they come
5:23back and they get into football drills, even though they're ramping up and their bodies aren't used to it.
5:29And it's the way to be ready for football and get ready for football is to kind of play football.
5:36But the union has fought for better working conditions, which I understand too.
5:40But these people called up their boy. They were they were of the mind that the lightened work schedule in the offseason,
5:47they believe, has played some type of role in some of these core muscle injuries, non-contact injuries.
5:53And there's no way to prove it. But I've heard it from a few people now, which makes me wonder about it.
6:00Now, some of these injuries like Jeremiah Love is in the game.
6:04So that came from a hit that there's nothing to do with that.
6:09There are other players that are hit a certain way.
6:12Can't argue, but there are a lot of injuries.
6:15Brees Hall going down Monday at Jets camp, non-contact just goes down.
6:19Like, is that just freaky? Is that related to the work he did or didn't do during the week?
6:25We'll never know. But it does seem like there are a lot of injuries.
6:30And it's amazing how you just wait every single day.
6:33And it's just little updates. Like even this morning, I saw that the Jaguars third string running back, Laquaint Allen, has got a soft tissue injury.
6:42And it sounds like he's going to be out.
6:44I know the Christian McCaffrey one is out there.
6:47Um, some people have floated that is a potential contract issue.
6:51I could tell you this talking to the team.
6:54It is not a contract issue. Okay, good to know.
6:57And, and it also doesn't sound like it's overly serious at all.
7:01It sounds like it's just simply them being smart with Christian McCaffrey, him needing some veterans rest, and them prioritizing opening day,
7:09which gets us back to the point of why Jeremiah Love was out there in the first place.
7:14You have to be smart with these guys, obviously.
7:17And so, um, the injuries will keep popping up.
7:20We said it on the podcast last week, right?
7:23Every day there's somebody else. You never know what's going to pop up.
7:28It happened again this week in the first week of the preseason.
7:32And I don't care what happens the rest of the preseason.
7:35That always will be one of the central storylines of the preseason, if not the number one storyline of the preseason, who got hurt and who didn't.
7:44If your team gets out with any significant injuries, your team won, no matter what the scoreboard says.
7:50Yeah, no, I completely agree. And, you know, the Jeremiah Love, I mean, selfishly as a fan, you know, or I shouldn't
7:57say as a fan, as a fan of the league, as a fan of watching him play, like, I was like, oh, this is awesome.
8:05You know, they're going to give him 15 to 18 touches, which does seem crazy.
8:10And I understand maybe, you know, the pressure of, hey, the, the fan, the home fans want to see him.
8:17You know, he's the first, he's our first round pick, all that kind of stuff.
8:22But you're right. I mean, he's been practicing every day.
8:25They know, they know exactly how much they plan on using him this year.
8:30They know that he is going to be a focal point of that offense.
8:34So, and you can see in the way he plays that he's, it doesn't matter that it's the preseason.
8:41He's not going to be getting out of bounds.
8:44He's not like he runs hard. He looks like Adrian Peterson.
8:47He looked like Adrian Peterson out there to me.
8:50He did. He did. And, you know, so guess what?
8:54When you play like that, there's a chance you're going to get hurt.
8:58And yeah, I mean, wouldn't have made a lot more sense for him to play the first drive, maybe get two carries,
9:05maybe catch a pass and all right, your night's done.
9:08Like we, we need you week one. The Ferrari thing is a great comparison.
9:13Um, in terms of the overall injuries, I think you're right.
9:17I mean, I just, these guys are stretching the limits of what the human body is supposed to do.
9:23They have no, you know, no body fat. Like it just, and I think you're right.
9:28You mentioned it. Like you can be in as good of shape as there is.
9:33The only way to get into football shape is playing football.
9:37Like, so you have to get hit. You have to kind of reacclimate your body to getting sore like that.
9:43Um, but it is tough when you see these, you know, Jordan Tyson, it's like, we're, we're seeing all this stuff come
9:51out from saints camp and it's like, wow, he's going to be a guy this year, you know, him and a Lave
9:58that he, they, you know, the saints might be something to really, you know, contend with in the South and all that.
10:05And then, you know, before you even have a chance to, to get your hopes up, boom, he's going to be out a couple months.
10:13And, and then with these soft tissue ones, you wonder like, you know, is this going to linger all season?
10:20Is that, are we going to get the full picture of what Jeremiah love could be because he's dealing with a high ankle sprain right now?
10:28And yeah, he might play, you know, week two or three or whatever, but is he not going to be fully healthy until week seven?
10:37So I think you hit the nail on the head.
10:40If you get through the preseason without having any significant injuries, you win, nothing else matters.
10:45And again, in the opinion of these people that were calling me, when the next CBA is getting done, I think they
10:52actually want to see these guys work and do a little bit more on field football work.
10:58They think it might be better for them rather than having some of that time.
11:03Again, there's a fine line. We'll let them figure it out.
11:07I'd rather them see natural grass fields across the NFL.
11:10Like let's, let's put it there or whatever it may be.
11:14Yeah. And, and, you know, in terms of like, I'm sure that you could get stats to support that argument one way
11:21or the other that, Hey, we need more time practicing.
11:24We need more time on the fields, or we need more to like, you could find a way to, to dig up
11:31something to, to kind of back your case, whichever side you're on, but we'll see.
11:36Hopefully, you know, it's one of those things where you kind of just hold your breath and hopefully we're not going to
11:44get too many more significant injuries moving forward in the preseason.
11:47But you know, that, that is always obviously a possibility with how violent the game is.
11:52All right, Chetty, speaking of the preseason, let's go to topic number two of this week's six pack.
11:58What, in your opinion, what is the biggest thing that stood out to you in week one of the preseason?
12:05Well, again, you're watching these games and you're looking for guys to pop flash before your eyes.
12:11The first guy that popped to me was the Rams quarterback, Ty Simpson.
12:15Another guy that popped to me was the 49ers first pick in the draft, Deshaun Stribling.
12:20Now, what I found interesting in watching both these guys and correct me if I'm wrong, Ty, after the draft, there were
12:27a round of questions, if not criticism for the Rams using the 13th overall pick on Ty Simpson.
12:33People saying they're a contender, need help now. Why are you drafting a quarterback who's not going to have any role this year?
12:41He's not even somebody that was worthy of the 13th overall pick.
12:45He was a second round talent. On and on.
12:48The questions went on and on about Ty Simpson.
12:51And there were people that legitimately doubted and criticized the Rams organization.
12:55Similarly, in San Francisco, I remember this very well.
12:58Bunch of writers, 49ers doing it again, reaching on a player, reaching on Deshaun Stribling.
13:03Didn't belong there. Now, I had spoken to a few teams that had him rated as, I don't want to say they
13:10had him as the top receiver in the draft, but I will say this.
13:14There were a few teams who I respect who loved that guy, loved that guy.
13:19And I think they might've had him, if not at the top, then certainly right near the top and certainly worthy of where the Niners took him.
13:28And yet there were a lot of people in the media that were like, Niners reached again, him and the running back
13:36from Indiana that they drafted that wasn't invited to the combine.
13:39Okay. Here's the point. And it's just one preseason game and it's a long season and there's a lot of career left.
13:46So we'll see. But everybody that makes these snap judgments, sometimes these teams like the Rams and the Niners, they kind of know what they're doing sometimes.
13:55Not always. Okay. A lot of teams make a lot of mistakes.
13:59We know that, but these have been two of the better organizations that we've seen.
14:04And when they're using a high pick on somebody, they usually have a pretty good feeling on that guy.
14:10And again, one game, but both those guys, Ty Simpson and Deshaun Stribbling, they look like they belong to me.
14:17Ty Simpson was lighting it up. And I know it's a preseason game and you're going against backups and we're not calling
14:24anything real, but either a guy can play or he can't.
14:28It's that simple. You just see it right away.
14:31And in that one game, for whatever that's worth, he looked like he could play.
14:36And Deshaun Stribbling, same thing. He looked like a man amongst boys.
14:40He looked physical. He looked like he was attacking the ball.
14:43He was making plays that people were wondering whether he could when the Niners drafted him.
14:49Go back and Google it. You'll find plenty of critics.
14:52There are a lot of people that were all over the Niners about that.
14:57I remember that. Yeah, no, I don't doubt that.
15:00And I think you're right. You know, Ty Simpson was unbelievable.
15:03I would say I was most impressed by not just him, the rookie quarterbacks in general across the board.
15:09Again, it's preseason. You're not seeing, but like you said, you instantly know is the moment too big for this guy.
15:16And if they perform, like you look at a guy like Drew Aller, who, you know, was supposed to be a top
15:2410, top five pick, you know, Heisman winner at Penn State, obviously has a nightmare senior year, but he looked like a
15:31completely different guy, you know, whether it was his mechanics, you know, what Mike McCarthy has done in the short time that he's had.
15:39I mean, he looked like he belonged. He looked like he belonged on an NFL field.
15:44Mendoza, obviously, Carson Beck, we've seen like all of these rookie quarterbacks have looked like they belong and that the moment's not too big.
15:52Now, obviously, that's going to ratchet up quite a bit when we get to the regular season.
15:57Who knows if any of those guys are actually going to play, but it just, you know, a lot of these rookies
16:05that we have seen, you could make the case that, okay, these guys actually, they might have a significant impact for their respective teams this season.
16:13Stripling, especially he, I mean, especially with Pearsall going down and, you know, Mike Evans, obviously he's going to be a part
16:21of it, but you know, we know what his injury history is like, they're going to need Stripling to have a huge year.
16:28So, you know, watching him play, it was same deal.
16:31It's like, okay, this guy belongs and I'm sure that the work that him and Brock Purdy have been getting in on
16:39a day-to-day basis, like, I'm not so sure, you know, Sands Kittle that he won't be the number one option, you know, for the 49ers this season.
16:48So, I couldn't agree more. A lot of impressive guys so far in week one of the preseason.
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17:23This episode is brought to you by Welch's Fruit Snacks.
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18:10Chevrolet. Together, let's drive. All right, Chifty, let's move to topic number three.
18:14Kind of a similar thing here. Let's put a bow on week one of the preseason and just kind of finish it
18:21up before we go ahead and start, you know, thinking about week two.
18:25What else stood out to you? What is your biggest takeaway, or one of your biggest takeaways?
18:31Yeah. Well, we mentioned the fact that there are people that question draft picks that sometimes need to give a little bit more time before we criticize people.
18:40But the thing that really stood out to me in week one, and we also mentioned Ty Simpson lighting it up.
18:47But Ty, he was not the only rookie quarterback.
18:50It is not often that we put on the first week of the preseason and see, in my mind, eight rookie quarterbacks
18:57go out there and look like they belong. Drew Aller of the Steelers, when they got him, they were excited about him.
19:05They felt like Mike McCarthy could work on his footwork and get him back to the potential of when he was a big-time high school recruit.
19:13Carson Beck, in the Hall of Fame game that we talked about last week, looked incredible.
19:18Ty Simpson, awesome. The number one overall pick, Fernando Mendoza, also looked like he belonged.
19:23Not surprising, but looked like it's only a matter of time before the Raiders have to go to him.
19:30We mentioned Haynes King in Carolina, what he did in the Hall of Fame game before he suffered the hamstring injury.
19:37Kate Klubnick played a quarter for the Jets, looked authoritative.
19:40Jalen Daniels went out there for Tampa and looked like he was good enough to back up Baker Mayfield this season.
19:47I know that Jake Browning's dealing with an injury right now, but Jalen Daniels looked like he could play.
19:53And Garrett Nussmeyer looked good. There were a bunch of rookie quarterbacks that got out there and looked impressive.
19:59Now, I wonder, I wonder if any of this will have to do with guys staying in school longer, getting more reps,
20:06becoming more experienced and seasoned, and being more pro-ready when they finally get the opportunity to play at the NFL level.
20:13Of those eight guys, and I'm not as big a college football guy as you, they all got a lot of work there in college, right?
20:22Like, those are all experienced guys. Am I right about that?
20:26Is there anybody that didn't get a lot of work?
20:29I'm trying to think. No, I mean, Carson Beck was since, got in school for six years.
20:34You know, Mendoza, he started for three. Drew Aller started for three at Penn State.
20:39Like, yeah, I mean, Haynes King was there for a long time.
20:43Nussmeyer, no, all those guys got a significant amount of starts.
20:47And I think, you know, not to rip on a guy like Anthony Richardson, but you look at what he's done in
20:54his NFL career so far, and I think that is in large part because he just hadn't played enough football.
21:01He played, he started what, like 14 games at quarterback before he got drafted.
21:05And obviously you look at the physical attributes and it's like, if this guy can put it all together, he could be the best ever.
21:14But man, it's just rep reps are important. You know, that there's a reason that Brock Purdy was able to go from Mr.
21:21Irrelevant to, you know, being the, the franchise quarterback of the 49ers.
21:25It's because he started, you know, like 80 some games at Iowa State.
21:29He played a lot of football. So when you get in the fire, you know, not only are you playing with much
21:37better guys than you did in college, but you know, you're not really fazed by it.
21:42I feel like you've been in those situations before, you know how to adapt and handle them.
21:48Bill Parcells, I think always said that he wouldn't draft a quarterback unless he had played 40 games in college.
21:54And it seems like with players now staying in school for money as they should, that they're going to get the reps
22:01they need so that when they get to the NFL level, they'll be that much more prepped and ready to step in
22:09and shine the way that there was eight rookie quarterbacks did.
22:12By the way, their passer rating through one game, the lowest was Garrett Nussmeyer at 80.6.
22:18Drew Aller was at 154.8. And literally four of the eight quarterbacks had a quarterback rating in their first preseason game above 100.
22:25Like that, I would bet. Would you, I don't know.
22:28I would venture to guess that's the first time that's ever happened.
22:32Because typically, I feel like when we watch the preseason, we see a guy, let's say drafted in the fifth round or,
22:40you know, fourth round, sixth round, whatever the case may be.
22:43And he gets a legitimate, a legitimate amount of minutes plays, you know, the entire second half or whatever, whatever the case
22:51may be more often than not, those guys do not play well, you know, and they're certainly not putting up a hundred quarterback ratings.
22:58I would guess that that might be the first time in history.
23:02We've had that many guys look that good and that ready in week one of the preseason.
23:08It was very impressive to watch. And that, that may have been the single biggest takeaway of preseason week one.
23:15And now onto preseason week two. Couldn't agree more.
23:18All right, Shepty, let's move on to topic number four of this week's six pack.
23:22Devin Witherspoon just signed a massive, massive deal with the Seahawks.
23:26We knew it was coming. It was kind of a, who's going to go first between him and Christian Gonzalez, John Schneider,
23:33you know, we saw him on hard knocks basically say he was Witherspoon was signing for fans and he was like, Hey, I got something else.
23:42I'd like you to sign, you know? So we knew it was probably coming.
23:47It eventually gets done. How does that deal affect Christian Gonzalez?
23:50Cause they do have the same agent, correct? Yep.
23:53Yeah, they do. And, and, um, first of all, I don't know if you saw, but on Tuesday morning on my Instagram
24:00page and on my X account, I posted the scene from hard knocks that will run tonight with Devin, Devin with the room, walk into the light.
24:09Do you see that? Yeah, I did. Incredible. I, I loved that.
24:13I watched it 10 times and picked up something different every time.
24:17And the ultimate thing was a guy that rose up, became one of the best players in the NFL, became the highest paid cornerback.
24:25And here's the celebrate, like, here's the moment that he gets to celebrate with his teammates and friends like that.
24:32I don't know. I just thought it was guys genuinely happy for him.
24:36Genuinely happy. It was awesome to see. Now what's interesting, as you mentioned, same agent, Reggie Johnson, you would have thought that
24:43a deal like this would have an impact on Christian Gonzalez.
24:47And maybe in the end it will, it has to, I would think one way or another, but it's not like the
24:54Patriots didn't know, or didn't have an idea of where the Devin Witherspoon deal was going to come in.
25:00They, they had a very good idea. And to my understanding, as of yesterday, and it always could change, the Patriots and
25:08Christian Gonzalez weren't overly close to a deal and hadn't made much progress.
25:12Now what's interesting is let's see how this unfolds in the coming weeks before the season, because Devin Witherspoon has provided a
25:19roadmap to where that deal should come in. I mean, honestly, that should be the deal 33, one-on-one guaranteed.
25:25Like I would seem to be pretty simple, but the Patriots probably have their own ideas and the two sides were not close before.
25:33I don't believe they're any closer now. And either they make up that difference by the start of the season, or maybe they don't.
25:41And that's where it gets interesting. If they don't, then that becomes one of those issues that's out there that we have
25:48to watch how Christian Gonzalez fares this year, whether the Patriots are going to commit to him, whether down the line, they
25:56would be willing to trade him because they can't get a deal done.
26:00Again, these are a lot of hypotheticals down the line.
26:03First things first, Witherspoon's done, roadmap provided, market reset, should be easy.
26:07Let's see if they could get it done in the next month before the season begins.
26:12If they can, great, no issues. But if they can't, that's where it starts to get a little interesting because it should
26:20be an easy deal to get done by the time the season starts.
26:24And if they do, great, no issues. But if they don't, I'm just telling you, as my friend Wendy would say, something is up in New England.
26:33Okay. So that's the first, I was just under the assumption that it was going to get done no matter what.
26:40He's, you know, one of the few truly locked down court.
26:43And I hate even doing this, but what would like the percentage you would say would be that he's going to get
26:51a deal done because thinking him getting traded this year, like is legitimately like this year.
26:56I'm not saying this year. Okay. Okay. But just in general, just in general, I mean, he's a franchise cornerstone cornerback, you
27:03know, like a guy that you could see being a one helmet guy.
27:07So, so, so, so, so, so exactly. But different situation too, though.
27:11The Jets stink, you know, it's like, Hey, they knew a rebuild was coming.
27:16The Pats just went to the Superbowl. He was obviously a massive piece of that defense that helped lead them to the Superbowl.
27:24Um, are you more in the camp that they are going to get something done?
27:29Well, I'm more in the camp. Like I said, that we have a, we have a window here till the start of the regular season.
27:37Okay. It's there. My question is, okay. If they don't have it done by the start of the regular season or shortly into it, what's going on then?
27:46Okay. All right. Yeah. So, so yeah, no, I agree in that.
27:50So that, you know, obviously Patriots fans, uh, don't want to hear that, but I'm not telling you we're going to get to that.
27:58It's very simple. They get the deal done. Exactly.
28:01Like you said, now it's kind of the put up or shut up time.
28:05They know exactly what the deal looks like. They can go out and get it done.
28:11I believe they will get it done, but we'll see.
28:14They have a window now. They know what they need to do.
28:18And if, you know, if it doesn't get done, then, you know, it, it kind of is on them or I guess on both of them.
28:26So we'll pay attention to that. We'll see how that plays out.
28:30Uh, boy, that would be very surprising to me if they don't get something done and he goes, I'm just telling you
28:38right now, they, they, they have not been close to a deal.
28:42Okay. Okay. Now, now again, these things change just like that, right?
28:46Right. Up until now, they have not been close.
28:49Now let's see again with the Witherspoon deal should, that's my point.
28:52It should be easy from here. Exactly. Yeah. It should be kind of an open shut case.
28:58But as, as we know, uh, things are rarely an open shut case in the NFL, especially when it comes to contracts
29:05and guaranteed money and all that kind of stuff.
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30:59All right, Shefty, let's move on to topic number five of this week's six-pack.
31:04We have some legitimate veterans who are kind of, you know, maybe not expecting to sign this early, maybe waiting to see
31:11someone go down later in the season and sign with a contender.
31:15But Keenan Allen is signing with the Colts, which is an incredible move.
31:19People in Indianapolis are so excited and so happy for that.
31:23They really needed a veteran guy in that room and getting one of the best ones there is available.
31:29People here are doing, you know, cartwheels because they're so excited about that.
31:34And then Von Miller signing with the Cowboys. So they continue to kind of bolster that defense.
31:39What did you think of both of those moves?
31:42And do we have any other, maybe, you know, veteran free agents who are still on the market that are, are kind of circling some teams right now?
31:51Well, I think you had a case here, um, where these are two players that can help.
31:57Keenan Allen, no Shane Steichen. They've played together. They've been together for years with the Chargers.
32:02Keenan Allen could step in there, high football IQ, and just probably step right in and know the offense.
32:08And they need some help. Alec Pierce, I still think my understanding is he's still on track to be back for the regular season opener.
32:17But every day that goes by, you're like, what's going on with Alec Pierce?
32:21Right? I still think he's back. I still think he's back.
32:25Josh Downs has had the groin injury. They're a little thin at that position.
32:30Keenan Allen, no Shane Steichen. That's a simple one.
32:33He's sitting on the street. Von Miller, the Cowboys never have enough pass rushers.
32:37This is a guy that's in the Dallas area that's always wanted to play for the Cowboys.
32:43Like that is a no brainer. The fact that he wants to go in there and get a deal done with the
32:50Dallas Cowboys and they finally did it. And now I got to tell you something.
32:55We, we go back to week one again and what we've seen in the preseason.
33:00And we talked about it on the previous podcast, Caleb Downs.
33:03I think the Dallas defense actually could be pretty good.
33:07Pretty good. Which by the way, if they're pretty good, that gives them a really good chance to win that division by being pretty good.
33:15Like all of a sudden, Caleb Downs looks like he could impact that team.
33:20I may be getting ahead of myself here, but he looks like he has the chance, has the chance to impact the
33:27Cowboys defense in my mind, the way that Ronnie Lott once impacted the 49ers defense when they drafted him.
33:33And that was the year when the 49ers, let's see how good my memory is here.
33:38They were woeful on defense and in particular, the secondary.
33:42And in one draft, they selected Ronnie Lott and they drafted Eric Wright, I believe.
33:47And they drafted, I believe, Carlton Williamson, three defensive backs.
33:50I think I got the defensive backs, right? Maybe Dan could Google them while we're literally riffing off the top of our head and answering the question.
33:59And this was about 1980. If my memory serves me correct, the 49ers added three defensive backs and they went out to
34:06win the Super Bowl, I believe the next year.
34:09If I'm not mistaken, let's see how good my memory is.
34:13Check that out right now. Well, Shetty, good for you.
34:16Your memory serves you right. You hit the nail on the head in the 1981 draft.
34:21Those are the three defensive backs that they selected.
34:24And in 1982, the 49ers defeated the Cincinnati Bengals in the Super Bowl.
34:28So bang on. Well done. Yeah. You hit the nail on the head.
34:33That is exactly what happened. Hold on. That was 45 years ago.
34:37Yeah. How in the hell would I remember the 49ers from 45 years ago?
34:41I don't know. That is crazy. I was off by one year.
34:45I said 1980. It was 81. Yep. I was off by one year.
34:50I apologize, Tyler. Let me correct myself for being off the one year, but I did get the three defensive backs and
34:57I did get the Niners winning the Super Bowl the next year.
35:01And I do believe, I do believe that Caleb Downs can have that type of impact on the Cowboys defense.
35:07And we'll see whether Malachi Lawrence is a player, but Von Miller is going to provide some pass rush.
35:14Jalen Thompson, like I think the Dallas defense really improved and has given that team a chance.
35:19And we'll see if Caleb Downs can become the next player with that type of impact.
35:24And 45 years from now on, when I'm 105 years old, I remember that factoid again.
35:30Hey, there's, there's a chance. And listen, the, the Cowboys defense has to get a lot better because they were historically bad last year.
35:38One of the worst defenses ever. So like you said, even a marginal improvement, like, you know, you could start thinking how, yeah, they could win the division.
35:47Uh, Von Miller, we were talking about this yesterday.
35:50It, the fact that he had eight sacks last year was just, I mean, just crazy.
35:55You know, obviously the commanders weren't very good. So I wasn't, you know, locked in on too many commanders games, but Von
36:02Miller at this stage of his career is still, you know, I mean, who wouldn't take eight sacks right now?
36:09You know, it just, it's on, it's unbelievable. And then again, the Keenan Allen thing, you nailed it.
36:15His familiarity with Shane Steichen's offense. That's what the Colts needed losing Pittman too.
36:19They knew they need a guy who can move the chains, move the sticks.
36:24Cause Alec Pierce is obviously quite the vertical threat, but I don't know if you want to ask him to kind of
36:31remake his entire game and, and, you know, start being the guy who's, Hey, it's third and five.
36:37We need you to go pick up a first.
36:40Like that's why you go get a guy like Keenan Allen.
36:44Sure-handed. You know what he can do. You know, he's going to be in the right spot.
36:49He's going to be on the same page with Daniel Jones.
36:53So I agree. I love both of those veteran signings.
36:56And, you know, again, there, there are still several legitimate vets available.
37:00And that might be a situation where, you know, as, as we see some more injuries and guys go down, maybe those
37:08guys get picked up, but you know, I mean, Keenan Allen and Von Miller, if you're a Colts fan and a Cowboys
37:15fan, respectively, I would imagine you're ecstatic about both of those signings.
37:19So, uh, and then the Cowboys defense, that'll be, that'll be something to keep an eye on this year.
37:25And man, they were, they were so atrocious last year.
37:28So even a little bit of an improvement, they may end up looking like the 85 bears, you know, by comparison.
37:35So we'll see. All right, Shepty, let's move on to the sixth and final topic of this week's six pack.
37:42What's one thing that has gotten your attention so far this preseason that you think maybe hasn't been spotlighted or people aren't really talking about?
37:50You know, I heard something this weekend that I called the team about, and I just found it to be very interesting.
37:57It was the first time that I had heard a team do it.
38:02I'm sure other teams probably have done it. I've been unaware of it, but it came to my attention this weekend that
38:09the New York Jets flew in the families of every draft pick that they had this past year.
38:15And they've done this in other years. They fly in the whole family for the first preseason game.
38:21And not only do they fly in the family for the first preseason game, but then they put those families, they show
38:28them around, they take them through like a rookie orientation for families.
38:32Like this is where we train. This is what we do game day, like they, whatever they do, but they put them through that.
38:40And again, it's their treat. And I thought to myself, wow, just like a lot of incoming college freshmen go to orientation.
38:47There's a lot to learn when you're going to a new environment, these rookies step into a new environment.
38:53I thought that was kind of cool that the Jets organization takes in the families of these rookies and shows them their
39:01new life in New Jersey leading into the first preseason game and then gives them the opportunity to take it all in and watch it all together.
39:09And maybe there are other teams that do. I've never heard of it before.
39:14I've never heard of it before. And if there are more teams, my apologies for not knowing it.
39:20Sorry, I missed it. And if there aren't more teams out there that do it, then they should be doing that because
39:27it sounds like a very cool process that the Jets take part in.
39:31Yeah, no, I haven't heard of any other teams do that either.
39:35And, you know, that makes sense. I mean, the Jets take it on the shins for just about everything they do.
39:42Not a whole lot of good publicity for the Jets.
39:46So something like this, you know, earn a little good faith or at least a feel good story from, and it's, you
39:53know, one time where you don't have people just colossally killing you for every single thing you do.
39:59But I'd agree. I mean, most teams have what, you know, seven, seven guys that they draft.
40:04A lot of teams are drafting, you know, maybe five guys or in some cases, 10 or 12 or whatever.
40:11But we're talking about billion dollar franchises, multi-billion dollar franchises.
40:14It makes sense that they could maybe spring, you know, to pay for a hotel room and a flight for a family
40:22of a guy who they expect help them, you know, potentially win a Super Bowl and increase that valuation.
40:28So yeah, you know, that makes perfect sense. That is cool that they do that.
40:33And you would think, you know, that maybe that is something that catches on around the league because that seems like just
40:40an easy way to kind of build up a little good faith.
40:44Yeah, it's a very simple thing. Again, subtle, simple, but in my 37 years covering the league, I had never heard of it before.
40:52And I felt like it was worth pointing out.
40:55All right, Ty, I want to point out also, we're going to be back in this spot next week for a little fantasy preview.
41:03We have the fantasy football marathon in Bristol next week, Monday, Tuesday, people are starting to get into their fantasy drafts.
41:10I'm getting texts from my friends. Do you have your tips?
41:13Do you have your cheat sheet? I'm working on a little tip sheet for ESPN that we're going to be running here
41:21on ESPN.com, ESPN plus, whatever it may be the end of the month, but I have my list of guys that I like together.
41:28Of course, it changes all the time with injuries, which is the nature of fantasy football, but we're going to go on
41:36a heavy fantasy football podcast next Wednesday. So that would be Wednesday, the 26th market down in your calendars.
41:42Great job by you today, Ty. Great job by our great producer, Dan Stanzik, Ben Smith.
41:47And thank you to all the listeners who tuned in to another Adam Schefter podcast.
41:52Please remember to rate, review and subscribe to the Adam Schefter podcast.
41:56We'll be back in this spot Wednesday, the 26th for a little fantasy football preview.
42:01Until then, enjoy week two of the NFL preseason.
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