NFL Week 9 preview & slop watch, Ravens vs. Broncos & Nate Tice's 2025 big board
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This episode of Football 301, Charles McDonald joins me. As always, we preview two of the juiciest games. One has a bigger spread than you expect, but we explain why. It's a little bit more interesting than that spread indicates. We also give one thing on three other games each. Then we go over my big board. Go over some names, some highlights, some questions. We also get to one of your mailbag questions at the end of the show. Super fun show. See you guys soon. ♪

Hello and welcome back to Football 301. We have a very, very fun show today. A wide-ranging show. We're going to start with a couple breakdowns of two games that we find most interesting. Then we're going to do one thing we're watching on three other games. Three other things we each picked. And then we're going to go over my big board at the end. Anyone watching? All right.

I'm very tired.

I'm supposed to be a groomsman and a weddings weekend. Oh, that's right. I wait until the last second to do everything. So I've just been running around. My train leaves in four hours. I'm not packed. We saw a meeting before then. So yeah, it's going to be an adventure. It's going to be an adventure to get to the end of the day. But, you know, the passage of time, it never stops for anyone. So we will get to the end of the day eventually. And I hope that I'm in good shape by then.

You sound like the head coach of Boston Celtics right now. Do you, do you, is this the first time you've been a groomsman? Yes. Yes. Every other time. Okay. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Every other time I'm going to a wedding is just to get as drunk as I possibly can and go home. Yeah. Um, but now I hide on the beach on your last wedding. You went to somewhere. Yeah.

Yeah, I don't know what was going on there. I don't know what was going on there. I know that's for another time. That was the wedding from hell is something we need to talk about. I don't know if they listened to the show, but... No, they don't. That was the worst wedding ever. We definitely have to talk about that. Even if they did, they know my opinion. They've heard it. You let it be now. The constant updates from that wedding were insane. Yeah, but luckily that was the wedding where I learned how well PlayStation Remote worked because...

I spent a lot of time locked away in a hotel room like a Disney princess. I was playing a lot of CFB back before they broke the game with the million updates. Yeah. Disney princess.

Oh, that's great. I have no transition for that. So let's just get into the first game. But this is actually our Hossfire of the Week, too. Even though it is kind of a big spread, it's more interesting than you would think as you look at it because one of the units and some of the aspects of one of the teams are very interesting. But that is Broncos at Ravens. Ravens are minus nine at home. That's crazy.

Yeah, a little bigger than I thought, considering what the Broncos defense is and their offense kind of come together. I know we'll talk about it in a sec, but big spread, but still an interesting matchup. I'm going to start.

when the broncos have the ball against this ravens defense what are you checking out charles because uh there's some there's parts of this that are going to be really really interesting to pick out with the ravens as as much as we've given the broncos offense strife this year they have proven that they can beat up on a bad defense

They did it to New Orleans. They did it to Carolina. This Dr. Davis defense is very good right now. It's just not very good. And I think, you know, if you're just going to look at where they've been over maybe like the past month, you know,

They're actually running the ball pretty well. Denver is. That part of their offense has really popped. I mean, when Bo Nix has had the chances to take some shots downfield, especially, you know, last week against Carolina or even the Saints game, he's been able to make, you know, convert some of those chances. And it's just crazy to me.

To think like, oh yeah, you know, Bo Nix, he could go score on a defense with Roquan Smith and Marcus Williams and Marlon Hunt. Right, right. But he can, based on what they've done so far this year. I'm surprised the spread is so high because not just how good the Broncos' defense has been, but also because the Ravens' defense has not been

good really at all this offseason or this season like basically outside like a couple games against Buffalo which looks weirder and weirder as the weeks go by like how do you guys shut down Buffalo but you're letting James Winston carve you up that was uh that was a little interesting but I I still think that this game could get weird just because Baltimore's defense has been good and

The Broncos offense, they've shown that, hey, if you're a defense that doesn't have juice, we might not have to do some offense either, but we can at least make something happen. And to me, that gives them a chance to cover and probably be a little bit more frustrating than maybe Ravens fans are expecting in this game. The Broncos kind of feel, not totally because this isn't a perfect comparison, but of the Falcons of 2022, where they're kind of the bad team beater.

Like, if you weren't up to snuff, they're going to pound the rock on you and do some stuff on defense. Because that was Dean Pease's last year. You know, the shadow. The shadow of Dean Pease. I was going to say the corpse, but that felt mean. But, yeah. But Dean Pease still did some funky stuff. So, he made it hard on offenses. Also made it easy on the good offenses. As the Bucs always like to show up against them. But, no. It kind of just felt like they're the bad team beater. Like, they are just like... They're the...

the contender before you face the title belt. That's how it feels when I, when I'm watching this team, but no, the run game stuff is real. Especially over the last month. I looked this up earlier this week when talking to Matt and,

But they're the second best rushing attack since week three in terms of success rate. And they're 10th in EPA per rush. And if you include quarterback runs, just overall, they have the eighth best rushing attack. But Ravens defense doesn't allow a lot of explosive runs. They have the lowest explosive run rate, 3.5%, which is incredibly low. But QB design runs are solid against them. They're pretty good against scrambles. The thing is, like you pointed out, Ravens passing game,

everyone's getting them. It's, it's so boom bust right now. And when you have safeties that take chances like that, that's kind of what can happen. Like you are going to be susceptible to that stuff. You got a lot of risk takers and the soundness has kind of been a little wash. Like Tim,

Teams are kind of taking advantage of them with some late shifts, emotions and everything. And now you're going against Sean Payton, who's pretty good at kind of poking at those spots as a Falcons fan. I'm sure, you know, and, uh, but yeah, he, um,

There's a lot of Falcons DBs where I could see Sean Payton and Drew Brees really eyeing in those couple years that I was with the Falcons. And I was like, I don't like the shifting emotioning that's happening because I know exactly what they're trying to get after. So that's how I feel when I'm going against them. Bo Nix can hit some big passes. He can run some bit. This is a defense he can actually find some answers, even if it's not going to be all the way consistent. He's better than he was at the start of the season. I'll give him that. Absolutely. Yeah.

Yeah, he's definitely better than he was the start of the season. And if you just look at kind of like this past month where, you know, in that time frame where the Broncos have been second in success rate rushing the ball, the Ravens just as a whole on defense have been abysmal. They're dead last against offensive dropbacks in terms of success rate. 31st on third down, 30th on third and long. The only thing that's really...

in their favor right now is they still, you know, defend the run at an above average rate. But, you know, if your passing defense is that bad, then that's probably going to be where we're trying to get, like, attack you first, which is dangerous. Yeah. Yeah, that's just hard. It's like, it's almost like they're their own worst enemy. They, like, want to

what's not getting third and long and make them pass because that might be bad for us. It's like, no, no, get to third and three. Just run it. Just run it. But actually, it's funny. One of my notes, I actually, I kind of was going to be like my closing bow on it. It's like, I think this is going to come down to how many third downs there are and what the average distance of those third downs are. But the thing was, I thought the Ravens might be a little better on third down and you just looked it up. It's like, nope. Pretty good.

Pretty bad. The worst defensive football of the past month on third down. So I know. So the Broncos have answers on the side of the ball. Like more than you would think. I know running game is going to be a slog, but it's going to be a fun fight. And, but you can, you can still pop some passes and this is a champagne offense. They'll find those play action, designer replays. That's all Bo Nix's highlights. There's no soup and low lights too. Yeah. The one against the saints where he, the mortar shot in between two guys. Oh yeah. Ridiculous. Ridiculous.

But those are all shot plays. Those are all plays to, you know, design for a touchdown. This is a defense that you can get those against. I keep waiting for the Ravens defense to just like not be ass, you know, and it just hasn't happened. They could, you know, sometimes you see a number that feels fake. And over the past month, the Ravens are giving up 53.4% of their third downs. 53% of third downs are being converted against the Ravens.

Over the past month. Dude, like we're freaking out. We're like 40. We're like, ooh, we got to fix this, man. 53%. 53% is like the highest. I think Mahomes and Josh Allen offenses are the only ones that usually touch 50%. And it's because it's freaking Mahomes and Josh Allen. Like, yeah. But you're just making every offense.

offense into a chiefs or bills. Yeah. Yeah. That's not, that's not a winning formula as much as, as much as the other side balls really good. Yeah. But it's, yeah, they, they don't, at least they don't allow explosive runs. I'll give them that. That's what they got going for him. But yeah, you can kind of pepper them every other way. It's not, yeah, it's been just wonky. Like even watching Roquan Smith, he just looks like he lost a step. Like it just, yeah, it just looks slower, you know, and I, and,

Yeah, it's just kind of a weird situation for them on that side of the ball. But on the other side of the ball, this is a strength versus strength matchup. Kind of some untested strength versus strength, which I'll get into. But when the Ravens have the ball against this Broncos defense, Charles, what are you keeping your eye on? Everything, you know? Yeah, this is fun. It's big on big. But I'm most interested, I guess, for the trench matchups, obviously.

Because I think that's where a lot of the fun stuff from this game is going to happen. Because the Ravens-Russians game, we already know. Derrick Henry has been on a monster pace this year. The offensive line has been better. But I think even one of the fellow surprises of the season, along with the Ravens' offensive line, is that the Broncos' defense has just turned out to be like face-eaters this year. Insanely good. So good. So good. And there's not really...

weak spot that they seem to have you know, because whether it's you know running the ball stuff against them I Pass the ball stuff against them. They've got two great cornerbacks Zach Allen's emerges a monster in the middle And what I want to see is if if like all these guys are kind of live up to the hype You know like here's the best

Or, you know, if not the best, like one of the few elite offenses in the NFL this season that seems like they can generate big plays at will, run the ball at will, throw the ball at will. And now here comes defense that's kind of been able to do the same thing on their side. So it's funny, when you start...

you know putting together like the the matchups on you know on through media with that the table that i've been tweeting out incessantly over the past few days uh it's just green everywhere it is addicting but it's just green everywhere because then you get a new idea and then you look up a new one then you get a new idea and you look up a new one yeah yeah trust me i've been down that rabbit hole

It's green everywhere for Baltimore offense versus Denver defense. They're both top two yards per play, top three in net yards per attempt, top five in points per drive versus offensive defense. They're both top 10 in turnovers per drive. They're both top in terms of red zone defense.

defense i mean this is what you want to watch these games for like the big on big heavy on heavy gladiator matchup so i i want to see if the trench warfare if that's going to be something that actually uh if the broncos can you know win that side of the battle and then if we can get lamar's like third and long passing against patrick tan like that's that's awesome that's you know it's a hall of fame player and a hall of fame player and uh hopefully that's what we're here for

Yeah. I'm here to be in all of these guys. Yeah, I am too. Two good units, two units with identities, two units that can do, like you said, do a lot well. Like I always try to kind of pick at almost like I'm opponent scouting and just going like, all right, how would I attack this defense or anything like that?

And it's just kind of like, you know what you're getting. You still got to beat it. Like, you still got to beat Pat Sertan and Riley Moss and man coverage. You still got to answer their green dog blitzes, you know, where they kind of add on with everything. Like, you know what you're going to get. So, but you still got to beat it. But yeah, speaking to what you kind of said, good on good, big on big. Ravens.

Our first and explosive play rate, pass rate, rush rate, first and combined success and explosive play rate, you know, sex rate. Broncos defense. I talked about this earlier this week is...

are not only one of, if not the best defense this year, they're one of the better defenses we've seen in 20 years. Caveat, they've played a pretty weak schedule. I believe it's 27th in terms of DVOA schedule, but the Ravens offense hasn't faced the toughest schedule as far as their offense. But the one stat that kind of really stuck out with me was

They're seventh best in EPA per play. They've allowed the fifth lowest amount of explosive play rates since 2002, but they've only allowed 4.4 yards per play of the Broncos defense, which is tied for eighth best since 2002. And it's tied with the 2015 Broncos, the no-fly zone team. They're tied with the Legion of Boom Seahawks in 2013. Both teams.

Super Bowl winners, I might add. But all the other defenses are before 2012, other than those two defenses. So it's like, this is a defense that's holding offense. They're making offenses look like it's 2005. And like, that's pretty cool. Yes, it's a weak schedule, but it's like, yeah, you want to see a dominant defense dominate a weak schedule. And this is what they're doing. Kind of matchup wise, you already hit on it about like, you got to be Pat Sertan and everything. Is, you know, the Ravens traded for Deontay Johnson.

Matt and I talked about this, but they got a lot of man coverage beaters. The Ravens face a lot of single high. They face a lot of man coverage because everyone's scared about Derek Henry running them over. And I would, I would too. So I think we see more three receiver looks this game, which is just because you're trying to get maybe Jaquan McMillan out there who's solid.

but can he hold up against a Zay Flowers or Shaw Bateman or Deontay Johnson for multiple snaps with Lamar and also worrying about Lamar and Lamar scrambling against man coverage. That's always scary or a blitz happy team. That's a good answer for him. He's playing against a blitz really well this year. So that's kind of a, the kind of cruiserweight Haas fight I'm looking at is those three receivers against these three corners that are

I mean, Sertan's amazing. Riley Moss has played really well. And McMillan's no slouch himself. So that's kind of the scheme thing I'm looking at. It's like, can they beat man coverage? This is why you trade for Johnson. You're saying you can't guard all three of us at once. You don't have enough DBs to do it. Broncos are going to go, all right, let's see. Let's see if we can do it. Yeah, great. Yeah, really, really good matchup. Better than you would think when you look at the spread. And Broncos kind of just figured out the formula.

They got nine points. Have an all-time defense, have a good run game, and that'll make a rookie quarterback look a lot better than he is. You know? Yeah. Do you have any predictions for it? Like I said before, the spread is what? Nine. Nine. Yeah, Ravens win Broncos cover. I don't think that that's fair. I'm with you.

It seems like way too much. I think it's going to be a more fun game than you would first think. Yeah. Yeah, I'm excited for this one. That's why we're highlighting it. All right. On to another game that the spread might be indicative of actually what's going on because Jordan Love is facing an injury, but the Packers are hosting the Lions. The Packers are three and a half point underdogs at home, but that's some...

Love news is in there, but I still think the lines would be favored easily. So, you know, with Malik Willis or Jordan Love, Jordan Love is day to day. I think he will play.

You're looking at this matchup, looking at the Lions offense against this Packers defense. Charles, what are you looking at? I guess I just want to see if the Packers, like if they can start getting more consistent success against the past game, because if they can't, man, this is going to be a long afternoon. It's just going to be a long game. And I know the Packers, like they they defend the run well.

you know, decently well at times, but it's okay. It's okay. But like, here comes the demolition derby, dude. I mean, you're, I don't know how you stop this offense, man.

I don't know when, when pressure off. Okay. Get a pressure beat. Penny stool. Okay. Right. And it all starts up front because they're the ethos of the game is like, if we can move your people, if our big guys can move your big guys, we're going to win just about every single game we play. And not only that, like you have the explosiveness at running back, which in your Gibbs, um, David Montgomery's obviously good player himself. Um,

unless guys start getting hurt. I've been asking myself this question all week. Like, how would you actually stop this offense? And I don't, I don't know, but I know, I don't think the Packers have the horses to do it because the offensive line advantage is just so severe in the trenches. Yep. The, the, the teams that have slowed it down are, you know,

They can get to funky stuff. Bowles, McDonald last year. But the thing is, you have to be comfortable doing that. And funky stuff, I mean, like creeper, simulates, not blitzing, but only rushing forward and occupying the back and messing with their protection rules. They're just so sound that if you do, you can catch them a couple of times. They're going to adjust. Like, that's why the lines are so cool. The Cardinals got after him a little bit, too, because they were doing the same thing. Even my guy, Dennis Gardick, had an interception.

He's out for the year, though. But that's kind of the way to do it. But there's not a lot of defenses I would just go like, oh, yeah, they can do it. Oh, yeah, they can do it. And then you look at who they might face in the playoffs. It's like, you know, I'm just even looking at like, all right, the commander is going to do that. Eagles. Like, you know, OK, like you just kind of go one by one. Falcons. Yeah.

Um, and the Packers, they're an improved defense, but they're not good right now. Like this there it's improved, but they're still finding their way. They're kind of basic. I can kind of, you can kind of know what you're getting. It's a lot of cover three, a lot of cover for a couple of changeups every once in a while. The lions have faced the most single hive of anybody in the league because they like to bully everybody.

And if you play man coverage against them, they absolutely shred you. Not that the Packers do a ton, but they shred you. I think they have like a 60% success rate against man. It's like you can't do that. And at first you'd be like, oh, well, who's their man be? Oh, I'm on St. Brown, I guess. It's just that they dial up things so well. And Ben Johnson's just so good at finding the guys open and having a designer play. I'll say, I think this is a Jameer Gibbs receiving game. Over the middle, getting after those Packers linebackers. Edron Cooper's played well.

But again, after them and they want to be in cover three, cover four lines, do a lot of stuff where they kind of will influence like St. Brown or Laporta crossing the linebackers face. And then there's Gibbs on like an angle route. That's a Sean Payton staple. And Ben Johnson has used some Sean Payton stuff. So I think Jameer Gibbs is going to have a big day receiving. Their Packers are 27th and combined success and explosive, explosive play rate against running back targets. And,

And now they play Gibbs. So, yeah, look for a Gibbs big receiving play. That's my quasi-prediction of this game. Or this side of the ball, I should say. But it's the best offense in the league, I think. Ravens are up there, too. But this is the best offense in the league. They just have answers for everybody. They have a quarterback playing super well. They don't get in bad situations. They have designer plays for everything. They punch everything home. They can run the ball when they want to. They can get explosive plays when they want to. With or without their...

head case receiver, Jameson Williams. They still have Kalief Raymond. You know, they still have Omar St. Brown. They still have Laporta. They still have guys. They still have Tim Patrick. Who will catch a big play. Like, they can get big plays of Tim Patrick while other teams are just like, I don't know how they gain 20 yards here. So, it's, yeah. The Lions are just a phenomenal offense to watch. Going against an improved but flawed Packers defense. So, yeah. But,

You have anything more on the side of the ball? I was going to say, even for just the totality on this year, the Packers defense to rank 27th in success rate for off the play. So I don't know, man. They need a McKinney interception. It's like, how often are you going to? Their first turnovers per drive, which is the only reason why their EPA numbers look decent, because they're turning the ball over a bunch, which is, I don't know, fouls and lines. Fine, we'll just keep it on the ground then.

Right. I know. And the Packers run defense is like, okay, but it's boom bust. Like the Jags got after him a little bit. I'll lift the Jags band real quick. They looked a little improved. Trevor had some turnovers, but right there, their offense is looking okay. And then Christian Kirk concert. So we'll see how that fragile offense works again.

So he's good. Hello. He has caused two interceptions, but I'll talk about that another time. He is phenomenal though. He's so good. He's so fast, big and fast always works. And actually a pretty good route runner just got working detail stuff, but all right, go to the other side of the ball, which is pretty fun. We had the Packers offense lines defense. What are you checking out on this side of the ball? Chuck?

I still can't really get a beat on how healthy Jordan Love is going to be for this game. It seems like he's going to play because he said...

Even though he didn't practice on Wednesday, he did say to reporters that he was planning on trying to play on Sunday. So I think that that would be a big boost for them, obviously. But I do kind of want to see, like you said before, that the Packers were 60% success rate against man coverage. Yeah.

well, the Lions, like, they're still going to run man, right? Yeah. So I want to see, like... The Lions are really good against man coverage. The Lions... Excuse me, excuse me. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, but you know what the Lions are... Yeah. Right. The Lions are going to run man, and the Packers receivers, like...

Jordan Love, they've got a really good connection going on. And I think it's always interesting when you have kind of these groups of younger guys just kind of going back and forth, whether it's like pass rush or whether it's coverage matchups like this, just to kind of see where the lines start getting drawn. Because these are two teams where you would imagine that for the next...

four or five years you're going to be seeing a lot of same characters going back and forth in these games so uh to get this first matchup for the season i know it kind of sucks as jordan loves banked up and you know if he's at his if he's at his best then they have a really good shot to win this game if malik wills is in there i know that he's played admirably and put up some numbers but it's just kind of tough to think that he'll be able to just consistently go throw for throw um against the defense that's playing really really well right now uh

So, yeah, it sucks to kind of whittle it down to how healthy is your quarterback? But when you're talking about contender games like this, that's a huge piece of the puzzle. It's a giant piece, yeah. Before even getting Malik Willis to be like, not only just look playable, but actually look solid, like throw on the ball and stuff, not just all gimmick stuff is like,

You get coach of the year just by doing that. It's like I've seen a lot of guys, a lot worse coaches get coach of the year than what he's been doing. But great point with the man coverage stuff. Jordan Love seems to, when he gets manned, he wants to attack it. Which not, oh, duh. But I mean, just attack it down the field. He's third in deep ball rate against man coverage. Like, he's going to let his guys try and go make plays. So that...

It could be a little boom bust on that side of the ball, but it could be a lot of explosive plays happening on that side of the ball. So that's what I think this game's going to come down to. The Lions run defense is good. When they get into big boy personnel and base, they will, like their third EPA per play, defending against two or three receivers, which matters because the Packers will trot out 12 a good amount of the time. But they're only behind the Bears and Broncos in that. The quirky thing, though, about this Lions defense that I'm trying to figure out,

is they will match base defense, meaning four DBs, against sub offense, like a lot. And I'm trying to figure out why. They do it on early down, so first and second down, like first and 10 or second and six, normal down distance stuff. But they're predictably poor defending the pass against that. Like they're awful against it. But they've done this almost 30% of the time, 28.6% of the time. The league average is 3%.

And those are mostly goal line and short yardage. So I'm like, I'm not exactly like, I think it's just they want their quote unquote better players on the field. Like, but it's that's a weird you don't really see defenses do that outside of weird, you know, certain circumstances. So, you know, Brian Branch is playing more deep safety, not the slot. Maybe that's why, like, they don't trust their slot guy. Yeah. So, yeah.

I want to ask, like, why are you doing that? I was about to say Aaron Glenn must hate whoever that fifth defensive back is. That's what I think. Just must hate whoever that is because that makes no sense. That's usually what it means. Don't trust your slot guy. I know, but they get shredded defending the pass against that. And you're going to put Jaden Reed against linebackers? Or a linebacker against Jaden Reed? I don't know. That's...

And I thought it was like, okay, maybe they had injury. So I looked at the weeks they were doing it last. They've done it like every week. Yeah. And maybe it's run heavy teams. Okay. Titans, the Packers will run the ball. So it's like, you know, I'm just like, I think they'll still do it. So I just want to.

pick at that. I might study it a little bit, but that's just, that's a quirk. You don't see that in the NFL. Like there's only one other team that's done it a little bit. Everybody else has like done it like five plays this entire year and they're doing it like a third of their steps. So yeah, interesting stuff there. Yeah. But I think it's a personnel thing. Brian, even Brian branches, like a deep guy this year has been pretty interesting for them because, you know, cause he's, he's played so close to the line of scrimmage most of the time, his time with the line. So for him to switch it like that,

there's someone in that DB room who they really don't want on the field. Yeah. And it'd be interesting to figure out exactly who that person is. Listen to what the coaches are telling you. Yeah. That's even when they don't say it, just look at the, yeah. Look at their personnel uses sometimes. Yeah. I'm going to, I'm going to study that one a bit. I, and I'm curious if, you know, LaFleur show good at game planning stuff that does he like use that somehow? Like, does he try and catch them in base? Does he try to do something? So that's something I'm keeping my eye on.

Say Jordan Love is playing. Predictions for the game? I would think the Packers

Could keep it close, but I was still probably go lines like 26 to 23 I don't you know I don't think it's gonna be another blowout victory for the Lions where they you look up and their points in place, right? Do even you get the Cowboys game and the the game they had against Titans two of your last three games We're talking about juggernaut territory really so I think the Packers can keep it close if Jordan loves in the game and

And even if Malik's Wilson in the game, they've shown that they can produce enough offense with him under center because our friend Seth Glena was telling us he's averaging something like .44 EPA per dropback on true dropbacks. Like if you filter out play action screens, that doesn't make any sense. But this is still a tough defense to play.

to play on. I think, I think even the Detroit defense, that might be one of the most improved units in the year, in the league this year. Oh yeah. They're 15 points per drive, second in turnovers per drive, the middle of the pack and successful play rate. But, you know, when you're getting turnovers and you're holding the offense in the red zone, that's a big jump from where they were last year.

And they make it a slog to run the ball. So it's like, you know, you, you, so you have to have a quarterback that can operate and that's a little hard. Like, you know, that's hard to do consistently. If they get one pick, all right, now David Montgomery is running an eight play drive down your throat. And now you get the ball back 10 minutes later. And then now you got to do it again. So they, they make it hard. It's, I mean, them and the lines and the chiefs are probably the two best teams, you know, to me. So, and I really liked the Packers. I think of them as a top, like top six team. Okay.

What? Did you see people who were saying after the Ravens lost to Cleveland, people were going like, oh, but I thought the Ravens were the best team in the league. I was like, I haven't really seen anyone say that. No one said that. Maybe best offense in the league. Yeah, but who was saying the best overall team in the league? I hadn't seen anyone say that. Fell a little straw manny to me.

Yeah, that's very strong, Manny. I don't see that. Their defense is too weak to be considering that. People are just too bored with the Chiefs. They've got top six defense and top six offense. They can pound the rock. They have a good old line. They have Patrick Mahomes. Come on, guys. That's the best team. And then the Lions are up there, too. This Lions offense is cooking. But all right, we are going to take a quick break, and then we are going to get to three things each that we're watching this weekend.

All right, we are back. It's time for things. I don't know how I want to label this. Things that we're keeping an eye on, even though that was the last kind of segment with the breakdown. But just one thing for matchups, a question that we have, something that we think that is interesting in some of these games. Charles, I'll start with you. What's the first game that you have a storyline in your head about?

- Well, the Falcons can, they've already taken a two and O lead on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week and making further their stranglehold on the NFC South by just doing what they're supposed to do and running the absolute piss out of the ball against the Dallas Cowboys.

I feel like I don't really need to talk about the Falcons' offense too much here because... Why not? It's fun. It's kind of self-explanatory, though. In this specific matchup. In this specific matchup, it's self-explanatory. The Cowboys' defense is...

what, their 32nd in EPA per design rush, their 38th in success rate on rush attempts. They are, what, they have the 25th ranked fourth down defense. Like, we need to run the ball. The Cowboys are giving up a touchdown on 74% of their drives that reach the red zone. Like,

just line up and mow them down. Like walk them, walk them back, walk them down, let Bijan and Algier touch the ball, like some combined version, like 45 times. And let's walk out of here six and three, which I did not think was possible week one when I said that this season was over on this here podcast. Yeah.

And then we got that Eagles game and I was like, wait a second. Wait a minute. That might be a functional team. Hold on. Yeah. I know the Falcons kind of feel like they're better at this, but they kind of feel like the...

Homer getting to be an astronaut in the Simpsons. Default. The two sweetest words in English language. That's what they are in the NFC South. They're the default team. The Saints and the Panthers have fallen off so hard. They're not even competing. And then you got two in a lead on the Bucs. Just take care of business like you're supposed to take care of and beat the crap out of Dallas' defense because they're awful. Yeah, just do what you should do. Don't Falcons it.

Didn't they have a weird onside kick against the Cowboys? Oh, yeah. Yeah, that was one where they didn't know the rules for whatever reason. And they made like a kumbaya prayer circle around the ball. That's right. Until it got to 10 yards and then some Cowboys defender just jumped on it. Just swooped under it.

I was like, dude, what are you guys doing? Just follow the ball. Just follow him. You're a professional athlete. You should be able to follow the football, man. I think, yeah, you had a great screenshot on that one back in the day. I remember that. That's why it's vividly in my mind. No, I like that. Just take care of business, Falcons. And then, yeah, there's our Cowboys mentioned for the show. I am going to start with

Dolphins offense. Do you show up against this Bill's defense? Bill's defense is pretty good. I wouldn't say they're the best unit. I wouldn't say it's a top five unit, but it's a good unit. And they play sound stuff. They absolutely snuffed out this offense before Tua got hurt in their first matchup.

and this one's in Buffalo now, do they kind of put him in the line tamer again? Do they run a lot of cover too? Do they make it soft? You have to make a lot of good decisions. You have to be consistent running the ball. All questions that have kind of faced this Dolphins offense so far, especially without Tua, but even with Tua out there. And so can they just take a step in the right direction? Their defense is pretty good, this Dolphins team. So can the offense show up and actually show some real life

you know, against, against a unit. That's actually pretty good. It's a good test. And I already know, you know, Bill's offense for Dolphins defense is juicy too, but yeah, that's really just a question. Cause I just kind of want to see some,

new ideas or something from that offense because it's just kind of feel Matt Matt even asked me he was like what's the change I was like dude I don't know man I want to say Mike do something different because it's the same place it's the same passing place so yeah whether they can find what come up the new answer and new layers and kind of you know jumpstart their season is going to be huge so that's that's really it no stat no nothing just I want to see it and I'm going to keep an eye on that game yeah five years yeah that's it that's

it? Show some heart. Fight back! The crazy thing is the last thing I have in this Dolphins game is this is why we need to go back to the six-team playoff. No seven-team, you know, because the two and five Dolphins, they still have a chance to make the playoffs. Like, when you start looking at the AFC conference standings, they are still within reach of the playoff spot, and I think that that's just wrong. So, let's go back to the six-team. Like, we had to prefer the competition and

You said enough participation medals. Yeah, this is nonsense. The quality of the AFC has kind of fallen off from the bottom end this year. And you really start to notice when you put together the playoff scenarios because a lot of bad teams have a chance to make it. There's a lot of bad teams and the good teams aren't as good as we usually see too. So that's what, yeah, it's wide open. It's just if you have a chance, push it, baby. Just go for it. Maybe not bench your potential franchise quarterback for Joe Flacco, but we'll see. We'll see how that works out.

All right. What's your next thing you're keeping an eye on this weekend? The Eagles somehow are in place to be six and two because they play against the Jaguars this weekend. And when you start just looking up, you know, you start stacking the numbers side by side. It's like, man, Eagles offense, when they're healthy, should have a big advantage over this Jacksonville defense that hasn't played very well this season. I don't understand how they keep doing this.

how the Eagles keep doing this. Like they keep putting themselves in position to have a strong season when we're watching them and we're like, oh man, like this team doesn't feel like it's all that good. Although I will say what's different this year is the defense has definitely improved since where they were at the start of the season. Um,

Cooper DeJohn has been, you know, he had a pretty good game last week against Cincinnati. Quinion Mitchell's played well. Obviously, Vic Fangio has been a big upgrade for them on defense. I still watch the offense. Yeah, crazy, right?

I know it was only the last month of the season, but it still happened, Eagles fans. It still happened, yeah. I mean, that's not the only sample size we have on Matt Patricia. No, it's not. It's not. It's not. The one year, I know the Patriots, they made the Super Bowl that year where they lost to Nick Foles, but that defense was garbage. Trushes. Yeah. Terrible. Terrible.

I know. I remember Bill Simmons freaking out about that. Like, I'm like, he uses a pencil on a laminated sheet. We're saying this guy's smart. No, Cooper Dijon, good shout out. I kind of highlight the Eagles, like their offensive improvement.

some more under center stuff. And then having AJ Brown is great. You know, that, that, that changes a lot. I want to reshare the stat, but there, they have a 20% explosive pass percentage, the pass rate when AJ Brown's on the field, which is easily first. And then when he's not on the field, they're 27th.

an explosive pass rate. It halves. It's in 10.6%, which is between the Saints and Panthers. So they become the Panthers' offense without A.J. Brown, at least explosiveness-wise. And then they are easily the most explosive offense passing game-wise when he is on the field. So yeah, having good players really, really helps. Yeah, that does matter. And now they're going against a man coverage heavy Jags.

good luck uh yeah good luck it's just weird they're like it the eagles pass game like it still feels disjointed to me when i watch it but i mean whatever they're just throw global go balls to aj brown there's no changes there's no changes to the offense there's been none other than some under center runs that there's been no passing concept changes and i'll stand on that it's just yeah it's just having aj brown out there makes it look like there's changes

they are, you know, good shot on the defense though. They're since week three, their seventh and EPA per play. And first they're tied with those Broncos, that Broncos defense and yards per play 4.4. So yeah, much improved. Um,

I'll get on to my next one. I feel like I'm contractually obligated to mention this game because this is kind of an ultimate Nate Tice matchup here. Cardinals offense, Bears defense. I'm keeping both eyes on this baby. I will have a prediction for this game, and I love calling this one out. Not because the commanders got them with this last week. I just think you're going to have a Bears defense that's going to be really antsy. I think Stevenson might have even been benched. And the Cardinals have been trying to set this up, and every time they try to do it,

They mess up or Kyle gets pressured, but look for a Marvin Harrison Jr. double move for a touchdown. And that's going to be my prediction. There's going to be a double move, either a dig and up or a hitch and go.

something and i think they're gonna get them because i i know your human nature and how it is and how i'm gonna get i'm i gotta prove myself we gotta prove that we're sound we're doing all this so i'm sure the the carnals are pretty ticked off that that game ended that way because now the bears defense is gonna be like trying to prove something and they're pretty dang good so um yeah kind of loki haas fight

It is. It is. All right. So there we got Cardinals offense is also peaking. Top five combined sex rate. Hell yeah. And then, like I said, going against the Bears defense that's actually can match up with them. It's, you know, so another bully versus bully matchup here. So just excited to watch this one. It is two good units. I know there's been a lot said about the Bears, but it's still a very good defense. This is how I know I'm not cut out to be a football coach because I

Matt Eberflus might bench Tyreek Stevenson and I'll be like, yeah, Tyreek, that was dumb as hell what you did last week, but we still need to guard Marvin Harrison on Sunday. You know? That's how I would go about it. This is a learning experience. Learning experience, but like, you're more valuable on that field than you are on the bench for some disciplinary and stuff, but yeah, you lost the game, but I'm not going to let you lose this another game by being on the bench. Yeah.

Hey, go prove yourself out there. Hey, just use that. Use that. We're going to use that channel. Yeah. Don't look at this. Don't look to your Bears fans as the play is going on. That's an all time play.

Mike Gundy nailed it this year when Oli Gordon got the UI when he said, well, I'm not going to punish the rest of the team. It's like, oh, you sly. That's sly. That's a good one. I'm not going to punish the rest of these guys by putting you on the bench because you know your backup ain't that good. Every time Mike Gundy talks, I'm like, how are you real? Yeah.

It's like a 1984 football movie character. It's like, how are you not the coach in the program? Or like Varsity Blues or something. It's like, no, you're actually a longtime coach with that mullet and everything. Offensive genius now. I'll give him that. Maybe you just have to be like that to have some good ideas on offense. You got to see the X's and O's. All the Big 12 air-rated Jason guys are all off their damn rockers. Oh, my God. Dana Horgeson, Red Bulls. Like, yeah.

And it's funny because how they all talk about each other.

They're always like, yeah, I know I'm weird, but this guy's really weird. And it's like, really? They all try to one-up each other. I interviewed Hal Mummy after... Oh, God. Yeah, yeah. When I was like 24, working on like an Air Raid article. And when he got off the phone, I was like, oh, my God. I don't know what the hell just happened in my ears, but I liked maybe like 40% of it. He was in the... The only...

The Alliance League. He was the OC for the Memphis team? Yeah, he was the OC. I think Mike Singletary was the head coach. But he was the OC. Dude. Mike Singletary and Tom Bumby. I can't wait to write that book. I'm just going to make sure I'm clear. Can't get any trouble for it. I cannot wait to write that book about my one year in the Alliance League. That was...

That was the Wild West, man. Charlie Ebersole still laughing and laughing, laughing himself. But he was just running old school, like run and shoot air right stuff. Yeah, I know it's two different offenses, but just like true, true old school ones like lock the back and protection. I mean, it looked like

I mean, it looked like Hawaii culprit in offense, you know, like, and just read routes, all this stuff. And then like the old line is just getting slaughtered because, because the quarterback has to wait for everybody to read and break on everything. So, oh my God, it was a mess. Even our team, it sucked. It was having a field day against them. So yeah, we can tell some how mummy story another day. Yeah.

The last thing I had on that was just made me think I was there. They have like in the new college football game, they have some true run and shoot plays that you can call and man. Oh man, you better be able to block boy. Like this is what those old run and shoot teams too, is that they would run shooting and air raid stuff, but they would do a lot of like half roll protections. And so like, I don't know. They're, Oh God. It's just like, I,

I love aspects of that offense, but it's just like, if you run the traditional one is just such a thing from yesteryear. It's just something like a thing of a time capsule of what used to be able to, you just run a slow motion to just go, Oh, is this man or zone? And that was it. And it was, it was slow. It wasn't like snap it there. It was just like man zone. Okay. I'm going to sprint out this way and run that route. Yeah. Whatever. Half field read stuff. Anyways, moving on. What is your final thing that you are watching on Sunday? Oh,

Slop watch. We got Panthers-Saints. I don't know who's starting out for the Saints because it looked like Spencer Rattler got yanked at some point on Sunday for Jake Hanner, which is... Yeah, I don't think it was that bad either. Yeah, it was interesting that this was the Spencer Rattler game that...

Got him yanked because he's played worse in the past couple weeks, honestly, I thought. Well, Broncos put him in the blunder. Oh, yeah. He was awful in that game. Even in the second half of the Bucs game, he was not good at that either. So for this to be kind of the straw that broke the camel's back, a little interesting. But both these teams are so bad that...

If they get on red zone more than like 10 times, I think you'll be an absolute miracle. Like there's nothing. Oh man. Except like, if you're passionate about Chupa Hubbard runs, then this is it for you. Or come on. Scott Hanson. Say what the over under is on how many times he's going to show that game. I might tweet out probably less, less than 10, less than 10. Oh man. I wasn't even saying like five and a half.

Yeah. My only thing is... Add us on Twitter or Scott Hanson and just say, how many times are you guys going to show this? I want to set a line. The only thing that gives me pause on the red zone part is Chuba Hubbard and Kamara could both have big games because these are just two zombie defenses right now. So maybe they could get some runs, but other than that, no. This is going to be slop. And I will say this, if we're actually going to take one real take away from this game...

Bryce Young, if you can't do it versus this Saints defense in this form where they have just totally given up on the season, it's done. Whatever supporters are left out there, to me, this is the opportunity to actually do something. You should be able to run the ball.

They haven't tackled anyone in a month. Like, you know, let's make something happen here, Bryce. That after we last week, we're like, oh, good luck. Bryce Young. It's that Broncos defense. The first drive they marched down. And I think they really get beat Patrick Sertan after we're like, oh, good luck. Good luck. I was like,

Well, that just blew up in my face. I felt like Wally. The rest of the game happened, you know? Yeah, and then the rest of the game happened. That's why you play 60 minutes. That's why you have 12 drives or 10 drives, not just one. Yeah, I know. So it's a war of attrition. Not just the season, but just some games too.

On to my last thing I'm keeping an eye on. It's the Commander's Offense, Giant's Defense. This is a rematch from earlier in the year. Obviously, they're in a division together in the MC East. I don't know if anyone knows that, but these two teams have played each other a lot. But the Giant's Defense...

which I still like. I really do. I didn't get after the passer. They, you know, Dante, Deontay Banks has been up and down, but they can still rush the passer and the commanders have some offensive line injuries. They have, I think both of the left tackles, but at the very least, Oh, Cornelius Lucas hurt his ankle. It's a bears did not practice on Wednesday and Brandon Coleman is dealing with a concussion. Oh,

How they mitigate that is going to be just huge because, you know, this Giants defense is this Giants defense with Tibbs and Brian Burns, Dexter Lawrence. And just they did a solid job of doing it. Quick passes, you know, just like getting the ball out, doing the Jane Daniel stuff. He was this was the game that really was like, oh, wow, your scrambling ability is very real. How many third and extra longs he was able to make into just like just for the manageable, like where that and then this commander's run game is good.

So this was the game where I was like, oh, you guys actually might have a little bit more life than I gave you credit for. And once the other commander's offense just kind of keeps evolving, I'm hoping to write about him soon. You know, there's still some stuff I still think is plastic, but, you know, they're

They're making it hard on a lot of defenses right now, just with their tempo stuff, just with the Daniels operating it really well. And yeah, so I just kind of want to watch this. This is a better, this is more good on good than first meets the eye. I'm not talking about the Giants offense, but you know, the Giants defense at the very least. And the commander's defense has been showing up and, you know, it has, you know, the interior guys are pretty good. Newton, Johnny Newton's getting out there.

Bobby Wagner hasn't been horrible. He actually has had some moments rushing the passer that have been good. Much better last year. Maybe it's just the Dan Quinn. Dan Quinn will get guys to play hard, man. So if you have some talent, he's going to max it out. It might always be sound, but he's going to always make you feel good, get you playing at a good level. I mean, shoot, just like his messaging now, I appreciate more now as I see some of these other coaches in these press conferences and just not know how to

word, a sentence, how to code a sentence, um, specifically a coach in Indianapolis, uh, that it's just like, you're just learning that coach speak is, is a gift, but also behind the doors too. So, uh, Dan Quinn's pretty, pretty dang good at it. And yeah, it's a solid commander's team, man. I, I, it's, it's just surprised me week in week out. All right.

That is it for our one thing. We are going to take a quick break and then we'll get back to my updated midseason big board top 50. All right. We are back with my big board. Everybody check out my big board.

Look how big it is. So I don't, yeah, like if anyone's watching on YouTube, you can tell it's big board week. That's why I look really tired. That's why I was slogging through. It's hard to transition from NFL to college, guys. But it was a lot of fun because now we have some data, some tape to react to. I'll start with reading my top 15 because, yeah, you really start second guessing yourself when you're in a bubble.

in your office and you're like, how do I look at this guy's butt? Will Johnson, the corner from Michigan is my number one guy. Number two, Travis Hunter. Number three, Mikel Williams from Georgia. Number four, Abdul Carter, edge from Penn State. Number five, Will Campbell tackle from LSU. Number six, Mason Graham, defensive tackle from Michigan. Jalen Walker, edge slash linebacker from Georgia. Frickin' love him. Number eight, Ashton Gentee, sorry, running back,

Boise State, incredibly fun to watch. I don't care if he's a running back. I can talk about that. Number nine, Calvin Banks Jr., tackle or guard. I think of him more as a guard, but I'm going to give a chance to say a tackle from Texas. Number 10, Nick Scowden, edge, Texas A&M. Number 11, Malachi Starks, safety from Georgia. 12, Ted McMillan, receiver from Arizona. I'm going to bump him up a little bit. Defensive tackle, DN, 3-4, or however he knows tackle. It depends on how people see him.

Yeah, I'll start with a couple guys I want to highlight here. Will Johnson at the top, Travis Hunter at number two, two corners at one, two, and I think deservedly so. If you want Hunter at one, I don't blame you. Tiebreaker for me was size.

Johnson's just this prototype corner. It just looks like it. I mean, my closest comparison is Patrick Stanton's second, and I totally mean that. Just the prototype. He's been battling injuries this year, but still has good play. So I just trust him. I would never think I would have a corner at number one, but here I am. And then number two, I have a corner, which is Travis Hunter. I see him more as a corner and a package play receiver at the next level. I do think he has earned the right to maybe see that side of the ball. He just doesn't have that elite bulk.

which makes me a little worried about extended snap count, maybe keep him on defense. But he might end up being number one because he's just so special. He just does special things. Even if Johnson has really special traits too, Hunter just moves differently at times. So these guys are kind of clear one-two for me. I'll highlight Jalen Walker, Georgia guy. Freaking love him.

Oh, man. No matter where he lines up, he affects the game. Plays with his hair on fire. Good pass rusher. Can play off-ball linebacker. And actually diagnose as well. Fast. I don't really have a good comparison for him. I've been trying to figure it out, but I'd want him on my team. I don't think the coverage drops are quite the same, but I've been getting a little empty bar vibes from Jim Walker. Yeah. Yeah. That's a really good comp. Wow.

Wow, that's good. The user light bulb just went on. I was like, that's exactly it. Last year in the SC title game, they went a little bit too far with it, but they were running like double spy stuff on Jalen Milrow. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's amazing at that. And Walker was one of the spies. I'm like, dude, you're...

Fast enough to keep up with Milrow at that size? Pretty crazy. Yeah, 240. I know. I just want him on the field. Like, get him with how defenses are now and being so hybrid and creative. Like, yeah. He's better for now in 2024, 2025 than he would have been 10 years ago.

You know, Anthony Barr, no one knew what to do with him. Like, I remember being in the Falcons. Like, we like him, but no one kind of knew where we would slot him. And so now I think it's a much better time for him. You know, Ted McMillan, I've been saying he's Michael Pitt plus, Michael Pittman plus. I actually might be selling him short. He might be more Diet Coke Mike Evans.

that, that, that might be it. Not as extremely as explosive, but still a good mover for how big he is. And I think he's clearly receiver one, like not even close with Luther burden. Who's like, I think I have 20th overall from a zoo who has a lot of explosiveness, but it's more of a gadget slot guy, not gadget, but more of a slot only guy and kind of has to show some other stuff. Last one, Ohio is quarterbacks. So,

So that's all anyone cares about. Garrett Nussmeyer. I've talked about a little bit. Even he'll throw some picks, but oh my God, he's a gunslinger. Doesn't take sacks. Love his feel in the pocket. Love how aggressive he is. Love his ball placement. Trying to figure out a comp for him. I think it's Dane Brugger's gone with Tony Romo. Tony was big. That's the thing with Nussmeyer. He's listed 6'2", 205.

I think he is 6'2", but it's like that weight always scares me. And, you know, that he can operate like Cousins. You know, Cousins is kind of the skinny guy pocket operator you have to look at. So, and I think he has plenty of arm strength to operate that way and feel in the pocket and everything. But size is always going to be a thing for me. But Cam Ward, ton of fun, super calm, love his sideline or sidearm throwing style. So quick, gets the ball out quick.

Can kind of go on heat checks and get a little too cute. And for a guy with a lot of starts, that kind of is like, is this what you are? But man, he's got good size. He's a solid athlete. I wouldn't say an overwhelming athlete, but solid, can create, can throw off platform, can push the ball fast.

He might end up quarterback one, but I think these two to me right now, it's not a great class. I actually have them maybe a little too high, even for my own liking. But I just think that because the rest of the class isn't overwhelming that these guys get bumped up to. So those two to me have stood out. Schroeder is my quarterback three. Schroeder Sanders from Colorado. I'm glad I have him. Oh, I just hate him. You know, receiver, you know, player overall too. And.

Our social team did me so dirty. But then, yeah, but sure, there's Sanders has improved. I have to give him credit. Like his pocket feels so much better. It's still not great. He's just, you know, his size stuff worries me too. Like he's listed. I mean, actually they got official measurements. He's 6'1", 196, okay athlete.

You know, pretty, I would say a good arm, not an amazing arm, but good arm. He's willing to throw to the middle. He can be aggressive when he has a clean pocket. He can fire it in there. It's just when he has to create, I get a little worried because he's not an overwhelming athlete. He doesn't have overwhelming size. He's not a creative thrower. But man, when he's in a clean pocket, I got to give him a lot of credit for where he can fire that ball in there. And he's tough as hell.

All these guys are tough, which is always going to just do big things for me. But yeah, those are kind of the top three quarterbacks. It's a fun class as far as running backs. Tight ends is really fun. I have a tight end from Bowling Green as my tight end one, Harold Fannin.

He's cool. I don't know where I lined him up, but he's cool. Explosive. He played Texas A&M or he Bowling Green played Texas A&M and Penn State and fan and looked like the best player on the field. Like when that has like a double Carter out there, a Texas A&M, a scoured and a few other defenders out there. And I mean, he was dominant him. And then I have Colson Lofton is tied into their right next to each other because I'm a coward, but

Loveland is clean, good route runner, everything, but they're 25, 27, 28 overall, my big board, but shoot. Fannin is really cool. Just a fun player, unique player. Check them out on a Tuesday night in Maction. You know, just, just check out number zero for Bowling Green. Pretty, pretty cool player.

I don't think there's anyone else. Any questions? Any Georgia guys? Carson Beck out of the top 50. Yeah, whatever. I had to give him the hook. He was so bad this year. I don't know what happened to him. He was legitimately a good player last year. People ask me, was he like this last year? I'm like, no, he was not that bad at all. No, no, no, no. Second half of last year, he was clean. There was a point where I assumed every single pass he left his hand was going to hit someone perfectly in the hands last year. And that's just not...

not the case this year. Where are you on the other LSQ tackle, Emery Jones? I know he was the projected top at the start of the season. I dropped him just a little bit. He's one I kind of struggled with placing. I dropped him actually a decent amount. He was in my top 10 before the season. He's 26 now. And that might be a little harsh. He might be somewhere in between there. He's really good in the run game. And he's big and long. And like,

Not like a classic bruiser in the run game. He's got strong hands. He's got good feet and can move. Pass protection-wise, he's just all over the place. Sometimes it looks great. But then he has the problem where he ducks his head a lot because he gets out over his skis. He's athletic, so that to me is more of a like, all right, he needs reps and get comfortable with it. And maybe I'm dinging him too much for that, but it's kind of hard when I see that. You watch the Ole Miss game, the second half.

They were getting after him a little bit. And that's where it's like, I can't put you in my, as a lottery pick, you know, if you're doing, if that's your biggest issue right now, but really like him. Like, I mean, like you still comfortable taking him the first round and even the time he'll end up probably like late teens, probably when it's all said and done for me, there's, there's some tackles. I really showed up, uh,

Josh Connerly from Oregon ended up as 20th overall for me. Got some real light feet. I didn't want to say this to Justice Mosqueda, our guy who covers the Packers, but he's a big Oregon guy. I was like, kind of moves like Marshall Newhouse, huh?

Yeah. Cause he has those real typewriter feet and everything, but you know, Connery's got some pop to him, which is really, and he's super young. He's just about to turn 21. Uh, but he, like he really developed his play strength this year and that's where I was like, Oh, okay. And he, I think I'm going to be the highest guy on him. Uh, but I, yeah, he's, he's a good player. And then on the other side for Oregon is Derek Harmon, uh, defensive tackle transfer from Michigan state.

Probably the most pleasant surprise of anybody I watch, any prospect I watch. And he was unranked. I barely had an eye on him. Now he's 22nd overall. Keanu Benton comparisons a little bit. Maybe a little more twitched up, actually. But he can line across the defense. He can two gap. He's good on loops. He has good pass rushing chops. He's just a good player. I really, really like him. So I wanted to give him a shout out as well. Yeah. Playing at running backs. Boston College has got a guy.

I'm not going to try and say his last name, Donovan as your Karaku, but fun little pass rusher. Trying to think who else I want to highlight. And Marion Hampton from North Carolina is a lot of fun. Ohio state's got 500 guys. Honestly, who's, who's like wide receiver too.

Luther Byrd from Mizzou. I have him at 21 overall. And then number three is Emeka Abuka from Ohio State. But again, I think I seem like the same guy to me. I don't know. Abuka is just such a nice steady Eddie. Like,

I prefer a book is game, but I understand the appeal burden because he's explosive, but book is just smart. Like he's going to, he's the classic guy I get. I'm a sucker for like, he can be a power slot. He can line up outside. Good zone beater just does everything. Well, I really like a book. Then after that, it's kind of a drop off of the receivers. And that's, it's kind of like you're squinting. I think Isaiah bond and up receiver four for me from Texas, um,

Um, yeah, uh, there's, there's, there's, like I said, good backs, gray Zabel guard from North coast state. I really liked tower Warren tight end from Penn state. I liked, uh, rally Leonard drew all or 44 and 45 overall quarterback wise, but last one, it is, he needs another year. He should, uh, I think he needs another year. He's just robotic.

Yeah. Yeah. This is only his third year, I believe. Him and Jalen Milrow from Alabama, who's 35th overall. Pleasant surprise for me. Those two are the most improved quarterbacks I've watched from last year to this year. But Oller, he's got so much arm talent. It's just that as soon as he moves off his spot, you have no idea what you're going to get. He is not good throwing on the move. Not a bad athlete. He's just not good throwing on the move, which worries me a little bit. Yeah.

And also he's just a little robotic with his reads, which is like, all right, is this your feel for the position or are you just really overly coached? And then they got the cannon pointed in the right direction. And then if it's not pointed, we have no idea what we're doing. So I don't know. He's hard for me to gauge.

I can't quit Riley Leonard. Who was playing better? But in the middle row, like I said, he made a big bump for me. I almost had him grouped with those other two. My kind of mid 40s. I bumped him up because I just watched. I kept watching him. And even though there's some parts where he, you know, I've never seen a quarterback throw past the line of scrimmage more often than him, where he is past the line of scrimmage.

He is just making better decisions. His eyes are going into the right spot. Like you can really see the new kind of offensive coaching influence on him. And he's making, and it's the classic, if you make a mistake, make it fast, you know, coaching point. He's doing that. So it's eyes are going to the right spot. He's got a great arm. Okay. If it's not open, all right, create, go run, use your four, four speed and size and go get it.

So I'm more bullish on him than I expected to be before studying him. I kind of, I kind of had an idea in my head from last year and then TV copy wise. And I kind of appreciated the growth he's made. So yeah, I want to keep, I felt like this was a good middle spot at 35. I could see him going either way, either way as the season goes along, but yeah, that's, that's the quarterbacks in the top 50. No Quinn yours.

These are just the guys I'm looking at. That's about it. These six guys, I think that's kind of my circle. Maybe Rourke from Indiana is a day three guy. But Ohio State's got 500 guys too. We'll get into one last mailbag question. I want Stone wants to kill me. We'll go. Giant from it.

Yeah, we got five minutes. We're good. Mailbag question of the week. Again, if you leave a five-star review, your question will get bumped and get priority. Or you can send your mailbag questions to football301mailbag at yahoosports.com. But this is from Jonathan M.,

Could you get into the difference between an X and a Z receiver? What makes these positions different? What skills are you looking for at each of these positions? I know I just talked a lot, but I'll just nail this real quick. X receiver is the split end. So if you look at a old football and you think of tight end,

And then there used to just be two tight ends. Everybody locked in there. No one split out. You split out one of those tight ends. That's the split end. That's the X. That is the guy that's isolated. Generally, that's the guy that plays on the ball. If you're looking at what the epitome of an X receiver is Andre Johnson,

Randy Moss, but Randy's kind of his own thing. But Andre Johnson, to me, is the epitome of an X. Big, good route runner, good hands, can win isoball, can do all those things. And that's why an X is what you seek with receivers. It's because that is the hardest thing to do. They don't get a lot of help. Generally, this is traditional sense. So that is kind of the alpha of the receiver room. Devontae Adams is a fantastic X as well. But the Packers always kind of moved him around. A Z is the flanker.

Flinker is going to be off the ball. The Z follows the tight end. So the X is away from the tight end. The Z is towards the tight end. And so if you just think X, Y, Y is tight end, Z.

x away y z and if you go left or right that's how it looks z follows them z can be more in motion z can you know because they're off the ball they can align they can move around the ball um they are generally your zone beater they usually work in combination with another guys generally the tight end or the flank or the slot receiver so the z is you want your smart crafty guys uh when with the vikings when my dad was there nate burleson was the z

And in my head, that's my epitome of my Z. Robert Woods is a phenomenal Z, or was in his prime. Those types of guys, smart players. Chris Godwin, great Z. Those guys that can line up inside sometimes, can do some dirty work, is a smart zone beater type. The guys, again, like I said, are going to work in combination with other guys. So that's the difference.

X and Z. Hopefully that helps. I just learned something here because every football coach I've ever had, I'll ask them, why is it called split end?

Like, I understand what it is. I understand conceptually what it is in our offense, but why is it called split end? Because it is. I'm like, okay, well. When you learn the history of it, a lot of things go off. That makes a lot of sense, actually. Yeah. It's like I've said this before. First time I learned mesh, it was called Kentucky. And I didn't know why. And it was because, oh, that they stole it from Mike Leach and

our guy Hal Mummey from running it in Kentucky. So yeah, that's how I learned it. I remember one time, the second Seth reference on this podcast, but there was one time on Twitter where Seth and I were talking and he was like, why is this called sail concept? I was like, dude, because look, when you draw it out, it looks like a little sail on a sailboat. It does. I know.

I did Pablo's show and I explained what a post route was and why I got its name. And then he just was like,

because you run at the goalpost. And he was like, I'd never put that together. And I was like, I know. What do you kind of just think for a sec? It's like, oh, a lot of these terms will make a lot more sense. You just take a moment to think. Well, even so, like the slot receiver now is kind of more, you know, nickel is the new base. Slot receiver now is on a traditional when you're writing it out. So X receiver, Y, Z.

z whoever the quote-unquote adjuster is which is fullback second tight end or slot receiver they're the f and i always kind of was like why is the f and i was like well because that used to be the fullback always you know and then they just didn't want to give a separate letter because they change personnel just make it easy it's always the f and i was like that makes just perfect sense that used to be the fullback and now it's the slot receiver that's the difference of modern football right now so um yeah and again this is

This is just the traditional labeling. Another one that got some light bulb moments in high school was when someone was like, HB draw, like draw what? And their coach was like, defensive lineman up the field. And they were like, oh, oh, okay. Light bulb moment. It's making sense. That's a great one.

Oh, man. I know there's a million of these because I love it. I love learning what the origin of the term is. And, you know, that it's fun with my dad because my dad, this is what he's really good with. And, you know, because being around it for so long, you go, oh, this is why they call that not.

I always like that stuff. So yeah, I'll see if I can come up with some more lexicon origin words in football. I'm trying to just think, you know, blitz was literally most of the terms to come because, because Paul Brown was a military guy and like, and so much of football is has military background. And so like just so many terms just come from that blitz.

Well, that was what the Germans did to Poland. That's why you're blitzing. You're running it on over. So there's just a lot of terms like that. I'm just like, oh, yeah, that makes a lot more sense. George Carlin's got a great bit about that. But anyways, closing it out today. Juicy show.

So I appreciate you, Charles. I hopefully you get your wedding stuff sorted out, but we're closing it out today. Matt will be joining me on Tuesday. As always, I am Nate Tice. You can find me at Nate underscore Tice. Charles, where can they find you? I never drop a hint of where they can find you, but drop it. You can find me on Twitter at four birds, probably not over the next three days, but back on Sunday, you know, I got to, I got to go be a good friend. Yeah. I'm kind of, I'm kind of upset. Yeah. I know. Yeah.

Oh, I know. How is it in New York right now? Quiet.

Hey, they got the Liberty. Yeah, we got the Liberty. We're fine. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. You know, at least they can turn to Jets and Giants games and be happy. All right. But that is our... Oh, also, like I said before, mailbag. Send in those questions. Football301mailbag at YahooSports.com. I really like that X and Z question. So keep those coming. Emails are great. Video and voice notes are better. Let's hear some sadness too. Subscribe to us. Follow us. Rate us. Five stars. Hopefully...

If not, just yell at me on Twitter. I'll just ignore it. Also, watch us on YouTube. Follow the Yahoo Sports YouTube channel. Follow Yahoo Sports on Snapchat, too. Thanks to Brett Stoninati, behind the scenes. Thank you all to listening. Have a great weekend. Enjoy some football and hopefully enjoy some last bits of warm weather. See you guys next time.

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