Welcome on it into the Command Center podcast. I'm Logan Paulson here with the very patriotic Fred Smoot and Santana Moss guys, and he plans for the fourth of July.
Well, let me tell you a story. I almost went to the military.
I did not know that. Fred, You're like the most interesting man in the world. I feel like you have a And this is the thing about Fred. Listen, listeners, just dial this in. Fred knows a lot about everything, just to be just enough to be dangerous. And you gotta fact check everything, fat Fred says, because he's got enough file on stuff that you're like that could be true. I don't know if it is true.
I just say to doing his things in time, I want some Clint said, yeah, I want to.
I okay, it's true though. So you were in the military. No, I wanted to be Okay, you wanted to be in the military. I think you've actually told me.
Before football would have failed. I was headed to be a marine.
Really, it'll strike me as a marine though, Why not? Because I don't know if you've got that grint to you. Brother, I never met I never I've never met a marine that talks as much as y'all tell you that, I forget.
What that would have made me private. I would have been a different private than they ever had. But if you're gonna go do something, why not do it at the top. And I got a chance to go to Quantico like two weeks ago. A week ago, I thought Cortico was one building.
It's an entire town.
It's a military base.
It's beyond a base, but a military city.
But that's what that's what basis are.
No.
I have been to some of these bases around here, and they are they are relatively small.
Europe bases are much different. I want to Germany and those basis was like.
A time and that's what Cornico was. It was like Ashburn.
So I think I was just always meant to be a part of a team dynamic like I was like. And I think that's why I chased the military. But what I really want to bring up am I the only person that cherished When I go to a good grill session, I want a hot dog, a hot dog. But now my kids shame me for eating hot dogs. They call them glizzies.
Yeah, that is a weird. That is a thing. Eat your hot talks, friend.
They got a sand they got a saying, I'm pretty sure it's gonna get bleep.
Kids.
You can sit there and tell me what you want to tell me. But I'm gonna eat that hot dog. I'm gonna put my ketchup and mouth on it and my relish and I'm enjoy it. A crossing my las at the same time while I'm doing my kids walk past me.
My kids me laughing. Daddy got a glitzy in it.
And it took me a long time to figure out what I had to call my other old friends keep talking about glizzes over that, like yeah, I.
Like, do you know what that is? I'm like, no, do you know what it is?
It doesn't sound good. Let me just say that, and is it podcast? Before you say it is a podcast friendly?
It's nothing friendly?
Okay, So I'm saying this, So let's just say you can look this up on your own, yes, and we'll figure it out.
And if your kids talk about glizzes around you while you eating a hot dog, you out of one on front.
Right, Yep, yep, that's exactly right. So so we talked about hot dogs. Do you actually have plans for Fourth of July? That was my initial question, and we learned all about your history with the military and hot dogs.
The history I didn't help with the Yeah, yeah, I'm going to Esst Festival. That's where I go every year, me and my friend. This is our guys trip. We've been doing it since college. The Essay Festival is where they go in New Orleans. They have all these concerts beyond say everybody all day long. It's the party, but it's really a drinker's fast. It's really three days.
Listen.
I bring an extra kitteny with me. All I'm telling you it's none stopping. The one thing I love about New Orleans.
To New Orleans, the food is unbelievable. All the drinks are three for one. Like listen, I ain't been so being New Orleans since.
I was born. All I'm saying is this the fourth of July. I bring it in only like America should in New Order.
So it sounds like we need to put a tracking device on to make sure it.
Might be and he might be.
Wake up on the grounds, out of country, missing a kidney and a place somewhere.
I woke up in places you don't know, you don't want to know.
I can imagine.
How about you, uh, well, you know one of the things, Well, my tradition mostly has always been like a pool party on the July. Growing up, my aunt, her daughter was born on the fifth of July, so she always had a birthday on the fourth, and to.
Be a big pool party.
After the pool party is five ors, we like to like to block up.
So I kind of took that on.
When I got me some money and I'm made into the league, I wanted to be the guy the whole show and host those uh, those those outings or whatever. And but lately I just been I've been feeling old.
Man.
I've been feeling like you didn't get to the point where you get tired doing all that hosting.
And I'm actually tea them now, like, man, you know what, if you got a party.
Invite me to it. I don't want to be the ones something next. It's different. Look, I remember that.
I remember the days when we was playing and I wur host these these forty July shen Dicks and I remember having like my little cousins sweep up the street and it's I'm talking about.
Tons of stuff I'm talking about I used to buy.
I just spent over five thousand dollars worth of you know five, you know, I buy that stuff that they say do not.
I'm not ashamed to say I was one of those guys.
I was, you know, but the sweep up is crazy.
I remember paying my little cousins man one hundred dollars apiece, and they used that used to be the highlight of their year. Like, man, I'm going to that party because I'm gonna get me a hundred from tene.
But nowadays, man, look here, I like to keep it a little laid back.
Probably swept up a couple of Jason's Pierre Finger. My god, we was. We was careful. We were very careful. Man.
We look you you would see one dude liking and everybody us standing back. So we always had that you know that part on lock. But nowadays, man, like my son, my youngest boy, he mentioned it one for the July I ain't have no fireworks, and I just happened to be down there because normally I'm up here, I might be going to what that called Middletown when we go do the Yeah, I do the parades, you know what
I mean, I'm Marshall or something like that. For their parade, my son I come home one year and the first thing he said to me was like, this is a born for the July. And I'm like, he's like, man, we used to have fire and I felt that I hurt. I'm talking about as a dad, you always want to make your kids happy.
And I felt so bad that last.
Year was the most recent for the July. I made sure I spent by. I ain't spend five, I spun two thousand. I got me some fireworks, and as we sitting there part with them, I didn't want to do it. And I'm sitting there like, yeah, I'm old, I'm getting I'm getting to that point the where, yeah, my son wanted this, but this might be the.
Last time I do it, you know what I mean.
But honestly, man, I think it's just all about making those kids happy. So I would probably still see myself having some kind of gun and whether it's we're gonna do a bunch of them, we have some for them just to have some fun. You know.
So what do you do?
Cheat?
Man?
Well?
I do cheat. Man. I'm probably just hang out my family barbecue, you know, and we're gonna go up to Cape Cod.
Give me on the boat, give me the menu. It a Logan pousings By.
It's like it's normal barbecue Stoll who.
Makes the potato sad. It doesn't have raised and.
We're not having potato salad. You're talking about this empty carbs there, my guy, we're not doing that.
People are getting.
Fred Man. I always count carbs Thanksgiving, counting carbs, the whole thing. Man, you don't look this average not counting carbs. I just tell you that right now.
Your kid gotta be like daddy could be the board and his dad about he took us out of America.
I did take my kids to Disneyland, and they love it America, I know, but it's like a big thing. That's like our big trip. You know what I'm saying.
We say they rapped the rise when you go, yeah, no, I can't do that no more. I took my kids to Keen to mean they had a new ride. They just opened up.
There was a year. Yes, I literally I got beyond sick. I was on the ride.
I told my kids this is the last time ever. Yeah, Fred Smooth gets on the ride. I got nothing I got.
I don't do the big rides. My kids are my kids. My son's nine, My daughter's six. So they're like, you know, they're like the gold Rush Ride, the Swash Mountain, that type of stuff. I'm not doing the like the vocal raptor of the Universal.
I've lost that three ye, Like, I don't have that adventure seeking anymore.
Hey, I'm gonna tell a quick stird. When we was at the Busch Garden event for the team just recently.
I said, you know what, I'm here. Let me get on a couple of year roller coasters. Just I got I'm old. I lost my stomach. My stomach ain't the same.
I used to get on the ride and throw my hands up in there.
Man.
I was on that thing, grabbing everything I could grab. My stomach was up in my mouth somewhere.
I'm like, bro, this is not for me anymore.
So yeah, I'm one of those guys too. Man, I'm to the wanting to right now.
I just want to enjoy.
Life is over. I don't have so much fun. It's fun to me is just being alive years old. He's not lying, man, Look I'm happy. I'm done.
Knew I wasn't supposed to do. I said, I'm gonna sky die. Last year we got up there in the plane. I'm tied to the dude. I'm like, nah, you said no, the plane go down, drop me off. They were like, well, we already charge you for it, so be it. I am.
Listen.
When I got up there and looked down, then I was already worried because this dude is scrapped.
I'm like, nah, this ain't gonna work. No.
They were like all right, and they took me right back down, And that's when I knew you Brench moved the three year seeker.
He's done.
Let's kind of let's kind of get this back, you know, like those are good football or or fourth of the life stories. Let's get this back to some football stuff, right right, So like, let's imagine, you know, paint this picture. They got the hamburgers on the grill, the hot dogs are getting ready, potato salads gotten raisins in it.
Whatever we got we don't do raisins.
We got fireworks getting ready. Kids are going nuts in the background. Let's talk some football man. Maybe maybe we're on the cornhole table. Whatever we got, you know what I'm saying. So let's just let me ask you this. Let's see if you can say the power of it are we too hyped about Sam Howe.
No, no, because we need to be hyping if we don't believe in them who that's our quarterback.
We have to be hyped by the guys that you have that's coming into this season that's going to leave your team, regardless who they are.
Yeah, but I get that, But I'm saying, like everyone right now, are fans too hyped about him? Like our expectations realist?
He lived for tasting our mouth the last game he left for tasting our mouth, and we want more.
Yeah, it's like, you know what when you go to Costco, which I'm sure your wife do not. You go to Costco, you know how they give you them they live food. Yeah, how many times have you ate this saus like you know for that went back?
Give me another, give me another list that taste in our mouth? They Costco taste and we want more. And let's just be honest. It can't get no worse than what we had.
Yeah, they can't get no worse. I love so be can't get any where. We can only go forward.
That's my that's my favorite argument you made so far is that it can't get much worse than it was last year. I think he's more talented than Heinike. Obviously he likes the experience, but the release the ball, velos, see the movement skills right, it's there for him. It's just but I think a lot of people I don't know what I talked.
I think we get his league too much credit for for kind of like killing quarterbacks.
What do you mean?
And when I want to because it's a lot of quarterbacks come through these doors from the collegiate stage and perform well in the college get to the NFL.
They're not prototypical, no more. They not.
They can't they can't read or can't do this. They can't read a defense, they can't be a pocket passer.
It has changed.
The offenses these days have changed and more college like that, more cottage like.
They're more with the spread.
Now you see four or five receivers starting.
I never saw Monday night game where I'm seeing five receivers saying they're starting or wide receiver receive five wide.
Receivers that's on the Monday night. You know, you know, start lineup.
So the offense are now more open up to these guys that played well in the cottage level. They they've created their environment for the quarterbacks to come in and feel that they're not having to be different from what they was when they played in the collegiate level.
So I think a lot of folks that still stuck.
On the Peyton Manny, the Drew Breeses, the Tom Brady's, they stuck in that era that this is who the quarterback is supposed to look like, where they don't look like. Sam Hoow is not none of those guys. But I can tell you it's a lot of guys in the league right.
Now he looks like.
And have an example, who does he look like right now?
Well, I just spoken one to me if we had the bank on anything. And I'm not talking about Tony romocause he's not the only game in the league. If I had to pick one guy in the league.
That he shows me the same caliber of style of play.
And this is not a guy that I'm saying that out there and play phenomenal, but he beats us every time.
Yeah, Daniel Jones, I love that compact because I look at it like, I'm like.
When things break down, what can we count on Sam to do? And he does well?
Yeah, be elusive and can you maximize that rushing ability. I think that's one of the things. Like look at Jalen Hurts two years ago, right, like he elevated that offense through a designed quarterback running seam. Now, I'm not saying Jalen Hurts or Sam Hollis, Jalen Hurts is a runner. But like with Daniel Jones, for example, they run two quarterback draws a game, they run one quarterback counter and then they run a lot of keepers and stuff to get him on the perimeter and he can get and
they steal first down. And Daniel Jones does not have to be perfect. And that's the thing that's that's awesome is can you find a wrinkle as a coordinator to put your quarterback in that stock.
It's the threat of being to now have to say, now only can this guy pass the ball on us when he needs to, but he can run having that threat that see Barkley like.
Hold on, y'all tried me.
I don't want this little easily this ten million dollars because I feel like I made Daniel Jones better. Yes, so just put now Sam Howard in that situation. The threat of having those two backs that we have and him that can run on you. Yeah, if it's gotta be, they gotta.
Play so sound.
They can't sit there and turn their backs at no time when he drops back and show that past, they can't turn their backs because guess what if he sees no one open, I'm getting four or five.
Yards on it every time.
That's why, that's why everybody should feel the way Fred is feeling about Sam Howard, because I feel I have that same optimism that.
He can be deadly in a new scheme offense that no one has seen us run.
They go to dead with so many different.
Weapons that but I think that's I'm glad you've made that comp to Daniel Jones. He's Daniel Jones is a what is he like? A top sixteen quarterback in the NFL, and I think he's going to get better. Yeah, But I I think that's gotta be what fans and what people are thinking about. It's not it's not a top five quarterback, not a top ten quarterback. Probably a top twenty quarterback can win your game. That can win your games. That's exactly if you can.
Win the super Bowl with that.
Think about this, If you're a top thirty two quarterback, you're a starring quarterback.
Eight billion people on this planet. We ain't found you love this one?
You love you love this one?
Man, SyRI that oh it is to play quarter.
That's true.
So when you got one that just okay, you better put him on the pede. Like so at the end of the day, to have a guy in the top twenty, you win it.
You're feeling good, right, you're feeling good, especially with this defense playing well. But he's not. I guess what I want want to just make clear. He's not gonna lead the ship. He's gonna be elevated by We don't know that but Fred and we're just playing percentages. Man. And I know you like craps and blackjack and all that stuff, and you like to put it like the lottery. And I'm saying, if you're, if you're, if you're gonna bet your house on him leading the team.
Right now, Manti, it is Sam high with hell four thousand yards, thirty touchdowns.
How many interceptions?
Ten?
Whoa my guy?
That's damn four thousand yards just for thirty touchdowns.
Just just for some context, Shalon Hurts had thirty seven hundred yards last year.
Got nothing to do me.
I'm just saying that that is a big number.
Four thousand yards, thirty touchdowns brow Yeah, how many did we had last year?
They can't wins?
We got Jason our research expert on it.
So what I'm saying is, if you look at YEA, what you're saying, he played in North Carolina, you put E B with it.
But North Carolina? Which which year in North Carolina? That's the question everybody.
Left from his senior. He was by saying why he risks now? But yeah, So I'm just.
Saying his senior shows you what you really can get from a guy that. I mean, his junior was phenomenon. Dammy Brown played like a first round wires you know, and that's why you kind of like you think about it.
We got weapons in front of Diami Brown like.
He can't get on the field once played with this dude.
So just the thing if you had to look at this as a six man basketball team, Jommy Brown being the six man, yeah, and a lot you get him coming in the game with Sam and Sam knows this guy, Well, yeah.
We poping man we have. That's why.
I'm hanging my hat on this offensive line being the officer line that we expect him to be much improved officer line man.
We should be daily offensively man, all right.
So we just got this in Jason. Great job. Twenty three touchdowns last year for quarterbacks combined.
I think Sam is gonna play a lot freer.
I know for a fact he got a better office coordinator y and I just think he had better pass than both of them. So at the end of the day, I'm giving him thirty touchdowns four thousand yards.
You're worried about him being like a rookie at all, like like kind of his first time seeing NFL, Like NFL defenses.
Not look too big to him.
I just watching them player against Michael Parsons and Teyvon Diggs, Like I watched him player against the top ten defense already. It didn't look like it was too big for me.
And that's all I want to see.
And one of the and I ain't mean to cut off one of the things that I'm always you know, hold my hat on. It's just like I said, it's not all on him defensively too. If you watch that game when they played against the Cowboys, our defense put him in situations where he couldn't do nothing.
But I was about to say, you know, you know, punch it in.
So when you look at what we're doing defensively and then collectively as a team, that's what makes these quarterbacks.
A lot of these quarterbacks have went the championships.
We watched a quarterback when I was coming out of the college in two thousand, the Baltimore Ravens went went to the championship. Different with Trent Death. What was the what was the key component to them going to the Super Bowl that year?
Running defense?
And he rushed for two thousand yards.
Yeah, Lewis, But if you just take the two thousand yards out of it, the defense alone. When I watched those guys played the Super Bowl, the defense won the game alone.
It was a punk return for a touchdown and.
All, and the defense still showed these guys just what got us here?
So, and I'm not saying that we the Baltimore Ravens defense from two thousand, but if you have a defense that can get after the quarterback, that can cause confusion, that can play the way we trying to play in the secondary.
Sure, Samuel hasn't He doesn't have to be great.
It's be good, just be good.
You had a talent around you know, That's why I think the Daniel Jones compa is excellent. The other one that came to me while we were talking was Jake Clumber from Uh Yeah, The Snake Man.
Jake Snake was very elusive.
He used to do a lot of bootlegs with the snake, and the snake had a cannon for the really pushed the ball down field of Rod Smith and Ed McCaffery.
I wouldn't say, listen, I just don't.
I think everybody sleeps on how great of an athlete Tony Romo was, Like I think.
People forget how elusive After the back surgery, of course, he wasn't elusive no more. Before then, Tony was man.
I had to match my receiver all the time with him because he would get out of the pocket and make things happen.
So I just I see a lot of in him. He was quiet with it, man, Like he didn't really you didn't.
You didn't come in the game saying like how we do with Daniel Jones, Like, man, this guy is gonna break one on us on third down, so watch him.
He just did it. Bro.
He was just so smart and educated on what was going on. Like he didn't make a he did not allow us to have them. You know, uh in a situation where it was a bad play when we locked there because you know there's white and I give that with this white one of the win. He was a great receiver, but he didn't separate a lot from games. I mean, my bad de Brian, my bad. Yeah, not that white. Dez Bryan's white played the Chicago he was. But Daz Bryan is one of those receivers where he
was dominant at just catching. He had, he had hands that he caught everything that was in his the point of attack. But Tony Romo made a lot of that possible. And when he wasn't open to Romo ran right behind y'all as you as Davis Bryan running up the Fiell on a go route and he's blanketing to Romo behind your running and you look back like that.
This man took twenty And don't forget about Jason Witton wasn't getting no separation. He put he just putting the balls where it needs to be in Sam hasht But Nakolo when it comes to where am I throwing the ball to?
Sam showed me a lot in college, you know, and I and I say this a lot I also know the universe of Miami teams that he was playing against was not the universe of Miami of old. But when I watched him play, I'm like, what the hell is this quarterback from North Carolina dominating like this? And he did some of the same things I saw him doing the preseason, and in that last game when things wasn't there,
he took off. And so you know, when I'm watching him last year in the preseason, like, if you had to ask me, who was the better quarterback in.
The preseason before the season started, was Sam House?
Sam House?
He came in that last game when we expected our offense to be clicking a little bit. That third game, we didn't see nothing to Sam Howe got in the game, you know what I mean. So to see this guy sit out the entire season and just get better being a scout team one defense, yeah it wasn't a surprise, But it was that he played the way he played that last game of the season because he finally got his chance to say, Hey, this is what I want to leave them, This is a taste I want to leave him out.
Going to the offseason knowing that I'm ready to play.
I watch everybody else do it. I'm ready to go. Does it bother you that he don't he read me?
I don't care about his kiddy throw a football when he does that pretty good, So I'm that is a little weird.
We need him to grow up.
Yeah, grow up a little bit, get married, go to nice steakhouse and put some ketchup on it. You said something earlier, and I want to get your thoughts on this because we've had this conversation off there a couple of times, and I've never seen you get so heated about anything in my wholeuse already know. So you were talking about punt returns in the super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens. Who is going to return punts for this team?
Here?
We need a game change and not even a game chair. We need a guy that's gonna move the change. Like one of the things that I was I learned as a pump returning. I wasn't a pump returner all my life. Like I didn't play pump returning. I didn't try to be a pump returned until I got into college.
Well, you also like a freak, though, bro, and and I can't.
Say that I almost athletically gifted because it was nothing that I couldn't do.
I tell folks to this day. You know, my daughters called it. They call it.
I forgot what they call it nowadays when you do a no handcott will and you know, they all in ballet and they do these things and they're like, daddy, you can do that.
I'm like, yeah, I was doing that outside.
I go to the circus every year with my brother on his birthday and the first thing they say, don't try this at home, and Santana's on.
The roof trying it. That's why I broke my mom.
Get out of here.
Yeah. I tried everything. I was that guy in my head. It was nothing I could do.
So getting back to the question, as a pump returner, you need a guy that's gonna give us the first down.
You need to.
Explaining that is at least ten yards.
Our special team coach Mike Westoff used to tell me, and I could go farst back and in college, don Solomon just just say I need you.
He was a running back coach.
He taught Clint Porters, Edwin James, all those guys.
He was. He should be a Hall of Fame high school football coach.
He taught Troy Davis and Darren Davis at South Ridge one on national championships and state championships. Don Salom just say, I need you to get the offense there first, first down, and what he's to tell me is that I need you to get ten yards, and if you don't get ten yards, I need you to make the first man miss because normally, if you make that first man missed, everybody else not in line to get you, you're gonna You're gonna sneaky.
You're gonna sneak out and get about eight to ten yards.
Like I say, if something special has to come out of what you do, you have to be the elite of guys back there.
And the guy that fits that mold to us is Curtis Sammy.
I've been begging and him and I'm taking this from I'm taking this from Smooth because he was right last year when I watched Curtis say, I'm like, this guy's a he can get missing in the phone book. Why are we not trying him at punt return? Like ca to this league and say this is what the guy can do and cannot do. No, just like what was done to the college but Butch Davis told me, Hey, Ten, I need to go out there and catch punts.
I said, Noah, coach, I'm straight.
And then the second time he asked me, say Ten, I needed to go out there and catch punts, he said, I'm not accident. So that told me a lot, like the whole team needs you to do what I thought about while I was back there catching it.
This is a chance for me to do something more. This is a chance to give me on the field more, you know what I mean.
So when you have a guy like Curtis Salmon and I'm not sure if he ever caught him, if you can catch the caiss, you can catch him.
Apparently apparently he's only caught nine in his whole career.
We're gonna practice this thing and the off season and get you ready.
I truly believe that Curtis Samuel is the missing gym that we have on this team that we're not even trying to put out there to be the dynamic player that he can be.
If you're not give him the ball.
I need you to do that. But you've you've played with guys who are crazy athletic, they just can't.
It's a different case. Not saying we're going to force him to do something he can't do.
We gonna seem saying we got to put him back there enough free season so we could be comfortable with him doing it now. Also, it was it was moments when we put two punt returners back there. You put one back that that can catch it, one that can run with the boa you can catch it, catch.
It, and we gonna run. We're gonna do something. I'm being real though, man like, like what.
You're saying, though, I think that's a really healthy, healthy perspective. Right, It's like the standard Danny Smith, every special teams coach I ever played for him, it was like, we, as the part return team, need to get you ten yards. That's the goal, right, So it's making good decisions is number one. That's the number one thing. And Dax does that. We all agree he makes good decisions. It's just can you get that ten yards? So of the of the other guys, you know, Curtis Samuel was the guy that
I think is very popular. Yeah, Kashmir Al, I just about to ask you about that, right he did? So, he didn't really, that's the thing. He didn't return punts in college. But he's gonna have to do that here.
I want to know this will I will also even put my man Ag back there. Think he Jesus phenomenal talent.
Man like the dude.
Now you talking about my up of the cability. I haven't seen nothing that Ag couldn't do. He returned, and if they gonna be short, I mean, we don't know this offense and how they're gonna use him. But last year we were talking about this. I'm like, man, I would pay Ag back there because if he's gonna be pissed off about not getting carries, they carried.
But don't you find that running backs have a hard time catching punch running.
He's an ex Robb Receix quarterback, quarterback punts back if you could play quarterback, not even being a starter.
He ran three punts for touchdown back.
You can catch the ball, and he showed that he can do that in college already.
Yeah, it'll be interesting to get him back there. I didn't know he caught punchs before. He would be to get down so hard, so hard, because he's a big man, he's fast. Yeah, I didn't know he caught punch because he usually running back kickoffs.
No, he ran kickoffs back and he ran them for touchdown and he ran punchs back.
Don't forgetting games. Will from Philadelphia was in his back Yeah. Uh, Pollard from the Cowboys with in his backfield, so he had to find other ways to get the ball while receiver plunt return kickoff return is how he did.
The other guy that's interesting to bring up is Tinsley, the kid from Penn State who's also kind of showing that polish as a receiver, but maybe he sneaks in as your.
I'm pretty sure it's gonna be a guy too that we're not even talking about right now that's going to probably, you know, be in the runnings for that position come some preseason plump returnament.
It's just something about pump returners.
You have to be special. You have to be special, bro.
Like.
It's not saying that you have to run back punts.
No, when I say special, you have to be able to see that ball, Go locate it, go run it down, go catch it and then get back up, peel and make something happen.
And James Rash was not the fastest dude, but thres gonna get your team now.
James Draft was fast. If you go back to James Dras in the league. But I'm saying he was a guy on the track. James Draft was pretty fast and he gonna get up the field.
What I'm trying to the port I'm trying to make is there's guys that play the position and they're not the twisted up the speedster, the sixty meter champ, hundred meters champ, but they know how to be a dynamic pump returner because one of the things I learned about the position. And it's crazy because I look at things like this to this day, like I have them. They in my wheelhouse. You're coming down out of control.
Being blocked.
I can set you up and make you go somewhere and you call and you can't stop on the down like me. Now, that's one of the same things I use, the same tactics I use as a receiver. Like I could get the top gear faster than you going backwards. Now you have to turn your hips and run at my top. Now I can stop faster than you when you're just starting to get to your top gear, so I can play with you because you're in my wheelhouse. That's the same thing as most dynamic great pump returners.
Do they know that I can set you if I can put you in the spot, think I'm going somewhere and then I get a block of the blocker you or get to shield you. Now I could put one foot in the ground and get up fiel.
Oh yeah, I love that. And I could talk returners with you all day. But there's one more question I wanted to ask. Are we good at linebacker for the Commanders?
I think so. I think so.
I just I think so.
Everybody don't got a dab in white. Everybody don't have certain guys. But I think the linebacker position because of the receivers.
Receivers, the receivers.
Again the linebackers off the field, and we're bringing in safeties.
Now we're gonna get this hybrid.
So I think the secondary is leaned on more than the linebackers. Are we not a three four defense? Yeah, so we're not a defense that's predicated on our linebackers. We're predicated on our front linebackers.
Is starting to look like fullbacks these days in the league.
Yeah, it's very rare.
That line's more second. Like he's talking about safeties and nickel guys, big safeties.
Well, yeah, that's what you know. We did that like breakdown of Cam Curl and one of the things that stuck out to me is like they are using safeties forrest Cam as linebackers essentially based on defensive structure. Obviously they're not linebackers. But how you would target those runs, how you would target those protections, you gotta count from that way.
I want to stay championship in high school when and this is crazy, how.
How advanced my coach was.
We had this big linebacker, Bradley Jennings. He went to Florida State in the forty four. He came out with us.
He got shot leading up to our draft, so he ended up being drafted. But he was our middle linebacker.
He was a force, but our will and Sam.
We didn't really have a willing Sam. We had two dynamic d ns, but we didn't have a willing Sam. You know, when our coach didn't play nickel, we brought in two corners that lost their position at corner. My homeboy Bowl came in late, played corner and took somebody position. He was the starting corner and the other corner could have easy played on the other side. But Boosey Samuews, who played at Florida State. Also, he was so dynamic as a young guy. We left him at one side
and he was like a sophomore. We put in two corners at Sam and Nickel, and we were so fast that linebacker. So we had as that one middle guy. That guy was gonna clog up everything, gonna run you down. But our guys on the SAM when they was in coverage, they was corners and they sticking your tight ends, your you know, your fullbacks, your running bus at the backfield. And as a young guy back then, I didn't see what we was doing until now look and see the defenses, especially our defense.
Were playing those positions, were playing that.
Now we have guys that can run with people, because I feel like that's where our offense is going. Now.
There's less fieldicality in the run game right now. Well, they spread you out to pass and they spread you out to run.
Yeah, but it's not even like there's less physicality. I think you're just playing odds right, Like, like sixty percent of the time teams run through out receiver sets spread Last year this team only ran the ball thirty seven percent of the time. Right Like, defenses are adjusting to that. You need to find ways to get better coverage players on the field, because as much as you know, having a two hundred and forty pound middle linebackers the thing that helps you in the run game, that guy's a
liability in the past game. You need guys that have a better feel for space, better feel for zones. The other thing I want to ask you about is with that linebacker group, I think one thing that could really tip the scales is Jami and Davis continuing to develop.
Ye after our I thought he took it. I thought he really bowled out last year. Maybe I was looking at the film wrong. I thought he played fast last year. I thought he showed that he was comfortable, and I can only expect that he gonna get even better, especially with Chase Young coming back in and having a D line in front of him to keep the blockers off of him. I think Jamie, I think the best of Jamie Davis we have yet to see.
Yeah, I mean too. I'm really excited. And you know, PFF said that he's like one of the breakout players for this year, and you can see why. He was playing better as year went on, really good against the run, and you see his athleticism in coverage against receivers. You see it, it's there.
It's just year.
It's like, can his instincts start matching that? So I think that group's good. And obviously Cody Barton coming in converted safety kind of that tweeter Cleek Hutson again the guy that kind of is that converted stafty linebacker. So I do think that they are kind of maybe a more modern understanding of the NFL in terms of what's required of the position. I think we're going to be okay. So I think that's going to do it for our Fourth of July show.
Friend.
Hey, hey, heaping forth with July to everybody out there, may your beer be cold and maybe barbecue me barbecue by me?
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I'm talking some superlative. There we go, Maammy heat louse. All right.
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