Donald, Duck! The Loaded Rams, Plus Raiders and Falcons QB Battles
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
1 hr 4 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Sep 1, 2026
Published
Tue, September 1, 2026
15
Player insights
14
Players mentioned
Topics
Kirk CousinsAlec IngoldAnthony RichardsonBrock BowersFernando MendozaJordan LoveJosh JacobsJustin HerbertKyle PittsMarShawn LloydMichael Penix Jr.Mike Washington Jr.Puka NacuaQuentin Johnston
Player analysis
Player insights
Alec Ingold
PositiveRole49:47
Alec Ingold is expected to be on the field a ton for the Chargers, as Mike McDaniel brought him over from Miami to anchor the fullback position in his new offense, citing trust and familiarity with the scheme.
Insight pageAnthony Richardson
PositiveProjection54:34
Anthony Richardson showed noticeable development in the preseason, looking more settled, accurate, and faster in his decision-making; while not a finished product, he is trending toward becoming a viable NFL starter.
Insight pageBrock Bowers
PositiveRole24:06
Brock Bowers is expected to function as the de facto receiver one for the Raiders, with the team planning to split him out wide frequently.
Insight pageFernando Mendoza
NegativeRole35:15
Fernando Mendoza showed flashes but struggled with sack avoidance and processing pressure during the preseason. While he had a rough outing, the coaching staff remains focused on his development, specifically regarding his ability to feel blindside pressure and his decision-making on play-action concepts.
Insight pageJordan Love
PositiveProjection41:38
Jordan Love is considered an underrated quarterback who is capable of handling a larger workload, potentially allowing the Packers to shift away from their run-heavy approach.
Insight pageJosh Jacobs
NegativeInjury34:41
Josh Jacobs is on the commissioner's exempt list following domestic assault charges. His return timeline is unknown, and the NFL may issue a suspension regardless of the legal outcome.
Insight pageJustin Herbert
PositiveUsage46:26
Justin Herbert's preseason usage in the new Mike McDaniel offense featured heavy play-action, pistol formations, and a variety of personnel groupings (21, 12, 13), signaling a shift toward a more complex, motion-heavy scheme.
Insight pageKirk Cousins
NegativeProjection25:47
Mina Kimes notes that Cousins has a clear ceiling and is not the same player he once was, citing his low air yards per attempt as a concern for the offense's efficiency.
Insight pageNegativeBust28:55
Kirk Cousins is viewed as a diminished version of his former self. In limited preseason action, he averaged a league-low 2.8 air yards per attempt and showed signs of reduced arm strength, passing up downfield throws. There is a strong expectation that he will have a low ceiling, leading to potential calls for his replacement early in the season.
Insight pageKyle Pitts
NegativeUsage30:47
Kyle Pitts looks amazing and is being utilized as a primary playmaker who can turn short passes into significant gains, though the offense's reliance on him to break multiple tackles is a concern.
Insight pageMarShawn Lloyd
NegativeDepth Chart37:01
Marshawn Lloyd has struggled with injuries and has not seen the field, making it difficult to rely on him as a replacement for Josh Jacobs despite his explosive profile.
Insight pageMichael Penix Jr.
NegativeRole30:26
Michael Penix Jr. is a 'mystery box' who has shown flashes but lacks consistency. He needs to prove he can stay healthy and throw over the middle of the field to be considered a viable future option for the Falcons.
Insight pageMike Washington Jr.
PositiveBreakout23:33
Mike Washington looked like a viable NFL running back in the preseason, displaying explosiveness and impressive tackle-breaking ability. While he may spell or supplant Ashton Gentry, fantasy managers should prioritize his film over preseason stats, as high yards-per-carry averages in the preseason often fail to translate.
Insight pagePuka Nacua
NegativeInjury20:33
Puka Nacua's status remains a point of concern due to a potential suspension related to an off-field incident. While reports suggest he may not be suspended, the situation remains unresolved as of late August.
Insight pageQuentin Johnston
PositiveBreakout46:47
Quentin Johnston caught a touchdown bomb from Justin Herbert in the preseason, demonstrating his ability to run deep routes; while the focus remains on his intermediate route development, his connection with Herbert on deep balls is established.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome.
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0:27Welcome back to The Mina Kimes Show featuring Lenny, and welcome back to Aaron Donald.
0:32Also, another Aaron. I didn't think of that. Aaron Donald.
0:35Welcome back to the show, man. Who would you say is a bigger return?
0:40You or Aaron Donald? Oh, it's Aaron Donald. I was only on IR for four days.
0:45He's been out for two years. It's good to have you back on.
0:50For those who don't know, Aaron, is editor-in-chief your title?
0:53Is that the correct? Chief Analytics Officer at FTN.
0:56Okay, so FTN Fantasy. I've mentioned this many times on our show.
1:00Excellent resource for NFL stat. Truly, I feel like untapped by a lot of people.
1:05But they also have the FTN Almanac. Used to be the Football Outsiders Almanac.
1:09Again, I think every year that I've done... Oh, there it is.
1:13JSN on the front. I love it. Am I the blurb on the front?
1:18You are one of the blurbs along with John Harbaugh, yes.
1:22My peer, John Harbaugh. Every year, I tell you guys to buy it.
1:26If you're serious about football, if you're serious about fantasy, if you're serious about anything.
1:31Honestly, it is an incredible resource. In fact, this same week, I'm doing my annual team draft with Michael Jr., and I
1:38always lean very heavily on FTN projections for that because you guys look at schedule, strength of schedule, opponent, all of that.
1:45Fantastic resource. Where can folks buy it? You can buy it at ftnfantasy.com slash almanac, and there is a sample chapter there
1:53so you can get an idea of what you're getting into if you've never bought it before.
1:58And if you want the physical copy that I just held up, you search for FTN Football Almanac 2026 on Amazon.
2:05Outstanding. All right. So as I mentioned, Aaron Donald is back, and today we're going to talk about that.
2:11It's the news of the week at the moment.
2:14I want to talk about it, though, not just through the lens of, wow, Aaron Donald, that sucks for the rest of
2:22the league, but I want to talk about kind of what it means, what it means for the Rams defense, and also
2:29how offenses might game plan for, like, what can you do, I think is an interesting direction to take this conversation in.
2:36We're also going to talk about the Raiders. It hasn't been announced yet, but widely rumored to be starting the season with Kirk Cousins.
2:44Atlanta's quarterback decision, which, again, I'd love to hopefully it happens during the course of the show, hasn't been made.
2:51Might drag out. It's a very weird one that we'll get to.
2:55And then two big, I won't call them suspensions because they're not, but two big pieces of NFL news, Josh Jacobs, the
3:02Packers running back, and Jonathan Cooper, the Broncos edge, put on the commissioner's exempt list.
3:07Those to me were the biggest pieces of NFL news late last week or over the weekend.
3:13But let's start with Donald. So he's back. The last time we saw him, it was 2023.
3:18It wasn't that long ago. I was looking up my notes from that season and his retirement.
3:24And the last thing I posted was a picture of him being triple teamed and double teamed and triple teamed though.
3:31And it's unlikely he's going to face that as much this season.
3:35We'll get to that. But when he last played in 2023, amongst all defensive tackles, he was first in ESPN's pass rush win metric.
3:43He was second in total pressures. He was first in hurries.
3:46So let's just start there before we get to the other pieces of this Rams discussion.
3:52Aaron, this is a player who's been away from football for a couple of seasons.
3:56Do you think it's silly or silly is the wrong word, overly optimistic for Rams fans to presume he's going to be the same guy?
4:05And even if he's not, does it matter? I think that it's very unlikely that he's the same guy, but he can be most of that guy.
4:14I'm less worried that he's been away for two years and more worried that he's just two years older.
4:20Yeah. Because if they don't feel like he's prepped, they're not going to put him on the field in week one.
4:27They feel like he's prepped. But he is two years older.
4:30He is 35. I don't think he's going to dominate at quite the same extent.
4:35But he could dominate a lot. Like, he could be really, really good.
4:40And then it creates this problem of who on earth do you not double team?
4:45I mean, teams are just going to be like, Byron Young, come on down.
4:49Come ahead and beat us. Go ahead. Because. Yeah.
4:52Oh, no, keep going. Sorry. Yeah. You can't double team everybody.
4:56You certainly can't triple team anybody. Byron Young could not have picked a better season to be in a contract here.
5:03Oh, my God. And he tried 12 sacks last year because, as you put it, this is a math problem.
5:09So, Miles Garrett, let's start there, was the second most shit player of football last year behind T.J.
5:15Watt. But he's always one or two near the top in that regard.
5:20Kobe Turner gets slept on a little bit how much he gets doubled and how good he is.
5:26ESPN's advanced metrics always love him. But he is, since he came into the league, worth in double teams.
5:32And that yet last year he played with Aaron Donald.
5:35That's Saran's other defensive tackle. He'll play with Donald up there down most likely.
5:40So, if you just think about it from the perspective of an offensive coordinator or an offensive line, say you're in max
5:47protect, which you can't be all the time, of course, because you want to get guys out and actually throw the football, especially if you're very long.
5:56Okay, so you've got your tight end and your left tackle on Garrett.
6:00Let's say you've got a guard in a center on one of either Aaron Donald or Kobe Turner.
6:06Maybe the running back is helping with the other.
6:09Someone's going to get a one-on-one. Always. It's just a math problem.
6:13And that's if you're in maths, right? Like, so, I just think it's a very difficult...
6:18It forces extremely hard decisions for offensive coordinators. Which brings me to kind of the next thing I want to talk about, which is what do you do?
6:28You've got to win on first down. Not win, but like you've got to be successful and efficient on first down.
6:35Aaron, do you feel like that's a good place to start?
6:38First down, you cannot get to third down. Yeah, but it's not like Donald isn't good against the run, right?
6:45Like, we had this whole thing about run-stop-win rate when the ESPN first introduced those stats and whether Donald, you know, was underrated or overrated against the run.
6:54He's good. He's not as good, but he's good against...
6:57You're not going to be getting six and seven yards of carry on first down against this defense.
7:03I mean, yes, the linebackers are a little questionable or whatever, but yeah, they're just...
7:08It's going to be very difficult. The rest of the line is good against the run too, right?
7:14Like, they have Puna Ford now who will be there on early downs if Donald's not on the field.
7:21Miles Garrett is excellent against the run. Byron Young, this actually kind of blew my mind.
7:26I knew he was good last year, but last season, I didn't know this.
7:30He led all edges in run stops and tackles.
7:33And some of that had to do with defense, like from a volume perspective, people not wanting to run on Jared Burst,
7:41but he was very good last year. So you're right.
7:44Like, it's not like, cool, come in and easily get five, six yards of carry on early downs because the rest of
7:51this Rams defensive front, they were very good in run defense last year.
7:56I think... So there's two thoughts I have. One is you're going to get a ton of quick game, right?
8:02So the Rams last year were 21st in the percentage of quick game they faced.
8:07The Browns were fourth. That's what Miles Garrett does.
8:10Unfortunately, in addition to bolstering their defensive line, they also added two very excellent tackling corners in McDuffie and Watson.
8:17So it all fits together really well. Aaron, my general thesis is like, if there's one weakness on this Rams defense, it's the linebackers relative to the rest.
8:26I'm not even saying they're bad. I'm just saying that's...
8:29So I think you got to try to just find ways to get them on the field, right?
8:35This is a defense that played a ton of dime, as you know.
8:39If I'm an offense, I'm actually doing... ripping a page out of their playbook.
8:44I'm really trying to put multiple tight ends on the field and getting them to match that with linebackers.
8:50Yeah, but you're hoping that you have good multiple tight ends.
8:54Yeah, not everyone does. I mean, the numbers for most teams when they go 13 are not as great as the Rams.
9:01When they went 13 last year, right? So if you're Seattle, you've got two good tight ends, I think, that you can put on the field.
9:10But not necessarily every team. San Francisco doesn't necessarily...
9:13You have a fullback because you have use check.
9:16But it's going to be difficult. You're going to have your second or third tight end on the field all the time instead of your third wide receiver.
9:25It's going to be a step down. I was looking to see who's on their schedule to see if there's any teams
9:32that I think could do that at a high level.
9:36Buffalo is one. I will mention that. Yeah, Jackson Hawes.
9:39Like the Jackson Hawes. And the three tight end group is diverse.
9:43They fit together well. That's one. Hilariously, Vegas might be.
9:46Although there's other issues there with the offensive line.
9:49I was looking to see if they got Chicago.
9:52They don't have Chicago. Seattle, obviously, is a team that could do that and wants to put multiple tight ends.
9:59So, yeah, man. It's tough. I mean, I kind of keep...
10:02With the Rams in general, Aaron, whenever the question gets positive, like this is a super team.
10:08What can be done to stop them? I don't really think defensively now there's an answer.
10:13I think it's the offense. And I think it's the offensive line, right?
10:18So, I mentioned we're going to talk about those two players being put on the exempt list.
10:23We don't know what's happening with Alaric Jackson, who's our left tackle, who was charged with another incident related to domestic violence this summer.
10:31Don't know what's going on there, but it would be a multiple offender situation.
10:36But with Matthew Stafford, right? And you guys run the numbers on this, obviously.
10:40Pressure versus non-pressure is pretty much it at this point in his career in terms of like, how do you stop them?
10:48Yes, you definitely... You need to pressure Stafford. You need to figure out a way to stop the 13.
10:54Obviously, if you can get them to play 11, the third wide receiver is not...
10:59It's like Jordan Whittington sometimes. It's not that great.
11:02Tutu Atwell's back. Tutu Atwell is back. Whoop-dee. Mumphrey is the other guy.
11:06But... Yeah. Yeah, they're not... I mean, you have to hope to get past the offensive line.
11:12The other thing with the Rams, we know from last year, you can hope for a big special teams play.
11:18They will give up big special teams plays or they will make big special teams mistakes.
11:24If you want to beat them, you have to hope for that.
11:28That's actually, I think, the biggest weakness on the team, not the offensive line.
11:32Yeah, we talked about special teams a little bit on the preview show because they have a new special teams coordinator, Bubba Ventron, and a new long snapper.
11:41But otherwise, they ran it back. Not just kicker, punter, but also their return game.
11:46So... Yeah, they're betting that coaching will make the difference.
11:50But obviously, that was one of the big differentiating points between them and Seattle, who I believe finished top three in special teams.
11:57They were number two in special, number two behind the Jets in special teams DPOA.
12:02And for those of us who criticize the Ty Simpson pick, one of the reasons is the idea that the opportunity cost
12:10was that they lost the chance to take a wide receiver who not only would be injury insurance for Nakua and Adams,
12:17but could be a return man if they had taken like Casey Concepcion or something.
12:22Oh, I didn't think about that. Right? Like, that would have really juiced the return game plus giving them the wide receiver insurance.
12:29By the way, I mentioned Alaric Jackson with the possibility of suspension.
12:33Obviously, Nakua is another name to watch as the season...
12:37It's crazy. Like, it's August 31st and we still don't know.
12:40Yeah, I guess the reports are that they don't think Nakua is going to be suspended, but Alaric Jackson, nobody's sure on.
12:48I do kind of wish the league would come be a little bit more proactive about this stuff and not like wait
12:55until the day before the season starts if they're going to do something.
12:59Jackson certainly seems more likely. Nakua, for those who have forgotten, had the incident, the woman, the biting picture that went around.
13:06Yeah. So anyways, that... I've been... I've said this a lot with the Rams.
13:11I think Jackson... It's weird because Nakua is obviously the better player, but I feel like McVeigh can scheme around.
13:18We've seen him scheme around his absence. I actually think losing Jackson is, from just a production standpoint, could actually be more damaging for Stafford.
13:26But, you know, we're picking nits here, generally, because this looks like a Death Star.
13:31I mean, I just want to wrap by asking you this because you've been covering the league for a really, really long time.
13:38You've done these projections for a really long time.
13:41How do you say... How would you say this Rams assembly of talent compares to anything you've seen in recent NFL history?
13:49I mean, admittedly, the last time, subjectively, that we had a team that felt like this, it was the Eagles when they were the dream team.
13:57And that didn't work out so well. Right? Nnamdi Asamoah didn't end up being Nnamdi Asamoah.
14:02And they had all kinds of problems. So nothing is guaranteed, in particular with the cornerbacks because cornerbacks are more inconsistent.
14:09The surprise is, I know that ESPN's FPI has the Rams number one going into the season.
14:15Our projections, even with Donald back, I still have Seattle slightly ahead in wins, even though the Rams are a better team.
14:22Because if you look at the schedule, the three games that they play different, the Rams play the Bills, who we think
14:30are slightly better than the Patriots that the Seahawks play.
14:33The Rams play Tampa Bay, who we think is slightly better than Carolina that the Seahawks play.
14:38And the Rams play the Packers late in the season when Micah Parsons will be back.
14:44Whereas the Seahawks play the Bears where we think their defense is problematic.
14:48Interesting. When these two teams play each other, when is their first?
14:5216 and 18. Right at the end of the season.
14:55They're going to make us wait for it. I don't like that they're so close to each other.
15:01I know the same thing happened last year. I know, I know.
15:05I prefer to have it. It would be better to have one in like the middle of the season and then, you
15:12know, that week 18 game is Sunday night football, though.
15:16I mean, you might as well pencil in it right now.
15:19Week 16 is Friday night football. That's crazy. Damn.
15:22All right. Well, I think, yeah, we're going to obviously the Rams have San Francisco.
15:27Which one? Well, you know, in San Francisco is a formidable opponent and it's Australia and things can get weird.
15:34Yeah, the poor 49ers are like, the poor 49ers fans are like, we're good too.
15:39We swear if we stay healthy, we're good too.
15:42You know, Dejan's dribbling. Come, you know, we have a chance.
15:46Well, it's got to be weird. I don't know if you've been following the whole thing where the Rams are like, we're
15:53going to get there the day before because we've studied sleep and it's actually better that way.
15:58I have no idea what is the right approach, but I think it's kind of a fascinating case study.
16:05The Niners are doing the typical thing of reviving a week early.
16:09I will say in my experience traveling around the world, I actually think there might be something to this Rams logic because
16:16I definitely have had the thing where you land in like Europe and for the first 24 hours, you're like, yeah, who needs sleep?
16:24I got this. And then you crash a day later and then versus being there for a week and sort of still
16:31struggling with sleep and being up and down. But we'll see.
16:35I think that's interesting. We will all assume to have learned something about sleep patterns based on who wins that game, which is a sample size of one.
16:44It's going to affect how I approach travel for the rest of my life.
16:49Also, Donald might not play. I mean, it's Australia week one.
16:52Does he want it? You know, it's just I do think in the beginning of the year, they'll probably be judicious with how they use him.
17:01They got a two week exemption. Yeah, so technically they can put him on an exemption in week one.
17:07Yes. And the other thing I want to mention is when he doesn't play, Braden Fisk is also good.
17:13Very good player. I do also the exemption thing.
17:16I know if people hear that and they're like, geez, the NFL wants the ramp.
17:21It's a normal thing with guys who are signed late in the season.
17:26Yeah. But monitoring those suspensions, guys. All right, let's let's keep it moving and let's talk about the Raiders with Kirk Cousins most likely being the starting quarterback.
17:35We got a good look at Fernando Mendoza this preseason.
17:38We also got a bit of a look at Cousins, which I thought was interesting because, you know, I think sometimes when
17:45we talk about Kirk Cousins, we think of him just as prime Kirk Cousins and like, oh, he's going to the Cousins
17:53we saw in Minnesota and that's who they're going to get.
17:56And of course, they feel comfortable going with that guy.
18:00So before we get to the Mendoza piece of this, and I'm not saying I necessarily disagree with this decision and I'll explain why.
18:08But I will say, watch every Cousins drop back.
18:10There weren't that many this preseason. Not the most encouraging tape.
18:14So first of all, he averaged 2.8 air yards per attempt, which was dead last out of every quarterback.
18:20He was tied with another quarterback who we're going to talk about shortly.
18:25But I also felt watching Cousins, Aaron, that he did not, he still looks like a diminished version of the quarterback he
18:32was earlier in his career, which is to say in this last game, you know, yes, Mendoza had difficulty on his drives.
18:39Cousins threw a slant that should have been picked.
18:42There was throws he passed up downfield from clean pockets.
18:45I do think his arm is clearly not what it was.
18:49And again, I think from a Mendoza development standpoint, I understand the hesitation, especially with the questions around the offensive line of skill players.
18:57But I maintain that I don't think this offense, I could be wrong, but I feel that there's going to be a
19:04clear ceiling on this Kirk Cousins offense with the Raiders.
19:08And I wouldn't be surprised if the calls to replace him come earlier than expected.
19:13First thing I'll say is the Raiders offensive line played good in the preseason.
19:17It was kind of surprising. A lot of that was run blocking.
19:21Yeah. Yeah, but like, I mean, guys like Glaze and Caleb Rogers like kind of was like, oh, look at that.
19:28Where'd that come from? So, you know, give them a little bit of props.
19:33The fact is almost every time we have this discussion, the first round quarterback ends up playing early in the season.
19:40It's really rare. The Mahomes situation where the guy stays on the bench the whole year is really rare at this point.
19:47And I agree with you. I don't, Father Time is undefeated.
19:51I don't know what Cousins has left. I think the peak Cousins is you've got the 18th best quarterback in the league.
19:58Like, if you're a team that, let's be honest where the Raiders are, this is, you know, you never know in the
20:05NFL, but this does not look like their year to compete.
20:09Like, what are you getting out of playing the 18th best quarterback?
20:13And that's like the best case scenario. Yeah. I also say, people ask me, have you ever done research on what it
20:20means for a rookie first round pick quarterback to sit for the entire year?
20:25And the answer is that every time we try to do that research, the answer is, I don't know.
20:31It comes out that there's no easy way to tell.
20:34Yeah. Is it better to sit the year or is it better play?
20:38Right. There's always, also just the examples are all so specific.
20:42Like, Jordan Love played behind Aaron Rodgers. Patrick Mahomes played behind, people forget, a very good Alex Smith.
20:48Like, so it's not like, you know what I mean?
20:51Like, these situations are not comparable. 2026 Kirk Cousins is simply not either of those guys.
20:57Same thing with Drake May. And some of those teams were like, the Bengals in 2004 stuck with John Kitna because they
21:04felt that they were going to compete. And I don't think the Raiders are at that point in their development cycle.
21:11As far as Mendoza goes, so he had a bit of a rough outing.
21:15You know, he threw the interception early on. And then he had a sack and a couple of throwaways under pressure.
21:22Did some good things as well. I actually really have enjoyed listening to Clint Kubiak's press conferences after his earnings because he gets asked about him.
21:31And I found him to be very direct and like, specific about what he saw.
21:36And Kubiak, and I agree with him here, mentioned that he actually was not bothered at all by the interception throw they want him to attempt.
21:44It was a drift route off of play action.
21:47The linebacker made a great play. San Francisco, they probably see a lot of drift, right?
21:53But, however, there was other things that he used to work on.
21:57And one of those things is just, I think, sack avoidance, which is, and you know, this is, I would say, my
22:04biggest concern about him coming out of college. The first sack this week, the key on white sack was, you need to get rid of that ball.
22:13The second sack by Okoronkwo, he whipped the left tackle and Mendoza just never saw it coming.
22:19Which, you know, it's supernatural. Like, to be able to feel those guys coming from your blind side is supernatural.
22:25Sometimes guys can do it and sometimes they can't.
22:28But, I agree with you and it's a lot of quarterbacks, young quarterbacks, that's going to be a thing.
22:34And I think when people looked at his, like, sack to pressure rates in college, that was always one of the worries
22:42about Mendoza is would he, you know, know to get rid of the ball?
22:46And so, yeah, that's something that you need to work with him on.
22:51But as Caleb Williams has shown, it is something you can work with a guy on.
22:56And I think, I think you will get better at it because again, there were those reps, but there were also reps
23:03of him in the preseason, I thought being decisive, I thought his arm talent was very much on display.
23:09It was not a low degree of difficulty offense like some of the other, like the, you know, they were asking him
23:17to really stand in there, go through his reads, throw it all parts of the field.
23:22And the other thing I'll add about the Raiders and your point, it's a well-made point about the offensive line looking decent in the preseason.
23:30We'll see how they look in the regular season.
23:33There's some really fun skill players. So, I thought, first of all, Mike Washington in the preseason looks to me to be
23:40like a very viable NFL running back. He was explosive.
23:44I thought, not but not, I thought, I was really impressed also by the tackle breaking ability he showed.
23:50I think if he has to come in and we'll see what the deal is with Ashton Gentry week one, but I
23:57feel pretty good about him, either spelling him or supplanting him if necessary.
24:02I thought Mike Mayer, that second tight end looked fantastic in the preseason.
24:06So, Brock Bowers obviously didn't play. And, you know, I was joking about them versus the Rams, but like, I think if
24:13Brock Bowers is like your de facto receiver one and you've got him split out wide a decent amount, Mayer as your
24:20two is really quite a very good second tight end.
24:24Yeah, he's good. He's a good look. He was, what was he like?
24:28A second round pick? It's not like you're talking about some schlub here.
24:32I would go first. Yeah. And, as far as Washington goes, I will say, get excited about the film more than the
24:40stats because recent preseason history is filled with guys who like led the league in yards per carry in the preseason and then turned into nothing.
24:48So, you know, it's more about the film and watching like the burst and stuff, I think.
24:54The Raiders, I mean, I know there are people who really like Jack Besch, right?
24:59And think he can really turn into a thing.
25:02Tucker is what he is. Dante Thornton, never really happened.
25:05Jalen Naylor, that's nice, whatever. But I agree with you.
25:08It's going to be built around the tight ends.
25:11I just wish they had one like big contested catch receiver because there were a couple times in this reseason where Mendoza
25:18attempted his like signature back shoulder, which is what he excelled at in college.
25:23And they were accurate balls. But like, they don't have a guy and again, they didn't play all their starters, but I
25:30just don't feel like there's a guy on their roster you really trust in those situations.
25:36I know they really like trading Stooks. I just can't help but wonder if Denzel Boston, I know I mentioned during the
25:43draft, I really liked him for the Raiders. I would have loved that.
25:47But yeah, I think though this kind of cuts into my earlier point about Cousins, Aaron, which is, I do think there's a very clear ceiling.
25:56I do think he's not the player he was.
25:59However, I think for Vegas, what I imagine they really want to see is can we run the football the way it
26:06feels like we can, the way we want to, the way we know Clint Kubiak wants to because you know Clint Kubiak
26:13offense, everything flows from that zone run game. And if they can't, then you get nervous about putting in your rookie quarterback.
26:21So I feel like the feeling out period is as much about Mendoza's development as it is about the rest of the team in my opinion.
26:29Yep. I think that that is true. I think that it's, you're right, that they want to make sure the offensive line
26:36can A, protect him and B, get the running game going in order to protect him.
26:42And if that happens in the first month, they'll pull the trigger.
26:46They'll put Mendoza in. I just, I can't imagine that we're going to get past mid-season before Mendoza goes in there.
26:53I know. Here, wait, let's pull up the Raiders schedule and let's do, let's do a prediction.
26:58All right. Because it's hard. Because you really look at the, I remember when I looked the Raiders schedule before around the draft and it's just so difficult.
27:07Then there's like a soft spot that it gets really difficult again.
27:11Okay. So Dolphins, Chargers, Saints. So arguably the beginning is a little bit easier.
27:16Chiefs, Patriots, Bills, Rams, and then you get the Jets, Niners, Seahawks, Broncos, Browns, Chargers, Broncos, Titans, Cardinals, Chiefs.
27:22I mean, part of it is the AFC West is just hard.
27:26So that sucks. I think they're going to try to push it past the Bills and the Rams.
27:32I was going to say having the Rams and Seahawks separated by only three weeks doesn't make it easy because you can't
27:40be like, oh, we'll put Mendoza in here. Well, two weeks later, he has to play this to the Seahawks.
27:46And then the Broncos right after that. There's no soft stretch, but I wouldn't be surprised if they're like, let's just get
27:53past what you and I discussed at the beginning of the process, which is the hellish apocalyptic defensive line.
28:00Yeah. And then you get the Jets after that.
28:03Okay, let's take a quick break and talk about another quarterback decision that remains to be made.
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29:32So the other quarterback battle is Atlanta. I was alluding to Tua when I said he was tied, Kirk Cousins was tied
29:39with the quarterback for 2.8 air yards per attempt.
29:42That would be one. Tua Tungavailoa, his brother in arms, literally.
29:46So, Tua, this is such a weird situation in Atlanta that it's hard to talk about because I genuinely don't know what they're going to do.
29:54If you had asked me this two weeks ago, I would have said, obviously, he's going to be Tua.
30:01Michael Penix hasn't even played football. So, since then, Tua has lost ground in the quarterback battle mostly by playing, which is bad.
30:08It's a one-man quarterback battle and he lost. So, he was going to play Miami and his old team and this is
30:15kind of his opportunity to, I guess, assert his position.
30:19Penix Jr. is back at practice, which is another reason why it's suddenly a battle again because there was questions over whether
30:26or not he'd even be at practice. He did not play in the preseason.
30:31So, he played a few drives, three drives against bad Miami.
30:34I actually thought it was backups that I was like, actually, that guy might be starting.
30:40I don't know. Anyways, they're bad. And, and, it's like, stick, check down, screen, no one's open in his defense, fumble, another
30:47fumble under center, check down, shallow cross that Pitts turns into an incredible gain.
30:51Kyle Pitts looks amazing, by the way. Quick out, quick out.
30:55Aaron, I don't, like, I, it's not all Tua's fault, per se, but, I was hoping we would see a little bit
31:02more from him in this final, like, audition, if you want to call it that.
31:07I think the Falcons coaches need to ask themselves, when we signed this guy, is this what we were expecting to do with him?
31:15Because if the whole point all along was, we're going to run this offense that looks like last year's Pittsburgh Steelers, where
31:22everything is low average depth of target, and we're going to depend on his point guard ability to get it to Kyle
31:30Pitts when he knows Kyle Pitts can beat a guy, then I would not overreact to the first two preseason games, and I would start with Tua.
31:39If the goal was that they thought he could throw deeper, and he just can't, then you gotta look at starting Penix from the get-go.
31:47I think, look, he can't throw deeper, sorry, but I think the hope was he would at least throw over 10 yards.
31:54You know what I mean? Like, that's, like, unless Tua proves that he can access that intermediate middle the way he did
32:01so consistently in Miami, then what's the point? Because if it's not, if he's not consistently throwing in that 10 to 20
32:09yard range, then you're fully crippling your offense. It depends on Kyle Pitts to break three tackles on every single pass.
32:16great. It's a great play. Yeah, and also Bijan is going to be in so many stacked boxes.
32:22It's just, it's, so I think at this point for Atlanta, you know, my hope, even if Tua is named the starter,
32:29which is entirely possible because of the Penix injury factor, I think if you're the Falcons, if you're a Falcons fan, your
32:36hope is that Penix returns sooner rather than later, and that it's his last chance, right?
32:41I mean, it's Penix's final addition this season in Atlanta to be considered for the future as well.
32:47He has to show that obviously, one, he can stay healthy, but also that he can throw over the middle of the
32:55field, that he can be more consistent, that he can play under center, like all of these things.
33:01You know, you got to see this with Penix as well.
33:04There's been flashes, at least with Penix, it's a little bit of a mystery box situation where he's played significantly less football
33:11than Tua, but also, you know, he's had good games.
33:15He really has. He just has not been consistent at all in Atlanta.
33:19So I think if I'm a Falcons fan, I would rather see that.
33:23Let's see what we got in him. I don't, and I don't think we're going to see multiple starts out of Tua.
33:31I don't think we're going to see at least even half a season out of Tua Tugabello.
33:36You want to see Penix, but you want to make sure it's a healthy and prepared Penix.
33:42Yeah. Right? Because if he comes in and he's not healthy, you get that thing where he, guys depend on body parts
33:49because other body parts are hurting and then those body parts get hurt and it's Penix.
33:54He's just going to get hurt again. The other thing I'll say is the Jack Strand story is great, but the history
34:02of undrafted rookies playing quarterback in the NFL is very bad and as much fun as it seems like he is, if
34:09you're a Falcons fan, you do not want to be stuck starting him because both Penix and Tua are bad.
34:15It really is though a reflection of the general quarterback situation there that people are so excited about this guy who for all we know is Jeff Toole.
34:25He's been more fun to watch, I'll say that in the preseason, but yeah, I think a healthy bit of skepticism is certainly warranted there.
34:33All right, so let's move on to a couple of big pieces of preseason news.
34:38Let's start with the Josh Jacobs news in Green Bay.
34:41The running back was put on the exemplary list.
34:44There was more news this weekend. I want to make sure I have all of it here.
34:50Adam Schefter, by the way, just posted that Jacobs' initial court appearance is scheduled for November.
34:55So sometimes when the league puts guys on the exemplary list, it's because they're waiting for the legal process to play out.
35:02That's very far out, of course. the NFL does not have to wait for the legal process to be concluded before issuing discipline.
35:10So what happened, sorry, pardon me, over the weekend was Jacobs was formally charged with two misdemeanors stemming from a domestic assault allegation.
35:18I want to make sure I have the details right.
35:21I always try to get these up here. There was there's a lot of detail in the actual story.
35:27He was charged, pardon me, I said allegation. He was charged with misdemeanor battery and criminal damage to property.
35:33There is a video purportedly of him in an altercation with a woman.
35:38I think the video is of him destroying her phone, if I understand that.
35:42She alleged that he also attacked her in the house.
35:46This is a domestic violence case that is playing out right now.
35:50So people keep asking me, well, it's commissioner's exemplist.
35:53What does that mean? And Aaron, we don't know, right?
35:56Like, commissioner's exemplist could be a game. It could be an entire season.
36:00They could be waiting for the trial date. They could be waiting for him to give them more information.
36:06We just don't know. It's extremely murky with these cases.
36:10I mean, the NFL does its own investigations of things.
36:13And the NFL's burden of proof is different than the legal burden of proof.
36:18Like, it's frustrating to live in the world where I feel like we want the NFL to discipline guys when the legal system doesn't.
36:26But they can because the burden of proof is different.
36:29So if they feel that he's done something suspension worthy, they'll hand out a suspension.
36:34I will say that it sounds like he did some pretty horrible stuff and that no matter how bad what he did
36:41was, if a video comes out, the NFL is going to feel more pressure to give a longer suspension than if a
36:48video doesn't come out because videos are just visceral.
36:51I always tell people to your point about we're asking the NFL to be the justice system when the justice system isn't.
36:59That's not a defense of the perpetrators or even it's not a comment on the NFL, it's more of a comment on
37:06the justice system and how hard it is to prosecute some of these cases.
37:11That's something I've really learned from covering sports, especially with sexual assault and domestic violence.
37:1527 women accused Deshaun Watson and Deshaun Watson is not in prison.
37:19It's very difficult. To take it to the Packers from a football standpoint, again, it's hard to talk about because we don't
37:27know if Jacobs is going to play or when he's going to return, if he's going to return.
37:33We have seen a lot of Marshawn Lloyd, who was the running back they drafted a few years ago, not played at all because of injuries.
37:41The hypothesis of him was that he was going to be a more explosive option for them, but it just hasn't been on the field.
37:49They also, interestingly enough, traded for Caleb Johnson, who was the Steelers third-round running back, who was kind of put in the
37:57doghouse and never got out of it in Pittsburgh.
38:00On paper, just thinking back to my draft impressions of Johnson, would seem to be a good fit for this zone run
38:07game in Green Bay, but I will say, you know, Steelers fans screaming, he didn't look good in Pittsburgh.
38:13So those are the options the Packers have right now.
38:17What do you think of them, and do you think it's possible that Matt LaFleur changes his at times excruciatingly run-heavy approach, given that Jacobs isn't out there?
38:26First of all, to remind people, Caleb Johnson partly was in the doghouse.
38:30He was the guy who didn't touch the kickoff that Seattle scored because they recovered the kickoff, but he also wasn't running well.
38:38I do think that it would make LaFleur be a little bit less run-heavy.
38:42This is going to be an interesting test for the running backs are fungible idea.
38:47I think Jacobs is a little bit better than the sort of standard running back, and I think that these options seem
38:55a little bit worse than the standard backup. Can Lloyd even stay healthy, given the problems that he's had in the past?
39:02It's going to be an interesting one to watch.
39:05Look, I know guys want to do their thing, but, you know, when I first started doing this 20 years ago, Jim
39:12Schwartz, when he was with the Titans, said to me, you need to design your system around your players, not try to fit your players into your system.
39:21If you don't have the guys to do a certain thing, don't try to do that thing.
39:27So maybe LaFleur needs to be a little bit more pass-heavy.
39:31I mean, a little bit would be great, given that they're so run-heavy.
39:35You know, I talked about this when I did the NFC North, but I was kind of astonished when I saw how
39:42run-heavy they've been using the next-gen stats metrics that account for game situation, formation, situation.
39:47It was kind of jarring to me and jived with moments where I felt very frustrated at times watching this offense, quite frankly.
39:55I think they have a quarterback who were capable of putting more on his shoulders.
40:00I guess the question is, you know, do you have the receivers?
40:04And that's where like Christian Watson's health and Matthew Golden as the X factor kick in.
40:09Like, you know, we can say, well, they should be able to throw more, they're back, Golden's going to be better, Kraft
40:16is back, but obviously that has to materialize. Do you like this Green Bay pass-catching group as a whole?
40:22I don't remember what FTN said, how they like the projections for them.
40:27We wrote a lot about Golden in the chapter.
40:30Brian Knowles wrote a lot about Golden. Historically, if you look at first-round wide receivers who don't play much and aren't injured, it's a really bad group.
40:39Usually, if you're a first-round wide receiver and you're not injured, you play.
40:43But it was a bit of extenuating circumstances because he did have a lot of guys ahead of him, right?
40:49You know, now he does it. Now he's going to play.
40:53There's still a lot of promise there. I think Kraft is important.
40:57I think Musgrave is important. Luke Musgrave, because they want to run two tight ends.
41:02They want both tight ends to be able to be receivers.
41:06And if Musgrave is hurt, even if Kraft is back, they can't quite do that.
41:11they traded for this dude from the Rams name I'm forgetting.
41:14He looked good in the preseason, but I don't know how much you can count on that.
41:20So it doesn't, you know, Reed is good and Watson was amazing.
41:24In DVOA, it was like second in the league or something behind Alec Pierce.
41:28But again, it's the sample size because of the injuries.
41:32He didn't play a full season. And you and I are both on the Jordan Love is underrated bandwagon.
41:38I've listened to a couple of your podcasts where you've talked about Jordan Love being underrated, and I am with you.
41:45He is a quarterback that you can put more on his shoulders, and I don't think you should be afraid to do that.
41:53All right, let's move on to the other big commissioner's exemplus news.
41:57Oh, the other thing I want to mention about the commissioner's exemplus is players are paid, but they're not allowed to play or practice.
42:04Yes, I don't think they're allowed to be in the building.
42:08The building, yeah. So the other big news, and I've been talking about this all summer, and I feel like people slept
42:15on it as a possibility, not to talk about, but I'm just saying it was something that I just kept coming back
42:23to when I talked about the Broncos defense and how good they would be.
42:27Jonathan Cooper, who is the pass rusher opposite Nick Bonito, but the combination of them has been very difficult because they're so fast.
42:35They both have such unbelievably fast get-offs. So he is on the commissioner's exempt list, and the reason why I thought it
42:42would be a possibility was very serious charges and also multiple incidents this summer.
42:47He was initially arrested in June after police were called to his apartment following an altercation with his girlfriend at the time,
42:54was charged with domestic violence and criminal mischief. The charges were upgraded to felony second-degree assault by strangulation, reflecting a report from
43:01a nurse that night who said that the woman suffered strangulation with hypoxia.
43:06Then he was arrested a second time on June 11th on a charge of violating a protection order.
43:11So this is some pretty serious stuff with Jonathan Cooper.
43:15Again, don't know how long he's going to be out.
43:18Don't know the league's thinking. All of this stuff we said about Josh Jacobs applies.
43:23But yeah, this is a very I mean, charges here are pretty harrowing.
43:27So as far as the Packers, the Broncos, pardon me, defense goes, Aaron.
43:32Jonah Ellis, Caden Ellis' brother. Christian Ellis' brother too.
43:35It's a whole family of NFL players. That's your next man up.
43:39He was a third round draft pick where they were thinking of kicking inside to linebacker at one point.
43:45I watched a little bit of he played in the preseason and I thought he looked pretty sharp.
43:51Very different style of player though. Less explosive, like more.
43:54I thought he won with power a few times.
43:57I thought he had a pretty good pass rush plan, but undeniably a downgrade here.
44:02So I guess my question for you is do you think the Broncos defense, like is this something that you think is
44:09like, oh, this goes from being a top five defense to maybe outside the top five?
44:15Is that big of a deal? How do you think Vance Joseph compensates for it?
44:20I think if it goes from a top five defense to out of the top five, it's going from like four to six or seven.
44:28Right? Because I think the top five defenses, I think these are the top five that you had on your show when
44:35you did the top 10 defenses, but Seattle, Houston, and the Rams, and then Denver and Philadelphia, and then the rest of the league after that.
44:44So I do feel like if it drops Denver, it doesn't drop them that far, but if Ellis gets hurt or Benito
44:51gets hurt, the depth after that is really problematic.
44:54It's Kay Robinson, who was a fourth round pick a couple years ago, and then a bunch of undrafted free agent guys.
45:01And now they have, you know, without Cooper, they're at NFC North levels of questionable edge rusher depth.
45:07And so sometimes it's not the first missing guy, it's the second missing guy.
45:12Yeah, right, like Benito is so good, but part of the proposition of Denver was the two of them.
45:18Also, so Denver was a defense that blitzed a ton, but they were equally good blitzing as they were non-blitzing, and the
45:25fear of them non-blitzing is partially why they were so good, you know what I mean?
45:31Like, it all kind of fed together. I do think probably it'll turn up the blitz a little bit more, especially week
45:38one against Kansas City, a team that struggled with it last year and didn't upgrade a receiver, but definitely I'm very interested
45:45in seeing Ellis as like a quietly become a pretty important player for them.
45:50But I share your agreement or your assessment kind of like the defense not falling off that far.
45:56rush and the coverage. Like the Rams, there's questions at the off ball linebacker a little bit, but I mean, you know, Patrick Sertain is Patrick Sertain.
46:05Yeah. All right. So those are the big pieces of NFL news over the weekend.
46:09I sent you a bunch of other preseason notes, little bits and bots that I thought were kind of interesting.
46:16One of them was that we got a first look at the Mike McDaniel offense with Justin Herbert, the much bonted, much discussed Mike McDaniel offense.
46:25We hadn't seen Herbert previously in the preseason. We've been hearing from camp all summer that they're just lighting dudes on fire, played two drives.
46:33First drive to come out supply action pass and there's a fumble.
46:37Second drive they come out and on the second play Herbert throws a bomb to Quentin Johnston for a touchdown and then calls it a day.
46:45So let's talk about the I actually think these first two drives were pretty informative about what this is going to look like.
46:53In that there'll be a lot of play action?
46:56So first of all, none of these plays were 11 personnel.
47:00It was 21, 12, 13, 12. I think that is we're going to see a lot of fullbacks and a lot of tight ends.
47:08And we knew that. But the other thing I thought was of interest, Herbert and the pistol.
47:13Again, this is Mike McDaniel. This is different. This is so, you know, we already knew Herbert can throw a bomb, but
47:20Mike McDaniel's ability to use motions, formations, to manipulate defenders is something we all knew we were going to see, but it
47:28was kind of cool to see it, get a little taste of it early on.
47:33Yeah, Quinton Johnston beat Cam Lampkin. That's the cornerback, I guess, is a backup cornerback for the Rams.
47:39And that part is like, we knew that Justin Herbert could throw that.
47:43Like, that's not new. I mean, as far as what the McDaniel offense can do, I'm a little more interested to see
47:50him getting guys open in the intermediate range and the run designs and stuff like that, like the bomb.
47:56But, you know, if he's getting guys open in the intermediate range and the run designs are good, that just opens up
48:04the bomb more and we know that Herbert can hit that thing and Johnston can run it.
48:09The run game is the bigger challenge, right? Because of the injuries on the interior of the offensive line.
48:16And that's where Mike McDaniel has to like do the most.
48:19So his whole, his rushing attack is really predicated on creating explosives outside the tackles, using your fullback, but also your tight ends to do so.
48:28And, you know, do in that process, protecting some of the issues on the interior of the offensive line.
48:34So that's what we got to see with LA.
48:37Can Mike McDaniel cover up for what I anticipate is going to be a pretty inconsistent interior offensive line, particularly early in
48:44the season with their center being a rookie, Jake Slaughter, you know, he plays center in college.
48:50But, yeah, I mean, this is going to look really different.
48:54I mean, the tight ends, like just seeing Njoku, Gadsden, and Kolar on the field at the same time and seeing how
49:01they were used on the bomb, he had like Njoku run a little orbit motion.
49:06And like, I think you talked, we talked earlier about like what teams can actually pull off 13 personnel.
49:12This is one of them. Yes. So. Yeah, they've got the guys, although I will, I don't remember who their main fullback is.
49:20I know Scott Matlock went on IR. They brought Ingold.
49:23Oh, right. They brought in Ingold, right. Because Matlock was the guy last year, but he went on IR.
49:29He's one of those guys who's gone from defensive line to fullback and kind of played both, but he's not there.
49:36I like that coaches when they switch teams bring their fullbacks like emotional support animals with them, like John Harbaugh bringing Patrick
49:43Picard to New York and Mike McDaniel bringing Alec Ingold.
49:47He's like, he knows what he, you know, and I have to say, like, again, Alec Ingold was a really fun player
49:54to watch in Miami and he was very important in that offense.
49:58So, I think just knowing that this guy does what I want him to do, he knows my offense, I can trust him, is really significant.
50:07I think he's going to be on the field a ton for the Chargers.
50:11The point I have been making throughout the preseason, though, is that while subjectively we all believe McDaniel's going to transform this
50:19thing and it's going to be awesome, objectively we don't know for sure.
50:23Yeah. Because you often have this where coaches are on new teams and you only really have like one example of what they've done in the past.
50:32We only really have Miami and obviously the more we get away from it, the more we see like the fact that
50:39he made Tua look so good is incredible. But guys to have super success in job one don't necessarily have super success in job two.
50:47You know, Tony Dungy as an example, when he went to the Colts, their defense still wasn't going to be awesome, but
50:55we shouldn't be surprised if it's a little disappointing.
50:57It might take a second too because there's a lot of complexity to it.
51:02I think that's, I keep saying that about all these new offensive coordinators, especially the offenses that use a lot of pre-snap motion.
51:10But thinking back to last year, a lot of those offenses didn't take a second to get going.
51:16Your Chicago's right, for an example. So we'll see.
51:19But yeah, it's pretty exciting to get a big part of it too.
51:23I mean, it just seems like... That guy's really come back from that rookie year.
51:28The rookie year he looked like just lost. Rich Eisen here with some advice.
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53:00All right, so the final thing I asked you was if any of the many, many backup quarterbacks you played in the
53:08preseason caught your eye or might be of interest.
53:11We mentioned Jack Strand. I'll go first here. And by the way, four teams are keeping four quarterbacks, which has to be a record, right?
53:19Did people spell that out? I mean, it's... I don't know if it's a record, but that's a lot.
53:25Yeah, given how many teams in the last few years have kept two, yeah.
53:30They're hoarding them. So the four teams are the Steelers.
53:33I remember because I talked about the Steelers. I was like, who's the odd man out?
53:38It turns out none of them are the odd man out.
53:42The Falcons, the Eagles, the Vikings. And an asterisk, the Browns.
53:46Oh, yeah. The Vikings are the oddest one to me.
53:49I don't really understand the point of keeping all three of those backups, especially because we saw Rosemar, Carson Wentz.
53:55You know, Carson Wentz makes sense if they wanted a capable backup, but keeping Rosemar and JJ McCarthy, I don't get.
54:02The Steelers, I think, has a lot to do with the quarterback being 42.
54:07The Falcons is a great, you have four quarterbacks, you have none kind of scenario.
54:12The Eagles, I think, is just more about their identity as the quarterback factory and thinking that these guys are going to be trade pieces.
54:20I wouldn't be surprised if they try to move one or two of them, but yeah, kind of weird.
54:27So anyways, other than that though, I'm going to talk about a guy who did make his team and it's not a
54:34four quarterback team, and that would be Anthony Richardson, team with three quarterbacks.
54:38They also kept Riley Leonard. Probably because I went back and I watched all of Richardson's dropbacks in the preseason and it wasn't perfect.
54:46He had like a kind of goofy fumble early on.
54:49In this last drive, there was one miscommunication, forget who was to like Treadwell or something, but I have to say, Aaron,
54:57I really think he looks like he's developing as a quarterback.
55:00I thought he looked pretty sharp, pretty accurate. The throw to Allen was really nice.
55:05He looks settled. He's playing faster. And I'm not here to say Anthony Richardson is going to live up to his fifth
55:12overall draft pick or this or that, but I think he might be one of those examples when we talk about the
55:20league, like who's a guy who might take several years and then suddenly become a viable NFL starter.
55:26I thought his tape this preseason looked pretty damn good.
55:29When you say playing faster, do you mean like not taking sacks that he used to take, getting rid of the ball faster?
55:37No, like yes, decision making. Yeah, because I think when sometimes when I think of playing faster, I think of guys who
55:44leave the pocket real fast, like they give up on plays too.
55:48Yeah, sorry. I mean in a good way. Yeah.
55:51I mean that would be very good for, I mean listen, the talent was always there, that was the whole point of
55:58the Richardson thing, we took him so early because we knew there was a lot of raw talent, we knew, hey Shane
56:05Stricken is going to, you know, he's going to teach him and so if that works out, I mean since we, you
56:13know, Daniel Jones you hope can be most of what he was in the first half of last year, but the performance
56:20that he had against pressure in the first half of last year is completely unsustainable.
56:25So it would be great if Richardson, I will admit I have not seen a lot of Richardson's preseason stuff, but if
56:32he's playing better, that would be really good for the Colts.
56:36Well, I think the thing that I feel like is worth mentioning was he was the guy who came in having barely played, right?
56:44You remember that when he was drafted, he had so little experience and one year that was it and he had such a weird injuries last year.
56:52It was like the freak eye thing and I don't know.
56:56I just think, again, I'm not overstating here or saying he's going to be like a top 10 quarterback or whatever, but
57:03there's definitely some improvement and I think that's what you, if you're the Colts, you want to see, you feel good about that.
57:11I don't know necessarily what it means, but also Daniel Jones, given his injury history in addition to what you talked about,
57:18there's a good chance they need someone to come in and I'll just say this, like I would rather have this version
57:26of Richardson than like bringing in Phillip Rivers last year.
57:29So are there any backup quarterbacks who caught your eye this preseason that you'd like to highlight?
57:34Yeah, Dylan Gabriel. Dylan Gabriel against the Patriots in the third preseason game looked like the best quarterback on the Browns.
57:41I realize that's damning with faint praise, but he was making reasonable throws and he was distributing the ball well to open guys.
57:49And I don't get the Gabriel thing. I don't understand.
57:52You knew when you drafted him what his weaknesses were.
57:56Yeah. The weaknesses were his height and his arm.
57:59His weaknesses now are the exact same thing. So why would you spend a third round pick on a guy with those
58:06weaknesses if those weaknesses are going to keep him out of a quarterback starting battle with two very bad contenders in it?
58:13Like why? I understand not wanting Dylan Gabriel to be your starting quarterback given his weaknesses, but then why are you spending
58:20a third round pick on this guy and then not giving him a chance to be part of the competition?
58:27It's just weird to me. Yeah. The other thing about the way they've handled the quarterback position over the last five years,
58:34even separate from Watson, it makes sense. We talked about this last week, but as much heat as they get just for
58:41the Watson trade, they deserve equal amounts of heat for everything they've done since then, not just financially with Watson.
58:48But like you said, Gabriel was overdrafted. People were shocked.
58:51People don't get that. When he did the third round, everybody was like, wait, no one thought that made sense.
58:58What? And then they took Sanders in the fifth, which again, it's like, why are you stockpiling?
59:04You're not in a position to be stockpiling low.
59:07It didn't make sense. And yeah, I watched his start.
59:10He's hurt. So it's a back injury, I believe, right?
59:13Sure, it's a back injury. Yeah, right. Does it?
59:16Right. Yeah. And he looked a lot like he did in the preseason last year.
59:21So because I was there in Cleveland for that start, he looked a lot sharper than standards in the preseason, which is
59:28to say he threw the ball super quickly. There was a willingness to throw over the middle of the field.
59:35Limitations, to be sure, in terms of athleticism and arm talent.
59:39But he looked like a classic point guard backup type quarterback.
59:42And that's what he looked like this week. It's interesting because when I look at the brows and the way they've handled
59:50their quarterbacks and Watson being the starter and Sanders and Gabriel, I wonder what Todd Munkin actually thinks.
59:55it's so hard to parse out which of all of these decisions are his versus the organization, both GM and ownership.
60:02It's just very confusing because of all of the mitigating factors.
60:06But I do wonder when he takes a step back and he looks at the three of them, which one he thinks
60:13he can actually call a functional offense with. Probably none, right?
60:17Let's be honest. But I do wonder if there isn't a part of him that thinks like, I can make it work with Gabriel.
60:25Ball's out quick. I can do something with him.
60:28I don't think there is a desire among a lot of us to blame bad decisions in Cleveland on ownership because we
60:35like Todd Munkin and we like Andrew Berry. And I think Andrew Berry has done a good job with a lot of other positions.
60:43He's a good guy and he's an analytics guy like me.
60:47It's like you don't want him. Like I don't know whether he's the one who's made the bad decisions about the quarterback
60:54position, but I do feel like on the outside a lot of us kind of are stretching for ways to blame this on ownership.
61:02Totally agree. When we just don't really, there's not necessarily any evidence that it's ownership's decision either.
61:07I don't know where the decision is. Andrew Berry's been there forever.
61:11He got extended. He's collecting checks. This idea that he's somehow immune from the quarterback decision making in Cleveland is insane to me and borderline offensive.
61:20So I agree with you. All right. Well, that's it for now.
61:24So I imagine this Falcons decision will come in maybe by the time you're listening to this.
61:30I think generally my feeling is, I mean, maybe they'll shock us and they'll say if Penix is it, that's like a
61:37shock just in terms of like how little he's played.
61:40Maybe they need to wait a few days to see if Penix is healthy enough.
61:45That's what I'm wondering if they push this as far as they can for that reason.
61:50Raiders seems like a done deal. But yeah, I do think I feel comfortable saying we're going to see both two and Penix at some point this season.
62:00So we shall see. So as a reminder, folks, please check out FTN fantasy.com.
62:04Great stats. Truly love my stats membership there. Advanced stats membership, but also check out the FTN Almanac.
62:10It is always a great resource. That blurb is me telling the truth.
62:14I meant it. So go check that out. And I will be back later this week to do the team draft with Michael Jr.
62:22who has been absolutely smoking me now for the last few years.
62:26So I really need to lean on this FTN Almanac.
62:30Okay, hopefully Mike doesn't listen to this. What's one team?
62:33So the team draft the way it works, Aaron, is we're drafting based purely on wins and then playoff you get bonuses
62:40for picking playoff teams in Super Bowl. What is one team, like a value team, you think I should try to grab?
62:48I mean, the team that I'm riding is Houston.
62:50I'm really big on Houston. They're my AFC pick.
62:53I think their offense can be above average. And when you put an above average offense, even if it's 12th, with that
63:01defense, that's the best team in the AFC. All right, I'll try to get Houston.
63:06We'll see. Okay, I'll see you guys later this week.
63:09Thank you as always to Kirsten Sebecki, Owen Saylor, Jack Foster, and Dr.
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