Predicting the top 10 defenses of 2024
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Hi, I'm Nate Tice. This is Football 301. Today, we're going to be talking about our predictions for the 2024 NFL season's top 10 defenses.

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Hello, welcome to Football 301. I am Nate Tice. We are doing top 10 defense today. If you did not listen to our first show, the maiden voyage of Football 301, me, Charles McDonald, and Matt Harmon went over our picks for the top 10 offenses. But for defenses, Matt bowed out, but Chuck didn't. Chuck said, bring me that noise. Bring me the monsters of the midway. Bring me the purple people eaters.

Let's find the 2024 version of the top 10 defenses. Charles, Mr. Forverts, how are you doing today?

I'm doing good. I'm actually having a pretty good Thursday. I started that HBO show Veep. Oh, yeah. I'm on season two now. It's pretty good. Later, going to go hang out with our mutual pal Keegan Abdu from NFL Next Gen Stats and see if I can finagle stuff from him as we embark upon our journey through the 2024 season. So it's all good over here. All good over here. Having a good one on this Thursday. Keegan gets you that good stuff.

He's got the real deep next-gen stat stuff for you. He's good. He's a good friend to have. Yeah. I like that a lot. Me, not so much. My Thursday's boring. Really?

It says I do this show and I'll probably do another show. I just finished writing. I feel like when you finish writing, I'm just like, I'm good. I'm good for the week. Like, I just want to unplug and do everything. Check out my breakout players for 2021 season. But we're going to go on to defenses. We're going top 10. We'll go in reverse order starting with number 10. We'll list off each of our teams. We'll do some honorable mentions at the end and we'll see you next time.

Away we go. Charles, you have the floor. You have honors. Who is number 10 for you for 2024? Number 10, I have the Jacksonville Jaguars. And I want to say, I feel...

We talked about this on the first show with Matt, where we were talking about kind of the honorable mention tier and how some of the guys in the honorable mention tier could easily have a case for being in the top 10. And Ravens fans got really, really upset at that notion for whatever reason. But I feel like it's even more jumbled up with defense. Or maybe I'm just picky about the defenses I like. Because when I look at these lists...

We have to come up with a top 10 list for, you know, defenses. But I don't really feel like there are 10 good defenses. You know, when you start looking at the collection of talent, sometimes I feel like it doesn't feel as strong as the offense where you look at some of these units.

Yeah, as complete, like from top to bottom. Like there's a lot of I think there's a lot of defenses that have a lot of good players, a lot of assassins that can go out there and make a play for you. But as cohesive units, there are only a few where I was like, yeah, like I feel really good about all 11 players here together. So for number 10 with me, I went with the Jacksonville Jaguars, who they had a weird offseason, but it did benefit their defense. Yeah.

Yeah, because they got Josh Allen, Joshua Hines Allen, I should say. Excuse me. I had to do that in my notes. I'm training myself. Hey, he wanted to change his name. I want to make sure. Yeah, I want to make sure to honor it. But yeah. Well, look, I wouldn't want to be called the other Josh Allen either. So especially coming off the season he just had. But getting him back in the fall is huge because he solidifies.

their pass rush, he gives them a pass rush really in general. Cause I think when you look at Trayvon Walker where he's at, yeah, he had the 10 sacks last season, but he's more of a cleanup guy or someone who's going to be your number two pass rusher instead of someone who's really causing havoc as the number one. So you got him locked up. You just got Tyson Campbell locked up who, you know, he kind of got,

I couldn't tell if he was a dig or not when he got labeled as the highest paid non-pro ball cornerback ever. I was like, okay. In the tri-state area. In the tri-state area, right. A weird distinction. But he's a good player, and I think getting him back in the fold, if he can stay healthy, that's big. And Andre Sisco, I think maybe some people are a little too high on him. I saw someone say Earl Thomas range before on Twitter. But no, he is one of the better safeties in the league. So I think when you start looking at...

just this group together, plus the addition of Ryan Nielsen coming over from Atlanta and taking over the reins. That's going to be a big one. I think it should be big for the defensive line development too. I think the Jaguars should have a space in here as one of the 10 best defenses in the NFL.

Yeah, I threw the Jags in at number nine. I'm right there with you. Kind of your opening comments. This is a perfect example of this about like none of these teams feel totally complete. These units, I should say. And they're a perfect example of this. Ryan Nielsen, the defense coordinator, is doing a lot for me. As you know, as a Falcons fan, what he turned like.

very incomplete unit into a very well-playing unit with the Falcons. I mean, even underlying stats was friendly to them. Not so much DVOA, but EPA success rate. They really fund blitz packages, simulated pressures, which really helps guys out. And also this kind of

At first, when you said the Andre Sisco thing, I thought you were talking to me because I put him as one of my breakout players. So I was like, hey, now. And then you were saying Earl Thomas. I was like, yeah, yeah, okay, yeah, yeah. I'm with you there. Yeah, yeah. But I think this defense is perfect for Sisco because he's aggressive. He's heady. He can play towards the line of scrimmage in a way. He can blitz. He can do a little bit of everything, which is perfect for what Nielsen likes to do, especially like how he used baits last year and all those things. But, yeah, cool blitz packages. He likes pocket pushers.

Up front, big, long guys. That's not so simple with the general manager likes, Trampalky, which is almost a meme at this point. But this is what he likes. He's from the Saints system. They like big, brawny, long-armed pocket pushers. They don't want bendy guys that work around. They don't want finesse guys. They want guys that push, push, push.

well that's how josh allen wins he's great kind of knifing inside making it edgy they got eric armstead uh tron walker you already mentioned him but he had the quietest 10 sacks you'll ever see last year or not see last year um but that this type of defense this and what nielsen likes is perfect for him is yeah he's a pocket pusher he has no pass moves this defense quarter is like good i'm fine with that so yeah just looking at the rest of the roster you mentioned campbell's he's a very good corner um

It kind of is perfect that he got labeled as the non-pro bowl because he kind of is that tier. He's kind of pro bowl-ish, but kind of just below it. Lua kind of solid, overpaid, a little overrated. Devin Lloyd needs help, but I actually think this defense will help him. But yeah, that's where we're saying incomplete. But yeah, I also like Darnell Savage.

probably one of two people in the world that still does but they're going to put him in the slot which is what i'm excited to see that and maybe being blitz make him play forward he didn't do well when he has time to think he needs to just run and go so this this type of defense i think is good for him yeah but i'm with you overhang player is a lot more exciting than darnell the deep safety because when he's back there and he's got a c and reapings out

It wasn't fast. It wasn't, it wasn't going well for him, but in the nickels fast and not fast. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Yes, exactly. Yeah. We have with the Packers for the, at the end of 2022, he got to play a little slot and I, it was kind of a revelation a little bit. And I think that's where, that's where I have that back of my mind. That's like, maybe we're going to see that a little more. Maybe I'm extrapolating a little bit too much, but yeah, the Jags are number 10 for you. Number nine for me.

My number 10 team is probably my spiciest team. If I'm, I'm starting off. I like this one though. I'm starting off a little, little heat. I'm going with the New York giants at number 10 and I'm pretty fired up to talk about them. Uh,

Another defensive coordinator, another new defensive coordinator that I'm a fan of, Shane Bowen, coming from the Titans. I thought he did a lot of interesting things there in Tennessee. I think Vrabel kind of got some credit for it. And before that, Schwartz was getting some credit. But then this was kind of his show last year. They always were facing injuries, probably because Vrabel, they've always picked injured guys and Vrabel probably runs hard practices. So I think that's why he had to deal with it. But he did a lot of interesting things like him and Nick Rawless with Arizona. Yeah.

and I guess Spags as well with the Chiefs, they try to do a lot with three safeties. And I don't mean big nickel, like not just slot big guy, but more three safety shells where it's kind of like three guys back there. Buda Baker with the Cardinals is like a rover back. But what he did with like Roger McCreary in the slot and did these other kind of interesting things. I want to see what he does with the Giants. But personnel-wise, love their front.

Dexter Lawrence is awesome. I think they're going to be playing Rakim Nunez Rocha up there too. That's a lot of beef. Brian Burns, I think, is in a good spot now. Kind of a low-end one pass rusher. Thibodeau gets bumped down, and I think that's good for him.

So that all is making sense to me. And I think they can play the run and pass equally well. Their linebackers are pretty solid. I like a care. Okay. A rare. Okay. Sorry. I'm going to mess up his name every single time, but then yeah, DBs is their weakness. Deontay Bakes is a star. I really do think that Nubin's a rookie might be interesting. This Drew Phillips is a rookie. I think this is a perfect defense for him. He can be used like that McCreary role. So yeah,

Yeah, I just, that's why I threw him at 10, not 5, not 7, just 10. I wanted to talk about it because I think they just have some cool pieces and a cool defensive coordinator that can maybe surprise some people. The secondaries is what scares me. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Terrifying. Because I'm with you on banks, but...

But I wouldn't be surprised if the rest of the group is bad, especially if you're going to start two rookies out there. And I don't think it needs to mean a whole lot about like their defense, but not that they're like their future on defense. But where the where the Chiefs were when they won the Super Bowl with like all rookie defensive backfield. Yeah. Plus Justin Reed. That's kind of an anomaly. That's a great. Yeah. But that's a good call. Yeah. Yeah.

But still, this is the kind of defensive line that I'd love to watch because these guys are gigantic. Dexter Lawrence, Jordan Phillips, Joaquin Muzarroches. You're not going to have a fun time running the ball on them. And even when you start getting to the edge rush, K-Don Thibodeau, he's kind of in the class of Trayvon Walker where it was a quiet, high sack season where you're not actually in a whole lot of pressures. Right. But now as the third guy,

with Lawrence and Brian Burns, that's probably even a better situation for him. And I think even on the hard knocks, they talked about how getting Brian Burns would add just the depth that they need probably to help KT break out a little bit even more. So I think this is a good front. I think the front's going to be kick-ass. I think Shane Bowen's a great guy to have for this front seven. I just look at the secondary and I'm like, I get it.

I went on with the JM football guys, the John Boy media football guys. And it was their national show, but it was two Giants guys, Bobby Skinner and Justin Panik.

And I was talking with them and I was like, I couldn't wait to talk about their defense. And they just go, what about the DBs? And that's all they, that's, that's all we're staring at. And I was like, yeah, I, I, I just keep staring at that front though. And I see banks. I know. So it's maybe one of these, I mean, I think it's, you kind of mentioned the chiefs with all the rookies. It's kind of the same thing where that was more like a mid tier defense that got better. Like overall, as the year went along that maybe I'm getting ahead where it's top 10, they're more like 16th, you know, somewhere around there, middle of the pack. But yeah,

Just want to talk about the Giants a little bit. So that already talked about my number 19, the Jags. Who do you have at number nine? I would basically just copy and paste just about everything we said for the Giants and put it onto the Raiders as well. Because this is this is a group that I cannot wait to watch. Yeah.

Especially with Christian Wilkins and Max Crosby, not only are they skilled, but those are two of the rare Ironman type of guys on the defensive line in the NFL, where Max Crosby, he played over the past two seasons, he's played about 95%.

of the Raiders defensive snaps. Christian Wilkins is about like 82 or 83% of the Dolphins. Yeah, neither guy has missed a game. Well, Max Prosby has never missed a game. Christian Wilkins hasn't missed a game in like three seasons and he's played all these snaps. So that's good because I think they're going to have to lean on those guys because they don't have

maybe the greatest depth of the world up front. If you can get something from Tyree Wilson this year, that would be big for them. But really, it's not really anything about him yet because I just know. No, I don't know. I don't know. So I have no takes on Wilson yet. I'm just like, that's a November thing. Yeah, I want I mean, I watched a good amount of the season last year and it just it just incomplete. Totally incomplete. I mean, he even got off to a slow start. But then you start looking at the secondary season.

it's just like man i don't know i don't know that's i i do i do enjoy watching jack jones i don't think he's like you know it's a strap up every every you know man coverage corner but he makes plays in the ball and he can take it the distance uh and i think that even in even if you're not going to be like a super sticky man coverage guy having those ball skills can be you know productive for you but then the rest of the group

I don't know. DeCorey and Bennett, that's still a work in progress. Trevor Morig, I don't really feel any type of way about. So he's okay. Right. He's not. I say that because he's not because I thought he was going to be coming out of TCU. You were pretty high on him, weren't you? Yeah, I was pretty high on him. I wasn't watching DBs then, so it was good. I have no. That's incomplete for me. So it's just pro take. That's it. That's all I got on it. And then Ahab's like interesting. You know, he's interesting.

Yeah, I like the DC to Graham Patrick Graham. Yeah, he does some good stuff. No, they were my honorable mentions. They were just I just missed the list. I'm with you. I Wilkins and Crosby is gonna be sweet. Like, that's gonna be a really cool pairing. I actually like the linebackers a little bit.

Me too. Me too. I like Spilling, man. I do too. I do too. He had a nice year. I know. He's a tough son of a bitch, man. He is. I like watching him play. 41 might be the ugliest football number, but sometimes guys are perfect for it. Kamara is kind of his own thing. You know, this is just me being way too online, but what I think of Spilling was when he was a linebacker for the Steelers,

There was a point where Ryan Clark, who works for ESPN, he was going on about like how if he played in today's NFL, he would have no fear about tackling Derrick Henry. Right. And this is in the lead up to a Steelers Titans game that they're about to play. And I remember they actually get to the game. Ryan Clark spends a whole week arguing with Titans fans about how he wouldn't be afraid to tackle Derrick Henry. Also, if you watch Ryan Clark play, he would not be afraid to tackle. No, he wouldn't. He wouldn't. Right. So that was the whole thing.

but in the game, the Titans, they get down to the goal line and Robert Spillane, he absolutely annihilates Derrick Henry at the goal line. And Ryan Clark gets back on Twitter. He's like, ha ha. See, look, I told you it's doable. And that was better than he was.

But that's just my online brain. That's like your memory of him. And then you're like, oh, that guy. And he wears 41. Yeah, that helps. No, I like this call. I thought this was pretty good. I'm glad we get to talk about the Raiders a little bit. Like I said, I already did the Jags. We'll move on to number eight, my number eight team, which I actually –

You had ranked higher, which I was even shocked by, which I'm excited to talk about. This is the Bears. The Bears are my number eight defense for this year. I think I might be low. They're deep. This is a defense that's loaded at every spot except for the second edge player.

But other than that, this team legitimately, in my estimation, I would say 10 of these players, 10 of their starters are above average or better starters like that. And not a lot of teams can say that. And really, it's, you know, you have 12 role players. You have a slot or a third linebacker. I would say 11 of 12.

I just really like how they're built. They have, they play a lot of zone. They're kind of more of a sound coverage unit with some stuff on passing downs, but they have, they have Montez sweat up front who was very good. Once he got to Chicago, he placed so hard, really fun to watch. I like their group of defensive tackles.

Andrew Billings played awesome last year. There are two rookies last year, Dexter and Pickens, but both had moments. I thought, I didn't think they needed to add there. Maybe, you know, some, you know, garbage vet, not garbage. I shouldn't say that stopgap guy, you know, just throwing there for a second, but I can't believe I just said garbage. I was like, I was trying to think of a different word than street. And my, my brain went to garbage. Cause maybe it was talking about New York earlier in the rats that we were talking about. So I did associate SAT association there.

But yeah, I would say the other edge spot, I know Bears fans made a big deal about. They're going to Marcus. I want to say to Marcus Lawrence, Marcus Edwards, Marcus Walker, Walker, Walker. So it's fine there. But then you go three playable linebackers.

Jack Sanborn, Edmonds, Edwards. Some teams don't have one, and they have three that I would say are above average, and I would say maybe even good or better. And then I think they have a great DB room. I think their corners, their three corners, is the best trio of corners in the league. I'm willing to stand on that one. There's going to be another one we'll talk about that's pretty good, but Jalen Johnson, Tyreek Stevenson, and Kyler Gordon are fantastic. You can match...

When those three were on the field together and their defensive improvement, then when Montez got added, then they added Phil snow to help out with the defense as well. But I had Kyler Gordon as one of my breakout players too. I think he's great in the slot. It's kind of funny him and Trent McDuffie were teammates because kind of

do the same thing. Kind of funny that they were both teammates at college, but, and I like the backend. Yeah. So I wanted to list off just all these players because that's why I like them. I think it's a defense that doesn't outthink themselves and they have a lot of good players. And if you look at it, there's back half of last year, they were top six unit. So yeah, I put them at eight, which was a little bit of a hedge. I almost wanted to go higher when it was all set and done, but I went with the eight. You had them at six though.

Yeah, I had my six, and honestly, I wanted to put my five. Right. I always made them five.

I don't know. It feels spicy, but I think the more you think about it, it's really not that spicy. Nope. Because also, they've already put proof to concept when they improved last year after they had the Montez Sweat trade. I will say, start of last season, it was looking a little spooky. It was looking a little spooky because they had a point where Tremont Edwards and T.J. Tremont

chairman edmunds and tj edwards they had allowed just about every catch in zone coverage to come their way that they were almost a hundred percent completion rate for like the first month of the season and then they started to get better on their own and then they add montez sweat and that when it's it's

really turned around for them. So I'm with you. I think the DB room is pretty damn exciting for them. Kyla Gordon, if we're talking about big improvement guys, that's a guy who took huge steps. He looked like a bust as a rookie. Oh my God. Yeah. Yeah. I remember after his rookie year, I was like, man, you probably need to draft his replacement to get him out of here. And honestly, it's

They might have tried with Tyreek Stevenson, but then they ended up having two good corners to build around. So you're looking at Jalen Johnson, Tyreek Stevenson, Kyler Gordon, Jaquan Brisker. That's a damn good secondary that you can still also grow around for the next couple of years because only Johnson is on a second deal. So we'll see what happens with Bayard with a little barbecue chicken last year.

with the Eagles, but that could have been, yeah, that could have been just, you know, uh, Matt Patricia malfeasance. I'm willing to chalk it up to that. We'll see what happens this year, but this is a really, really good defense. Uh, and, and what really excites me also is, um, you know, Dexter and Pickens had their moments last year, but those are also two guys with like huge upside that could really turn into, into like every down impact guys. I think especially Dexter, when you just start looking at the frame and the athleticism. So there's,

This should be a fun team, and I don't remember the last time I said that about the Bears, really. I know, and there's been a lot of hype about the offense, and I agree. I'm excited about the offense, too, but it's the defense that's going to be weird. Bears are going to be built around their defense, but that's kind of just what they're going to be. But this is the stat I found was pro football reference will have an expected points column, so positive is always better, but they'll have offense, defense, special teams. So Bears weeks one through five, every game was negative.

So that meant they had a negative performance by expected points. Kyler Gordon comes back in week six. They hire Phil Snow week six. And I think they've traded for Montez Sweat in week seven. But week six through 18, eight out of 12 were positive. So all eight were in the back half of the season after all those moves were made. So I think it's just only going to continue. I'm pretty excited about this defense. But moving on to your number eight team, who I actually was a little higher. And I'm excited to talk about this. But who's your number eight team, Charles? Dallas Cowboys. Yeah.

Am I too low on them? I don't know. Am I too high? I have my number three for reference. And am I too high on them? I don't know. I won't let you go because I'll tell you what brought me back. I'll tell you what brought me back. I got stuck because I feel like

I honestly, I want to leave him off the list entirely. I thought about it for a sec. To be spicy. I didn't want to leave him off entirely, but I feel like you do have to kind of respect getting digs back that with plans that that's going to cause a lot of quarterbacks problems, just making plays on the ball. Obviously. So I'm Michael Parsons, Marcus Lawrence is still a solid player. I started looking at, I still look at the middle of this defense and I'm like, I don't, I don't really see,

A whole lot, by the way, resistance here, unless Mozzie Smith gets a lot better than he was last year. If last year was just a blip on the radar for him, rookie struggles, I wasn't quite up to par, then that change is kind of like the whole math for them. But just based on what we know right now, I still think this is probably one of the weaker run defenses in the NFL. But man, they are going to make a ton of plays against the pass. And also, I think you can say that they might have upgraded defensive play calling this offseason. That.

There it is. You hit it right at the end. I said, I was originally going to have, this is literally my note. I was going to have Dallas lower than I remembered. Mike Zimmer is here. Yeah. Me up a little bit. And that's what brought me back.

I think his defense is just because of Dan nature's nature of his defenses and Mike Zimmer's nature of his defenses. Just look at their personalities. It's just going to be more sound. It's just going to be, have more structure to it, which at first you'd be like, well, you know, it wasn't that the good thing was how chaotic they created everything.

I don't know. I think it's actually gonna be a little better when you kind of maybe get Micah pointed in the right direction a few more times and get all these guys playing on the same page because last year. So this is what my first thought was. It was kind of going into last year's wildcard game was I kind of, one of my kind of lukewarm takes, I should have been a little louder ones. I think the Packers are going to have their way with them. And it was because in the back half of the year, since week 12, they were 29th and success rate 26 against the run 29th against the pass. They were just bad.

Jonathan Hankins, their defensive plugger, gone. Nose tackle, gone. And you could say, yeah, we drafted Maisie Smith. Maisie Smith is like a gap shooter. He's not like a plugger. He's big, but he's not like a eat up two blocks and let everybody else do all the fun work. That's what this defense kind of needed. But now you got Zimmer.

And that, and Zimmer's a true four down guy. They're a little bit more disciplined gap shoots. It actually kind of suits everybody a little bit better. So that's why, okay. Oh, so to Gazua, their other defense tackle is really good. And he's another gap shooter type. Not a lot of beef. Micah Parsons, Micah Parsons to Marcus Lawrence is very good.

Linebackers, dot, dot, dot. Clark had moments, but he's just okay. Kendricks is old. Again, I'm going to come back to that. But then the back end has got what got me excited. Zimmer with DBs and with a DB group like this, that speed and versatility, that has me excited because that's what Zimmer does really well with. And also, like you said, they can create a pass rush. This defense, my only hot take on this will be this defense will be first on third down this year. Yeah, because...

Cause Zimmer is always up there and this, I want to see what he does with Parsons on third down, because I think he'll, you know, they do all that double a gap stuff or over the center.

He's going to just do that with Parsons. It's going to be insane. So I'm very, very excited to see this defense. But I'm going to tell you, when I first started putting notes down, digital ink to digital paper, I was like, yeah, 10, 9, maybe off the list. And then I just got higher and higher because Zimmer. Zimmer's brought me back. Honestly, I started watching Xavier Rhodes highlights online.

And I was like, I don't see why this couldn't be Trayvon Diggs next year when he gets back, if he can move. And, like, dude, Zimmer, he's had a lot of good corners. And, dude, this group is going to make plays on the ball. They might take some gambles. He gives them opportunities. Right. They might take some gambles and mess up every once in a while, but that's the name of the game. So I'm really excited to watch what he does. And that was...

that was the switch that maybe put them back in the top 10. They're like, Oh, they got Zimmer now. Like they might actually, I know it was the draft show. We did. They, they drafted a Neyland from a Western Michigan. And I was like, huh? That doesn't make sense to it. Oh, Zimmer's there. He's a big four, three DN. I'm like, Oh, okay. That makes a lot of sense. Yeah. And then apparently there's seventh round pick of some big burly guy from Kentucky, Justin Rogers. And apparently, you know, I had some Cowboys fans say he's going to be our beef eater. Okay. Well, space eater. We'll see. We'll see.

But that is 10 through 8. To recap, I had the Giants, Jaguars, and Bears. Charles had the Jaguars, Raiders, and Cowboys. Let's take a quick break to pay the bills, and we'll be back with the rest of our list. Okay, it's time to commit.

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I don't really know what to make of their... This whole team? This whole team. A whole unit, I should say. Yeah, okay. Because we feel good about the offense. We're a unanimous best offense in the NFL. But on defense... You're going to try William Solnit.

The defense is interesting because I'm not really sure that they needed to fire Steve Wilks after last season. I know that it didn't go as planned. And, you know, you get down to the end of the game, you get down to a fourth down. And the next thing you know, there's Chiefs confetti all over your head in the Super Bowl. I understand. I get I get moving on. But I don't really know if if.

changing from Steve Wilks to Nick Sorensen as your play caller is really fundamentally going to change the results all that much. But here's the deal. Sometimes you just have to nod to the personnel. And you have one of the best edge rushers in football, Nick Bosa. You have probably the best linebacker in football with Fred Warner. I really, really like their safety room with Jair Brown, who Fong is back. They got our guy Malik Mustafa in the draft.

And even the cornerback room. Yeah, I've always been a fan of Travarius Ward. Lenore, the other cornerback, is pretty solid too. So they have some dudes on defense. I do think it'll be interesting just to see what...

what shape it takes schematically but i i would imagine it will be whatever kyle wants it to be um in terms of that they've had they've had three coordinators there and they basically all ran the same same thing until like third down it was like a little like wilkes i think did a bunch of man and i know that was like crazy that he did that coverage uh yeah the big questions for they ended up being my number six team and i'm with you i this was the one that

okay, they have question marks more than I would like to have them at number six. But then you look at the stars and you're like, yeah, those are, those are really good stars. Those are really, really bright, bright, shiny stars. But that, that's the best linebacker duo. I think Dre Greenlaw, Fred Warner, Fred Warner is the best linebacker in the game. Roquan Smith, I think is the only one that up there as well. They're racers in the middle of the field. That is such a cheat code to have of that. It doesn't matter who the defensive coordinator is. As long as those two can do that, that's awesome. Then they have, they can put pressure on the quarterback and,

But the big question mark for me was, can they stop teams when they go heavy, when they get the bigger personnel? Can they add some new passing down wrinkles? Sorensen, they have Staley on, Brandon Staley on staff. And even though Staley's, you know, tenure with the Chargers did not

and very brightly or shiny or well at all. He was doing some cool stuff on passing downs. So I will give him that. I like him as like an assistant again to maybe sprinkle some stuff in. I would say, oh, and then the quarterback room, who is the other corner? You just already mentioned it. Traverius Ward's awesome. Demondor Lenore is a pretty solid guy that can play inside and out as well. I think he's best as a slot player for them. But they were dead last against the run last year when teams went heavy in terms of success rate.

because they match bodies, or they did at least in the past. So if a team went heavy, they went heavy with three linebackers on the field. That third linebacker was a huge issue for him. I think it was Oren Burks last year. Yeah. Slenderman. Yes. That's great. Yeah. That's how he's built, isn't he? Yeah. 6'6", 2'15". Yeah. Playing linebacker. I know. But this is a long way for me to say, I like the Devondre Campbell signing.

I like that. That was a good way to shore up what was a huge weakness for them. And I know that sounds so obscure, the third linebacker spot and this defense, it mattered because offenses started punishing them. They were like, okay, cool. Well, we're going to get after perks there.

So, yeah, I think they did some small things that I liked and they just have the stars. So they also, yeah, you already mentioned Mustafa. And I think he might start for him by the end of the year. And I'm excited to see that because he's a fun player. So I ended up putting him at six. I think when it was all said and done, I maybe should have flopped them with the Bears. But they're still a top 10 defense to me. My number 17, which was your number five team, your five defense, I'm on the Ravens.

a fan base that already loves us uh but i i i another defense that was unbelievable that was man god look at our lamar takes look at my lamar dac takes and cowboy fans and raven fans were like god these guys always just slander the ravens and the cowboys it's just like yeah

But anyways, with the Ravens, love Matt Abike. Michael Pierce had a nice year last year. Travis Jones is talented. Owe really has come along. Maybe we'll see a little bit more. We'll see if a Jabo comes back. Love Roquan Smith, arguably with Fred Warner, one of the best linebackers ever.

Trent Simpson might not be as big of a downgrade as maybe people think from Patrick Queen. I agree. I agree. So yeah, Patrick Queen, who was named like a top five linebacker, I think on the Jeremy Fowler polling, which is they, what's with the NFL linebackers. They just can't. It's like, it's like they see the first two and then they just quit on the rest. Like, ah, well, it's not Fred or Roquan. So who cares? Yeah. I know. That's always just weird rankings, but yeah. Roquan's still there. That's what matters most. DBs are a lot of fun.

Marlon Humphrey's fun. Kyle Hamilton's a star. Eddie Jackson from the Bears. Fun ball, you know, ball hawk kind of player. So they just have a lot of smart players.

aware back end a lot of ball hawks the new defense coordinator zach or i know people are really high on them uh but this is his first time calling place so that's why i couldn't maybe just go oh yeah they're top five so him and just the changes along the front that is just maybe what has me from maybe anointing them but if they're top five or even top three i wouldn't be shocked because if they can kind of keep the good times rolling like this is a very good defense that

does a lot of fun stuff and a lot of it's what everyone's going to probably be copying if they continue what McDonald was doing before. You have them a little higher than me, though. I really like...

The defensive line, it's kind of interesting because I like the interior of their defensive line because I think they can still beat you up there. Matabuke is a monster, and he got paid appropriately for what he did last year. He still have Roquan Smith in the middle. And like you alluded to before, I think having Roquan Smith makes having Trenton Simpson being your other starting linebacker okay. Because if he can run and he can kind of get in the way like Patrick Queen did,

they will probably be fine. Pick the center. Right, right. You know, it's kind of like having Jason Kelsey on your offense, right? You know, someone gets to do the big boy things. Boost everyone else. That's your plan. And then Trent Simpson can do what he does best, which is probably just going to be run really fast and make plays in space, which sometimes that's all you need to do. But what still gets me excited about this defense is the secondary. Marcus Williams is a beast.

Kyle Hamilton, we talked about him before earlier this summer. He is one of just the craziest defensive players you'll see. He's like a pterodactyl in the box that can really do just about anything on a football field. And then even getting Eddie Jackson at this point in the offseason, it just feels like that was where I was like, oh my God. I like that. Peak Ravens, just incredible.

you know, go outside and Eddie Jackson to a one-year deal. And then I think people are going to be surprised at what they see from Brandon Stevens this year at cornerback. If you're not too familiar with him yet, I would say get familiar because I think he's one of the more underrated cornerbacks in the league. And Marlon Humphrey, I feel like Marlon really gets underrated sometimes because Marlon's one of those players where like the low lights look really bad. When he has a bad play, it looks like the worst play you've ever seen. Cause he doesn't back down. Yeah.

Right. He doesn't back down. He doesn't back down. He's going to go out there and play press. He's going to be physical. He's going to be aggressive. You're going to get beat sometimes doing that, but more often than not, that's a really reliable player that you can have. And when you can have that skill set with that play style, that's going to be a big boost for your defense. So I really like the interior. I like the linebacker situation. I love the secondary. I think the edge rush could probably still use some work, but overall, the spine of this defense is still super duper strong.

Especially just how they play. The fact they have Marcus Williams and Eddie Jackson and Kyle Hamilton. It's like three of the kind of more heady, maybe gambly type of safeties all in the same unit. And that's kind of fun. Like guys, they'll punish quarterbacks if they are a little slow on something or they try something a little too many times. Kind of like NCAA AI or College Football 25 AI I've learned.

Can't keep throwing that crossing route, Nate. You got to throw the dig sometime. They're going to punish you. But yeah, I know I'm the fact that you have top five. I actually forgot they had TJ Tampa. They got from Iowa State. I actually liked him. They drafted Nate Wiggins. So they do have some reinforcements at corner. Wiggins was I like that. Wiggins was

he's just skinny though. That, and I think Emmanuel Forbes really hurt him. Uh, because I think that was in some people's heads because he's twitchy. He's got some ball skills and it wasn't mine. I'll tell you that. I liked him. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We liked him. We always kind of kept pumped up on our mock drafts. We were good. Uh, I like Nate. I like Nate Wiggins. I like Nick Tice. It's a good name. Uh,

But there was a, there was like just a little bit of fear with the Wiggins pick to me where it's like looking at the frame. But I do think he, I do think he's like sturdier like in the frame of like actually playing football than Forbes was at Mississippi State. You know, it's not like he's getting tossed like off the screen constantly. So,

And he could say sticky. He was physical and stuff like when he wanted to be like physical receivers and stuff. It's just, you know, they got something I would bring up. Marlon Huffrey is a phenomenal tackler.

So you don't need another guy that's like physical and can tackle. Like, you know, you already got that. So sometimes you need, you know, it's like the receiver room. You want like the basketball lineup. Like you need a DB room. That's kind of got different little, you know, character, cast of character. So yeah, I didn't, I didn't, he's a good spot for him and Eddie Jackson as well. But we already did both of our number sixes. Those are the bears and the 49ers. Two teams were pretty stoked about moving on to number five.

Number five for you was the Ravens. For me, it's the Chiefs, who you are a little bit higher on than I am. I won't spoil it, but you can say it. Where do you have them at? I have them at three. I like that.

And I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, why do you have my three? What's our, I'm drunk on spags. I don't know. Yeah. I love the secondary, the secondary. I love what you're having. Yeah. McDuffie. Like I went back in a couple of weeks ago, I went back and I rewatched the, the super bowl to McDuffie was so good in that game. Awesome. And there's just something cool about a lockdown slot player.

that aesthetically is very pleasing to me. So I'm still a big fan of this defense. But I guess I'm higher than you because you have them at five. I have them at three. Do I just look at the two deep on this team?

It just seems really good. And I know who's calling the strings. I know who's calling the strings. I don't know. Maybe that's too simple of an explanation. But we've seen them the past two seasons, and they've steadily gotten better under Spags. And I think that this personnel they have, especially if they get anything from Felix, the Kansas State draft of last year. FAU, yeah.

I get it. I know it's, I think my original rankings, I had them at three and I just dropped them a little, and maybe it's just a luxurious neat thing, but then it's like, they have reinforcements everywhere. Like you just said, they're, they have depth. They, and they have a defense that I want to, I don't want to say it's an island of misfit toys, but it's like, because spags is so unique, they can kind of get guys that others, they can use guys. Others can't. So they kind of, you know, Leo Chanel is like the perfect example of,

He only can play in three defenses in the league right now. If you had him playing Fred Warner, oh God. But if you have him near the ball as a blitzer, as a run stopper, as kind of like a unique chess piece, yeah, Spag's using him like that as a thumper and stuff. They got a lot of smart guys, physical guys. So Chris Jones is great. I mean, phenomenal. Happy with the new contract. George

George Carl Loftus is a nice, nice, like number two to have on your D line. I was right there with you. I said, Felix, any DK, you Zama, I've practiced this name. So I'm going to show off. Yeah. FAU is what I did for a while, but they bring guys along slowly. And I thought he's, he's a, he's a DPR type, like a dozen, a pass rusher type. And, but I, I like that. And I think they could use that pretty well. They can hide them better teams about the teams, but yeah,

Better than other teams can, I'm sorry. But tackling was a big improvement last year. That's why Justin Reed rocks. Yeah, this is a top-five defense. I think it's like – and they were the reason they won the Super Bowl last year with them and Mahomes. It was the defense and Mahomes. It wasn't the run game. It wasn't the pass catchers. It was – that's what it was. Have Spaggs in this defense and Mahomes. Get enough wins. We'll get you all the way there once we get into January and February, actually. Yeah. I'm excited to watch them again. I am too. So that – yeah. Yeah.

I'm always with the Chiefs. It's just everything they do is fun. But anyways, we have got 10 through 5. We're going to take a quick break after this, but 10 through 5. Charles, you had the Jags at 10, Raiders at 9, Cowboys at 8, 49ers at 7, Bears at 6, Ravens at 5. I had the Giants at 10, Jaguars at 9, Bears at 8, Ravens at 7, 49ers at 6, and the Chiefs at 5. We're going to take a quick break, and we'll be back with the rest of our list.

Tail on the list. The good stuff. Well into the top four. The four horsemen. The final four. Who do you have for your number four defense this season, Charles? I have the New England Patriots. Love this. And honestly, I...

I even felt like I was short-shading them a little bit, but I just felt too good about the top three that I had. I couldn't quite crack the three that I have left. Well, we did talk about the Chiefs, so I guess, yeah, the last two. This defense, it's... Okay, so our friend Derek Klassen, he loves the Patriots defense for all the reasons that I think...

you should love about defensive football because they just run through people's faces and it's, it's amazing to watch. And also you, you still get to keep the continuity from Gerard Mayo last year where he's going to just, you know, be promoted to the head coach. And I would imagine when you get a guy like Alex Van Pelt to run offense, that's probably so Gerard can stay in his comfort zone on defense and help out in that manner. So I think that the,

people should feel really good about, um, where this defense is. And also you get Christian Gonzalez back, which is huge for this defense because he was playing really good football before he got hurt last year. And, you know, if you're going to look through the bastardized lens of what kind of injury you would like to have, at least he didn't mess up his legs. So he should still be able to run, uh, this year. And I'm, I'm, I'm excited for him to get back into it. And hopefully his rookie year lacks a lot longer than, uh,

So hopefully, excuse me, his second year lasts a lot longer than his rookie year did. But you still have Kyle Duggar, Matt Judon, Christian Barmore, even Keon White's a nice guy that can come in and plug the run. Glad you mentioned him. Keon White.

I remember before the season or the, before the draft season last year, uh, I was watching him. He was a Georgia tech. I'm like, man, I don't quite love him, but there's like two defenses that will really work for him. Baltimore and new England. And he landed with new England. And this is the kind of like, uh, you know, uh,

Just the inside out guy, guy that they kind of like that doesn't really have maybe a true home at any position. But if you just move around just enough for them. Yeah, it's perfect for them. So I think that this defense is going to be fun. Everyone, especially at the linebacker level, like they'll pop in the mouth. Maybe it's not the rangiest linebacker crew and coverage, but they have enough on the back end to make up for it. So this is definitely one of the best defense in the NFL. And I think it's good that even Drake May gets to play with the defense like this just to help protect them on the back end.

Right. Give him some nice field position in the rookie year.

If you are high at them, I'm even higher. They are my number two defense. I am pretty stoked to see this defense. They last year, even statistically ninth and DVO, a 11th EPA per play, but play better than that. They, they're hard. They're hard out. Like they're a hard matchup for a lot of offenses and even offenses that I think in theory should give them issues. Dolphins, maybe, you know, maybe the bills teams was a little bit more team speed bills might not be great, but they have Josh Allen and stuff, but teams that just have that more team speed that should be,

you know, the counter to this type of offense. They're the ones kind of holding the pen last. They're the Patriots defense, I mean, is where the one's kind of dictating everything and making things up, making things ugly on the offense. That was without Judon for much of the year, without Gonzalez, who you mentioned, who looks like a star. He looks fantastic from week one. Yeah, every much coming back, they run the same scheme. Christian Barmore rocks.

Like he's fricking awesome. I'm glad you brought much of Keon white. Cause I was gonna make sure to bring him up, but they just got a lot of fun players. Marcus Jones, another fun player. They have the linebackers that work for them. Like you said, they're not rangy, but it works for what they do. So yeah, this is my number two defense. I feel pretty good about it. I think this is a pretty easy top five defense when it's all said and done. I think it's going to really, really kind of help them out. And like you said, a young offense out. So that was your number four, my number two, my number four team.

is the New York Jets, who originally were a tad higher. And then I kind of had a couple hesitations as I started breaking this down. I understand, Kevin. Yes. I don't want to steal your thunder yet. But I think the Jets, though, love Quincy Williams. He's one of my favorite players. Love CJ Mosley. Even if he's getting older, it's a good pairing speed and got the smart guy. I always like that kind of pairing. We've already talked about that. But Sauce Gardner, awesome. Quinnen Williams, awesome.

not Quincy, but Quinton Williams, the brother who is the actual star. And one of my legit, one of my favorite players at any position in the game is Quinton Williams. I just, that's, that's the defensive tackle. I love, you know, that's the Kevin Williams successor to me, you know, that's a great comp. Is it? Yeah, that's, that's him. And yeah, so that he, I gotta love him. But this is where,

Some of my hesitation started coming in. I love their back end. I like DJ Reed a lot. He's a really, really good number two. Tony Adams, Chuck Clark, fun on the back end. I think they're going to miss Jordan Whitehead a bit. And the front is good. It's almost very good. It's just not as scary as maybe it was last year. Maybe that's the Hasan Reddick thing and his holdout in my head a little bit. But even, you know, Javon Kinlaw might be starting for them. Yeah.

So maybe this will be a better chance for him up front. Jermaine Johnson has had moments, but I don't think, you know, he's kind of got the tee off in good situations. Now he's taking on more of a role. Might be a little too much for him. So I think he's good, solid, but maybe not high end. Like I think other people think so. I just their front, which I think is their identity, is more good to very good than excellent to elite.

So that's where I maybe am just kind of hold my breath a little bit. And I kept them a little lower than number one or number two or three. I kept them at number four, which is still awesome. Still a top five defense, which could be exciting. But you have them higher. Yeah, I have my number one. And honestly, it's just I get the concerns because I have some of them, too, where I obviously Quinn and Williams, that's.

you know, a no brainer, like all pro guy, a future hall of fame talent. If he keeps us up next to him, when you're looking at Javon Kinlaw, maybe some Solomon Thomas sprinkled in there and like third downs, it's not, it's not great. It's probably not. I don't even know if it's as good as what they had last year, but still he's so good. I think you can cover up some of that. The Hassan Reddick thing is that's the wild card to me because obviously they traded for him.

they're going to have to play him because if they don't get to the playoffs this year, everyone's gone. So you got to get him on the field somehow. And I think that that is just such a dire situation for them that they probably will. So let's just put him back in there.

That's going to help because I don't love some of the other stuff behind Redick. We're looking at Will McDonald, who didn't really do all that much last year. Jermaine Johnson has kind of been the Trayvon Walker, clean-up, second-tier kind of guy on a team, which is okay if you have a Redick, and I think he'll be there. But what gets me so excited about this defense is the back seven. You have...

CJ Mosley and Quinton Williams. And then for my money, I think this is the best cornerback room in the NFL where you have Sarce Gardner. This was the other team I mentioned with the Bears. Yeah, it's this team. He's a legit...

number one eraser kind of guy i saw you know some unnamed nfl executive said he's overrated and holds too much i just come on what what are we doing here like that's that's like different that's what patriots fans like 1776 on twitter says oh sauce gardener overrated he holds too much it's not drake may 420 that's right

Yeah, Drake made 420. If you're watching this and you're like, oh, Sloss Gardner, he holds too much. I think you just don't like football because how could you not appreciate he's an eraser. He's an eraser. There's only a few of those right now. Right. There's only a few. And then even Michael Carter, I think he's probably one of the better nickel corners in the league. So you look at those three guys.

I still think CJ Mills is a good player, even if he can't run like he used to. And then Quinn and William, Quincy Williams is just, I know it's so tough, man, Quinn and Quincy. And I know it's just, it's hard. And they look like each other too, except one, six, four, 300. And one's like five, 11 to 30.

Who stole all the meals? Right. No, it's funny because Quentin does look like a supersized version of Quincy when they take their helmet off. But yeah, I think the secondary situation is passable, probably. I know they hyped up Tony Adams a lot last year, going into the last year, and he was

I don't think he was probably quite as good as they were saying, but still quality safety to pair Chuck Clark with that cornerback room. I think this should still be the best defense in the NFL. No, it's, it's,

it's going to be a plus defense. Like that's the thing. It's, it's, this is, they're tough to throw against. Watch what they did to the Texans and CJ Stroud at the end of the year, even when they had nothing to play for, watch what this defense was doing. And I know they've lost some of that personnel, but a lot of the cast, you know, the main characters are there. And yeah, that that's, you keep coming back to that, that even when their offense was doing nothing, I mean, less doing worse, they're doing more damage to the team than actually like,

to the other team. Their defense kept playing. So that attitude's always there. And I totally get it. I had him at four, which was kind of my hedge, but I totally understand the one argument. You know what play I'll never forget from last year's Jets season? Speaking of the offense shooting them in the foot.

was it was the Black Friday game against the Dolphins where Tim Boyle threw the Hail Mary pick six right before halftime to Javon Holland. And I'll never forget that. I forgot about that play. Right? That's right. That's the kind of stuff. And, you know, this is where, like, the football psyche stuff kind of gets interesting to me where people would be like, oh, the Jets defense quit. Hell yeah. Hell yeah, they quit. Wouldn't you?

On a Hail Mary? What am I playing for? We're throwing Hail Mary. We're throwing pick six Hail Marys 100 yards before halftime on Black Friday. I'll never forget that because, you know, I was home for Thanksgiving and my dad just burst into my room. Did you see that? And you're thinking it's going to be like some awesome touchdown. And you're like, well, it's a touchdown. Maybe not what I expected. Yeah, that's one of the craziest, dumbest things I've ever seen in my life.

Aaron Rodgers is back from Egypt, so the defense has helped. Apparently he was tearing it up. His number one receiver today was Alan Lazard. I'm telling you, last year they had that drive of Rodgers to Garrett Wilson. Those throws are burned into my brain. That's why I'm not like,

totally out like i'm you know i'm i'm kind of midway on the jets offense because it's like i don't know they're in their own class yeah yeah i feel like they could be anywhere like honestly it could be a top eight or bottom eight it could be bottom four like it could be i wouldn't be surprised with eddie honestly it could be 16 yeah all of them uh we already did number three for both of us that was the cowboys and the chiefs we'll go to your number two team because i don't want to spoil it yet so your number two defense charles go back to back here who you got

I have the Cleveland Browns. Shout out to our wonderful editor, Joey Galeno, who I accidentally left him off the first time. And he sent me a text message. Vegas is saying, you moron. How could you leave the Browns off the top defenses list? And to his credit, correct. Because how could you do something like that? This is unequivocally one of the best defenses in the NFL for the regular season last year.

by just about every metric they were the best defense in the league um they weirdly got buzz sawed in the playoffs by the texans uh gave a ton of chunk plays shredded shredded like shredded and

And in a way that was honestly kind of, kind of shocking to me. And also one that didn't get overblown as much as, or not, I should say overblown. There wasn't enough reaction for actually what happened. I get, we're all like kind of praising Stroud and everything, but it was just kind of like really in context. That was pretty insane. What happened to that game? Yeah. Yeah. I also feel like, and maybe this is just me being wrong. I don't know. If you play that game 10 times, I don't know if that result happens twice.

again like that's how good the browns were on defense like they you know but sometimes you just get shredded uh but when you look at this defense the secondary is really strong um you know i know that denzel ward and greg newsome are probably more of your your casual fans you know expectations of what you're thinking about what you think here browns cornerbacks but martin emerson's a pretty good player too he's good man um

You have, obviously, Myles Garrett up front. Zarius Smith is still a good player. Dalvin Thomason is here. They just have so many playmakers on every level of the defense. And even this is a situation where a guy like JLK, the linebacker that they drafted from Notre Dame, the small little speedy guy, this is a situation where he can thrive because he's

He doesn't have to be someone who has to take on a bunch of blocks and stack fullbacks in the hole. No, he can just run because he's got dinosaurs up front that can beat blockers for him. And this is a spot where he can play well too. So yeah,

I think that this should still be one of the best defense in the NFL, barring injury. Jim Schwartz was perfect for this unit. They should be good again. Maybe you have some weakness at the second linebacker spot, but overall, it's hard to poke too many holes in this defense. And I also think, you know, we talked about the Jets and the Bears as the best cornerback room. The Browns, they're probably not too far off when you start looking at their top three guys. Yeah. Yeah. Now, Browns were...

They, they, I came in not expecting this, did a little bit more studying, but they ended up my number one defense. So, well, they're your number two, my number one. And it was actually funny when we first entered into the Docker listings, I saw that you didn't have the Browns in there and I was like, Oh, this is gonna be an interesting conversation. But I know it worked out great, but I know defenses are not supposed to be sticky, at least statistically, but I do think there should be some recent evidence entered that

into court because of what has happened recently with some of these defenses and how they've sustained success over the last few years for Niners, Cowboys. I know we say maybe those guys drop off, but just look what's happening year after year. Not as easy as the schedules last year. They faced a lot of bad QBs, a lot of rookies off the street and those types. But this is what I always come back to. And sometimes this is prospects outing. I come back to when they're like, well, he only went against so-and-so. It's like, did they look dominant?

Well, yeah, good. That's how they should look. Shouldn't a dominant defense make a bad quarterback look like a bad quarterback? Like that, that is the point of bad quarterbacks and why we call them bad quarterbacks. And that's, I started diving in the Ravens at outstanding defense as well, but the Brown stats were even better. Like this was one of the top defenses, at least by EPA success rate, those things since 2002 period top 15, top 18, top 20, every metric that you look at.

And all everyone's coming back. Essentially, they have true stars, true top player at position type players like Miles Garrett, who, you know, defense player of the year. They have a lot. This is a defense that has a lot of speed. They have a mentality that's infectious because of Schwartz and who their players are. You mentioned the back end. I like the DBs. I'm glad you gave Emerson a shout out. He's a good player. They've had layers. They have depth. They have.

four or five six guys that could rush the passer maybe more no rock low rocks they drafted mike hall who i was super high on and this is the perfect situation for my call to develop because you can be a role player yeah it's it's i know it's just mo hearst is still there like they just have so many guys they uh they drafted that uh ike a guy from baylor last year the big beefy guy um yeah so it's just a defense that has speed talent

tenacity mentality just everything and that's why they're my number one defense and your number two defense right so yeah they were one of the few defenses last year to beat up on our consensus number one offense the 49ers um because they needed like a last second drive uh and they really made life tough for perdy i think that was a pj walker game debo got hurt yeah yeah that was yeah that was an ugly game uh it was a really ugly game yeah debo and i think cmc got hurt

And it was just kind of, oh yeah, that was such a messy game. They got beat up. Well, they had a statement week one. They played Burrow and Bengals and they were just, they made them look

you know, burrow had the calf and they just made it look silly. Like they couldn't get anything going. It was like one of the worst statistical performances, recent memory that we kind of were just like, Oh, it's the calf. It's like, well, this defense is pretty good too. Pretty good. Yeah. Pretty good. I, I, the one thing is short shorts is Schwartz. Like he runs his own stuff and sometimes that could be frustrating and certain offenses can get them. But I kind of like, I want to see what year two looks like. Cause if that was your one, like,

Now he can get them playing in a certain way. So I want to see the layers they add. So that's, again, that was another kind of like check mark for them. That could be a negative, but I think it's actually going to be a positive because we'll see year two, year three, year four. We'll talk about, but I think you're too. It's only going to go up a little bit more. So to recap, Charles, you had Jaguars at 10 Raiders at nine Cowboys at eight 49ers at seven bears at six Ravens at five Patriots at four chiefs at three Browns at two and the jets at one.

How many AFC teams is that one? It's a lot. Seven. Seven AFC teams. Yeah, AFC is fun. I got the Giants at 10, Jags at 9, Bears at 8, Ravens at 7, 49ers at 6, Chiefs at 5, Jets at 4, Cowboys at 3, Patriots at 2, Browns at 1. A lot of similar teams, but enough differences. That was fun.

Defense. See, defense can be fun. That's why you rank them. That's why you do the top 10 defenses. But we'll be closing it out today. We'll be back next Tuesday with another episode of Football 301. Matt Harmon will be on there. I'm Nate Tice. You can find me at Nate underscore Tice on Twitter. That is Charles McDonald. You can find him at 4verts. Please subscribe. Rate. Like. Please like. Please like us. Please rate us. Please clap.

Wherever the podcasts are, Apple, Spotify, all the good ones. If you don't like it, I'm going to start saying the Mountain Dew is racist. Please clap. Please clap. Watch us on YouTube so you can see Charles say stuff like that. YouTube.com slash Yahoo Sports. We already got mailbag emails rolling in apparently. Keep them coming.

I love mailbag questions. You guys are smarter than I am. And I just get in my own little bubble about the Cardinals offensive line at third tight end. So I like your mailbag questions. Send your questions. The email is football301mailbag at yahoosports.com. Emails are great. Videos and voice notes are even better. So we can just, you know.

We can hear you guys. Put a voice to a name. Put a voice to an avatar. That'd be nice. But thanks to Brett, Adi, Joe, everybody behind the scenes. Thank you guys so much. We'll be back on Tuesday. I'm Nate. That's Charles. Have a great weekend. We're out.