Triple bag alert, triple bag alert, triple bag
alert, triple bag alert, folks. That's right.
The first game of the season is done and we have
to talk about it, all right? But before we talk
about it, we got a lot of things to discuss,
all right? Nick Benito, Abraham Lucas, and Ted
Karras get paid. My thoughts on the Cam Hayward
situation. Cowboys versus Eagles recap. Jets
versus Steelers preview. Ravens versus Bills
preview. Dolphins versus Colts preview. And Giants
versus Commanders preview. view, okay? All of
this and more on the 92nd episode of the Football
Junkies Podcast, all right? I am your host with
the most, all right? I'm your chief Bagro Damas.
That's right, chief, head of the table. Anything
and everything related to the bag, rumors to
the bag and more. I am your GM who currently
is not on a team right now, but don't you worry
about it, all right? Don't you worry about it
because guess what? I am all these things and
more, but most importantly, the most important
thing that you must remember is you are listening
to the greatest football podcast that you can
to listen to on a week -to -week, day -to -day
basis. So guess what? On three, one, two, three,
let's lock in. All right, folks, let's get into
the meat and potatoes of everything that is going
on in the league right now. So before we get
into last night's game, let's talk about these
bagelers. Let's get that out the way because
we know what we all came here for, and that is
the Cowboys and Eagles recap. All right, so Nick
Benito, pass rusher for the Broncos. It's a four
-year $106 million deal that can go up to $120
million, $70 million in total guarantees, and
he'll be making $26 .5 million a year. Now, when
we look at his stats for this past season, 48
tackles, 13 and a half sacks, one pick, and 59
quarterback pressures. Now, according to the
3013, Nick Benito is one of two players in 2024
with 10 plus sacks and multiple defensive touchdowns.
The only other person, Andrew Van Ginkle. In
2024, Nick Benito recorded 13 and a half sacks
on 57 pressures, converting pressures into sacks
at 23 .7%. Now, there are two other players who
had 10 plus sacks, but a higher pressure to sack
rate. And that was Kyle Van Noy and Dante Fowler.
Folks, this is a really good deal for a really
good pass rusher. An underrated pass rusher,
if I may so add. Nick Bonito has emerged and
showed that, hey, I am here to stay. I am that
guy for the Broncos. Man, oh man, oh man. Last
season, he was putting on a clinic. And it was
only right for the Broncos to pay him the money
that he so deserves. The Broncos have been taking
care of business this entire offseason. From
PS2 to Zach Allen to Nick Benito, they've done
it all. The Broncos are in pole position. Yes,
that's a Tomlinism right there. Pole position
to make it to the Super Bowl in the next two
years. Now, this may be on cold takes or whatever.
I don't care. But right now, the only thing that
is stopping the Broncos from reaching to the
Super Bowl is self -inflicted wounds. They're
drafting well. They're paying well. They're not
overpaying for people. They're not reaching for
people in the draft. Everything is coming together
and it's working. And now when you really look
at it, that move to let go of Russell Wilson
was the best move they could have ever did. Because
not only did they take all that dead cap in one
year instead of spreading it, they allowed themselves
to say, hey, we're going to take a risk on ourselves.
We believe in Bo Nix. We believe in the core
that we have. And we believe that this is going
to be the core that's going to take us back to
the Super Bowl. And so far, it's working. I guarantee
you, if they have one more really good draft,
I'm going to have to slide them in as a Super
Bowl contender. Just saying. Hit me all you want,
but... Hey, the proof is in the pudding, alright?
So let's talk about Abraham Lucas' tackle for
the Seattle Seahawks. He inks a three -year,
$46 million deal, and he'll be making $15 .3
million a year. When we look at his stats from
this past season, according to PFF, he had six
penalties and allowed two hits, four sacks, and
18 total pressures. A little bit of a head scratcher,
I'll be honest, because I personally thought
the Seahawks were just going to let Abraham Lucas
go and possibly draft one or maybe pay one in
free agency, but clearly they must value him
a lot, and so they gave him a really good team
-friendly deal. This isn't bad at all. $15 .3
million? For somebody who really hasn't been
that consistent in the last two years, I'll take
it. Because for one, let's really think about
this, right? For all intents purposes, if Abraham
Lucas doesn't do well in the first two years
of that contract, they can move off of him and
they can find his replacement, no problem. Now
on to Ted Karras, center for the Bengals inks
a one -year $5 million deal. I don't know the
rest of the information because it just dropped
maybe about two hours ago. and nobody has any
information about the intricacies of the contract.
But when we look at his stats from this past
season, according to PFF, he had three penalties,
allowed two sacks, six hits, and 23 total pressures.
A really good deal for a really good veteran
presence on this offensive line. I'm going to
be honest here, folks. The Bengals have been
making a lot of moves post -Trey Hendrickson.
They bring in Dalton Reisner. They just re -signed
Ted Karras. They're preparing themselves to make
a run this year. Now, am I saying they're going
to go to the Super Bowl? No. Am I saying that
they're going to win a playoff game? No. But
what I am saying is this. The Bengals are showing
that, listen, although our defense may be weak,
we are still going to put up a fight. Because
why? We have Joe Burrow. We have Tee Higgins.
We have Jamar Chase. We have Noah Fant. We have
Mike Kisecki. We have everything that we need
to be successful. I can't hate him for that,
honestly. But let's talk about Cam Hayward, all
right, because we're just breezing by everything.
This is not going to be a long and drawn -out
episode. This is going to be a fairly short episode
just because, for one, I want to prepare for
college football because I definitely want to
start talking about college football more, as
well as prepare myself for Sunday because I'm
going to try to see if I can at least watch a
majority of all the games, even if it means I
have to, you know, review it two or three times
or look at the All -22. whatever I need to do,
okay? Because football is here and I have to
give you guys the fix that you guys need, all
right? So as of now, he's still in this quote
unquote. hold in situation, whatever you want
to call it, right? And so there's another chapter
to this story. So on Thursday, he didn't practice.
He wasn't even on the field. He wasn't doing
private workouts. He wasn't doing anything. So
apparently they consider it a vet day off, right?
So let's go a little bit back to go a little
bit forward. So on August 11th, Cam had voiced
his opinions about not getting paid. And so he
said, and I quote, it's hard to justify playing
at the number I'm playing at, end quote. But
recently he signed a two -year $29 million extension,
quote unquote. But it really wasn't an extension.
It was simply a restructure. Because when you
look at the structure of the deal, a majority
of the money is in roster bonuses. And his roster
bonus this year has already been paid out. And
that was $13 .4 million. Now, according to Spoltrak,
Cam Hayward is tied as the 34th highest paid
interior defensive lineman. Now, when Cam signed
this latest extension that he's on right now,
he informed the Steelers to expect him to return
to a negotiation table if he had another All
-Pro season. And so now that he's had that All
-Pro season, he's now looking for a re -up. I
have no problem with that. So now here we are.
The regular season for the Steelers is getting
ready to start in less than three days. And nobody
knows if Cam Hayward is going to play or not.
Now, I understand there's a lot of beat writers
and people that cover the team that are saying
Cam Hayward is going to play. I don't believe
that. If Cam Hayward hasn't said it, I don't
believe it. I don't care what insider you have.
I don't care who you know. I don't care what
teammate you talk to. If Cam Hayward doesn't
answer that question, I won't believe what anybody
says. Now, I understand both sides. I understand
the player side and the organization side. The
organization realizes that, listen, it would
be a disservice for us as an organization to
give you a long -term extension at this point
in your career where there is more risk than
reward. Because for all intents and purposes,
you could sign a long -term deal. And you can
become the fifth or the tenth highest paid interior
defensive lineman, and then you get hurt. Or
you don't play like how you used to play. And
now look, the Steelers look stupid because you
then gave this older veteran defensive lineman
a whole bunch of money, and he isn't living up
to the contract. And most likely, he's probably
going to retire. So you're going to be taking
on a whole bunch of dead cap. I don't think they
want to do that. But at the same time, I understand
where Cam is coming from. He told the Steelers.
Prior to him signing that extension, listen,
if I hit All -Pro, I'm coming back for more money.
So he gave them a heads up. And apparently, by
a lot of people's reporting, they laughed him
off. And so he did his thing. He had a really
good season. And he got an All -Pro. Congratulations.
And so he's looking for his money. Now, here's
the problem that I have with Cam. And this isn't
directly at him. The person, Cam Hayward. It
is how he has handled the process of him not
being happy with this extension. If you've been
trying to get some resolution with this deal
since the combine, why are we just now hearing
about it? And granted, the Steelers probably
told him, hey, we'll take care of that when we
take care of that. Right now, we're focused on
the draft. We're focused on free agency. We're
focused on a plethora of different things. OK,
cool. But from the combine up until now. You
haven't said anything? You haven't leaked it
out to any of the insiders? Because here I am
thinking, oh, the game's about to go into this
season. He's not going to do a whole lot in training
camp because they want him fresh. They want to
prepare for the regular season. Okay, cool. No
problem. But as training camp is beginning to
wind down, now we're finding out that Cam Hayward
has been unhappy with the Steelers because he's
looking for an extension or at least some form
of resolution with his contract. Huh? And then
you go on to post what you post on your story
and talk about you go places where you're valued
and all these just subliminal shots at the Steelers.
Let me tell you something, Cam. Let me be really
honest with you, bro. Troy Palamalu, Ben Roethlisberger,
Hines Ward. All Steelers greats. You want to
know the one thing that they all have in common?
They were all forced to retire. Forced. But you,
on the other hand, have the opportunity to continue
to play for the black and gold. You still have
the opportunity to get extensions from the black
and gold. None of those three players were able
to get that type of treatment. But you are. And
granted, I understand there's probably some people
that say, well, T .J. Watt got a deal, so it's
only right that you take care of Cam Hayward.
Let me tell you something. T .J. Watt has been
trying to get a deal for two years. Two years.
And guess what happened? The Steelers realized
that, hey, we have to take care of TJ Watt because
clearly he's showing that he's not happy and
we have to take care of our star player. Because
if we don't take care of our star player, we're
going to lose more games than win. So here we
are. Cam Hayward is undecided on if he wants
to play on Sunday. See, here's the problem that
I have with the Steelers, okay? You can't say
that you're serious about winning. When your
actions don't match up. It's one thing if your
actions, your mindset, everything that you're
doing is showing that you're serious about winning
and you're serious about competing for a Super
Bowl. But everything that we've seen from the
Steelers for the past three to five years shows
that they are not serious about winning and they
are serving Steelers fans lip salad. Every single
season. They are doing the exact same thing that
the Cowboys are doing. Oh yeah, this is going
to be the year. This is going to be the year
that we're going to go to the Super Bowl. This
is the year we finally start winning playoff
games. This is all we need. We just needed just
this one player. We can do it. And guess what
happens? Every single year, Turks and Caicos,
Hawaii, Malibu, Dubai, South Africa, Japan. China,
Canada, you know, vacation spots because your
season is already over. Not to mention, you now
sort of look like a hypocrite because you know
why? You were very critical about Aaron Rodgers
early into the offseason when we didn't know
if Aaron Rodgers was going to play or not. And
you were saying either you want to be a Pittsburgh
Steeler or not. You can't say that, but then
you're having a pissy fit because you're not
the top 10 highest paid interior defensive lineman
in the league, or you're not making this amount
of money this year. Who cares? What you need
to be focused on is just trying to win a Super
Bowl so you can submit your legacy and say, hey,
listen, I am a first ballot Hall of Famer. Not,
hey, I got one of the biggest contracts when
I was 36 years old. No one cares about that,
dawg. Let's talk about this Eagles game, man,
because we want to talk about something a little
bit more important than somebody that's just
upset because I'm not at this point. I'm not
making this amount of money. No one cares about
that. But let's talk about it. So Jalen Hurts,
23 attempts for 19 completions, 152 passing yards,
6 .6 yards per attempt, and an 82 .6 completion
percentage. Jalen Hurts again. 14 attempts for
62 rushing yards, 4 .4 rushing yards per carry,
2 rushing touchdowns, and 1 rush of 10 plus yards
or more. Jahan Dotson, 3 targets for 3 receptions,
59 receiving yards, and 19 .7 receiving yards
per reception. Dak Prescott, 34 attempts for
19 completions, 188 passing yards, 5 .5 yards
per attempt, and a 61 .8 completion percentage.
Javante Williams, 15 attempts for 54 rushing
yards. 3 .6 rushing yards per carry, 2 rushing
touchdowns, and 1 rush of 10 plus yards or more.
CeeDee Lamb, 13 targets for 7 receptions, 110
receiving yards, and 15 .7 receiving yards per
reception. Now here's some junkie nuggets. According
to the 30 -13, Tyler Booker, Tyler Smith, and
Cooper Beebe each allow 2 pressures and no sacks.
The pressure rate when Jalen Carter is on the
field is 38%, which is 3rd in the league. But
when Jalen Carter isn't on the field, the pressure
rate is 32 .4%, which is 24th in the league.
During the first half, the Cowboys' pass rush
only created three pressures and no sacks. While
in the second half, they created 11 pressures.
Due to Jalen Carter getting ejected, Mauro Ojomo
played 29 of 30 snaps and Jordan Davis played
26. Since 2016, the Eagles haven't played two
defensive tackles, 85 % of snaps in a game. Now,
the first half, we all know what happened, all
right? So let's just talk about it. Jalen Carter
gets ejected for spitting on Dak Prescott. I'm
just going to be completely honest with you guys.
Eagles fans, you may hate me. You're probably
going to turn it off at this point. That's perfectly
fine. Thank you for listening to the Football
Junkies podcast. I hope to see you in the next
episode, okay? But let's just be honest here.
Jalen Carter spitting on Dak was unnecessary.
And I understand Dak said, well, I spit all the
time. This is something I do. Why are we spitting?
Why are we spitting? This is the first game of
the 2025 season, and you're already getting ejected,
Jalen Carter. For what? For what? What are we
doing? That was unnecessary. And by doing so,
you almost costed your team to lose the game.
Because let's be real here, folks. Right now,
Jerry Jones has been right. And I hate to say
it, but Jerry has been right. If it wasn't for
Miles Sanders fumbling the ball and the game
going into a delay, the Cowboys would have beaten
the Eagles. I guarantee it. Because the Cowboys
offense was starting to cook. The Eagles couldn't
stop Javante Williams. If there was a game MVP
like how they do with 2K and Madden, it would
be Javante Williams because he was on a tear.
But I'm going to save that for later. So starting
off in the first half, you know, the Cowboys
run game was definitely strong. You can definitely
see why having Jalen Carter is very important
on the field because Javante Williams was just
running everywhere and the Eagles couldn't stop
it. Then you have the pass interference on the
Dory Jackson, which was very much unnecessary.
And even then, when you really think about it,
if I'm Dak Prescott. I'm putting it up in the
air because you know why? Outside of Quinion
Mitchell, what other corner do you have to worry
about? Respectfully, disrespectfully. Okay, Quinion
Mitchell is lining up against George Piggins,
for instance. Okay, CeeDee Lamb, get open. I'm
going to throw it to you. I'm going to throw
it to you as many times as I possibly can. Vice
versa. Because Quinion Mitchell is only one guy.
There's nobody else in the Eagles secondary that
you really have to worry about. Something that
we do need to talk about is... The Cowboys' run
defense and just the pass rush as a whole wasn't
doing enough in the first half. They wasn't creating
enough pressure. They wasn't going after Jalen
Hurts. They was basically ghost on the field.
And so now you're seeing the effect of not having
Micah Parsons. Because if Micah Parsons is on
the field, guess what? He's at least getting
maybe one or two sacks on Jalen Hurts. At least.
And if he's not getting it, then somebody else
is getting it. So moving into the second half,
the Cowboys' pass rush starts to get a little
bit better. Now, is it enough to throw Jalen
Hurts off? No. I think they still need another
pass rusher that's just step up to do something
because right now, nobody's doing it. Kenny Clark,
sure, he was effective, but it wasn't enough.
Sam Williams, it wasn't enough. Naming any person
on that defensive line, it wasn't enough. And
then you have Miles Sanders, he has this big
run, and then a couple plays later, he fumbles.
If the Cowboys didn't fumble, they could have
easily tied the game up. Because at that point,
the Cowboys were starting to cook, and the Eagles
were starting to lag a little bit. And I think
that's something we also need to talk about as
well. Whoever this offensive coordinator is,
I am very concerned with him. And I understand
this is just the first game, but I am very concerned
with him moving forward. Because here you are
having your first opponent being the Cowboys.
A Cowboys team who, by the way, doesn't have
Micah Parsons, who only has Trevon Diggs and
Deron Bland. But you have A .J. Brown, Jahan
Dotson, Devontae Smith, John Mechie, Dallas Goddard,
Saquon. And you mean to tell me you're not testing
Trevon Diggs? You're not testing Deron Bland?
Are you serious? And I know A .J. Brown was really
upset because he only got one pass thrown to
him. And by the time he got the ball, it was
towards the end of the game. Like, what are we
doing? There's nobody in the Cowboys secondary
that is a problem. So you have to at least try
it. Now, if you try two or three times and every
time it turns to a pick, okay, fine. We're going
back to just running the ball. But if you're
testing it and it's working, who's really complaining?
Nobody. But... Let's keep this thing going. So
we hit the two -minute warning. Cowboys can convert
on a crucial fourth down. Hurts extends the play
to get a crucial first down and essentially seal
the game. And that's it. My takeaway from this
game is the Eagles need to be concerned about
Jalen Carter moving forward. I don't know what
they need to do, but they need to bring in a
veteran presence because clearly there's not
enough structure on that defense to keep Jalen
Carter in check. Because if a Brandon Graham
was on that team, I guarantee you that wouldn't
have happened. But I will say this. The Cowboys
show that, hey, we can put up a fight. We may
not make it to the playoffs. We may not make
it to the Super Bowl. But we still got some fight
in us. And I think that's good. I think Dak Prescott
needs to work more on his relationship with George
Pickens. I feel like that defense needs to be
more creative in trying to create constant pressure
while getting to the quarterback. And I feel
like they may need to make a major move within
the secondary, probably by the trade deadline.
And I'll just leave it there because if I just
continue to go on, I'll be talking about this
for 30 or 40 minutes. It's not worth it. But
we have football to talk about on Sunday, folks.
That's right. Sunday, Sunday, Sunday. So let's
start with the Steelers and Jets preview. So
four things I'm looking out for. How will an
Aaron Rodgers -led Steelers offense look? How
will the Jets offensive line hold up against
the Steelers defensive line? How will both tackles
from both teams look? And how will a Justin Fields
-led offense look? Let's be real here, folks.
This is the first time that Justin Fields will
have control over an offense. No longer will
it be somebody else's offense that's just going
to be tweaked a little bit just for Justin Fields.
No, this is strictly an offense for Justin Fields.
I want to see how both Troy Furtano and Broderick
Jones is going to look, as well as Alouf Vachonou
and Armin Membu, because I feel like a lot is
riding on both of these tackle duos. How will
the Jets' offensive line hold up, especially
with them losing Elijah Vera Tucker? Because
I've heard that Joe Tittman may be moved in at
guard. Chuksa Korfo might be playing somewhere.
I don't know how that's going to work, but let's
just see what happens. And this is going to be
the first time where we're going to see DK Metcalf,
Aaron Rodgers, John New Smith, and company finally
on the field playing together. So I want to see
how all of this is going to work. But here's
some junkie nuggets. So according to NFL Pro,
in 2024, Aaron Glenn played the highest amount
of man coverage in the league at 47 .7%. So we
all know that they're going to be in man coverage
a lot. But are they going to disguise it in a
way? that's gonna throw Aaron Rodgers off. I'm
actually curious to see how Aaron Rodgers is
gonna play on Sunday. Last season, DK Metcalf
faced the fifth highest press man coverage rate
at 35%, but had the fifth lowest catch rate at
33 .3%, and only hauled in seven out of 21 targets.
Since entering the league, Justin Fields has
the longest time to throw rate at 3 .10 seconds.
Aaron Rodgers averaged the fifth highest time
to throw rate, at 2 .6 seconds and attempted
to pass in under 2 .5 seconds on 52 .2 % of his
attempts, which is the third highest in the league.
Tanner Engstrang had the third highest 13 personnel
rate in the league at 13 .3 % and averaged 6
.2 yards per play, which is the fifth most in
the league. When Cam Hayward is on the field,
The Steelers generated a 36 .1 % pressure rate,
which is the eighth highest in the league, compared
to 31 % pressure rate, which is 28th in the league
when he isn't on the field. I will say this,
Justin Fields isn't going to get a lot of chances
to throw the ball. Most likely, they're going
to run the hell out of the ball, and rightfully
so, because with Elijah Veritaker going down
for the season, and Joel Tittman being moved
to guard, You want to at least try to run the
ball as much as you can, because for one, we
all know Justin Fields holds onto the ball too
long, and you really can't do that against this
pass rush. So they're going to try to take it
out of Justin Fields' hands as much as possible.
My prediction for this game is it's going to
be close, but it's not going to be too close,
if that makes sense. I do believe Aaron Rodgers
is going to show some magic. And I think he's
going to make one crazy play that's going to
seal the game. You heard it here first on the
Football Junkies podcast. Now, let's go to the
Ravens and Bills preview, okay? So, four things
I'm keeping my eye on. Can the Ravens start off
hot? And I mean hot. I'm talking about the pass
game is on fire. The run game is on fire. Mark
Andrews is doing his thing. Keaton Mitchell is
doing his thing. Lamar is just putting on a clinic.
I want to see will this Ravens offense start
off hot. How successful will the Bills defensive
line put up against Derrick Henry? Because I've
seen a lot of people say, well, there's no need
to worry about Derrick Henry. That's a lie. That
is a bold -faced lie. Because you know why? If
the Bills weren't concerned about Derrick Henry,
why would you double dip at defensive tackle
in the draft? I'll let you think about that.
How would the Bills secondary look? Brandon,
I understand they have DeMar Hamlin. They brought
back Tredavious White and then they drafted Maxwell
Harrison. But I want to see how this secondary
is going to look. And I want to see who's going
to be matched up against who. Is it going to
be Tredavious White against Zay Flowers? or Tredavious
White against Rashad Bateman. It's going to be
a really good matchup, folks. And how will both
Lamar and Josh Allen look in this game? I do
believe that Lamar is coming into this game with
a little bit of a chip on his shoulder because
I think Lamar believes that he should have won
the MVP, and rightfully so. But we all know,
and we've all seen the last few years in different
sports, that they'll just give an MVP to somebody
just because they don't want to see the other
person get another one. But that's another story
for another day. But here's some junkie nuggets.
So according to NFL Pro, in 2024, Gregory Russo
created 59 pressures, which was more than any
other Bills defender. During their week four
matchup, Josh Allen was pressured 44 .1 % on
his dropbacks, which was the second highest in
a game last season. despite being blitzed on
23 .5 % of his dropbacks. Do I think the Ravens
are going to be successful in bringing down Josh
Allen? Maybe once or twice, but I don't think
it's going to be a relentless type of blitzing
that the Ravens are going to use against Josh
Allen, because we all know that Josh Allen got
wheels, so you can't really do that. When facing
the blitz, Lamar and Josh Allen threw 16 touchdowns
last season, which was the second most in the
NFL. Baker Mayfield had the most. When facing
the Blitz, Lamar and Zae Flowers connected for
528 yards, which was the second most by any receiver
-quarterback duo. Sam Darnold and Justin Jefferson
had 623 yards. During the 2024 season, the Ravens
used under center formations on 29 .1 % of their
plays, the highest of any season since drafting
Lamar Jackson. I think this is going to be a
down -to -the -wire, heavyweight bout type of
fight. But I will say this. The Ravens need this
game more than the Bills, and let me explain
why. The Ravens need to start off hot, and they
need to do this against another Super Bowl contender.
They need to shut people up and say, hey, listen,
they may have beaten us last year, but that's
not going to happen this year. You need to send
a message. to all the other Super Bowl contenders,
whether it be NFC or AFC, that, hey, listen,
this is our year. We understand that the past
few years, we've been in better positions and
we failed all the time. But this year, this year
is different. And we're not going to allow the
Bills to start things off on the right foot.
They need to have a strong performance on both
sides of the ball. The offense needs to be dominant,
and the defense needs to limit Josh Allen as
much as possible. Now, when we look at the Bills'
side, however, I think the defense needs to prove
that, hey, we can create pressure, we can be
successful in stopping the run, while at the
same time making turnovers and putting ourselves
in a better position. Because I really don't
believe this defense. I don't think this defense
is going to be super effective this season. I
just feel like, personally, their secondary is
probably one of their weak spots on this defense.
And I feel like with Joey Bosa not playing this
game, I'm a little bit skeptical on how they're
going to be able to create constant pressure.
But only time will tell. Now let's talk about
the Dolphins versus the Colts, okay? So four
things I'm looking out for. How will the Dolphins'
old line hold up against the Colts' pass rush?
How will a Daniel Jones -led offense look? How
will the Dolphins' pass rush look? And what edge
will the Dolphins' offense have this season?
I'm going to be really honest with you. This
Dolphins' offensive line is beat up. And I really
don't believe it. And I would have thought by
now Chris Greer would have at least made one
or two good additions to the offensive line to
say, hey, Although this may be considered patchwork,
it's good patchwork. But right now, I'm very
skeptical about this offensive line moving forward.
And I'm very concerned about Tua moving forward
because this offensive line is going up against
a defensive line that has Latu Latu, Quidi Pei,
JT Tumalau, who they just drafted this year,
and DeForest Buckner. I don't think this offensive
line can stop them. I'm just going to be completely
honest here. I've seen crazier things. Now with
this being Daniel Jones' first time being a starter
since leaving the Giants, I want to see does
he have the juice. Because I want to see can
Daniel Jones run this offense successfully. Because
I think the bar is set pretty low for him. I
think if Daniel Jones plays at an average to
slightly above average, I think the team can
make that work. However... If we start seeing
a lot of the problems that we saw when he was
with the Giants start to emerge again, then we
might have to have another conversation about
the Colts. Because I think right now, I think
their mindset going into the regular season is,
let's just make it through the season so that
we can draft a quarterback next year. Which,
I don't blame them. When we look at the Dolphins'
pass rush, with them acquiring Matthew Judon
via free agency, and Jalen Phillips coming back,
as well as Bradley Chubb, I want to see can those
three create enough pressure to really go after
the quarterback. And I also want to see can Kenneth
Grant be the wrecking ball that he was at Michigan.
Because I think if that defensive line can actually
create a lot of pressure and really go after
the quarterback, I think the defense could be
in a really good shape. Because I mean, you have
Megan Fitzpatrick, you have Jack Jones, like
they've done a lot with this defense. And I think
they can make it work, but it all relies on the
pass rush. Now on to the final game, and that
is the Giants versus Commanders, okay? So four
things to watch out for. How effective will the
Commanders pass rush be? How will the Giants
use Abdul Carter? How will the Commanders use
Deebo Samuel? And how will Russell Wilson look?
So when we talk about the pass rush for the commanders,
you have Frankie Lou Vu, you now have Von Miller,
you still have Deron Payne, you have Johnny Newton.
I want to see how this pass rush is going to
look because I think Von Miller can still be
a really effective pass rusher. to the point
where I believe that the Giants will probably
run 12 and 13 personnel a lot because they want
to try to mitigate his presence as well as Frankie
Luvu's and Deron Payne's. Now, as far as the
Giants using Abdul Carter, I want to see how
the formation is going to look. I want to see
where he's going to be lined up at because you're
going to have Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeau,
himself, and Dexter Lawrence. At least two of
those pass rushers is going to get after the
quarterback, and I can't wait to see it. Pardon
the interruption, but this is your GM, your bag
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Now back to the good stuff. Let's talk about
Debo Samuel and his role on this team. So with
Terry McLaurin coming back to the commanders,
I want to see how they're going to use him. I
want to see are they going to use him the same
way that the 49ers use him, which is sort of
like that Swiss Army knife. You can double as
a running back. We can put you in the slot. We
can put you in the outside. I want to see how
that's going to work because I feel like. With
the addition of Deebo Samuel, I think this is
going to expand the offense a little bit more.
Now, am I saying you're going to get the same
production that the 49ers got from him? No, but
I do believe that's another weapon for Jaden
Daniels that he can rely on moving forward. Now,
with Russell Wilson, we all know that he started
off really strong last year against the Steelers,
and then he just fell off. But the question is,
will Russell Wilson be able to maintain a level
of consistency with the Giants? Because I think
if he's just slightly above average, I think
this Giants team can make a lot of noise. But
if you see a lot of the problems that you saw
when he was with the Steelers last year start
to emerge, then we might be in trouble. Then
we might be having to talk about, Jackson Darn
might have to come in or Seamus Winston might
have to come in. But let's talk about these junkie
nuggets, all right? So the Commander's defense
allowed 17 touchdowns on deep passes during the
2023 season, four more than any defense in the
season since 2016. Brian Burns generated 66 pressures.
So we all know that Brian Burns is going to do
his thing. But the question is, is there going
to be a formation where it's Brian Burns and...
abdul carter or brian burns and kayvon thibodeau
or kayvon thibodeau and abdul carter how was
that going to look the commander's defense used
man blitzes against 22 of their opponents dropbacks
which was the third highest rate in the nfl when
dexter lawrence was on the field the giants created
a 27 .5 pressure to sack conversion rate which
was higher than the ravens pressure to sack conversion
rate at 24 .4 percent The Giants offense used
spread formation on 36 .2 % of their plays, which
was the third highest rate in the league. Deebo
Samuel was one of two receivers to have played
150 plus snaps when a line in the backfield,
slot, wide out, and tight on at least 5 % of
the snaps. The other receiver was Jaden Reed.
Now we all know with divisional games, they're
very close and they're very competitive. I expect
this game to be a back and forth type of game
going down to the wire. Might have to make a
field goal kick just to seal the game, but I
can't wait for Sunday. But I'm going to end this
episode here. If you guys like what you're listening,
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Stay tuned for that. I may post them today or
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But just stay tuned for that. But as always,
I hope I gave you guys the fix that you guys
need. I love you guys. I appreciate you guys
so much. Thank you guys so much for listening
to another episode of The Greatest Football Podcast
that you can possibly listen to on a week -to
-week, day -to -day basis, all right? I am your
GM, Kale, signing out. Peace and love. Later.
Sunday, folks. Sunday, one o 'clock. Football,
we're back.