Welcome to the NFL Report.
And typically we start the show off James with celebratory happy feel Let's.
Get everybody ready.
But as you know, very well as all of us know by now, the February fourteenth Chiefs celebration was mired by a shooting that victimized twenty three people and left one person dead.
Now we're recording this show early Thursday.
Afternoon, so there could be updates to what I'm about to say before the show airs. But this is the latest from Kansas City Police Chief Stacy Graves that preliminary investigative finding shown that there was no nexus to terrorism or homegrown violent extremism. This appeared to be a dispute between several people that ended in gunfire.
That's the last I'm talking.
About these idiots who committed a horrible crime on innocent people.
In the great city of Kansas City.
During the overnight hours, we learned there were twenty three victims off yesterday's shooting. In one of our victims, Elizabeth Galvin, forty three years old, died. We're still learning about her, but no, she's beloved by many. To her friends and family, we are with you. We are working tirelessly to investigate her murder. The twenty two victims age reigned between eight and forty seven years old. At least half of our victims are under the age of sixteen. Again, that's Kansas
City Police Chief Stacy Graves. Thursday, early in the afternoon, James You and Sherry Burris and our fantastic crew ken Field at O'Brien. A lot of our great camera people were there for NFL Network doing the coverage of the parade. I'm just gonna turn it over to you here because it went from like the most celebratory of highs to something I'm sure nobody saw coming.
Yeah, I appreciate that. Steve and Well said.
What I want to get across here is a couple specific points. I've hosted this parade almost every single year I've been at a NFL network all the way back to twenty fifteen. I've done it in a variety of cities. It's one of my favorite assignments every year. I did the two previous ones in Kansas City and then I was able to do this one. I think people need to remember that this parade means so much to fan bases because so few people actually get to go to
NFL games in person. So this celebration in each city a lot of times. For a lot of passionate fans, Steve is their only time to see their heroes, their
favorite players in person. It is a huge deal for a lot of fans and a lot of families because school is usually canceled and you're allowed to go down as a family and celebrate your team's victory, right and you get an opportunity, we saw it during most of the parade on Wednesday, to maybe interact with these players, get a handshake, a fist bump, a you know, a selfie if you could. And people go all out for these things, you know, signs and camping out the night before.
It is a big deal for a lot of fans. And I mentioned kids specifically because it's a big deal for kids. This is a core memory, or should be a core memory for a lot of kids with their families, and because of what happened yesterday to all of us that were there, this is sadly a core memory that is going to stick with a lot of children for
all the wrong reasons. And that's the part that I keep thinking about after what transpired, and it's affecting anyone that was involved in any stretch, whether you were as Steve mentioned, twenty three people that are directly impacted with gunshot injuries, and one family has a member of their
family and Liz not coming home. But then there's the people that are friends and family of those individuals, and then it extends to everybody that was there, everybody that was close, everybody, no matter how far you were away at the parade, it's impacting you one way or another, whether it's physically, whether it's mentally.
I'm not sure where I stand mentally. Right now.
We're about one hundred and fifty yards from where this transpired on our stage. We had as a team to hide under our stage together our entire production, until law enforcement, who was brilliant came and got us and kept us safe. But this isn't really about us there. This is about I think the young people. Steve that a lot of them,
as you mentioned, were specifically impacted. But as we were trying to leave and so many of us are stuck there, We're in a parking garage that's somewhat secure, and I'm talking to a family in a truck and the mother's telling me how they were about fifteen yards from where this transpired. And she told me she jumped on top of her three boys, and her husband jumped on top
of her just to keep these three boys safe. And I see them sitting in the backseat of this truck and they're in their Mahomes Jersey and they're Kelsey Jersey, and they're justin Reed Jersey. And I'm the only idiot in a suit there, Steve, So I stand out pretty pretty well. And one of these boys recognizes me from NFL Network, and they wanted to step out of the truck and take a picture. We're going nowhere in this parking garage, nobody can move, nobody can do anything, and
we take a picture. And the only thing I'm thinking of is that these three kids memory of this parade is dramatically different than what they thought they were going to have when they went to Union Station. So I just looked at him and said, like, hey, you guys want to talk some football, Like you want to ask me anything about Pat, You want to ask me anything about Trav Like, let's talk some ball.
Like.
My first thought, Steve, was, how do I change their memory of this or maybe distract them for just a moment.
And try to do that.
And so that's what sticks with me from being there, is that things like this and it's it's not the form to talk about my stance on anything, but things like this, when they happen, young people being affected, and we can't even imagine the number of ways they can be.
So I'd like to move forward.
I'd like to talk some football and hopefully distract some more people.
From thinking about what happened.
But we have to acknowledge it and acknowledge what transpired and that it still has an impact on a lot of people. And we'll continue to and we'll see how this shapes things moving forward. But I think we should we should talk some balls.
Steve well JP, well done by you, and you talk about memories.
They've got that photo with you, and that's going.
To change some of the memories that may be traumatic to them and a lot of other people. So much respect to you, much respect to law enforcement, the medical enforcement, and those good Samaritans who helped apprehend the bad guys and help save the lives of so many JP. Again, well done. Also coming up on the show, we are going to have our draft analyst Lance zero line. But up next Terry Fonto, the Falcons general manager. You see him with his new coach, Rohie Morrison t president Greg Beatles.
He's going to talk about the Falcons plans for the draft and possibly some trains coming up. That's after the break on the NFL Report.
We'll de tate Belsie.
This is coming home.
And when you get a chance to go back home in this profession, it is extremely important and it is extremely critical to everybody involved. I can express the joy that I have right now to be able to come back and work with the Blanks, to be able to come back and work with all these people around me
that I've been with for years. And I could talk about this for the rest of the press conference and I probably may bore you, but I don't know if you've ever been in the spot to coming back home, but this is certainly the best people in the world.
We are back at the NFL Report and you just heard new Falcons head coach Raheem Morris at his introductory press conference and JP we are now joined by Falcons General manager Terry Fonteau, who was part of the committee that helped bring Raheem.
Morris back to Atlanta.
Terry, thanks so much for joining us, and let's get right to it, Terry, the decision to go with Raheem.
I mean he's been in your building for a couple of weeks now.
Just a feeling you have of bringing him back and you and him getting to work together for the first time.
Yeah, Steve James, first of all, appreciate y'all having me on. And before we get into football, I do want to acknowledge yesterday and let everyone in Kansas City know that down here in Atlanta, our thoughts and prayers are with them, with everyone that was affected by those tragic events. But to your question, very excited about Raheem, and it was. It was a thorough, detailed process with a lot of people involved. We talked to fourteen of the brighter minds
in the NFL, including some veterans, some younger guys. But man Raheem really stick out throughout that whole process. His infectious, infectious positive energy, the football acumen he has. He he has a clear vision of what we're gonna do here, and he's a two time champion. He knows how we're going to get there. So it's been really fun working with him.
Terry, appreciate your knowledging Kansas City off the top, classic move, appreciate it. What I'd like to pass us forward to is and once you hire a coach, once you have a staff, I don't know if people at home really
know what goes on inside of a building. If you could kind of tell us kind of the process once that staff's in place, how both sides from evaluating what's happening in free agency and the upcoming draft and just the process from your side and the coaching staff side, how you maybe start mending it all together, and how you go about the next several weeks after Raheem is hired.
Yeah, great question. We're right in the midst of that process right now. The first step is to really take a hard look at your roster. You really have to look internal. Before you go out and buy new clothes, you need to know what you have in your own closet. So that's what we're doing right now. And we're spending a lot of time with the coaches, and not only the new coaches, but the coaches that have been here, really going through our entire roster. And we'll spend time
in those roster meetings in the coming weeks. And once you do that, you spend a lot of time with the coaches going through the specific profile and the details of the players that we're going to be bringing in. Spending time with the coaches and the scouts and getting the staff together in regards to what's going to be the profile of what a Falcon looks like in all
three phases of the game. And from there we can devise the right plan and make sure we have the plan to attack free agency, to attack the draft in the right way. So it starts off with looking at your own players.
But Terry, you've been part of the process of building this roster for the past few years, and there is no denying there is a tremendous amount of talent on both sides of the ball. I mean, you really got big on defensive free agency last year. You've drafted big at the skill positions on offense. But the big question is the quarterback. I mean, I've been told the people in your organization, you guys planned to be very aggressive to get the quarterback that you need. What does that mean?
Does that mean trading up? Does that mean going into free agency? What exactly does that mean?
Yeah, we won't close any door.
Steve You're right, that's the top priority for us this offseason, and it's exciting again not only people that have been in the building, but people outside the building from Raheem and Zach tj Yates, Ken Zampz, DJ Williams. We have a lot of really smart people in the building. We're going to spend a lot of time together make sure we attack that the right way. We're not going to close any doors, be it trades, free agency, the draft.
We'll make sure we keep an open mind there and we're going to attack it and make sure we get it right.
Terry mentioned the draft. You're sitting there at eight.
A quarterback could be in play there to day you may feel the decision has to be made that you need to move up. This is kind of what you can tell with this question as well. What I'm fascinated with. How do those conversations kind of start with other teams. What's the pacing I guess in terms of the conversations you would maybe have just to feel it out, And when do those really around the NFL start heating up.
Well, you're right, I'm actually sitting right outside. We're right in the midst of our February draft meetings. Our area scouts are in town, and we have a lot of stuff going on simultaneous to getting ready to get with the coaches and work with our roster. We're also going through our draft meetings right now, just with the scouts.
So this is the.
Phase where you're just meeting about with the scouts and then we get the coaches involved and then we get into the combine and all that stuff.
But it's really fun.
And I'll tell you what, it's a really strong draft, not just a quarterback, but a lot of positions.
So that's really fun.
To your question, talking about that communication, you keep that open line and you start talking right now, just touching base with because you have some some gms that were just put in place in some areas, so you make sure you have that line of communication open. You spend time at the combine and so we're always talking about everything. We're very open to communicate. But it's gonna be a fun year because I would say it's a very strong draft.
Terry.
I know you're not gonna give me an exact answer on this, and I would expect any I asked question sometimes to get him.
Right now.
Okay, well let's go there.
Then the one player, hey, the one player who continues to be linked to you via trade potential trade conversations is Justin Fields out of Chicago.
He's from Atlanta.
But you had an opportunity to draft him a couple of years ago, and you decided not to. Can a player like Justin Field show enough evolution in the first couple of years of his career, and like you said, you now have a coach change or maybe there's a different philosophy to make you change your mind about going and getting a player like him.
Now, I gave you too much credit.
You know, I knew it.
I answer that question, Steve, I'm gonna get a call.
My cell phone's right there, and Ken Fiora is gonna call me right away, and we're gonna be We're gonna have tampering and I'm talking about how excited we were about this draft.
We're gonna lose a draft pick if I answer that question.
Okay, okay, But what I'm saying is, but what I'm saying is can.
A player then But can a player then who maybe that you didn't select in a draft.
You have an a particular point.
Can they evolve over a couple of years, you're like, Okay, this player is better than what I thought and he fits what we're trying to do. And it doesn't matter to you out in your quarterback, But can a player showed that type of growth as to where you really get sweet on him so to speak?
No, that that is a that's an outstanding question, and that's why you do. You evaluate players at every point in their career. And that's why it's so critical as we go through for a agency and again possible trades, we're evaluating every player. You're never going to look at a report from last year or the year before. We're going to look at the evolution of the players. And so yes, it's answer your question. Your question, it is we have to be detailed and evaluate players in every phase.
Look, it's the same way with people.
You can have someone that you know, you knew at a certain point in their career as a coach, and then now three or four years later, Okay, were they at this point in their career? We all grow and adapt, So, speaking in general about any player that we have to make sure we have recent reports and know where they are at this point in their careers.
Terry, I love that in terms of growth and adapting, and everybody has a different opinion on every player, right, and that's what you're trying to do in the room and see what everybody has to say. So there was a lot of talk with how you guys were going to use b Jon Robinson taking them where you took him a year ago. I'm just curious what Raheem's conversation with you is like when he came in going this is what I may.
Bee envision for a back like that.
Have you guys kind of talked about his evolution going into year two.
Yeah, we're still working through that and that's a part of going through the process and going through our players
and spending time with the staffs. What I'm excited about with this staff is from uh from where we're talking about Zach or Jimmy or Marquise who has been here, is we do we have some really smart coaches that are always learning and adapting in their open minded So we'll have specific things that we want to do, but we're going to make it fit our players and make sure the scheme fits our players, and we're going to
go out and add some more guys. So I'm very excited about this staff here because I know we're going to get the most out of every player on this roster. We're going to go out and find some more and make sure we're ready to roll this year.
Yeah, you know you got the old line. You know you got the running backs to pound the ball. But Terry, you know you talk about.
You're evaluating some things with your area scoles and whatnot. But just maybe if you can just tell us about the overall depth and talent at the quarterback spot of the prospects entering this year's draft.
Yeah, good, good depth, no doubt. There's some really good players and some different flavors. So there's different types of quarterbacks that can do some different things. And again we're going through that process right now, just with the scouts initially. Then we get the coaches involved, and like I said, we have some really uh smart coaches, some really good guys that I'm excited to really attack that with. So
we know what we're looking for specifically. But it's a really good group of quarterbacks this year, not only in the draft, but like I said, free agency via trade, there's some really talented players available and we're excited to attack that.
I will have you on further, Terry, to talk about in depth about those specific free agents.
Maybe never mind, we won't do that. Don't worry, we won't put you there.
With the drafts A great answer.
Yeah, well it's gonna tell me to ask the question and then he's gonna say, well, okay, well we can't get Tyler to there.
A stick with the draft.
Another spot, looking at your defense, Terry, looking at your TV, I'm looking at at at the edge spot.
What what do you see out of this class?
Is this maybe a class where there's, you know, some years it's there's a couple at the top and then there's almost maybe sometimes a gap before you hit the next bunch. Is this one that you can find guys in different rounds that can rush the passer from the outside.
Yeah, there is.
There are some really exciting guys at the top, like you said, but also there's there's depth throughout and there's there's really good players throughout the entire draft. And I have a lot of confidence in our staff. I know we'll find those players through off the draft.
But it is.
It's it's strong in that area regarding the pressure players. But this is draft overall, it's going to be a really fun year. It's an exciting year, and we got a couple of extra draft picks this year. I'm excited about that because it's a very deep draft and there are definitely some pressure players, not just the edge guys, the outside backers, some there's some interior pressure players.
So it's exciting going into.
Your fourth year now in this position. What are some of the key things that you've learned.
Yeah, I think anytime kind of what we've talked about where you can get people at different phases of their career, and the key is to continue to learn and always. Guy gave us one mouth and two ears for a reason, because we always need to be learning and listening and evolving. Every year is going to be different. But I think specifically sitting in this seat, you need to make sure you surround yourself with really smart people and listen to
and learn from them. And that's what I'm always trying to do, and I know the people around us are always trying to continue to learn, continue to adapt because every year is going to be different.
Awesome Terry fin no Falcons GM joining us on the NFL Report. Steve he wants to keep all these draft picks by the way, So he's going to watch what he says on our show to make sure he gets to capitalize on how.
Deep this draft is.
And we're excited to keep an eye on you guys down there in Atlanta. To Terry, I mean, you're a fascinated team to watch this offseason with everything that you guys have already and we're looking forward to what you're doing. So thank you so much for joining Steve and I on the NFL Report.
Appreciate it.
Thanks, guys, appreciate it.
Coming up, we're going to talk to some defensive coordinators and that man right there has won four Super Bowl rings, Steve Spagnolo, fresh off of a new contract to stay in Kansas City. What has he done right and what does some other ones need to do to do the same thing Spags has done.
More of that coming up on the NFL Report.
You're listening to the NFL Report podcast, but you can watch me, Steve Weich and my co host James Palmer on The NFL Report at seven fifteen Eastern time on Mondays and Thursdays on the NFL app and free streaming platforms on.
The NFL channel on Roku two.
B Peacock Pluto TV and other free streaming apps.
Welcome back to the NFL Report, James Palmer, Steve which with you. The big news on Wednesday was that the forty nine Ers fired defensive coordinator Steve Wilkes after just one season, and Steve, we have had turnover at the defensive coordinator spot in San Francisco because they just all keep getting.
Head coaching jobs.
It was Robert Sala who was there, and then it was Demiko Ryans who picked up where Sala left off, and then they bring in Steve Wilkes. What I'm curious most about is you pose this question to me, and now I pose it to you. If they win Super Bowl fifty eight and they take a Vintombardi Trophy back to the Bay Area, is Steve Wilkes still the head coach, still the coordinator a defensive coordinator for this team in twenty twenty four?
Yes, I mean, look, I am not saying this decision came solely off of one game, but it would be very hard to justify the firing of a defensive coordinator whose defense had been pretty good most of the season. Now it wasn't he had to measure himself up against Robert Sala and Demiko Ryans. There were points a season where this Niners defense was not as great or as dominant as those teams, especially in the playoffs and especially against.
The run, where they were once impenetrable.
But they played a Super Bowl game where they lost their best their second best defensive player in Drake green Law, or their third best defensive player. Let's not forget they did not have Pro Bowl safety Tallano Hufonga for almost the entire season, so there was a lot of shifting going on with this defense at points, but there also seemed to be some issues along the way. Remember Kyle Shanahan said Steve, come down from the booth and get
on the sideline. So Wilkes came down to the sideline and things seemed to turn around briefly, well I won't say briefly. Things seemed to turn around. Something get better from that point on. So again, there's gotta be more
to this, something that's been brewing all along. But I still think if they win the Super Bowl, Steve Wilkes would still be the defensive coordinator for the forty nine ers because then they could take all off seas and they say let's work on some of these things that I didn't think went quite right in twenty twenty.
Three, I think exactly right.
See this is one year and Kyle Shanahan said repeatedly that there wasn't a lack of effort by Steve Wilks.
Trying to make all of this work.
And when I say trying to make all of this work, it's because it's a system that they wanted to keep in place that has been there and built for the personnel that they have.
It was run by Solid, was run by Demiko Rans.
They didn't really have a strong in house candidate that could have replaced Demko, And essentially you put Steve Wilks in a position where he's running a system that wasn't essentially one he's very familiar with, but you wanted to keep the continuity for your team, and I understand that as well. So maybe some more time would have actually
helped Wilkes in a sense. But I think also being the escapegoat can also happen at the exact same time, because I do think we live in a world of recency bias, and this defense was not at its best in the most recent of games. You mentioned what happened with them against the run during the postseason.
It didn't just fall off, it dropped off a cliff.
Ye.
I mean they were third in the NFL against the run during the season, and they more than doubled that. I think it was almost seventy yards a game. They were giving up more during the postseason than they were during the regular season. And you don't think Kyle Shannan doesn't forget that those are the last several games that they played. And then when you look at also comments that certain players make you hear Nick bos To say after the game, we were not prepared for Patrick.
Mahomes to be using his legs.
That's not a great comment you want coming out of the sal for your defensive coordinator. And the other aspect of it is Steve Wooks is brilliant working with the secondary and great back there. This team is built off of its front seven. It has been for a long time, so I think there was that aspect as well. This seemed like a difficult decision for Kyle Shanahan, but he said it had to be made. I'm not sure where they go from here though.
Uh.
And that's the other part that I'm I'm kind of fascinated by with because this is very late now in terms of making a higher.
Brandon Daley's out there brandis Daley's out there, and he comes to that from that Sean McVay Vic Fangio type of system that's kind of similar to.
What they like to do.
Well, JP, let's go to the other side and not a coach getting let go, but a.
Coach being retained. Kid's hitty.
Yeah, signed DC Steve Spagnolo to a well deserved contract extension. We talked to Spags on the podcast the end of podcast while we're at super Bowl? What about Spag getting taken care of?
I think this is just, you know, so much of this.
You know, two weeks, Steve, we've been out in you know, covering the Super Bowl and then out in Vegas and it's is Andy Reid going to retire? Is Andy Reid going to retire? Well that was solidified, right, Andy Reid's going nowhere. And this is a big part of why Andy Reid's going nowhere. He literally does not have to worry about half his football team right because he has
Steve Spagnola running that entire defense. I mean, the faith and trust that this team has in that man right there is remarkable.
I mean, second to none.
There are guys that have told me, Steve, if Spags isn't here, I'm not sure I want to even play here anymore. And this is one of the best organizations in football. That's the way that's not ant to Kansas City. That's a feather in the cap of Steve Spagnola. When the parade was going on during the speeches and Justin Reid came out and said, I hope everybody here knows that Spag's got a contract.
Extension this morning.
It was the roar was just as loud as it was when Patrick Mahomes got introduced or Travis Kelcey. That's the way everybody in Kansas City acknowledges what Spagnola can do. And I think this is only going to continue, Steve, because these are young players that have been drafted into this system and only continue to become more intelligent in what he wants him to do and allows him to make even more and more adjustments, which makes his defense.
Well, here's the other thing Steve Spagnolo likes.
So many chiefs assistant coaches are kind of the victims, so to speak, of the team's success.
Very few coaches under Andy Raid.
Have left because they're playing in so many Super Bowls. Look at how long it took for Eric b Enemy to have to go someplace else. Andy Reid has lost very few of his assistants and that coaching continuity again because a lot of times his teams are playing deep into the playoffs. That works against some guys trying to get coaching opportunities or coordinator opportunities because those teams with vacancies tend to make the HighRes before the.
Super Bowl is played.
So that has benefited the Andy Reid and the leadership there to be able to retain people likes bags because of their successes a JP. Now let's go to one more defensive coordinator move, and that is down in Dallas, where, of course Dan Quinn, the former defensive coordinator left to become the head coach of the Commanders, and Jerry Jones and Mike McCarthy go way back into the Cowboys time machine and they bring in Mike Zimmer to be the
defensive coordinator. Remember, Zimmer was a secondary coach with some of those Super Bowl teams that Dallas had back in the nineties. Now he's basically back on with a head coach. He's got one year to prove he needs to get an extension.
That's a great point. I mean, dan Quinn had this defense in a good spot. Let's just I will kind of put it that way. What led the NFL and takeaways in twenty one and twenty two, top five scoring
defense in twenty twenty two and twenty twenty three. What my main focus, Steve is what does Mike Zimmer come in and do in developing a relationship with Micah Parsons Because I think we talked about this on the show mid season when I had a long conversation with dan Quinn in the lengths that he went to find ways for Micah Parsons to be comfortable, find ways for him to play at the highest level possible, to find new ways to use him in new ways for him to
be effective, and develop their relationship together. That was a huge part of being, you know, the defensive coordinator of a player that is so unique as Micah Parsons. I think that's the first thing that Mike Zimmer has to do is make sure that that's intact, because that could.
Be who knows, volatile if you will, but.
Also, it's kind of right.
I am the linebacker position as well. That is a spot that I think you want to talk about, and that is a spot that remember we have a converted safety playing linebacker. Now listen, there were injuries, there were things like that, but I think Zimmer is focused on that position. On the defensive line needs to be a
focal point as well. But I think there can't be a drop off in the in the aspects that I mentioned, and there needs to be maybe an increase in certain things like penalties, which this team is one of the more penalized defenses in football the last couple of years. How do you change that and remain aggressive? He says he doesn't want to, you know, remain the wheel entirely, Steve. But what do you see Zim coming in and doing on this defense?
Well, first, the bigger, the biggest thing, and we know this is the personalities. Dan Quinn was the dude, Like everyone you talk to in Dallas will tell you on both sides of the ball that Quinn was the most relatable dude on.
That coaching staff. That's who they all kind of flowed to.
His energy was what they kind of trickled down and built off of Mike Zimmer is not dan Quinn. Mike Zimmer is an old school, in your face coach. He is a curmudgeon. He will tell you that, but I think the players, once they kind of get beyond that, understand how great of a coach he is. I have been around Zim for a long time, from when he was a defensive coordinator with the Falcons, when he went to be the DC in Cincinnati, and when he went
to Minnesota. And the one thing you'll notice there speaking about the Micah Parsons is there's always one player who he gets to just dominate. It was Michael Bowley, an outside linebacker in Atlanta who always had the most press the stat sheets of any player. At the end of the season, he goes to Cincinnati. Vontes Perfect, an inside linebacker, turned out to be one of the better players.
I know.
Steelers fans don't want to hear anything about Vonte's perfect, but turned out to be one of the better players in that year after year.
Then he goes to Minnesota.
You guys guys like Anthony Barr, right, guys who can flex. But you you talked about linebackers at second level, player who can do things. And we know Zimmer is a great secondary coach.
That is his strength.
But he likes to play a lot of that cover two type coverage, So we'll see if he kind of puts that in.
To what the Cowboys like to do.
All right, JP, we talked about the defensive coordinators, but coming up, we're gonna talk about some of the guys coming into this year's draft.
I don't know anything. You don't know anything. We've been covering the NFL. Land Zer, he.
Knows a lot and he'll be back to.
Join us next on the NFL Report.
Three hundred of the best college football players get the chance to showcase DERI skills in Indianapolis at the twenty twenty four NFL Scouting Combine presented by Noble Combine cover It starts February twenty ninth.
Right here on NFL Network.
And also, let's not forget that the NFL Draft takes place in Detroit April twenty fifth through twenty seventh.
JP.
And now we're joined by our draft analyst lambs On, so L James and I We're gonna go Denzel Washington right here, explain this to me like we're kindergarteners.
Right, We've been immersed in Super Bowl covers.
We've been immersed in the NFL's When it comes to draft prospects, we know nothing.
Okay, and let's start with the quarterbacks.
And we're all assuming that Caleb Williams out of USC is gonna be the top pick, if the Bears hold the pick, or else whoever comes up to get the pick. What can you tell us about Caleb Williams as to why he's deserving of the top spot.
Well, I think with Caleb Williams, it's kind of interesting because from a physical standpoint, he's kind of average sized, decent size.
His arm talent's really really good.
I think if you watch tape this year, it's a little uneven, frankly, and it's because he tried to play a lot of hero ball. He wasn't surrounded with a great offensive line. He had pressure on him a lot, and I think he developed some bad habits. But when things are right and he's in rhythm, man, he is terrific. I mean it comes out of his hand a little differently. He's got the ability to make the improvisational throws as you just saw right there.
And let's face it, when you look at Pat.
Mahomes the guy who's been the most consistently excellent quarterback outside of Tom Brady over the last several years, or if you want to even talk about Aaron Rodgers.
Things that those two guys can do.
They've got good arm talent and they get outside of the pocket extend to make big plays. And I think that's what gets people the most excited about Caleb Williams.
So what you've got with Kayleb Williams is a guy who I think is going to go first. I think he is going to go to the Bears.
It'll allow them to he set that clock for rookie contract and really hit reset on a quarterback that they feel like might be a better passer there in the in the Chicago area. So of this quarterback class, you know, is he the best player in this in this class?
I don't know if.
He's the best.
I rarely have quarterback at the very top of the list. Is he the best quarterback? I think he's definitely the best quarterback Steve, and that's that's why he's going to go first. The upside, the potential, the background of productivity, it really checks out checks a lot of boxes.
Yeah, Lance We had Ian Rappaport on the show earlier this week and he kind of said similar things to the Bears most likely staying at that number one spot. Taking Kayleb Williams is going to take a massive haul for anybody to come up there and try to take that number one spot away from them. And I look at you know, Ryan Poles running the show. There was
with Patrick Mahomes for five years in Kansas City. If anybody want to make the comp I would assume Ryan Poles has enough intel being with Patrick Mahomes day in and day out to make a very educated opinion about some of the comparisons we are seeing out there. What about the system staying in Chicago? Shane Waldron comes in disciple of McVeigh. Is this a solid fit for when you evaluate Caleb Williams's strengths that this would be a system he would flourish in lance.
That's a great question. You know it can be if Caleb will let it be.
And what I mean by that is, as I mentioned previously, Caleb will take some things off.
Schedule that don't need to go off schedule.
So I think it's going to be really having the offensive coordinator drill down on this is when we extend and take chances. This is when the ball needs to come out to option number two or option number three, we go move on to the next play. It doesn't have to be hero ball on the next level. And you've got some targets over there in Chicago, and of course they've got draft capital, they've got free agent money.
They're going to build something around Caleb Williams. And and I think the number nine pick could easily end up being a wide receiver as well, or they could move up and target one of the top three wide receivers in this draft. So I think it could be a really good offense for him because he has the ability to play in rhythm and the offense you're talking about the schedule is.
I mean, it's playing on schedule, it's playing a rhythm.
It's kind of levels passing attack where you make a simple read and then you throw a the accuracy in touch.
It could be a really great offense for Caleb Williams.
It's just a matter of will he stay inside the structure of that offense and showed the discipline that he's kind of lacked over the last year and a half when he felt like he had to carry the team because frankly, he did have to carry his team.
Yeah, when we saw him in Oklahoma, though we saw him play on schedule.
I mean, that was the thing.
That's why I say, you know, when you talk about him with the bad habits, just because of the USC, he's scoring forty points a game, but he knows he had to score forty.
Eight to win. So that's when you talk about I don't know if.
We're talking to the same guy, Steve, because I had I had somebody I was questioning some of the USC stuff I saw, and this and this scout from hes a personal exact now from a team that needs a quarterback, said, if you go back to Oklahoma with Lincoln Riley, you can see him play in schedule. Uh, you know, instructure much more, play on schedule much more. And he raved about the fact that. And I said, aren't you worried about going back that far? And he said, no, I
don't think so. I mean, he said, just because he developed, you know, he said, is it a bad habit that he developed or is it just taking on too much? Those are two different things. And he thinks if you go to Oklahoma, you see what you need to see in terms of being on time. So I think that's a great point that you make. It isn't his background, so he can't do it. It's just a matter of getting him back there and trusting the guys around him.
Again.
Okay, so Lance, Let's let's get to some of these other quarterbacks.
Okay, Well we see Drake May. You know, he's who some people consider the.
Second best, but a lot of people don't know a ton about him.
What about Drake May?
Big, arm, height, weight, He's got the trades right, he's got the physical tools. He can throw it. There's some people who want to comp from to Josh Allen. That's who you comp a quarterback with size who's a little inaccurate. You want to throw Theosh Allen. There's not a lot of Josh Allen's out there. That probably one of one situation. Cam Newton had some of the same elements those two guys, But there's not a lot of guys like those two guys in this league.
Now.
I think when you look at Drake May when he's on, he's really really good. He can throw with accuracy, he can throw with positioning, he can throw with the ability to attack down the field, uh and really challenge safeties. The problem with him is he just doesn't sustain it.
It's just not sustained enough. There's there's missed throws in the middle of the field that should be point A to point B throws, and he leaves it behind wide receivers or he drives it over them with a you know, with the just a gun to overthrow where he just doesn't take anything off that fastball. He's got to learn to play without the fastball. He's got to learn to
change up speeds and have that touch. So I think with Drake May, I'll be honest with you, the tape is really uneven for him, and I even question I put it out on social media sometime in early January. I said, after I finished Drake May, I said, I'm trying to figure out why he's a de facto quarterback too in the media.
And it was it wasn't a slam for him. It was just I didn't really see it.
And I took some bullets because the narrative had, you know, come in today, this is the number two, it's it's Caleb and then it's Drake, or maybe it's Drake and then Caleb, and then I watched it and I said, no, it's going to be Caleb and Jaden Daniels, who I'm
sure we'll get to in a second. But I think Drake May is one of those guys that you see the potential, but you got to reel it in and it may take him a year or two to develop the habits that he needs to And really it might be a situation like Josh Allen where you need to get the right pieces around him that can help him flourish despite the fact that he may never be the most accurate quarterback.
Well.
Listen, the situation that Josh Allen walked into as well Lance was an organization that was prepared to be patient with them, which we do not see.
Around the NFL very often.
And with all of these evaluations on these quarterbacks, sometimes with each guy that might be more important than another guy just having the time and the patience that he could come around. I bring that up because we're gonna mention all of these names that I believe you have. Maybe I don't know a little bit of a gap all of these quarterbacks after Caleb Williams. When I bring
this up, is I look at Josh Allen. I look at Patrick Mahomes, I look at these guys that were not taken right off the top, and not the first quarterback taken like of this group. Who could be the best out of this draft right now after Caleb Williams, because that is a realistic possibility. We've seen quarterbacks in seed quarterbacks draft. No.
I you know, so much of it is fit. Obviously, you look at Bryce Young and c J.
Stroud.
I mean, one guy is in a bad situation. The other guy got to a great situation. But that's not to downplay c J.
Strouds. C J. Stroud just much more special than.
I thought he was, and he's every bit the talent that you see on the field and you see off the field. I think in this draft, Jade and Daniels has something really unique. If he were two hundred and twenty pounds, we'd be talking about him as the first quarterback in this draft. He is a legiti dual pass quarterback, a dual threat quarterback who is equally good with his arm as he is with his legs. Most dual threat quarterbacks are gonna slide. If you had a slide or your slide it.
Heavier on the run side, and then there may be a little.
Bit less in terms of passers, whether it's accuracy, placement, whatever, you know, whatever the case may be. Like in basketball, you may have a guy who's a big time scorer who doesn't play as well defensively. When you look at Jaden Daniels, this guy is obviously an outstanding runner.
He had over a thousand yards rushing.
But as a passer, he's calm outside of the pocket, he's accurate throwing the intermediate routes, he can throw as a scrambler and create and extend plays. There's a lot of NFL things that Jaden Daniels does. And let's not forget he's got five years of experience on the collegiate level. He's learned to play football, and it's something that we don't see often anymore. These quarterbacks sometimes are two years, sometimes one year guys out of Dwayne Haskins was a one year quarterback.
We'll see two years every once in a while, three years rarely, four years in the first round.
And you know, we have two guys and Bo Knicks and Jayden Daniels, who I think, and Michael Pennix. Actually all three of those guys. I thought they all had really good seasons and they all took really big steps up, steps up this year because of the natural progression of experience at the collegiate level. So Jaydeen Daniels to me, is gonna come out maybe with the best polish.
Of all the quarterbacks ready to play right now.
I love that.
I love that. He's one of the most exciting players I saw it. But like you said, he's built like RG three, right, He's got everything, but he's very slight.
Guy.
Let's go to edge rusher's real quick.
Okay, you got Latu Latu out of UCLA, Dallas Turner, Jared Vers, what about some of those guys, and then you just got the absolute specimen and Darius Robinson out of Missouri, who was the Senior Bowl MVP.
I'm so excited about the hedge rushers.
Yeah, I think what's gonna happen is I think it's I think it's gonna go and it's it's gonna flow in different directions. It's gonna start with the low quarter back run, then it's going to go to a wide receiver and tackle run, and then you're gonna see the edge rushers come off the board a lot too. Is akin to TJ. Watt already from a from a hand usage stamp. From a hand usage standpoint, yeah, no, I
I gotta be careful. But when it comes to using his hands, his understanding as a pass rusher and this is a guy let me give you the background. Went to University of Washington, was there a couple of years, didn't play much at all because they said he had a neck injury and it would end his career, so
he retired from football. Then Washington's doctor looked at him and said, you know what, we think you can play, but we do think you need these, you know, neck exercises and there's some things you need to do, but we think you're fine. He then goes to UCLA, plays only two years and ends up with double digit sacks in both years and completely dominated the tackles. He has an unbelievable understanding with his hands of how to get around tackles in a very efficient manner. He is so
much fun to watch because he's so polished. Now Jared Verse, he is a ball of dynamite. Jared Burst can get out of a stance and into tackles and ragged all him around with his compact power at the point of attack, his twitch, but also his bull rush is nasty, a little birdie. A friend of his, let's just say, reached out to me last year and said, Okay, he's going back to school, but he wants to know what he
needs to work on. And I'd already written him up because I thought he was going last year in the first round. And I gave him a list of my scouting reports what I thought were the areas of concerns or areas where he needed to work on him, and he worked him and he got better at him this year, and I think Jared Versus is going to come into the league and be an automatic w for whatever team drafts him. Dallas Turner, I mean, he's got height, he's got linked, he's got speed, he's got some great nick
sabing characteristics. In terms of his technique that he utilizes. I do have questions about how he's going to stop the round. I mean he's not a Will Anderson, but as a rusher phenomenal talent. I saw him as a freshman against Charles Cross. I mean, Charles Cross just had so much trouble with him as a freshman. So these edge rushers and I haven't gotten a chop Robinson and Robinson.
But real good lance.
Here's what's gonna have to happen because a producer saying rap.
So what I'm gonna do is we're gonna say we just got it. NFL's over. I mean, I'm ready to roll here, but I got hit with the rap. Can you come back next week? Can you join us next week?
I'll be here for sure.
So we're gonna get you on next week and we're gonna hit the.
Let's get in the lab for the next two months.
Hey, because I'm gonna be at the HPCU Legacy Bowl too, So let's get on to black college players as well.
Appreciate your lance, all right, so come down next.
There are some NFL quarterbacks you likely will be changing teams, but do they have futures in the league. We'll discuss it next on The NFL Report.
Wolver Tate Fell See.
You're listening to the NFL Report podcast, but you can watch me, Steve Weich and my co host James Palmer on The NFL Report at seven fifteen Eastern time on Mondays and Thursdays on the NFL app and free streaming platforms on the NFL channel on Roku, two b Peacock, Pluto TV, and other free streaming apps.
Welcome back to the NFL Report as we close things out, James Palmer, Steve, whitch with you, Steve, There's been a lot of quarterback talk with lanceerline. Let's talk some guys that have been in the league playing the position that might be on the move as we always see a new crop come in and they're shuffling around the league. A former first rounder out of the University of Alabama, fifteenth overall pick.
Mac Jones will be headed where Steve.
Great question. He can't stay in New England. It just did not work there.
No, I wouldn't I wouldn't mind seeing him go to a team like the Minnesota Vikings, right whether they if they resigned Kirk Cousins. That's one thing he can learn under one of the best leaders. Cousins has off that Achilles. You never know, but if all of a sudden Kirk Cousins gets paid and go somewhere else, I think he's someone who can develop under Kevin O'Connell.
I think mac Jones has played a potential. The Patriots just did not do him Justice the past two seasons.
Yeah, and when you bring in a head coach and Drod Mayo that's been in that building on that staff the previous year, there's just you just can't bring him back to New England considering everything that went on in that quarterback room.
I'm looking at a team that was tied to him in the draft.
How about going back up Brock Purty in San Francisco, because I do believe after these two seasons, Brock has solidified himself to whether he should not be looking over his shoulder by any stretch.
If you bring him in right the.
Way he played in the Super Bowl, the way he played again in his second season, I think this is a great spot for Mac Jones to learn to grow to read.
Maybe I don't know, kindle.
His reputation around the NFL, and what better place to do it than with Kyle Shanahan. How about number two overall pick Zach will of the New York Jets. What do you think is in store for mister Wilson this season?
I mean he's gonna be let go.
You heard Woody Johnson the Ode or just basically say they had nothing at backup quarterback this year.
So he won't be with the Jets this year.
My thing is, if he wasn't the number two overall pick, he might be out.
Of the league.
He'll probably be in somebody's camp, you know, to compete for a backup job, maybe be the number three guy. I don't know, but he just hasn't. He's had opportunities, he just has not elevated. We can make all excuses we want, but I honestly he'll He'll probably get two or three shots, but I just don't even know if he'll make any more than a number three for some team.
I had to see that real quick because I'm feeling exactly the same as Henson repeating it, like, would you rather have Zach Wilson or Drew Lock as your backup?
Drew Lock?
I think I'm taking Drew Lock.
I'm taking Drew Lock all day. Drew Lock has got something to him. Even saw last year when he came in, the teammates followed him. That didn't happen.
Was that?
So I would take Drew Locke all day With that one, I wanted to put that out there.
Yeah, real quick, only twenty seconds. Gardner minshew, our guy.
We'll always have a job in the NFL. It's the exact opposite of what we're talking about with Zach Wilson. He has a value in every quarterback room. Steve, Yeah, Gardner Mitschew.
He can go anywhere. The Colts I'm sure would love to keep him, you know. But he's someone, like you said, who's always gonna have a job.
You know.
We also as a job for at least another week.
We do JP as Thel Report.
Oh yeah, we're here for you on podcast.
We're at seven pm now and back next Tuesday, not Monday. Next Tuesday, I'll be in New Orleans at the HBCU Legacy Mold JP. You'll be there at your beautiful home in Colorado. You'll get the final words, sir.
I appreciate that.
And with us doing this because of the holiday on Tuesday, I get to ski on Monday.
Very excited.
And we have a monster guest with Steve just to tease it real quick for next week's show, make sure you tune into the NFL Report or listen whatever you choose.