Quad bag alert, quad bag alert, quad bag alert,
quad bag alert, folks. That's right, we got a
loaded episode full of twist turns, hot takes,
truth bombs, and more. Man, oh man, oh man, have
things been crazy within the last 24 hours, okay?
Quentin Lake, John Jenkins, Cole Van Lannen,
and Charles Cross all get paid. John Harbaugh
gets fired. Black Monday transactions. Steelers
versus Ravens recap. And my thoughts on the 26th
draft class, okay? All of this and more. On the
102nd episode of Football Junkies Podcast, okay?
I am your host with the most, all right? I'm
your hopium, hopium, hopium, hopium, hopium dealer.
That's right. All the hopium that you need to
make it through the playoffs. I am the guy that
you go to, okay? I'm your chief bag roll 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 i am your host
kale buckle up it's gonna get crazy for all intents
purposes we might have some more news that may
be breaking 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 the good stuff, because I know everybody
wants to talk about John Harbaugh. I want to
talk about John Harbaugh because there's a lot
that needs to be said about that one specific
situation. We got to talk about these bag alerts,
okay? So let's just get this thing out the way
as quickly as possible. So Quentin Lake, safety
for the Rams, inks a three -year, $42 million
deal, $25 .7 million guaranteed. He'll be making
$14 million a year. season 61 tackles one sack
seven quarterback pressures he was targeted 48
times and allowed 33 receptions for 341 yards
one touchdown and had one pick so for starters
I'm glad the Rams got this deal done because
I knew that Quentin Lake was going to garner
a lot of interest from a lot of teams in free
agency. And I knew that if he was to hit free
agency, the Rams probably wouldn't be able to
get him back. The fact that they were able to
hash this deal out at the time that they did
is actually really good. Quentin Lake is somebody
that is really effective in the slot as well
as in his natural position at free safety. But
I just love his style of play because that's
what the Rams need. They need somebody that can
do the dirty work in the secondary. And Quentin
Lake is one of those guys. Now on to the other
bag alert. So John Jenkins' defensive tackle
for the Ravens inks a one -year $1 .9 million
deal, $345 ,000 guaranteed, and he'll be making
$1 .9 million a year. When we look at his stats
from this season, 39 tackles and one sack. A
good deal for a journeyman. It's not going to
break the bank, and you're just taking care of
business. And honestly, that's what you have
to do sometimes. With this extension being done,
Do the Ravens view John Jenkins as a death piece?
And the only reason why I say that is because
most likely Nnamdi Manabuke is going to medically
retire. So with him being out of the picture,
all you're going to have left is Aeneas Peebles,
Travis Jones, and now John Jenkins. So you know
most likely they're going to have to address
defensive tackle at some point in the offseason,
whether that be in the draft or in free agency.
Keep a bookmark on that moving forward, okay?
Now, let's talk about Cole Van Landen, left tackle
for the Jaguars, who inks a three -year, $51
million deal, $32 .5 million guaranteed. He'll
be making $17 million a year. When we look at
his stats from this season so far, according
to PFF, he's allowed one sack, five hits, 21
total pressures, and four penalties. Now, at
first, when I saw this deal, I was like, wait
a minute, did the Jaguars just overpay for Cole
Van Landen? Then I had to think about it. I was
like, eh. Let's give this some time. Let's just
see exactly how much he's going to be making
a year. And then once it finally came out, I
was like, oh, this is average. This ain't bad
at all. Because according to Spoltrak, right
now, Cole Van Linden is the 29th highest paid
left tackle in the league. That's not bad. That's
actually really good when you really break it
down. Now on to the final bag alert, and that
is Charles Cross' tackle for the Seahawks inks
a four -year $104 .4 million deal, $75 million
guaranteed, and he'll be making $26 .1 million
a year. When we look at his stats for this season,
according to PFF, he's allowed two sacks and
four hits. With that being said, Charles Cross
is now the fifth highest paid tackle in the league,
which is expected because Charles Cross has had
a really good season so far. And I would venture
to say he's probably going to get an All -Pro
nod this year. So it's only right that the Seahawks
take care of him. John Schneider goes under the
radar for all the moves that he's made, but he's
a really good GM. He continues to show why he's
one of those guys. You've hit on Charles Cross.
You're hitting on JSN. You're hitting on your
running backs. So far, Nick Emanwari looks like
a hit. So far, Tyreek Woolen looks like a hit.
And that's just recently. If we take this thing
to another level, I mean, this is the same guy
that drafted Earl Thomas, Bruce Irvin, James
Carpenter, DK Metcalf, Frank Clark, Bobby Wagner,
Richard Sherman, Tyler Lockett, Russell Wilson.
I could continue to go down this list. And I
didn't even realize that he was hitting on his
draft picks like this. But, I mean, man, he's
been cooking. And I would venture to say the
Seahawks are probably going to make it to the
Super Bowl this year. Rams fans, don't hurt me,
please. Eagles fans, don't hurt me, please. 49ers
fans, don't hurt me, please. But that's just
my opinion. I believe right now the Seahawks
have the best team in the entire league right
now. Don't hurt me, okay? Now let's talk about
this John Harbaugh situation because everybody
has been speculating. Everybody has been putting
their two cents into this situation. And so I
feel like I need to do so as well. Now here's
the statement from Steve Bishotti, owner of the
Ravens, and I quote. Following a comprehensive
evaluation of the season and the overall direction
of our organization, I decided to make a change
at head coach. Today I informed John that he
has been relieved of his duties. This was an
incredibly difficult decision given the tremendous
18 years we have spent together and the profound
respect I have for John as a coach and most importantly
as a great man of integrity. Throughout what
I firmly believe is a Hall of Fame coaching career,
John has delivered a Super Bowl championship
to Baltimore and served as a steadfast pillar
of humility and leadership. He and his family
have been deeply embedded themselves in this
community. For those profound contributions on
and off the field, we shall all be forever grateful.
Our goal has always been and will always will
be to win championships. We strive to consistently
perform at the highest level on the field and
be a team and organization our fans take pride
in. I will always be grateful for the extraordinary
hard work and dedication displayed by John and
his staff throughout the many successful years.
I wish he, Ingrid, and Allison all the best going
forward. We now begin the challenging but exciting
process of identifying the next leader of our
football team. Now here's the statement from
John Harbaugh, and I quote, Someday. but that
day has come today it comes with disappointment
certainly but more with gratitude and appreciation
gratitude to the owner and organization who was
willing to bring in a head coach who made his
mark with special team success a difficult thing
to do and appreciation for all the moments all
these years that are etched into eternity i hope
a legacy built on faith always fighting always
believing values built into an organization through
a team that are worthwhile good and lasting and
that are admired by fans and foes alike meaningful
and impactful relationships with players through
the years that i will cherish always grateful
for their strength and courage loyal partnerships
in this wonderful building that grew into strong
friendships through the toil and tempest of the
job every day mostly to my treasured family my
ingrid and my Allison, who are beyond comparing
every way in the loves of my life, and my closest
-knit family and good friends who stick with
you no matter what. Finally, to the author and
finisher of our faith, gratitude for a journey
beyond anything I could have dreamed of my own,
all is well with my soul because of the good
God who guides and sustains me, John Harbaugh.
With that being said, John Harbaugh's overall
record was 180 wins and 113 losses. Now, according
to Diana Rossini, John Harbaugh refused to entertain
any conversations about moving on from Todd Munkin.
Now, according to Jeff Zerbrick, John Harbaugh
didn't have a chance to inform his staff of his
firing. EDC and Sashi Brown informed his staff
of this move. And according to Adam Schefter,
John Harbaugh is the emerging favorite for the
Giants head coaching job. Now that we've got
all the sentimental stuff out the way, let's
talk about this situation. The Ravens realized
they were at an impasse. And they had to make
a choice between their head coach or their Hall
of Fame quarterback. Now, some people would choose
the head coach. You're a fool. Choose the quarterback.
And they made the right decision. We knew that
John Harbaugh was on borrowed time. We knew that
John Harbaugh, within the last three to four
years, had to show up and win a Super Bowl. And
he failed every single time. Now, you can blame
the players. You can blame the execution of the
play. You can blame this circumstance or that
circumstance. But the fact of the matter is this.
EDC and the front office went above and beyond
to meet every single need that John Harbaugh
had on that team. They traded for Roquan. They
drafted Kyle Hamilton. They drafted Zay Flowers.
They drafted Rashad Bateman. They brought in
Derrick Henry. They've done it all. And the fact
that you were unable to take this team to the
Super Bowl is a discredit to you. You can't blame
everybody. You can no longer blame your offensive
coordinator. You can no longer blame your defensive
coordinator. You can no longer blame players.
You have to take this on the chin. Now, do I
believe the ending of the Steelers game was the
reason why they fired him? No. I think this was
accumulation of bad decision -making over a period
of time. Let's be honest here. You had an opportunity
to go to the Super Bowl. You had the number one
seed. The Chiefs came to Baltimore and you blew
it. And literally during halftime, the reporter
asked you, John, what do you want to see different
in this offense in the second half of the game?
You said you want to run the ball. You're the
head coach. You can tell your offensive coordinator,
let's run the ball. Because why? You're the head
coach. But instead, you wanted to sit on your
hands, you wanted to play reserve, and then you
got eliminated. You go to the Bills, you get
eliminated. So at some point, the line of excuses
has to run out. And you have to take ownership
on why this team hasn't been able to go to the
Super Bowl and win. There's no excuses at this
point. So with that being said, do I think John
Harbaugh is a great coach? No. I think he's a
good coach. I think he's a stabilizing force.
And I think he's going to have a lot of impact
on wherever he goes next. Let's really not sugarcoat
this thing. When he first got hired by the Ravens,
he was already ruffling some feathers. And if
you don't believe me, go on YouTube, type in
Ed Reed Joe Buck interview. Ed Reed talks about
how John Harbaugh carried himself those first
few years when he joined the Ravens. And that
rubbed a lot of those veteran players the wrong
way. It rubbed Ed, Haloti Nada, Terrell Suggs,
Ray Lewis the wrong way. Understand this, my
fellow football junkies. Football is a production
-based business. And when you are not producing,
you have to go. Coaches can get fired. Coaches...
can get fired. Good coaches can get fired. Great
coaches can get fired. You don't believe me?
I got a list of people that got fired. Andy Reid
got fired by the Eagles because you know why?
He couldn't win the big game. He goes to the
Chiefs. He solidified his legacy. Mike Shanahan
was fired by Washington. Jimmy Johnson was fired
by the Cowboys. Tony Dungy was fired. Tom Landry
was fired. Hell, Bill Belichick was fired. Bill
Belichick bought six championships to the Patriots,
and he got fired. So if all of those legends
can be fired, what makes you think you, John
Harbaugh, cannot be fired? When you have been
given everything that you need and more to be
successful. It'll be different if you didn't
have a quarterback. It'll be different if you
don't have a left tackle, if you don't have weapons,
if you don't have a run game, if you don't have
good coordinators. But the Ravens did it all
for you. But if we want to take things another
level, the one move that should have been an
automatic fireball offense was promoting Zach
Orr to defensive coordinator. You knew and everybody
else knew that Zach Orr was not ready for that
position. But you promoted him to that position
and you brought in Chuck Pagano and Dean Pease
to assist him in trying to find his way. I understand
that you want to give people a chance. I have
no problem with that. But when you're in your
Super Bowl window, that shit's out the window.
It's time out for, oh, let's give them a chance.
Let's see how things go. Maybe we give them a
promotion. Screw it. Screw it. You're trying
to win a championship. You're trying to maximize
the window that you have. Because understand
this, folks. Every year that you don't win the
Super Bowl is a year wasted. And that's another
year that your quarterback gets older. And you
know that your quarterback isn't like a Tom Brady
or Peyton Manning or Ben Roethlisberger. You
need to maximize this window. But instead, all
you've done is pissed on it. Year after year
after year, you have pissed on it. And this is
exactly why you haven't won a Super Bowl. Now,
since we're talking about the Ravens, there's
another person that we need to talk about. Because
everybody's getting it today. EDC, step to the
front. While I understand that EDC has done a
good job in building this roster. I am not going
to excuse you of the conservative mindset that
you have addressing the needs of this team, specifically
this season. How is it that you go an entire
season without addressing guard and defensive
tackle? I understand that you believe that you
got to build this team, and I am 100 % on board
with that. I do believe that you got to build
your team through the draft. That's how every
successful dynasty and championship team is built.
But at the same time, sometimes you need to bring
in somebody else. I guarantee you, if you give
EDC some true serum and you ask him about Nnamdi
Menabuke, I guarantee you he will probably say,
we knew that he wasn't going to play this season
by week three. So if you knew that he wasn't
going to play this season because nobody has
said anything about his situation, let alone
Nnamdi Metabuke, then you should have been hunting.
And I mean exactly what I say, hunting for defensive
tackle. You could have had Quentin Williams on
your team. The Cowboys essentially gave up a
second round pick for this draft class and then
a first round pick for next year's draft class
for Quentin Williams. And Quentin Williams would
have killed two birds with one stone because
you know why? He's effective in the pass game
and he's a really good pass rusher. But instead,
you wanted to be complacent. You wanted to sit
on your hands and say, you know what? We're cool
with what we have. And another thing. The Ravens
should have hired Mike McDonald. Because had
you made that move, you wouldn't be in this situation
right now. I understand that John Harbaugh is
long -tenured, he's successful, he's great in
the community, blah, blah, blah, yada, yada,
yada, kids, babies, take pictures, who cares,
right? Do you not see what's going on in Seattle
right now? Do you not see the success that they're
having right now under Mike McDonald? And mind
you, that defense doesn't have a T .J. Watt,
a Miles Garrett, a Max Crosby, a Micah Parsons,
a Nick Benito. They got Boye Mafe. They got Ochina
Nwosu. They got D -Law. They got Leonard Williams.
And they're making it happen. You mean to tell
me that you wouldn't want that in your building
as a head coach? You're okay with just letting
that walk? Are you serious? Because you care
about John Harbaugh and you value the relationship
that you have with John Harbaugh. But that's
what happens when you have an organization full
of people that are complacent with where they
are and complacent with relationships instead
of production. I would rather have a head coach
in a front office who are at odds than to have
a head coach in a front office who are buddy
-buddy. Because you know why? The tension between
the head coach and the front office, that needs
to be felt. Because the only common ground that
you guys need to have is winning a championship
and the moves that it takes to build a roster
that is able to win a championship. That's the
only thing that you guys need to have in common.
Everything else, who cares? I don't care if we
don't have dinner together. I don't care if we
have a night out on the town. I don't care if
we don't have a retreat. I don't even care if
we're neighbors. That means nothing to me. You
know what matters? Us winning championships.
Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft hated each other.
Till this day, they can't stand one another.
But you know what? They came together. They won
championships. So who cares? I'd rather win championships
than to be liked in my own organization. But
to add salt into an open wound, you are now approaching
an offseason where you have to figure out what
you're going to do with this roster. Lamar's
contract has to be addressed. Roquan has to be
addressed. Marlon has to be addressed. Your defensive
line and offensive line needs to be rebuilt.
You need to do something with Rashad Bateman.
You need to figure out what you're going to do
with Isaiah Likely. You have a lot of key decisions
that you have to make that you can't just brush
off. On top of that, you have to bring in a new
head coach. And that right there alone is a whole
other situation itself. But you're okay with
that. Let's talk about Steve Bishotti too. I
don't hate you for the statement that you put
out. What I hate is the lip salad that you continue
to feed Baltimore fans year after year after
year. Don't tell me that you want to win championships.
Show me that you want to win championships. Jerry
Jones this offseason alone showed that he wants
to win a championship. He moved off of his star
player in Micah Parsons just so he can get more
draft picks and he can get Kenny Clark. And mind
you, there's a good chance that Jerry Jones might
do something crazier in this offseason. He's
showing that he wants to win. There are other
teams that are showing that they want to win.
The Ravens aren't. And that starts from the top
all the way to the bottom. Steve Busciotti, if
you are serious about winning, you need to light
a fire under EDC's ass and every single person
in that front office. You need to let it be known
from day one, from this point. On the 7th day
of January in 2026, you need to all let them
know, everybody can get fired if we don't win
the championship soon. I don't care who you are.
I don't care if you're my neighbor. I don't care
if you're the uncle. I don't care if you're the
janitor. It don't matter. Because at the end
of the day, we are here to win championships.
That's what you said in that statement. You said
that. So with you saying that you're trying to
win a championship, show it. Prove to me and
everybody else that you're trying to win a championship.
Because all I continue to see is an owner that
is complacent with where his team is. As long
as you're doing well in the regular season, oh,
Steve Busciotti doesn't care. He doesn't care
at all. But let you start losing. Let you start
having a season like this. Now things get a little
bit tricky. Things get a little bit tense. Things
get a little bit uncomfortable. But that's where
championships come from. You had an opportunity
of a lifetime to win a championship this year.
If you win one championship, that justifies every
single move that you made. And I've said this
in previous episodes. All they have to do is
just win one championship. I'm not saying you
need to go on a 20 -year run like the Patriots.
Just win one. You mean to tell me you can't win
one in a year where the Chiefs aren't going to
the playoffs? Are you serious? unacceptable.
Now, when we talk about candidates for the Ravens,
the two people that come to mind is Brian Flores
and Jesse Minter. Now, the thing is this, Jesse
Minter in some ways has an advantage over Brian
Flores because Jesse Minter was a part of the
coaching staff not too long ago. So there still
could be some familiarity between Jesse Minter
and the organization. Now, with Jesse Minter's
system, I think it's better overall because I
think everybody on the defense is going to benefit
from it compared to Brian Flores. Brian Flores,
on the other hand, is more creative when it comes
to his blitzes, which is good, but I just feel
like if you really want to maximize the talent
that you have on the defense, I would venture
to say get Jesse Minter over Brian Flores. But
either way you look at it, whoever you hire between
those two, that's a good hire. honestly. But
since we're talking about firings, let's talk
about all the other ones that have happened.
But before we do that, we got to pay some bills.
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Now back to the good stuff. And we're back folks.
Let's talk about everything that has occurred
so far since Black Monday. Now for those of you
who don't know what Black Monday is, Black Monday
is essentially the day after the regular season
that has ended. where a lot of head coaches,
GMs, coordinators, you name it, a lot of them
get fired, unfortunately, okay? The current head
coach openings are the Ravens, Giants, Titans,
Falcons, Cardinals, Browns, and Raiders, all
right? Now, the current GM openings are the Dolphins
and Falcons. Now, we all know Jonathan Gannon
got fired, which personally I didn't like because
you have pieces on the team. You have Walter
Nolan, you have Will Johnson, you have Max Milton,
you have Marvin Harrison Jr., you have Paris
Johnson, you have Trey - McBride, James Conner.
You have pieces. You just have to make things
work. And that takes time. But what you can't
do is uproot the progress that has already been
made so far and just say, you know what, we're
going to bring in somebody else. Because their
vision and the way that they utilize those players
may be different. But on to the Falcons. They
fired Raheem Morris and their GM. I understand
the GM firing, but I don't understand Raheem
Morris. And the reason why I say that is because
the Falcons towards the end of the season showed
some promise. And I feel like they showed enough
promise that you can hang your hat on and say,
we're going to give you another chance. I understand
that you guys are trying to win. I understand
that you guys want to be competitive. But let's
be honest, you don't have the infrastructure
to be successful. And in order for your team
to be successful, that requires you, Arthur Blank,
in the front office and ownership to be patient.
But what you can't do is uproot all the progress
that has been made so far, regardless if it's
big or small. Instead, you have to give this
thing time and then assess if things are going
in the right direction or wrong direction. Now,
as far as the GM getting fired, I understand
that because you can't just give $100 million
to Kirk Cousins and then draft a quarterback
in the first round in the same year and think
things are going to be hunky -dory. It's a dumb
move. And then you give up another first round
pick to get James Pierce, which he's showing
some promise, but you gave up a first round pick
that you need. You need that first round pick
this year, especially with it being a defensive
draft class. You could have brought in another
defensive tackle, another corner, another middle
linebacker, but instead you gave that up to the
Rams. So now you've positioned the Rams to be
successful within the next two years. Those are
fireball offenses. Even when you look at his
drafting, it hasn't been well. Sure, you drafted
Drake London. Sure, you drafted Tyler Algier,
Kyle Pitts, Drew Dallman, Avery Williams, Frank
Darby, B. John Robinson, Michael Penix. I can
continue to go down the list. But of all his
draft classes, how many of them are still on
the team right now? Probably not a lot. You let
Drew Dallman go to the Bears and you didn't even
fight for him. Those are the type of moves that
are fireball offenses. On to the Cowboys. They
fired Matt Eberflus. That's a no -brainer. The
defense was not playing well this year. John
Morin, former offensive coordinator for the Lions,
he got fired. That's a no -brainer as well because
there was a point in time where Dan Campbell
took over the play calling for the offense. Anytime
your head coach does that, you're most likely
going to lose your job. The Commanders, on the
other hand, a little bit of a head scratcher,
especially with the offense, because with Jaden
Daniels voicing his support for Cliff Kingsbury,
I would have thought the Commanders would have
tried to keep him, but Cliff Kingsbury and Dan
Quinn couldn't see things eye to eye, so that's
probably why they went their separate ways. Which,
side note, what really pisses me off is when
they talk about, oh, we decided to part ways.
That's a fancy way of saying, I got fired. I
understand that Andrew Barry is a really good
GM and his vision might be great and whatnot.
But this is the same GM that gave up three first
round picks and multiple day two and day three
picks and gave the dumbest contract in NFL history
to acquire Deshaun Watson. And you mean to tell
me that you're going to keep him? But you're
going to let Kevin Stefanski go. Are we serious
right now? What sense does it make that I give
up future assets that has pushed this franchise
back for a quarterback that played less than
two full seasons, and then I get to keep my job?
That's the dumbest thing you could have ever
did. But you know what? The Browns will be the
Browns. Now, as far as Joe Shane, how is it that
you're able to stay on the team, but Brian Dable
gets fired? I understand that Brian Dable did
a lot on the field and off the field, and there's
a lot of skating reports about him. Okay, cool.
But mind you, Joe Shane is the reason why the
Eagles won another Super Bowl, because he didn't
want to pay Saquon Barkley. That right there
alone should have been a fireball offense. And
the fact that the Giants decided to keep him
instead of just letting him go, there's no need
in keeping him. He has shown that he cannot get
the job done. You move heaven and earth to get
Brian freaking Burns, which it is paying off
very well. But then you draft Abdul Carter, even
though you drafted Kayvon Thibodeau not too long
ago, high up in the first round. Why would you
do that? These are the type of things that make
me wonder, how are you guys able to keep a job?
What are you guys doing behind closed doors?
Are you throwing these people under the bus?
Because what are we doing? Giants, John Mara,
you literally told Joe Shane, sign Saquon. Well,
you didn't say it directly, but you essentially
said it in a roundabout way. You literally said,
Saquon Barkley is by far our most popular player.
And Joe Shane sat behind his desk, smiled like
Mickey Mouse, and said, huh, who in the world
wants to sign a running back that much money?
Who wants to do that? The Eagles did. And guess
what? It worked. Because you know what? They're
now Super Bowl champions. But on to the Ravens
and Steelers game. So Lamar Jackson, 18 attempts
for 11 completions, 238 passing yards, three
touchdowns, one pick, 13 .2 yards per attempt,
and a 61 .1 completion percentage. Derrick Henry,
20 attempts for 126 rushing yards, 6 .3 rushing
yards per carry. Zay Flowers, 6 targets for 4
receptions, 138 receiving yards, 2 touchdowns,
and 34 .5 receiving yards per reception. Aaron
Rodgers, 47 attempts for 31 completions, 294
passing yards, 1 touchdown, 6 .3 yards per attempt,
and a 66 completion percentage. Jalen Warren,
14 attempts for 66 rushing yards, 4 .7 rushing
yards per carry. Kenneth Gainwell, 9 targets
for 8 receptions, 64 receiving yards, and 8 receiving
yards per reception. While I understand that
Lamar Jackson was playing, you should have had
the same game plan that you had facing the Packers.
And the reason why I say that is because in the
first half, the Steelers couldn't stop the run
game. So that should have already let you know,
hey, we can run the ball successfully against
these guys. But instead, you decided to take
a detour and that's the reason why you're not
in the playoffs. Now let's talk about the defense
because I have a lot of questions for y 'all.
For starters, how is it that Shadobi Awuzie can
go one -on -one against Calvin Austin without
no safety help and get burnt the way that he
did? Or better yet, why were you bad at tackling?
These are the fundamental things that you would
expect a team like the Ravens to show. But clearly
they didn't. And that's one of the reasons why
they lost. But I think the part of the game that
really sealed the Ravens' fate was their inability
to run the ball after Lamar Jackson converted
that key fourth down play. Once you convert that
fourth down, you're running the ball. You're
trying to get as close as you possibly can to
the end zone. Now I understand that they believe
in Tyler Loop and whatnot, but... Why is it that
you want to position him right there when you
could have just ran the ball at least 5 to 10,
maybe even 15 more yards? You have Derrick Henry.
Just run the ball a couple more times, drain
the clock a little bit down, just inch your way
up the field, and once you feel like you're in
a good spot, then kick the ball. But what you
don't do is just clock it and think, oh, we're
going to win this game. No, you didn't win the
game. You choked the game away. But that goes
back to coaching because you should have realized
that at that point, we need to run the ball as
much as we can, get as close as we can to the
end zone, then figure out what we're going to
do from there. But instead, you felt comfortable
because you converted on a key fourth down that
you were good, that you had already sealed the
game, when in actuality, you didn't. Was Todd
Munkin the reason why they ran the ball as much
as they did against the Packers? Because that's
what I believe. I don't think John Harbaugh would
have done that. I think John Harbaugh would have
tried to beat them in the air. Now, when we talk
about the Steelers, however, offensively, I'm
not really surprised because they don't have
DK Metcalf, but you have to start including Pat
Fryer move more into the game. You can't just
dink and doink him at different points of the
game. Consistently give him the ball. The way
that you use Johnnie Smith, you need to be doing
that to Pat Frymuth because he has the same ability
to do that. Now, defensively, I'm frustrated
with them because the safety play has been very
inconsistent. Like, there was a point in time
where Kyle Duggar got benched for Chuck Clark.
Anytime that happens, that's a problem. And clearly
it was because Zay Flowers was killing them deep.
I don't know what they need to do, but they need
to figure it out. And please, can we stop using
Malik Harrison so much? because clearly that's
a tell. Anytime Malik Harrison is in, oh, stop
the run. You need to start including Peyton Wilson
in because Peyton Wilson is a playmaker too.
Now, the final thing we need to talk about, and
this will be very brief, is the 26 draft class,
okay? I'm going to let you guys know now, this
is a defensive draft class. So if you're looking
for pass rushers, corners, linebackers, whomever,
this is the draft class for you, all right? The
pass rush is going to be the spotlight of this
class. You're going to have David Bailey. You're
going to have Mason Thomas. You're going to have
Reuben Bain, just to name a few, all right? This
is a weak quarterback class. Now, before Ty Simpson
declared for the draft, I was under the impression
that Fernando Mendoza was going to be the only
quarterback taken in the first round. Now, that's
probably going to change. Now, me personally,
I still believe that Ty Simpson should have went
back to school. And the reason why I say that
is because there is a history that shows quarterbacks
who play more snaps in college tend to transition
better into the league. Look at Anthony Richardson,
for instance. I know that's probably a bad example,
but Anthony Richardson doesn't have a lot of
snaps. Ty Simpson doesn't have a lot of snaps.
So why would you try to go into the league now
when you know most likely you're going to be
thrust into the fire? So most likely, you're
probably going to go to the Jets. Do you really
want that? I don't think so. Now, with that being
said, this is an emerging wide receiver class.
You're going to have some options. Cardinal Tate,
of course. Denzel Boston, Makai Lemon, Jordan
Tyson. I can continue to go down the list. You
already know who they are, right? But I think
there's going to be some other receivers whose
draft stock is going to increase after the Shrine
and Senior Bowl. Now, the linebacker class seems
very interesting. You have Harold Perkins. You
have Anthony Hill Jr. You have Sonny Stiles.
You have a little bit of Arville Reese because
he plays both inside and outside linebacker as
well. So you have a lot of good options at inside
linebacker, and there's probably going to be
a few others that are going to rise up once the
Senior Bowl and Shrine Bowl happen. With that
being said, I think the cornerback class could
also be very interesting as well. I know there's
Malik Muhammad. I know there's one from LSU that's
gaining a lot of attention. There's one from
Indiana that's getting a lot of attention as
well. So there's going to be some very notable
names. I just believe, and this is my personal
opinion, I could be 100 % wrong. Don't take anything
that I say serious because I'm not a Todd McShay
or Mel Kiper or any of those top -end guys yet.
I think this draft class is more appetizer than
main course. And the reason why I say that is
because you can use this draft class to either
get more picks or to fill in holes on your team.
Because 27 is gonna be the draft class where
you're gonna wanna take that big swing because
you're gonna have Ryan Williams, Jeremiah Smith,
and multiple quarterbacks to go after. So if
you're a quarterback needy team, this isn't the
draft class for you. 27 is the draft class for
you. Even with Trinidad Shambles, because everybody's
talking about him. Everybody's raving, hooting,
hollering, hearing about him. I think he's probably
going to go back to school for one more year
just to build his draft stock up, which is perfectly
fine. Just don't take a quarterback this year.
Fill out the rest of your team, whether it be
tackle, guard, wide receiver, tight end, whatever.
And then in 27... Make the move that you need
to make and get your quarterback, okay? But I'm
going to end this episode here. If you guys like
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K -A -I -O -E. 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
listening to another episode of the greatest
football podcast that you can listen to on a
week to week, day to day basis. And stay tuned
because our second episode of the Stack and Shed
series should be coming out fairly soon. You
just got to give me some time. All right. So
as always, I love you guys. Appreciate you guys
so much. This is your GM Kale signing out. Peace
and love. Later, guys.