Buying or selling Week 7 storylines: Russell Wilson, Drake Maye, Anthony Richardson
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On this episode of Football 301, Matt Harmon joins me to recap week seven and buy or sell or hedge some of the storylines in the NFL so far. Players, teams, units. We look at it, determine if we like it or if we don't. See you guys in a sec. ♪

Hello and welcome back to Football 301. I'm your host, Nate Tice. We are going to be reviewing week seven. We're going to be buying and selling some trends, some surprises, some storylines from the NFL season so far.

Some are interesting, some are pretty standard, pretty standard fare with being the conversation right now in football. Some maybe a little more deep dive, a little more niche, some positive, some negative, just all over the place. But to help me do that, as always on Tuesday, is Mr. Matt Harmon himself. Mr. Matt Harmon, BVB. I still like introducing you as that because I just like the little tagline. It's like you're a doctor.

You know? Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Talk about something I'm not qualified for. You're a doctor receiver. You're Mr. Receiver. Yeah, that's perfect. That's it. That's what it stands for. Some way we're going to work out that acronym. But how are you doing today, Matt? Thanks for joining me. I'm doing good, Nate. Yeah, I could definitely use a whole team. You know, doctor. Look, doctors are great. Shout out to all the doctors out there. But, you know, you got nurses, doctors.

You got, you know, physician's assistants, the whole thing. You got the NP. You got the office folks. Like, I could definitely use a whole team around me as we're trying to diagnose some of these receiver situations and things across the NFL. But, hey, man, it's good to be talking to you. Like, we're right kind of in the midpoint of the regular season, and I definitely feel –

We're going to talk about it. I feel like a lot of things are starting to crystallize, and I'm also ready for that to just also look completely wrong in three, four, five weeks because my buddy Sigmund Blum has basically been a mentor to me throughout my time, especially starting out. He always used to say, you can be right and wrong about a player, a team, a situation over the course of just one season. And so that really always comes clear here in the midpoint to me.

It does. And some things I'm like, I watched like maybe even like the lines who will talk about it later, but I'm watching them like, oh yeah, this is exactly what I pictured. Like why there's no, like, it's no new or interesting thoughts on it. Hopefully a couple later, but still it's one of those things watching them that I'm like, oh yeah, yeah, this, yeah, this is crystallizing, but it's exactly what I pictured beforehand. But even like the Ravens offense, the run game, I'm like,

I'm not surprised. I'm a little surprised, but I should be surprised when you put Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson in the same backfield and this is what it looks like and this is the offensive production. But sometimes you need to see it a little bit before you kind of like, yeah, I'm ready to anoint that. Or you see some flags that you planted slowly falling down like the reverse of Iwo Jima. Yeah, that's just not... There's a couple takes that I have about that. But starting off,

on what we're buying and selling is a quarterback change that happened in Pittsburgh that we all got to see on Sunday night. That is Russell Wilson is now the starting quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers. They picked up the W against the

Other team in New York, the Jets that just seem to be in the headlines every single week for good or for better or for worse. But Russell Wilson, this is our first buy or sell of trends of the season or storylines of the season. Matt, the line is Russell Wilson unlocks the Steelers offense. Are you buying or selling that?

Yeah, it's so nice. I don't think we have a Jets storyline throughout the course of the show. It feels nice to not be able to address that. I checked the box, though. We both wore green. Are you wearing green? True. I think that's green. This is a darker, more mature green than whatever the Jets. Talk about a not a mature team. This is a mature green. That is not a mature team. So let's never talk about the Jets. We checked the box. We're good. We did it. But yeah, against that team in New York,

I thought it was a good performance from Russell. Can I hedge on this one and say I'm buying it for now? I do think the one area that really stood out to me, and you saw it watching the game and definitely the stats afterwards bore this out, where Russell was an upgrade for the Steelers quarterback position was on just those play-action shot concepts that you and I as sort of the

Maybe few appreciators of Arthur Smith's offense. Like these are the core already bros. The already bros. Yeah, yeah. We're a small select group of freaks. Me and you are in that that group there. Those are sort of the core concepts of this offense. And definitely the way Russell did it was very different than the old Tennessee Titans offenses with these in breaking shots on play action in

you know, to AJ Brown from Ryan Tannehill, but from next gen stats, the Russell Wilson was eight of nine for 150 yards on play action against that New York team. That 150 yards was the most by yards on play action by any Steelers quarterback since 2016, which I kind of thought was a little bit absurd.

you know, cause that's even grouping. But Ben never liked the duplex action. Exactly. Roethlisberger. So yeah, you want everything spread and you want the nickel and dime at all. Yeah. So it actually makes a little more sense. Yeah. Once you start to flesh it out, like it does make sense. Cause Ben was the,

he was like the originator of, I want to be in the gun and I'm never turning my back to the defense, especially later in his career. He definitely didn't want to do any of that stuff. And then obviously they've just had a murderer's row of really, really bad quarterbacks. Fields had a 5.2 YPA on play action from weeks one to six. So definitely an upgrade there. And I know that people's first response is, yeah, we'll go actually watch some of those plays. It's mostly just Russell Wilson throwing fades and go routes and contested situations to George Pickens that Pickens bailed him out. I'm like,

Yeah, but that's the point. Like, that's the offense. And also, that's George Pickens. Like, that's what you should be doing with him. And I think Fields and Pickens had an okay connection because Fields is also good on deep outside the numbers throws. That's where he wants to work. That is where Pickens is best. But at the same time, I think Russell throws a little bit better of a go route and a fade ball approach.

which does just suit George Pickens well. So is it going to be, am I buying it over the course of the season? I don't know. But for now, I do think he didn't, maybe it didn't unlock the offense, but made it a little bit better in a past game. Yeah, it felt a little more streamlined. The operation did. I thought that's where the improvement was. Like Russ, you definitely felt some more veteran-ness out of that offense. You know, Fields just has moments every game where it's, you know, just operation errors. It seems like,

Someone didn't get the play call right. He's messed up on the cadence. He's thinking too much. I think he wants to put so much on his plate, but right now, Justin Fields has shown throughout his career, he can't handle a lot on his plate. Russ, at times, can ask for too much, and coaches are like, all right, let's give it to him. And then it turns out, it's like, oh, maybe there's a limit here. But right now, when I watched that game, it did feel just a little more

cohesive. It felt like guys were coming off the ball at the right time. It felt like there was no misalignments. There was no just kind of those mental botches. There was execution botches, which is different than operation botches, pre-snap stuff. So I would say first and foremost, that's where I saw improvement from this team

Does that help? Because it's a team that needs to be, you know, above board on every play. They can't get behind the sticks because of just their lack of explosiveness. That does matter for this team more than others that can't create most explosive plays. But like you said, is I thought fields and maybe pepper pickings a little bit more and maybe just, and maybe give him more chances. He did. And Russ at least is doing that. Maybe throwing him shorter because I think Russ's arm strength has dropped about 10, 15%. Yeah. That, that,

He kind of maybe actually works in his favor because they get the play actions. They let Pickens adjust for it. So maybe that does help it. I'm with you. I'm glad you kind of really strong from both of us on the first one. I'm really I'm hedging on the buyer sell here. I buy some parts of it, but I still don't.

This offense still needs an explosive play element. Fields at least provided that with his legs. And I thought they would just include that more as the season went along. So that's why this still feels strange to me. Maybe they just become more comprehensive, cohesive, you know, a better add layers to the offense now that they know this is what it is going forward. Hey, Justin, you come in as the wildcat quarterback type in the red zone and it's just a package, you know, select plays. Maybe that's what they include.

But I don't know. I'm not like, I don't have a strong, strong feeling on this. I want to see a little bit more of it. Maybe not against the, you know, the Jets defense is still pretty good, but still just that team's just chaotic. So yeah, I don't know. I'm indifferent. I'm indifferent. I'm holding, I guess. I'm not buying or selling, just holding. All right, moving on to a different quarterback change, but this was going back to the starter because he was now healthy. I tried to segue there. That didn't work, but whatever. Anthony Richardson, yeah.

Is there any argument for sitting Anthony Richardson as they kind of got into a rock fight against the Dolphins this past week on his return from a hip pointer, I believe was the actual injury. The Colts started Joe Flacco for a couple of weeks, had some good performances under Joe Flacco for a couple of weeks. There's some murmurs right now that maybe that's the better way for the Colts going forward the rest of the year. Are you buying or selling sitting Richardson and going with Flacco?

Yeah, I'm really interested to talk about Richardson with you because I find this one, you know, a bit of a tough nut to crack right now in some ways. I will say, like, is there an argument for sitting him? I'm completely selling on that idea. I don't buy into that at all. Do I maybe buy that the offense might

you know, to go back to what we just talked about, the Steelers might feel a little more veteran-y, might feel a little, you know, more smooth down to down with Flacco there. It's very similar. That's a good point. It really is. Yeah. And like, I think Flacco unlocks some of these receivers and I'm, I am trying to put my, put my, like what I'd love to see from these receivers aside for a second. Cause I think this room is really good. I love Josh Downs. Pittman's a rock solid vet. You know, we're also kind of like Alec Pierce, you know, like,

stockholders, maybe a couple. His role's good. Good role for him now. Yes. His role's good. Don't ask him to do anything else. Nothing else. Nothing else. Just this. Just this. Just this. And then I think Adonai Mitchell as the season goes on, you know, the separations there and things like that for him, I think the rest of it can sort of come together. It's a really good room. I'm trying to put that aside and like any sort of feelings about

you know, what I'd like to see from like a fantasy perspective aside on this. And I, because yeah, I think Flacco under center, all those guys become a lot more interesting from a production standpoint. It's a good room and I'd like to see good wide receiver rooms unlocked right now. But at the same time, I also know that, uh,

that we're a microwave society. We want like instant results, but this was always going to be a developmental season for Anthony Richardson. Cause he's still a guy that doesn't have a lot of experience and basically missed almost all of last year. It would make no sense. Even Flacco. I think, I think it was on Chris long show said like, yeah, I'd make like Richardson needs to be out there. He, Anthony needs to play the games. Like Flacco is not out there even, you know, championing the idea that he needs to start. I'm sure in his,

his heart of hearts, he knows like, yeah, I could probably be better right now today than Anthony Richardson, but he knows that's not the point. So I'm selling on the idea that it makes sense to sit Richardson and try to win this year. But I'm just curious from your perspective, Nate, because I have a feeling you're probably going to not love the idea of sitting Anthony Richardson either. But I'm just curious from your perspective, like what is missing with Richardson right now? It does feel like watching the games that

They don't have as many easy buttons for him as you'd kind of like, but is that...

Is he not taking the buttons when they're there? Or, you know, Steichen, who I think says all the right things after the game, is like, I need to do a better job. This is not just Richardson. I need to do a better job of getting guys open and things like that. Where is the sort of disconnect between what the offense looks like with Flacco and what it looks like with Richardson? No. So first off, I'm with you. I'm selling the argument to sit him, is that this is a guy that needs reps. He needs to get out of his own way at times, like the fumble in the red zone he had on the first drive. After he has a nice...

nice, easy going drive where he's not doing anything too difficult on it. And then he tries to do a little too much. And to me, that's a guy that needs game reps. So everything Flacco said, I totally agree with is that he needs game reps. Practice reps are one thing. Game reps are a whole nother thing. And why I say that is that there's sometimes that

I can tell he gets excited that he's about to make the right read. Like he's like, oh, you try to disguise this. And he gets really bouncy. And then his timing gets off. Then he feels like he has to chuck the throne and throw it 75 miles an hour when you can throw it like still hard, but just a little bit more touch on it. And again, that comes with game experience when going like, OK, the last time I got punished for this, this happened. So now I have to do this. That's where growth comes from.

as those, those mistakes and everything, he just needs to calm down like that. That's it is there's plays. He had an RPO that they ran. He pulls it, makes the correct read on it. But then he like, it's, he bounces like into the protection, into the left tackle and left guard, like just chill, just pull it and throw. Like he's so excited that he got there and he bounces right on over there. To me again, that's a guy that is,

I got the question right. And I'm going to sprint to the teacher and show that I got the question right. But really, it's more like, okay, you got the question right. Now you need to execute. So his mind has to catch up with his feet and his arm. It's got, but I will say, watching that game back in all 22, I actually was a little bit, I thought he did better than I originally thought on TV copy. That he didn't make the,

Some dummy mistakes that he has in the past. He did get away with one where he ends up turning out to be a great throw where he pops over a flat defender. But it was great because he realized, oh, shoot, I'm a little wrong with this read. I'm just instead of gunning it in there, he's like, I'm going to throw a touch growth. You need growth because I think in the past on that mistake, he would just wind it right at the flat defender. He made a couple of throws that are.

like three guys, four guys in the league can make right now, like, which is again, what you're honing in on with Anthony Richardson, make those more common and take out all the, the, you know, the crappiness, the, the, you know, just the ineffective play. And really this game popped open when the Colts ran Anthony Richardson, which is again, the element of his game. That's so exciting is that he can be an upper echelon runner. So, um,

I just go that this guy, as Richardson, as he gets more reps, the feet will calm down. It does remind me they are not the same player at all. And I know this is the common comparison. Same thing with Josh Allen early in his career was that he was so bouncy. His feet were going every which way. This is...

That comes with time. Calm the feet down. Okay, I can throw this a little bit later and make sure it's all right as opposed to like, oh, I'm going to try and anticipate this and then throw it 70 miles an hour. Just those two things merging. This guy's so young. He has like less than a thousand dropbacks combined in college and NFL. Like he just needs more time. And

I still think that the stuff that we have seen is just the stuff that you chase. And I think that's why they're excited about him. Also think away, maybe saying, you know, making it easier on the guys. I think some of that,

from Steichen was that some of the RPOs work, but some of the RPOs I think was making Richardson have too much handle on every single play. Those, you know, those, those, those make it easier on the quarterback. They are quote unquote training wheels, but also the quarterback has to make a decision every single play because, and for a guy that you're going, his decision-making is 60, 40 right now.

You know, that's a little scary. But again, with more refs, that becomes better. So he needs to make mistakes. The Colts, I'm excited about where the Colts are going, but they weren't winning the Super Bowl this year. I hate to break it to Indianapolis fans. The ones singing, this is our team.

We bleed blue. Have you seen that meme? That was actually pretty funny. But it's an interesting team, a team I'm optimistic about. I thought the second half of the year is where we see the growth because Richardson, again, just needs more reps. So selling the argument for sitting him and...

Sorry, fans. You just have to deal with some of the mistakes that he makes because I think the good plays are what you want. That's the top five type play quarterback play. That is what you're chasing with him. So just strip out the fat as it gets along.

It's a long-winded way to say it's more of the same. It's a shame they have a week 14 bye. I know. They need it now. They get Houston in Houston, in Minnesota, Buffalo, in New York to face the Jets the next four weeks. So definitely a tough group of defenses. That's tough.

I do think it just has to be viewed as a sink or swim season for Richardson. And even if he's, I don't think he's totally sinking, even though the, I mean, the passing metrics are obviously horrible. Um, but he does, he certainly needs the reps for sure. So yeah, just, I feel a little bit of patience with Richardson is good. And yeah, it's interesting your point about the RPOs. Cause I hadn't really considered that cause they were so RPO heavy with Gardner Minshew last year. Uh, and you know, that's why like it just,

Michael Pittman on these little in breakers over and over and over and over again, but they clearly want more from Richardson. And in a way, I feel like once you get Jonathan Taylor back and maybe that run game is a little bit more consistent and successful. I like that idea of, you know, some of the, like the more old school, like Gary Kubiak, like the Shanahan tree coaches, they would talk about it as like, we just, we want to just do a handoff, you know, every now and again, just to get the court, like get the quarterback's brain, like a breather, you know, like a,

I get why, you know, we criticize some coaches. I think the Texans are leaning into it maybe too much sometimes with like the early down runs and things like that because, but I think Stroud's at a point where maybe he could handle more with Richardson. It's like, yeah, let's just let this guy run some normal plays where he's not having to make decisions all of the time. Cause that's the one area I would say I'm not concerned, but has been a little bit less than I expected was I thought Richardson last year was such a good processor, even if some of the

passing was wonky this year i feel like the passing has remained wonky and sort of that processing and as you mentioned like he gets a little jittery and and stuff like that i feel like he's been a little more amped up this year than maybe he was just very briefly last year but hopefully some of that can just go away when the expectations sort of get dialed down amped up is a great way to put it that's that's what it is it's like he he seems too amped up and

you don't just because you can throw it probably harder than anybody in the league doesn't mean you have to every time you throw it matthew stafford has talked about this josh allen has talked about this all these guys with the crazy insane arms have learned that you have to take off some rpms because you know some miles per hour because that's you know those guys can't always catch those and sometimes if you're early that screws up the timing too uh you know it's kind of a

double-edged sword when you maybe it's because I have a popcorn arm down like yeah see it's not always great that you could throw it so hard it's a curse you're across the bear oh man you know just throwing it that hard and that perfect with those perfect spirals man that must suck and really I know Alan's going to be the comparison but that's

How aggressive he is, how many downfield throws he makes that again, the fact that he can do it is what you are chasing with these quarterbacks. And I think the completion percentage will bump up. I don't think he's ever going to be a 68% guy, but at least get over to that low 60 mark as they kind of figure out what works for him outside of just launch it, which is going to have some lower incomplete or completion percentage. Okay. Going on to another big arm, big arm quarterback that I'm a fan of.

Drake May had his second start, this one in London against the Jaguars. Producer Stone, I think, put this one in. He just put Drake May question mark. Are you buying or selling Drake May? I see Matt. I'll just make it simple. Buying or selling Drake May? Oh, I'm buying Drake May, man. Listen, I don't know if I'm buying the ceiling of him long term, stuff like that. We're obviously still in discovery mode with that. But what we can definitely sell on Nate is the idea that this guy was like,

years and years away. I mean, you can't, you can't throw this guy on the field for, for seasons. And I'm, I know, I know how you feel about this. So I'm, I'm saying it so that you don't have to say it for like the fifth 50th time or whatever in the last two weeks. But yeah, man, to me watching him play, especially cause I was familiar a lot with him from, from 22 watching him with Josh downs and stuff like that. And, and,

I just thought he was a really good decision maker, a really accurate passer when there are windows available. And just a guy that did the game never looked too big for him. Like, you know, that's, that's the thing that I really liked about may working with Josh downs. And I always said this a lot with Drake may, there must've been no bigger like quarterback that experienced whiplash more than my number one receiver is Josh downs this year to my number one receiver is Tez Walker in the next year. And that was only for half the season. So,

I do think he definitely got a little unfairly maligned because I don't think there was anything like traits wise or certainly not traits wise, but even like skill set wise, like applicable skill sets to the game that there was a reason why he just couldn't. He couldn't function on the field as a rookie or something like that. And I think we've gotten a really good product the last two weeks. I think that has been borne out. Is it perfect? Definitely not. Does he make some progress?

some questionable decisions? Certainly. You know, is there a lot of pressure? Does he sometimes make it a little bit worse? Yeah, but at the same time, you also see his creation ability add layers to this offense that were just simply never going to be there with Jacoby Brissett, obviously. I think that seems...

like a ridiculous discussion. I almost kind of wish at this point, because I know you and I kind of like Jalen Polk a little bit. I've been really confused that the two things I really loved about Polk were that he had really good hands and he was kind of a grinder in the run game and his blocking sucks and his hands suck. I was like, if you don't catch the ball, at least block. Cause that's,

I was like, yeah, I'm going to do like a diet Coke, Chris Godwin, man. You better, you gotta amp this up a little bit. And now you're kind of hearing, the reason I bring Polk up is you're hearing Drake may kind of in interviews talk about like, yeah, I it's on me to like get these guys in the flow of the game and all this stuff. And you're almost just like, damn, I wish you could have been doing this since I don't know, week one. Yeah. Right. Like maybe we could have been building up chemistry with these players since week one. Uh, I don't love the way they've used Polk. Uh, he's been mostly like a, uh,

vertical X, which is just not his game at all. I know they don't have a real X on the roster, but yeah, again, I, I'm buying Drake May for sure. And I'm almost just like wishing I had seen him earlier in the season so that he could build up more timing chemistry with these receivers instead of like, it's already a problem. It was going to be a problematic room no matter what. And now your second round pick is like actively a negative player in the offense and seems pretty,

pretty pissed about his role. He's thrown up like the deuces on Instagram. Don't even know what that's supposed to mean. But yeah, I wish we had seen Drake May earlier because I think he's he's added a lot here and should only continue to improve. Yeah, it's exactly kind of how I pictured his rookie season to being so far, which is big plays and

Couple things he gets punished for when he's trying a little too much. But I always thought his mental side was long underrated. Like, that's what blew my mind when so many people were like, oh, he can't play right away. You got to sit him. Usually with guys like that, it's because the mental side isn't there to the physical gifts. A guy coming out of Wyoming, like Josh Allen again, or other, you know, kind of projectee quarterbacks. I hate comparing him to such an outlier, but I'm just, you know, it's hard. But with May, yeah.

I saw him handling blitzes, progressing on plays. And that's, yeah, he bounces a little too much in the pocket, but he also like mitigates a lot of pass rush that he's getting too. So that's why those arguments never stacked up to me. I got that you like don't want to quote unquote damage them. But again, that's these guys need reps. If you say they need experience and you don't play them, like, I don't know, that never correlates to me. It's game reps. You know, it's not just practice reps, game reps.

And it turns out week one might've been the best way to play or best time to play him. Cause that bangles defense turns out, uh, one of the worst in the league. That might've been a pretty good one to go against in your first, you know, first experience. Uh, but I'm buying them all the way. There's nothing that's dissuaded me from like how high I was in the draft process. Cause you see the first touchdown against the blitz and the Jags, which, uh,

I was talking to Deontay Lee about, it was kind of a weird time to call that blitz too. But he not only identified where the weakness was, he didn't replace the blitz. He did, but he didn't. He didn't replace the blitz, but he knew that the dropper was going to come across the formation. That's a common blitz Nielsen would run, a defense coordinator for the Jags.

Can't believe I'm bringing up his name right now after how this year has gone. But he hits the flat route. God, that's my coldest take of the offseason. But he hits that flat route. And yeah, it's a short route that Hastie makes a nice play, scores a touchdown on. But he got there so quick, it gives the back room to operate. So that to me was mental side that he was able to, oh, Blitzer going right there. I'm not just going to the opposite side, which is where his technical hot answers were.

So it was kind of a nice layered play, mental layered play, I should say, to see out of him. A couple of plays that people highlighted, you know, the Hunter Henry sail route, they pins it on him. I would even say he almost had a pick in the red zone, in the end zone, where he hits Sisko in the chest. And he was trying to hit, but he was trying, what he was trying to do is make Austin Hooper settle. And he was trying to pin, they call it an anchor ball. So he's trying to anchor him and body him up. And Hooper's like, nope, I'm running my rep as it's drawn. Okay, there we go.

So again, it was a mistake. May was trying to do a little too much. But to me, I'm like, oh, that's good, though, that he's not going. I just throw because that's how it's drawn. No, you have to throw guys open. And that's why I really like him anyways, because he does that. And so you saw you've seen a little bit so far. Yeah, I just want to see him keep playing the jail and poke thing. I know Pop Douglas is probably their most explosive receiver, and he's a slot guy. And it's kind of like, all right, well.

Do we switch him out outside so we just get poked to do dirty work five-yard routes? I get that conundrum that they probably are going through trying to figure out. But again, a team that

I want to see him take a deep breath, reconfigure some things. But I really, yeah, it's all promising, I think, so far from me. And even just me, even if I were neutral on it, we're so high on him in the draft. I'd say this is if you're a Patriots fan, this is what you can hope. There's going to be some mistakes, but there's going to be plenty of explosive plays. Like even at the end of the game,

It wasn't him. You know, they're losing two scores or more. It wasn't him just going like, oh, I'm going to check it down because it's there. It was him trying to attack downfield because he realized I need 30 yard gains to get up my team back in the game. I just really like that. Also, I'm a little disappointed in Bill Belichick and

and his pot shots he keeps taking at the Patriots and Mayo and everything. And I'm just waiting for somebody on one of his 14 shows to go, hey, how come the offensive line, the offensive personnel is why it is? Like, can we talk about that? Yeah.

Is anyone going to ask him? I just said the same thing on not quite the same thing, but basically the same thing on my show today on the fantasy show. It's like I do feel bad for Gerard Mayo that I'm not saying they've been perfectly well coaches here. I do think we'll get to a point, whether it's next year or the year after, whatever, when I think May is holding this job down. We're like, yeah, is Alex Van Pelt really enough at offensive coordinator? Do we need to do something other than just...

40th or 50th percentile at best offensive design and play calling and the whole thing he's getting a c he passes but yeah he's gonna get his degree we could do better yeah we don't we're not trying to seize get degrees drake maker we're trying to get him to the inner circle all that stuff i think we'll eventually get that point i'm not saying that they've been perfectly well coaches here the whole thing uh but i do feel bad for geron mayo uh hampton va's finest that you know like

The guy that he is replacing is on like 14 shows and has a thought on everything. That's just kind of, that's kind of, he's already in a tough spot anyway, because he's replacing the greatest coach of all time. But yeah, it would be nice if somebody was like, Hey Bill, like,

Why is the receiver room so... Why do we have to rely on all these rookies? Why is Pop Douglas the best player that you've drafted? Hey, that guy, Juju Smith-Schuster, that you signed as opposed to Jacoby Myers, why doesn't he play for this team anymore? What's going on there? They probably could use him, huh? Shoot, they could use him, but...

That was a tough move at the time. Yeah. Well, and even guys like... He's been injured, so it's not totally fair. But a guy like Cole Strange, he drafted probably two rounds too early. I remember when he got drafted, Dane Brugler and I were talking about it. He was like, oh, you know, kind of saw him late second at best. Because he was an interesting guy. Good athlete, smart and everything. Just a small school guy. You know, that was a reach. He drafts Tyquan Thornton probably a round or two too early. You know, just all these picks. And it's just also like...

this, all right, they're struggling on offense and it's all your players too, man. Like, I don't know. Why are we talking about this? Like if you want to be GM, de facto boss of everything, you got to take ownership of the offense and also the special teams has improved since Belichick has left too. So I,

He always took pride in it. They were dead last the last two years and now they're actually solid. So that's another thing. But sorry to call out the best coach of all time, but I just, yeah, we're just waiting for someone to ask him about it. Yeah. I want to hear some quotes about why it's offense like this right now. So yeah, Bill, come on. You, you got, you got time. Clearly come on football 301 and Nate will grill you about your offensive play. Your offensive personnel picks. He'll bring up some story from 1987 about my dad. Then I'm like, Oh God, like, you know what I mean? Like where he'll just get me. He'll own me on something.

Yeah, I mean, you're asking for it, but I am. All right. We are going to take a quick break after that, and then we're going to come back with some more buying and selling of NFL stories.

All right. We are back for some more buying, selling, maybe some hedging if we feel like it. But going on to the NFC now, going to the Bears and Caleb Williams. But our line or what are we buying or selling is the Bears offense is about to start soaring. Their next three games are against the Commanders, the Cardinals and the Patriots. So, Matt, are you buying or selling that the Bears offense is starting to roll?

I am buying this. They, look, obviously are coming off a big performance against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London before the bye. So I think, and we have talked about this a lot, that I think you can map steady improvement throughout the course of Caleb Williams' season from an outright disastrous week one showing to what I thought was a really, other than the one interception to DJ Moore when he was, like, I think the only guy in the route and just, man, that should have been his...

fifth, sixth touchdown of the day. And it was not. It was obviously the interception. I think other than that, it was a pretty flawless performance against a horrible Jacksonville defense. I thought it was interesting from next-gen stats. Caleb Williams has completed 34 of his 47 attempts towards in-breaking routes, so in, slant, post, angle, cross. His playoff

plus 28.4 EPA on such attempts is the third most in the NFL and he's got 10.8 yards per attempt when targeting in breakers this season that's the most among rookie quarterbacks since 2018 which I think makes the point here we've again this is something we've discussed a lot this year Nate that they haven't really tried to

Mickey Mouse or like hold his hand, you know, hey, just just dip your toes in and ease into the water. No, they've been like, hey, go diving board off the freaking deep end over here and like sink or swim, baby. And I think he is really starting to swim is Caleb Williams. And that's important. Like, yeah. Do we want him to come out and just start swimming?

Putting up bull numbers to start the year on, you know, fake Mickey mouse stuff. Like that would be awesome. If that's how Caleb Williams started, because we want that. We want the microwave results, but they've clearly been trying to cook something for the longterm here. And I know Shane Waldron takes a lot of crap. I've definitely given Shane Waldron a hard time, but I will also give him credit for cutting out the fat of this office. Like,

They tried to do so much to start, which again, I think is part of the process here. We're trying to figure out what do you like Caleb? What works in our offense? We pretty quickly figured out like the DeAndre Carter plays don't work. The DeAndre Swift, like option routes don't work. The Gerald Everett screens, those don't work. Well, again,

We got to credit a coach for figuring that out on the fly. In terms of weeks five and six, DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, Roma Dunze, and Cole Komet ran a route on 50% of Williams' dropbacks. No other wide receiver saw the field on passing plays. They're not even running routes out there. We have cut the fat out, and it's just –

Those three receivers, Cole Komet, a little sprinkling of Everett, Mercedes Lewis, DeAndre Swift-Screens, and I think we've really got our guys here involved. I really love what I saw in the last two games, and it's a pretty interesting schedule for them coming up. They get commanders, they get the Cardinals, and they get the Patriots. So some pretty fascinating matchups for that offense too. Yeah, I'm buying this. Their use of personnel, like you said, they trimmed the fat.

And, you know, obviously, honestly, you just laid it all out perfectly is that they were kind of trial and error. We got a lot of guys that we know are good, but we also have guys that we're trying to figure out how to include in this offense who are auxiliary pieces. But yeah, everything you said about the mental side and what they put on Caleb's plate is just it's.

Now it's paying dividends. They use tempo a good amount. Third most snaps out of tempo this year. But it's not just a tempo to make the defense basic, which is a little bit of that, but it's truly letting Caleb

you know, dictate the play. It's not just speed, speed, speed, tempo. I know every time I say tempo and tweet it, someone goes, tempo is just one thing. You can have slow tempo too. You should say up tempo. When you say this tempo to me is just a hanging huddle, no huddle in some way, shape or form. That that's what tempo means to me and every other person that's involved with football. So with tempo is they will get to it and they let Caleb have the full menu. It's

It's not just one play that we're getting too quick. It's truly letting him signal, dictate what's going on, get the offensive line set, get the protections. He's handled the protections since week one, which is still astounding to me that he has full control, full control of the offensive line. That is amazing.

I can't emphasize how unheard of that is with a rookie quarterback, especially with a team that's like, no, we want to win this year a little bit too. Like we want, we want to make a run for the playoffs. So that is why you can see that the physical stuff and what they're using is catching up to what he's mentally capable of, which is a lot.

But they're using all this tempo stuff against the Panthers. It was such a great sequence. They went empty on like four or five straight plays in a series. And every single one, Caleb signaling what to get to. And then boom, just efficiency. Just nice, efficient, moving the ball. I think he hit like three different receivers on the sequence. Their dropback success rate out of tempo is pretty high. It's over 50%. That's good. Again, it's not cheapies. It's true dropback stuff and true him making decisions. So the combination of

Like you said, you mentioned they went from receiver screens to DeAndre Swift screens. Sounds like a simple tweak.

It's a good tweak. Hey, let's get the guy that's good at these to do the good thing and let's get what we're bad at and chop that out. And I know that sounds nice and simple. It's really hard for coaches to do that midstream when they don't usually get a bye week. So, yeah, I commend Shane Waldron for doing that. But Caleb has just been, you know, really impressive to me and how he's handled all the NFL stuff. He has never, ever looked bad.

overmatched mentally or physically. He's tried a couple things in the early weeks. You know, the Texans game stands out to me. He hasn't really gotten caught on that yet. You mentioned the one with the Jags. I understood why he went there. Like, it wasn't like a bad decision. He was a little late on it, kind of maybe, you know, throw a little bit more of a line drive. That's a physical thing, not a mental thing.

So that is, we know his physical gifts. We've seen, he has a great arm. He has great at creation. But the fact that he's kind of the complete package, it's, yeah, it's really cool. It's really good stuff. The run game is now, they've chopped some fat out of that too. Get more backs involved, getting Roshan Johnson in there. Kind of take some of the dirty work stuff. That helps as well. So, yeah.

Yeah, I'm buying that they're going to be on the upswing the next few weeks. They're a pretty solid offense, and I think they're only going to get better as they figure out everything. And Caleb is a big part of that. And shoot, you mentioned how they used Roman Dunze over the last few weeks, and now they're getting play out of him. It's good stuff. Good stuff going on. Even Keenan Allen, and I've been hard on Keenan Allen the last few years because I think he's like...

his stats are better than his actual individual play but um he's had 10 first read targets according to fantasy points data who they track this stuff over the last two weeks uh last two games excuse me and i think three of them were end zone targets and four of them were on third or fourth down so like yeah yeah that's where you want to use him like short quick hitting routes we don't want him to be i don't think we need him to be the the downfield first read and we saw by the way we saw

a lot of that in week one. Again, trimming out the fat here. We don't need him doing that stuff, but if it's quick hitting stuff, we're in stacks and bunches. Even the touchdown throw, I think it was Keenan Allen's first touchdown where he just placed it perfectly on the shoulder there over the middle. That is such high-level quarterback stuff. Even if Keenan Allen has taken a step back,

few receivers in the league are more technically proficient to time that up with. So again, yeah, we've just seen a lot of really high level stuff, both from, from, from Caleb Williams, of course, but I'll give a little bit of praise to Shane Waldron who gets a lot of, a lot of crap out there. Yeah. It's tough in Chicago there. It's the, the yeah. Keenan Allen slotting to no pun intended, but slotting to more of the third option. That's how you use him. Like not,

I know the stats were good last year, but again, it was the Sharif Abdul Rahim with the Hawks stats. There was a lot of empty calories in that Chargers offense. So yeah. Oh man, we can continue to even talk about the Chargers and their pass catchers later, but the, but no, we,

Again, it's just getting it. And this is just good coaching. It's just get your guys what they're good at, but let them do that and limit the things that they're bad at right now. I know that sounds hard or sounds too easy. I don't know how you want to say it, but this is what they're doing and it's working right now. Going to another rookie quarterback and who the Bears are playing this week. I might be writing about this this week, depending on the quarterback's health. That is the Commanders and Jane Daniels.

Matt Harmon, are you buying or selling the commander's offense, this kind of historic rate offense that they're at right now? And just in general, do you think they can keep the good times going? Jane Daniels, I might add, has a rib injury. He's week to week right now. So hopefully he comes back this week. I was pretty excited to see this offense against the Bears defense. But are you buying or selling the commander so far?

I know, this is a tough one. What is the price tag that I'm paying here, basically? Am I buying that they're the best offense in the league? Am I buying that they're a playoff team? Am I buying that this team is better than expected? Definitely buying that they're better than expected. And I think there's...

this is not fluky like nonsense stuff. There's really good fundamentally sound things in this offense. Like I think their run game is just a treat to watch when they have Brian Robinson out there. Like I, I know that we just want to pretend that we can take a running back in and just plop in anybody back there. It's like, damn, Brian Robinson rocks. That guy is a bad-ass, um, such a big time bruiser. And, and he runs a lot of these like concepts that they want. Um,

to a high efficiency level. He brings an attitude. He brings like a tempo to the run game that, you know, Austin Eckler at this point in his career, and really, I mean, Austin's not that type of back. And Jeremy McNichols, who somehow I didn't even realize was like in the league until he popped up with this team. I was like, oh man, McNichols is still around. I remember like

dynasty rookie drafts of him feel like a hundred years ago. A lot of debates about old Jeremy McNichols. So he's not going to bring that to the dimension. So having Brian Robinson healthy, I do think is kind of like a little bit of a stall straw that stirs the drink for what's a well-designed commander's run game. Obviously Terry McLaurin rocks. I still feel like they need another threat in this passing game for me to really think like,

I am buying them at their peak efficiency value that they're at right now because I just think some good teams will eventually be able to not blot it. I mean, I think the Ravens result was a perfect example. That's a defense that probably not as good as we want it to be, but still is a, I think, quality overall unit with really good players. And they didn't get smoked by the Ravens by any means, but it wasn't the same dislike performance.

fireworks bombs away show that we've seen previously. I feel like that's, I'm buying the unit at that level. I'm not buying that. It's a fluke. I'm not, I'm not buying it at its peak efficiency or as you mean, I'm not selling it as a fluke. I'm not buying it as the peak efficiency. I'm buying it kind of somewhere in the middle here. Yeah, I know. That's my cop out too, is that they're way better than I was expecting, especially year one with this. And definitely cliff Kingsbury has improved on a lot of stuff that it's kind of as negatives before kind of,

static formations, guys that wind up in the same spots. The use of personnel has been very creative. Uh, I also think that the, it's kind of nice seeing the spread super tempo, heavy offense. They have, um,

Oh, man. I looked up 227 snaps out of tempo this year outside the two minutes of the half. So no two-minute drill. The Seahawks are next highest at 107. Fast tempo or slow tempo? No, I'm just kidding. Just tempo. No. Yeah. Yellow light tempo. No. 227 snaps out of it. The Seahawks are second highest at 107. The league average is 39. So they're in their own zip code with how much they use tempo. And what's been cool, though,

It's not tempo and lining up the same formation and you run four plays out of it, you know, or doing what, you know, the Bears do. They're able to get to a lot of stuff out of tempo. And that's what's been fascinating to me, that they're able to get to a lot of different formations and some different concepts. Nothing crazy, but a wide

large variety of concepts. And that's what's given defenses issue. I mean, how many defenses are so blitz happy right now or simulated pressures, creepers doing a lot of funky stuff and a funky moving. They make defenses basic. So even if you have like a, a tell on them, Oh shoot. They're winding up. They're winding up a cover three.

So I'm Jay and Dana. As I get back there, I'm like, all right, this is nice and easy. Spot drop cover three or spot drop cover two or man, or, or they have a bust and we can take advantage of it. They, they had a great moment against the Ravens doing that to Austin Eckler and on the wheel route. But I also think some of the designs from Kingsbury is doing a lot of overloaded formations, a lot of four strong stuff. And like, I mean, I think probably more than anyone in the league right now. And those are just,

Nice designs. Like, it's just nice little simple twists. Nothing crazy with the concept, but the window dressing of the formation is the good stuff. And I'm glad you brought up the offensive line. That's been the most surprising element of this team in a positive way. They're punching way above their weight and credit to their line. And, you know, sometimes having a solid center like Biotis helps, you know, just to get everyone set.

And then, you know, Bobby Johnson, offensive line coach, he got kind of kicked out of New York last year after all the injuries they had with the Giants. They're just doing a nice, solid job. Like, again, it's nothing revolutionary, but it's sound. And they're pretty good in pressure rate. They're good running the ball. You mentioned with Brian Robinson. So I also think the type of personnel they go after now is or they have this year.

has worked for what they're doing. Meaning more dirty work guys, more Zaccheaus, Luke McCaffrey, even Scary Terry is a good dirty work guy, even though you don't always want him doing it. John Bates, their other tight end, is a good dirty work guy. That is a difference to me than his Arizona, his being Cliff Kingsbury's Arizona personnel, which was, you know, I'm trying to think of a good word here.

Smurfs. It was Rondell Moore. I mean, like just, yeah, there was one time I took a picture of their receivers and it was a five, seven, five, eight, five, nine. We're the three list of receivers on the field. And then now you get this offense has a bunch of guys. So if we run a bunch of bubbles, like they like to do or receiver screens, uh,

get some guys that can scrap and make it a little better than you know the smurfs that they had in their zone ron deal more blocking for greg dorch or marquise brown blocking for ron deal more like that's a lot of that's a lot of not what you want smaller fellows which it's funny because i'm sure cliff kingsbury and his air raid brain he's like that's oh yeah we need all these guys to go run crossers and quick routes and then it's in the nfl he's probably like

Size actually helps. It's kind of a twisted thinking, but it actually works because those are bigger bodies for you to target and to block and everything. Size of players gets bigger. Size of field gets smaller when you go from college football to the NFL. I feel like the math is starting to math for old Cliff here. And when everybody in the NFL is fast.

That's another thing. That's Rondo more fastest player on the field with Purdue in 2018 or whatever it was his rookie year. And then because you mentioned a bunch of DBs that run the exact same 40 and are bigger. Yeah, that that's the difference too. So yeah, I I'm not saying that they're going to be

the number one offense that we've seen in 20 years. I think they're like way up there in EPA and success rate and everything, but they're not like a bottom 12 offense that I maybe thought they would be before the season. But I think they're going to finish top 10. Like, cause they have answers. They're not going to play a bunch of hard, hard defenses throughout the rest of the year.

So I'm buying this a little bit that this is real, more real than the offense. It's not smoke and mirrors, I think. And Jayden Daniels is operating it very well. He doesn't make a lot of mistakes. So hopefully he comes back healthy because it was a long time. Are we buying at all the fact that the defense is number one in dropback EPA allowed in the last four weeks? I mean, I know it's – typically when anyone talks about the commanders, it's like offense, great. Defense still sucks. And they've –

They faced the Panthers last week. I get that. They've missed the Browns two games before that. That also helps. But like, they've got the Cardinals in there. They've got the Ravens in there. So again, number one in drop back, another run defense is still a problem statistically. But are we buying any of that at all? That this actually maybe could be a little bit more of a balanced team than just, yeah, offense. Great defense. Real bad. No, I think the defense is really bad. Okay. I think some of the opponents, like even first drive on Sunday, the

Panthers were marching on them and then they got the pick on the screen. And yeah, so now it was just a pick, pick six on a screen. Like that's kind of there. They, they rely on turnovers. Like that's just how they, that's how they have to win. Like if you don't have defensive personality, you have to, you have to win with turnovers because otherwise you're just getting punched in the face 60 times in a row. So yeah,

I think they can maybe do that sometimes, but if they don't, I think it's going to be hard for them, especially if you can't stop the run, because I think some teams will try that. Maybe the Bears this week. We'll see. I'm excited for this game, though. Commanders and Bears. I might be writing about it this week. That's why I really wish Jayden Daniels was healthy, because just took an article idea away from me if he's not playing. So hopefully he comes back healthy and for other reasons than that. But.

All right, we're going to take one last break and we'll come back with a few more storylines that we are buying and selling. Okay, we are back onto Cliff Kingsbury's former team, Arizona Cardinals. And a particular receiver that is not 5'8 or 5'9, not a Smurf, is very big, but has had some disappointing stat lines recently. That is Marvin Harrison Jr., number four overall pick.

Yardage totals in the last four games, 45, 36, 0. They get a concussion that game, didn't they? 21. Is it time to panic? Are you... Is it buy... However, this. Buying or selling that it is time to panic? That's such a weird way to phrase it, but we're going to go with that. Yeah, I'm selling panic, but I am a little... I'm buying concern, if that makes sense. It does. So... And less...

I mean, I don't think Marv has been perfect. Okay. I think like this is one of those things where it's really frustrating and this is probably true in all walks of life. It's probably true in all sports, but it's definitely true in football that people don't want to just accept that sometimes both things can be true. Like has...

Marv left plays on the field? Yes, absolutely. If you watch him play, he's definitely lost some battles at the catch point that he should win. Should he have caught that fourth down on the last drive? Not fourth down, but on the final drive in the two-minute drill, should he have caught that pass along the sideline? Yeah, he should have not left his feet and tried to body catch it. Just catch the thing clean, go out of bounds. We keep this thing moving, and maybe this is the Marvin Harrison Jr. legacy drive or something like that. Instead, it's just...

Drops pass, gets banged up, gets hit pretty hard, and then they get a penalty. They keep the drive moving. The Cardinals win the game, whatever. But that's what he's going to be remembered for. So he's left those plays on the field. But also, the Cardinals have definitely not helped him from a usage perspective. I can never...

or like, I cannot remember two color commentators, like actively slamming a coach for a player usage harder than Louis Riddick and Dan Orlovsky. You're just, they were at drew petzing and the Cardinals coaching staff from the moment go. And even to the point, sometimes they're like kind of pointing out, Oh yes. You look at Marv, like the effort's not really here on this play. Like they got to get him going. They got to feed him. It's like,

I mean, how are we in this situation with the fourth overall pick when we're talking about a guy that was a pro-ready player for sure, but we're at a point where we're like, is he asking questions about is he disengaged because of the usage and the lack of targets early in the game? It was crazy. I mean, again, they were...

They were highlighting him just so we could see him run wind sprints down the damn field. I had this, I quote tweeted the stat from Seth Walder where going into this game, he had the players that had the like longest, like they were farthest downfield within three seconds of the play. And I mean,

Marvin Harrison Jr. is up there with all the sacrificial X receivers in the league. To put the point of the stat, Alec Pierce is number one in this stat. Marvin Harrison and Alec Pierce should not be in the same area here. They definitely do not do anything to get him schemed looks, layups. I mean, how about a freaking in-breaker every now and again instead of just... That's it.

goes and like deep, deep hook routes. So I don't think Marv's been perfect. I don't think the tape has been great or anything like that. But I also think that

we're at a both things are true here, which does have me kind of like a little bit concerned at this point. Yeah. His two most common routes this year from next gen stats, 44 go routes, 30 hitch routes. Oh, it sucks. It's that's not, that's not him. He's six, three and big, but he's Marvin Harrison jr. Not that. What do you, what do you think his skillset is going to be? I'm Marvin Harrison's son.

I think, yeah, that's a route runner. That's a guy within breakers. That's a guy. He's more finesse than you would think. But that's the thing is he has the full route tree. They're running him like a no offense to the guy, but like a D.I. Deandre Hopkins that there that's a dunk artist, a bull, a bully at X that wins one on ones through sheer force and sheer power.

And Marvin Harrison Jr. is a slasher. He's a guy you want on the move because he's so big and so fluid on his route running. So the fact that that, you know, I'm high on Petsick. I still am. But that's the thing is this has been disappointing to me and something we've talked about since week two.

And I mean, we, I feel like this is our sixth Marvin Harrison Jr. segment, which isn't a good thing. Not a good thing. We keep talking about it. It's not a good thing. And I will say the biggest negative is the catch point stuff. And that's totally seems very real.

And you mentioned it, that it was an observation from Waldman, right? Matt Waldman, yeah. Yep. And I think there is some truth to that. But again, it leads to more of his finesse-y type of win, ways that he wins. So I do think that's been the biggest negative, but I will say the route running's there. He's getting open when he does have in-breakers. When he's a true X, this offense is old school. They'll do a lot of trips formations where he's the true X, and he's running a backside dig where he's third in the progression.

That I go, this is me talking about both sides of my mouth. That's good offense because it's a good structure, but also put Michael Wilson at that X and then Marvin Harrison Jr. over as the Z if that's going to be the concept because they both can do it. Like they're both big bodies. They should be more interchangeable. To me, it's like, and we've talked about this. They're trying to make them do all the hard stuff, which I appreciate, but I also want

you know, you can give him some layups. You don't have to make him go isoball and shoot 18 footers every time and win one-on-one. Like, yeah, you want to get him to be that, you know, year two, year three, but all right, let's still get some, some cheapies in there. Like still get some of these, you know, quick hitting routes that maybe you can get to some crossers, some other things that were, he's on the move running away from guys. You get the ball in his hands and let him go. So yeah, just the, the route concepts that he's been put on.

It's traditional. And there are positives to that. That is going to pay dividends.

but also you need to help your guy out. So again, I'm talking on both sides of my mouth about it. So I'm with you that not selling that like he's a boss and this is it, but you know, there's a little bit of, I am buying that there are some concerns or at least some things that leave me wanting more with not only just him, but some other parts of this offense. I thought there'd just be a little more creativity in the passing game. All the creativity seems to go in the run game and the screen game and the bootleg game. Like Trey McBride's got some cool stuff designed for him, but you know,

Can we do that for MHJ a little bit? You know, just a couple times. Yeah, it was weird because obviously he was on the other side of the field, but I do get a little bit of like Greg Roman vibes from this offense where like the run game is super creative. I really love what they got there, but then the pass game just feels like stale. A little boring standard. A little boring. I mean, Roman is a little bit more of a...

He's a little bit more problematic than Petsy, but it's his own thing. It's like his own thing.

It feels like the worst of the Kellen Moore Cowboys offenses where it's like, you know, where sometimes you're just really like... Hit route central. Yeah. Stop routes and hit route central. And it's hard for me because this is the type of offense I was raised in. But I've realized in 2024, defenses are so good at defending this stuff now because they know it now too. And so you have to get just a little more design. You watch a Shanahan offense, some of their passing game stuff's not the greatest, but some of it's creative because...

they'll have the accident three by one run kind of like a double breaking route. As far as he is not just the dig, he comes across the formation and now he's the number two on the other side of the formation. Like they're using them part of the combination as opposed to just ISO ball. So that, you know, maybe some of that, I thought they'd have more of it, but yeah, it's been pretty standard. So think about like Browns with Joe Flacco last year too. Cause I think this is obviously drew pets and came from Cleveland. I think there's some DNA here and,

You do walk a real tightrope with this offense where if you have the right type of quarterback, I don't know that Murray is the right type. I do wonder if there's a little bit of like oil, water and what they want him to be versus what he is. Like, I don't think I don't think Kyler sucks or anything, but I don't think he's I don't think he's been great this year. I think he's been fine from a passing standpoint. But he definitely like you need it. If you're running this offense, you need a guy that's just going to drop back.

and like rip it you know on these play action concepts and i don't think kyler is that that that's more of the flacco thing so is there a little bit of an oil and water here and you know you need an x like amari cooper who's gonna run those routes and run those big in breakers like we've talked about with amari before and i think i think i think marvin harrison could do that but it's just weird that he's not and i'm glad you brought up michael wilson's last point on this like

I charted Michael Wilson for reception perception last year. One of the things I thought was interesting and maybe even more like fascinated about Wilson coming in here in the final three games when Hollywood Brown was out, Michael Wilson in those games, he kind of just took over that X receiver role. He was 81.8% of his snaps outside 87.3 on the line in those three games. And previously he'd been doing like some big slot flanker type stuff for them. I thought like, oh, and he, you know, it was a little bit,

an up and down performance. You're maybe not using him most optimally as an X, but I think he can function out there. So it's like, yeah, why not have him be in those spots sometimes? So we're opening things up with Harrison and maybe they do that at some point. Maybe there's a reason behind the scenes. They don't trust them to do more than just this. I don't know, but just I, that is the open question here is why is he not being used in these ways? Is it something we don't know? Is it the coaching staff just not doing it? So yeah, I think overall a little bit concerned. Yeah.

Yeah, my last stat, because it's drastic, and it's just looking at the difference between maybe Wilson's usage and Marvin Harrison Jr.'s usage. So...

17 of Harrison Jr.'s targets have been to a tight window this year. He has five catches on those. Five for 17. Three of them touchdowns, though, so I will say that. Wilson has only had seven targets in tight windows. One reception on those. But why I'm saying that is that, like, why does he get so many open looks? Like, he has 10 targets where he's defined as open by next-gen stats, and Harrison Jr. has eight.

And I get some of that is you go to the better receiver if he's closely covered. I get some of that. But why is he getting the design looks that are more open than Harrison Jr.? And again, I do think there is some – just how they're using even the running back right now, Benson. They have some Steelers vibes to them where they go, rookies have to earn it. I think there is some of that going on there.

I want to see his team post by, and I just going to keep saying that, but I'm not selling the team yet. They still do some stuff on offense. I like, but yeah, let's see Marvin Harrison get going. All right. The Packers and their defensive improvement. Are you buying or selling how the green Bay defense has been playing recently? Can they continue it? Maybe that's a better way to say it.

I think I'm selling on this one. Maybe you'll talk me out of it. I kind of hope you do because I really like this team and they're so fun to watch. But I think what happened last week against the Texans was a little bit more Houston than it was Green Bay. That Houston offensive line is an issue, man. I almost want to talk more about them than the next team. I mean, yeah.

I get it. I think people still have not calibrated to who Nico Collins is. He is an elite receiver. You take an elite receiver out of an offense, it's not going to look as good. Nico Collins is not Justin Jefferson. He's not viewed that way, but

pretty close like yeah closer to that than like whoever insert 15 three yeah i don't know like i mean shoot it's just you can't just take that like you take justin jefferson out of the vikings offense you tell me what happens like so i get it uh that that's part of this but still i thought that just the protection plan really left me wanting i thought the plan against some of the blitzes was really bad and just the play of the players too that's

That's got me concerned here. Are we past the window on Laramie Tunsil? I think the way he's played this year has definitely been problematic. Stroud is so good in these creation moments, but he shouldn't have to be in those situations. I don't know. Again, I'm not taking away from what the Packers did defensively. I think Jerry Alexander was clearly up for the Steph Diggs matchup, and I think he played a pretty good game. Yeah, he was very up for it. He was very up for it.

He was very up for it. All timeline, you know, Steph Diggs, I'm never the bigger person. Oh my God. It was so great.

Incredible stuff. But yeah, I think that they have some talent there. I've been just left a little bit wanting early in the season, but maybe this is a new coordinator. They're changing schemes here a little bit. Maybe it is going to be better in the back half of the season, but I think right now my instinct is to sell and feel like more of what they did last week was a Houston issue than a Green Bay good thing. Yeah, I would sell that this is like a top 10 unit.

but I would buy that it's a top 20 unit, top 18, you know, somewhere around there. Like it's a, I think they're middle tier defense. That's actually better when Quay Walker is not on the field.

And that has actually helped them a little bit, which is – that's a long conversation we need to have. Our guy just skated a thing. Quay Walker should play on the edge. So that – because I dropped the same theory. I was like, are they a little better when he's not out there? And he's like, yeah, they are. Not that the other linebackers are good, but at least they go in the right direction.

And that's a big part about linebacker play. It's a start. And you hope a guy that played linebacker since they were 12 years old would know to go in the right way, right direction. But we're going to look back at those Georgia defenses and just go, how does this work? But all the linebackers have limitations. But McDuffie and Eric Wilson are always doing some things. Ezra Cooper actually is decent. I thought he would take some time, but he's actually had some real moments recently.

our first complaint, we talked about the Brazil game in week one against the Eagles. Remember, we're like, the blitzes are just so boring. Everybody's just running straight ahead. They've added to it. And I will say that is where some of the improvements come. And again, this is a double-edged sword. If you want to be very

gamey and twist happy and have your defense aligned slanting every play you're gonna give up big runs that is the trade-off and what the texans game was perfect for it was okay made it tough on them get made tough on them oh there goes joe mixon for a big run that's how this defense i think is going to be but that's how they have to win to kind of generate some of their explosive plays for the defense so yeah they're middle of the pack and rushing success rate but they've given up the fourth most explosive runs

That's, that's what they're, this is the point for them. It's going to happen. And your bet is that our offense can blow the other side out of the water that they can't run the ball anymore. And that, that's your, that's how this team makeup is going to be kind of,

It's not the same style, but kind of early Spags Chiefs teams. Really good offensive, explosive offense. And then hopefully we create an explosive on the defense, but we can get popped in the face every once in a while. But they have some good scheme stuff. Rashawn Gary pressure, I tweeted it. I think a few people did, but it was really cool. The Texans did their motion, came to the line. Stroud comes up, changes the play, changes the protection, comes back, and then the Packers shifted their look.

where Rashawn Gary went as an edge player, walked over the center off ball, like a true off-ball linebacker, and it blitzed through the middle. And they were only rushing four guys on it, but it totally screwed up the Texans' protection rules, which isn't that hard to do these days. But it's good that they're able to do it. It's so bad, man. The Texans' O-line and running backs and tight end, Dalton Schultz, I'll include him on here,

Where are they going over throughout the week? Like Laramie Tunsell is like turning inside when his, the defense, a lot of standard protection rules are okay. Five offensive linemen have the four most dangerous rushers or five. It's technically five, but the four down linemen and yeah, guys can be the two point stance, but you're no number 91 or 58 is probably 52 is going to rush the passer because that's what they typically do.

Tunsell kept turning inside when his guys right across from him. It was bizarre. And it happened like three times. And it's not just this week. It's happened recently. It's bizarre how these guys are playing. And then the running backs are messing up. Dalton Schultz let a guy go on a protection that was his. It's just, yeah. So Texans O-line is just, wow. It's very, very bad as we're talking right now. But I do think that the Packers defense is...

it's going to be boom busty against the run and they're going to try and create turnovers, but the past coverage is good. I like the plans that they have in past coverage. It's a lot of cover three and a lot of man, but they disguise it fairly well. Xavier McKinney is playing phenomenal. Uh,

You know, so I do buy that there's improvement. I would sell that maybe it's a top 10 unit. I think that's kind of... And they're good at defending screens, too. That's another random thing I'm going to throw in there. That's, yeah, just another aspect for this defense. So I like the Packers and where they're sitting at. I mean, still, the NFC North is just a...

It's a bloodbath right now how good these teams are. They'll smoke Jacksonville in week eight. And then week nine, they'll get the Lions. And oh, yeah, they struggle against screens and all this type of stuff. Like you get gash in the run game. I think I guarantee you. Okay.

That's a 425 Fox game. I don't know if it's a Brady game or what. They'll go into the game being like, yeah, this Packers defense the last two weeks has really kicked it up. Actually, let's throw three in there because the Cardinals week said, yeah, last three weeks things have looked really good for the Packers defense, blah, blah, blah. And then all the ways that you just lined out that they'll struggle going into that week nine game against the Lions, that'll get exploited.

You know who does really well against funky defenses? Yeah, the Lions. They just bludgeon you. They find different ways to do it. Yeah, so that's a great point. That's so good. You're good at the narrative scouting stuff. This is your Aiden Hutchinson defensive player to your pick too. You know how to get in the mind of that narrative scouting. I need to get a life, clearly.

No, no, stay with me. Stay in the slum with me. This is great. I like it. All right. I know Stone's going to kill me. Let's just do a quick one line buy or sell on it. Broncos run game and defense and Broncos are a potential playoff team. Are you buying or selling that fact or that line?

buying defense kind of want to buy the run game. Yeah. And like, okay, here's the thing about them being a playoff team. My instinct originally was like sell. And I don't know. I feel like you might sell, but then I look at the standings right now. Yeah. Like, you know, the thing that matters, the thing, the things that determine you getting into the postseason, you know, like, Hey, that's crazy. Bengals get your together. Dolphins,

really get your together. Okay. Obviously get, they're about to get to a back. We'll see what happens. Although we, they're two and four. Okay. You're in a two and four freaking hole. That's a little bit difficult to drag yourself out of. Even if you do get your together with your quarterback back in there. Yeah. We're extra segment and we're bleep buttoning. Sorry, stone. It's probably near the end. That's great. Get stone working at the end. And then the team that, you know, that they're in their division, you know, that's three and three, the Broncos are four and three is the chargers. And like,

Dude, I watched that game last night with Justin Herbert, and I feel like Justin Herbert, especially in this Chargers offense, might as well...

I don't know. He's in a canoe and he's got to just canoe himself down the stream. But because of the players he's playing with and Greg Roman is his offensive coordinator, it's like someone just shot the bottom of the canoe and was like, all right, get to the other end of the stream there. Like that's what – and Herbert's like having to row down the damn river as the boat is sinking. That's what playing quarterback feels like for Justin Herbert right now. So I look at all those teams and I just think like, yeah, you know what?

The Broncos are a great defense. I think their defense rules and Javante Williams was maybe it's just one week. The saints were packing in, but he was second in offensive success rate on his carries last week among guys with 10 plus rushes per true media tied with Aaron Jones, 21.4% of his rushes were for 10 plus yards. It felt like it. And I thought it was legit. They keep trying to replace him, but I don't know. Like it's,

If you can, this should be a team that just pounds the rock at this point. So if I think if we haven't mentioned the quarterback and

I'll leave that to you. That's your lane. You're on Bo'nick's corner there. But yeah, if Williams and the run game can come together, the defense is good, and all these other teams in the AFC can't get their act together, why not? Why not Denver? You did the exact math I did. I was like, hey, actually the Broncos are a great test example of what a good defense and a good run game can still do in the NFL. I know it's a passing league and all this stuff, but

You got to have a high baseline, you know, at least some baseline to lean on. And they can every week, if you're not going to have a good offense or, you know, stop the run, they're going to pound it on you and they're going to make you work at it. Or if you don't want to tackle like the saints defense have now just opted out of now you see why the chiefs moved on from Tyron Matthew. It's like, he, he just hell of a player. But as soon as he doesn't want to, all that tackling goes and all the guys, Taylor's weak and tackling, but yeah,

that's what the, that's the Broncos identity this year. And the passing game is going to be based on how many shot plays Bo Nix can connect on. It's not going to be down to down efficiency. That's not how they're going to be built to win. Not that they should be looking at the pass catchers and Troy Franklin hitting the receiving over. Oh baby. Never felt more alive in my entire life. I got tagged so many times about, I was like, Hey, that was all Matt. I was with him on it. I encouraged it, but no, that was all Matt. But yeah,

But this is how they're going to be built to win. And I think they can hang with a lot. I mean, there's not a lot of AFC powerhouses this year. There's some good teams. Don't get me wrong. Chiefs, Ravens, Bills a little bit. But...

all right, who else, you know, like who else are we saying that are we going to annoy it? So they're as live as anybody because they have some true strengths. Now they're getting certain back and man, they, they make it really hard on offenses. They're going to do it every week. I, I'm excited for when they, you know, really play some tough, tough offenses. So like their defense, because I think it's just gonna be fun, but what the, what teams try to do against them. So I,

I'm buying that they could be a playoff team. I'm liking what I'm seeing. I always love a good strong run game, and it's Sean Payton. So it's just bully ball. It's great, and I love it. And we'll see if we get some other backs back there to kind of spell Javante Williams, too. They play the Panthers in week eight, so they'll be five and three coming out of week eight. They'll be five and three. And then they get the Ravens and the Chiefs after that, so we shall see.

And that's great. Ravens and Chiefs, too, both are good against the run this year. So that's going to be perfect. Like, all right, can you do this? Like, can you do this when you can't run it for five yards a pop? So we'll see. It's fun. All right. That wrapped it up.

The last one we had is buying or selling Jared Goff MVP. I'm selling because of Lamar Jackson. Yeah. Yeah. If they didn't give it to Brock Purdy last year, they're not giving it to Jared Goff this year. And yeah, because Lamar deserves it. Goff's playing great ball. Don't get me wrong. But I think still there's a lot of parts of that offense that make it click right now. Playing good ball, though. A lot of dig routes. It's fun. A lot of overrides. I've always liked Jared Goff's game just because it's yeah, he can chuck it. He can spin it. All right.

That'll wrap it up on this buy, sell week seven recap, whatever you want to call it. Episode of football 301 closing it out today. Charles McDonald will be back here on Thursday to preview week eight. I'm Nate Tice. You can find me at Nate underscore ties. And that is Matt Harmon. It's Matt Harmon. B Y B. I think I said BVB, which is a soccer team. That's Dortman. So B Y B. Whatever. What are you working on this week to Matt? Where else can they find you?

Oh, yeah. You know, you and I will be back in the fantasy film room tomorrow. Got to figure out what we are talking about this week. You know, because we covered a lot of ground. We always figure it out. We'll figure it out. We'll figure it out. Never know. Look, I just wrapped up today's podcast, you know, like,

Frigging two hours ago. I don't know about no tomorrow's podcast yet. So, no, yeah, but we'll be back for that. You know, we have shows all week long. Yeah, man, yeah, just follow me on Twitter. We'll see what receivers I'm working on. The rookie report is coming up soon. We're almost at that time of the year because we have a lot. I tweeted this out. We have right now, I think, 18 rookies. Receivers have run 70 plus routes this year. So we're looking at a beefy bunch of rookies to chart this year. So it'll be fun. I know. I'm trying to think any top of my head. That would be interesting.

I want to see how lad stacks up. Mason Tipton has run the ninth most routes among rookies. Didn't know. Didn't know that was true. I didn't either. Found that out on Monday. Follow a factoid there. I love diving into some of these stats where it's like, oh, this guy's playing a lot. Why is he? Oh, that happened. Okay. That's why. But also, if you have any questions for us, send it to our mailbag email football 301 mailbag at Yahoo sports.com. We're going to try and answer one a week.

Emails are great. Videos and voice notes are even better. Subscribe to us here at Football 301. Follow us, rate us, watch us on YouTube on the Yahoo Sports YouTube channel. You can find us wherever you get your podcasts. Please rate us five stars if you like what you're hearing. If you don't, just say hi on Twitter or something like that. But also follow Yahoo Sports on Snapchat. Thanks to Brett Stone and Adi Beyond Scenes. Thanks to everybody for listening. See you guys on Thursday.

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