Speaker 1: Only fifteen to ten touched up sucker. All right, welcome
Speaker 1: to another edition to Chargers Weekly, and this is sort
Speaker 1: of the beginning of free agency. We've moved on from
Speaker 1: a player, we've restructured a deal, but in the moment
Speaker 1: that we are recording this, there is still some business
Speaker 1: to be done. Daniel Popper kind enough to join me
Speaker 1: this week on Chargers Weekly as we try to break
Speaker 1: it all down figure it out. Be sure to follow
Speaker 1: Daniel on Twitter, subscribe to The Athletic. Nobody does a
Speaker 1: better chop. The man's got a freaking spreadsheet. He's projecting
Speaker 1: voidable years. If it's two voidable years, this is what
Speaker 1: our cap situation looks like. If it's four, this is
Speaker 1: what it looks like. There is a colored chart. There's red,
Speaker 1: there's green, there's yellow. It really is. He's the best.
Speaker 1: And there's a reason why people always get excited and
Speaker 1: have notifications set up anytime you post something, Daniel, So
Speaker 1: thanks for man. We appreciate it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I appreciate the intro. So I come from a
Speaker 2: family of accountants. You guys all think that my spreadsheet
Speaker 2: is great. When I show it to my dad and
Speaker 2: my brother, they are appalled. And they wanted to own me.
Speaker 2: So I'm appreciative that everyone else loves the spreadsheet because
Speaker 2: in the family, I make the worst spreadsheets than anybody.
Speaker 1: Listen, they can have their their green glass shaded lamp
Speaker 1: and their visor in their pencils, and you've got a
Speaker 1: snowboard behind you, a hoodie and you get to talk
Speaker 1: about football. So I think you're all right. You could
Speaker 1: you could take their derision and you're still coming out ahead.
Speaker 1: Hey man, So let's get into it. This is what
Speaker 1: I expected to be, you know, and I think it's
Speaker 1: what I don't just say that because it's hindsight, but
Speaker 1: we've been talking about it on Charger's Weekly. I thought,
Speaker 1: moving forward, the way Khalil played last year, how important
Speaker 1: he was to tu Ley, it felt like that there
Speaker 1: was something there that they could figure you're out, and
Speaker 1: obviously we've heard Aboutcinin repeatedly from everybody that's been hired
Speaker 1: at how important he is, so just level of surprise
Speaker 1: and maybe what you think is still to come.
Speaker 2: Daniel, Yeah, I think these were the natural first two steps,
Speaker 2: you know, after moving on from Eric Kendricks, you know,
Speaker 2: Mike with the savings that they were going to get
Speaker 2: there with him coming off the injury, it just felt
Speaker 2: like a release was always going to happen there. They
Speaker 2: weren't going to have much leverage in a trade market
Speaker 2: to try and move him. A lot of teams were
Speaker 2: just going to wait him out and try and you know,
Speaker 2: get after him on the open market.
Speaker 3: So that one made sense.
Speaker 2: And then it felt like they were going to make
Speaker 2: a decision here between the two edge rushers as far
Speaker 2: as keeping one of them. That was sort of what
Speaker 2: I heard coming out of the combine. It made sense.
Speaker 2: And like you said, Khalil was unbelievable last year, and
Speaker 2: you're trying to set a culture here. I think, like
Speaker 2: performance is one thing, but you're also trying to shift things,
Speaker 2: and like that was one of the big reasons why
Speaker 2: the Chargers went and traded for Khalil in the first place.
Speaker 3: Like they obviously felt like he had some good football left, but.
Speaker 2: The way he works, his leadership, his experience, like all
Speaker 2: of those different types of things, his play style, everything,
Speaker 2: Like people want to follow that and it helps you
Speaker 2: really establish like what your players do on a day
Speaker 2: to day basis. And so I think when you like
Speaker 2: sort of pile all that together, like Okay, he was
Speaker 2: great last year. You know, obviously the front office and
Speaker 2: Joe Ortiz and the coaching said with Jim Harbar, you know,
Speaker 2: watching the tape from last year. You watched the tape
Speaker 2: last year, you see a guy that's still an elite
Speaker 2: edge rusher, and then I think those other sort of
Speaker 2: more intangible things of what he brings from a leadership
Speaker 2: standpoint to the locker room, it just makes sense to
Speaker 2: keep him around as you try and sort of reset
Speaker 2: this thing and build it into twenty four and potentially beyond.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think, you know, you got to keep somebody.
Speaker 1: That's the other thing. Like this defense is bear, I
Speaker 1: mean it is. You've got Kenneth Murray's now a Titan.
Speaker 1: Eric Kendricks is now a cowboy. You're talking Nick Namon
Speaker 1: day On Henley. Who are special teamers at linebacker, They've
Speaker 1: got one, I guess you can maybe say two. Since
Speaker 1: Job played in the slot a little bit in a
Speaker 1: sante in joh they brought back the lowie. I thought
Speaker 1: that was likely to happen, just because again they've got
Speaker 1: to completely restock this defense. Daniel, and I know you
Speaker 1: do a great job over you know, posting every Day
Speaker 1: at the Athletic of you know, here's here's the top
Speaker 1: ten free agents that make sense, and man, it looks
Speaker 1: like there's no interior lining for them to go out
Speaker 1: and get and sign. And I don't know how that
Speaker 1: all comes together when it comes to trying to piece
Speaker 1: this thing to be just average, right, butting up against
Speaker 1: average for Jesse.
Speaker 2: Metter, Yeah, no, I think you're right on it. Like
Speaker 2: those you mentioned two positions that I'm sort of looking at,
Speaker 2: like linebacker, they've got very little there, you know, and
Speaker 2: I think Nick can play like Nick has gone in
Speaker 2: there and Eman and he's played well in spots.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: I remember the Vikings game he made that game sealing
Speaker 2: playing the end zone against t J. Hockinson that Kenneth
Speaker 2: Murray picked off. And then obviously we've seen flashes for
Speaker 2: dayon on special teams. He's fantastic athlete. That hamstring injury
Speaker 2: kind of set him back last year. So it's you know,
Speaker 2: there's there's two players there, right, But like you go
Speaker 2: through a season, like you know, to use a term,
Speaker 2: you know from the previous regime, it's an attrition position, right,
Speaker 2: like linebackers do often get hurt. Obviously, Kendricks and Murray
Speaker 2: were healthy of last year, but you don't really see
Speaker 2: that a lot. And then obviously the interior of the
Speaker 2: defensive line. You know this, you know, Horties and Harbor
Speaker 2: I have talked about building through the trenches. That obviously
Speaker 2: applies to offense, that also applies to defense, right, and
Speaker 2: you see what what the Niners have been able to
Speaker 2: do in like four days where they've completely turned over
Speaker 2: their defensive line and and gone out and traded for
Speaker 2: guys and signed guys, and who knows, they might not
Speaker 2: even be done yet. Like that's a team that builds
Speaker 2: to the trenches, builds through the defensive line and offensive line.
Speaker 3: And so like how do you go about it?
Speaker 2: You know, if they make more moves here and clear
Speaker 2: up more cap space, like maybe they can just take
Speaker 2: a bunch of dart tosses, you know, Like I go
Speaker 2: back to sort of what what Houston did early on
Speaker 2: in the Casario era, where they're just signing, you know,
Speaker 2: a bunch of guys on veteran minimum deals, and just
Speaker 2: like if two or three of those guys show up
Speaker 2: in training camp, now all of a sudden, you have
Speaker 2: some players and you can sort of make it work.
Speaker 2: Corners another interesting position. I would throw Dean Leonard in there.
Speaker 2: I think he's got some capacity on the outside. I've
Speaker 2: seen him make plays. You know, he's got some speed,
Speaker 2: He's got a little bit of length that heel injury
Speaker 2: down the stretch.
Speaker 3: Like I would have loved to see a little bit.
Speaker 2: More out of him, you know, Jae you mentioned, But
Speaker 2: like I think they need a little more experience in
Speaker 2: the slot too, Like you know, they I think they
Speaker 2: made a mistake last year. Like I think Jah has
Speaker 2: a future in the league, Like I think he can
Speaker 2: play in there, and he's a really good special teams player.
Speaker 2: But I think they made a mistake of not adding
Speaker 2: more experience in there, so they had a second option
Speaker 2: in the slot when it didn't work out for a
Speaker 2: sante and training camp and early on in the season
Speaker 2: and then they you know, obviously, you know, Josh struggled
Speaker 2: a bit. So like Arthur Malette is a guy that
Speaker 2: is interesting to me because he's played the plays.
Speaker 3: He played in the defense last year.
Speaker 2: Obviously different defensive coordinator, but he's gonna be familiar with
Speaker 2: the scheme and he played really well in the slot
Speaker 2: last year for the Ravens. Like can you go get
Speaker 2: him on a cheap deal and potentially patchwork it in
Speaker 2: at corner. But yeah, like at safety, I think getting
Speaker 2: a low he back was enormous, Like there were two
Speaker 2: guys really and you can tell me if you agree
Speaker 2: with this money, but I feel like there were two
Speaker 2: guys on defense that you could really rely on, like
Speaker 2: week after week, and for me it was Khalil and
Speaker 2: a Lohi, Like those were the guys that were showing
Speaker 2: up and playing like discipline mistake free football and then
Speaker 2: giving you something in terms of getting the football and
Speaker 2: for Khalil getting after the quarterback and that type of thing.
Speaker 2: So a lot of work to do defensively, I agree,
Speaker 2: And there's not a lot of pathways there, Like they're
Speaker 2: gonna have to do really really well in the draft
Speaker 2: this year to you know, put a contender together if
Speaker 2: that's the plan.
Speaker 1: And I think, you know, if you want to look
Speaker 1: at the horror film of a Lowi and people point
Speaker 1: out that he's not a natural free I just thought
Speaker 1: he repeatedly got put in crappy positions last year, and
Speaker 1: I think you can not saying you can explain it
Speaker 1: all the way, but you can explain a lot of
Speaker 1: it away where he has gotten no business being tasked
Speaker 1: with some of the things he was being asked to do,
Speaker 1: or just some of the busted coverages and guys handing
Speaker 1: off when they shouldn't have been. And that's what led
Speaker 1: to a lot of that. And I think he said
Speaker 1: it perfectly, Daniel, that it's he's a smart player. He's
Speaker 1: got incredible instincts and I'll take that over sheer athleticism
Speaker 1: any day. Just just being able to I think, you know,
Speaker 1: even point to kind of Kath Murray a little bit. Right,
Speaker 1: here's a guy that has got that has built to
Speaker 1: play football. When you see him and you stand next
Speaker 1: to him, you're like, my god, and you can just
Speaker 1: see there's that tick that that just it's a beat slow.
Speaker 1: And that's what Aloe has. He's just so good at
Speaker 1: reading and reacting. And I think it was just one
Speaker 1: hundred percent with you a priority that they had to
Speaker 1: get him back the one thing. And you know, I
Speaker 1: talked about this, I do the thing for Valleys through Belief,
Speaker 1: and I was talking to Chris Harris and and we were,
Speaker 1: you know, discussing like this is a team that is
Speaker 1: just for the last However, many years they have not
Speaker 1: invested in corner like they've just that they don't. You know,
Speaker 1: you can point to the Jason Jackson they tried, so
Speaker 1: they tried with j C. But really outside of that,
Speaker 1: you're you're talking about, you know, one second round pick
Speaker 1: from Asante, Mikey Davis was a nice surprise as an
Speaker 1: undrafted free agent. Chris Harris was a short term kind
Speaker 1: of now on the back end slot like if they
Speaker 1: trade back. You know, everybody's talking about offense, offense and
Speaker 1: wide receiver and tackle, and it's like, well, if you
Speaker 1: got the number one corner sitting there, this is something
Speaker 1: we have not seen this team do in the first
Speaker 1: round since Jason Barrett. If it's Mitchell or Arnold, like
Speaker 1: those are two really good corners that could go a
Speaker 1: long way and helping his team out.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: No, I think in a trade down scenario and a
Speaker 2: trade down scenario, I think corner has to be on
Speaker 2: the table. I'd be curious who you like between those
Speaker 2: two guys. You know, I watched a little bit of Arnold.
Speaker 2: He to me is like really has the coverage instincts. Yeah,
Speaker 2: you know you can see it, like he just like
Speaker 2: we talk about a low. He like you can see
Speaker 2: guys on tape that sort of have that feel for
Speaker 2: the position. They just know how to cover, how to
Speaker 2: move their body, how to flip their hips, to defend
Speaker 2: in certain situations based on leverage.
Speaker 3: Like you can see that he has that.
Speaker 2: You know, how much of it is feel, how much
Speaker 2: of it is the coaching Alabama doesn't really matter.
Speaker 3: He has that.
Speaker 2: Mitchell to me, seems like more of a trade c guy.
Speaker 2: Obviously he had huge ball production in college at Toledo,
Speaker 2: But like, yeah, I think like that corner is a
Speaker 2: position that I've been watching a little bit because in
Speaker 2: the trade down scenario, it would make a lot of
Speaker 2: sense because they don't have a ton there and like
Speaker 2: you said, they haven't really invested through the draft as
Speaker 2: far as building that position group out, and they certainly
Speaker 2: need some help, whether it's a guy that can play
Speaker 2: inside or outside, like they could use you know, they
Speaker 2: could use players at sort of either spot there.
Speaker 3: And you know, corner is going to be important.
Speaker 2: Like that was one of the things that just never
Speaker 2: came together, you know, over the last three seasons on defense,
Speaker 2: is you just never had a group that really played together. Right,
Speaker 2: There was one stretch The best defensive stretch of the
Speaker 2: past three years was down the stretch of the twenty
Speaker 2: two season when they won four in a row and
Speaker 2: made the playoffs. And what you had as a group
Speaker 2: playing together, and what you had was a playback playbook
Speaker 2: that had been paired down and really fit into who
Speaker 2: was playing. And that's what guys talked about when it
Speaker 2: all sort of came together. There you had some cohesion
Speaker 2: and really a plant like, Okay, this is where everyone
Speaker 2: was playing. And then you go into twenty three and
Speaker 2: it's revolving doors and in the first, you know, three
Speaker 2: four games of the season. So I'm with you, like,
Speaker 2: I think corner is totally an option in a trade
Speaker 2: hut scenario. Who do you like between those two guys?
Speaker 1: I like Arnold. I think you know you can. I
Speaker 1: appreciate the traits and he obviously everybody I talked to
Speaker 1: it was at the Senior Bowls said that Mitchell was
Speaker 1: impressive and that they saw what they needed to see.
Speaker 1: But for me, it's not the forty. It's look, those
Speaker 1: are important, don't get me wrong. It's a position where
Speaker 1: the forty is important and the explosives that the Burt
Speaker 1: and the Broad are important man, when you just watch
Speaker 1: him in those drills and how smove he is, Like
Speaker 1: that really jumped out to me. And plus Alabama's got
Speaker 1: a track record. You know, Nick just coaches defensive backs
Speaker 1: up and you know, I just I feel I'd feel
Speaker 1: more comfortable with that in a first round situation. Like
Speaker 1: the interesting thing about corner is premium position, but you
Speaker 1: still find guys that come out of the second round
Speaker 1: that come out of the third round, Like that really
Speaker 1: happens at tackle, like it just you almost never get
Speaker 1: the tackle that comes out of the second third, like
Speaker 1: it just it's a first round position. Same thing, Like
Speaker 1: I know, you know, yes, you can find edge, Max
Speaker 1: Crosby and Turner, like there are those guys, but like
Speaker 1: edge tends to be a first round position. And like
Speaker 1: I'm becoming more and more in hammered with Dallas, Like
Speaker 1: I really am starting to say wow, Like if you
Speaker 1: trade back and he's sitting there, the idea that you
Speaker 1: compare me into Lee moving forward for the ten years
Speaker 1: is also interesting to be Like, that's the thing about
Speaker 1: five is stick and pick. I think it might have
Speaker 1: been you that they posted it, and I never quite
Speaker 1: thought about it in that context. But you always hear
Speaker 1: best player available, and nobody has done that more than
Speaker 1: the Ravens, Kyle Hamilton. They actually do it. So if
Speaker 1: they stick at five, it's gonna be wide receiver. I
Speaker 1: would have to believe that just the grades on Neighbors
Speaker 1: or at Dunsa or or or Harrison or higher than
Speaker 1: what they would have on all or. And the thing
Speaker 1: about tackle is I feel like I feel like they're
Speaker 1: all together. It's just preference. Like I think you talked
Speaker 1: to and I would love to know what Devlin and
Speaker 1: Nick think. You know, how they would break it down.
Speaker 1: But like I look at Fuaga and I see like
Speaker 1: a total Jim Harblaugh just type of tackle. Latham obviously
Speaker 1: has got the measurables, Like there are so many different
Speaker 1: directions they could go that work. That's what's crazy, Like
Speaker 1: that's the tough part about it, Like, yes this works.
Speaker 1: On the line, we need to be more physical and run.
Speaker 1: Yes this works. You need to explosiveness. We have not
Speaker 1: had an explosive receiver with just incredible traits like you
Speaker 1: have with those three. You need a corner, you need
Speaker 1: another edge, Like that's the top part. That's what's so
Speaker 1: tough about that particular pick.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I want to talk about a lot of it.
Speaker 2: Let's start with the tackles, because I agree with you
Speaker 2: one hundred percent. Like I turned on the Fuaga film
Speaker 2: and I was like, that's got it. He's just he's
Speaker 2: just mean. He's a bully, Like he goes. Like you
Speaker 2: watch even a little bit of his tape, guys are
Speaker 2: flying everywhere, and it doesn't matter what position they play.
Speaker 2: I saw him tossing around edge rushers. I saw him
Speaker 2: tossing around defensive tackles, certainly defensive backs, linebackers, Like he
Speaker 2: just he's mean, and like you know, like as far
Speaker 2: as pass protection, like, are there some weaknesses there as
Speaker 2: far as guys getting to his outside?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 3: Sure.
Speaker 2: But like if you're talking about trading down potentially in
Speaker 2: that you know, eight to thirteen range, and you want
Speaker 2: to bring in a guy that you know fits what
Speaker 2: you're trying to do offensively and and how you're trying
Speaker 2: to build your team and the identity of the team,
Speaker 2: like that guy makes so much sense. I agree with you,
Speaker 2: Like basically, you look, I had conversations at the combine.
Speaker 2: I heard five different tackles at the top of different
Speaker 2: people's boards. You know between, you know the teams, you know,
Speaker 2: you know, draft experts, consultants, you know, media, Like everyone
Speaker 2: has a different guy that they like, which is interesting
Speaker 2: because usually you have a group maybe a two two.
Speaker 3: Tackles that you're designed between.
Speaker 2: This is genuinely like five guys that you're deciding between,
Speaker 2: and it's about who you really like. You know, all
Speaker 2: is a guy, great athleticism, great size. We talk about
Speaker 2: feel for the position at corner, right, this guy is
Speaker 2: a feel for the position at tackle. It's not always pretty,
Speaker 2: but he understands angles and he understands how to get
Speaker 2: his body in between a defender and a quarterback or
Speaker 2: in between the defender and a running back, and to
Speaker 2: clear and.
Speaker 3: To clear holes. And so it's it's a pick your
Speaker 3: poison situation.
Speaker 2: And with that, it's like, Okay, do you feel comfortable
Speaker 2: taking a guy at five at who might be a
Speaker 2: little bit flawed and maybe isn't that like slam dunk prospect.
Speaker 2: That's why when I did first mock, and also when
Speaker 2: we've done our beat writer mocks, like, I don't know
Speaker 2: how you pass on the league neighbors if he's there
Speaker 2: like this, assuming Harrison is gone, but I'm totally with you,
Speaker 2: Like that's the type of difference maker.
Speaker 3: That the Chargers have been looking for for forever.
Speaker 2: And like he jumps off the screen with his way,
Speaker 2: the way he accelerates out of his brakes, particularly on
Speaker 2: deep balls, the way he can set up defenders on
Speaker 2: deep balls, Like it's not just run straight, Like he
Speaker 2: has some deception in terms of how he plays in
Speaker 2: the deep part of the field. So, like you said,
Speaker 2: like in a trade down scenario, it opens the door
Speaker 2: for a lot of stuff. At five, you feel like, okay,
Speaker 2: it's receiver, maybe tackle if you trade down, Like you know,
Speaker 2: they need they need help everywhere. And so I wouldn't
Speaker 2: really be surprised by by anything.
Speaker 1: I think the you know, that's exactly exactly that would
Speaker 1: be surprising. I think in terms of like just we
Speaker 1: it's gonna be a trade down. I just don't see
Speaker 1: how it's not. Especially you know this this free agent
Speaker 1: cycle further solidifies the premium on an elite wide receiver
Speaker 1: on a rookie contract. I mean, when Calvin Ridley has
Speaker 1: a down year and he's getting ninety two million dollars
Speaker 1: and I believe Calvin's all one. I love him, I
Speaker 1: love his game, and it was a weird situation, but
Speaker 1: still ninety two million dollars. Like, so they're going to
Speaker 1: have I think someone's going to look at either Neighbors
Speaker 1: or Donsay and say, let's go get him, and like
Speaker 1: that's a lot of people. It's funny. Like the one
Speaker 1: thing I take more incoming on than anything week after
Speaker 1: week is, look, do I have a little bit of
Speaker 1: a bias? Yeah? I do. I'm a West Coast guy
Speaker 1: and I like a doosa, and I do believe in
Speaker 1: culture setters and culture changers. I think you know, what
Speaker 1: Klen Debor did at at Washington was obviously predicated on
Speaker 1: Michael Pennox, but I think at Dounsay was as important
Speaker 1: to that as Pennix was at creating what they created
Speaker 1: it in Washington. He is I said this about a
Speaker 1: mon ra when you know when he you know when
Speaker 1: kind of the charge. I knew we're in that middle
Speaker 1: round draft and I was like, listen, I don't know
Speaker 1: anything about the measurables and what you're looking for, but
Speaker 1: I can tell you my daughter was in high school
Speaker 1: when he was at Modern Day and when they were
Speaker 1: in those Bosco games, there was one guy. There was
Speaker 1: one guy and it was Jet Sweets and it was
Speaker 1: at the running back position and in the red zone.
Speaker 1: That dude refused to let that team lose. And that's
Speaker 1: how I feel about a Donesay, Like when the chips
Speaker 1: are down, that guy comes up with something and.
Speaker 3: He's got a little mic to him in that way, especially.
Speaker 1: Exactly, but just a superior athlete, like a Larry fitzg Like,
Speaker 1: that's what he reminds me of, is Larry Fitzgerald. Here
Speaker 1: is a gigantic receiver that has the explosiveness that you
Speaker 1: see the way he works his breaks. So but look,
Speaker 1: I'm with you, neighbors. Is incredible and that's sort of
Speaker 1: the level of explosiveness that we haven't seen here. And
Speaker 1: so I do I want to make it clear, I
Speaker 1: have no problem if they draft the receiver at five.
Speaker 1: I have no issue with that. I just don't. I
Speaker 1: think there are so many bigger issues on this team
Speaker 1: that if they trade back and take the tackle or
Speaker 1: the defensive end or the corner instead, they can get McConkey,
Speaker 1: they can get Wilson, they can get you know, Addie
Speaker 1: or Worthy out of tech. They can find another way
Speaker 1: to make it pure salt. They can find a way
Speaker 1: to make it work and add to that room while
Speaker 1: maybe getting something that I think would be more impactful
Speaker 1: right now. If that makes.
Speaker 3: Sense, Yeah, no, I think it makes sense. Two points.
Speaker 2: First point is you trade down and you give up
Speaker 2: your chance to take neighbors and or a Doonza and
Speaker 2: those guys become what we think they're going to become.
Speaker 1: That's tough.
Speaker 2: That's tough, especially coming from Baltimore, where you know, in Hortiz,
Speaker 2: where like best player available is what you do. You
Speaker 2: know that would be a little bit difficult. The other
Speaker 2: thing is what are you asking for in return?
Speaker 1: Now?
Speaker 2: Obviously that depends on where you're trading down to. If
Speaker 2: it's nine, that's different than eleven, that's different. Then with
Speaker 2: the Vikings, that's different than thirteen with the Raiders. Nine
Speaker 2: obviously being the Bears. The Bears would be the one
Speaker 2: trading up for the receiver, the other two and more
Speaker 2: like trying to trade up for a quarterback. Are you
Speaker 2: looking for twenty twenty four capital to add as much
Speaker 2: this roster right now as possible, or are you thinking
Speaker 2: down the road. Hey, let's try and get a future first,
Speaker 2: and then all of a sudden, you know, we'll do
Speaker 2: what we can this year, piece it together and hope
Speaker 2: Justin can carry us. And then all of a sudden,
Speaker 2: you got two first round picks in you know, twenty
Speaker 2: twenty five, potentially high picks.
Speaker 3: If one of these teams is trading up.
Speaker 2: For a quarterback and that rookie starts and then all
Speaker 2: of a sudden, you're really cooking, right, So that's my
Speaker 2: I don't know what they're gonna do. I would probably
Speaker 2: and I did this in our beat writer mock little tease,
Speaker 2: I would probably target future first in twenty twenty five
Speaker 2: because I think those are I think there's a market
Speaker 2: inefficiency there. I think the Eagles have been attacking it
Speaker 2: more anybody else. Well, where teams are like, yeah, take
Speaker 2: a future first, like we're going to make the playoffs
Speaker 2: and it'll be like the twenty six pick, and then
Speaker 2: you know they're the right you know, the Panthers and
Speaker 2: they end up like one fifteen or whatever, one sixteen,
Speaker 2: two and fifteen whatever they were. So that's where I
Speaker 2: would go that direction. But I'm curious what you think,
Speaker 2: what you would do and what you think they would
Speaker 2: do as far as a return in a trade down scenario.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it works both ways. For me, I'm
Speaker 1: fine with either just because of how deep this draft is.
Speaker 1: And you know, I think it would depend on how
Speaker 1: deep it is a wide receiver, how deep it is
Speaker 1: at o line. You know, if you feel really good
Speaker 1: about what you're getting in return, you know you could.
Speaker 1: So let's say you get an extra second. Well what
Speaker 1: if you decide to package those together, jump back up
Speaker 1: and now you've got Graham Barton, who a lot of
Speaker 1: people think is the best projected So now you trade back,
Speaker 1: you get your tackle, you trade back up with that
Speaker 1: extra second, and now you've solidified your offensive line. You're
Speaker 1: done the most important trench position offensively, and you move forward.
Speaker 1: Now that said, I'm going to this is what I
Speaker 1: do regularly on this is I contradict myself the idea,
Speaker 1: you know, but we just saw it like that. The
Speaker 1: thing is, it's nebulous, it's constantly changing. We just saw
Speaker 1: a freaking hunt get a one hundred million dollar contract
Speaker 1: at interior line to be average. So like that's that
Speaker 1: all comes that all becomes part of it. That if
Speaker 1: you can get a a an elite level starter locked
Speaker 1: in for five years on the offensive line, you know,
Speaker 1: you're talking about Slater Zion. I believe say I believe
Speaker 1: Zion is going to have a big year with this
Speaker 1: new I just I feel it. I just look at him.
Speaker 1: He's smart. I feel like that's fine. So, like, if
Speaker 1: you can now get four of your five offensive linemen
Speaker 1: to be in what you believe is an elite category
Speaker 1: and they're all young, and they're on different pay scales
Speaker 1: moving forward, that to me makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 1: So that's where I think about, and you would even
Speaker 1: maybe have to trade back in. I know there's a
Speaker 1: lot of interior linemen that whether it's center, Wisconsin and State, like,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of centers that people like that you're
Speaker 1: gonna be able to get in the second, maybe third,
Speaker 1: even fourth. Rauh like the one name that I've heard
Speaker 1: as like, and I'm gonna you could probably remember how
Speaker 1: to prize up Totanu, the Washington tackle guard who's being
Speaker 1: projected middle of the round, like the top interior alignment
Speaker 1: I like coming out. There's people that think he's in
Speaker 1: the best lineman, Like, dude, this guy you can play
Speaker 1: him at tackle, He's fine, you want to put him
Speaker 1: at guard, He's gonna be the best guard. In the draft,
Speaker 1: you want to put him at center, and this guy
Speaker 1: could end up being the next great center for the
Speaker 1: next fifteen years in the NFL. So like that's where
Speaker 1: it all gets sort of interesting. Now, is I make
Speaker 1: this answer way too long? Daniel? I love the idea
Speaker 1: of next year because, like, if we're just being realistic,
Speaker 1: I mean, if we're really looking at the way this
Speaker 1: thing is lined up this year, You're playing the AFC North,
Speaker 1: You've got the Chiefs in York Division, and you know
Speaker 1: you can try to get and these guys are competitive
Speaker 1: and I believe in them. I believe they will instill
Speaker 1: some sort of winning culture and toughness and they can
Speaker 1: win every one of these games and make the postseason.
Speaker 1: But especially if it's the Bears, because that's very similar
Speaker 1: to what the Dolphins did for Jalen Wato when they
Speaker 1: traded up, and they sacrifice the future first, you know,
Speaker 1: and to me, I would take that swing. I would
Speaker 1: take that swing in a division with the Lions and
Speaker 1: a vision with the Packers if that's what you can
Speaker 1: get out, if you can get a future first from
Speaker 1: the Bears to go from nine to five, because they
Speaker 1: want to pair an elite receiver with Caleb right away
Speaker 1: and get rolling. I would one one hundred percent do
Speaker 1: that as opposed to going back two more spots and
Speaker 1: taking a two on a three this year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, no, Like I'm with you, like I lean
Speaker 2: toward future first capital in twenty five. But like it's
Speaker 2: really about what they want the timeline to be, and
Speaker 2: that's what we really don't know, you know, like if
Speaker 2: they're like, hey, we like you know, Jim Harbaugh came
Speaker 2: in San Francisco, they were six and ten, he turned
Speaker 2: that thing around in one year, Like he could look
Speaker 2: at this and say like, we're going to turn this around,
Speaker 2: like we're going to do it in one year, and
Speaker 2: in that case, then training down and getting capital this year.
Speaker 2: I love your idea of you know, potentially packaging the
Speaker 2: two seconds to move back in the first and going
Speaker 2: to get a center if a center's falling like that.
Speaker 2: That makes a lot of sense to me. But it's
Speaker 2: all about timeline. We got a little bit I wrote
Speaker 2: about this yesterday. We got a little bit of a taste,
Speaker 2: right and then keeping Khalil Mack to like, hey, not
Speaker 2: a full tear down here, We're not going to shred
Speaker 2: it up. So you know, that tells you that, hey,
Speaker 2: they're trying to do a little something here because they're
Speaker 2: pushing some of Khalil's money down the road, you know.
Speaker 2: But you know in the end, they're probably going to
Speaker 2: fall somewhere in the middle. And it's like, Okay, what
Speaker 2: is exactly the timeline here and how does that impact
Speaker 2: the draft strategy in terms of what they're looking for
Speaker 2: in trade down scenario?
Speaker 1: Yeah? And I think you know, you also look at
Speaker 1: the division and obviously we focus on the Chiefs because
Speaker 1: that's the easiest way to get in the tournament, right
Speaker 1: to win the division. But behind it, you've got a
Speaker 1: bridge quarterback signed by the Raiders, and that you would
Speaker 1: assume they want to find that. The you know, word
Speaker 1: is that they are trying to get up into that
Speaker 1: top three. I don't think they're going to be able
Speaker 1: to get there. I can't imagine any of those three
Speaker 1: teams passing on any of these three quarterbacks. All listen,
Speaker 1: all the Drake may shade that is out there from
Speaker 1: the talking heads, don't believe it that the teams love him.
Speaker 1: Teams freaking love this guy. He's going in the top three. Okay, So,
Speaker 1: and I would be floored if Washington knowing what's coming
Speaker 1: next year. And granted, look, Jayden Daniels was not on
Speaker 1: the radar last year coming into this year, but this
Speaker 1: is the quarterback class. This is the class that everybody wants.
Speaker 1: So I just don't envision the Raiders being able to
Speaker 1: get up there. So they have Minshew obviously on a
Speaker 1: bridge deal, and he's going to compete with it. O.
Speaker 1: I've no idea what the Broncos are going to do.
Speaker 1: That's four games, that's four of your games right there
Speaker 1: in division. You know, do we think the NFC South
Speaker 1: is a huge mountain to overcome? Falcons are obviously going
Speaker 1: to be good with Kirk much better, But you get
Speaker 1: the Panthers, the Bucks and the Saints, like you can
Speaker 1: piece this together and feel like, Okay, I think we
Speaker 1: can get there. I think you know, and I think
Speaker 1: when you have Justin at quarterback, I think you just
Speaker 1: that that's what that's what you sort of highlighted here, Daniel.
Speaker 1: I think you're exactly right. When Justin's your quarterback, you
Speaker 1: want to go after it every year because just think
Speaker 1: about that Bengals roster that that Joe Burrow took to
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl. You know, on how many questions surrounded
Speaker 1: that offensive line, you know, and then Nwrickson ends up
Speaker 1: popping as that free agent, Like it just all came together.
Speaker 1: What did they do? They took the receiver instead of
Speaker 1: the tackles, you know, they took the receiver instead of Yeah,
Speaker 1: they took the receiver instead of the tackle, and it
Speaker 1: became yeah. So like I think that's how they can
Speaker 1: And it looks like based on you know, kind of
Speaker 1: you doing the that detective work of Khalil Mackett's, Like
Speaker 1: I think that's what they're thinking. They're thinking when you
Speaker 1: have justin even though you have no defensive tackles, no linebackers,
Speaker 1: you need a corner like they can still visualize, you know,
Speaker 1: and and but what like I would love to get
Speaker 1: your take on this. Yeah, I like Josh Palmer. I
Speaker 1: like Josh Palmer like has.
Speaker 2: Come from like I don't, I don't know where, Like everyone,
Speaker 2: it feels like the fan base is super down on him,
Speaker 2: like he's a new player, like he's he's like a
Speaker 2: really good number three receiver, which is and they took
Speaker 2: him in the third round. Like like I was actually
Speaker 2: thinking about that last night. I was like that was
Speaker 2: a good pick, Like he's a really consistent player. He's
Speaker 2: he doesn't really have a lot of weaknesses in his game,
Speaker 2: Like he's he's a good route runner, he's got good hands,
Speaker 2: he's got good feel. He can you know, get to
Speaker 2: multiple areas of the field, you know, short, intermediate, and
Speaker 2: even deep sometimes, Like.
Speaker 3: He's a good third receiver. I don't know where it.
Speaker 2: Came from that everyone soured on him so much. The
Speaker 2: question in the receiving room is Quintin, you know, why
Speaker 2: are they going to get out of him?
Speaker 3: I know that.
Speaker 2: They're like they're excited about you know what he could be,
Speaker 2: right san Jaylal, the receivers coach coming in from Seattle,
Speaker 2: you know you look at what he did with DK Metcalf. Yeah,
Speaker 2: you know, obviously different players, but you talk about molding
Speaker 2: tools into something tangible on the field, Like, you know,
Speaker 2: I could see him taking a step. That's really the
Speaker 2: question mark to me, Like I have a lot more
Speaker 2: faith than Josh Palmer to be a consistent performer than
Speaker 2: I do Quintin based on what I've seen.
Speaker 1: Hundred per one hundred percent. And I brought this up
Speaker 1: last week. I said the thing like, show me a
Speaker 1: Harbaugh team that had a highlight wide receiver. There aren't
Speaker 1: many that There were none at Michigan, there were none
Speaker 1: at Stanford. You could argue Crabtree, he might have been
Speaker 1: top ten twenty, that would be like, you know, but
Speaker 1: really it was Frank Gored Vernon Davis who had monster year.
Speaker 1: The year that Crabtree had his eleven hundred yard season,
Speaker 1: Vernon Davis had him. It's your year of that year.
Speaker 1: So it's like they maybe they have enough with Keenan.
Speaker 1: Allen's better than Michael Crimetrie ever was. So you've already
Speaker 1: got Keenans a one and that's you know, they signed
Speaker 1: dis Lee, so that could potentially help you out at
Speaker 1: right tackle. You actually have a tight end who can
Speaker 1: block for a change and help you out on that
Speaker 1: side of the line. So like now, to me, like
Speaker 1: there's a lot of that just continues to add to
Speaker 1: the many different directions they've been going. I don't know
Speaker 1: if you known' where I'm going with this, but like,
Speaker 1: to me, that then can bring the brock Bauers conversation
Speaker 1: into play where you know, we've got we feel like
Speaker 1: we've got enough. What if we add a truly unique
Speaker 1: weapon you know, like because like the thing when the
Speaker 1: thing when he showed up in San Francisco and took
Speaker 1: a six and ten team to thirteen and three. They
Speaker 1: were stacked, you know, like that team, Patrick Willis, Nabarro
Speaker 1: Bowman at linebacker, Aldo Smith, the maud Brooks Justice at
Speaker 1: the front. They had Staliot left tackle, They had Frank
Speaker 1: go or Bernon Davis, like they had players. And so
Speaker 1: I think the idea of do we have enough where
Speaker 1: we could really kind of drop this. I just don't
Speaker 1: know if Joe Ortiz wants his first ever first dround
Speaker 1: pick for the Chargers to be that kind of swing
Speaker 1: on a brock Bowers if you're going to pass up
Speaker 1: the receiver, you know, are you saying that? I'm saying
Speaker 1: if they traded down, traded down, could break? Could brock
Speaker 1: Bowers then be that piece and just be that total
Speaker 1: Swiss army knife of hey man, try to figure this out,
Speaker 1: Try to that the Travis Kelcey, the you know, that
Speaker 1: sort of level, because like people, I think forget Bernon
Speaker 1: Davis was a complete bust. Do you think about the
Speaker 1: meltdown that Mike Singletary had about him? And you know,
Speaker 1: I want you guys coming off the field that aren't
Speaker 1: all non shalot and like that little rant and what
Speaker 1: arbad do? He came in and he's like, you're in,
Speaker 1: We're going to feature you. And guy ends up having
Speaker 1: back to back monster seasons.
Speaker 2: He's a physical specimen though Vernon Davis, like at the
Speaker 2: University of Maryland where he went, That's where I went
Speaker 2: to school. I mean, he still has every single weightlifting
Speaker 2: record like to college decades ago. So I listen trade
Speaker 2: down scenario, like, sure, brock Bauer should be available, Like
Speaker 2: I said, I wouldn't be surprised by anything. My issue
Speaker 2: is really positional value. If you take him at five,
Speaker 2: he's got to be a top five player by the
Speaker 2: end of the contract, and then people saying that you
Speaker 2: can get the surplus value on.
Speaker 3: The second deal.
Speaker 2: In order to do that, he has to be Travis
Speaker 2: Kelce or Mark Andrews. He has to be your one
Speaker 2: a passing option in the offense. And that's like a
Speaker 2: there's just not a lot of margin for air.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 3: If you take him at nine to ten, eleven to thirteen.
Speaker 2: Range, the cap hit in the fourth year of the
Speaker 2: contract is around six million, which is like okay, now
Speaker 2: you have to be a top fifteen player, top seventeen
Speaker 2: player at the position. That to me is like, okay,
Speaker 2: I can see surplus value in that contract. The issue
Speaker 2: with me is all about, okay, how do you get
Speaker 2: the value out of it at five on the rookie
Speaker 2: deal so that when you pay him, you know, you're
Speaker 2: not like, you know, sinking value in both the rookie
Speaker 2: deal and right and the second contract.
Speaker 3: But that I think people are high on it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that applies. Also. You know, this is something I
Speaker 1: brought up too that that people forget about, is the
Speaker 1: gap between number five and number nine, and then the
Speaker 1: gap between number five and like number twelve. Its gigant
Speaker 1: in terms of what money wise, I mean you are.
Speaker 1: So if you have let's just say you're like, okay,
Speaker 1: if you like all these tackles, this is our identity.
Speaker 1: Let's build out this line. If you've got you know,
Speaker 1: Fuaga and Fishanu and alt and late them and they're
Speaker 1: all plumped together, absolutely trade down and don't hand over
Speaker 1: eight whatever it is twenty nine million dollars thirty I
Speaker 1: think it's a thirty five million dollar contract. Give out
Speaker 1: a twenty two million dollar contract instead and get a
Speaker 1: pleyer that's got the same on a grade. It just
Speaker 1: the trade down scenario to me makes so much sense
Speaker 1: in less the grade on neighbors and a doone's ay,
Speaker 1: it's so far ahead of everybody else that you can
Speaker 1: ignore that gap that it's just not worth it to
Speaker 1: take that drop.
Speaker 3: Yeah, agreed. So as far as offensive line, I want
Speaker 3: I wanted to go back to this.
Speaker 2: So yeah, let's say they trade down and they get
Speaker 2: Fuaga and they feel like he can play at right tackle,
Speaker 2: and then they're able to get a center in the
Speaker 2: second round. Then maybe they signed you know, Bradley Boseman
Speaker 2: or some sort of veteran center to consider there. Okay,
Speaker 2: so you feel like you have left tackle set with Rashaan,
Speaker 2: you have left guard set with I, And I agree
Speaker 2: with you. I think like with a different scheme and
Speaker 2: different coaching, I think he can be the player they
Speaker 2: expected him to be when they drafted.
Speaker 3: Him in the first round. You've got two guys competing
Speaker 3: at center.
Speaker 2: You've got two guys basically competing at right tackle with
Speaker 2: you know, Trey, and then you're rooking in this scenario, Fuaga,
Speaker 2: what do you do at right guard? That's really like
Speaker 2: a big question now, do you. Basically, what I think
Speaker 2: they could do is if they take a guy like Fuaga,
Speaker 2: who some people think will be a better guard than tackle.
Speaker 2: You have basically Jamari Salary, who can play at tackle
Speaker 2: and guard, has played guard, you know, was better at tackle.
Speaker 2: You have Fuaga who can play both spots, and then
Speaker 2: maybe you give you know, Trey Pipkins a look inside
Speaker 2: and you have three guys sort of competing for those
Speaker 2: two spots. My question would be, you know, what what
Speaker 2: would you do at right guard? Because the offensive line
Speaker 2: is going to be really really important. They got Gus Edwards,
Speaker 2: you know, they feel like they got a pure runner
Speaker 2: there downhill, physical, they finally got a blocking tight end
Speaker 2: after I've been writing about it ad nauseum for like
Speaker 2: seventeen years. But you got to also, you know, fill
Speaker 2: out that that offensive line and feel like you can
Speaker 2: get push on both sides.
Speaker 3: So you have a two way go in the running game.
Speaker 3: So what would you do there? If the vision is
Speaker 3: a running game, what do you do at that right guard?
Speaker 1: Yeah? To me, it's you know, the the Trey Pipkins
Speaker 1: thing becomes a look again attrition position. Right just get
Speaker 1: hurt so to be able to have a swing like
Speaker 1: Trey I think, or to have, you know, have another
Speaker 1: tackle helps a lot. To have positional flexibility with Jamari helps,
Speaker 1: you know. I don't know what you think. I thought
Speaker 1: make Fadden played pretty well last year when he jumped it,
Speaker 1: you know, that would be like I would probably lead
Speaker 1: with him over Sawyer. I do think and and look,
Speaker 1: I believe in this coaching staff. I just I think
Speaker 1: the world of Nick. I really do. He's one of
Speaker 1: the smartest guys I've ever talked football with. And he's
Speaker 1: someone that I think just understands that position so well
Speaker 1: and comes from that background that that I that I love,
Speaker 1: you know, all state wrestler, incredible hands, understands leverage, and
Speaker 1: I think you you know, and Devlin obviously think that
Speaker 1: a lot of people think very highly of Devlin. So
Speaker 1: to me, look, I don't know, I don't I can't speak,
Speaker 1: I don't want. I don't think the coaching was where
Speaker 1: it should have been last year. What they focused on,
Speaker 1: I'll leave it that way. What they chose to focus
Speaker 1: on on the offensive line is not what I think
Speaker 1: you need to focus on when it comes to offensive line,
Speaker 1: and that will be rectified this year. And I believe
Speaker 1: you will see and that's where it becomes interesting. I
Speaker 1: just I feel like Dan, we've seen, like I feel
Speaker 1: like we've seen a little bit too much variance from
Speaker 1: Trey to feel really good about going into a season
Speaker 1: knowing how just over and over and over again, teams
Speaker 1: would line up their best rusher against him and it
Speaker 1: would be an issue. Now again, you said you've been
Speaker 1: at nauseam asking for that blocking tight end to help
Speaker 1: out over there, get backs that can help pass pro
Speaker 1: you know, and help out over there, and feel good
Speaker 1: about Rashan. But like to me, that's kind of where
Speaker 1: I come out, and maybe this this this particular staff
Speaker 1: is like, oh no, we're good with Trey, we can
Speaker 1: we can work with this this he's got enough and
Speaker 1: we can work with this. But like to me, that's
Speaker 1: where that that right. Just to answer your left or
Speaker 1: right guard question, depending on where they want to put
Speaker 1: Zion moving forward. I thought mcfad looked pretty good, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I did. I think they can work with that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he was really good in the Broncos game. Like
Speaker 2: I watching that tape, I was like, Okay, that that
Speaker 2: guy can potentially play in the league. There, which is
Speaker 2: a really good point The other really good point is
Speaker 2: that we have no idea how much coaching is going
Speaker 2: to impact you know, all of these guys. And I
Speaker 2: think you said it well, so I'm not even.
Speaker 3: Going to try and explain it to I tried to.
Speaker 2: I think that was very deft and how he went
Speaker 2: about that like, I think, you know, I actually give it.
Speaker 3: I'll give it a spin.
Speaker 2: So I think, like in order and I'll take what
Speaker 2: Greg Roman said at his introductory press conference to beat writers.
Speaker 2: In order to be a good running team, there has
Speaker 2: to be intention and what he said is you actually
Speaker 2: have to call the runs.
Speaker 3: You got to do it, you know.
Speaker 2: And I think there was some frustration among all the
Speaker 2: players involved in the run game that they would get
Speaker 2: away from it, and that was under both Joe Lombardi
Speaker 2: and Kellen Moore, and it was like we got to
Speaker 2: get in a rhythm. Like the human element of this
Speaker 2: thing I think gets lost. It's like, if you're an
Speaker 2: offensive lineman, you want to get after people. And so
Speaker 2: you know, if you if there are a couple of
Speaker 2: runs early in the game that don't hit, you got
Speaker 2: to stick with it because those guys want to get
Speaker 2: after people. And this is that's the vision, that's what
Speaker 2: these guys believe in, from Harba to Roman. You got
Speaker 2: to call them. You gotta have an identity, you have
Speaker 2: to have an intention, and then you have to get
Speaker 2: after people. So I think on a philosophical level, like
Speaker 2: you can probably expect elevated play in the run game
Speaker 2: from all of these offensive lineman strictly because of that.
Speaker 3: And then you then you start talking.
Speaker 2: About like the details, the specifics of technique and all
Speaker 2: that kind of stuff. If that improves from a coaching standpoint,
Speaker 2: you know how much improvement are you going to see
Speaker 2: when you have both of those things working together, the
Speaker 2: philosophical approach and the intention, and then also you know
Speaker 2: better day to day practice to practice snap to snap,
Speaker 2: coaching on the on the technique and stuff, and so like,
Speaker 2: I think they have pieces there, but like, if they're
Speaker 2: gonna build it this way and they're gonna be a
Speaker 2: running team and they want to be a bully, you
Speaker 2: got to keep investing an offensive line.
Speaker 3: It's got to be where you're just turning it over
Speaker 3: every year.
Speaker 2: More talent, more talent, more talent, create that competition and
Speaker 2: just have that talent base.
Speaker 3: So that if guys do leaving free agency, you.
Speaker 2: Get a compic and you got another player coming up,
Speaker 2: and that's I think about they're trying to do.
Speaker 1: I mean, to me, that's again this is this is
Speaker 1: what you're doing long term. You just said it. I
Speaker 1: think there's you think about what the Packers do every
Speaker 1: year when they draft a receiver, if not too in
Speaker 1: the third and fourth route, Like every year I draft
Speaker 1: a running back and I would draft an offensive lineman
Speaker 1: Like that's that, Hey, rounds three through six, two of
Speaker 1: those picks are going to be O linemen and running back.
Speaker 1: Like that to me is just keep charring and like
Speaker 1: you said, it's just a you can let him walk.
Speaker 1: You get your compic and here's the next guy we
Speaker 1: plug in because this is how we're going to play.
Speaker 1: And I think that's one thing about Roman is you
Speaker 1: know he he is from what you know. My understanding
Speaker 1: is he's someone who has been in control of everything.
Speaker 1: He is not just a play caller. He is invested
Speaker 1: in when it comes to the run game, the O
Speaker 1: line he is in. He's not just the play he
Speaker 1: is the running back. He's coaching the O line, he's
Speaker 1: calling the O line, He's calling everything. When it comes
Speaker 1: to the runs, and it's one of the reasons why
Speaker 1: there's just so much consistency because he knows front to back.
Speaker 1: It's not just a call on a play sheet, it's
Speaker 1: this is how it needs to be executed. This is
Speaker 1: why it's being executed this way. And it's not about
Speaker 1: this one play. It's about the full sixty minutes of
Speaker 1: where we're going front to back. And I think it's
Speaker 1: also why the sort of passing game coordinator has always
Speaker 1: been important in those offenses. And that's where the whole
Speaker 1: Harbaugh thing comes in, you know, with having Rome and
Speaker 1: this is a pair that's been very comfortable, you know, merging,
Speaker 1: you know what Roman is so good at with you know,
Speaker 1: Jim Arba, who probably doesn't get enough credit because he's
Speaker 1: viewed I think more as like that CEO culture ceter toughness,
Speaker 1: which is true. But this is a guy that can
Speaker 1: call offense. This is a guy that knows how to
Speaker 1: call office. So I think that's kind of what people
Speaker 1: lose sight on, is that, Yeah, romans here to kind
Speaker 1: of rebuild this run game, which has never existed since
Speaker 1: they moved here in twenty seventeen. It really hasn't existed
Speaker 1: for the last fifteen twenty years. And you know, when
Speaker 1: you marry that with what Harbaugh was able to do,
Speaker 1: I'm very, very excited to see something we just haven't seen,
Speaker 1: just a style that we have not seen. And look,
Speaker 1: Anthony Lyne tried to do it, you know, he tried
Speaker 1: to do it. They just didn't think that the line
Speaker 1: was it was bad. Like the line was bad in
Speaker 1: those years when you think it is crazy to think
Speaker 1: about what they rolled out there on the offensive line,
Speaker 1: I don't want which is why. Yeah, I mean the
Speaker 1: forest layup Dan Feeney, Antosh sam Tevia tackle of Ocoon
Speaker 1: who was on one leg, you know, but pretty much
Speaker 1: the entire time he was here. And oh shoot, remind
Speaker 1: me of whom I forgetting from Chicago, Mia Michael Schofield
Speaker 1: like you have you can't like you got no chance,
Speaker 1: You've got no chance. So to be able to have
Speaker 1: that those bodies, the amount of talent they have, this
Speaker 1: you can really make an elite unit. And and look
Speaker 1: there's you know, look at what they had at Michigan.
Speaker 1: You're talking about a team that won the award for
Speaker 1: the best offensive line, guys that were winning the Rimington Trophy.
Speaker 1: Like that's how they did it. You know, look what
Speaker 1: you put into the league. What do you put in
Speaker 1: the league from Stanford to Michigan. Lineman, defensive and offensive linement,
Speaker 1: that's what they put into the league. And guys who
Speaker 1: excel at their positions in the league. So and a
Speaker 1: quarterback and a quarterback exactly quarterback.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's because I think I guess your point right,
Speaker 2: Like I think this whole idea that Greg Roman's going
Speaker 2: to come in as the play caller is just going
Speaker 2: to be smash mouth and only smash mouth, like Jim
Speaker 2: Harbaugh played fifteen years in the league. Like this guy
Speaker 2: was slinging it like he's a quarterback. I think a
Speaker 2: Greg Roman offense filtered through Jim Harbaugh is very different
Speaker 2: than a Greg Roman offense filtered through John Harbor, who's
Speaker 2: a special team this defensive coach. And I will say
Speaker 2: this like this is going to be a Jim Harbaugh offense,
Speaker 2: Like he is very involved in these early stages of
Speaker 2: building this offense. He's not taking a back seat at
Speaker 2: all whatsoever. And so I think you're right on it there.
Speaker 2: The one thing is like they're gonna have alignment here,
Speaker 2: and if you go back to the previous regime. They
Speaker 2: were kind of patching the run game together, like they
Speaker 2: wanted ideas from a bunch of different places, you know,
Speaker 2: they wanted to outside outside zone stuff, you know, from
Speaker 2: the Shanahan Tree. So they brought in Shane Day at
Speaker 2: quarterbacks coach, and they had Frank Smith who was really
Speaker 2: the one implementing it, but it never really coached for
Speaker 2: a Shanahan Tree head coach or offensive guy. And then
Speaker 2: you had some you know, different elements you know from
Speaker 2: the New Orleans days, and they were trying to kind
Speaker 2: of bring it all together and that's tough to do.
Speaker 2: Like you need that alignment, you know, from the head
Speaker 2: coach on down as far as like this is gonna
Speaker 2: be our identity schematically, philosophically right to produce. And then
Speaker 2: when you translate that to the players, they know exactly
Speaker 2: what you're about.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 3: It's not like, hey, we're.
Speaker 2: Gonna do some of this and some of this and
Speaker 2: some of this and some of this is all gonna
Speaker 2: come together and be great.
Speaker 3: They're like, well, what are we?
Speaker 2: And I think Corey Linsley talked that about that like
Speaker 2: a lot publicly, like hey, we we never really had
Speaker 2: that identity of okay, we're gonna be whatever it is.
Speaker 2: We're gonna be an outside zone team, or we're gonna
Speaker 2: be like a duo downhill team like it was never.
Speaker 2: That vision was never, you know, crystallized in a way
Speaker 2: that the players felt super confident about and that I
Speaker 2: can guarantee you that will not happen under the Harvard.
Speaker 3: Room and regime.
Speaker 1: Let's I'm with you that they are going to have
Speaker 1: an identity. I can promise you that. And because they look,
Speaker 1: they've run you know gap and you'll, like you said,
Speaker 1: I think you'll see a lot of gap, a lot
Speaker 1: of duo and in power, you know, God's play. That's
Speaker 1: what you're gonna see. I'll make just to say what
Speaker 1: back and.
Speaker 3: You're unless they think this said, I mean maybe.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so you said it. Let's let's finish with that.
Speaker 1: The guys that they have signed. We did not dig
Speaker 1: into the Gus Edwards. You kind of briefly mentioned Will Disley,
Speaker 1: but everybody had had tracked you know that connected that
Speaker 1: those two dots Gus Edwards makes too much sense. And
Speaker 1: I'm anxious to see if they maybe decide to get
Speaker 1: the other guy as well. On a one year flyer
Speaker 1: coming off an injury. Just bring Dobbin sober because man,
Speaker 1: I'm freaking.
Speaker 3: So much upside there.
Speaker 2: Like give him ave minimum contract with like tons of
Speaker 2: incentives up to you know, up to like that market
Speaker 2: level of six million, and like if he comes back
Speaker 2: from the injury and he's anything close to what he was, yes,
Speaker 2: you know.
Speaker 3: Before the Achilles or even before the a c L. Like,
Speaker 3: all of a sudden, you've got two really good backs.
Speaker 2: You compliment him with a with a rookie, and then
Speaker 2: all of a sudden, you got really good competition in
Speaker 2: camp as well, where Isaiah Spiller's got to prove himself.
Speaker 2: He's going to stay on the roster. Like that plan
Speaker 2: makes a makes a lot of sense to me as well.
Speaker 2: I love the potential JK. Dobbins play if they can
Speaker 2: set up the contract that way.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but just kidding gus out of here. And actually
Speaker 1: not any legitimate big back who has shown can be productive,
Speaker 1: yeah in this league something they haven't had. They have
Speaker 1: not had a back like this since they arrived in
Speaker 1: twenty seventeen. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Like, I think we've talked about a lot of the
Speaker 2: issues with the running game that they're trying to fix.
Speaker 3: The one we haven't touched on.
Speaker 2: Is that, like they just never had that pure runner
Speaker 2: and they tried to find it, like that guy that's
Speaker 2: just downhill between the tackles that can play that type
Speaker 2: of bully style that you want in the run game.
Speaker 2: Austin is a Eckler, is a fantastic player, like super dynamic,
Speaker 2: but the strength of his game was never as like
Speaker 2: a runner of the football, like he could do it,
Speaker 2: but where he brought value was as a pass catcher,
Speaker 2: you know, being able to line up in different spots
Speaker 2: and then being you know, in my opinion, maybe the
Speaker 2: best angle route.
Speaker 3: Runner in the league.
Speaker 2: Joshua Kelly has some of those traits, but I just
Speaker 2: don't think he ever had sort of that natural feel
Speaker 2: of how to see the vision, how to hit holes.
Speaker 2: It just never felt really natural, and I think that
Speaker 2: was part of the reason he didn't take the step.
Speaker 2: Some of it is the other stuff we talked about,
Speaker 2: between the blocking itself and the philosophy. So I think
Speaker 2: you know, with Edwards, what you have is a guy
Speaker 2: that can be that type of bully like And the
Speaker 2: one thing that's really interesting to me about Gus Edwards is, yeah,
Speaker 2: he's twenty nine, but he doesn't have a ton of mileage. No,
Speaker 2: like you're talking about. I think it's like seven hundred
Speaker 2: and fifty maybe eight hundred career touches. Compare that to Eckler,
Speaker 2: who's at you know, two thousand career touches and is
Speaker 2: the same age.
Speaker 3: Like, I think it makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 2: You're not even paying that much for him, but you're
Speaker 2: also bringing in a guy who doesn't have a ton
Speaker 2: of mileage, and maybe these are the years where he
Speaker 2: becomes that workhorse and you can really put that load
Speaker 2: on him because he hasn't had that load in years past.
Speaker 3: So I think it makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 2: You know, as far as the vision, the fit, the contract,
Speaker 2: all that, I thought it was a great sign.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I can't tell you how many third and ones,
Speaker 1: Like you're watching them trot Eckler out there or Joshua
Speaker 1: Chilly and it's like, will you give it to the
Speaker 1: guy who's two hundred and twenty pounds that's on the
Speaker 1: sideline at least gives Spiller the shot to make has happened,
Speaker 1: don't stop going with the guy that's two zero five.
Speaker 1: So to have someone with actual girth that can maybe
Speaker 1: push that file, you know the three feet that you
Speaker 1: needed to go. Not to mention, I would assume Greg
Speaker 1: Roman and Jim Arbar and have a very long conversation
Speaker 1: and making sure Justin Herbert's a lot more comfortable like
Speaker 1: quarterback sneaks, knowing how valuable that is and just that
Speaker 1: the other coordinators and coaches could not convey to him
Speaker 1: to be more effective on that front. Disally was someone
Speaker 1: that we had, you know, whether it was parkin center
Speaker 1: or Disley. It seemed like those Seattle tight ends were
Speaker 1: connected to the Charterers and well as well, and they
Speaker 1: finally get a tight end who is very good at
Speaker 1: blocking and plenty capable in the receiving game.
Speaker 3: Yeah exactly.
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, I was looking through potential options
Speaker 2: that they could afford, and Disley was the guy that
Speaker 2: jumped out to me, you need a blocker like you
Speaker 2: need a guy that can block like and I shouldn't
Speaker 2: be getting like worked up about it because they finally
Speaker 2: signed the guy that I've been waiting for them to
Speaker 2: sign for five years. But it felt like I could
Speaker 2: not understand why they wouldn't go out and just get
Speaker 2: a blocking tight end on a cheap deal. You know,
Speaker 2: like there was all expensive, Chris Manhertz like two years million,
Speaker 2: like just go do it. Like there were opportunities to
Speaker 2: go sign one of these guys and they were like, no,
Speaker 2: we're going to roll with Gerald Everett and we believe
Speaker 2: Trem m kitty's going to take the step. And it's like, well,
Speaker 2: I'm no football expert, but I was watching Trey McKitty
Speaker 2: week over week and I never saw it at any point,
Speaker 2: So I don't know why the confidence was there, But bygones,
Speaker 2: be bygones, right, Like I think, yes, what you're seeing
Speaker 2: now is like, well, this coaching staff and the front
Speaker 2: office are the line that they want to run the football.
Speaker 2: And if you want to run the football, you got
Speaker 2: to have a tight end that can block, and that's why.
Speaker 3: They prioritized it.
Speaker 2: So you go out with limited cap space, you get
Speaker 2: a runner with the physicality that you're looking for, and
Speaker 2: you get a professional blocker at tight end. And like
Speaker 2: that to me is like, Okay, this makes a lot
Speaker 2: of sense. You can see what the vision is, you
Speaker 2: can see what the process is, you can see what they.
Speaker 3: Want to do.
Speaker 2: They've said it publicly and it's aligned with the moves
Speaker 2: that they're making. And I think it's it's a little
Speaker 2: bit of a change of pace from from what we've
Speaker 2: seen in recent seasons from the organization.
Speaker 1: And I always said we were going to do about
Speaker 1: thirty and we ended up with fifty one.
Speaker 3: But we honestly we could.
Speaker 1: We could. I got a prep for an Iowa Indiana
Speaker 1: or in Iowa, Iowa state, in a Penn State Indiana
Speaker 1: game tonight. So why I'm in a hotel room and
Speaker 1: it's why we have Daniel Popper looking like the Ultimate
Speaker 1: Warrior with the the sun coming through the blinds, trying
Speaker 1: like hell, you're trying like l but.
Speaker 2: Honestly, yeah, like when I'm working because I get great
Speaker 2: natural light in my office, but it's not great for
Speaker 2: when I'm recording podcasts because these are this is definitely
Speaker 2: gonna get screenshotted and used as.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, Ultimate Warrior dude, it is. It is lined
Speaker 1: up perfectly. There are moments where I'm telling you, man,
Speaker 1: we just got to get you some some sweet freaking
Speaker 1: suede tassels coming off your freaking swoll biceps and you
Speaker 1: will be good to go. Brother. That's our that's our
Speaker 1: teas to get you to go to the YouTube and
Speaker 1: the Chargers dot Com to watch the video portion of it,
Speaker 1: but be sure to follow Daniel on Twitter, subscribe to
Speaker 1: The Athletic. It's it's just the best man. He does
Speaker 1: a hell of a job and you can post and
Speaker 1: stuff every single day and uh to put a button
Speaker 1: on it because I like feeling like I'm right and
Speaker 1: if you agree with me then that makes me feel good. Yeah,
Speaker 1: if you told me they can, they got to go
Speaker 1: out and get one more free agent. JK. Dobbins is
Speaker 1: my guy. Like, I was like that, just that makes
Speaker 1: way too much sense to me. Obviously, they need a center,
Speaker 1: they need defensive daggles, all that stuff. They're gonna go
Speaker 1: bargain shopping here these next couple of weeks once they
Speaker 1: get the contract squared away with Joey and and Genan
Speaker 1: and figure out how much more money they have.
Speaker 3: But my guys, Bran do make so much sense.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there, I assume there's a cop pick there, but
Speaker 1: I don't think he's gonna cost that much.
Speaker 3: No, he got cut. He got cut by the We
Speaker 3: got cut. Yeah, I know, we got cut.
Speaker 2: Perfect for the super Bowl team in twenty twenty one,
Speaker 2: but he lost to Todd the Coleman. Shelton last year,
Speaker 2: so probably get him at a decent price because he
Speaker 2: didn't start last year. We were talking about at with
Speaker 2: considerable experience in the playoffs as well.
Speaker 3: That's the guy that.
Speaker 2: Makes a ton of sense if they can get him
Speaker 2: for the right price. But you know me, I'm always
Speaker 2: gonna focus on offensive linemen because exactly talking about it
Speaker 2: until I see a complete unit.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and this is our year, I feel it. It's
Speaker 1: we're all lined up. It's all lined up. Yeah, all right,
Speaker 1: So appreciate you all, chargers weekly in the books. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: nothing new on Keenan Allen and Joey Bosa as the
Speaker 1: time at the moment that we recorded this, so I
Speaker 1: would assume that's going to get probably squarreed away in
Speaker 1: the next couple days, maybe even hours by the time
Speaker 1: we posted, So forgive us our trespasses if in fact
Speaker 1: that happens. But thank you for for downloaded listening. We
Speaker 1: appreciate your subscribe to your friends, rate comment, do it all,
Speaker 1: and we'll be back again next week.