And now Move the Sticks with Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks. What's up, everybody, Welcome to Move the Sticks, DJ, Bucky and Rhett here full transparency. The pod is in the can. But as we finished the podcast, we had some breaking news that came down, which it always happens this way. The Las Vegas Raiders have decided to move on from Antonio Pierce as their head coach. This is a team that desperately needs to find their quarterback of the future.
They now are in search of a head coach. So the guys didn't have a chance to weigh on on this. We've got a bunch of other content they're going to weigh in here on the rest of this episode. I think you guys are enjoying that. But this just went down and I want to give you my quick take on it before we get to the rest of the pod. This to me is a tough decision. You didn't really have a chance if you're Antonio Pierce with what you had. You didn't have a quarterback in place, You had all
those injuries on the defensive line. Look, Christian Wilkins only played four or five games. Malcolm konsmissed the whole seat, and Max Crosby arguably the best defensive line in the NFL. He's out after you know, twelve or so weeks, so you miss a big chunk of your defensive line. You don't have a quarterback. There's roster holes all over the place, and I think Tom Tellska would admit, like, we're you know, he just got this job. They are in the build
up phase here. They need to acquire a lot more talent to have a chance to win. The challenge would be if you have Antonio Pierce back and what looks like potentially could be a lame duck year, how are you going to attract the right offensive coordinator to come in and help whoever your quarterback is going to be next year? I think they're kind of and no man's land in the draft. Is that a veteran quarterback that
they're going to bring in there. I've had you know, conversations around the league and kicked around ideas of what quarterbacks make sense for what teams, and I've actually lobbied for, you know, the Raiders. The one that makes sense there
is justin fields. You have the makings of what could be a good defense if you get these guys back healthy, Maybe you go into the defense with your first round pick, Field's ability to just run around, make some plays, you know, find a way to just generate some offense that way to compliment what could be a really good defense. He would be a nice bridge quarterback as you're you know, waiting for maybe a better quarterback draft class to find
your quarterback of the future. So just one thought there. As the Raiders have decided to move on from Antonio Pierce. Without further ado, let's get to the rest of the podcast with my buddies RHT Lewis and Bucky Brooks. What's up, everybody, Welcome to move to stick DJ, Bucky, Rhett, guys as those that focus on personnel, focus on the draft, and
focus on team building. This is a big week of change and Buck, I'll get to you right off the top here because we had our lineup all ready to go what we're going to talk about, and just a little bit before we started this show, the Tennessee Titans sprung one on us here, Ran Carthon, friend of the show. He's let go with the Tennessee Titans as their executive vice president and general manager after only two seasons. With the team.
Yeah, look, this is a remarkable story because you talk about such a quick hook, you're really talking about two off seasons where you have an opportunity to put your stamp on the team and you let go before you really even able to kind of get to the vision that you have for the team. This is a team that had salary cap issues. They really didn't have a solid plan in terms of what they wanted to do when rand took over, and he doesn't get a chance to see it. And I understand the quick nature of
the league. Normally it used to be that the coaches were on the more volatile end of the spectrum. But now you're seeing that people have really quick hooks, short leashes. For general managers, even though they kind of bring the players to it, the coaches are the ones that really are responsible for the product that you see on the field.
I think, you know, when you look back to the last couple of years, you know, you kind of wonder about the vision, right John Robinson, Mike Vrabel, you know, were there and they had some success together. Felt like maybe there was you know, strife between you know, different factions of the of the building there and John Robinson's
let go Vrabel. Not long after is gone, in comes karth On, you know, and then you know, they hire Brian Callahan, and now there's you know, there there seems to be at least a divergent path here on where they were going. Now, if this provides some clarity, if this provides them that the path to the vision that they want to get to, then you know, so be it. But man, it feels like there's just been a push and a pull and a tug and not all in the right direction, or not at least all in the
same direction, uh in Tennessee. And maybe this brings them a step closer to it with them owning the number one overall pick DJ also kind of curious as to you know, your thoughts on how much that might have played a role in this, you know, seeing the statement from from Brinker, who's going to have sounds like a bigger role in kind of deciding the vision of this of this franchise. Like, you know, there was a very distinct, you know, piece of that statement talking about talent.
Evaluation at the highest level, and now they got to do that with the number one overall pick.
Well, a lot of times when you see change. There's quarterback issues, and this is a team that took Will Levis in the second round the year before and then sat out the quarterback market this past year, which now as we've had a chance to see it, you look at, you look at and go, okay, well, they decided to take JC Latham the tackle, they decided to run it back with Will Levis, which costs them an opportunity at
Michael Pennix, JJ McCarthy, Bo Nicks and McCarthy. Obviously we didn't get a chance to see this year due to injury. But when you have bo Nicks light in the world on fire, and you have Penick showing a lot of promise to guys who have I think most everybody would agree would be better football players than what you have on campus there with Will Levis. I think that's part of the calculus there, miscalculating uh there, and then there's you know, that's how people end up losing their jobs.
But it this organization buck when you look at one decision can alter a franchise, and when people say that, they think, oh, you selected a quarterback, that was the decision all No, the one decision alter to their franchise. Is trading aj Brown, Like this thing has gone nowhere but down since that one specific mood move, which then seemed like that was where Rabel was not happy. So then Rabel's gone, and then you're like, okay. If you're
the Titans, you're like, well, wait a second. Now that jobs are open, the guy that we let go seems to be the number one candidate on the market, So maybe we screwed that up. Maybe we shouldn't have fired Mike Vrabel.
But all that.
Stuff circles back to that same that same trade that kind of disrupted what they had going there, which was a good bit of success.
Yeah. I mean when you think about, like you.
Guys are talking about the quarterback position and the mistakes that are made a lot of times when you try to go on the cheap right, we try not to go in the first round because we're trying to get the player where the town is suggested he is.
But it still doesn't change anything once they get onto the field.
We judged him like we judge all franchise quarterbacks, and necessarily nothing really fair to the player or to the people that brought the player in. I think the lesson to be learned and Brian dave All said this a couple of weeks ago when they won a game with Drew Locke quarterback.
He was like, your team goes basically.
As the quarterback goes, and if you have good quarterback play, typically your team is good. I think the lesson to be learned is you better make sure that the quarterback that you select in any round, from anywhere in free agency or whatever is good enough to win games. Otherwise you're going to be judged for and when it doesn't go your way, you're also are going to be out the door, just like the quarterback.
I just want one little piece, one business piece of this thing here. The Tennessee Titans have broken ground on a brand new stadium and they are trying to sell PSLs right now too. And just from some things that I've heard there in the Nashville area from the folks that you know, it's it's expensive, and I don't know what the demand has been, But if you want to generate some juice in your organization, you want to make
the right pick with the number one overall selection. You want to go get your quarter back of the future and have that thing all ready to go and building towards some real positivity when you move.
Into that building.
You know, these are also things I think you have to consider because there is a business side of it too.
Yeah, and right now I think, yeah, I haven't looked at I don't look at markets or anything like that, but I would imagine cam Ward is the favorite at this point in time to be the first pick, and that'll kick off a new era and hopefully whoever they decide at that position, they get it fixed, because if you want to generate some excitement and sell those bsls, it starts with getting that position right. And that is the challenge for a team that holds the first overall pick.
All right, lots of other things to get to here, Rhett, I'll circle back to you because you spent time in the market, so I'll give you priority here. New England girod Mayo. He is out your thoughts on that one.
Yeah, you know, surprised that it only lasted a year, But I think the more you unpack and kind of dig into the tumult that was going on over that one year, maybe you start to see it a little bit. And you know, it did feel like there was, you know, some timing issues with the way that the Belichick departure happened and the way that this was going to work for Girod Mayo, that that led to this point here. This was not a talented roster. We have talked about
that on this show a lot. How much of that falls on Girod Mayo, You know, I don't know. So were there some missteps in the way that maybe he had publicly described and handled things? Yeah, I think so, But again, first year head coach, I think, you know, you'd like to see him get the opportunity to have
a better shot with a better roster. And I think that's what Robert Kraft was alluding to when he said he, you know, he had to apologize this was one of the hardest things he's had to do and just did not see the growth though, and felt like it was necessary to make the move. You know, also wonder how much Mike Rabel's availability he played a role in all
this as well. But I know that Girod Mayo was beloved in that locker room when I was there, when he was a player, he was a great leader on that team, and I feel like he'll find his way back to being a great leader on the sidelines here for someone else here pretty soon.
Yeah, it's unfortunately for Girodmeo that it didn't go his way.
When I think about it, part of this was, you know, the copycat nature of the league, where you have someone have success, so everyone to look towards Detroit former player and Dan Campbell, who's a quote unquote leader of men installed as head coach. The Lions get up and going, and so you kind of see that trend going. You have Demico Bryants make the move. You now have Gerroi Mayo and Antonio Peers. Mayo is out and maybe Pierce's following him out the door soon.
And what it.
Does, though, is those guys won't get an opportunity, And so it's really important when you have those jobs, you're ready for those jobs. And for Gerard and Mayo stepping in behind what we will say is the greatest coach that we've ever seen in pro football, there was going to be a drop off in the level of coaching, and some of the whispers that you got from the locker room was a level of concern about the coaching
and the teaching that they were getting. And anyone who comes behind Bill Belichick it's certainly not going to be as polished as button up as committed to dotting the i's and crossing the.
T's as a six time Super Bowl champion.
But Mayo had to understand that, and he had to understand that you better make sure that you have everything lined up correctly, because look, you can be George, you can be judged based on what your predecessor did and when you go like the Patriots did this year regards to what we say the roster was, at the end of the day, people judge you on wins and losses, and it certainly wasn't good enough for what they're expecting in New England.
Yeah, I had an argument yesterday with someone about this job because I'd said it was I thought it was the best job because of three things.
You've got.
Drake may got the quarterbacks that I think's got a chance to be special. You've got the most salary cap space of any team in the league. I think it's one hundred and thirty something million dollars in the space to go out and fill a lot on.
The all sense of line, spend it.
Yes, So go spend it all there. And then you've got the fourth overall picks. You got a top five pick to go along with that, not to mention a history of a winning culture there that you have to believe there's remnants of that that still around that building. I argued, Buck, it's a really good job. The pushback I got was, you have the rest of the roster stinks. There's been turmoil in the organization. The fact you have a one and done coach says that it's not well
run at the very top. So it was an interesting discussion there. Where's your viewpoint what kind of job this is?
Look?
Man, I think, to be honest, I think all these jobs can be good jobs if you understand exactly what you're walking into. I think is really important that when you arepective, hey, a coach, you do understand who's in charge, how the thing is run, and you know why the
previous people have failed in those roles. I think whoever replaces Jeri Mayo has to look at not only the on field product, but the people that are around you, your general manager, the people in administration, to support staff, and what can I do to make sure that we are all pulling the boat in the right direction. If you get the alignment that you want with, then you can succeed. So we can talk about Drake maybeing terrific.
They do have a boldlold of cast base and I believe that Elliott Woolf and Alonzo high Smith are really good at talent evaluators. But I still think you have to understand how can I do this with what I have until I get what I want on the field? That is the trick, because you got to win because people don't have the patience to deal with the loser in any capacity.
I want to hit Buck real quick on this and then we'll move on from this topic. But I was just thinking about this helped me with the timeline of Carolina basketball.
Buck.
So you had Dean Smith right then was it Guthridge? And then it wasn't going as well? You know I had not as well, so they stayed in the family. But there was somebody else in the family who was out at another school who had had success in Roy Williams, and that was This is exact same thing, Am I not? Am I mistaken here? If Rabel ends up being that guy.
Well, yeah, the timeline is a little different.
It was Dean Smith, Guthrie, then it was mad Doherty, who was remember that we quickly that we quickly got rid of to then get Roy Williams back, and so, yeah, I understand which is it and there is something to that. I just never thought that this would be a job that Mike Rabel would want to take, just because of the mormous pressure that is on you when you step into those shoes that Bill Belichick left. Those footprints are massive, and for the Patriots fans, they expect to win at
an unprecedented level. The six Super Bowls have spored them to the point where they think they should go every two or three years to the super Bowl. That's not realistic in today's NFL, but that is what the expectation is going to be when you take that job in New Ink.
Yeah, we've seen a lot of former players step up in the front office and run teams for those teams. Off the top of my head, I don't think of many that have their you know, that are in the Ring of Honor and they're going to take over and be the head coach of the team that they're in the Ring of honor for. As a player, it's a unique situation. Ratt Hold on here, I'm not I'm not
forgetting about you. But the fact that we're doing Jacksonville next, I feel like Bucky, Yeah, I'll just I'll open the floor. What the heck is going on?
Popcorner?
Well, okay, so let's have an honest and transparent conversation about what took place in Jacksonville. Jacksonville released Doug Peterson from relieved him of his duties. Shakan, the owner, decided to keep Trent balky On, and I think for anyone I would I would suggest go look at the press conference that shat Khan had on Monday after the dismissal, and that will tell you everything that you need to
know about why the team kept Trent balky On. Sha Khan talked about his centers of influence to people that he leans on when it comes to football are Trent Balki and then Ethan Waugh, and so naturally it is going to be hard for him to dismiss them when you really trust them with you know, the the jobs that they've done in terms of building the team. There
is talent there. They certainly have a talented roster to have some blue chip players and those things I would say that you still need to upgrade it but there's some pieces in place for the team to win.
Where this all came undone is when.
You had to collapse in twenty twenty three and then you just fail to play well in twenty twenty four, five, and eighteen. In your last twenty three games, you lose ten games by one score this season. You just couldn't see where things were going to turn it around, and that's why.
They it led to the change.
But I think the biggest surprise is that Trent Balki is now hiring his third coach in five years.
With the Jaguars.
Most gms don't get multiple bites at the apple when it comes to selecting head coaches.
Yeah, you know, just I don't think I could say it any better than you did, But they got to find someone like pushing this forward. They got to find someone who brings out what they expected to be elite play from Trevor Lawrence. I felt like we saw the times with Doug Peterson, certainly more than we did, you know,
in Trevor's rookie year with that whole coaching debacle. But this has got to be the priority for this franchise, and that you've already paid Trevor Lawrence like an elite player, and now you've got to go get that out of them, right, because that's the only way to kind of salvage this thing here from being just a total breakdown and rebuild. So that to me is what's on the docket here. I don't know who that. I don't know that they're going to be. Are they in that position to go
get one of these top flight names. Are they in the Ben Johnson market? Are they in you know, the market to find one of these top offensive minds to come in there and kind of, you know, get Trevor Lawrence going the way that they expect him to play.
I don't that that to me is obviously priority one. Diach.
I just maybe it's because I just went through it with the Chargers, and I just saw a head coach and general manager come in together with complete alignment, with a background in history that mirrored one another, with shared values, and I saw him turn it around. I watched Washington go out and get a general manager and a head coach put him in together. Let Adam Peters get someone here he's very comfortable with that he is in alignment with and Dan Quinn and they hit the ground running.
Oh by the way, you know, the benefactors were the two quarterbacks, Justin Herbert and Jaden Daniels, who both had excellent seasons. Because guess what, we're all speaking the same language. We're all rolling the boat in the same direction. To attract a big time candidate for this job without being more alignment there with the front office, I think is
going to be a challenge. And it's interesting because if you'd have said a week ago, if it's a clean it's a clean slate there, I would say it's arguably the most attractive job, you know, because of all the different pieces that they have in place there. So I don't know, it's we'll see how it all works the other way that it happened. You know, Look, Denver goes out and gets Sean Payton, even though had George Peyton there,
but Sean Payton's such a large presence. He came in there and there was no way if he wanted, he had the power to make the decision on George Payton's future. Now that's going to be the message they're going to have to send if they want to get a big time coach to come in there, that hey, if it's up to you. You survey the landscape, you want to make changes, you can make changes.
Yeah, So I think it's really important because both of you guys have mentioned the quarterback and making sure you get the quarterback up and running. But I believe it's bigger than the quarterback because you can keep swapping play calls and changing.
People out at the top.
But to me, and looking at the teams are the most successful, they're culture builders. They're guys that create the alignment within the building. They also hold each of the players to a standard that is high, that is at a championship level, and then they're able to get maximum played from the team, which makes the quarterback better. I
don't know what Trevor Lawrence's ceiling is. I've seen him have like great highs where he's played like a top five, top ten quarterback, but I've also seen him deal with injuries and those things. To me, the best thing that you can do in Jacksonville is build a team that isn't wholly quarterback dependent, that allows the running game to do some things, the defense to do things, and then you're asking Trevor to be a complimentary piece as opposed
to the entire piece of the puzzle. If you're able to do that, then you can win. But I think you have to be careful of trying to put too much on the quarterback and say that he is going to be the superhero that saves today. I don't know if Number sixteen can do that in that environment.
Yeah, I would follow the Chargers blueprint, which was taken uber talented quarterback and Justin Herbert who had been knocked around a bunch, and take it off of his plate. We're gonna run the ball, We're gonna invest in the offensive line, We're gonna protect you. And then guess what when it's go time, when it's the last couple weeks of the regular season and we're going to go into the postseason, put your foot on the gas. You're healthy,
and we're rocking and rolling. That's the Trevor Lawrence formula for me. Already, it's already out there. Just copy the blueprint. What took place with the Los Angeles Chargers, Rhett hit you on this one. Giants Colts both decide stay coach GM No changes made a more surprising move to you between those two organizations.
You know, I'm gonna say I think it was more surprising in Indye that everyone's staying.
Least in New York. You have a year where you.
Like, Okay, this actually did work right in Brian dables first year, Joe Shane's first year.
Now it hasn't worked since.
So I mean, I think you start to bring into question, you know, sustainability and how you've built it that way. Obviously, the sake one Barkley mess this year kind of painted that in a really bad light. Separating yourself from that.
You know, they need to get the quarterback right. And I think that one's a really interesting one because you know, if you read the tea leaves there for John Mara, you know, the way he's talking about it felt like maybe there's a little bit more security which with Joe Shane than there is with Brian Dabel, where he talked about maybe there's some play calling issues that we've got
to figure out. And if you're Joe Shane, like if you view this as hey, I got to go win right now, you know, or if you're Brian Dabel and you're saying you got to go win right now, you know, do you want to do that with a rookie quarterback with you know that there's some interesting dynamics that are going to be at play here, because it sure does sound like the rope is pretty short there and the patients is running very thin from ownership.
But yeah, I'm a little bit more.
Surprised on the Colt side just because we have not really seen that success. Maybe the one year with Philip Rivers, but they haven't gotten the quarterback thing right. And maybe they got one more shot to do it here with Anthony Richardson, and if not, we'll be talking about this again next year.
Yeah.
When you think about no, no, no, When you think about Indianapolis and the struggles, like people to talk about Anthony Richardson and a everything is on him, I think the indian Apoltences coach have a serious.
Decision to make about Anthony Richardson.
It's not just what we've seen on the field in terms of like the completion percentage and all of those things. The maturity and the questions that persist off the field. You know, people talk about like they had to sit him down because of the lack of professionalism, not necessarily being on time. We're the most diligent when it came to the work. You have to judge him on his play. You can't worry about draft positioning those things. This has to be one. If you're Shane Stichen, I have to
move beyond ay. This was the number four overall pick. I got to put the best player in position to win games. And I'll say this having watched the Coats twice against the Jaguars and both times Joe Flacco played, I'm a huge believer that if Joe Flacco was the starting quarterback of the Indianapolis Colts the entire season, the Indianapolis Coats would have been in the postseason. That's the difference between the play of the veteran and the play
of the young guy. At some point, Anthony Richardson has to earn the right to be the starting quarterback.
As opposed to being given that job just because of his draft pedigree.
Buck is in your opinion, and you saw that team twice and that's why I'll give you this one. But Kirk Cousins better than anybody that got in their roster.
You know.
Look, I think Kirk Cousins could give them what Joe Flacco has given them. So if you don't, I mean like they're comparable when it comes to age wise, but yeah, Kirk could give them a consistent presence if protected, they have a running back and Jonathan Taylor that allows them to run the football. Jonathan Taylor is one of the top five rushers in the league this year. If they lean into the running game and use the passing game
as a compliment to that, they can do it. And if they are better on defense where they can control the score, they can kind of play complimentary ball with a more ball control approach on offense.
Yeah, Kirk Cousins can win there.
And we've talked about this job before, whether it's Kirk Cousins, Daniel Jones, whatever reclamission project that you want at quarterback.
It's a nice spot because you have a quarterback guru and Shane Stichen and you have enough talent to win games there.
Well, my question is, like, how much more does Kirk Cousins offer you than Joe Flanco at this point.
I mean, with what we saw.
From Kirk, you're betting on that that is a product of him not being healthy, that he's going to have another offseason to get it removed from the achilles and he'll be able to function under center and a play action offense, which is who he is and what he is and not what they did in Atlanta, that would be the argument correct.
But I mean based off what we saw in the second half of both I mean, I don't think there.
Was one touchdown your pank for Cousins in his last there were five games not great. Yeah, all those guys, it's all. It's all the bets. That's what you're gonna be doing your homework on there. They're in no man's land.
Yeah.
But if I'm Brian Dable with the Giants and I think that this is I get it. They gotta i gotta win. Right now, you'd be looking to go get a player like Kirk Cousins rather than you know, putting all my eggs in a rookie basket here to try to win, you know, and you know, with an offensive line that's you know, been terrible for the last couple
of years. I'd not to say that would benefit Kirk Cousins any but I'm just saying, like, man, I'd rather have the veteran quarterback that I've seen a track record of than you know, player X that we might get in the draft.
So I'll just push, I'll hold on Beck.
I want to.
I want to get you on this because my I think that's different expectations though. If you bring a veteran in, the expectation is you're going to the playoffs or you're out. If you bring a rookie quarterback in, the bar is lower. If the quarterbacks getting better throughout there, you can make the argument where the Giants are want to change up everything. I don't want to change up everything. If the quarterback is getting better throughout the year, I think that you
could make that. Yeah, more grace with the younger guy.
See, I think red is onto it.
I don't know if the Giants, for the Giants in particular, I don't know if the Giants could go six and eleven with the quarterback that is showing promise.
I think for them, I'm not saying six, but I'm saying let's go. They don't make the playoffs and they go, let's go eight. You know they're eight to nine team, But yeah, quarterback throws.
That's a five win jump. We got to win five.
I mean where giants are picking what third Yeah, I think yeah, you might be shut out depending on how many quarterbacks we think are actually worthy of you know, picksway up there like it might.
Not even might be.
It might be shut out. Whoever's picking two might be shut out in this draft.
That's right, that's the story for another day TBD.
We'll get there, We'll get Yeah. Well, there you go, a very very busy few days here in the National Football League. Get a chance to break it all down for you. I hope you guys enjoyed that. We'll see maybe there's more moves to come. If they do, we will have all that analysis for you right here on. Move the sticks.