Big Red Rage - For Christian Kirk, Details Matter

hundred State Farm. And by Arizona Cardinals Podcasts Visit acy Cardinals dot Com, Slash Podcasts, The Rods, Rising Gun, Temperatureizing Vision, Flurring Rage, take it over. Here's Paul KELVC. Get the popcorn ready, It's gonna be a show, and Ron will fleep. It doesn't get any better than that. Leash far and the first question right off the top, the only question here on the original Thursday Night Football is run Wolfley. There did Wolf big time us on the Big Red

Rage tonight? Paul? What are you talking about? Is that really you Wolf? Because we all know you went viral. I mean, dude went coast to coast last week on NFL networks. So I just want to make sure they're still on our air. You're still in our booth. Maybe you jump ship and we're gonna find you with a Monday night football crew in town, you know, as you most of your way down to the national TV booth.

I don't know. Okay, you just want to make sure Wolf, because I mean, I couldn't pick up Twitter without seeing your name being splashed everywhere. Somebody just passed me the protective cup. Please and let me slide that thing in. Paul, just stop it. Oh my goodness, you know what. It's a national broadcast. Paul, I didn't even know it was a national broadcast until the third quarter. We're past, said to me, Well, in a break, he said, hey, do you know that we're this is a national broadcast? I

said what. I didn't even know that. Yeah, until your phone died because it was going off every other second. So as uh, you got quite a bit of attention. So that's good. That's good. Wal. I had general managers general managers like kidding plural actually texting me going to you guys are audio. It was pretty funny. I gotta tell you that is good. That's that's a good humble brag. By the way, it's a nice flex right off the top, So we're looking for it is the Big Bride Paul Interview.

Of fact, we're bringing in were roast partner and cohort and crime Dave Pash will join us in the very next segment as we welcome in Christian Kirk. How about that name dropping here is Christian Kirk, the Cardinals receiver, will join us. Wait a minute, are you telling me right now that Dave Pass actually did the Christian Kirk interview with you, Dave Pash and yours truly? Oh, I see how it goes right there. Somehow you couldn't make

it worked with me, Pash. Well, he's got the podcast now, so you know, we had to get the cross promotion in and we benefit accordingly. We bring in Dave and he was hanging with the Monday Night Football the ESPN crew a little bit. So in fact, that's going to be featured in the next Pash podcast, or at least

upcoming for him. We'll get to that momentarily. But right off the top here we'll get some impressions what we saw in week one, and yeah, we could spend the next hour and talking about who was flashing and maybe who was lacking. But how about the quarterback position. And I'll tell you what, Wolf, We didn't see Kyler Murray obviously last Friday night, but he just had himself a heck of a week of practice. Honest. I saw every moment of every practice this week, and he was really

sharp all the tempo. That's a great observation right there. What kind of tempo were they going at? They were going every single sort of tempo. I mean they were varying things. There were different you know, two minute offense. I saw four minute offense. I saw more of a traditional offense. It was interesting. But just and you know what Christian Kirk will talk about it something that Buddha Baker told day Pass about just the increased arm strength

with your starting quarterback. It's a very intriguing storyline right now. But I tell you he was sharp all week long. And if you followed any of the Cardinals social media content, he's also very comfortable. I mean, well, I have you seen a different Kyler in year three, just the way he's asserting himself and his personality if you will, yeah, PAULI, Yeah, it's something that I've noticed. It's something you've been talking about as well. It's something that his teammates have noticed

and have been talking about lately. It's just it's the maturation of Kyler Murray. It's something that must happen for Kyler Murray to become the true franchise quarterback that he needs to be. And once again, he's got all the physical skills you could possibly want. There's no denying everything about Kyler Murray is explosive when it comes to his skill set right here, and he's proven that in the

first two years of the league. Offensive Rookie of the Year of course in his rookie season, and then he went to the Pro Bowl last year, voted in along with Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers. That's something you and I have talked about many many times. Everyone else. The skill set is there now all of a sudden, BALI, it's those intangibles. It's a leadership that is what he's

got to grow. And behind him on the depth chart and in that room every single day is a guy he grew up watching, a guy whose game he admired when he was a four year starter at the University of Texas in Colt McCoy, a guy with a dozen years of NFL experience and it's interesting to hear guys in that room and the head coach himself. In fact, here's Cliff Kingsbury talking about Colt McCoy. Yeah, I thought

he did a nice job handling the system. First time I ever really playing in a game situation on our offense and operationally was really smooth, good decisions. That's so I thought. Unaddressed at times he handed him so well. That was on the Arizona Cardinals radio network. That was after the game on Friday night, after he went six or seven for sixty nine yards. But just his ability to come in command that offense, and well, if you

tell me, just give you a sense of confidence. If Kyler ever has to miss time this regular season, guess what, you know, You're not in peril. You have a guy who can come out and win you a game. You no doubt about it. Belli, Yeah, Colt McCoy, I just played very, very well, I think for the most part. Here the one throw to Christian Kirk against that man cover man, free man on the outside, and then in the middle of the field they had a safety over

the top. PAULI. Great throw to Christian Kirk, a one handed catch by Christian Kirk, and that, to me is exactly what Colt McCoy and what this offense honestly needs to do this season is continued to push the ball down the field and not just attack horizontally, of course, but do it vertically. They actually did that last year from time to time, but I think they need to do it more. Whether it's a tight end down the seam, whether it's it's DeAndre Hopkins on the dig, whether it's

somebody in the seam, whatever it may be. I think the chunk throw has got to really resurface here, especially when you're talking about those throws PAULI eleven to twenty yards somewhere right in that mix. I think that's where they can kind of flex a little bit, and that's really the play action flex that eleven to twenty yards.

We asked Cliff Kingsbury after the game as well about Christian Kirk and that grabbed that thirty four yard or e referenced and whether it was by design that was his last snap at the game, and Cliff said, yeah, oh yeah. As soon as he made that catch and I got to look at him, he said, I gave him the thumb, said get out of the game, go grab some sunflower seeds, and so that's where they went

from there. Now, as you saw yesterday at practice, there was the Monday Night Football Lewis Riddick, Brian Greasy, Steve Levy, and then a couple of those guys joined Dave Pash on an episo sewed an upcoming episode of The Day Pash Podcast. In fact, here's Brian Greasy, the former NFL quarterback, talking about Kyler Murray, the Cardinals franchise quarterback, in his growth. Kyler I think needs to grow. He needs to grow off the field, he needs to grow mentally, he needs

to grow from a leadership standpoint. Those are all things we know and by the way, every young quarterback needs to do that. I think sometimes we want a microwave Kyler Murray into, you know, a Patrick Mahomes kind of player, because he is so talented and it is so unique and we haven't seen anything like it. But I think this is just a normal growing process. Now, there will come a time when you know, you either put up a shut up, and we're approaching that time, but I

don't think we're there yet. Nana. I love that Polly. That is right on the money. Ding ding Ding ding Ding. Hey, Brian, did you happen to play quarterback? By the way, because he is all over it in Polly. This is the reason why I say, just because you're drafted number one overall doesn't mean you're a franchise quarterback. This is exactly the reason why you have to prove you're a franchise quarterback. And typically it takes years to prove that you're a

franchise quarterback. And when I say years, i'm talking about three to four years. Not everybody can be Patrick Mahomes where you come in and you light it up your second year and suddenly you back it up your third year again. You just don't know how difficult that really is. But to develop that kind of relationship with your teammates off the field and on the field, man, it takes exposure,

and that exposure takes years. And you're right, and Patrick Mahomes NFL MVP is second year Super Bowl champion his third year. You know. But there's a lot of comparisons, not only the Cliff Kingsbury connection with Kyler Murray, but they're baseball background. Interesting here. Cliff Kingsbury this week say that, upon entering college football, had been an afterthought for Patrick Mahomes.

He had really been primarily a baseball guy, and he envisioned that as his future upon his arrival to Texas Tech. So that was interesting there. Speaking of the Dave Pash Podcast, Episode two featuring Buddha Baker available now wherever you get your podcast or lay us updates on the Dave Pash Pod follow along on Twitter at pash Pod. So there

you go. Look, I've been one of the best things that came out of Week one preseason game number one is we could have a legitimate debate as to which rookie showed up the best, whether it was Zavan Collins, Rondale Moore, or Marco Wilson. You could legitimately debate which guy was most impressive. And we'll get to a couple of those guys next with Christian Kirk and Dave Pass.

As we mentioned, he's gonna join us in and we'll talk about it because Wolf, I'll tell you what my other takeaway from practice this week when you see the Cardinals break the huddle in the red zone and they have James Connor, and they have Rondale Moore, and they've added AJ Green and now Christian Kirk has been moved into the slot inside look out. There are a lot more weapons and options for La Murray in the red zone, and we know how important that is to winning NFL games.

Christian Kirk is next. Then the big red rage presented by Satan four in Gilbert first down in ten from the nineteen pocket holes, he throws chunk throw near sideline, single coverage Burke with a grab in the Dallas territory, fanged out a bounds at a forty yard line. There you go, that's what we're looking for a preseason with step up maker one on one play and he's going against the guy that's going to get up in his face.

He's going to challenge him. But Christian Kirk has that ability to take the top off the coverage and great pass where only his guy could get it. And that is the last time that we saw and heard from Christian Kirk. The thirty four yard grab deep shot down the Cardinals sideline thirteen, got out of bounds and then Dave, as we learned later, Cliff Kingsbury just got him out

of the game. He told us after the game, literally he's like, you know what, Cliff went down on the sideline gave the thumb, you know, just get them out. I've seen it off Trey Christian Kirk's helmet for a couple of sunflower seeds. And that's where we are here on the Big Red Rage presented by Santan Ford in Gilbert. Actually, Christian Kirk joins us, did we not see you on social media in between then and now? Did you speak the monsoon into existence? The Arizona guy? You are, Christian?

Were you talking about the monsoon? Did you did you call this all the all the rain we've had? I definitely did. I believe um. Like I said in the video,

I was. I was talking with my parents and I'm like, yeah, I feel like in recent years we just haven't had the monsoon monsoon season that you know, I remember as a kid, you know, five to ten years ago, because I remember, uh, you know, some of those nasty storms that would come through and knock down all the trees and even knocked down walls and you know, flood the streets. And sure enough, the monsoon season answered my questioning and came came with an attitude this year. So it's been good.

You know. I like to see the valley get a lot of rain, and I know it's good, you know, especially for how dry it is the rest of the year. So it's it's it's nice to see well. Voice of the Cardinals Day Pass barely made it home Friday night after calling the game on the TV side. But you're good, right, Dave, If you're good, I'm here, PAULI. You made it back, and I'm just glad I get to talk to Christian Kirk. Hey, Christian, I'm curious. I know you've probably answered this question at nauseum.

You're probably tired of it. But everybody's tired of talking about last year. But when you look back at last year and think, Okay, here's where I need to improve, here is where I can be a difference maker in twenty twenty one, what stands out to you about what you learned from a year ago. Well, I think, you know, for myself personally, you know, it's just you know, approaching each week with that same consistent mindset and with a

playoff mindset. You know, last year was really the first time I really got to, you know, have that feeling and kind of taste a little bit of that of you know, fighting and vying for a playoff spot. Um, and just the sense of urgency, you know, especially towards the end of the year, and the type of football

that needs to be played. And you know, the martygin of airs is so small, you know, like I said, especially when you know you're you're playing you're one game away from making the playoffs, um, you know, and and reaching that that goal. So you know, I think that was the one thing that I learned is just um, you know, it's just the margin of air. It's so small, and you have to be on every little detail and

you know, every play matters. You know, you can't can't take a playoff and you can't um, you know, not not you know, do your job. And I think that's just a key for us, you know, as a whole, as a team, is you know, showing up and approaching every game, um like it's a playoff game, you know, because I believe if we do that, then you know, we have a shot to be to be really good and we just gotta, you know, like I said, cut

out the little little mistakes. So what does that look like then individually for you in terms of adjusting your mindset knowing going into the season that hey, every game is going to be like that. I like that this year because you know we are a playoff team. Yeah, you know, I just uh, I have to have to play to the level of you know, expectation and play to the level that you know the team needs me

to play at. Um. And you know, I know I'm you know, going to have a significant role, and you know, I know that you know they're going to be counting on me to to to make big plays and make consistent catches and um, you know, play tough across the middle and and and you know, make sure I'm blocking you know, you know, tough in the run game and things of like that. And so you know, I know

I'm ready for it. You know, I've I've put in the the the work for this offseason and um, you know, just just feel you know different out there, feel more mature, and just feel um like the like the game's just coming coming pretty easy to me right now. So I'm

just ready to go out there and play. It's all about you, Christian Kirk presented by Santan Ford and Gilbert We are to clip in the off season from Flight Plan where a Cliff Kingsbury was talking to you during OTAs on the sideline and he mentioned being the inside receiver more often. Is that your expectation and how much you're looking forward to that? How much do you think that suits your game? Um? Yeah, I think that that

is the expectation. Um. But you know, like I said with with Cliff, you know, he can kind of put you all over the place, you know, no matter no matter what and all. It just kind of depends on the game plan. But for right now, obviously think, uh, you know that's the plan, and you know it's a it's exciting. You know, that's the position that I played in this offense when I was at Texas A and M.

And it's kind of night and day for me. So it's just, uh, you know, kind of kind of working out some kings, but other than that, it's it's second nature for me and guys. As we know, the Arizona Cardinals led in the NFL and ten personnel a year ago, four wide receiver. So let me get this straight. If it's DeAndre Hopkins, AJ Green, Christian Kirk, Rondelle Moore, that's pretty tempting Christian for your head coach, right and your play caller. I'm guessing he's not going to hesitate to

go with that personnel package this year. Uh, he definitely won't. And I think he's he's uh, he's showing that before. So yeah, I'm just excited to uh to get into the game plans, you know, weekend, week out and see what he has a journal for us. I was gonna say, what sort of challenge do you think that is for a defensive backfield? Just NFL defense is based on what you've seen so far. How stoked are you about your

wide receiver room? Oh, I mean we can we can definitely be one of the best in the league, if not the best in the league. Um, And I know that's our mentality just with uh, you know, the type of guys that we have, you know, obviously with uh, you know, with with aj And and DeAndre being two future Hall of Famers, you know that's uh, you know,

that's kind of the pinnacle. You know that not too many times, Um, you know, do you get to play with with two Hall of Famers And yeah, you know Larry and and DeAndre last year for me, I get to sit back and just be like, man, I'll be able to say that. You know, each year I've been in the league, I've I've had two Hall of Famers

in my room, which is crazy and so um. You know, those guys leading the way and then you know Ron Dale, you know, coming along, and you know some of those other guys, you know, just being able to learn from them. You know, they they set the level of expectation, they set the level of play, and you know we all just have to meet that standard. Christian, I wants your take on Kyler Murray on the Dave Pash Podcast. Sorry shameless self promotion, Christian downloading on your way home Buddha.

Baker sat down with Buddha and asked him where do you see Kyler Murray improving from a year ago? And he actually his answer was interesting. He said arm strength. He said, his arm is stronger. What are you noticing from Kyler Murray that's different from last year? And it maybe something that is in the locker room. Maybe it's something that we don't see when we're watching practice. I mean, I definitely agree with Buddhist statement in his arm strength.

I don't know what he did this offseason, but you know the balls coming out with a lot more zip on it, and you know even on his deep balls, you know it's it's right on the money, no matter

how how deep the guy is down the field. But you know, from my point of view, I think it is just his decision making and to be able to go through his reads and no presnap, you know where he wants to go with the ball, but also knowing all right if he doesn't get the look that he wants or the guy, and when he knows, you know, to get through his other reads and he knows where guys are at. And so I think his decision making, you know, from so far what I've seen in camp

has just has been elevated a lot more since last year. Well, Chase Edmonds raped on Twitter about to throw this week in practice on the run fifty yards downfield on the money in the end zone, and so Kyler was asked about that. Didn't you go to SoCal over the summer with Chase and Byron Murphy? You guys hung out and

trained during the summer. Yep, yeah, we I've been going to California every year during the off season and training with my trader, Jamal Leggins and Chase joined two years ago, and so we brought Byron along with us this year, and so that was good. You know. We bought Charles

Washington too. He came for a little bit. Isaiah Simmons came, and so we're just getting guys to come out there and go out there and get some good work and you know, put in some of that, you know, that that offseason work that's needed and kind of put the landing, you know, the foundational blocks down to to get ready for the season. We had Ion Murphy a couple of weeks ago. He said he had to go on the trip. Somebody had to keep Chase straight because he always thinks

he's right. So somebody had to had a verbally spar with Chase Edmonds during the or else he just gets off and on too many rants. So yeah, I don't have the emotional capacity sometimes to be able to keep up with Chase, so I bring somebody else along to talk for me. That's great. Christian Kirk joining us on the Big Red Rage. Right. If you want to know about a corner, ask a receiver. Tell us about Marco Wilson. He made plays in the game, He's made plays in

practice all week long. Give us your thoughts on the fourth round rookie. You know he's been um, you know, very very mature and very poised, you know, so far in camp. And you know, one thing that sticks out for me with Marco is you know he's never out of position. You know, he's always in a position to make a play on the ball. And I think that's

one thing encouraging. You know, when you look at a young corners, you know he's not getting beat bad and you know he's not you know, getting tons of catches you know, caught on him. You know where they're wide open. You know, he's always making them contested, you know, catches. And I think that's that's uh, you know, really important. And it seems like he's picking up the scheme well. So we're all, you know, really excited about his development, how he's playing so far. What's it like to be

in the same room with Aj Green? And is there anything specifically that you've learned from him? And do you see aj is having a lot left in the tank? You know, I definitely think he has a lot left in the tank. You know, we were all you know, very impressed and with how he's been able to have been practicing, and you know just the way he comes off the ball and you know, you see it, you see why he's been you know, one of the top receivers in the league, you know, over the past decade,

and so we're just excited to have him. You know, I got a locker right next to him, so I got to you know, talk to him a lot. And he's just a great, genuine dude, and you know, a guy who's also like not afraid to ask questions, you know, asking me questions. And he's got you know, eight years on me in the league. And so just to to to see that and have a guy like that in the room is is good, you know, just for everyone.

It's it's good for guys like me and my development to you know, see you know why he's been success so successful in the league. You know, the DB's have talked about how there's four distinctly different receivers between an AJ Green and DeAndre Hopkins your game and then Rondale Moore. How do you think Rondale Moore, the rookie impacts this offense Christian you know, I think he just adds that extra dimension, you know when it comes to you know,

stretching the field either latterly or vertically. I mean the kid ran a four two and um, you know, just with how quick he is, you know, with his hands and his eyes and in and out of breaks. You know he's he's coming along good and you know you can see it. You know he wants to stick in his foot in the ground and go, uh, he's separating

from guys. So I think there's gonna be a lot of you know, really cool ways and things that you know, Cliff is going to be able to, you know, get him the ball in space, get the ball in his hands, and you know, really help us out this year. All right, so we know your relationship with fits. You got him on speed dial, Dave. Dave name dropped earlier. So I'm gonna flex. I did this MC event with Roger Goodell a couple of weeks ago, right, and he said that

he texted Larry he was in town. Larry said, sorry, I'm playing golf in kna So what is Larry doing these days? And what's he waiting for? I mean, what what do you think he's waiting for? With anything? Yeah, may or may not have got a couple of clips of him teeing off over there in Kona. So while he's asking us how practice is going, Um, it seems like he's enjoying life pretty pretty well row well right now. But um, you know, I leave it to him. You know,

we talk and you know, you know how larious. No matter how many times you ask him, you know, he'll always beat around the bush. So I think we've all or at least from my standpoint, I've I've quit asking him and just uh, you know, to shoot him text from here and there, and he's he's checking in on you know, me and Chase and you know, obviously turning over in San Francisco. He's just checking in on us and you know, still being that big brother figure to

us and joking around. So you know, I'm just at this point, I'm just letting him be in. You know, when we hear, we we'll hear that last question for Christian Kirk Byron Murphy has his own fashion line out Are you Are you launching something similar or have you already? Yeah? I've had air Lieberry Avenue as my clothing line. I launched it in February. It's named after the street I grew up here in Arizona. And we're in two retail stores, um in Fashion Square Mall and it's been real successful

so far. And you know just uh, you know something I've always you know, wanted to do something different than just you know, fan merchandise. You know, I wanted to be a little creative and you know, start it. And so it's been it's been good. You know, been a lot of hard work, but it's good to you know, learn the ins and outs of starting in business and running one too. Do you make any ties that might

look good on television? Because Ron Wolf Lee still has one tie that he's had for the last thirty years. He needs a new tie. Christian, can you provide one. I'll see if I can get him right and if if, if he if he rocks it for every game, he'll definitely get his own special round Wolflee tie. Wolf doesn't need a new tie, needs a new wolk. Okay, he needs an extreme makeover. We're gonna send him over for an entire day over to your place. Okay, Christian, thank you, Yeah,

thank you guys. Thank there you go. Christian Kirk on the Big Red Rage Man looking forward to this receiver group and Christian Kirk being in a contract year, these guys are the fall and we are looking forward to that. We'll continue with a big red rate presented by santan Ford and Gilbert. Right after this first down and ten from the thirty five, Gilbert under center again and this time they'll keep it on the ground and hit in the backfield and dragged down as a Dallas running back.

And there is saving Collins with a tackle for loss on the very first run play of his career. Oh man, that is what you are looking for. A linebacker to float out quickly the two receivers to the near side and out of the gun. Three step dropped plenty of time. Rifles went over the middle. There's Marco Wilson and coverage with a pass break up step first step with the intended receiver. Marco Wilson one of the highest graded rookies, at least according to some of the analytics and the

grading services. In Week one of the preseason. Officially, he had a couple of passes defense according to Pro Football Focus, six targets, three worst in completion. So, as we said, you could make a case for any of the top three drafted rookies as to who showed up and bawled out in Week one of the preseason. It is the Big Red Rage presented by santan Ford and Gilbert, Paul kelvc Ron Wolfley, thanks to Christian Kirk and Dave Pastor

joined us at last segment. And all apologies to Wolf from me and Pash for the cheap shot when he wasn't there to defend himself at the very end of the interview, but a lot of worthwhile stuff up until that moment. Your takeaways, Wolf from some of what Kirk had to say. You know what I would say, PAULI overall just his maturity, the maturity level of Christian Kirk. I don't know if you have noticed this at all, but he just seems so okay with himself and so

confident in his abilities and his skills. I thought every answer was weighed, it was measured, and you know me, I'm a guy that loves the art of speaking Median and he did it very very well. He answered all the questions and yet he was very articulate and intelligence and it was a great interview by Christian Kirk. But I love his maturity overall. I think it's it's a

guy that's developing into a veteran. And when he said that that slot position and this offense is akin to his A and M days and that second nature to me, and that makes you fired up, doesn't it. If that's right in his wheelhouse, then it does make you wonder, Okay, what's to come? That's the side benefit of adding an

AJ Green is now Christian Kirk kicks inside. And then his comments and Kyler Murray and the increased arm strength that he has more zip on the ball and the deep balls have been on the money, and then Kyler's decision making and in year three of the offense. So a lot of intriguing stuff right there. And then we talked a little bit about the rookies. But Wolf, I want to hear your thoughts on Zaven Collins And obviously the highlight was the tackle for loss in the second

play of the game. Let me just say, going into this game, Polly, you know how jacked up I was to watch a Zaven Collins. That was the talk all week before the game against the Cowboys. How would Zaven Collins actually hold up? Oh my goodness, I gotta tell you. The Dallas Cowboys got into twenty one personnel with two backs including a fullback, and they ran Io. They went after Xavan Collins. So it was an awesome thing to

actually see him respond the way that he did. Second play the game, we saw him on that tackle zone, shoot the backside, a gap, actually made the play right there, a tackle in the backfield. That was great to be playing downhill like that and to make that tackle. But Paula, you know, I was talking all week about the how, how was Zavian Collins going to play right? Not the what, not the tackle, not the past defended, not to us sack,

not an interception, not the stats, the how. That's what I wanted to see in zaven Collins and the howl stick in his face right on that fullback on those ISOs. That to me filled me with a love in a respect. No, listen, it's one game, paul It's one game, one preseason game, and only a handful of plays. But guess what, it

sure beats the alternative. You know, before the game, I had a chance to interview Cliff Kingsbury and I asked him just describe the degree of difficulty, just the scope of the challenge of being a rookie middle linebacker in charge of the entire defense, and he said, you know what,

it's a notch behind being a rookie quarterback. That's how demanding it is, and then we asked Cliff Kingsbury after the game for his thoughts and what he saw Outazavin Collins to work in progress, there's no doubt, but he's once again he's a guy who works at it. You know, he's asking for extra meeting time with coach Davis, coach Joseph pre med major there at Tulsa, so he has the IQ to get it done and he's been been grinding on it for the last three months. And we'll

have our ups and downs there. That's a tough position to play, but we like where it's heading. And here's the thing it didn't you know, there's one thing to be learning on the job. It's another thing to be learning an entirely new position, which is what the ears on a cardinal's face with, for example, Hassan Reddick. Yes,

that's not Saven Collins right. Yes, there's gonna be moments where he's full to your point, obviously, there's gonna be some growing pains, but there are moments like we saw on the second snap of the game, where he is able to just read and react and flow straight to the football because he's been there and done that before. See Paul I don't know if he noticed, but on those iOS right there, a couple of times he knocked the dog out of the fullback. I mean that fullback.

I know what it's like to get the dog nonnati. That fullback's head snapped a couple of times, big time. He stuck it in there and did a great job at the point of attack. And you know what, PAULI, if you're gonna play mike linebacker in the National Football League and you don't do that, you're you're not capable of doing. You have no chance. You have no chance. Everything else after that is you know what. I guess we're gonna put you at the week side inside linebacker

and just hope that you developed that way. And that is not Zaven Collins, not from what I saw, of course against the Cowboys. And again I know it's one preseason game, but Paulie, if you're willing to do it like that to the degree in which Xavian Collins did, it tells me he's so aware of the coaching he's receiving. Because that's what they wanted to see as well. Bill Davis told us that. And remember, the young man has

the ability to deliver a blow his measurables. I go back to the first rookie mini camp and the first time I stood next to him down on that field that Cardinals packers say, I'm like, this guy's the middle linebacker. He is a legit six five, two sixty's. It's stunning in a lot of ways. It is what middle linebackers used to be for the most part, back when I played. Yes and You're right, Bill Davis told us on the Big Red Rage. He is a throwback, throwback linebacker. So now,

as for Marco Wilson, we mentioned him earlier. You heard what Christian kirk said about Marco Wilson. Most impressive to Christian Kirks so far, and I'm voting loosely, is that he's rarely out of position, that he's always in position to at least make it a contested catch. That you just don't see rookies at often who aren't beat bad

or they don't leave someone wide open. And after he went out and he got a lot of action in that first game, he was our postgame guest and the Arizona Cardinals Radio Network, here's Marco Wilson, his thoughts and his performance his debut against Dallas I felt pretty good about it. Definitely some things I could clean up about my game, but overall went out there and felt confident, just have fun. So it was it was cool to go out there and get my feet wet for the

first time in the NFL. See to me, I look at that secondary, I look at that cornerback room and wolf to me, they have four corners. They do. They have four legitimate corners, and Byron Murphy, Malcolm Buner, Robert Alford and now Marco Wilson. I think they're going into this season with four corners they can count out. Yeah, you know, Paula, you know how much I love this corner room. And one of the reasons why is because of how tough they are and what good tacklers they are.

Now listening again, you don't go out and pay corners because are great tacklers, all right, You just don't do that, Paullie. But man again, it sure beats the alternative when you got guys you feel pretty good about in terms of being able to hold up in coverage that are dogs, that are guys that like to tackle. I think of Robert Alfred once again. Oh if somehow someway Robert Alford

makes it to the first game. If he gets into the Silks and actually is gonna play against the Tennessee Titans, I'm gonna I'm gonna just lose my mind because this guy. I believe in Robert Alford and what he has shown us over the last three seasons here, and what we're seeing once again is a guy in training camp that is a one. That's what he is. He's got that

kind of skill, he's got that kind of talents. Now all of a sudden, Malcolm Butler the competitor that he is, and you throwing Byron Murphy, who I think might be the most improved young guy on this team. And there's a lot of young guys, PAULI. Yeah, there's a lot of young guys that are gonna step up and play. That's the great news for the Arizona Cardinals as well. Yes, they've got some old guys. Yes, they got guys like j. J. Watt,

a guy that is thirty two years old. Yes, I understand that there are some older guys, but man, they've got some young guys that are getting ready I think to have really good seasons. Guys like Jalen Thompson, Richard Lawrence, Isaiah Simmons, Lucky Foe too. They got a lot of young guys that I think are gonna step up and let's see what kind of defense this becomes. And look,

I gotta pump the brakes a little bit obviously. I know I'm pretty bullish on the corners and what I said earlier, but it's not like they have that Jalen Ramsey type who's just gonna check O Julio Jones the entire game and take him out of the game. I

get that. I just thinking in terms of aunts Joseph, he has four corners I think he can count on and with a Marco Wilson who just spent four years as a starter at Florida going against SEC competition, And we also asked him in that interview about going up against Ceedee Lamb a few snaps, and I mean it didn't pause him for a second. He's been going up against elite talent ever since he was eighteen years old,

and he was a true freshman starting at Florida. So I think that's what equips him uniquely to be a rookie who can contribute, especially a fourth round rookie. Hey choose the best seat options that fit your needs. Season tickets, single game, group tickets, club level seating and more. Goodasy cardinals dot com slash tickets for more info, asycardals dot

com slash tickets. All right, how about the other side of the ball and a second year running back who's making a big push next on the big red rage. Eno Benchman takes a line drive kick three yards deep in his own and then zone out across the numbers of ten to twenty. He's got a lane at the thirty and then's tackled at a thirty three yard line. Eno Benjamin. Nice vision and a first Eno Benjamin the run up the mental He's got room of us the

forty to the fifty. He's been the near sideline at the forty, trying to turn on the jets at the thirty. Inside that's twenty five and Eno Benjamin. How about that? But the former a su running back first and goal from the sixth to give his Dino Benjamin off the left side. He's got plenty of room to run and he faults into the end zone untouched. Carcal's touchdown as a calf to drive. After the takeaway by the defense,

Eno Benjamin cashes it in for six and Asino. Benjamin, the seventh round pick last year, the first draft pick by the Arizona Cardinals out of Arizona State University since seventh rounder Pat Tillman nineteen ninety eight. A guy eno Benjamin who had over three thousand all purpose yards during his ASU career, and he did a little bit of everything. Did he not against Dallas last Friday night? Wolf? Yeah, No,

he did, Paula. I love the fact that he showed great vision, not only on that thirty eight yard run, but also his touchdown run. He showed a little patience, a little hesitation, and great visions seeing the hole, seeing the play and scoring a touchdown. To me, I thought, you know, Benjamin made the team. Now that's just me, Paulie looking at the roster, looking at O Benjamin, knowing the kind of player he is, knowing his brain, knowing

he's very much like a Chase Edmonds. These guys hang out, they talk about football all the time, they watch tape together, and then you watch him play. He's a guy that's buttoned up. And when I think of a buttoned up football player, I think a Chase Edmonds, and I think that influence is starting to rub off on Eno Benjamin.

But he showed some great vision and patience on that touchdown run, in that thirty eight yard run, and I think unless he goes out there and just totally doesn't even try, I think he's made the team ball, you know what. That's big And as you know better than anyone, it's his role on teams that's a big factor in him making the team, something he didn't do a year ago when he was inactive for every single game and they they undrafted running back Jonathan Ward was the guy

who saw action primarily on special teams. So now he's returning kicks. He's also doing more for Jeff Rogers, a special teams coach, and there he was on the Red Sea Report this week and Craig Griel who asked him just about his comfort level in year two. Eno Benjamin really just having a better understanding of what's going on,

and not only that, what's expected. And so I've had conversations with Com and com says he believes in me, and so from there us just kind of letting the game come to meum and doing well whatever I'm asked to do to the best of my ability. About that, how about sitting down with a gym in the off season and asking him, Okay, give me a to do list, give me a checklist. How can I be that guy for you and make a difference and make this team? Yeah?

You know what, Well, one of the things you can do is actually return kickoffs the way that you know Benjamin did as well against the Cowboys. PAULI, you want to talk about vance Joseph running into the darkness? Right? Yeah, he's stoked. Sure, he's stoked it. He looked so good

on his kickoff returns. And it's funny because I was talking to Jeff Rogers about that very thing, the special team's coordinator of course for the Arizona Cardels, and he was saying, they call it running into the smoke, running into smoke, Bally all right, So it's the same analogy right there. Whatever it is, you know, Benjamin did it and does it. And because of that with the production of course, knowing the brain that he has and knowing that he will run into the darkness slash smoke, that

to me, thanks, I think he's made this team. And guess what if I'm Cliff Kingsbury and I don't have to jeopardize a Rondel Moore or a Christian Kirk in the return game. That's big, you know. I think I think that fortifies his chances of even dressing on game day if he's that guy. Yes. Yeah, Speaking of running backs, James Connor is back off the cover list, and by the way, more COVID news as Jordan Phillips and Justin Pew reveal that they have both tested positive despite being

fully vaccinated. So we'll see where that goes. You know, Andy Isabella is not going to play tomorrow night, he's on the COVID list. But the return of James Connor, someone we did not see last Friday Night, we figure we will see tomorrow night. And Wolf, how fired up are you to see this six foot one, two hundred and thirty pound plus guy, especially maybe if they get

around there the goal line, Boom, here comes James Connor. Yeah, Paul, really, you know, first of all, I think they're gonna be interchangeable, the running backs in this offense. I don't think it's just going to be shot yardage where you're gonna see James Connor. I don't think it's just gonna be third n obvious where you see Chase Edmonds. I think they're gonna mix and match these guys. And the reason why is because, once again, you don't want to be predictable

as your offense. You don't want to say, okay, and this personnela group, this is what they like to run and in this personnel group when Chase Edmonds is it, this is what you don't want to be so predictable. Of course, it's something that NFL teams work on their tendencies all the time. So yes, I'm interested to see James Connor and want to see him play Paulie. I want to see how many times quarterback is under center once again. I want to see Kyler Murray if he plays,

how many reps he actually gets. I want to see what corner is going to line up over Tyree Hill first, if in fact, Tyreek Hill goes. I want to see these chief starters. And I don't know how long that Andy Reid is going to play guys like Tyree Hill and Travis Kelsey and you know, Patrick Mahomes. I have

no idea how long. I can't see him playing them a half I can't, but man, if he does, I think this is gonna be some good work for some of the Cardinals players as well, And don't we go right back to those young linebackers, don't we go right back to Zavian Collins and Isaiah Simmons. And how invaluable this might be if Andy Reid makes good what he told the media that he's gonna play most of his starters most of the first half, especially that offensive line.

They have five new starters on that offensive line, so he wants to get those guys not only in the game, but get them them some chemistry with Patrick nah absolutely, and you know that means, hey, get some chemistry. Let's run the ball in the preseason. That's something I think Andy Reid does a lot as well. He runs the ball much more in the preseason that he does in the regular season. And for good reason, I might in

He's got Patrick Mahobs, Drivis Kelsey at Tyreek Hill. I mean, I think we all understand why they like to actually throw the ball, but I want to see the physicality on the line of scrimmage like it was against the Dallas Cowboys. And again I realized you didn't have all your starters out there, but man, I thought the physicality on both sides of the ball for the Arizona Cardinals on the defensive side and the offensive side I thought was good. They seemed to control the line of scrimmage.

So for me, I want to see that once again because that's the mentality this team needs to develop. All Right, we talked about flashing and lacking. The Cardinals are going to be lacking basically their first five top defensive lineman. Last week it was their top six. How big a deal is this to you? Without JJ Watt, Jordan Phillips, Zack Allens should be back, with Chard Lawrence, Lecky Foe two should be back. But you know Corey Peters whether he's ready to go, and Chandler Jones isn't gonna go.

Give me your thoughts on that. Yeah, well, I think we should ask Zaven Collins how he feels. I mean, they got to remember Isaiah Simmons and Zaven Collins. They're the guys that are exposed when you've got guys that might not be as good with their hand on the line of scrimmage, firing off the ball, trying to keep offensive linemen off of those inside linebackers. So they're the ones that really suffer the most on this And listen I thought once again that the Cardinal defensive line competed

last week. I just you know me, Paully, It's just a situation where I can't get all jacked up because of the preseason. I know that it's the only football that we have, and that's sure beats the alternative. But you can't drawing any type of conclusions or comparisons, especially based on one season game. That's a dangerous, dangerous art. And you know what, there's opportunity when that happens. A

Michael Dogbeat, for example, graded out very high. David Perry, the no stackle me called, we called his name a ton I know he's got the coach's eye. You have a Greg Dorch who made that unbelievable physical catch in traffic and filed it up with an Odell type one handed grab to start the practice week. He has definitely

caught the coach's eye. So as all these veterans are out for one reason or another, it creates opportunity for some of these young guys to make a run from the depths of the depth chart and perhaps, you know, make a serious be it for the final fifty three. And I just want to say, George, I love that Dave. How about two names Jim Almhandro and Jeff Darch Special thanks Star Senior Producer and Technical Director. Special thanks to Christian Kirk and a cameo from Dave, Pash, Run Wilfley,

Paul KALBC. This has been the Big Red Rage Number one. Tyler, You've been listening to The Big Red Rage presented by Santanford in Guildall. Are you San? Tanford State Farm? Talk to an Agent today at eight hundred State Farm, and by Arizona Cardinals Podcasts Visit acy Cardinals dot com Slash Podcasts. This has been an exclusive presentation of Arizona Cardinals Football Club.