Murray Up and Wait: NFC North Preview
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
1 hr 24 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Aug 12, 2026
Published
Wed, August 12, 2026
19
Player insights
17
Players mentioned
Topics
Caleb WilliamsColston LovelandAaron JonesAmon-Ra St. BrownCole KmetJ.J. McCarthyJahmyr GibbsJared GoffJordan AddisonJordan LoveJosh JacobsJustin JeffersonKyler MurrayLuther Burden
Player analysis
Player insights
Aaron Jones
PositiveUsage11:33
Aaron Jones is expected to be a dynamic part of the Vikings' backfield. Carmen Batali notes that his presence, combined with the team's focus on multiple-back sets and the addition of Frank Smith to oversee the run game, could lead to a more effective rushing attack.
Insight pageAmon-Ra St. Brown
PositiveProjection31:16
Mina Kimes identifies Amon-Ra St. Brown as a key explosive receiver for the Lions, suggesting the team should lean into their passing attack.
Insight pageCaleb Williams
PositiveRole47:22
Caleb Williams has shown significant growth in his second year, displaying improved decisiveness, communication, and ability to read coverages compared to his 'horrendous' rookie training camp experience.
Insight pageNegativeProjection49:21
Caleb Williams excels at difficult plays—ranking third in explosive plays and QBR under pressure—but struggles with down-to-down accuracy and short-throw consistency, where he ranked 32nd in off-target rate.
Insight pageCole Kmet
NegativeDepth Chart55:18
Cole Kmet remains a part of the Bears' tight end room, which now includes rookie Sam Rauch, allowing the team to utilize multiple tight end sets.
Insight pageColston Loveland
PositiveUsage52:18
Colston Loveland emerged as a top downfield threat, ranking second in yards among tight ends from week 10 through the postseason. His usage evolved significantly, with his alignment in the slot and out wide increasing from 9% to 26% in the second half of the season.
Insight pagePositiveRole54:48
Colston Loveland is viewed as the key to the Bears' offense, with the expectation that he will finish as the team's top receiver due to his versatility as both a receiving threat and a willing blocker.
Insight pageJ.J. McCarthy
NegativeDepth Chart5:34
JJ McCarthy lost the quarterback competition to Kyler Murray. Carmen Batali notes that this outcome does not bode well for his immediate trade value or role, and the team is moving forward with Murray as the primary focus.
Insight pageJahmyr Gibbs
PositiveUsage30:49
Mina Kimes notes that Jahmyr Gibbs is significantly more effective running out of 11 personnel (49% success rate) compared to 12 personnel (36% success rate).
Insight pageJared Goff
PositiveProjection27:44
Mina Kimes credits Jared Goff for keeping the Lions' offense afloat despite significant offensive line injuries and pressure issues last season.
Insight pageJordan Addison
PositiveUsage11:54
Jordan Addison is expected to be a primary target for Kyler Murray. Along with Justin Jefferson, Addison is identified as a key receiver who can win downfield, which aligns with the team's goal of pushing the ball vertically.
Insight pageJordan Love
PositiveProjection73:07
Jordan Love is considered a top-10 quarterback, showing high efficiency on third-and-long situations and non-play-action passing, proving he does not need to be 'babied' by the offensive scheme.
Insight pageJosh Jacobs
NegativeUsage68:28
There are concerns regarding Josh Jacobs' efficiency and potential over-utilization in the Packers' backfield, with questions about whether his performance dip was due to his own play or the offensive line's struggles.
Insight pageJustin Jefferson
PositiveProjection11:54
Justin Jefferson remains the focal point of the Vikings' passing attack. Mina Kimes and Carmen Batali highlight him as arguably the best receiver in the league, and his ability to win downfield is expected to be a key component of the offense under Kyler Murray.
Insight pageKyler Murray
PositiveRole1:57
Kyler Murray has been named the starting quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings. Mina Kimes and Carmen Batali note that while there were concerns about his fit in Kevin O'Connell's offense, Murray's athleticism and ability to push the ball downfield in training camp suggest he can be a dynamic playmaker. The team's decision to name him the starter early is viewed as a positive move to build continuity.
Insight pageLuther Burden
NegativeInjury48:34
Luther Burden is currently dealing with an injury, but he is expected to return soon and has shown increased confidence after having a year in the system.
Insight pageMarShawn Lloyd
PositiveInjury65:35
Marshawn Lloyd is finally healthy and expected to contribute to the Packers' backfield, providing a necessary alternative to the team's other running back options.
Insight pageRome Odunze
PositiveBreakout52:09
After an injury-plagued rookie season, there is hope that Rome Odunze can live up to his draft status if he remains healthy in his second year.
Insight pageTucker Kraft
PositiveBreakout78:36
Tucker Kraft is poised for a major role, with metrics showing his impact on the Packers' offense is comparable to Micah Parsons' defensive influence; the team's EPA per play and success rate drop significantly when he is off the field.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
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0:26Welcome back to the Mina Kimes Show featuring Lenny, only NFL podcast.
0:30One of the hosts wants to take a bite out of CJ Ham.
0:34That's Lenny. I'm Mina Kimes. Carmen Batali. You didn't change your name, right?
0:38You just got married. Legally, it's changed. But no, professionally, no, we're sticking with Carmen Batali.
0:43Carmen Batali is here again to help me preview the NFC North.
0:47So excited, not just because you're here, but you're here.
0:50This is a division that is near and dear to your heart.
0:54You are very familiar with all these teams, but because we've got news just in the brink of time.
1:00Literally, I was pushing this division and the AFC North back, back, back.
1:04Yeah. Because of the quarterback competitions. Yes. And I was convinced I have the Viking stuff.
1:09I had ready to go. I was ready to talk about both quarterbacks.
1:13And then literally an hour before we started taping, it was reported announced.
1:17Kyler Murray will be the quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings.
1:20The football gods must love you. Oh, what a blessing.
1:24So I figured we would start with the Vikings since it's easy and maybe we can talk a little bit about how
1:31we got here, what it means, the offense. It's been, I've been following the Vikings beat reporters accounts of practice scrimmages so closely.
1:38Same. Same. Same. And to put, I guess my understand read on it after talking to some of them is that kind
1:45of over the course of the last few weeks, it looked like Kyler clearly had the lead.
1:50And then there was a scrimmage, I believe. Yeah, this past weekend.
1:54God, it wasn't so great. So then there was a question, maybe this will drag out a little bit and maybe it'll go into the preseason.
2:02Not that the reporters thought that I just think from the outside.
2:06But no, the Vikings decided to call it early.
2:09So let's just start there before we get into what this means for the offense, for the team.
2:14Obviously when they traded for Kyler or not traded for him, just signed him for nothing.
2:19I was a big fan of the move because it was so low cost, low risk.
2:24And because, you know, he has been at minimum an average quarterback, which is obviously a vast improvement.
2:30What do you make of this? And also like as a reporter, what do you make of them announcing it now?
2:37Because I was a little surprised. I know. I, I thought that like the decision should come sooner rather than later.
2:43And actually I was on the Irish NFL show last week talking about how I think they would benefit from just making
2:50this decision early and, and making sure that Kyler knows he's the guy going forward.
2:55And the team knows that he's the guy going forward because even coming out of camp, like all the players were insisting
3:02that this was still a competition and that they didn't know which way it was going and this, that, the other.
3:08And you want as much continuity and as many reps as possible with the guy that you're going to carry into the season as the starter.
3:16So I think that there's really nothing to be gained from, I guess, the outside noise of like, is this happening?
3:23I think maybe there was stuff to be gained from JJ McCarthy's camp and that like, if he like really took this
3:30down to the wire, that maybe that there was something salvageable there.
3:34But at the end of the day, him losing this quarterback battle to Kyler Murray doesn't really bode well for kind of his trade ability.
3:42And I don't know that that's going to happen anytime soon.
3:45And I don't think that that's the feeling out of Minnesota either.
3:49So doing it now, I think makes a lot of sense.
3:52And I'm glad that they did because now we can get rid of that whole narrative and just focus on who this
3:59team is moving forward with Kyler Murray. And you kind of alluded to it.
4:04If he's even average, like if we get the 2024 Kyler Murray that I think was 14th in EPA per play, this team can be fine.
4:12Like this team could not only be fine, this team could potentially win the division.
4:17Like I think I'm, I think I've gotten there as far as after like rewatching them and like that defense was so
4:23vastly underrated last year because of all of the offense.
4:27Third in DVOA. Third in DVOA last year. Yeah, no, I mean, there's 2024 is a great earmark for if Kyler is anything like that.
4:34Yeah. Um, he was 10th in QBR 10th in completion percentage over expected seventh and success rate.
4:40He he's had such an odd career in Arizona because you know, he was 20, 20, 2021.
4:45He looks so great. And then there were some pretty brutal injuries that affected him.
4:502024 looked like a bounce back season with drew bet.
4:53Petsing, you know, I mentioned some of the numbers and then 2025 was a step back both from a performance and an injury perspective.
5:01But, um, you know, again, like average is I think it completely realistic goal.
5:05I think it's gonna be interesting to see what the offense actually looks like.
5:09And I think that's where giving him more reps or, or naming him the starter early is the right move because from
5:16what I've gathered too, from reading, like when he's not been great in camp, it is felt a little bit like still
5:23they're feeling things out and he's still not entirely comfortable in the offense.
5:27So I think it's probably something that Kevin O'Connell is going to want to devote as much time as possible to it.
5:34And the offense is going to be fascinating, right?
5:37Like, so when the signing happened, Carmen, there was a lot of talk about the quote unquote poor fit or the awkward fit.
5:44Maybe it's a better way to put it. Like Kevin O'Connell wants his quarterbacks under center, tacking the middle of the field, um, playing on time.
5:52And there's this right. Kyler has a reputation. So some of it is reputational.
5:57Some of it is accurate. Doesn't really throw a lot over the middle of the field, primarily in the gun.
6:03Right. And he has thrived in offenses where they're spreading things out.
6:07Do you feel that that reputation or rather perception is fair?
6:10Do you think that actually he is a good fit for this offense or conversely, do you think the offense has to evolve to accommodate him?
6:18I mean, I think that with any quarterback, you're going to have to have some evolution.
6:24And I believe Kevin O'Connell understands that. And that's, you could see it even last year when he was trying to make
6:30JJ McCarthy work just in the way that he pared down the offense.
6:35In fact, as the season got later, which is kind of when JJ McCarthy, you saw some, maybe, I don't know, serviceable
6:41quarterback play out of JJ McCarthy at that point.
6:44But I do think that there is, there is a fit within this offense with Kyler's athleticism and being able to kind of tilt defenses in that way.
6:53And the, the run game is just, it's like with Jordan Mason and with Aaron Jones, what he has left.
6:59I think that that can be pretty dynamic in the backfield.
7:03And I think that's can be harnessed. And then on top of that, I don't think we're talking enough about the receiver
7:10core that Kyler Murray is now going to have at his disposal.
7:14It not, doesn't just include Justin Jefferson, who is arguably the best receiver in the league, but it's also Jawan Jennings is
7:20now part of this and Jordan Addison. So for my money, those, those top three receivers, you're going to have to dare
7:27Kyler Murray to kind of push the ball down the field.
7:31Right. And, and I, it's so far in training camp from everything I've seen, he was the one pushing the ball down the field.
7:38Whereas Kyler Murray was kind of taking more of those check or JJ McCarthy was taking more of those check downs.
7:45Or Kyler was pushing the ball down the field more Kyler.
7:48Yeah. Did I say JJ? No, you know, it's, it's just, you know, there, first of all, there's like three JJ's on the scene.
7:56There's so many JJ's and JJ McCarthy and Jawan Jennings.
7:59So Kyler, you saw in training camp was, it felt like was taking more risk.
8:04Was taking more risk with the ball was pushing the ball down the field.
8:08And whereas JJ McCarthy had the higher completion percentage, but he was kind of throwing all the underneath stuff and kind of
8:15maybe, I don't know if he was trying to make it look like he was doing well and, and maybe it wasn't, but it was Kyler Murray.
8:24That was kind of pushing the ball down the field.
8:27And I think you're going to need him to do that.
8:30And I think he's willing to do that. I think that is such a fascinating question this season because Kyler Murray, like
8:37the mystery of where Kyler Murray's deep ball went is a great like chicken or egg question.
8:42Yes, sir. Because so Kyler Murray early in his career, amazing deep, but you think about these plays outside of some outside
8:49of structure and launching bombs downfield to Deandre Hopkins and company.
8:53And then it kind of went away, right? And both the attempts and then also his success throwing downfield.
8:59So on one hand, you can say, well, maybe some of it was his injuries, not being entirely comfortable, and maybe this is who he is.
9:07But then on the other hand, and this is where the chicken and egg comes in, you can say, well, the Arizona offensive line disintegrated.
9:15They didn't have great wide receivers. It started flowing through Trey McBride at tight end became the focal point of the offense.
9:22Marvin Harrison Jr. That never really clicked for whatever reason.
9:25So now you kind of are putting him in a control situation where you have an amazing group of wide receivers who
9:32can win downfield, Addison Jefferson in particular. And then, you know, what should be at least a competent offensive line.
9:38I know the interior has questions and but if Darisaw is healthy, you know, there's still that's and what Kyler had.
9:45So it's kind of like we're going to find out, right?
9:48Like, you know what I mean? Like, okay, was the deep ball disappearing because of situation?
9:53And so it also was Drew Petsing's offense or was it Kyler?
9:57Well, we'll see, I guess. But I think you're right to point out that sort of to me where the ceiling on
10:04this lies of an offense is like, I think the floor has been lifted a great deal.
10:09But if it's going to hit that ceiling with Kyler, he has to be able to throw the ball downfield the way he did early in his career.
10:18He does. And you hope that this offensive line is going to give him the chance to do that because that was
10:25another part of the issue with this Minnesota offense last year was 17 different offensive line combinations.
10:30Yeah. And they because of the Darisaw injury and then later the Brian O'Neal injury, they did just extend Brian O'Neal.
10:37So I have to think that that reading between the lines, that's a vote of confidence in his health.
10:43And then if Darisaw can stay, stay healthy, then you really do give Kyler Murray a shot here to be able to,
10:50you know, hold that ball, let those plays develop and get the ball down the field to one of these great receivers.
10:57And then you have kind of the underneath option in TJ Hawkinson, who's another year removed from his injury.
11:03So you hope that he can kind of be that safety blanket underneath for Kyler.
11:07But I really, I think that this offense can be extremely dynamic and you can kind of harness Kyler Murray's skill set
11:14and his athleticism and maybe again, just kind of pushing him to push the ball down the field a little bit more.
11:21And it could be very dynamic. The athleticism brings me to something you also mentioned, which is the run game.
11:28And I think this might be the thing I'm actually weirdly most intrigued by in Minnesota because I don't think I've even
11:34I've talked about this, but one of the hirings that flew under the radar a little bit was adding Frank Smith from Miami.
11:42And I've talked about how, you know, his title is assistant head coach.
11:46But he, as I understand from asking around, is basically in charge of the run game.
11:51So the Minnesota run game has legitimately improved in during Kevin O'Connell's tenure.
11:55So it's still not like one of the best in football, but it has crept to kind of just outside that top 10.
12:02I think the thought here is everybody wants a piece of this Miami run game.
12:07Literally, like every coach, everyone's talking about it. So let's bring in, you know, Frank Smith from Miami.
12:12We work closely with Mike McDaniel. And also, I think this it could hypothetically solve solve, but help blend those.
12:19Kyler with the you know, Kyler who's more of a gun, maybe pistol quarterback get him involved in the run game because
12:26the Miami run game for those who didn't watch it closely.
12:29all the crazy motions and formations and personnel groupings and whatnot were part of what made it so effective.
12:35But that was a run game out of the gun and pistol, right?
12:39So now you bring that over, and now you have a quarterback who's actually a threat to run way more than Tua Tagovailoa was in Miami.
12:47I'm kind of intrigued by the potential. They also drafted Max Bredesen, who's going to play fullback for them out of Michigan.
12:54Sorry, C.J. Hamm. Josh Oliver is a very good blocking tight end.
12:58There's a lot of components here, I think, to what could potentially be a really interesting rushing attack.
13:04I think it flies under the radar, too, just how often Kevin O'Connell does like to utilize multiple back sets.
13:10They were top 10 in 21 usage last year, and so that kind of lends itself to maybe a running back by committee sort of situation.
13:18But also, I think more than that, it incorporates the fullback, which is music to my ears.
13:24I love when we get fullbacks involved because, again, you're talking about that Miami offense.
13:28You're talking about San Francisco and what they do out of their multiple back sets.
13:33And I think that that's something that can, again, harness Kyler Murray's skill set and just make this offense the most dynamic.
13:40And that marrying both of these, like this downfield passing attack with potentially this run game where you don't know where the
13:47ball's going or if Kyler Murray is keeping it himself or any of that kind of stuff when you have multiple backs on the field.
13:55I mean, that to me can help Kyler Murray, too, for that matter and really make this offense just pretty potent.
14:01Like I said, I just keep finding reasons to believe in the Minnesota Vikings.
14:06I mean, the potential, I think, which we've outlined here is exciting.
14:09But we should also hit the downside here, right?
14:12So, one, I think while I do think maybe the scheme fit thing can be a little overplayed because, you know, in
14:192024, Kyler did play under center a lot with Drew Petsing.
14:23You know, he is not a quarterback who's going to throw a lot over the middle of the field.
14:29That's just not. I mean, a lot of that has to do with his size, right?
14:34So, there could be a world in which it just doesn't click with him and Kevin O'Connell.
14:39There could be a world in which he gets hurt again.
14:42Kyler Murray's had a lot of injuries, which might be another reason why they hang on to J.J.
14:48McCarthy, right? And then I think the offensive line, you could see the interior struggling.
14:53And, you know, Kyler maybe struggling with pressure and particularly interior pressure.
14:57So, there's definitely a lot of potential downside scenarios here, right?
15:00Like, we're going back to 2024. You know, last year, Kyler was not.
15:04It's funny because there's this perception that, like, Jacoby came in and the offense was so much better, which is not really true over the course of it.
15:13Just he started out hot. Ultimately, they were both pretty bad.
15:16But, you know, there's a world in which instead of getting average quarterback play from Kyler Murray, average is actually the past.
15:23And the new normal is in the, you know, 20 to 25 range.
15:27Totally possible. Yeah, I think so too. And that's the biggest thing I look at for this offense and if it's going to work is that offensive line.
15:36And then the interior is the biggest question mark, right?
15:39And then you have the center quarterback exchange where it's not like Kyler Murray is Jared Goff where he can kind of withstand, like, any sort of center.
15:48You want the center to take as much off Kyler Murray's plate as possible is what I'm getting at.
15:54And that I don't know is going to be the case in Minnesota.
15:58So I'm, yeah, with Brendel. So it's one of those things where I, if everything goes right, and this is kind of
16:05an overarching theme, I feel like for the division overall, like as I was going through all of this, where it's like,
16:12if everything goes right and exactly according to plan, great.
16:15This could work. But if there's any sort of adversity or if there's an over, if there's an influx of injury or
16:22whatever, like none of these teams have these contingency plans that I'm overly thrilled with.
16:27Other than, I guess, the Minnesota Vikings and just being able to rely on this defense to will you to nine games,
16:34which is what they did last year. Let's talk about the defense.
16:37So they made my top 10 defenses pod. I think I had them six.
16:42It's funny though, when I was doing that, when I took a step back and looked at some of the changes in
16:49the depth chart, I felt like a little bit more nervous about the personnel and some of the changes.
16:55But then I keep going back to it's Brian.
16:58I think Brian Flores has earned the like benefit of the doubt on defense at this point.
17:03Do you think that's enough? Or do you, is there anything about this defensive depth chart that concerns you?
17:09I mean, yeah, of course there's things about this defensive depth chart that concern me.
17:14But when you get rid of Javon Hargrave and you no longer have John Allen and like so much of what made
17:21you so stout up front is no longer there.
17:23That's scary to me. And then to pass that off to a rookie who has been dealing with foot issues a lot
17:30of his career for the last few years in Caleb Banks.
17:34I mean, Caleb Banks is an absolute monster and watching his Florida tape when he was healthy was amazing.
17:40And he was like the most polarizing prospect I think I watched in this draft class because I was like, oh my God, when he's good, he's insane.
17:49And he is exactly what Brian Flores wants in the front of that unit.
17:53But can he stay healthy? And that's been the biggest question mark.
17:57Because if he's not, you don't have a whole lot else that can really get that push up front.
18:03Now, I mean, can you rely on maybe your secondary, your linebacker level or like Andrew Van Ginkle?
18:08They're priming Andrew Van Ginkle 2.0 and Jake Goldegg because he's gotten snaps at inside linebacker, outside backer, all of those things.
18:15So that makes me excited. And going back and watching this defense, like the best way I can describe them and Brian
18:22Flores in general is like they are just so blissfully unaware that they have any sort of limitations.
18:28Like the things that they do, the things that they ask their guys to do, the things that Brian Flores asks his guys to do.
18:36I don't know, like as a quarterback, if you're sitting back there and you're trying to read even post-snap, it's impossible.
18:42There's so much movement pre-snap. None of these guys are necessarily set.
18:46You have, again, they have no qualms with making Harrison Smith start on the line of scrimmage and then go cover a deep half.
18:54And it's like, if you know that these guys...
18:56I know. Like if you have no fear, if you are not aware of your limitations at all, like how do you deal with that?
19:04I think the reason is an interesting question, which is...
19:07So, you know, I've talked a lot with Mike and Steve as if you listen to this podcast, you know, like they
19:14are extreme outliers in pretty much everything. They play a ton of base defense.
19:19They rush five and six at the highest rates in the NFL.
19:23They blitz on early downs. They play split safety behind the blitz.
19:26They're constantly... Carmen alluded to this constantly. Second, third level defenders on the line of scrimmage, et cetera, et cetera.
19:33Dropping, sometimes going. It's pure chaos, right? Yeah. I think the interesting question that I'm still pondering is like who is essential to that chaos?
19:40If you take out Harrison Smith, for example, can Josh Metellus still be your jack of all trades, does a million things?
19:47If you don't have Jonathan Grenard anymore, are you as comfortable with, you know, the rest of your past?
19:53I... It's just... They seem to be able to survive everything, but I do like...
19:58I will say, and I think this is very important to the chaos in the formation, the...
20:03How they do it all. I do like that they kept their backers.
20:07They brought Eric Wilson back and Blake Cashman has been great for them.
20:12You talked about adding Golday, who's kind of more of the Van Ginkle hybrid role.
20:16But I do think that if they had lost the linebackers, I'd be a little bit more worried about their ability to pull it all off.
20:24Same. And I appreciate... I think that level... You need...
20:28You need guys in the middle that are directing this traffic.
20:31Like, you just do because it's just absolutely... It's absolute chaos, but like in the best way and it's completely intentional and on purpose.
20:39So I appreciated that too. And like guys like Ivan Pace Jr., like he came out the gate just like really understanding this defense.
20:46And I just... There's so much versatility within this defense that I think everybody is cross-trained at every different position that they
20:53possibly could play, which is I guess all of them.
20:56And the one thing about last year that was especially important to me or like it stuck out to me was we...
21:03It's no secret that they blitz at the highest rate and they do all those things that you mentioned before and that
21:10they've been doing that for the last few years.
21:13But this year, I feel like you really got the blitz to pressure like translation.
21:18You really got it to translate this year because so often for the first couple of years under Brian Flores, sure, they
21:25were blitzing at the highest rate in the league, but they were like fifth, seventh in pressure rate.
21:30And that's no longer the case. Like that wasn't the case last year.
21:34Like that pressure was translating or that blitz was translating.
21:37And so I really... Like they figured something out in that regard and keeping those guys in the middle of the field
21:44in particular to kind of direct all of this when it does look like such chaos I think was vital and it
21:51makes me feel a lot better about it even if I'm a little concerned about probably the front.
21:57I don't think Josh Mateles is necessarily at Harrison Smith level, but I do think that he's a really great safety that people are underrating.
22:05So I... And then it does. It comes back to Brian Flores just being an absolute madman and also like tinkering every year with what he does.
22:13Right. Maybe there'll be new twists. I mean, yeah.
22:16Like I don't think it's not going to be exactly the same if Harrison Smith isn't there.
22:21I think we might see a little bit more nickel, a little bit less time.
22:26The cornerback room, they added... You know, they've had a lot of underrated sign...
22:31Like Isaiah Rogers was really good for them. But...
22:33Pierre was a nice little under the radar signing.
22:36Byron Murphy's been awesome for them. So maybe it's like a tweak.
22:40You get a little bit more nickel. Maybe... You know what I mean?
22:44Like there'll be... I think... As far as... So I expect them to once again be a top 10 unit, as I said.
22:51But as far as can they overcome some of the losses naturally and veterans leaving...
22:56Young players are going to have to step up.
22:59Right? Dallas Turner, who I talked about on the NFC Next Factors.
23:03They're betting on him to become Jonathan Grenard 2.0.
23:05That's the only reason that you could afford to get rid of Jonathan Grenard.
23:10I think. As soon as they did that, my first thought was like, oh, Dallas Turner must be real...
23:16They must really have a lot of confidence that he's going to take that leap.
23:21And actually, I was last... It wasn't this past summer, but the last summer.
23:25I was with both Jonathan Grenard and Dallas Turner at a pass rush summit in Arizona.
23:30And the way that they were working together and how much...
23:33I talked to Dallas about how much it means to have Jonathan Grenard kind of alongside him and be able to work
23:40with him and learn from him and all of that kind of stuff.
23:44So he's learned a lot from Jonathan Grenard himself to the point where now it sounds like the Vikings are like, yeah, all right.
23:52Well, the student has become the master. The young grasshopper has grown up.
23:56And you're like, all right, I hope so. He was productive down the stretch last year.
24:01Started racking up sacks. Went back and watched all of them for the NFC X-Factors pod.
24:06Some of the production, you know, was a little bit matchup based.
24:10And he definitely has a ton of juice and it's like very visible.
24:14But I do think still, you know, hasn't quite tapped into his full potential as a pass rusher.
24:20So, but that's a big, that's a big pivot point is Caleb Banks going to be healthy is a big pivot point
24:27because like you said, if he's healthy, he has the potential to be the most disruptive player in the draft.
24:33Like truly. They just don't make guys that size who move like he does.
24:37Who move like that. Who move like Clarence Campbell, you know, but he's got to stay healthy.
24:43And then whatever happens at safety, if it's Jacoby Thomas or Jay Ward or whatever, you know, there's just, there's a little
24:49bit of a youth movement going on in multiple positions.
24:53But I think at this point, Brian Flores has earned the benefit of the doubt and has demonstrated the ability to compensate
25:00for weaknesses, you know, at all three levels. So, you know, and hopefully without having, if they don't have bottom of the
25:06league quarterback play, get better field position, things like that.
25:10So one of the more intriguing teams in football, certainly the Minnesota Vikings.
25:14Um, let's do the, let's do the Lions next.
25:17Lions. The poor Lions. Every time I start talking myself, I would, first of all, full disclosure, we're going to rank the teams at the end.
25:25I did not rank them beforehand. I wrote down, let's talk this out.
25:29Yeah. Okay. Yeah, no, a hundred percent. It's absolutely inscrutable.
25:32You've got one team with a great defense and question marks on offense.
25:36And then you have three teams with, I think, great offenses and massive question marks on defense.
25:41It's like, uh, so one of those teams is the Lions.
25:45So the Lions were in the top 10 offenses.
25:48Uh, the aforementioned Drew Petsing, is there out there?
25:50Let's start there. What do you, cause it's so funny, dude.
25:54Cause like, I think we think of the Lions offense last year and we're like, that was what a downfall.
26:00They really missed Ben Johnson. And then you look at the numbers and they were like top.
26:06Yes. Seven and everything. So that was honestly, I, I, I fell victim to that and like, I just, I didn't really,
26:12I thought that there was a huge drop off last year.
26:16And then I go through that. I'm like, wait, really?
26:19Every other stat that I came up with, I was just like, wait, really?
26:23Like they were, I, I'm very interested to see what Drew Petsing kind of brings to, to this offense.
26:29And especially now where your offensive line is so in flux, right?
26:33And that's, it's not just because of the Cade Mays injury, but you have Panay Sewell going from, he's trying to trist
26:40and whirfs this whole thing going from right to left, which is hard.
26:44Like, I'm tired of these guys making it look easy and like making me know, he has played it.
26:50So there's experience there. Yeah, but that is a big change.
26:54And then it's also a big change because, you know, you're like, okay, Tate Rallage on the right side, you know, year
27:01two, but he gets to play next to Panay Sewell.
27:04Psych, now he's going to play next to a rookie.
27:07Now he's great. The youth, you know, and now a lot of questions.
27:11Mahogany had a, a bit of a step back year.
27:14You mentioned Cade Mays, the center getting hurt. I mean, this is, the offensive team.
27:19We just think of like the lions and we're like, of course the line is good.
27:24Sometimes there's teams where the reputation of a position group or a unit sort of continues beyond the performance.
27:30It was like this in Seattle with the defense for like, you know, years where we're like, they're an elite defense.
27:36Like, no, they don't actually really bad of the peak Carol era.
27:40But anyways, the offensive line last year, I mean, the numbers are atrocious.
27:44Jared Goff went from, uh, having the 27th lowest quick pressure rate to like seventh in the league.
27:50Um, the adjusted lines, yard yards, adjusted line yards, probably which is FTNs like run blocking metric.
27:55They went from first in 2023, first in 2024 down to 20th last year.
28:00Like it was testament to Goff, honestly, and the skill players that they were able to keep that thing going because, and like, yeah, it's still a question.
28:08I mean, even more like rudimentary than that, like you saw it show up in kind of the step back they took in the run game.
28:17And like, part of that is Ben Johnson's departure, sure.
28:20But also like they had a hundred, just over 120 yards rushing per game.
28:24That was 14th in the league, which is not at all.
28:28Like you went from the Detroit lions being known for the bully ball that they play and, and their commitment to the run.
28:35And basically Ben Johnson just transported that to Chicago now, but, and we'll get to that.
28:40But like the, it, the way that the offensive line, I think 10 different combinations across the season because of all of
28:47these injuries, it really manifested itself in those ways of, Hey, Jared Goff was under a little bit more pressure.
28:53He had to kind of make more things happen with, you know, on the fly and couldn't count on that clean pocket.
29:00But then it also showed up in the run game, which wasn't terrible, but it was absolutely middling for a team that had been known for it.
29:09So that was, and yeah, like I'm, I'm with you where I'm just like, Oh yeah, Detroit has a good offensive line.
29:15Wait, no. Yeah. They're actually good in spite of it.
29:19Kind of right now. Which again, credit to Goff, honestly.
29:22And Gibbs, who just got paid. I, one of the things I think is interesting, Drew Petting coming from Arizona, assumption is they're going to lean.
29:30I mean, the lions love using 12 personnel. Petting was kind of the OG, like, not OG, but like Arizona used 13
29:37personnel, meaning three tight ends at a pretty high rate.
29:40The lions added, they have Tyler Conklin now as the third tight end until Laporte is coming back.
29:46It's big. And Brock Wright, who's a blocker. But, and Dan Pizzuta actually alluded to this when we did our X factors pod.
29:53It's a little bit of an issue, which is the lions are really, really good at passing out of multiple tight end
30:00sets, but actually not that great running. They were last year, second to knee paper of the play passing, which is awesome.
30:0728th running. So Jameer Gibbs, when you kind of partition out the numbers is much better at running the football when they spread things out a little bit.
30:15And also now with Montgomery back, he is going to ostensibly get more, even though they had a check out more run.
30:22So I do wonder, like, you know, Jameer Gibbs is, I mean, I'm in Ross St.
30:27Brad, it's so funny. We're like, Jameer Gibbs is the best player.
30:31We're like, I'm in Ross St. Brad. Yeah, he might have something.
30:35But I do wonder if there's a little bit of hesitation to lean too far into the multiple tight ends thing because
30:42you do want to set up Gibbs himself. So just to his numbers, again, to narrow it down to him, 49% success
30:49rate running out of 11, which is awesome, which is ridiculous.
30:5236 running out of 12, which is not so great.
30:55Yeah. And I mean, it's, do you rob Peter to pay Paul to borrow a coaching term?
31:01And as far as like, you know, you can run 12 personnel because of the guys you have, but then you also,
31:08I mean, like they love Isaac to sloth so much.
31:11And like I had to do, he said, like he's such an explosive little receiver.
31:16And it's just, it's one of those things where you have him and Amon Ross St.
31:21Brown, like lean into that passing attack. And is Joe Petzin going to do that?
31:25And like, especially if you know that Jameer Gibbs can run out of 11 very effectively.
31:30I also think like, and this could have been a symptom just of their, the issues along their offensive line and all
31:37of the kind of injuries that they had, but there was a kind of tendency to then lean on some of that
31:44jumbo personnel to kind of get the running game going a little bit more.
31:49I think they were, they were good at, it was like, I think they like ran at the seventh most in the league or something along those lines.
31:57And they're really, they're really good at that because despite the fact that there was so much and there has been so
32:04much like inconsistency along the offensive line, you still do have kind of a deep group where you can call on an
32:11extra blocker and extra lineman to get out there and kind of kickstart this thing.
32:16And that's kind of, I mean, maybe that was also Dan Campbell's kind of fail safe or pull safe when it came
32:23to, when he took over play calling and all that kind of stuff.
32:27But I mean, I think that there is a way to finagle this with Drew Petsing that you can minimize all of
32:34the question marks you have along the offensive line because of what your skill players bring to this offense and how potent it can be.
32:42And having a veteran quarterback that has seen it all, done it all and has really kept this offense afloat through everything.
32:49Yeah, I mean, Petsing with Jared Goff can, we talked about like the potentially questions around the scheme fit with O'Connell and
32:55Kyler Murray now Petsing goes to a different quarterback, same division.
32:59It should be like a really good match. Like when they made that hire, I know Cardinals fans are ready to kick
33:06him out the door, but like, I was like, that makes sense.
33:10Like his offense is exactly right for Jared Goff.
33:12I don't think they're going to reinvent the wheel.
33:15I know I talked about the person also, but I don't think it'll be that different from what we've seen.
33:22Very high under setter rates, very high play action, very high throwing off in the middle of the field.
33:28Should be fine. I think the offensive line is the only thing for me that's like the difference between is this the
33:3410th best offense versus a top five offense will go where that, you know, the right side of the offensive line goes.
33:41I'm optimistic. The defense, I have serious, I mean, I'm going to say this, well, Lions fans, before you get mad, I'm
33:48going to say this about every remaining team. That's true.
33:51That's true. That's the story of these other teams, of the, of these teams.
33:56And a lot of it has to do with injury, which is also the case for the Lions who can't field a working secondary to save their lives.
34:05I know for all the attention the Niners get for their injuries, it just feels like this Niners, not Lions defense hasn't been healthy for years.
34:13Years. Like, so up front, largely the same, another team that plays a ton of base defense.
34:18You have Malcolm Rodriguez, good old friend, as a third linebacker when they do that.
34:23But otherwise, same defensive tackle group, which is good.
34:26See if Tally Williams can take another step. DJ Wanham, the search to find someone who rushed past their opposite Aiden Hutchinson continues.
34:33You have DJ Wanham. They also drafted Derek Moore, who's a very productive pass rusher out of Michigan.
34:39I feel good about the front seven. I do too.
34:42I was just going to say, like, if there's anything I feel okay about defensively, it is, it is the front seven.
34:49And that, like, the numbers back that up even from last year.
34:52Just, like, how they, it was, it was another one of those things where I was looking through some of the stats and I was like, oh, okay.
35:01So, you know, sixth in tackle for loss, percentage, they're tied for fourth in sack rate from last year, ninth in defensive DVOA on the entire season.
35:10But it was just like, their, the doom and gloom of this was the explosive rate that they allowed and the points
35:17that they allowed, which was because of that explosive rate, which was because of the, the back level.
35:22And it's just how much can your front seven really make up for the ability to just throw over top of these guys and, and, and, and score.
35:31So, the back level. Yeah. Woof, woof. Woof, woof.
35:34Um, all right. So, first of all, I know Terry and Arnold was not good last year and, like, so I'm not, like, saying he's some great loss.
35:43However, do you know that, the coaches, the coaches didn't know that they were letting him go.
35:48Really? Yeah. That's what I found out. I was like, oh, like they, there were coaches that found out on Twitter that they were releasing Terry on Arnold.
35:57I did enjoy Kelvin Shepard being like, saying with it, like in a, in a more polite way, Terry Arnold wasn't good last year.
36:04I feel like he was like, I mean, he didn't say it that way.
36:09I don't want to, I don't want to, but he was just like, he wasn't lighting the world on fire.
36:15Um, all right. So, I, I mean, I'm still trying to figure out exactly what the starting composition will be.
36:21I know, uh, DJ Reed returns opposite him. I guess maybe Rakia Sin, who honestly was not that bad, is the leader of the clubhouse.
36:29And is a good fit for the, you know, it's a very press man, heavy defense.
36:34Um, maybe McCreary slides inside. They drafted Keith Abney, the second, and it's Ray Kastraw has been hurt his entire career, his entire career.
36:42Poor guy. Um, safety. Do you know who's starting?
36:45So, uh, Kirby Joseph's injury status remains. Absolutely. It's, which is just such a bummer.
36:49It is. And then Brian Branch, um, actually I got a little bit, I looked up his timeline because they're a little bit more.
36:57I think he's the one who's more likely to return.
37:00Yeah. He tore his Achilles. When was it? December.
37:03Right. So it was late in the season. Yeah.
37:06Um, and I think probably early ish in the season could come back, but like, it's the tough injury.
37:12So you're looking at, we, let's see, I'm looking at the names.
37:15Christian is in, was you, you know, from the box.
37:19Yeah. From the box. Yeah. Chuck Park. I mean, kind of got cross trained.
37:23Christian hasn't got kind of cross trained. I feel like at corner and safety.
37:27So you can kind of make him one of those Swiss army knives on the backside.
37:32Yeah. I mean, Avante Maddox, maybe the interesting thing, Dan Campbell just, he just said it today.
37:38Dan Campbell said it today where, cause everybody has kind of been like, all right, you're talking about how Brian Branch is
37:45on a good timeline and like his rehab's going well and this, that, the other.
37:49And then like when you were talking about Kirby Joseph, it's basically like, I don't know, so then Dan Campbell came out
37:56today and said, he's going through some personal stuff, but his rehab is on track.
38:01And I'm just like, okay, well, what does that mean?
38:04And I even tried to do some digging and I was texting some people and I was just like, is Kirby Joseph going to be okay?
38:12And all I got was like, I hope so.
38:15And I was like, okay. All right. So that it's, it's a huge bummer, but like the way that Dan was talking
38:22about it was like, they absolutely could both return this season and that's what you hope for.
38:27But how do you even stay afloat without those guys?
38:31And again, with like the explosive rate that you allowed last year and that was with them at some point in the season, it's.
38:38I think the optimistic case of the Lions, you score so many points that you're just, you know, playing a lot of run defense.
38:46I'm also going to say that for other teams in this division.
38:49Yeah. It means run defense. I meant opportunities to rush the passer.
38:53And I think that's been a priority for them too.
38:56Like when you look at the way they've approached their front, right?
39:00Um, it seems like there's, they would like to be able to get more pressure with four, maybe blitz a little bit
39:07less, maybe put a little less on us on the corners.
39:11Um, so I guess, okay, I know this has sounded really negative.
39:14Uh, there's part. I mean, Nate Hutchinson is awesome.
39:17I'm still, Lynn McNeil is awesome. Yes. I'm Derek Moore is a fun young player.
39:22I think the linebackers, you know, Jack Campbell is obviously really good.
39:26I think the optimistic case, let's, let's do this.
39:28What is required for things to go right for the lions defense?
39:32Like in your mind, what has to click in this group?
39:36Who's like one player. You're like, if this guy either takes the leap or lives up to his potential or comes out
39:43of nowhere, then I feel good about this unit.
39:45Um, there's a couple. And I do think one, one of the things I wanted to point out just kind of about
39:52this front in general was like, they were tied for six in quarterback pressure rate last year, despite being 12th in blitz rate.
40:00So they are getting pressure with four. And I think you have to continue doing that.
40:05And I feel good about the front seven. The one guy that I factors, I mean, both obviously in the pass rush
40:12because of the way that they can use him, but more in the run game too, is Jack Campbell.
40:17I mean, this is a guy that I talked to Aaron Glenn about when they drafted him at length and all Aaron
40:24Glenn told me like at the time was like, this is our, this, this guy's going to outlast me.
40:30Like this is our guy for 10 years. This is our middle linebacker for 10 years.
40:35And against the run last year, Jack Campbell was excellent.
40:39And so if you can kind of, if you can marry those two and you can get a good pass rush and,
40:45and, and mitigate the run underneath, then if your only weakness is the fact that you have maybe some of these explosives
40:52available four teams, I think that's best case scenario.
40:55Cause like, you're just not going to be able to count on the secondary, but that's nothing new with the lions.
41:02So they've still been serviceable. And this defense has still been decent at times with the buy-in of the front seven.
41:08But I think that needs to be all encompassing against the running on the pass.
41:13Yeah. I've seen some accounts that they'll play more nickel as well.
41:17So a little bit like this is a defensive played a ton of base defense.
41:22So definitely Campbell being the onus, like the onus on him and run defense is really significant.
41:27And he's excellent at it to your point. Yeah.
41:30And like branch has the earlier branch comes back.
41:33Yes. I feel cause he's a really special player.
41:35He really is. So I think, you know, it's kind of like, we'll get to there with Micah and the Packers, but
41:42it's like, if it, so to answer my own question, if either Wanham or Derek Moore, gives you eight plus sacks and
41:49branch comes back before sometime in the first quarter of the season, I think I'll feel okay about some of the weaknesses.
41:56But yeah, it's, it's, it's treading water until branch can come back.
42:00All right. Let's take a quick break, come back and let's do the Chicago bears next.
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44:55All right, we're back. Bears, another team with a sick offense and a very dubious defense in my estimation.
45:01Yeah. Really, I'll be three of these games. Let's start with the good news.
45:05Let's start with the offense. The offense is awesome and fun.
45:09It is. It's just weird. It's a weird thing.
45:11As someone who grew up in Chicago, experiencing fun and interesting and, again, dynamic offense is not something I'm used to.
45:18I want to ask you about a quote I saw from Caleb that we played on NFL Live where he talked about how it's a really great clip.
45:27He talks – it was from, I think, earlier in the offseason.
45:31But he talks about how last season it was like he was kind of treading water trying to understand.
45:37He was drinking through a fire hose. Yeah. Like just so much was on his plate.
45:42The offense was so different. There's so much complexity.
45:44And now – I'm paraphrasing, but he said, now I feel like I can focus on what the defenses are doing and
45:51like reading coverages and understanding disguise and whatnot. So I was wondering if you could speak to like his evolution and like
45:58what you're seeing from him this offseason as someone who's got boots on the ground versus maybe last offseason when he was still learning.
46:06I have to tell you, last season was – last training camp was horrendous.
46:10Like the way – like it was a hard watch every single day.
46:14It was a really hard watch. The procedural penalties were insane.
46:18It was very clear that Caleb Williams didn't really know what he was calling.
46:22He didn't really – like he wasn't even really relaying things correctly.
46:26The communication was horrendous. It's all of the things that could possibly go wrong.
46:30But like I sat there and having watched Ben Johnson kind of make the switch to offensive coordinator in Detroit and how
46:37that was really rocky in the beginning with Jared Goff, I was like not hitting the panic button a lot in a
46:44lot of the ways that the Chicago media was and Chicago fans were.
46:48Rightfully so. Again, it was horrendous looking. But Ben was very transparent throughout that entire process saying, I am overloading him.
46:55I am giving him – I'm not expecting him to succeed right away.
46:59I'm not expecting him to even look good right now.
47:02I'm trying to figure out how much he can handle.
47:05And from there, that's how I'll build my offense.
47:08That's how I'll build my playbook for the season.
47:11That's how I'll build my game plan week in and week out.
47:15And it looked like it. So then this year, flash forward to this year, fast forward to this year, it is night and day.
47:22I mean, I won't say that there aren't procedural penalties here and there and there aren't kind of some missed assignments here
47:29and clearly some routes that aren't run correctly in that – sure.
47:33That's training camp. That's installs. That's whatever. The decisiveness of Caleb Williams is palpable.
47:37The way that he just gets into the huddle and he communicates what he needs to and his – you can see his eyes moving.
47:45You can see his head moving. Like, he knows what he's supposed to do.
47:50And that was night and day from last year.
47:52I think that there's a lot of off-season work that went into this too.
47:57I mean, there were – there were, like, people, like, were walking in on Ben sleeping in the office in April.
48:03And you were just like, you absolute sicko. Like, what?
48:07I mean, compliment. I keep calling Ben a psycho, but, like, in the best way.
48:11So this is an offense that has put in a lot of work in the off-season.
48:16And Colson Loveland was telling us too about how much Caleb Williams, like, was working with the receivers.
48:22He was flying guys out to California to work with them to make sure that the timing was down.
48:28Guys like Luther Burden who – I mean, he's injured right now, but he should be back soon.
48:34We'll see how long he's out. He's not lacking for any sort of confidence at this point now that he has also
48:40been in the system for a year. It's just – you can see how everybody kind of knows what to expect.
48:47That's really exciting. I mean, the Bears – I was looking at penalties recently, and the Bears had so many penalties in
48:54the first half of this – offensive penalties the first half of the season.
48:58And so the Bears and the Jags, right, the two teams with the new play callers, with the quarterbacks, were kind of still acclimating to the new offenses.
49:07Everybody was acclimating. So I think year two with Ben Johnson, this is all really exciting to hear if you're a Bears fan.
49:14It is. As far as, like, you know, where Caleb has to get better, it's – we talked about a lot.
49:21A lot. Yeah. The big stuff, you know, he does the hard stuff really well and the easy stuff not so well.
49:28And that's – and that's reflected in the numbers.
49:31He was tied for the third most explosive plays of any quarterback in football behind only Drake May and Josh Allen.
49:37He was third in QBR under pressure. 20th kept clean.
49:41And he was sixth in QBR versus the Blitz.
49:43But then 32nd in off-target rate on short throws.
49:46It's just like – he did everything. He made, like, all the difficult stuff.
49:51You know, he was able to generate explosives and do really cool things.
49:55And then I think just down-to-down accuracy, we don't need – you don't need to hear me talk about that for the 20 millionth time.
50:03It's, like, pretty obvious. I mean, that's my biggest thing, too, is as someone who was at most of these games and
50:09just – hindsight will let you forgive what you went through watching, like, quarters one through three of these games because of the result.
50:17You know, that they're, like – they had these late quarter – or late game heroics, these fourth quarter heroics.
50:23Then they came back and they won the game and this, that, the other.
50:28But when I tell you a hard watch was quarters one through three, and the numbers back it up, too.
50:34I mean, it's just – it, like – it was so hard because it was so start-stop.
50:39And it was hard on Ben Johnson, too, because he could get into no sort of, like, play-calling rhythm.
50:45And that was the biggest thing where I was like, you need to be able to just move the ball methodically down
50:52the field, do the easy things a little bit better, a little bit more consistently.
50:57I love Ben Johnson's, though, just almost defiant commitment to the run, which is, again, what we saw in Detroit and it
51:04now has carried over into Chicago where even if the run wasn't working, Ben was like, well, I've got no other choice
51:11at this point because Caleb – it's not fourth quarter Caleb yet, so I need to tread water somehow.
51:17And they did. Dominant on the ground. Dominant offensive line.
51:20Dominant, like, yards before contact. Ben, one of the things I really like – I was looking at FDM Fantasy has –
51:27like, where they rank in various go-for-it rates and whatnot.
51:30Yeah. Second in run rate on second in long.
51:33Yeah. And then second in go-for-it rate. So a lot of the reason time they were comfortable running in second long was
51:40him knowing we're using four downs here. It's a very progressive way to, you know, call it offense.
51:45And, yeah, I mean, the run game – you know, there's some changes with the offensive line that I won't get to
51:52in a second because that is a little bit of a concern.
51:56But I do still think that they'll be very good, especially if the passing game is a little bit more efficient.
52:03And as far as the efficiency goes, you talked about Luther Burden, who was phenomenal with the ball in his hands.
52:09Romo Dunze was hurt last year. I think there's hope that maybe if he's a little bit healthier, he can live up to his draft status.
52:17Yeah. And Colston Loveland in the second half of the season slash postseason emerged as one of the best downfield threats as a tight end in football.
52:26I was looking at his splits because, you know, weeks 10 through the – especially as the season went along and then
52:33the postseason, he was massive for them. And a couple things – I mean, the second – again, week 10 through the
52:40divisional round, he was second in yards amongst tight ends behind only Trey McBride and first downs.
52:45He averaged 9.52 air yards per attempt way up from the first half of the season, which would have been generously first
52:52over the course of the entire season. And then one thing that really caught my eye in terms of his usage, Carmen,
52:59in the first half of the season, he was lined up – he was split out wide just 9% of the time.
53:06In the second half of the season, that jumped to 26% of the time as well as he took a jump in the slot.
53:13Yeah. Which is interesting. He's actually, I think, proved to the world that he's a good blocker.
53:19And that was a really cool and important development because of how – In the beginning of the season especially, yes.
53:25When he's attached to the formation. Yes. They're very good at getting defenses to play base and throwing on them.
53:32Yep. But basically, he kind of became their number one wide receiver.
53:35And I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about that in like year two.
53:41I mean, that was all year one for a tight end, which is crazy.
53:45I mean, that's why Ben Johnson wanted him so bad.
53:48I really do think that Colson Loveland is the key to this entire offense for so many different reasons.
53:54And I've detailed it a few times now just why it's so important to have a guy like Colson Loveland who obviously
54:01is a receiving threat but is a willing blocker.
54:04Like his block – he's not an elite blocker yet.
54:07And it's not to say he can't get there.
54:10But Ben Johnson is willing to ISO him against DNs.
54:13And if that's the case, then you have no idea what he's about to do, whether he's attached to the formation or not.
54:20And that really helps you get the defense on his heels.
54:24That's what Ben Johnson wants to do is to be able to stay two, three steps ahead.
54:29That's why Colson Loveland is so incredibly important to this defense or this offense.
54:34And, you know, the age-old thing of like why more teams haven't been in these multiple tight end sets is essentially because
54:40you're pulling perhaps your best receivers off the field in favor of a tight end.
54:45Well, what happens when your tight end is your best receiver?
54:49And that's Colson Loveland. Like I fully think that Colson Loveland is going to end up being this team's top receiver this year.
54:56And I think that Roma Dunze is still going to kind of slot in at number two because Colson Loveland just gives
55:03you so many question marks if you're a defense.
55:06Yeah. And that is what Ben Johnson thrives off of because he loves trotting out the, you know, like the same look
55:12just to do different things out of it. And Colson Loveland is the one that unlocks all of that.
55:18On top of the fact you have Cole Komet, you have Sam Rauch now, and you can run more.
55:24He's a great tight end, the rookie that they drafted out of Stanford.
55:29So this is going to be a bridge. I think we're going to see some.
55:33He likes using, you know, using his head and not just the Stanford education, but like actually engaging block.
55:39Yeah. I mean, lovely. You know, I mentioned he was split out wide, but he was still in line a decent amount.
55:46Absolute weapon off of play action for all the reasons that you mentioned.
55:50I mean, again, like I think about all those corner routes in the postseason, the deep crossers that are available, like he's just really special player.
55:58So yeah, I think to go back to the one concern I probably have, you know, the Braxton Jones old friend at left tackle, Ozzie.
56:06It's a bummer because Ozzie Trapilo, I thought was playing so well.
56:10Well, apparently now he might be coming back. Like before, before training camp's even over, I don't like there was a footnote
56:17in an SI article about how he could be ready sooner than expected.
56:21And then Hogan Johns pressed Ryan Poles about it recently.
56:24And then Ryan Poles was like, yeah, so it turns out it's a better situation than we thought we could like, it's
56:31still on the table that he comes back during training camp.
56:35You're like, what would that would be huge? Because right now I feel very, very bad about the left tackle options.
56:41I mean, not very bad. I actually think that Judrick Wills, if he can play up to his potential for the first
56:48like essentially time that he could like, he was, he wasn't bad in Cleveland.
56:52If we can get like first couple of years, Judrick Wills in Cleveland, maybe that's what I just, I like Braxton a lot, Mina.
57:00I just. He was competent for them. He was injured last year when he lost a job and his, his anchor just, he just can't anchor.
57:08He cannot anchor. He's not built to anchor. I, I feel bad because he, I like, I like him a lot.
57:15I like him a lot. And he was serviceable and you can get by, especially when that person is playing next to
57:22Joe Tooney, like the left tackle gets to play next to Joe Tooney, but it's just protector of the year.
57:28Judrick Wills retired. Yeah. Garrett Bradbury is now the center.
57:31Yeah. I mean, not as good. They drafted Logan Jones too, to see like, you know, if they can develop him, have
57:38that swing guard kind of on the interior too.
57:41Um, all right. So top 10 offense, I believe very excited for all the reasons we described.
57:46And now we do the defense. Do we have to, I was really, uh, the Kobe Bryant injury just took me out.
57:53Okay. I know. I know for those who don't the bears defense.
57:57I talked about this when I talked about the Jags, like, sorry, the bears caught a stray here, but when you took
58:04out turnovers, they were 30 seconds success rate 30th in EPA per play 30th in yards per play.
58:09The reason we always talk about, uh, is there's multiple studies.
58:13Turnovers tend not to repeat year to year. They were the 2024 Packers, the bear 2025 bears defense was the 2024 Packers.
58:20With the turnovers too. It's not just about it's, it's actually less about the forcing of the turnovers and more about like who comes up with the ball.
58:29Cause a turnover is like inherently like chaos and you know, especially like, so the bears recovered a lot of fumble, a
58:36lot of their PBUs turned into picks. It's all stuff that just tends not to repeat year to year, especially by the
58:42way, when, uh, most of the people who got the turnovers are gone, Kevin Byard's gone, you know, uh, Sean Wright, who was like a weird turnover machine.
58:51Um, so the defense, you know, they revamped the safety group.
58:55They drafted Dillafineman, who I thought was a really cool pick for them at Oregon, a very Swiss army knife types player.
59:02And the idea was, okay, now we're going to play him next to Kobe Bryant.
59:06He's a veteran. It was really good in Seattle.
59:09He gets hurt. He's going to miss most of the season.
59:13We don't know. We have no clarity on that.
59:16Maybe from Buffalo steps in, he gets hurt. Uh, then you're like, okay, well the corner group is great.
59:21Oh no. Kyler Gordon's hurt again. Again. Doesn't have working soft tissue.
59:25Apparently it just does not. Of the defense for me, Carmen was that the pass rush was still going to be bad,
59:32but the secondary was good enough to compensate for it.
59:35But now I question whether that premise can happen.
59:38I'm, I'm with you. Exactly. And that was, I, that was all of their off season moves, their draft, like drafting Dylan
59:45Thienemann, all of that told you, telegraphed to you that that's what they were going to bank on.
59:51And now with injuries, I am left like, and I, I mean, I can't imagine Dennis Allen, like it just in his
59:58office, just throwing stuff at the wall, both figuratively and literally.
60:01Um, they're trying to like cross train, like Josh Blackwell is now like cross trained at safety.
60:06Like they're trying to figure out all of these different workarounds for Kobe Bryant being out an indefinite amount of time.
60:13First, we heard eight to 10 weeks. Now we don't know it like they're like Ben Johnson came out.
60:19I was like, I don't know where you guys got that.
60:22We're like, you know exactly where we got that.
60:25Like I don't stop arguing with us. Just let us know what's going on with them.
60:30Um, so yeah, I, I don't have a lot of optimism for the defense other than I just think that the offense
60:37is going to go out there and score 30 to 35 points a game and you might just be able to get away with it.
60:45Um, they signed Devin Bush, who I think was really good last year.
60:49And TJ Edwards was activated just recently. So the linebackers you think could be better about.
60:54I hope opposite Montez sweat. This was like one of the big mysteries of the off season.
61:00It's not really a mystery, but there's a lady reasons, but they didn't add pass rush.
61:05Yeah. Uh, I hope a bet on Austin Booker who at least has flashed for them as a young, uh, the, the young pass rusher.
61:12That's the optimistic kind of take on it is like, oh, we've got Austin Booker, but we've also been having Austin Booker
61:19for the last couple of seasons where you're like waiting for Austin Booker to take that step forward.
61:25My big thing too, was you got rid of Andrew Billings.
61:28You didn't do a whole lot as far as adding to the interior of that line either to make things easier on these, on these edge guys.
61:37Does Dio Dengbo, you know, does he, is he healthy?
61:40Does he factor into this? Like their big signing last year?
61:44He was hurt. He was hurt. Right. So, yeah.
61:46Again, I feel okay. Jalen Johnson's a good corner.
61:49Tyreek Stevenson's been up and down, but like if, so they drafted Malik Muhammad who might play.
61:55Yeah. I think the optimistic case, let's do this again, is that in the second half of the season, Kobe Bryant comes
62:01back and the secondary becomes a strength and the offense is able to put up leads so that they're forcing, you know, opposing offenses to pass.
62:10Otherwise I do, I struggle with this group. Maybe there's a late move to be made to add to the pass rush.
62:17Yeah. It's tough. Kind of running out of guys actually.
62:20So. I like, you know, maybe at the end of training camp when like that whole timeline, that's where you start.
62:26That's where you add something, which they've done before.
62:29Or, I mean, I guess best, best case scenario too, is like Javon Dexter on the interior takes a huge step forward
62:36and becomes a guy that can rush the passer from the middle or whatever.
62:40I just, I, Grady Jarrett is, is getting older and I, I don't know.
62:45I, I really, really, I was so shocked when like.
62:48The bag was still on too. Like that's the other, like, that's why I was so shocked when like they, they got
62:55Dylan Thienemann and then I just kept waiting. I was like, all right, I'm like looking at all the edge guys as they're going.
63:02And I know the draft really, like, it just didn't swing their way.
63:07I feel like cause they wanted a pass rusher, but where they were picking, they're just never worked out and they got
63:13taken before and it just didn't, it didn't work out for them.
63:17But yeah, and Thienemann's a really good player. Like I like the, he's really good for them, but it is tough.
63:24Um, Hey, Montez, what was good last year? First double digit, uh, sack guy for them since 2021, Robert Quinn in 2021.
63:31So the ageless wonder who had 18 and a half sacks.
63:34I think that you're like, like I said, it's basically the same.
63:38I mean, honestly, we're about to do it again shortly.
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64:50Packers. All right. So let's, again, copy-paste here. I feel much better about the offense than the defense.
64:55The Packers, however, have somebody walking through that door in like week six.
64:59Yeah. And that's going to really, and so in some ways I feel like they're actually a little better equipped.
65:06Although, I mean, the Lions already have Aiden Hutchinson.
65:09But I think the Packers have a better secondary right now than Detroit.
65:13Let's start with the offense. Really, some interesting things to discuss here.
65:16So this offense was top 10. It's been top 10 every year with, you know, Matt LaFleur.
65:22Yeah. They let guys walk. So what used to be a like, hey, we have a million receivers and they're all equals and it's, you know.
65:30That's our whole identity. And yeah. It's really number one wide receiver is Matt LaFleur.
65:35Now they're actually, it's a streamlined group. With Watson, who they paid, Matthew Golden, their first round draft pick last year, and Jaden Reid.
65:42Behind them there's, you know, Bo Melton, Sabian Williams.
65:45But Tucker Craft appears to be on track to play week one, which is huge.
65:50Let me talk about him. Questions about Josh Jacobs, potentially a suspension looming, but Marshawn Lloyd, not John Woods, seems to be healthy.
65:57Finally. I know. There's questions about the Packers offensive line, but there's always questions about the Packers offensive line every year.
66:04Jordan Morgan kicks out to left tackle. Zach Bacoboelle, no, not Zach Tom, is stalwart at right tackle.
66:09Yeah. So look, I had them as a top 10 offense.
66:13They just are. Every year they find a way to make it work.
66:17I want to pose a question for you about this Packers offense.
66:21Because again, on one hand, they've been so efficient and they always rank so high in every, both they're efficient and they're explosive.
66:28They're really like a very reliable unit. However, I tried to put myself in the mindset of like during the year when
66:35I, why was I getting frustrated watching them at times?
66:38What did you come up with? I wrote Matt LaFleur.
66:41Do you need to run the football this much?
66:44So, okay. Right. The next to stats tracks this thing called run rate over expectation, which they based on situation, formation, personnel.
66:51It's really good as opposed to just looking at flat run rates because run rates are influenced by game situation.
66:57Yada, yada. Yada, the Packers were first in the league.
67:00They ran the ball based on this 15% more than expected to put that in context.
67:05Baltimore, who we think of as like a running team was 3%.
67:09So then I thought, well, maybe Malik Willis. Let me take out the Malik Willis games even higher.
67:15Well, they were more efficient than explosive, but your quarterback is had a 98 QBR on third and long.
67:21Yeah. He had a, he was second in QBR non play action.
67:24So it's not like you have to baby him.
67:27Right. Right. So I guess that's what I want to posit to you.
67:31Like, I think Malifor is great. I understand also like the run game is very fun.
67:36Like there's run actions are a big part of what they do.
67:40Generally, there's an RPO company, all that, but like maybe a little less, a little less.
67:45Like, what do you think? I know I'm with you, especially when you like, they were four, like they had top 10
67:52and stuff rate to like, like there were, there were times where some games that were just like, they were not like, it was not.
68:00The Eagles get, I mean, the weather would be a, it was not working.
68:04Yes. It was not working. And I'm just like, all right, can we move off of this?
68:10Like, I know I've praised Ben Johnson for like his defiant sense of just like sticking with the run no matter what,
68:17but that's, but that you, and you're really good at it.
68:20B that's kind of like, especially when your quarterback is still developing into your system, you just, you need to give him that safety net.
68:28This is not the case, as you just mentioned with Jordan love and have like this, this passing attack.
68:34So bottom third and rushing EPA too. Like there was just times where you were like, okay, enough.
68:39I totally am on board with that. Especially when you do have all of the question marks along the offensive line that
68:46you did and you're like, why are we? And it made, I couldn't tell if it was like Josh Jacobs looked a
68:53little washed or it was just the over-utilization or what it necessarily was in the, in the backfield there.
68:59But I think the line was a big part of it.
69:03Cause that was like, it was similar to the lions was kind of slept on how many different like rotation, like the injuries that they had.
69:11And I, we're just like, they'll figure it out.
69:14But yeah, I do think it's like, all right, maybe it's funny.
69:18Cause my lesson from less, the let Russ cook movement at a certain point was like, actually the run game was very important for Russell Wilson.
69:26And, but I think when you look at the Packers offense, it's not like they face a disproportionate amount of like single
69:33high coverage because of it or team stack the box.
69:36No. So I don't know. I think that's just something that I've been noodling with, with, um, I know it's the same.
69:43They're the most frustrating team in this division in so many ways, because I like, I look at all of their offensive
69:50stats too, but then that translated into what? Like 23 points per game.
69:54And I can't for the life of me understand why they were like not productive enough.
69:59Like they were middling and red zone percentage and whatever, but like, not to the point where it would explain the fact
70:06that they had the third highest explosive rates percentage.
70:08They're fourth in EPA per play again, middling and red zone, but like 23 points per game is all you have to show for it.
70:16And they have 20, they were 21st in time of possession too.
70:20The officers didn't even have the ball that long.
70:23And I'm like, how are you not sustaining drives when your offensive efficiency is so good, but like the production isn't there.
70:30It was, it just, it, it boggles my mind as to who this Packers team is, was, I guess Matt LaFleur is
70:37like stripping it all down this off season or like, that's what he said is he got all of his coaches together.
70:44He's, he said it to Jordan Rodrigue, good friend of ours, um, that he like this, this off season was spent with
70:51his coaches just kind of like stripping it all down and we're going to start from square one.
70:56And however, you know, true that is, it needs it.
70:59Something needs to happen. I, I think as far as the receiving group, the question remains, do they, do they even have,
71:06they still haven't, do they have a number one?
71:09Um, cause yeah, you're paying Christian Watson like a number one, but Matthew golden, you want him to take a leap, you,
71:16you know, you want golden to look like, to look like he did the very end of the season.
71:22Right. On the game. I will say Tucker craft is like, okay.
71:26Like he's, he's him. Like he is a top, I think can absolutely be a top three tight end.
71:32The best tight end in football. Like that, our last year, he was a monster.
71:36The, uh, the effect that Tucker craft has on this offense.
71:40Like I did the, I broke down like them with him on the field, with him off the field.
71:46It is equivalent to what Micah Parsons impact is on defense.
71:49Like just the way that the, the, the, their offensive metrics fluctuate, their success rate fluctuates, the points that they have their EPA, all of that stuff.
71:58Like EPA per play with him on the field 0.12 EPA per play without him 0.02.
72:03Like going from being like a top two or three offense to like, to bottom third.
72:08Yeah. And it's like, it's again, it's just success rate 47.4% with him 42.5% without him, which again is that same fluctuation,
72:15even though it's, you know, what five percentage points, whatever it is.
72:19But like, that is how important Tucker craft is to this offense and how much of an impact he has.
72:25So the fact that he could in fact be ready for week one, you don't have to lean on the wide receiver
72:32group as much because they're not as deep. And that's the biggest concern I have now.
72:37Like if one of those guys, I know if one of them goes down, if one of them, when, when, when, when,
72:44you talk about crafts on us, but it's Watson's over the years are really significant and it's not for him.
72:50It's not just him getting the ball, but his ability to stretch the field creates so much space, like him and craft.
72:57You kind of need both of them on the field at the same time because Watson is the one who creates the space.
73:04And craft. Yeah. The advantage of the space. Yes, exactly.
73:07Um, and so like, if you could tell me that you get a full season of Watson and craft, I'm like, kind of set it and forget it.
73:16This is a top six, seven offense. I feel good about it.
73:20Obviously Watson has had his injury history. Um, so yeah, I, I, I, I, I'm still very optimistic about the Packers offense.
73:27Notice I haven't even talked about Jordan love. Yeah.
73:30One millionth time. I think he's a top 10 quarterback and it's pretty obvious.
73:34Yes. Um, we're on the same page there. Morey me.
73:37The line, not worry. It's been a long time since I felt super solid about it.
73:42Yeah. Um, so I think, you know, just whether or not this Packers offense can get the heel ceiling.
73:48Can Lafleur let the governor off a little bit?
73:51Can Watson stay healthy and craft? If you tell me those two things and then Jordan Morgan and left tackles are really important.
73:58Um, yeah, ancient, I talked about that. Packers fans, you could check out.
74:02I think he was my NFC X factor for the Packers.
74:06And I went back and watched him at right tackle and honestly, he was pretty good.
74:11So, uh, the defense. All right, here we go again.
74:14Sanis North baby. When did this happen? When did this happen?
74:17Because like the way that I grew up with this division was not like, you know, the purple people eaters and the
74:24monsters of the midway and the black and blue division, which was just running the football in defense.
74:30And now it could not be. So the Packers defense to me is a very simple proposition.
74:35Can you survive until Micah Parsons returns? Correct. I believe they were talking about like week six, the Cowboys game.
74:42Yeah. You know, he's going to try to get back to that.
74:45He's, he's told every reporter that's asked him about it.
74:49Like a Cowboys game, the Cowboys game, the Cowboys game.
74:52So here's something I find really interesting about that.
74:55Okay. So I think we agree the premise is like, all right, when you get Parsons back, it's totally different defense.
75:01Everything changes. You saw that last year when you took him out, it completely collapsed.
75:06It was honestly a little bit dubious even with him because of some of the holes.
75:11So new defensive coordinator, Jonathan Gannon. So Jonathan Gannon in Philadelphia, the defense sometimes much maligned for this, but it was very
75:18like, we are going to rush for radio pressure for way to play a lot of quarters behind it.
75:24We're going to try to cap explosives, but we're leaning on our front four.
75:28We're not, you know, okay. So then he goes to Arizona where they try it's he's Nick Rallis comes with him.
75:35He's it's more chaos ball, honestly, but a lot of compensating for some of the weaknesses.
75:40I feel like in the first half of the season, you need Jonathan Gannon to be as like, to be like a
75:47mad scientist, frankly, more so than what you saw in Philadelphia.
75:50Philadelphia, because let me tell you, they ain't getting pressure before.
75:54No, look at this right now. You know, sure.
75:56Van Ness is healthy. He'll be better. I believe it.
76:00Devante Wyatt's back and healthy. It's quite a huge loss for them.
76:03They'll get more pressure. But I kind of think your best pass.
76:07I mean, Edger and Cooper. That's my kind of X factor for this team.
76:12Or your, your, your strength is your safeties. Right.
76:14Javon Buller. Can you make him part of the rush?
76:18Can you, you know, buy some time, confuse offenses?
76:20Because he's got to pull out every trick in his bag these first six weeks without Micah Parsons.
76:26I feel like he is quietly one of the bigger X factors in the division.
76:31Jonathan Gannon specifically. Yes. Yeah, absolutely. Like you have to, and he said it, he's going to devise essentially one defense for before Micah Parsons is back.
76:39And then another defense for when he returns, because when he returns, you absolutely can just be like, my guys are better than your guys go.
76:47But before that you are going to, I, there's all of the back, the back level is going to be so incredibly crucial.
76:55And I do have questions on the kind of the corners of this, like of this team, which I had.
77:01But you have safeties. You have three legitimate starting safeties.
77:04Really good. This is one of the better safeties.
77:07Xavier McKinney, Evan Williams, Javon Bullard. Great. Do something with them.
77:10All three of those guys need to be on the field pretty much at all times.
77:15Yeah. If I'm Jonathan Gannon and I'm trying to survive without Micah Parsons right now.
77:20And again, to your point, confuse offenses. Buy some time for the rush to get there because we have been wanting Lucas
77:27Van Ness to kind of make that next step and make that next leap.
77:31So hopefully with him being healthy, he can actually do it.
77:35I do think Devontae Wyatt has been very underrated kind of in his Packers tenure.
77:40So losing was huge. It was. It clearly. Bullard.
77:42It's funny because the three safeties, they're so good too.
77:46Like they're so different skill sets. McKinney. They complement each other really well.
77:50He was a true center fielder. Takes so much range.
77:53Evan Williams, one of the best run defending safeties in the entire NFL right now.
77:57And then Bullard, I almost feel like can Gannon find a way to use him as like a Derwin James style.
78:04Like get him closer to the line of scrimmage.
78:07That's a good call. Threaten to rush him. He's really.
78:10Yes. Like that's your strength. Right? 100%. DeBron and Zaire Franklin to replace Quay Walker.
78:15They're fine. I think they'll be fine. It's funny because I feel like there's a lot of skepticism around the Packers, but
78:22I do wonder if the skepticism is a little bit of like.
78:25We've been so high in this team and it's kind of the same, but it's.
78:30But I think maybe what's lost in some of that skepticism is how injured they were last year.
78:36Wyatt, Kraft, Parsons. So if all of those guys.
78:39This is a team that I find very hard to rank because I think at the end of the season, they could
78:46be easily the best team in the division. But I think at the beginning of the season, I don't know.
78:52But they were so winning games and like competitive even without them, which again, credit to LeFleur.
78:57It's very good coach. Yeah. I don't know, man.
79:00Corners, like you said, they're an issue. They were an issue last year.
79:04They drafted Brandon Cissé is really athletic, interesting, but a little bit raw in my estimation.
79:09Hargrave, Javon Hargrave switches teams. He should be fine.
79:12It's a reunion with Jonathan Gannon. I just realized from Philadelphia.
79:15All right. Are you really going to make me rank these teams?
79:19I'll go first, but I'm actually literally. I'm in my head.
79:23I've gone back. So what complicates this is the Lions have a really easy schedule.
79:27Right. And if they didn't, I don't think. Lappily easy, in fact.
79:31Yeah. And I think the Lions offense is going to be awesome.
79:35I'm so skeptical of the Bears defense. I think all these offenses are going to be awesome.
79:40And like I said, I think the Packers are going to be really good at the end of the year.
79:47Crush. Oh, my God. All right. I am going to go.
79:50I can't put the Lions third. That doesn't make sense with that schedule.
79:54I'm this. This could end up with any order.
79:57It literally could. And it's not going to shock me.
80:00Vikings are so weird. All right. Screw it. Let's go.
80:03Lions. Packers. Bears. Vikings. I hate that. I had the Bears first in the division like a month ago.
80:09It's so stupid. I don't know why. I keep.
80:12I mean, I keep talking about how the Vikings could win this division even.
80:16And that would not shock me. I I've been also saying about the Bears.
80:21I think that they are going to have a worse record while being a better team.
80:26So, like, I could see them winning only nine or ten games despite the fact that they are better offensively because, like,
80:33that defense just really, really bothers me. But I also don't think that that really matters until you get to the postseason.
80:40But do you even get to the postseason? That's what throws me off with all of these teams that have these defensive
80:47question marks where I'm like, all right, your offense can carry you through the regular season, maybe.
80:52But defensive, like, you know, I'm of the old text of defense is what wins you championships in games comes in the postseason.
80:59Anyway. Anyway, I don't know. Packers. Vikings. Bears. Lions.
81:02I don't know. Let's just throw that at the wall.
81:05Wait, what did you reverse? That was crazy. I don't know.
81:09I don't know. Is that the reverse of what you said?
81:12I don't even remember what you said. I don't even know.
81:16Next tomorrow, I'm going to rank them differently. This is throw this out.
81:20Honestly, don't aggregate me. Bears fans, I'm sure. You're curious.
81:23You could easily win this division. I want to be.
81:26I truly. This is the most chaotic, stupidest division in football.
81:29Yes. We love her dearly. God. All right. I don't even know.
81:33I'm going to change it tomorrow. I literally in the power hour had the Bears and Packers first every time.
81:39But then the schedule, the Lions. The schedule, the Lions.
81:43The schedule. I mean, like, the Vikings are going to have a relatively easy schedule, too.
81:48And the Bears strength. The Bears are the number one strength of schedule.
81:52Like, it's a tough schedule that they're going to have to go up against.
81:56So I don't even know if 30 points a game is going to save them.
82:01But I think they're going to be a better offense.
82:04I think they're going to be great on offense.
82:07I think they're going to be really great. They're all really good offenses.
82:11That's Carmen Vitale. Carmen, where can people check out your work?
82:14I know there's some stuff that you can't talk about just yet.
82:18But where can people find you? And then they'll learn about those things.
82:22My Fox Sports radio show airs 3 to 5 p.m.
82:25on Central Time on Saturdays. It's 1 to 3 p.m.
82:28Pacific. And I'm doing a lot as far as, like, social media.
82:32But you can also catch me on a lot of local things here in Chicago.
82:37On the score. Some of the various TV stations there.
82:40So, yes, you mentioned some things I can't talk about yet.
82:44All right. But we will. On all platforms. And those things will come to light soon.
82:49Yes. Thank you guys for tuning in. Oh, my God.
82:52I hate my rankings already. I want to walk them back.
82:55I hate them. I will be back next week to talk about preseason football.
83:00It begins. And then we will finish with the AFC North.
83:03So, I will catch you then. Thank you, as always, to the folks at Omaha Productions.
83:08Kirsten Sebecki, Owen Saylor, Jack Foster. See you guys later.
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83:14And let go of whatever you're carrying today. Well, I'm letting go of the worry that I wouldn't get my new contacts in time for this class.
83:23I got them delivered free from 1-800-CONTACTS. Oh, my gosh.
83:26They're so fast. And breathe. Oh, sorry. I almost couldn't breathe when I saw the discount they gave me on my first order.
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