September 3, 2024 • 43 mins
NFL Network Insiders Tom Pelissero, Judy Battista, and Mike Garafolo, discuss the latest news from around the league including Ja’Marr Chase’s Week 1 status after showing up in street clothes at practice while having contract talks with Bengals. Omar Ruiz reports on the Raiders vs. Chargers and Rams vs. Lions week one matchups. Sara Walsh reports on Commanders vs. Buccaneers week one matchup. And Adam Rank provides predictions and late fantasy drafting trends
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
The season is six days away for the Bengals, and
Zach Taylor said it's still day to day, but Tamar
Chase has spent another day on the sideline. We'll tell
you when the ice could break. In Cincinnati, Ceedee Lambs
showed up after getting his megadeal from the Cowboys here
from coach Mike McCarthy about how much his star wide
receiver could play in their opener Sunday in Cleveland. Meanwhile,
(00:28):
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert continues to ramp up after his
foot injury during camp. We'll show you what exactly Herbert
is doing now. We kind of do it all right here.
Welcome inside with the insiders alongside Judy Bautista and Mike Garafollo.
I am Tom Pelisero. Three days. That's all we've got, guys.
(00:51):
Seventy two hours from right now, the players will be
on the field in Kansas City for the opener, kicking
off of initially the twenty twenty four regular season. There's
a lot to talk about in that game, and well
beyond a even matchup between the Ravens and the Chiefs,
it features a couple of MVPs and the King as well.
(01:14):
Pushed around. I think that's the biggest thing.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Whenever you play teams like this, you want to make
sure you match their physicality. And so we're fast and
we got guys that run around, but we prought ourselves
and being physical as well. So it's gonna be a
great challenge.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Man.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
We're playing best of the best football team week one.
I mean, you can't ask for anything better to go
out there and see where you're at and how training
camp and the off season's paid off.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Yeah, we was close.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
It was close, but we got to get back where
we was and like I always say, finish, but it starts.
We won to start Thursday night.
Speaker 5 (01:44):
I was which I can suit up that day watching
that game. But yeah, but now it's my turn, so
you know, gotta take advantage of it. It's gonna be
hell of a game.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
You know.
Speaker 5 (01:54):
Chiefs are always tough. They start of them all on
all three teams, So a lot in this week to
be able to execute on Thursday.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Some news today for the two time defending champions Clyde
Edwards e layer their former first round draft picked landing
on the reserved non football illness of that means that
Edwards Laire be out for the first four games, that
game Thursday night. Then on Friday, we're adding to South Paulo, Brazil. Well,
not us specifically, Jane Slater is there. She'll join us
(02:26):
on the show tomorrow. But the Eagles and the Packers
playing a little a little name games right there with
amor and is that Machuka Machuca must be Hurts uh
in Portuguese. Uh, I don't know that. That's a tough
transition off of there. Okay, Hurts, It's I get it.
(02:48):
I get everything here. Let's talk about the Bengals, shall we?
A guy? We're not certain we'll be out there in
week one? Oh? Actually, first, why don't we just play
some some south from jail and Hurts?
Speaker 4 (03:00):
I think it's a so what's in a lifetime opportunity,
something to be very excited about, you know, the international
stage in Brazil. From what I've heard, it's a very
amazing place, beautiful place in a very very passionate, passionate
place as well when it comes to sports and and
their fans, and so I'm excited to get a taste
(03:21):
of that.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Yeah, it does.
Speaker 6 (03:23):
I think a lot more confidence from the whole team,
you know, offenseve I feel like we're a really good point.
We had a good training camp and now I think
we're ready to start the season. So I'm very excited
about it. But I think definitely just having more confidence
under your belt, having new reps, and just just trusting
yourself a lot more. And I think the message this
year is versus go out and start fast, you know,
(03:44):
not not have any late season runs. You know, start
out fast and you know, kind of put people on
notice for what we're gonna do this year and what
we're gonna be about.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
But I said, Jamar Chase still doing that, not worrying
a football uniform practice a couple of times last week,
then pulled himself out again, Zach Taylor, you got any
answers for us yet?
Speaker 7 (04:06):
We'll just take a day to day. Yeah, we're always ready.
You know, there's always injuries and things you got to
deal with, so we're adapt with that.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
Jamar has loved you do a full sat.
Speaker 7 (04:17):
I mean it's impossible for me to say with one
hundred percent conviction, but I feel good about the shape
that he's in.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Zach certainly sounds enthusiastic Mike to still be answering these
Jamar Chase questions six days away from their opener against
the Patriots. We know this much, Jamar Chase definitely wants
a new contract. What is the status right now of
those negotiations and Chase for week one?
Speaker 8 (04:39):
Yeah, Zach Tayler's going to try to stay patient on
this one because he doesn't want to throw Jamar Chase
under the bus here. That's only going to upset him further.
But this is not something you want to be dealing
with week one. It's kind of like the forty nine
ers in the Brandon Ayuk situation when they finally cut
down to fifty three and it's like, Okay, you did
the whole hold in.
Speaker 9 (04:56):
We let it happen.
Speaker 8 (04:57):
But now we're getting ready for the regular season. Now
we need you out there the practicing. And they worked
out that situation. This one obviously has not been worked out.
So the answer that Zach Taylor gave like, yeah, I
can't tell you for sure if he's in football shape,
but I'm confident where he is, because again, if he
says yeah, I'm really worried about it because he hasn't
been out there practicing when he should. Again, that's only
going to further anger Jamar cha so at this point
(05:18):
he's trying to play the little political game and work
both sides here.
Speaker 9 (05:22):
But because this team's trying to get something done.
Speaker 8 (05:25):
But for reasons that we have discussed that haven't changed,
this is a complicated one because there's two years left
on his deal, whereas there was one year left for
Justin Jefferson and Cdee Lamb. This one makes it a
lot harder for you to do this deal to satisfy
a player who is looking for top dollars, So now
we are up against it. We talked about this one
Judy potentially being right up against the wire of the
(05:48):
start of the season, which would be Saturday, which is
when we often see some deals get done. But if
he's not practicing all week, that's something you don't want
to have to deal with in week one if you're
a head coach, regardless of who you're playing.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Side of this matchup, we've got Jacoby Brissett making the
start for the Newngland Patriots, despite the fact that Girod
Mayo said he himself that Drake may had outplayed Brissett
during the course of the preseason. Mayo was asked about
that decision again today.
Speaker 10 (06:16):
Ultimately it was my decision to put who I thought
gave us the who I think gives us the best
chance to win football games. And hopefully you guys got
it last week. We're one hundred percent behind Jacoby. He
can't think about what's in the rearview mirror. He has
to be ready to drive this thing forward. And I
made sure that he understood that he has the full
full support of not only his teammates, but also the
(06:36):
organization for him to go out there and perform at
the level that we know he can.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
So Judy, on one hand, you've got a Bengals team
that certainly has high expectations publicly in the media, with fans,
with everybody else for their season. On the flip side
of that, you've got a Patriots team that the expectations
have not been lower there in like a quarter century.
When you hear Mayo talking about what do you anticipate
we're going to see from these Patriots out of the gate, well.
Speaker 11 (07:05):
I think they might have a rough go of it,
not only because Jacoby Brissett was outplayed by Drake may
in the preseason, but because part of the reason why
Jacoby Brissett is going to be the starter is because
the offensive line has been an issue all summer. It
was an issue during the preseason games. It's going to
potentially be a liability throughout the season, which is part
(07:26):
of the reason why you want a veteran quarterback there
whose decision making is presumably still a little bit quicker
than the rookies. You don't want Drake may back there
holding onto the football too long because that offensive line
simply can't hold up. That's not great news when you
are facing somebody like Trey hendrickson, which they're going to
be facing in Week one. If you remember, the problem
(07:48):
with the Bengals defense last year was giving up explosive plays. Frankly,
that is probably not going to be an issue when
you face the Patriots because that wide receiver room simply
does not have the kind of explosives playmakers that gave
the Bengals issues last season. So I think what we're
going to see from the Patriots is Jacoby Brissett going
(08:08):
out there getting rid of the ball really quickly. They
would like to be able to run the ball to
keep the pass rush back because that offensive line is
again going to be an issue no matter who the
quarterback is. One thing to keep in mind. They have
a very, very difficult first half of the schedule. The
first eight weeks for the Patriots are really a murderer's
(08:28):
row of teams. If they are going to put Drake
May in at any point, you have to think it
would be towards the back end of the season when
the toughest opponents are.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Already out of the way, staying in the AFC North. Here,
the Browns also open up at home. They get the
Cowboys coming in. Yes, it's the first Tom Brady announcer game.
There's a lot of other storylines though, including Ceedee Lamb
taking the field for the first time since he signed
a four year, one hundred and twenty million dollar contract
extension ending his holdout last week. So exactly how much
(09:02):
are we going to see CD this week in practice
and come Sunday.
Speaker 12 (09:05):
Mike McCarthy, see, he's always been on top of his,
you know, his game as far as conditioning, and you
can you could tell he's he where his commitment uh
was this offseason. So he's you know, he's he's bigger, stronger.
So but yeah, we got we have a number each
day that we want to hit. So you know, he
(09:27):
wanted to go all you know, full bore, you know,
in the practice Thursday, but you know, we had him
on a on a pitch count, so we have a
number to day that we want to hit.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
So we'll continue.
Speaker 12 (09:39):
We feel you know, they'll give us what five six
practices to get him ready, So I feel like we'll
be where we need to be by.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
The end of the week.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Mike. I feel like for a team that's won twelve
games three years in a row. We have talked about
everything with the Dallas Cowboys except hey, is it possible
these guys are going to be really good again in
twenty twenty four. They got the Ceedee Lamb thing out
of the way. We'll see if they can make progress
on Dak Prescott's contract extension prior to the start of
the season here. But to the extent that people like
(10:10):
to manufacture doubters, there are a ton of doubters about
a Dallas team that's going in and taking on a
brown squad that got to the playoffs here ago.
Speaker 8 (10:19):
And this could be a statement game because there's questions
about did they do enough really on both sides of
the balla did they do enough, particularly on offense. This offseason,
and they can make that statement against a really good
defense in the Cleveland Browns, and you see Ceedee Lamb
and you heard what Mike McCarthy is saying. It just
sounds like it's a ramp up because there's no reason
to push it hard, to get it all the way
(10:40):
because this is a guy that they trust and did
trust while he was away from the team as part
of that holdout that they did trust that he was
going to be ready and didn't necessarily need those reps.
Would they have liked to have had him, sure, absolutely,
So that trust has extended into this as I'll continue
to call it a ramp up period because that's the
(11:00):
kind of confidence that they have both in his mental
and physical readiness for a Week one, Yeah, full go.
I would expect that to be the case on Sunday
against the Cleveland Browns.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
Another good one in Week one it is the Dolphins
against the Jaguars. Miami got a couple of its key
weapons back on the field today, Tyreek Hill Jalen Wattle
both returning to practice. I like we still got waddle
undisclosed because they've never said anything besides soft tissue. They
will have to release an injury report come Wednesday, will
find out what's ailing jail and Wattle. It doesn't sound
(11:32):
like much of a concern for him, and Tyreek Hill
is really fired up about this offense.
Speaker 13 (11:37):
We all excited.
Speaker 14 (11:38):
Man.
Speaker 13 (11:39):
We got a lot of weapons, a lot of playmakers
on this team.
Speaker 8 (11:42):
Man.
Speaker 13 (11:42):
So everybody's you know, on the very edge edge of
their seats, man, you know, just waiting for for this moment.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
You know.
Speaker 13 (11:52):
I think these three days that you know we had
off all I could think about, you know, was just
you know, lining up playing, you know, alongside of the guys,
you know, offense. So I'm very excited, man, Like every
year is another opportunity, man, like to win games and
you know, create memories, man like with you know, a
great group of guys, and you said it like, this
(12:14):
is our best team that we done has since we've
been here. So what the time to be alive? Man,
be a Dolphins fan.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Miami also announced it's captains earlier today. That is a
lot of captains. Was about your active roster right there,
but Tyreek Hill is one of those captains once again
for the Dolphins. Maybe just do a graphic of the
guys who aren't captains on the team Judy for this
(12:41):
Dolphins team. It's always fun to watch in my mind
when everybody on a team kind of got their their
money during the course fan offseason. Tyreek course got his
contract justin, but Tua got paid, Jalen Walla got a
new deal, Mike McDaniel got a contract extension as well.
It all seems to point toward this being a team
that they think is in their window in twenty twenty four.
(13:02):
But they'll push over a Week one against Jacksonville.
Speaker 11 (13:05):
Not a pushover, although we know that when this offense
is healthy, which apparently it's going to be now we've
seen what they can do when everybody is on the
field together. It's crazy, explosive, lots of motion, lots of fun.
It's really great to watch. Here is something to keep
an eye on, and this is going to sound familiar.
Keep an eye on the offensive line for the Miami Dolphins,
(13:26):
because that's a little bit of a muddle this summer.
There have been some injuries, they haven't practiced much together.
There's probably going to be some backups who are forced
into the starting lineup for Week one, so the offensive
line could be an issue, and that is no small thing.
When you're facing the Jaguars who have an edge rushing
duo that had twenty seven and a half sacks last
year that led the NFL for duo. So that is
(13:50):
something to keep an eye on. Chris Career, the general
management was asked about it last week and he said,
every year, you guys say it's not good enough, it's
not good enough about the offensive line, and he said,
and we've had a really good offense, so you know whatever,
but we will see first. You got to see that
offensive line come together, and they have not been together
much during the summer.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
We've also goten updates on one of the scary situations
that we've seen in recent NFL history over the weekend.
The forty Narrows first round draft pick wide receiver Ricky
Pearsall shot in an attempted armed robbery in San Francisco
on Saturday. He was released from the hospital on Sunday
after being shot through the chest, no surgery required. He
(14:34):
was placed on the non football injury list today, which
means he will miss at least the first four games
while he continues to recover. Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert is
expected to be out there in Week one after dealing
for most of camp with a plantar fascia industry injury.
Our Omar Ruiz has been around that team. He'll tell
(14:56):
you exactly expect to see from Herbert come week one
after this on the Insiders, All.
Speaker 8 (15:09):
Right, there you go, right there, justin Herbert working his
way back in practice as he gets ready for week one.
The goal was that he would be ready for week
one after dealing with that planner fascia injury that sidelined
him for a couple of weeks during training camp. He
will get a chance to show the world if he
is ready to go fully against the Raiders this coming
(15:31):
Sunday as the Jim Harbaugh Era with Los Angeles kicks off.
Omar Ruiz now joining Judy Bautista and myself Mike Garofalo
to preview this matchup.
Speaker 9 (15:41):
Omar, this is something that from my.
Speaker 8 (15:43):
Understanding, Herbert's gonna have to deal with, maybe all season long,
but definitely for the early part of the season.
Speaker 9 (15:50):
So what's your understanding of his progress?
Speaker 8 (15:53):
And the GM on the other side of this game
is the former GM of the Chargers, Tom Telesco, knows
pretty well what her can do if he's fully healthy.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Yeah, no question about that.
Speaker 15 (16:03):
Mike Chargers by most accounts talking to people in the
organization that Justin Herbert has looked fantastic in a couple
weeks since he came back after taking those two weeks
off to deal with the Planner Fascia injury. And you can,
like you alluded to Tom Tellesco, the Raiders general manager,
former general manager as recently as last year of the
Chargers drafted Justin Herbert, and I remember talking to Telesco
(16:25):
during training camp shortly after the news came out that
Herbert was dealing with this injury.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
Knows how tough he is.
Speaker 15 (16:31):
Obviously was a part of that sixty two game starting
streak for Justin Herbert over his career, dealing with those
rib injuries and hand injuries and everything that he fought
through to still play at an elite level. So the
Raiders obviously expecting to see the best version of Justin
Herbert on Sunday. Greg Rohman saying he's not sure how
to evaluate the offense from where it is right now
(16:52):
to where it could be or should be, had Justin
Herbert not missed that time, but certainly we'll find out
on Sunday. But there is a sense of urgency with
the Chargers. Obviously, the offense didn't look too good in
the preseason without Justin Herbert. They traded for Taylor Heineke,
who is now part of that quarterback room, and Jim
Harbaugh saying he had a revelation in dealing with the
quarterback situation and that they cannot coach the other quarterbacks
(17:15):
like they coach Justin Herbert. He's six six, two hundred
and forty pounds, can have two guys draped on him
and can still throw forty yards downfield on a dime.
The way he reads defenses, the throws he all the
different throws he can make, how he does his footwork.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
They cannot do that with the other quarterbacks.
Speaker 15 (17:30):
And he said it's almost like they have to have
two different game plans going in each week for the
other quarterbacks and one for Justin Herbert, just in case
something were to happen for Justin Herbert. Obviously they hope
they don't have to resort to that, but sort of
game planning for that, justin case that were to happen.
Speaker 11 (17:46):
All right, omar let's stay in Los Angeles because Sunday
Night Football the first one of the season is a
dooozy Rams at Lions. This is a rematch of the
wild card game from last season that the Rams lost
by one point, and Quinton Lake had some interesting thoughts
about what this game might mean to them.
Speaker 15 (18:04):
Yeah, newly named captain for the defense of the Rams,
Quintin Lake, third year dB, was saying, if they had
any regrets from that game in January that ended their
season at Ford Field against the Lions, this is an
opportunity to make good on those regrets.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
If there's any.
Speaker 15 (18:20):
Plays that they wish they could take back, this is
an opportunity to essentially right those wrongs. It's the rams
other newly named defensive captain, second year pass rusher Kobe
Turner along the defensive front, who defensive coordinator Chris Shula
told me is one of the smartest players he's ever
been around, and Sula telling me that this is going
(18:41):
to be the formula for the Rams defensive success. Obviously
a lot of young players up front, some veterans in
the back end, but it's a lot of high level
football IQ guys that above the neck mentality. They're going
to play relentlessly hard. They're going to try to play
mistake free football, and that's what they'll take into Detroit.
Shula saying at the Lions offense, not much changes to
(19:03):
their personnel, so they know they're gonna get what they're
gonna typically get from the Lions. Ben Johnson, of course
gonna have some wrinkles in there, but they'll use that
intelligence to adjust for those wrinkles against the Detroit Lions.
And there you see the captains there, Kurt Turner on
the right, Lake on the left, and Shila telling me
that he even went to Sean McVay and said, hey,
(19:23):
these guys are young. Should we pull them aside and
sort of give them some pointers on how to be
captains here in their second and third years respectively, And
mcphay said, no, they're gonna figure it out. They're gonna
lead their own way. Just because Aaron Donald's not there anymore,
and just because they were under Aaron Donald for a
couple of years there, they don't have to. They can
lead how they are gonna lead, and that's what they've
(19:43):
done the last several days, last several weeks and asserting
that leadership. So there are a lot of trust in those guys,
a lot of trust in that defense, and they'll go
to Detroit with a lot of confidence. On Sunday night.
Speaker 9 (19:54):
Quentin Lake, friend of the program, had a great visit
with us this offseason.
Speaker 8 (19:58):
Look forward to speaking with him again once he has
even greater accomplishments on the field, which could be coming
in his near future. Looking forward to this game, looking
forward to more visits from Omar Ruiz throughout.
Speaker 9 (20:10):
The regular season here on the Insiders, Thank you Omar.
Speaker 8 (20:14):
Look, we can play out the season and you can
see what happens along the way. Or if you just
tune in next for Adam Rank and Judy taking you
through who the division winners are gonna be. Adam Rank
never ever, ever wrong when it comes to predictions.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
I don't think.
Speaker 9 (20:27):
Try to remember.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
Jacket in ten nine years up three nine Perdy gonna
throw a.
Speaker 9 (20:38):
Double pass back to Juwan Jennings.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
I'll throw it back across the field of mccaprick.
Speaker 14 (20:43):
See six points on a trick, playing a move, put
a chances has got the football. That's a San Francisco
seventeen yard line.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
Holmes Franks for the inside.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
Touchdod Purdy back throws.
Speaker 14 (20:58):
Touchdown Lord the Savior, Juwan Jenny's the pat is blocked
by Kansas City and a field goal could tie the game.
Mahons crosser Kelsey thirty yard line twenty five just hit
the twenty fifteen out of bounds at the San Francisco
ten yard line.
Speaker 9 (21:14):
Bunder's kick is perfect and we are headed to overtime.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
Acamprick comes in motion.
Speaker 14 (21:20):
They fink the jettahem pretty throws it hot and throw
over throws.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
His receiver incomplete twenty seven yard field.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Golphin building man, It's snoody and in forty nine years lead.
Speaker 9 (21:29):
Then they throw it to Kelsey on the screen, breaks.
Speaker 14 (21:31):
One tackle, He's tast on his feet inside the five.
It's a first down for Kansas City and goal to go.
McKinnon has in a running back first down of goal
to go, play action.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
Fake right two to down.
Speaker 14 (21:43):
There is a back to back Super Bowl champions and
it is the Kansas City Chiefs.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
So that's how the twenty twenty three season ended. Who
comes out on top in twenty twenty four? Well are
Judy Battista Adam Rank? They agreed on some of the divisions.
Here four of last year's division winners. The Chiefs were
picked unanimously by everybody at NFL Dot com one mild surprise,
and there they got. The Eagles win the NFC East.
But Judy and Adam do not agree on everything. If
(22:17):
they did, well, we probably wouldn't do this segment. Welcome
back to the Insiders, Tom Pilitzer with Judy and Adam. Judy,
let's start with you here. The AFC East a fascinating division.
Who do you have coming out on top?
Speaker 11 (22:32):
I am all in on the New York Jets. They
are all in to try to win the Super Bowl.
I am all in on this effort. This is really
tightly bunched though with Miami and Buffalo, but I think
the Jets have the better roster of those three. Brice
Hall is healthy, the offensive line has improved, it's a
better stable of wide receivers, It's a top five defense.
I would feel better if Hasan Reddick was there already.
(22:54):
And of course this guy, Aaron Rodgers, who has looked
terrific this summer. I think that the Jets are going
to win this division, and I could actually see them
making a little run for the playoffs too.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
Now I would agree with Judy.
Speaker 16 (23:07):
I do have the New York Jets going to the playoffs,
but I'm going to differ a little bit with who
wins the division.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
I'm gonna go with the Miami Dolphins, who.
Speaker 16 (23:14):
Will be ending a streak of fifteen consecutive seasons without
an AFC East title. The Dolphins have made the playoffs
in back to back.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
Seasons with Mike McDaniel.
Speaker 16 (23:24):
As a matter of fact, the Dolphins were in first
place heading into Week eighteen, but loss of the Buffalo
Bills and they forceeeded to now lose Christian Wilkins during
the offseason. But they've added some depth at the position.
They brought in Kalais Campbell, who's a huge vibes guy.
But Anthony Weaver comes in as the defensive coordinator. He
comes from the Baltimore Ravens and he's already drawing rave reviews.
(23:44):
And I think they need to get a little meaner.
And this was something that Tyreek Kill was talking about.
I believe the Dolphins respond this year and win the division.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
Out in Buffalo. Sean mcdermotch has clipped off that portion
of the segment right there. You'll be showing that to
the team for motivation.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
All right.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
How about the NFC judy a very competitive division. A
year ago, Lions certainly a strong team that the Packers
one of the best teams the second half of the year.
Who do you got coming out on top?
Speaker 11 (24:09):
Yeah, this is a much tougher division this year on paper,
at least than it has been in a long time.
But I still have the Detroit Lions prevailing. They won
twelve games last year with a pretty young roster and
some obvious holes. The holes theoretically have been patched, and
now those young players have a year of experience, and
you still have that guy, Jarret Coff. This team came
oh so close to going to the Super Bowl last year.
(24:33):
I don't think any of us would be surprised if
they come out of the NFC and go to the
Super Bowl this year. But my pick in the NFC
North is still the Detroit Lions.
Speaker 16 (24:43):
And like Judy, I also have the Detroit Lions making
the playoffs. I think that's a very good team. I
won't take anything away from them, but I have to
say something about the Chicago Bears, who are going to
be my pick.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
Now.
Speaker 16 (24:54):
A lot of people when they look at the Bears,
they get confused. They think because they had the number
one zero all selection, they weren't very good last year,
but they won seven games.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
They had three games in which.
Speaker 16 (25:06):
They lost fourth quarter leads where they had over a
ninety percent chance of winning. You hope they can go
out there and clean that up. They were quick to
add guys like Keenan Allen, DeAndre Swift and of course
Caleb Williams. And I know a lot of people have
said before like, oh, we've seen the Bears in this situation.
You have it because Caleb Williams comes in for the
first time that I can remember with a young Bears
(25:28):
quarterback that doesn't have a veteran that he has to
compete with. Mitch Trubisky had to deal with Mike Glennon,
Justin Fields had to.
Speaker 3 (25:35):
Deal with Nick Foles and Andy Dalton. They have done
a great job.
Speaker 16 (25:40):
This is a new organization. I'm gonna take the Bears
in this one. Not surprisingly, I understand.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
If you had a Mike Glennon reference on your rank, Bingo, Carr,
go ahead and put down the chip right there. All right,
One more here, Judy. The NFC South gets kicked around,
probably more than any division in the NFL. There is
some excitement though, there's some new faces. Do you get
coming on top?
Speaker 9 (26:01):
Yeah?
Speaker 11 (26:02):
This was a coin flip for me between the Falcons
and the Bucks, and ultimately I went with the Falcons.
And here's why not just Kirk Cousins, who is one
of those new faces, the biggest new face in the division,
but what the Falcons did late in the summer Matthew
Judan and Justin Simmons to shore up that defense. I
really like those moves. I think this is a more
(26:22):
complete team. This is such a close division every year
it comes down to a.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
Game or two.
Speaker 11 (26:30):
I could see it going anyway. But I think the
Falcons have a little bit of buzz right now and
they've got some talent and infusion of talent, and I
like it. And I really like Raheem Morris too.
Speaker 16 (26:41):
Yeah, I agree, Judy. I love everything the Falcons have done.
I think Kirk Cousins is going to be perfect there
in Atlanta and they're going to make the playoffs. But again,
I'm gonna differ with you on the division when I'm
gonna go with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who'll be taking
the division for the fourth consecutive season if they do this.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
I really like the addition of Liam Cuhen to the staff.
Speaker 16 (27:00):
I know when you lost Canalis to the divisional rivals
there that it could have been a little bit of
a setback for them.
Speaker 3 (27:07):
But you know, you bring in Cohen, who did actually.
Speaker 16 (27:10):
Work with Baker Mayfield for a hot minute in Los
Angeles back in twenty twenty two, so there's some familiarity there.
And I think they are starting to get younger in
some of the right places. I think, honestly, I think
Jaylen McMillan, Bucky Irving, these are two rookies that have
come out have a huge impact on offense.
Speaker 3 (27:26):
I think the Buccaneers defend their title this season.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
I like how we talked about six teams in this
segment rank has all of them going to the playoffs.
It's actually pretty genius. You've mentioned to not really upset
any fan base. Did he ruled out no?
Speaker 12 (27:38):
One?
Speaker 1 (27:39):
Right? Do you have all thirty two teams in this postseason?
Speaker 3 (27:42):
Tom?
Speaker 12 (27:42):
I do not.
Speaker 16 (27:43):
I pick all two hundred and fifty O. Wait's not
two hundred and fifty for any more, but it's two
seventy two.
Speaker 3 (27:48):
Or whatever it is now. I pick them all.
Speaker 16 (27:50):
So you can go find it on YouTube and you
can get mad at me and do all that stuff.
There are some fan bases, believe it or not, who
are not thrilled with me. One of them might be
in Wisconsin.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
All right, stick around, rank, We're gonna talk about your
fantasy picks in just a little bit here. But coming
up after this, let's stay with the Bucks and the
team that they face in week one. What is Todd
Bowles defense gonna see from that guy Jaydeon Daniels And
will he check out of any place he's not supposed
to throw dimes like that one to Diami Brown break
(28:21):
it down with Sarah Walls next on the Insiders.
Speaker 8 (28:30):
Folks, we are just six days away from the debut
of one of the most anticipated rookie quarterback classes that
we have seen in recent history. And you know, Caleb
Waives number one overall pick. Great, can't wait to see
him out there. But this guy like this, for my money,
this is the one that I feel like, you know,
maybe the floor is a little bit lower than Caleb
(28:52):
because of the supporting cast and the team, but this
one could be sensational. And if you are on the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as I bring in Sarah waltash joining
me here, if you are on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
or you a member of their coaching staff. You got
to be a little concerned with how you're going to
defend Jaden Daniels. You can only go based on what
they saw from Cliff Kingsbury previously as a head coach
(29:13):
in the NFL. Calling place, Sarah, it says, here, tee
up you on the game plan for the Buccaneers against Jadeen.
Speaker 1 (29:20):
They gave you the game plan?
Speaker 12 (29:21):
What is it?
Speaker 9 (29:22):
I can't wait to hear this one.
Speaker 17 (29:23):
They just opened the playbook for me and said, Sarah,
have at it. We're just letting me in all the secrets. Well,
here's it's obviously not a secret that this guy is
a dual threat quarterback. And Todd Bowles told us today
anytime that you're dealing with one of those guys, an
athlete like Daniels, he says, that's going to be a problem.
They understand that.
Speaker 9 (29:40):
Now.
Speaker 17 (29:40):
Colijah Cansey, one of the Bucks defensive linemen in his
second season expected to be a big part of this
Bucks defense, said they want to keep him in the pocket.
He said, we can't have him run all over us.
And if you know anything about a Todd Bowles defense,
it is that they pride themselves. Cansey told me on
stopping the run, that would mean not just stopping Daniels.
(30:02):
But they expect, you know, this is a Cliff Kingsbury offense.
They expect to get a healthy dose of Brian Robinson
of Austin Eckler.
Speaker 9 (30:10):
I asked, Todd, you.
Speaker 17 (30:11):
Know, bigger picture coaching changes happen in this league. We
understand that quarterback changes happen in this league. We understand that.
But what you have in this Washington team coming to
town is a team that's had all of that happen.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
So I said, how much of.
Speaker 17 (30:23):
A challenge is it preparing for a team that you
really don't know how they're going to line up, You
don't know what they're going to look like. They didn't
show stuff in the preseason, and Todd told me that
the reality is his Week one. Everything looks new to everyone.
But he did point out more than once Mike that
if people start talking about how are you going to
stop Jadan Daniels, He said, if we start focusing on
(30:43):
this guy, on this rookie, no matter how good he
might be, then there's ten other guys on that field
that are going to beat us. So we're not looking
at it as we're trying to stop Jadan and Daniels,
We're trying to stop the Washington Commanders.
Speaker 8 (30:53):
Yeah, I think if you're the Buccaneers, because one of
the questions with Jayden Daniels coming into the draft process,
and you could see it on display, there's not the
thickest guy, right can he hold up in the NFL?
So I think you want to try to be as
physical as you can possibly be. But to be physical,
you got to get close to him. In the first place,
he can get away. He can also get rid of
the ball quickly. So that's a fascinating matchup to watch.
(31:14):
Let's flip it to the other side of the ball, Sarah,
I was down with you in Tampa. Brian Baldinger was
with us, and we tried to tell the folks about
Jalen McMillan, the rookie that really was a third round pick,
but in a deep wide receiver class, really more of
a borderline first second round talent. So the Buccaneers looking
to solidify their number two and three receiver spots, tell
(31:35):
them about Jayalen McMillan.
Speaker 9 (31:36):
If they didn't listen to us.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
Enough that night, well, so here's the thing.
Speaker 17 (31:40):
This is one of the more interesting matchups, I think
in this game against Washington, because everybody knows the big
name receivers, right, So we go to the Washington side
of things, Terry McLaurin. Obviously, Daniel's going to look for
that guy after McLaurin. They got rid of Dawson this preseason,
so Commanders fans hoping Dianmi Brown steps up. There's opportunity
over there on the Buck side of things. Everyone for
a really long time now has known it is Mike Evans,
(32:02):
it is Chris Godwin. This team has lacked for a
true number three guy, and they really believe that Jalen
McMillan is that guy. They've talked about how much he's
flashed this off season. Baker trusts him implicitly. And so
I talked to McMillan today after practice and I said,
what did you do, Like, how does Baker trust you
so early on? And he was very specific and he said,
(32:24):
my third day of spring practice. I mean, this is
obviously ingrad in his head. He goes, my third day
of spring practice, we had no pads on. It was
a deep post. Baker threw me in an uncatchable ball,
And in my head he goes, I'm going to lay
out and I'm going to catch this uncatchable ball. And
he said he did, and he said, since then, every
goal of his is to just catch everything Baker has
thrown his way, and so far the reviews are that
(32:46):
he has done that. There have been rave reviews about
this guy. I said, how good if he does what
the Bucks expect him to do as the number three?
I said, how good could this receiving room be here
in Tampa. McMillan told me he believes they should be
tops in the league.
Speaker 8 (32:57):
Mike Tomorrow night on The Insiders, Sarah Walsher will be
live drafting. My fantasy draft is at seven Eastern this Tuesday.
There's nothing I can do. I couldn't bag out of
the show. Will I take Jalen McMillan in the later rounds?
Perhaps it'll be after we're off the air. Who knows.
Tune in find out. I'll see if I can deliver.
Sarah walsh always delivers. Thank you very much for joining.
Speaker 9 (33:21):
Us, folks.
Speaker 8 (33:22):
On Sunday, September eighth, NFL Red Zone returns.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
With a free preview.
Speaker 8 (33:27):
That's right, seven hours of commercial free football for free.
Watch every touchdown from every game this Sunday for free.
Go to NFL dot com Red Zone Backslize red Zone
and check your local provider for details.
Speaker 9 (33:43):
I talked about fantasy football.
Speaker 8 (33:44):
Coming up next, Adam Rank is going to join us,
and he's going to talk about this guy ceedee lamb.
He's gonna say, is he worthy of being a number
one or a number one first round pick?
Speaker 1 (33:55):
The guy can rank him.
Speaker 9 (33:56):
His name is literally Rank, Adam Rank. With that answer
coming up next to the Insiders, if I could just
spit it.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
All out, Fantasy football is back at NFL dot com
Slash fantasy to create your NFL fantasy team. All leagues
include free live scoring, instant video highlights, enhanced gameplay, and
(34:23):
exclusive features. Welcome back to the Insiders, Tom Pilicero, Mike Garofolo,
joined once again by our buddy Adam Rank, who I
have leaned on quite a bit here over the past
couple of weeks for advice in my various fantasy drafts.
So before we get ranked to some of these important
trends that you're seeing for any late drafting folks, you
(34:45):
wanna break down one of my recent snake drafts here.
Speaker 16 (34:47):
Oh, I'd love to there's Tommy's team. I like the
AJ Brown start. I think that's an overlooked player. Sometimes
I want to know a little bit more about why
you went Josh Allen. But listen, Cooper Cup. Oh my gosh,
that is a great pick, Jonathan Brooks.
Speaker 3 (35:02):
So you can put on your ir to start the season.
Speaker 16 (35:06):
Dalton Kinkaid is one of my favorite players in fantasy
this year. Dalton Kinkaid last year was second on the
Bills in targets. Now there's over two hundred targets missing
in Buffalo because Stefon Diggs Gabe Davis are both gone.
Dalton Kinkaid will end up being the number one guy.
And I know you'll be like, what about the Dawson. Listen,
Dawson Knox and Dalton k and Kate played the final
(35:26):
three games of last year, including the playoffs. Kincaid scored
him every time. So this is a good draft, Tommy.
I feel good.
Speaker 3 (35:33):
I feel like because if you don't.
Speaker 16 (35:34):
Do well, then people blame me, Like, oh, like if
your kid, you know, you got a young child that's
not doing well in school, they go and they blame
the teacher. So if you don't do well in this draft,
they come and blame me. They don't blame you.
Speaker 8 (35:46):
Rank who cares about Tom's team. I don't care about
Tom's team. I care about my team. Looking forward to
tomorrow night where I'm drafting live on the show. So
I need answers moving forward here so I can just
keep it in my brain. Ready to go here, Ceedee Lamb,
we talked about it before the break, worthy of.
Speaker 9 (36:03):
Being a first round pick. I don't know where I'm
picking the first round, just yea.
Speaker 16 (36:06):
So I need to know if your question is the
first Okay, Mike, if your question is the first round,
you might need more help.
Speaker 3 (36:12):
Than I can give you. Right here in this forty
five second clip, we're talking about the first overall pick
in the draft.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
What I meant may be the first overall pick? I
think he can you know it's what I mean.
Speaker 16 (36:23):
It's okay, It's okay, Litten. I want I don't want
to confuse with people at home smiling. Demis at home
celebrating her birthday. I want to make sure that she
knows that that I'm covering all the angles, and I
really do believe that Ceedee Lamb could be the number
one pick in your draft this season. I know the
top four consensus is typically Tyreek Kill, Ceedee Lamb, re
Reese Hall, and Christian McCaffrey. Any one of those four
(36:45):
guys is fine. Last year, Ceedee Lamb was the wide
receiver one. I don't see any reason for that to change,
even though you talked about this earlier in the show.
He was on a pitch count this this week. In practice,
he's going to be the most targeted guy in this
offense by a lot.
Speaker 17 (37:00):
Oh.
Speaker 16 (37:00):
Yes, if you want to take Ceedee Lamb with the
first overall pick, yes, first round of course, first pick.
Speaker 3 (37:07):
Easy.
Speaker 1 (37:08):
We did a wide receiver fantasy draft when I was
in in LA last week for Good Morning Football, and
if I'm not mistaken, Rank immediately got on Instagram to
comment on the graphics, saying, am I blind? Or is
Drake London not on this list? What's going on with
Drake London ranked? Because it seems like his draft positions
all over the place.
Speaker 16 (37:29):
Yeah, it's it's all over the place, like my internet connection.
So I hopefully I can make it through this break.
But yeah, you guys didn't have Drake London in your
top sixteen, which was inexcusable.
Speaker 3 (37:40):
We talked about the Falcons in the previous are two blocks.
Speaker 16 (37:42):
Ago at Judy Batista, and I think the one thing
with this this Falcons team is they bring in the
offensive system from the La Rams, the one that's you
know that Kevin O'Connell's ron, the one that that all
the coaches McVeigh and all that Shanahan, all those guys
are running. I see Drake London as being a Kirkland
version of Justin Jefferson in this offense.
Speaker 3 (38:03):
And he's a tremendous receiver and.
Speaker 16 (38:06):
I really truly believe that he should be one of
the top I don't know ten receivers off the board,
and I've seen him and it's not just you guys,
and we're not just making funny of you and Kyle
Brandt and Doc Mark, but it's also one of those
things you like. For whatever reason, there's a there's an
aversion to the Falcons players because of what happened with
Arthur Smith, that was the old quarterback.
Speaker 3 (38:28):
Kirk Cousins is good.
Speaker 16 (38:30):
Kirk Cousins has shown that he could support a player
like Drake London, so I would make sure that he's
on your high on your draft board.
Speaker 3 (38:38):
If you're in the third round and he's still there,
got a draft.
Speaker 8 (38:42):
If I'm in the third round and Christian McCaffrey is
still there, I'm gonna say, are people that concerned about
his calf injury?
Speaker 12 (38:48):
Like?
Speaker 9 (38:49):
What are we doing at that point? So let's talk
about a guy in McCaffrey who's likely going to go
a lot earlier.
Speaker 8 (38:54):
But how like, how concerned are you? This calf injury
can be a nagging thing. We saw with the with
Joe Burrow, We've seen it from other guys.
Speaker 9 (39:01):
How concerned are you?
Speaker 16 (39:02):
I think there's a lot of factors with Christian McCaffrey
that are giving people some consternation in their fantasy drafts.
It's not only the caf injury, but it's also the
situation with Trent Williams, Like what is going to happen there?
Because we saw last season when Trent Williams is not playing,
this offense is completely different. Christian McCaffrey's numbers went down,
Rock Purty didn't look as good, and of course it
(39:23):
was a small sample side, so I think it was
like two full games half of a third one. But
I still believe there's too much talent there.
Speaker 3 (39:30):
They're going to figure it out.
Speaker 16 (39:30):
You have one of the brightest minds coaching this team.
Christian McCaffrey. At worst should be the third pick in
the draft. I understand people who want to make a change,
try something new. Breecee Hall was the running back to
last year, so if you wanted to go back to that,
Ceede Lamb. We talked about, that's fine. No worse than third.
Don't get crazy, don't overthink it. It's Christian McCaffery.
Speaker 1 (39:53):
For the record rank. The Josh Allen pick came from
me hearing one of you guys on Fantasy Live say
Josh Allen has been the lead Fantasy scorer three of
the last four years. I also knew I wanted to
target Dalton Kincaid, so a little bit of a backdoor stack.
There is Leil Shakira as well.
Speaker 16 (40:09):
I feel good about it. We see how this thing.
You know what, Tom, I apologize I didn't give you
enough credit for that stack. That's one of my favorite stacks.
I also like doing that with Kyler Murray and uh
and Trey McBride. I think is a pretty good one.
Great job, great job.
Speaker 3 (40:26):
With what you did there.
Speaker 1 (40:27):
Yeah, it was really good. Yeah, we'll come back to
this when I finished dead last place here. Thank you
very much.
Speaker 16 (40:32):
Rik.
Speaker 1 (40:32):
We'll talk to you again soon coming up on the
other side of this break. No, Tom Brady isn't playing
right now. He's not playing. Pretty sure, pretty confident. There's
still Tom Brady stories, though, we'll get to one after
this on The Insiders. Tom Brady just six days away
(40:52):
from his broadcasting debut on CBS. He's got the Cowboys
at Cleveland game, and he had some reminiscing to do
about how he was preparing during his playing career recently
on his YouTube channel.
Speaker 9 (41:07):
I basically kept every call sheet, scouting report from every
game that I played by season in real time.
Speaker 3 (41:14):
You wonder who I picked twenty sixteen, my.
Speaker 8 (41:16):
First game back at Cleveland, which happens to be my
first game as a broadcaster.
Speaker 1 (41:23):
This reminds me of when I did a story with
Mike McCarthy during his year away before he became the
Cowboys head coach. He had kept every single game plan
going all the way back to the late eighties at
Pitt and then the early nineties in Kansait. He actually
donated boxes and boxes them to this Packers Hall of
fame where they now keep them in chronological order. So
(41:46):
Tom Brady not alone in this judy. But do you
have any similar type of hoarding characteristics?
Speaker 11 (41:52):
I do not, but I can tell you that Kenny Albert,
who I talked to about broadcasting NFL games, Kenny Albert
keeps all of his research boards that he has in
the booth with him. He's kept them all throughout his career.
Don't forget he also calls hockey. So Kenny Albert may
have a hoarding.
Speaker 12 (42:11):
Story of two.
Speaker 9 (42:11):
I do not.
Speaker 8 (42:13):
I went to Baltimore Ravens camp last year and the
media relations department they were very they were sticklers about,
like make sure you return your pet. We need the
pass when you So I leave, they call me and
they say, well, we're missing one. I said, well, I
gave you mine. It must have been rapaports. I call
Ian and Ian goes, yeah, I keep every media pass
I've ever been given. Sorry, Baltimore Ravens media relations department
(42:35):
like flat out admitted that he stole the pass that
they wanted back.
Speaker 9 (42:38):
That's that's a hoarding tendency.
Speaker 11 (42:40):
I left with mine this year and I felt really bad.
I had a can of soul.
Speaker 1 (42:43):
In color, Oh, the bull of media credentials. I got
problems as well. This is gonna take a while to
clean up tomorrow
The season is six days away for the Bengals, and
Zach Taylor said it's still day to day, but Tamar
Chase has spent another day on the sideline. We'll tell
you when the ice could break. In Cincinnati, Ceedee Lambs
showed up after getting his megadeal from the Cowboys here
from coach Mike McCarthy about how much his star wide
receiver could play in their opener Sunday in Cleveland. Meanwhile,
(00:28):
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert continues to ramp up after his
foot injury during camp. We'll show you what exactly Herbert
is doing now. We kind of do it all right here.
Welcome inside with the insiders alongside Judy Bautista and Mike Garafollo.
I am Tom Pelisero. Three days. That's all we've got, guys.
(00:51):
Seventy two hours from right now, the players will be
on the field in Kansas City for the opener, kicking
off of initially the twenty twenty four regular season. There's
a lot to talk about in that game, and well
beyond a even matchup between the Ravens and the Chiefs,
it features a couple of MVPs and the King as well.
(01:14):
Pushed around. I think that's the biggest thing.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Whenever you play teams like this, you want to make
sure you match their physicality. And so we're fast and
we got guys that run around, but we prought ourselves
and being physical as well. So it's gonna be a
great challenge.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Man.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
We're playing best of the best football team week one.
I mean, you can't ask for anything better to go
out there and see where you're at and how training
camp and the off season's paid off.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Yeah, we was close.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
It was close, but we got to get back where
we was and like I always say, finish, but it starts.
We won to start Thursday night.
Speaker 5 (01:44):
I was which I can suit up that day watching
that game. But yeah, but now it's my turn, so
you know, gotta take advantage of it. It's gonna be
hell of a game.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
You know.
Speaker 5 (01:54):
Chiefs are always tough. They start of them all on
all three teams, So a lot in this week to
be able to execute on Thursday.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
Some news today for the two time defending champions Clyde
Edwards e layer their former first round draft picked landing
on the reserved non football illness of that means that
Edwards Laire be out for the first four games, that
game Thursday night. Then on Friday, we're adding to South Paulo, Brazil. Well,
not us specifically, Jane Slater is there. She'll join us
(02:26):
on the show tomorrow. But the Eagles and the Packers
playing a little a little name games right there with
amor and is that Machuka Machuca must be Hurts uh
in Portuguese. Uh, I don't know that. That's a tough
transition off of there. Okay, Hurts, It's I get it.
(02:48):
I get everything here. Let's talk about the Bengals, shall we?
A guy? We're not certain we'll be out there in
week one? Oh? Actually, first, why don't we just play
some some south from jail and Hurts?
Speaker 4 (03:00):
I think it's a so what's in a lifetime opportunity,
something to be very excited about, you know, the international
stage in Brazil. From what I've heard, it's a very
amazing place, beautiful place in a very very passionate, passionate
place as well when it comes to sports and and
their fans, and so I'm excited to get a taste
(03:21):
of that.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Yeah, it does.
Speaker 6 (03:23):
I think a lot more confidence from the whole team,
you know, offenseve I feel like we're a really good point.
We had a good training camp and now I think
we're ready to start the season. So I'm very excited
about it. But I think definitely just having more confidence
under your belt, having new reps, and just just trusting
yourself a lot more. And I think the message this
year is versus go out and start fast, you know,
(03:44):
not not have any late season runs. You know, start
out fast and you know, kind of put people on
notice for what we're gonna do this year and what
we're gonna be about.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
But I said, Jamar Chase still doing that, not worrying
a football uniform practice a couple of times last week,
then pulled himself out again, Zach Taylor, you got any
answers for us yet?
Speaker 7 (04:06):
We'll just take a day to day. Yeah, we're always ready.
You know, there's always injuries and things you got to
deal with, so we're adapt with that.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
Jamar has loved you do a full sat.
Speaker 7 (04:17):
I mean it's impossible for me to say with one
hundred percent conviction, but I feel good about the shape
that he's in.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Zach certainly sounds enthusiastic Mike to still be answering these
Jamar Chase questions six days away from their opener against
the Patriots. We know this much, Jamar Chase definitely wants
a new contract. What is the status right now of
those negotiations and Chase for week one?
Speaker 8 (04:39):
Yeah, Zach Tayler's going to try to stay patient on
this one because he doesn't want to throw Jamar Chase
under the bus here. That's only going to upset him further.
But this is not something you want to be dealing
with week one. It's kind of like the forty nine
ers in the Brandon Ayuk situation when they finally cut
down to fifty three and it's like, Okay, you did
the whole hold in.
Speaker 9 (04:56):
We let it happen.
Speaker 8 (04:57):
But now we're getting ready for the regular season. Now
we need you out there the practicing. And they worked
out that situation. This one obviously has not been worked out.
So the answer that Zach Taylor gave like, yeah, I
can't tell you for sure if he's in football shape,
but I'm confident where he is, because again, if he
says yeah, I'm really worried about it because he hasn't
been out there practicing when he should. Again, that's only
going to further anger Jamar cha so at this point
(05:18):
he's trying to play the little political game and work
both sides here.
Speaker 9 (05:22):
But because this team's trying to get something done.
Speaker 8 (05:25):
But for reasons that we have discussed that haven't changed,
this is a complicated one because there's two years left
on his deal, whereas there was one year left for
Justin Jefferson and Cdee Lamb. This one makes it a
lot harder for you to do this deal to satisfy
a player who is looking for top dollars, So now
we are up against it. We talked about this one
Judy potentially being right up against the wire of the
(05:48):
start of the season, which would be Saturday, which is
when we often see some deals get done. But if
he's not practicing all week, that's something you don't want
to have to deal with in week one if you're
a head coach, regardless of who you're playing.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
Side of this matchup, we've got Jacoby Brissett making the
start for the Newngland Patriots, despite the fact that Girod
Mayo said he himself that Drake may had outplayed Brissett
during the course of the preseason. Mayo was asked about
that decision again today.
Speaker 10 (06:16):
Ultimately it was my decision to put who I thought
gave us the who I think gives us the best
chance to win football games. And hopefully you guys got
it last week. We're one hundred percent behind Jacoby. He
can't think about what's in the rearview mirror. He has
to be ready to drive this thing forward. And I
made sure that he understood that he has the full
full support of not only his teammates, but also the
(06:36):
organization for him to go out there and perform at
the level that we know he can.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
So Judy, on one hand, you've got a Bengals team
that certainly has high expectations publicly in the media, with fans,
with everybody else for their season. On the flip side
of that, you've got a Patriots team that the expectations
have not been lower there in like a quarter century.
When you hear Mayo talking about what do you anticipate
we're going to see from these Patriots out of the gate, well.
Speaker 11 (07:05):
I think they might have a rough go of it,
not only because Jacoby Brissett was outplayed by Drake may
in the preseason, but because part of the reason why
Jacoby Brissett is going to be the starter is because
the offensive line has been an issue all summer. It
was an issue during the preseason games. It's going to
potentially be a liability throughout the season, which is part
(07:26):
of the reason why you want a veteran quarterback there
whose decision making is presumably still a little bit quicker
than the rookies. You don't want Drake may back there
holding onto the football too long because that offensive line
simply can't hold up. That's not great news when you
are facing somebody like Trey hendrickson, which they're going to
be facing in Week one. If you remember, the problem
(07:48):
with the Bengals defense last year was giving up explosive plays. Frankly,
that is probably not going to be an issue when
you face the Patriots because that wide receiver room simply
does not have the kind of explosives playmakers that gave
the Bengals issues last season. So I think what we're
going to see from the Patriots is Jacoby Brissett going
(08:08):
out there getting rid of the ball really quickly. They
would like to be able to run the ball to
keep the pass rush back because that offensive line is
again going to be an issue no matter who the
quarterback is. One thing to keep in mind. They have
a very, very difficult first half of the schedule. The
first eight weeks for the Patriots are really a murderer's
(08:28):
row of teams. If they are going to put Drake
May in at any point, you have to think it
would be towards the back end of the season when
the toughest opponents are.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Already out of the way, staying in the AFC North. Here,
the Browns also open up at home. They get the
Cowboys coming in. Yes, it's the first Tom Brady announcer game.
There's a lot of other storylines though, including Ceedee Lamb
taking the field for the first time since he signed
a four year, one hundred and twenty million dollar contract
extension ending his holdout last week. So exactly how much
(09:02):
are we going to see CD this week in practice
and come Sunday.
Speaker 12 (09:05):
Mike McCarthy, see, he's always been on top of his,
you know, his game as far as conditioning, and you
can you could tell he's he where his commitment uh
was this offseason. So he's you know, he's he's bigger, stronger.
So but yeah, we got we have a number each
day that we want to hit. So you know, he
(09:27):
wanted to go all you know, full bore, you know,
in the practice Thursday, but you know, we had him
on a on a pitch count, so we have a
number to day that we want to hit.
Speaker 3 (09:37):
So we'll continue.
Speaker 12 (09:39):
We feel you know, they'll give us what five six
practices to get him ready, So I feel like we'll
be where we need to be by.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
The end of the week.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Mike. I feel like for a team that's won twelve
games three years in a row. We have talked about
everything with the Dallas Cowboys except hey, is it possible
these guys are going to be really good again in
twenty twenty four. They got the Ceedee Lamb thing out
of the way. We'll see if they can make progress
on Dak Prescott's contract extension prior to the start of
the season here. But to the extent that people like
(10:10):
to manufacture doubters, there are a ton of doubters about
a Dallas team that's going in and taking on a
brown squad that got to the playoffs here ago.
Speaker 8 (10:19):
And this could be a statement game because there's questions
about did they do enough really on both sides of
the balla did they do enough, particularly on offense. This offseason,
and they can make that statement against a really good
defense in the Cleveland Browns, and you see Ceedee Lamb
and you heard what Mike McCarthy is saying. It just
sounds like it's a ramp up because there's no reason
to push it hard, to get it all the way
(10:40):
because this is a guy that they trust and did
trust while he was away from the team as part
of that holdout that they did trust that he was
going to be ready and didn't necessarily need those reps.
Would they have liked to have had him, sure, absolutely,
So that trust has extended into this as I'll continue
to call it a ramp up period because that's the
(11:00):
kind of confidence that they have both in his mental
and physical readiness for a Week one, Yeah, full go.
I would expect that to be the case on Sunday
against the Cleveland Browns.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
Another good one in Week one it is the Dolphins
against the Jaguars. Miami got a couple of its key
weapons back on the field today, Tyreek Hill Jalen Wattle
both returning to practice. I like we still got waddle
undisclosed because they've never said anything besides soft tissue. They
will have to release an injury report come Wednesday, will
find out what's ailing jail and Wattle. It doesn't sound
(11:32):
like much of a concern for him, and Tyreek Hill
is really fired up about this offense.
Speaker 13 (11:37):
We all excited.
Speaker 14 (11:38):
Man.
Speaker 13 (11:39):
We got a lot of weapons, a lot of playmakers
on this team.
Speaker 8 (11:42):
Man.
Speaker 13 (11:42):
So everybody's you know, on the very edge edge of
their seats, man, you know, just waiting for for this moment.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
You know.
Speaker 13 (11:52):
I think these three days that you know we had
off all I could think about, you know, was just
you know, lining up playing, you know, alongside of the guys,
you know, offense. So I'm very excited, man, Like every
year is another opportunity, man, like to win games and
you know, create memories, man like with you know, a
great group of guys, and you said it like, this
(12:14):
is our best team that we done has since we've
been here. So what the time to be alive? Man,
be a Dolphins fan.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Miami also announced it's captains earlier today. That is a
lot of captains. Was about your active roster right there,
but Tyreek Hill is one of those captains once again
for the Dolphins. Maybe just do a graphic of the
guys who aren't captains on the team Judy for this
(12:41):
Dolphins team. It's always fun to watch in my mind
when everybody on a team kind of got their their
money during the course fan offseason. Tyreek course got his
contract justin, but Tua got paid, Jalen Walla got a
new deal, Mike McDaniel got a contract extension as well.
It all seems to point toward this being a team
that they think is in their window in twenty twenty four.
(13:02):
But they'll push over a Week one against Jacksonville.
Speaker 11 (13:05):
Not a pushover, although we know that when this offense
is healthy, which apparently it's going to be now we've
seen what they can do when everybody is on the
field together. It's crazy, explosive, lots of motion, lots of fun.
It's really great to watch. Here is something to keep
an eye on, and this is going to sound familiar.
Keep an eye on the offensive line for the Miami Dolphins,
(13:26):
because that's a little bit of a muddle this summer.
There have been some injuries, they haven't practiced much together.
There's probably going to be some backups who are forced
into the starting lineup for Week one, so the offensive
line could be an issue, and that is no small thing.
When you're facing the Jaguars who have an edge rushing
duo that had twenty seven and a half sacks last
year that led the NFL for duo. So that is
(13:50):
something to keep an eye on. Chris Career, the general
management was asked about it last week and he said,
every year, you guys say it's not good enough, it's
not good enough about the offensive line, and he said,
and we've had a really good offense, so you know whatever,
but we will see first. You got to see that
offensive line come together, and they have not been together
much during the summer.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
We've also goten updates on one of the scary situations
that we've seen in recent NFL history over the weekend.
The forty Narrows first round draft pick wide receiver Ricky
Pearsall shot in an attempted armed robbery in San Francisco
on Saturday. He was released from the hospital on Sunday
after being shot through the chest, no surgery required. He
(14:34):
was placed on the non football injury list today, which
means he will miss at least the first four games
while he continues to recover. Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert is
expected to be out there in Week one after dealing
for most of camp with a plantar fascia industry injury.
Our Omar Ruiz has been around that team. He'll tell
(14:56):
you exactly expect to see from Herbert come week one
after this on the Insiders, All.
Speaker 8 (15:09):
Right, there you go, right there, justin Herbert working his
way back in practice as he gets ready for week one.
The goal was that he would be ready for week
one after dealing with that planner fascia injury that sidelined
him for a couple of weeks during training camp. He
will get a chance to show the world if he
is ready to go fully against the Raiders this coming
(15:31):
Sunday as the Jim Harbaugh Era with Los Angeles kicks off.
Omar Ruiz now joining Judy Bautista and myself Mike Garofalo
to preview this matchup.
Speaker 9 (15:41):
Omar, this is something that from my.
Speaker 8 (15:43):
Understanding, Herbert's gonna have to deal with, maybe all season long,
but definitely for the early part of the season.
Speaker 9 (15:50):
So what's your understanding of his progress?
Speaker 8 (15:53):
And the GM on the other side of this game
is the former GM of the Chargers, Tom Telesco, knows
pretty well what her can do if he's fully healthy.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Yeah, no question about that.
Speaker 15 (16:03):
Mike Chargers by most accounts talking to people in the
organization that Justin Herbert has looked fantastic in a couple
weeks since he came back after taking those two weeks
off to deal with the Planner Fascia injury. And you can,
like you alluded to Tom Tellesco, the Raiders general manager,
former general manager as recently as last year of the
Chargers drafted Justin Herbert, and I remember talking to Telesco
(16:25):
during training camp shortly after the news came out that
Herbert was dealing with this injury.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
Knows how tough he is.
Speaker 15 (16:31):
Obviously was a part of that sixty two game starting
streak for Justin Herbert over his career, dealing with those
rib injuries and hand injuries and everything that he fought
through to still play at an elite level. So the
Raiders obviously expecting to see the best version of Justin
Herbert on Sunday. Greg Rohman saying he's not sure how
to evaluate the offense from where it is right now
(16:52):
to where it could be or should be, had Justin
Herbert not missed that time, but certainly we'll find out
on Sunday. But there is a sense of urgency with
the Chargers. Obviously, the offense didn't look too good in
the preseason without Justin Herbert. They traded for Taylor Heineke,
who is now part of that quarterback room, and Jim
Harbaugh saying he had a revelation in dealing with the
quarterback situation and that they cannot coach the other quarterbacks
(17:15):
like they coach Justin Herbert. He's six six, two hundred
and forty pounds, can have two guys draped on him
and can still throw forty yards downfield on a dime.
The way he reads defenses, the throws he all the
different throws he can make, how he does his footwork.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
They cannot do that with the other quarterbacks.
Speaker 15 (17:30):
And he said it's almost like they have to have
two different game plans going in each week for the
other quarterbacks and one for Justin Herbert, just in case
something were to happen for Justin Herbert. Obviously they hope
they don't have to resort to that, but sort of
game planning for that, justin case that were to happen.
Speaker 11 (17:46):
All right, omar let's stay in Los Angeles because Sunday
Night Football the first one of the season is a
dooozy Rams at Lions. This is a rematch of the
wild card game from last season that the Rams lost
by one point, and Quinton Lake had some interesting thoughts
about what this game might mean to them.
Speaker 15 (18:04):
Yeah, newly named captain for the defense of the Rams,
Quintin Lake, third year dB, was saying, if they had
any regrets from that game in January that ended their
season at Ford Field against the Lions, this is an
opportunity to make good on those regrets.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
If there's any.
Speaker 15 (18:20):
Plays that they wish they could take back, this is
an opportunity to essentially right those wrongs. It's the rams
other newly named defensive captain, second year pass rusher Kobe
Turner along the defensive front, who defensive coordinator Chris Shula
told me is one of the smartest players he's ever
been around, and Sula telling me that this is going
(18:41):
to be the formula for the Rams defensive success. Obviously
a lot of young players up front, some veterans in
the back end, but it's a lot of high level
football IQ guys that above the neck mentality. They're going
to play relentlessly hard. They're going to try to play
mistake free football, and that's what they'll take into Detroit.
Shula saying at the Lions offense, not much changes to
(19:03):
their personnel, so they know they're gonna get what they're
gonna typically get from the Lions. Ben Johnson, of course
gonna have some wrinkles in there, but they'll use that
intelligence to adjust for those wrinkles against the Detroit Lions.
And there you see the captains there, Kurt Turner on
the right, Lake on the left, and Shila telling me
that he even went to Sean McVay and said, hey,
(19:23):
these guys are young. Should we pull them aside and
sort of give them some pointers on how to be
captains here in their second and third years respectively, And
mcphay said, no, they're gonna figure it out. They're gonna
lead their own way. Just because Aaron Donald's not there anymore,
and just because they were under Aaron Donald for a
couple of years there, they don't have to. They can
lead how they are gonna lead, and that's what they've
(19:43):
done the last several days, last several weeks and asserting
that leadership. So there are a lot of trust in those guys,
a lot of trust in that defense, and they'll go
to Detroit with a lot of confidence. On Sunday night.
Speaker 9 (19:54):
Quentin Lake, friend of the program, had a great visit
with us this offseason.
Speaker 8 (19:58):
Look forward to speaking with him again once he has
even greater accomplishments on the field, which could be coming
in his near future. Looking forward to this game, looking
forward to more visits from Omar Ruiz throughout.
Speaker 9 (20:10):
The regular season here on the Insiders, Thank you Omar.
Speaker 8 (20:14):
Look, we can play out the season and you can
see what happens along the way. Or if you just
tune in next for Adam Rank and Judy taking you
through who the division winners are gonna be. Adam Rank
never ever, ever wrong when it comes to predictions.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
I don't think.
Speaker 9 (20:27):
Try to remember.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
Jacket in ten nine years up three nine Perdy gonna
throw a.
Speaker 9 (20:38):
Double pass back to Juwan Jennings.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
I'll throw it back across the field of mccaprick.
Speaker 14 (20:43):
See six points on a trick, playing a move, put
a chances has got the football. That's a San Francisco
seventeen yard line.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
Holmes Franks for the inside.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
Touchdod Purdy back throws.
Speaker 14 (20:58):
Touchdown Lord the Savior, Juwan Jenny's the pat is blocked
by Kansas City and a field goal could tie the game.
Mahons crosser Kelsey thirty yard line twenty five just hit
the twenty fifteen out of bounds at the San Francisco
ten yard line.
Speaker 9 (21:14):
Bunder's kick is perfect and we are headed to overtime.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
Acamprick comes in motion.
Speaker 14 (21:20):
They fink the jettahem pretty throws it hot and throw
over throws.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
His receiver incomplete twenty seven yard field.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Golphin building man, It's snoody and in forty nine years lead.
Speaker 9 (21:29):
Then they throw it to Kelsey on the screen, breaks.
Speaker 14 (21:31):
One tackle, He's tast on his feet inside the five.
It's a first down for Kansas City and goal to go.
McKinnon has in a running back first down of goal
to go, play action.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
Fake right two to down.
Speaker 14 (21:43):
There is a back to back Super Bowl champions and
it is the Kansas City Chiefs.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
So that's how the twenty twenty three season ended. Who
comes out on top in twenty twenty four? Well are
Judy Battista Adam Rank? They agreed on some of the divisions.
Here four of last year's division winners. The Chiefs were
picked unanimously by everybody at NFL Dot com one mild surprise,
and there they got. The Eagles win the NFC East.
But Judy and Adam do not agree on everything. If
(22:17):
they did, well, we probably wouldn't do this segment. Welcome
back to the Insiders, Tom Pilitzer with Judy and Adam. Judy,
let's start with you here. The AFC East a fascinating division.
Who do you have coming out on top?
Speaker 11 (22:32):
I am all in on the New York Jets. They
are all in to try to win the Super Bowl.
I am all in on this effort. This is really
tightly bunched though with Miami and Buffalo, but I think
the Jets have the better roster of those three. Brice
Hall is healthy, the offensive line has improved, it's a
better stable of wide receivers, It's a top five defense.
I would feel better if Hasan Reddick was there already.
(22:54):
And of course this guy, Aaron Rodgers, who has looked
terrific this summer. I think that the Jets are going
to win this division, and I could actually see them
making a little run for the playoffs too.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
Now I would agree with Judy.
Speaker 16 (23:07):
I do have the New York Jets going to the playoffs,
but I'm going to differ a little bit with who
wins the division.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
I'm gonna go with the Miami Dolphins, who.
Speaker 16 (23:14):
Will be ending a streak of fifteen consecutive seasons without
an AFC East title. The Dolphins have made the playoffs
in back to back.
Speaker 3 (23:22):
Seasons with Mike McDaniel.
Speaker 16 (23:24):
As a matter of fact, the Dolphins were in first
place heading into Week eighteen, but loss of the Buffalo
Bills and they forceeeded to now lose Christian Wilkins during
the offseason. But they've added some depth at the position.
They brought in Kalais Campbell, who's a huge vibes guy.
But Anthony Weaver comes in as the defensive coordinator. He
comes from the Baltimore Ravens and he's already drawing rave reviews.
(23:44):
And I think they need to get a little meaner.
And this was something that Tyreek Kill was talking about.
I believe the Dolphins respond this year and win the division.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
Out in Buffalo. Sean mcdermotch has clipped off that portion
of the segment right there. You'll be showing that to
the team for motivation.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
All right.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
How about the NFC judy a very competitive division. A
year ago, Lions certainly a strong team that the Packers
one of the best teams the second half of the year.
Who do you got coming out on top?
Speaker 11 (24:09):
Yeah, this is a much tougher division this year on paper,
at least than it has been in a long time.
But I still have the Detroit Lions prevailing. They won
twelve games last year with a pretty young roster and
some obvious holes. The holes theoretically have been patched, and
now those young players have a year of experience, and
you still have that guy, Jarret Coff. This team came
oh so close to going to the Super Bowl last year.
(24:33):
I don't think any of us would be surprised if
they come out of the NFC and go to the
Super Bowl this year. But my pick in the NFC
North is still the Detroit Lions.
Speaker 16 (24:43):
And like Judy, I also have the Detroit Lions making
the playoffs. I think that's a very good team. I
won't take anything away from them, but I have to
say something about the Chicago Bears, who are going to
be my pick.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
Now.
Speaker 16 (24:54):
A lot of people when they look at the Bears,
they get confused. They think because they had the number
one zero all selection, they weren't very good last year,
but they won seven games.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
They had three games in which.
Speaker 16 (25:06):
They lost fourth quarter leads where they had over a
ninety percent chance of winning. You hope they can go
out there and clean that up. They were quick to
add guys like Keenan Allen, DeAndre Swift and of course
Caleb Williams. And I know a lot of people have
said before like, oh, we've seen the Bears in this situation.
You have it because Caleb Williams comes in for the
first time that I can remember with a young Bears
(25:28):
quarterback that doesn't have a veteran that he has to
compete with. Mitch Trubisky had to deal with Mike Glennon,
Justin Fields had to.
Speaker 3 (25:35):
Deal with Nick Foles and Andy Dalton. They have done
a great job.
Speaker 16 (25:40):
This is a new organization. I'm gonna take the Bears
in this one. Not surprisingly, I understand.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
If you had a Mike Glennon reference on your rank, Bingo, Carr,
go ahead and put down the chip right there. All right,
One more here, Judy. The NFC South gets kicked around,
probably more than any division in the NFL. There is
some excitement though, there's some new faces. Do you get
coming on top?
Speaker 9 (26:01):
Yeah?
Speaker 11 (26:02):
This was a coin flip for me between the Falcons
and the Bucks, and ultimately I went with the Falcons.
And here's why not just Kirk Cousins, who is one
of those new faces, the biggest new face in the division,
but what the Falcons did late in the summer Matthew
Judan and Justin Simmons to shore up that defense. I
really like those moves. I think this is a more
(26:22):
complete team. This is such a close division every year
it comes down to a.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
Game or two.
Speaker 11 (26:30):
I could see it going anyway. But I think the
Falcons have a little bit of buzz right now and
they've got some talent and infusion of talent, and I
like it. And I really like Raheem Morris too.
Speaker 16 (26:41):
Yeah, I agree, Judy. I love everything the Falcons have done.
I think Kirk Cousins is going to be perfect there
in Atlanta and they're going to make the playoffs. But again,
I'm gonna differ with you on the division when I'm
gonna go with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who'll be taking
the division for the fourth consecutive season if they do this.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
I really like the addition of Liam Cuhen to the staff.
Speaker 16 (27:00):
I know when you lost Canalis to the divisional rivals
there that it could have been a little bit of
a setback for them.
Speaker 3 (27:07):
But you know, you bring in Cohen, who did actually.
Speaker 16 (27:10):
Work with Baker Mayfield for a hot minute in Los
Angeles back in twenty twenty two, so there's some familiarity there.
And I think they are starting to get younger in
some of the right places. I think, honestly, I think
Jaylen McMillan, Bucky Irving, these are two rookies that have
come out have a huge impact on offense.
Speaker 3 (27:26):
I think the Buccaneers defend their title this season.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
I like how we talked about six teams in this
segment rank has all of them going to the playoffs.
It's actually pretty genius. You've mentioned to not really upset
any fan base. Did he ruled out no?
Speaker 12 (27:38):
One?
Speaker 1 (27:39):
Right? Do you have all thirty two teams in this postseason?
Speaker 3 (27:42):
Tom?
Speaker 12 (27:42):
I do not.
Speaker 16 (27:43):
I pick all two hundred and fifty O. Wait's not
two hundred and fifty for any more, but it's two
seventy two.
Speaker 3 (27:48):
Or whatever it is now. I pick them all.
Speaker 16 (27:50):
So you can go find it on YouTube and you
can get mad at me and do all that stuff.
There are some fan bases, believe it or not, who
are not thrilled with me. One of them might be
in Wisconsin.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
All right, stick around, rank, We're gonna talk about your
fantasy picks in just a little bit here. But coming
up after this, let's stay with the Bucks and the
team that they face in week one. What is Todd
Bowles defense gonna see from that guy Jaydeon Daniels And
will he check out of any place he's not supposed
to throw dimes like that one to Diami Brown break
(28:21):
it down with Sarah Walls next on the Insiders.
Speaker 8 (28:30):
Folks, we are just six days away from the debut
of one of the most anticipated rookie quarterback classes that
we have seen in recent history. And you know, Caleb
Waives number one overall pick. Great, can't wait to see
him out there. But this guy like this, for my money,
this is the one that I feel like, you know,
maybe the floor is a little bit lower than Caleb
(28:52):
because of the supporting cast and the team, but this
one could be sensational. And if you are on the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as I bring in Sarah waltash joining
me here, if you are on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
or you a member of their coaching staff. You got
to be a little concerned with how you're going to
defend Jaden Daniels. You can only go based on what
they saw from Cliff Kingsbury previously as a head coach
(29:13):
in the NFL. Calling place, Sarah, it says, here, tee
up you on the game plan for the Buccaneers against Jadeen.
Speaker 1 (29:20):
They gave you the game plan?
Speaker 12 (29:21):
What is it?
Speaker 9 (29:22):
I can't wait to hear this one.
Speaker 17 (29:23):
They just opened the playbook for me and said, Sarah,
have at it. We're just letting me in all the secrets. Well,
here's it's obviously not a secret that this guy is
a dual threat quarterback. And Todd Bowles told us today
anytime that you're dealing with one of those guys, an
athlete like Daniels, he says, that's going to be a problem.
They understand that.
Speaker 9 (29:40):
Now.
Speaker 17 (29:40):
Colijah Cansey, one of the Bucks defensive linemen in his
second season expected to be a big part of this
Bucks defense, said they want to keep him in the pocket.
He said, we can't have him run all over us.
And if you know anything about a Todd Bowles defense,
it is that they pride themselves. Cansey told me on
stopping the run, that would mean not just stopping Daniels.
(30:02):
But they expect, you know, this is a Cliff Kingsbury offense.
They expect to get a healthy dose of Brian Robinson
of Austin Eckler.
Speaker 9 (30:10):
I asked, Todd, you.
Speaker 17 (30:11):
Know, bigger picture coaching changes happen in this league. We
understand that quarterback changes happen in this league. We understand that.
But what you have in this Washington team coming to
town is a team that's had all of that happen.
Speaker 1 (30:22):
So I said, how much of.
Speaker 17 (30:23):
A challenge is it preparing for a team that you
really don't know how they're going to line up, You
don't know what they're going to look like. They didn't
show stuff in the preseason, and Todd told me that
the reality is his Week one. Everything looks new to everyone.
But he did point out more than once Mike that
if people start talking about how are you going to
stop Jadan Daniels, He said, if we start focusing on
(30:43):
this guy, on this rookie, no matter how good he
might be, then there's ten other guys on that field
that are going to beat us. So we're not looking
at it as we're trying to stop Jadan and Daniels,
We're trying to stop the Washington Commanders.
Speaker 8 (30:53):
Yeah, I think if you're the Buccaneers, because one of
the questions with Jayden Daniels coming into the draft process,
and you could see it on display, there's not the
thickest guy, right can he hold up in the NFL?
So I think you want to try to be as
physical as you can possibly be. But to be physical,
you got to get close to him. In the first place,
he can get away. He can also get rid of
the ball quickly. So that's a fascinating matchup to watch.
(31:14):
Let's flip it to the other side of the ball, Sarah,
I was down with you in Tampa. Brian Baldinger was
with us, and we tried to tell the folks about
Jalen McMillan, the rookie that really was a third round pick,
but in a deep wide receiver class, really more of
a borderline first second round talent. So the Buccaneers looking
to solidify their number two and three receiver spots, tell
(31:35):
them about Jayalen McMillan.
Speaker 9 (31:36):
If they didn't listen to us.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
Enough that night, well, so here's the thing.
Speaker 17 (31:40):
This is one of the more interesting matchups, I think
in this game against Washington, because everybody knows the big
name receivers, right, So we go to the Washington side
of things, Terry McLaurin. Obviously, Daniel's going to look for
that guy after McLaurin. They got rid of Dawson this preseason,
so Commanders fans hoping Dianmi Brown steps up. There's opportunity
over there on the Buck side of things. Everyone for
a really long time now has known it is Mike Evans,
(32:02):
it is Chris Godwin. This team has lacked for a
true number three guy, and they really believe that Jalen
McMillan is that guy. They've talked about how much he's
flashed this off season. Baker trusts him implicitly. And so
I talked to McMillan today after practice and I said,
what did you do, Like, how does Baker trust you
so early on? And he was very specific and he said,
(32:24):
my third day of spring practice. I mean, this is
obviously ingrad in his head. He goes, my third day
of spring practice, we had no pads on. It was
a deep post. Baker threw me in an uncatchable ball,
And in my head he goes, I'm going to lay
out and I'm going to catch this uncatchable ball. And
he said he did, and he said, since then, every
goal of his is to just catch everything Baker has
thrown his way, and so far the reviews are that
(32:46):
he has done that. There have been rave reviews about
this guy. I said, how good if he does what
the Bucks expect him to do as the number three?
I said, how good could this receiving room be here
in Tampa. McMillan told me he believes they should be
tops in the league.
Speaker 8 (32:57):
Mike Tomorrow night on The Insiders, Sarah Walsher will be
live drafting. My fantasy draft is at seven Eastern this Tuesday.
There's nothing I can do. I couldn't bag out of
the show. Will I take Jalen McMillan in the later rounds?
Perhaps it'll be after we're off the air. Who knows.
Tune in find out. I'll see if I can deliver.
Sarah walsh always delivers. Thank you very much for joining.
Speaker 9 (33:21):
Us, folks.
Speaker 8 (33:22):
On Sunday, September eighth, NFL Red Zone returns.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
With a free preview.
Speaker 8 (33:27):
That's right, seven hours of commercial free football for free.
Watch every touchdown from every game this Sunday for free.
Go to NFL dot com Red Zone Backslize red Zone
and check your local provider for details.
Speaker 9 (33:43):
I talked about fantasy football.
Speaker 8 (33:44):
Coming up next, Adam Rank is going to join us,
and he's going to talk about this guy ceedee lamb.
He's gonna say, is he worthy of being a number
one or a number one first round pick?
Speaker 1 (33:55):
The guy can rank him.
Speaker 9 (33:56):
His name is literally Rank, Adam Rank. With that answer
coming up next to the Insiders, if I could just
spit it.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
All out, Fantasy football is back at NFL dot com
Slash fantasy to create your NFL fantasy team. All leagues
include free live scoring, instant video highlights, enhanced gameplay, and
(34:23):
exclusive features. Welcome back to the Insiders, Tom Pilicero, Mike Garofolo,
joined once again by our buddy Adam Rank, who I
have leaned on quite a bit here over the past
couple of weeks for advice in my various fantasy drafts.
So before we get ranked to some of these important
trends that you're seeing for any late drafting folks, you
(34:45):
wanna break down one of my recent snake drafts here.
Speaker 16 (34:47):
Oh, I'd love to there's Tommy's team. I like the
AJ Brown start. I think that's an overlooked player. Sometimes
I want to know a little bit more about why
you went Josh Allen. But listen, Cooper Cup. Oh my gosh,
that is a great pick, Jonathan Brooks.
Speaker 3 (35:02):
So you can put on your ir to start the season.
Speaker 16 (35:06):
Dalton Kinkaid is one of my favorite players in fantasy
this year. Dalton Kinkaid last year was second on the
Bills in targets. Now there's over two hundred targets missing
in Buffalo because Stefon Diggs Gabe Davis are both gone.
Dalton Kinkaid will end up being the number one guy.
And I know you'll be like, what about the Dawson. Listen,
Dawson Knox and Dalton k and Kate played the final
(35:26):
three games of last year, including the playoffs. Kincaid scored
him every time. So this is a good draft, Tommy.
I feel good.
Speaker 3 (35:33):
I feel like because if you don't.
Speaker 16 (35:34):
Do well, then people blame me, Like, oh, like if
your kid, you know, you got a young child that's
not doing well in school, they go and they blame
the teacher. So if you don't do well in this draft,
they come and blame me. They don't blame you.
Speaker 8 (35:46):
Rank who cares about Tom's team. I don't care about
Tom's team. I care about my team. Looking forward to
tomorrow night where I'm drafting live on the show. So
I need answers moving forward here so I can just
keep it in my brain. Ready to go here, Ceedee Lamb,
we talked about it before the break, worthy of.
Speaker 9 (36:03):
Being a first round pick. I don't know where I'm
picking the first round, just yea.
Speaker 16 (36:06):
So I need to know if your question is the
first Okay, Mike, if your question is the first round,
you might need more help.
Speaker 3 (36:12):
Than I can give you. Right here in this forty
five second clip, we're talking about the first overall pick
in the draft.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
What I meant may be the first overall pick? I
think he can you know it's what I mean.
Speaker 16 (36:23):
It's okay, It's okay, Litten. I want I don't want
to confuse with people at home smiling. Demis at home
celebrating her birthday. I want to make sure that she
knows that that I'm covering all the angles, and I
really do believe that Ceedee Lamb could be the number
one pick in your draft this season. I know the
top four consensus is typically Tyreek Kill, Ceedee Lamb, re
Reese Hall, and Christian McCaffrey. Any one of those four
(36:45):
guys is fine. Last year, Ceedee Lamb was the wide
receiver one. I don't see any reason for that to change,
even though you talked about this earlier in the show.
He was on a pitch count this this week. In practice,
he's going to be the most targeted guy in this
offense by a lot.
Speaker 17 (37:00):
Oh.
Speaker 16 (37:00):
Yes, if you want to take Ceedee Lamb with the
first overall pick, yes, first round of course, first pick.
Speaker 3 (37:07):
Easy.
Speaker 1 (37:08):
We did a wide receiver fantasy draft when I was
in in LA last week for Good Morning Football, and
if I'm not mistaken, Rank immediately got on Instagram to
comment on the graphics, saying, am I blind? Or is
Drake London not on this list? What's going on with
Drake London ranked? Because it seems like his draft positions
all over the place.
Speaker 16 (37:29):
Yeah, it's it's all over the place, like my internet connection.
So I hopefully I can make it through this break.
But yeah, you guys didn't have Drake London in your
top sixteen, which was inexcusable.
Speaker 3 (37:40):
We talked about the Falcons in the previous are two blocks.
Speaker 16 (37:42):
Ago at Judy Batista, and I think the one thing
with this this Falcons team is they bring in the
offensive system from the La Rams, the one that's you
know that Kevin O'Connell's ron, the one that that all
the coaches McVeigh and all that Shanahan, all those guys
are running. I see Drake London as being a Kirkland
version of Justin Jefferson in this offense.
Speaker 3 (38:03):
And he's a tremendous receiver and.
Speaker 16 (38:06):
I really truly believe that he should be one of
the top I don't know ten receivers off the board,
and I've seen him and it's not just you guys,
and we're not just making funny of you and Kyle
Brandt and Doc Mark, but it's also one of those
things you like. For whatever reason, there's a there's an
aversion to the Falcons players because of what happened with
Arthur Smith, that was the old quarterback.
Speaker 3 (38:28):
Kirk Cousins is good.
Speaker 16 (38:30):
Kirk Cousins has shown that he could support a player
like Drake London, so I would make sure that he's
on your high on your draft board.
Speaker 3 (38:38):
If you're in the third round and he's still there,
got a draft.
Speaker 8 (38:42):
If I'm in the third round and Christian McCaffrey is
still there, I'm gonna say, are people that concerned about
his calf injury?
Speaker 12 (38:48):
Like?
Speaker 9 (38:49):
What are we doing at that point? So let's talk
about a guy in McCaffrey who's likely going to go
a lot earlier.
Speaker 8 (38:54):
But how like, how concerned are you? This calf injury
can be a nagging thing. We saw with the with
Joe Burrow, We've seen it from other guys.
Speaker 9 (39:01):
How concerned are you?
Speaker 16 (39:02):
I think there's a lot of factors with Christian McCaffrey
that are giving people some consternation in their fantasy drafts.
It's not only the caf injury, but it's also the
situation with Trent Williams, Like what is going to happen there?
Because we saw last season when Trent Williams is not playing,
this offense is completely different. Christian McCaffrey's numbers went down,
Rock Purty didn't look as good, and of course it
(39:23):
was a small sample side, so I think it was
like two full games half of a third one. But
I still believe there's too much talent there.
Speaker 3 (39:30):
They're going to figure it out.
Speaker 16 (39:30):
You have one of the brightest minds coaching this team.
Christian McCaffrey. At worst should be the third pick in
the draft. I understand people who want to make a change,
try something new. Breecee Hall was the running back to
last year, so if you wanted to go back to that,
Ceede Lamb. We talked about, that's fine. No worse than third.
Don't get crazy, don't overthink it. It's Christian McCaffery.
Speaker 1 (39:53):
For the record rank. The Josh Allen pick came from
me hearing one of you guys on Fantasy Live say
Josh Allen has been the lead Fantasy scorer three of
the last four years. I also knew I wanted to
target Dalton Kincaid, so a little bit of a backdoor stack.
There is Leil Shakira as well.
Speaker 16 (40:09):
I feel good about it. We see how this thing.
You know what, Tom, I apologize I didn't give you
enough credit for that stack. That's one of my favorite stacks.
I also like doing that with Kyler Murray and uh
and Trey McBride. I think is a pretty good one.
Great job, great job.
Speaker 3 (40:26):
With what you did there.
Speaker 1 (40:27):
Yeah, it was really good. Yeah, we'll come back to
this when I finished dead last place here. Thank you
very much.
Speaker 16 (40:32):
Rik.
Speaker 1 (40:32):
We'll talk to you again soon coming up on the
other side of this break. No, Tom Brady isn't playing
right now. He's not playing. Pretty sure, pretty confident. There's
still Tom Brady stories, though, we'll get to one after
this on The Insiders. Tom Brady just six days away
(40:52):
from his broadcasting debut on CBS. He's got the Cowboys
at Cleveland game, and he had some reminiscing to do
about how he was preparing during his playing career recently
on his YouTube channel.
Speaker 9 (41:07):
I basically kept every call sheet, scouting report from every
game that I played by season in real time.
Speaker 3 (41:14):
You wonder who I picked twenty sixteen, my.
Speaker 8 (41:16):
First game back at Cleveland, which happens to be my
first game as a broadcaster.
Speaker 1 (41:23):
This reminds me of when I did a story with
Mike McCarthy during his year away before he became the
Cowboys head coach. He had kept every single game plan
going all the way back to the late eighties at
Pitt and then the early nineties in Kansait. He actually
donated boxes and boxes them to this Packers Hall of
fame where they now keep them in chronological order. So
(41:46):
Tom Brady not alone in this judy. But do you
have any similar type of hoarding characteristics?
Speaker 11 (41:52):
I do not, but I can tell you that Kenny Albert,
who I talked to about broadcasting NFL games, Kenny Albert
keeps all of his research boards that he has in
the booth with him. He's kept them all throughout his career.
Don't forget he also calls hockey. So Kenny Albert may
have a hoarding.
Speaker 12 (42:11):
Story of two.
Speaker 9 (42:11):
I do not.
Speaker 8 (42:13):
I went to Baltimore Ravens camp last year and the
media relations department they were very they were sticklers about,
like make sure you return your pet. We need the
pass when you So I leave, they call me and
they say, well, we're missing one. I said, well, I
gave you mine. It must have been rapaports. I call
Ian and Ian goes, yeah, I keep every media pass
I've ever been given. Sorry, Baltimore Ravens media relations department
(42:35):
like flat out admitted that he stole the pass that
they wanted back.
Speaker 9 (42:38):
That's that's a hoarding tendency.
Speaker 11 (42:40):
I left with mine this year and I felt really bad.
I had a can of soul.
Speaker 1 (42:43):
In color, Oh, the bull of media credentials. I got
problems as well. This is gonna take a while to
clean up tomorrow
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Judy Battista
Tom Pelissero
Ian Rapaport
Mike Garafolo
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