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The Red Seeds Rising.
Up, timperturizing, vision, flurring rage, take it over.
Here's Paul Calvic.
Amready, I'm one hundred percent ready. I'm telling you abready.
And Ron Wilf Sleep.
It doesn't get any better than that leash the fjord. Two words are trending this evening, Ron Wolfley, Thursday Thursday. Apparently people are getting to jump on the Labor Day weekend.
Next Thursday.
The two words we figure will be NFL football, NFL opener maybe and then all ball from there. Oh boy, here we are one week out, and remember we are the original Thursday Night Football fifty two weeks per year, ain't no stinking off season for the Big Red Rage presented by Santane Ford and Gilbert. We are santan Ford, Paul calvic here, Ron Wolfley.
There, good evening, wolf What's going on, Paulie? A lot?
Thanks for asking, Oh boy, I mean a lot happening in real time. This roster is evolving. I mean almost nearly as we speak. We had another waiver claim this afternoon, did we not. We had guys going to the injured reserve. I mean this is going to be, I believe, a season long exercise slash excursion. This roster is going to be churned at every opportunity, true or false, Ron Wolfling.
Yeah, no doubt about it, Pully, I would agree with that assessment right now. You know, it was interesting because I know we're going to play little Jonathan Gannon here, a little JG in some of the cuts. Just listening to him earlier in the day, you know, it made me think of how exhausted this must be for a guy who was going through his first, his first cutdown day as the head coach of an NFL team. And Paully, I can tell you right now, although not every head
coach gets to say goodbye to a player. Most of them want to get to say goodbye to a player. And this is kind of like the third wave right now for JG. When you think about it, it was the cutdown of the original fifty three PAULI. Then of course it was the waiver wire, and we all know that, Hey, just because you know what the Cardinals said, you're on the fifty three. If they go out and they claim a player or off the waiver wire, they also have to let somebody go. So it was like the second wave.
And then there's going to be I think in the coming days free agent signings where they're still going to have to cut down people. I think he's done with a cutdown process.
No allegiances, we've gone with those two words the entire offseason. Bill Belichick has no days off, no allegiances. But it doesn't mean you have no affinity. To your point, you get to know these guys. So that initial wave thirty one players.
You let go.
I'm not sure there were a ton of surprises in there, you know, maybe just maybe a Davon Davis or a Kadan Davis had a chance, or a Noah Tongii, a Kyle Soley. You know there were names we're all familiar with in that initial wave. They still haven't put a long snapper on the official fifty three, so that's always curious. David Blow, who has since gone back to Detroit, So
there's that out there. And then there was the next wave, as you mentioned, because they went after waiver claims and then they had to cut danly Arius, the undrafted rookie receiving Marquise Hayes, who reportedly is back on the practice squad as we speak, Javonte Moffat the safety, Ben Stilly, the d lineman, Blake Whiteheart, who we both know they like yes a lot, and we figure is gonna end
up back on the practice squad. But to your point, here's Jonathan Gannon talking to the media and just talking about the ever evolving fifty three man roster.
The rosters in flux all the time, you know what I mean, And that goes back to we're going to try to do what's best we can for the team. Always, pieces gets shuffled around, pieces move who's up on game day, and it's not just the fifty three, it's the practice squad. It's how many guys are going to get a Jersey on Washington, the roles that they serve, there's a lot of things that go into that, and our guys.
Know that, no doubt.
And then today you had an offensive lineman claimed by the Cardinals, Carter O'Donnell from Indianapol. Yes, last three years, he's been up and down between the active roster and the practice squad. He's yet to play in a game. And then along with that, you had a couple of moves to the injured reserve my j Sanders with a hand, Dennis Daily with the ankle. So they're eligible to come back this year, but they must missed at least the first four games.
PAULI, I think I want to go back to the original fifty three, if that's okay with you right now. I know there's a lot of moving parts going on, but I thought it was interesting because they only they had fifty two on the roster, right, and that I found very interesting because they kept twenty three offensively and twenty seven defensively in two the punter and the kicker,
of course, two on special teams. And they cut their deep snapper we all know that, of course, and Aaron Brewer they let him go, and of course they're going to sign him back, and I think they have already as a matter of fact, and he's going to be activated, I'm sure come game time. It's interesting that twenty three on the offense and twenty seven on the defense. I was really shocked by that inequity.
Yeah, what does that tell you? Does that tell you they're trying to throw numbers at some of those question marks, some of those position groups on defense that are still unanswered, right, I mean, whether it's that backup safety or the cornerback position, whether Marco Wilson is available at Dennis Gardek was out on the field this week. But what exactly are you looking at it? Outside linebacker defensive line. You know, they're trying to throw bodies at that solution, but what's that
rotation ultimately going to be. I don't know what sort of conclusion can you draw from that, if any.
Yeah, you know, once again, I think to your point, that's what it had to be. But typically a lot of teams are not in the practice of saying, hey, listen, we don't have a ton of edge players, so let's keep a ton of edge players. Either they're going to be good enough to actually play at this level or they're not going to be good enough. I thought it was really really an interesting tactic. And at Paully to your point, you know, Manti assen Fort and JG they've
got a reason why they did what they did. They kept seven defensive linemen. Now think about that, seven defensive linemen on the act of fifty three, and we didn't think defensive line was a very deep position for them. And they kept seven edge players as well, And we don't look at the edge and think the Cardinals are loaded on the edge right there, fourteen players they kept, even the inside linebacker. And I can understand this a lot because of the special teams element that comes into play,
but five inside linebackers were kept as well. I just was very surprised to see more defensive players, considerably more than offense.
I'm glad you brought that up because I had this out with Darren Urban during Cardinals Underground the podcast. Well, Combat Vy san Calvic, but wait a minute, it's a three to four. Why are you surprised there's seven outside linebackers? And my rime response was, well, I sort of view to Jesse Luketta and Victor d. Mukage as the same player.
It's either or.
I sort of looked at an Owen Papo and Ezekiel Turner as either or. But I know these guys are instrumental on special teams.
I get it.
You know there's a Chris Barnes in that inside linebacker room as well.
So sure we'll see.
And they're continuing to add players and then players are continually cut. I get it, but we're burying the lead here. The big move, obviously that got national attention was the release of Colt McCoy and the trade for Josh Dobbs. And we were on the air this time last week when it all came down. They gave up a fifth
round pick to Cleveland. They brought in Josh Dobbs, who has familiarity both with the offensive coordinator Drew Petsen, who was a quarterbacks coach the last couple of years in Cleveland, Israel Wolfork, the current quarterbacks coach, and then of course the GM Monijasin Ford, who signed Josh Dobbs in Tennessee to start the last two games of last season. So just your takeaway on that acquisition.
Yeah, Paulie, you know, once again I thought that Colt McCoy was going to be the starting quarterback going into week one, largely because of who he is as a leader, how long he's been in the league, the fact that he's one of the better minds, of course in the National Football League in regard to seeing every defense known to man and maybe executing every offense known to man as well. I thought it was going to be his experience largely that would take him into week number one
as the starter. That is not the case. And I think you are very familiar as to why. I know you have your own take on this and your own beliefs on this, and I think you're right on it, PAULI. But now that that is the case, and we know that Colt McCoy has been released, bringing in Josh Dobbs, I thought was very very interesting. This is a guy that is a rocket scientist. Of course we all know that. I mean, you know, anytime you hear a code say it's not rocket science, guess what he means it when
he's talking to Josh Dobbs, No doubt about it. So you know, once again, it's going to be interesting to see how this quarterback battle shakes out going forward. I don't think it's a faith to compleae. I don't think it's a done deal that Josh Dobbs is going to be the starter going into week one. But once again, I thought Colt McCoy was going to be the starter.
And yeah, Josh Doabbs has a degree in aerospace engineering from Tennessee and he's done internships with NASA through the NFL Players Association. So big brain, big big brain on Josh Dobbs has no doubt about it. In fact, speaking of who is QB one, I firmly believe it's his job to lose. When Dobbs was asked about that, he simply said, you know what, I put those expectations on myself.
Every time myself in the building, I put starting expectations on myself. So I know the QB situation is going to play out however the coaches see fit. But for me, you not come in ready to compete every single day.
I push myself.
But also, you know, approached the room in that way, and so I'm excited to be a part of it and be a part of the team.
And I thought that it was Colt McCoy's job to lose as well. And that's exactly what happened in Minnesota during the two joint practices.
Wolf.
I just think that he did not slam the door shut and make up the mind of the decision makers to the during those two joint practices were actually, we're more regular season football then you would get in a preseason game. He was going against starters. Brian Flores was dialing it up, giving him regular season looks. It didn't go real well, it improved a little bit on Thursday.
But if you listened to the Cardinals and they told the media they had interest in Josh Dobbs the entirety of the offseason, my guess is they got done with that second practice, said you know what, we got to pull the trigger. Cleveland didn't want to let him go.
In fact, they even named him the backup quarterback beyond Deshaun Watson, and about three hours after he was named the number two quarterback, the deal was done and he was going to Arizona and Dorian Thompson Rominson, the UCA rookie, moved up the depth chart in Cleveland and for a fifth round pick, Boom, he is property of the Arizona Cardinals.
Well, the only thing I'll say about that quickly is guess what that was. Great leverage by the Cleveland Browns to say always our backup quarterback. By the way, we'll take a fifth round pick.
Episode sixty two of The Day Pash Podcast featuring All Pro safety Buddha Baker. It's available now via your preferred podcast provider. Get the latest updates via Twitter at hash pod. All right, we're just getting started on the whole QB one thing. To your point, I think Clayton tune is definitely in the mix. What happened this preseason that might
improve his odds. We'll get to that, and I'm gonna make a comparison josh Dobbs to a current NFL quarterback when we come back the Big Red Rage presented by Santan Ford in Gilbert.
Shatka.
Dobbs third and six steps up throws a k ball top Treo card.
With the gram a rainbow from Toms.
Great job by Joshua Dobbs to be able to deliver the football to the outside for McMath to be able to haul to the turf.
As he's catching the ball tops deep drop, He'll throw to the near side, catch me.
What turns it up?
Mail for the touchdown.
Joshua Toms coun time and delivers for the score. It is the first NFL touchdown for Joshua Dobbs.
In his first career NFL start. Joshua Dobbs at is IGN Eagle Westwood won. That was the end of last season, second to last game of the season. In fact, he started the final two games of the year for the Tennessee Titans. Did not have a lot of talent around him, the worst receivers room in the league, and he still went out there and those two games combined forty to sixty eight passing, four to eleven through the air, two touchdowns,
two picks. Passer rating his seventy four. He was sacked six times, had a long of thirty nine yards, ran it eight times for forty four yards. We'll get into that in a minute. It's a big Red Rage presented by santan Ford in Gilbert. We are santan Ford, Paul Kelvic, Ron Wolfley, and Josh Dopps, a guy who was big time in the SEC. Ron Wolfly did you know a fun Factory. He's one of three quarterbacks in SEC history to throw for fifteen plus touchdowns and rush for ten
plus touchdowns in multiple seasons. The others Tim Tebow and Dak Prescott.
That's pretty good company right there, Pauli.
And there's another one where he's like one of four in SEC history, and then the fourth one is Johnny Manziel, So he's got some elite company in SEC history. Josh Dobbs, he was a fourth round pick seven years ago by the Steelers, was a backup to Big Ben. He's look, he's with U sixteen. Cardinals are his sixteen. He's never really had that chance to flourish. And I'm gonna throw out this out there. You might want to take my
car keys. I'm just gonna throw it out there. This is the absolute upside, best case scenario.
Sure.
Geno Smith, Okay, a guy, Geno Smith who sat for seven years in fact, actually when eight years between opening day starts. Geno Smith, but after watching for all those years, came out balled out last year, went to the Pro Bowl. He was just rated the number seventy seven player in the top one hundred in the NFL. From obscurity to all of a sudden the starting franchise quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks. Now, that would be a crazy set of
expectations to put on Josh Dopps. But if you listen to him, and you listen to the way he talks to the media about what he learned in those two starts, I think the Cardinals are at least intrigued enough to give up that fifth round pick and run him out there against Washington week one.
Well, maybe that is going to be the case, PAULI. We'll have to wait and see. But always keep in mind that Josh Dobbs did not go to West by God Virginia. Okay, sat On, he's got that while he's got that working against him right now, Paully. But the one thing we do know about Josh Dobbs, he is a rocket scientist. Once again, this is a guy that
is incredibly smart. You know what's amazing about this, PAULI, When when you really stop and think about it, and this was something that Josh Dobbs was actually talking about. But quarterback is probably the most difficult position to play in all of professional sports. Would you agree with that? Okay, no doubt about it. It is so cerebral, It is intensive when it comes to understanding the game of course, and being involved in the offense and calling the offense.
It is unbelievable, and yet I would imagine being a rocket scientist Polly is ten times harder than that. There's not a lot of situations that you can look at and say, man, you know what, this rocket science stuff is easy compared to something else. So I think this is going to be actually something that Josh Dobbs is going to be able to help not only himself, but also the other guys that are inside that room, and help Drew Patsing as well. These quarterbacks learn the offense well.
His Meat and Great press conference with the media, Cam Cox from Channel twelve. Cam He asked him, He said, does it help playing quarterback to be a rocket scientist? Sort of half joking, half serious, and Dobbs said, absolutely it does because it's the ultimate problem solving position in all of the sports, quarterback.
So if you want to know.
About smart and high IQ, how about asking a guy from stand right, zach Ertz here on his first impression of Josh Dobbs.
Yay, smart, obviously, I think that's well noted. He's an astronaut or whatever he is. He the guy that understands football. He's played a lot of football. He's got a really good grasp of this offense. Obviously he's played it in the past, so him coming into the huddle, calling the plays, calling the formations has been seamless so far. And he throws a very catch football, which as a receiver you like.
And look in the past, he's had the nickname past or not though even though he's an aerospace engineer, he's not actually an astronaut. But it's good stuff. Okay, you know who quibbles with some of the fine details. It's great stuff, and that's probably where he's going once he's done playing ball. But he's aged twenty eight and he feels like he does have some good ball ahead of him.
I just love that, Paul, I really do, because once again I would imagine just rocket science, Paul, and I keep calling it that, but you know what, it's just too good because coaches always saying this isn't rocket science, okay, but it just to me, that's got to be really, really hard. Is it possible that he looks at at rocket science and going, man, that's that's really hard. Quarterback in the NFL not so hard to learn, you know,
you know what I mean? So that that to me is an interesting dynamic because most of the time a human being is looking at quarterback in the National Football League going, Matt, this is this is involved. This is hard. I've got to know all sorts of matchups and alterations and checks and audibles that I've got to be ready to call at a drop of a hat. And remembering all that, of course, and the concepts that go behind it.
None of that comes anywhere close to what Josh Dobbs is probably going to be doing for NASA when he's done so tech.
I would imagine that helps him.
Yeah, take all that, all the all the challenges you just cited, and he has a two week timeframe to get ready to be the Cardinals starting quarterback against the Washington defensive front on the road that features four first round picks. Okay, think about all that. And when he was asked about he was completely unfazed. He actually said, and he was dead serious.
Nah.
Really, what gives me stress in this whole situation is I'm in a new town. Where am I gonna eat dinner?
You know?
Where am I going to figure out? Where am I going out? Because I don't know the town. So that combined with the fact he's been there and done that, just the end of last season. He had eight days notice after he was signed by the Titans and then started two games at the end of the year. He didn't even know that system, at least this system. He knows the offensive coordinator, Drew Petsing real well. In fact, he was asked about the importance of that.
You know, I spent a lot of time with Drew last year as he was my QB coach in Cleveland, and so coming into that offense, learning that offense from him and now coming here and getting his own spinning variation is very unique, especially with the relationship that we had as well as he was in that room as well.
So it's good to have that relationship, especially quarterback to play caller right and understanding why he's calling plays, why he's installing plays, what variation he's put on the offense is why he's doing that, and so it makes it as smooth as a transition as it can be. But there always are different bumps in the road that you have to manage and navigate.
And it's not like he's coming off his couch. Okay, this isn't. Forty five year old Vinnie Testa verdies some twenty years ago showing up on a Wednesday and trying to play on Sunday. He went through the entirety of training camp. He knows this system, so that definitely gives him advantage. Now, obviously didn't take a single snap and the preseason wasn't there for any of the Cardinals camps,
so it's very unique, there's no question about it. But there was a quote from Jonathan Gannon and he said this multiple times Wolf when asked about Josh Dobbs and what intrigues him about the quarterback, what he likes, and the first thing he cites is, and I'm quoting him, he can make plays inside and outside the pocket. I think that's more important to the head coach than we realize. I think that was a factor in moving on from Colt McCoy. I think that's the reason they are intrigued
by Clayton Tune. He does have enough mobility. He did run for quite a few yards at Houston. Saw him, especially in those Vikings joint practices. Get away from that Vikings pass rush, extend the play in fuying guys downfield. Those are aspects that were not in Colt McCoy's game at this point in his career.
Pauli.
It's a great observation once again, because when you think about it, to your point, you've got Josh Dobbs and his mobility, and you've got Clayton Tune and we all saw it in the preseason his mobility as well, and at some point in time when Kyler comes back his
mobility right there, that's certainly not a coincidence. That is definitely JG looking for the same kind of skill set where maybe you can be a dual threat a run pass quarterback, of course, as a lot of quarterbacks are in the NFL today, but also too, JG was talking about command and production, those two things specifically command and production, and you just know that Josh.
Dobbs has got command, Paulie.
You've got to be able to step into a high you have to speak clearly, you've got to speak loudly, and you've got to know what you're calling in the huddle. You've got to know it, and you've got to know a lot of the other guys' jobs on that certain play and help them out if they forget it. And you also have to have command of the offense to a point where you might want to challenge a coach on the sideline saying, let's not run that play, Let's run this play. And to me, that's not the worst
thing that can happen for an offense. To have your quarterback understand it as well as the coach understands it is a huge advantage, and Josh Dobbs seems to be a guy that might be able to do that.
And again, I firmly think, and this is just my belief, it's definitely his job to lose. That being the case, it is being termed a quarterback competition right now with Clayton Tune. Do you think that is a possibility Clayton Tuone actually be eating out of Josh Dobbs. I mean, what sort of realistic chance do you attach to that?
I love that, bully.
That's a great question right there, really is, because tell me when Kyler Murray's coming back, Because honestly, right now, if you were to tell me this, and I know nothing about this, and there's been no leak about this whatsoever, but if Kyler Murray was coming back week five, let's just say that against the Cincinnati Bengals, he was coming back week five, you know what I'd want to see Clayton tune. As much as I could possibly see Clayton tone, I'd want to give him as many reps as we
possibly could before Kyler would get back. But that not being the case. We don't know that Kyler Murray's coming back in week five. So now all of a sudden, I think you're going to throw it up to say, hey, let's find out who commands this offense the best over these two weeks and who looks like they're capable of providing production.
Look, you called all three preseason games right vance Joseph Steve Spagnolo and than Brian Flores. Were those vanilla schemes? They they brought it right? Yes, times, they really.
Dialed it up. I asked.
I asked the head coach about that today, and he agreed. He said that was not vanilla football. He said that Clayton saw a lot and he benefited from him because, you know what, he got more of a regular season read on what NFL football is all about being a quarterback, trying to diagnose and decide as a quarterback. So, okay, how much more regular season ready does that make a Clayton tune?
I don't know.
I mean, if Brock Perdy would have played in Week one instead of Week twelve last year? Would things have been different? Was he ready from Week one? Single game tickets are on sale now. Go to Azycardinals dot com slash buy tickets to secure your seats today.
How about Buddha Baker on the Pash Pot.
We're gonna visit some of that next on the Big Red Rage presented by Santan Ford in Gilbert.
Picked off with the thirty by Buddha running back the other way forty fifty forty Baker thirty.
Cuts right, pent tackled at the twenty five?
What art?
What rents?
Budha Baker?
This guy's unbelievable discipline, accountability, A team that's just gonna play very fast, a team that doesn't care about what anybody else thinks. Everybody that's in that circle, everybody that's in that huddle, those are the only ones that matter, and we're just gonna play football at a high level. I definitely believe that one hundred of strength.
Is Dave Pash on the call Huda Baker with a SoundBite there from the Dave Pash Podcast, which has just dropped great stuff from the Cardinals All Pro safety talking about his game, just the reset of this Cardinals roster where he believes the team is going what's in store this season, and we'll review some of that here on the Big Red Rage, presented by santan Ford and Gilbert.
We are santan Ford, Paul calvic Ron Wolfley. I don't know about you, Wolf because you're over in the TV booth, right, you're over in the high end real estate part of the You know, I'm just over there, Hamm and Egger, you know me and Drew Stanton J.
Feely. Okay, you know, looking down there.
Maybe we'll get an acknowledgment from you and pass as you guys go all Hollywood over there. But here's mode I always discover in the preseason watching, is you forget you forget how automatic a Buddha Baker and a Jalen
Thompson are with the open field tackling. And then when you see other safeties out there, backup safeties, dare I say, lesser safeties, and you see how many tackles are missed in space, and you just get a newfound appreciation for your Pro Bowl caliber safeties that the Cardinals start every game.
Yeah, Pully, Yeah, you're so right about that they're called safeties for a reason. They are the last line of defense literally typically when you've got to make a tackle or somebody's going to score a touchdown. And that's one of the reasons why, for the longest time, of course, some of the best tacklers on your team, open field tacklers had to be safeties, and Buddha Baker certainly is that. I'll take Buddha Baker, I'll take him out. I don't
care if he's in the box. I don't care if he's coming down from the secondary, coming down and filling the D gap. I don't care what it is that he's doing right now. Buddha Baker is the guy that I want out on the field. In Jalen Thompson, the respect that I have for him, here's a guy that we know, Paul. You can line up, you can put him over the number three receiver, you can put him over that slot receiver, and he's going to hold up
like a corner. It's such a huge advantage to have a guy that is not only a good tackler, not only is a safety like Jalen Thompson, but also a guy you can move to that nickel corner spot.
That's huge, you know.
Talking about scheme, I know you said many times that, Okay, certain players really thrive in certain schemes.
Not Buddha Baker.
Playing virtue anything you throw out there. His new defensive coordinator, thirty year old Nick Rowless, and and Dave asked Buddha Baker just on working with the new young DC.
You know, I will say Nick is a narrative football. He really knows the game.
You know.
He makes it very easy for the players to understand the game within the calls. Guys, are you know, able to understand it and play fast? And at the end of the day, that's what he wants us to do. He wants us to know what we're doing and after that and just play as fast as we can because we have the talent, we have the players to play fast, and you know, he kind of gives it upon us to of course know our job and then just play football after that.
Buddha Baker in the Day Pasch podcast. You know a little bit we've come to learn about Nick Rowless. His fellow coaches call him quote at assassin, So I'll take that as he's going to be ultra aggressive this year. Is that the gut feeling you get. We haven't seen him in action and regular season action yet, but what do you expect in terms of this scheme. We've talked a lot about the offense, what about the defense.
Yeah, that's a great observation right there, Pauli. I would say this right here. If you're always blitzing, if you're always coming after, if you're always the assassin, doesn't that make it more likely that a team will be more prepared for you to do it. I think it's going to be a pick and choose. I could be wrong on this, Paul, I really could, But you know, surprise and the element of surprise is also now that seems
to be nick rawlis to me right now. I love the fact that Buddha is talking about know your job and to be able to play fast. Typically you don't have a ton of checks in a defense like that. When you're able to go out there and play fast typically, it sounds like you're simplifying your defense, and maybe that's what's going on. I don't know. He is aggressive. We all know he's aggressive. I love the fact he puts his hood up when he's actually calling a game.
But you know, I love that ball. He looks like.
An assassin, no doubt about that. But you know, again, it's going to be interesting to see how he does this because just like the offense, where you have to tailor your offense with the talent you have, it's the same thing defensively. You just can't go willy nilly aggressive. You've got to have corners that will hold up with that aggression as well. And just don't know if you're going to be quite as aggressive with that defense from the get.
No, it's a great observation.
And look, whether it's Buddha, Jalen, Thompson, Zavi and Collins, we've all heard him over the last few months talk about how they feel more free. That's the word they use. Free to play in this scheme that JG and Nick Rolis don't give the players every possible outcome of every possible play that's going to be run by the offense, they're going to have to think and react. They want that quick reaction time. They don't want them to hesitate at all because they're wondering, Okay, which one of an
infinite number of checks am I going into. And so that's interesting to see how that plays out. In the field speaking of the defensive quarter of Nick Rollis. Be sure to tune in top of the hour premiere of the latest episode of Cardinals flight Plan. That's tonight at seven on the Cardinals YouTube channel YouTube dot com slash az Cardinals, and they're going to take you beyond the scenes.
Rawllis the OC Drew Petsen, Special teams coordinator Jeff Rogers all during training camp and the preseason, the joint practices with the Vikings, so emmy award winning stuff. Every time you tune in flight Plan That's tonight at seven. As for Buddha, back to the Day Past podcast, we thought this was intriguing what he told Dave just about his off season regiment.
After the Pro Bowl. I kind of just set my mind on working hard and getting my body right. And you know, of course I gained about fifteen pounds of muscle sprinting, My acceleration has all gotten better, as fast as I've ever been, as quick as I've ever been, as strong as I've ever been, can jump higher than I ever have, and you know, I just feel very healthy, feel very blessed to you know, put that work in and you know the season's coming up. The season's here,
I'm definitely excited to showcase that. Wow.
I mean, if he's new and improved like that, we're talking about a five time Pro bol or two time All Pro safety, a guy who over the last five years has more than one hundred tackles beyond any other safety in the NFL. I mean, like, get your popcorn ready.
Right, fifteen pounds of muscle Paul on and a guy like Buddha Baker, you.
Know, I mean, and he has all the same speed and agility. I've told you how many times in the sideline you're like.
Whoa where did that guy come from? Wow?
And it was Buddha Baker. I mean, just you know, like you say, running into the darkness, it is.
Paul, There's no doubt about that.
I just don't know a lot of guys that are under two hundred pounds, And I know Buddha is hovering right around there, But I don't know a lot of guys that could put on fifteen pounds. Now, if you were two hundred and fifty pounds, yeah, you know, and I put on fifteen pounds of muscle, I can understand that if you were two hundred and eighty pounds yeah, I needed to get to three hundred and I put on muscle, and a lot of guys have done that before.
But you know, when you come into the league and you weigh one hundred and ninety pounds or one hundred and eighty five pounds, you know, typically you're not putting non fifteen pounds and Buddha Baker certainly is doing that right now. That to me, if he's accurate on that, Polly, what an incredible thing that's going to be because right now he's already a guy that will wipe you out. Can you imagine fifteen pounds of muscle he's on him now?
He's listed at one ninety four, So if we were to think he was playing around oneint eighty in the last couple of years, that would make sense. And so okay, I mean I believe him. I don't think he's embellishing. I don't think he's exaggerating on that. So hello, we
all want to see what that looks like. There's no question, you know, by the way, speaking in the safety spot, when you look at some of the waiver claims, it's hard not to notice Keevon Wallace, who just spent the last three years with the Eagles with Jonathan Gann and Nick Rowlis twenty twenty round four pick out of Clemson. He's played forty five games, seven starts. Now you put him theoretically, I would presume, because you and I have a lot of depth of safety obviously after trading away
Isaiah Simmons and cutting Javontae Moffatt. So now Keavon Wallace joins a Jalen Thompson and a Buddha Baker.
That's critical. Isn't a wolf because you might you might have JT in the slot?
Is your nickel? Yeah, no doubt.
And you know, it also tells me that maybe there's something else as well that is coming. Maybe there's another shoe that is going to drop right here. We'll have to wait and see the other thing I wanted to say quickly, Paully, I am so encouraged and I'm I'm cautiously optimistic about the defensive line. The defensive line in
particular with l J. Collier, Lucky Fotwo and Jonathan Ledbetter. Paully, I think these guys we were looking for it in the preseason game, that first preseason game against the Bronck of course, and then against the Chiefs, we were looking for it, and man, when they were in there, there was gap integrity. There was no doubt about it. And we've all all off season been waiting to see, Hey,
is that going to be the case. We're thinking that teams are going to be able to line up and run the ball against the Cardinals, and how demoralizing it is when a team can just line up and run it down your throat, cram at vertical, so to speak. It's demoralizing. But what I saw in preseason man week number one, I'm gonna really be watching that to see
if that same gap integrity with LJ. Collier, Lucky Foto and Jonathan Ledbetter, if that exists when they play Washington, that to me will encourage me so much if they can actually slow down the Commanders.
Because once again you lost half your sacks and JJ Watt and Zach Allen, So if you can get some penetration, you can get some pressure trying to collapse that middle from that pocket, from the middle, from the inside out. It's going to be so critical because you have some unproven outside linebackers right now and guys making transitions like a Zave and Collins, so I'm with you on that, no question about it. And you know what an LJ.
Collier just taking him as an example, a womer first round pick who said that he was in a bad fit of a system in Seattle. So if it's a matter of that a LeKi Fotu was in a contract year and mandity play like it in Minnesota, he absolutely dominated the starting center for the Vikings, Garrett Bradbury and those one on one. So I'm with you, no doubt
about it. But I'll tell you there's a few other waiver claims that came across in the last forty eight hours, and these might be some guys who might make an.
Addition to the team.
And there's some intriguing scanner reports that is next on the Big Red Rage presented by Santan Ford in Gilbert.
Hi, I'm Christopher Andandez and I'm called lit Bikini and we're from ted Lasso, and we know I think or two about football. Now, this is American football, right, so we have no idea what we're doing here, but we having.
Lots of fun.
I moved one hundred and ninety seventh pick in the two posid and twenty three NFL Draft.
The Miami Dolphins select Elijah Higgins tight end.
Stanford's football is life.
He's here, he's there, He's.
Every freaking where Elijah Higgins. Elijah Higgins. Some great stuff that was from the actual draft of Elijah Higgins out of Stanford. Actors from Ted Lasso, while done, always enjoy that when they incorporate the world of entertainment into the NFL draft, especially on Day three, Wolf come on, there's
always room from some extra entertainment. And guess what Cardinals I think are elated they got their hands on Elijah Higgins via a waivers considering he set some sort of record where five teams try to claim him, but the Cardinals of that number three slot, boom, they snap him and added him to the roster. As we wrap up this edition of The Big Red Rage presented by Santan Ford in Gilbert.
Yeah, PAULI, and it's really interesting as well, because Elijah Higgins is six ' three and he's two hundred and thirty five pounds. PAULI, if you could put on fifteen pounds right there, you know there's a guy that could be a stud tight end, could be a move tight end as well. Right now, I see him more as a move tight end at two hundred and thirty five pounds. But it's going to be really interesting to watch Elijah Higgins in his career and where it goes from here.
He's a former receiver, Jonathan Gannon confirmed today. No, he's definitely a tight end. That's where the Cardinals are going to play him. But he had good speed for a receiver, much less a tight end, so he has that athleticism. What's intriguing too, if you had zoom out in that tight end room. I mean, well, if you have Jeff Swayman we had on last week, right, you're quintessential blocking tight end. You have Zach Ertz, you know, a multi pro bowler and just a master again downfield in the
seams and reading coverage and great hands. And then Trey McBride and I don't know how you describe him necessarily, but we've seen him in the backfield more almost like an h back at times. But you have like four distinct skill sets a tight end in that room, don't you.
That's exactly what it is. Paully.
You've got a lot of diversity right there, and I love that because you can be so versatile at that position right now. I look at Jeff Swain and you know this, Paully the way I value him, he is a true stud tight end. He's a guy that is going to be a true Why tight end. You can line him up on the tackles hip, on the line of scrimmage, hand in the dirt, and he can come off the ball and he can be an excellent blocker
for you. And then you've got a guy like zach Ertz, who is the quintessential move tight end to me at this point in his career. For him to be a guy that is going to move, I think it's one of the reasons why the Arizona Cardinals are going to be right up there at the very top in twelve personnel in rundown situations. I think they're going to be right at the top of the league because of that zach Ertz being able to move. And then I look at Trey McBride and I see a combination of Jeff
swam in zach Ertz. I see a guy that could possibly develop into being a troop Why, a stud tight end, and a move tight end. So it's going to be really interesting to see how he develops. Of course, and that room is without a doubt, very versatile at this point.
And at this point we don't know if zach Ertz is going to play Week one. Zach Ertz might know, he's not sharing with the media said it's uncertain as of right now, which is par for the course because you're not telling Washington anything. You're not trying to reveal who's playing, what sort of scheme you're playing, what the offense is going to look like. Do they have plans for an Elijah Higgins on game day? Will it be zach Ertz. We won't know until that Week one game now.
As for other waiver claims, it was hard not to notice a couple of experienced offensive linemen they brought in Keith Ishmael and Tristan Cole Cologne, and these are guys who have started games in the NFL recently, especially at center, because behind Yelda Rojol, things were all thin on the depth chart.
Yeah, you know what, Polly, It tells me once again, just looking at the moves that they made on that offensive line, and I would say in particular interior offensive line, Paulie, You know, that tells you where they aren't sure as to what they're going to be like and how they're going to do and where they're going to go. But I thought it was interesting on the original fifty three.
They only kept eight offensive linemen on the original fifty three, and that was really low to me because there are teams who will dress eight offensive linemen on game day, let alone how many they'll have on their roster right there. So it's going to be interesting to see how this develops. But I think JG already said it. This roster is in a state of flux, and Paul, I think this roster is going to be in a state of flux all season long.
So right now they're at ten in the offensive line room. Cologne has played twenty games with Baltimore.
Over the last three years.
Five starts at center, Keith Ishmael five starts at center, most recently with the Niners, played eighteen games over the.
Last two years.
And so then you put Dennis Dally on ir so you're at ten because you added Carter O'Donnell today from Indianapolis. He was cut and claimed and the Cardinals got him, and so, okay, he'd been up and down between the practice squad and the active roster. So we mentioned all that. That leaves Kevon Watts we are talking about and then the corner Starling Thomas from Detroit. What do you think about the corner position. That's a position group we haven't
talked about. And where are you right now? Because Christian Matthew made this team we were wondering about that. It appears Marco Wilson and Key trawl Clark are your starters.
Yeah, I agree with your assessment on that one, Polly right there, and I think we're probably going to see Antonio Hamilton be that nickel corner right now. I could be wrong on that. Well, we'll find out, But that is if if we're talking about a roster that is in a state of flux, I think that dB room, that corner room in particular, is maybe the position room that is in the most state of flux right now because it is a very fluid situation, and Paul, I think it's gonna be that way all season.
Maybe the biggest surprise, I'll be honest, in the fifty three was Chris Boyd is still on this roster and he's been a heck of a special team standout, and I'm guessing that has a lot to do with his standing on this team.
So there you go.
Hey, Single game tickets on sale now. Gadaisycardinals dot com slash buy tickets to secure your seats today. When we talk to you next week, we'll be talking about week one. We'll be talking about the opener just a few days away. Speaking of special days, how about a happy birthday to two guys to share August thirty first, Darren Urban and what's his name?
Oh yeah, Larry Fitzgerald.
Oh Japanese fighting.
Fish in time.
It's anyone else's birthday At this point, I think we're in favor of that special Thanks to jim O, Mahundro, Cody Fincher, Lauren Cooble. This has been a Big Red Rage presented by santan Ford in Gilbert.
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