Some fun news broke yesterday as Britain Covey has been signed by the Los Angeles Rams. Of course, they already have Pooka and Akoua our next guest friend of the show from our PAC twelve Days. Oh goodness, jab Long do you remember those PAC twelve days? Happy Tuesday, buddy?
How are we doing?
I remember them? Finally, Happy Tuesday to you? And yeah, the Los Angeles Rams bid to be the official NFL team of the greater Salt Lake Area continues with Britain Covey.
You already have one of our favorite songs with Puka, and now you had another.
So look, I'm sure you already know this. You're getting the highest of high quality guys.
He was undrafted and got a Super Bowl ring in Philly. I'm wondering what sort of role you foresee Britain playing for what I perceived to be a really good landing spot for him in LA.
Yeah, the Rams are one of the most improved special teams units year every year. Last season, which they had to be because they couldn't have been much worse in twenty twenty three, and I think this year is very much about incremental progress. I think they've pinned down who their placekicker is, who their punter is. But I think return game and kick coverage are all still very much roster spots that are up for grabs, and so you're dealing with kind of roster spots forty seven, forty eight
and beyond. And I think Covey is someone they got to see up close head to head against the Eagles, and when it became known that he was available, might be one of those incremental upgrades. And who knows, there could be like a wide receiver sixth spot available to him as well if he does make the team.
In that regard, is it odd to picture life without Cooper Cup, Yeah, it is, But.
I'm trying to take like a glass half full approach, like I had the privilege of calling every snap of
Cooper's NFL career to this juncture. And he was old by his peer standards when he entered the league, and he was old by his peer standards when he won the Triple Crown in Super Bowl MVP, and he's unfortunately on the wrong side of thirty in a young man's game where more and more waves of I think top tier receivers are coming into the league, and so it made sense, I think, to go in a different direction
at this point. His usage rate had dropped considerably in the second half of last season and especially down the stretch and into the playoffs, and had that continued, had that reality spun forward into this season, I think it could have had the potential to be awkward, and not that it would have tainted his legacy in any way,
shape or form. But I think it's best for both sides that his future as a ram Is preserves with a year maybe more in Seattle, and whatever he's got left and left to prove, he gets to do it in an area that's you know, familiar and close to home. And I'll certainly be rooting for him, you know what, fifteen times.
Per year, certainly, And you know you had DeVante Adams who went healthy and engaged is as talented and certainly aging as well. But what do you foresee with of course, as were already referenced, Pooka and Akoua, you're three next to Devonte Adams.
Yeah, I think that, rightly or wrongly, it was believed that Cooper Cup was no longer changing math in the passing game. He was still doing everything right. He's still making great catches. He was still inserting in the running game the way that we've come to know and love.
But I think the Rams offensively, especially in the passing game, had become Pooka and Akua and then replacement value around the rest of the formation, and so year over year to bring a future Hall of Famer in who, despite a whole lot of quarterback uncertainty last season, still put
up numbers is a worthwhile dart throw. I think Matthew Stafford has been a king maker at quarterback throughout his career, be it with Megatron or with Cooper Cup or with Poka Nakua, and so whatever is left of DeVante Adams's career maybe even prime. I think Sean McVay, Matthew Stafford
or the perfect pandem to maximize it. California and Los Angeles familiar to him as well, so he's comfortable and I think at this stage of the the creer he knows what he's playing for right, which is just like legacy, cementing wins and moments, and that's kind of where the Rams are as a team and especially as an offense in their organizational growth curve. Twas at the.
Match, let's need as well as Sean McVay always seemed to be up to something on Draft night, and they've kind of become the NFL equivalent of the San Antonio Spurs, where the Spurs will just draft like an international dude in the second round. You back, well, he's probably awesome, so you probably just assume that they're doing the right thing. Six picks overall. What'd you like about what the Rams did during the draft process.
Yeah, I mean, I think coming away with a future number one pick by way of Atlanta was a surprise, an extremely pleasant one that could have all sorts of you know, amplified benefits in the next three hundred and fifty something days. They were at the tail end of
the first round. By moving back twenty spots from twenty six to forty six, they essentially bought themselves Atlanta's first round pick next season next spring, and who knows, like the Falcons could very well win the South, the Falcons could very well, you know, enter a tailspin, and that could be a top ten pick, maybe even a top
five pick if you're being super optimistic. So it's always tough to accept delayed gratification for an event like the draft, which only happens once per year, but Spence, you know this, well, think of all the different ways that the Rams might
be able to utilize two first round picks. You know, before they even kick off Week one, who knows, if there's a veteran at a position of need and a team willing to deal at the end of training camp, come the trade deadline, you know what if a team is out of it and is looking to part ways with a potential free agent to be and you might get someone of Jalen Rams, your Obi j or Dante Fowler or Von Miller's caliber. These are all players that the Rams have acquired at that point in the calendar
in years past. To have a first round pick to play with extremely valuable. And if things go great and you don't need it, wonderful, maybe you come up with another championship. If things go sideways for the Rams, well you're entering your thirty seven with Matthew Stafford and there's got to be life at quarterback beyond him. You could be tied up, even coming off a disappointing season, with two first round picks to package and move up and get your next quarterback of the future.
From the outside looking in there was some conversation about whether or not Stafford would be back, right, was that ever a real thing or were they always going to ride with him for at least another year.
No, I think he's been year to year ever since getting injured in twenty two after the Super Bowl season. I mean, from that point forward, I think I've always kind of put the headst on with the very real possibility that I'm calling Matthew Stafford last game. I don't want to think about those possibilities. And I don't think McVeigh and the Rams wanted to step into the next chapter of Rams football without what I think is still
one of the top ten quarterbacks walking the planet. But I think it was good for both sides to kind of look over the edge into the abyss and decide what made sense for them moving forward. I think they're actually in a better place, maybe even than they were throughout last season, having gone through that exercise. And I think it's entirely reasonable that neither one of those first round picks next year that we just talked about are
used on a quarterback. I think it's entirely possible that Matthew Stafford plays too closer to forty and he's got another two, maybe even three years left in the tank, so long as he stays upright and the Rams stay winning and they can use that draft capital to keep him in the chase.
Wait from the Rams for a minute.
Just wanted to get your perspective because I always find it really fascinating the chasm that exists between NFL talent evaluators and guys that evaluate talent or people that evaluate talent in the media, and the gap that exists between the two. And you know, NFL talent evaluators or an NBA. You know, if you work in the pros, you're taught to remove emotion from the process and let's just analyze
whether or not somebody impact impacts winning. And oftentimes, certainly in today's day and age of media, where content creation and engagement is king, you wonder are you analyzing talent to make it a better story or do you really believe the kid can play? And I'm not a scout, but I didn't think she'd Or Sanders who dropped to the fifth round? How did you digest that slide and
the whole storyline? And can we be as reductive as just saying NFL talent evaluators did not evaluate him the way that the media did.
I think that's part of it. But I also think
he was subject to a perfect storm. You know, he played his leading role in what transpired, don't get me wrong, But I think because of that in balance that you just described, there was a very real free fall to be had, And I wasn't surprised that it went into Day two, maybe day three certainly, But I would guess if you were really able to see transparently Spence, there were a whole bunch of teams, like a wide swath of NFL teams that didn't spend one second on Shoodoor
Sanders during this offseason process. Maybe that's because they weren't interested. More likely, I think it's because they didn't figure he would be available to them. Like if you had a draft pick in the back half of the first round, or if you weren't really interested in this year's quarterback class, why would you devote bandwidth to doing a deep dive on whether or not he had the right ingredients to
be in your quarterback room, much less your starter. And so when you take half the teams, let's just call it in the National Football League out of play for him, and then the others either get the quarterback that they wanted or had gone through the process and realized that he was not worth all the ancillary things that would come with making him a backup or bringing him in to compete with your room. There were very few teams even competing against each other, and I think that's why
you saw what transpired. And look, I think it's entirely possible that he gets opportunities this year. I think it's also possible that the consensus that we found out, you know, a couple of weekends ago, is that he's just not an NFL quarterback and that very few in this class, maybe even are.
Were you surprised to see the meteorc rise of a former PAC twelve quarterback in cam Ward, where it's felt like jbe for a long long time, there was a legitimate debate about, well, A, whether or not you even want to take a quarterback in this class, and then b whether or not you want to take either cam or Schador or whoever. Were you surprised to see what a consensus the cam Ward became, that actually became the reality for Tennessee.
Yeah, I mean I believe it or not. I called it first Washington State Pac twelve game. I love the narrative of him coming from incarnate word, and I understand why he had gone under recruited and what upside there was. But watching him that night and throughout his Washington State career, I'm not sure that I ever saw an NFL quarterback
much less than number one overall pick. Clearly, what he did last year at Miami changed a lot of those perceptions, and I'll be the first to admit I don't know what I'm looking at when it comes to evaluating NFL quarterbacks either. I can see it happening with Fernanda Mendoza now, who similarly had a long path to cal and I think I called his first start there in Berkeley, and now he's really highly regarded going in the next year.
So circumstances matter. Great quarterbacks can elevate their circumstances. All quarterbacks benefit from positive circumstances, and I think that's what you saw with cam Ward. He's on the RAMS schedule. We traveled in Nashville next year, so I'm looking forward to seeing him again in person. But look, I think think it's I think it's a good case study, especially in the transfer portal era for quarterbacks looking for opportunity.
If you can prove it at the Washington State PAC twelve level, if you can prove it at the Miami ACC level, then there's every reasonable believe that you might ascend to one of his really coveted positions in the draft.
Stick with a quarterback position, and stick in your division and a former Pac twelve player, and happy for Sam. Happy for Sam Donald as a Jets fan, I actually thought we had finally drafted the solution, and maybe we did, but we're just so horrible at everything else. You know, Sam never really had a chance to show he was. Of course a great year last year. Minnesota is going to go JJ and so he lands in your division with Seattle, and of course, as we already talked about,
they have Cooper Flag. What are you expecting as you guys are going to battle the Seahawks with Sam Donald under center?
I mean, talk about circumstances mattering for a quarterback, right, did not look the part of a first round pick in New York. Did not look the part of a first round pick in Carolina. Goes to Sam Francisco. Experience is a better ecosystem, a more quarterback centric offense, puts up some good tape and then blossoms in another Shantahan Tree system in Minnesota last year and was not just a pro bowler, but I think a very viable MVP
candidate for a good part of last year. So I continually had to remind myself that you, Sam, I think last year was still in his age twenty seven season. Don't quote me on that, but thereabouts, and so I think he's got great football left ahead of him. I don't know that Seattle is necessarily the long term best place for him to be. I think Seattle made a lot of understandable decisions, but not ones that necessarily made their twenty five team better at quarterback and at receivers specifically.
But yeah, Sam Darnold I've always found easy to root for, and I think he would be a really interesting quarterback to bring Seattle to Sofi Stadium in Week one. That's kind of the the Sofi opener that I want for the rank because they just knocked Sam Darnold out of the playoffs last year as a quarterback of the Vikings, and would also mean that Cooper Cup returned to Sofi stadium is kind of locked in early in the season when he's hopefully healthy, and we can all appreciate that for what it is.
Feels like in Vegas tells us that the Rams are the favorite in the NFC West.
I wonder you know.
San Francisco has a lot of questions, answer a lot of questions.
Answer.
Of course, They're gonna have to pay their quarterback. And as the way this league works, when you have a young quarterback, you don't have to pay. You can surround him with other pieces see Russell Wilson in Seattle. Then you have to pay the quarterback. You have to let some of those other pieces go. But who's the team? Maybe it is Seattle that you think is keeping Sean McVay up. As far as your NFC West counterpoints.
Yeah, I think all four teams are playing for a division championship and a spot in the playoffs. I think Arizona is on the com like I thought they would be much improved last year. Maybe I was a year early on them, but I think Arizona continues to make really sound decisions. And they played the Rams toe to toe twice last year, blew them out once and had them dead to rights at SOFI Stadium as well. I think people fading San Francisco are suffering from recency bias.
I think there's too much championship pedigree there. I think they're too well coached, especially getting Rob Robert solid back as their defensive coordinator. I think their draft is underappreciated. And here's the most important thing is they play a fourth place schedule and that matters with your three like place finisher opponents like compare them head to head with Los Angeles. Whereas the Rams have to play the Ravens
have to host, the Lions have to go to Philadelphia. Conversely, the forty nine ers who finished last in that division, they get Cleveland, they get Chicago, they get the Giants. I believe, like that's gotta be worth a game a game and a half in the standings by years end, no matter how the year goes for them competitively. So
I think that's why. Yeah, some people are picking Los Angeles as the favorite in that division, but if you look at the Vegas thoughts, I'm pretty sure the Niners are still right there because of that fourth place schedule.
Babe, before I say you lose simple question, you know, expectations for the Rams this year and how do they live up to those expectations?
Where are the concerns? What I read when I saw you on the rundown earlier is that a lot.
Of people think that maybe some additions at cornerback necessary prior to the start of the season.
But I don't know.
You know' that's your expertise. So what are you expecting, what are you hoping? And how do the Rams.
Live up to those expectations this year?
Yeah, the cornerback thing is interesting because they've got aged veterans in those positions and they didn't address them at all in the draft. There's still a possibility that Jalen Ramsey comes back to Los Angeles, and I think we could be having a much different conversation by training camp
with respect to that position. But look, when you sign up for more, Matthew Stafford, when you make a move to recruit Devonte Adams, you're signaling to anyone who will listen that you're using crowbar and you're jumping on it with both feet to kind of keep this window of contention open. I'm not naive enough to think that the Rams were one play away from winning the Super Bowl
last year. I get that they played the Eagles more competitively than any other team in the NFC playoffs or even in the Super Bowl, but that does not mean that the Rams necessarily would have won the NFC championship game at home, nor played mahomes in Kansas City. The way that Philadelphia did progress in the league is not linear.
It's the opposite of that, in fact. But so long as Matthew's at the switch and Sean mcvay's wearing the headset and this young and upcoming defense is puncturing pockets, yeah, I think they have every reason to have championship expectations. That starts with winning the West, and once they get in the field, I think we saw last year and we've seen throughout mcveigh's tenure, they're going to be a tough out and they're not going to be a team that any opponent is going to be happy to see.
In the playoffs.
You're gonna love britt he's the best guy, so hopefully he can find a rolling stick.
And of course, with Pooka there, we'll have one eye on the Rams all year long.
JB.
Thanks so much for the time. It's always good to spend the Tuesday with you be good.
Okay.
I doubt his tenure in Los Angeles will be as long as his one in Salt Lake City, but that's what I'm going to root for.
Fair Enough, fair enough. The great JB.
Long Voice, thank you, sir, the voice of the La Rams, A long time voice on the Pac twelve network. That's how we got to know JB. Calling a lot of Pac twelve football and basketball. He's on social media if you are a Rams fan, a football fan at JB Underscore Long is where you find him at Porter.
I think I shared this with you.
I was up at the Forever twenty two game the spring game, ran into.
Zach, who we had on the show.
Of course, Britt was up there as well, and he may have tipped me off that he was leaning towards the Rams.
And look, this business is so cutthroat.
It almost doesn't matter who you are unless you have a massive guarantee. They can walk into practice one day and just say, hey, you're done. You don't play for us anymore. But as far as all the landing spots, this felt like a really good match for Britt. You know, as far as what that coaching staff is, the need that JB talked about in the return game and maybe even a chance to play a little wide out.
Yeah, I think, uh, JB hit the nail on the head. They're discussing again the special teams, probably more so than the wide receiver, but it's it's a less crowded wide
receiver room than it oftentimes was in Philadelphia. So you're hoping to to see Britt get an opportunity on the offensive side, but I think that his main assignment is probably going to be in the in the punt return not kick return, but punt return game for the l A Rams, and that's a place where they have been kind of steadily improving on the on the special team side. So good spot for Britt. I hope to see more of him out in the field. That has both to
do with scheme stuff and his health. And uh yeah, I think that hopefully Los Angeles can can can bring that. You know, JB. JB and you talked about it's all about fit in the NFL. I think things went really well for him with Philly, but there was a contractual mechanism that Philly was able to use where you guys saw it throughout the year. Britain Covey cut, Britain Covey signed.
Britain Covey cut, Britain Covey signed. That wasn't as much of a roller coaster as it may have seemed when you saw those ESPN alerts.
That was part of the plan.
But you can only do that for so long on a guy's rookie contract, so they can't do that anymore. That would be an extra roster spot for a guy that they that they've been using that for so happy for Brittain and uh yeah, we'll see how it plays out.
Does not have a Super Bowl ring yet. He said he's gonna get it coming up this year. So if nothing else, our guy goes to Philly, has a nice little ron, makes a little cash, and comes away with a super Bowl ring.
I didn't see they got to size it, size it down a little bit. They never made a Britain Covey size super Bowl Bowl ring. I fear wait was that the deal for real?
I don't know.
Oh my gosh, that would Yeah, you gotta get the fit, you gotta get those fit or else you're not gonna get your ring. But my guess is he'll get it when he goes back there, maybe with the Rams potentially.
Possibly, possibly.
I don't think they really do it quite like the NBA where it's like Opening night the next year or anything. But I'm not entirely sure.
If you got a Super Bowl ring, would you hold on to it or would you hawk it? For like five hundred.
K It'd be around my neck for the rest of my life, around your not a I'm not a ring like a jewelry guy on my hands. It'd be around my neck and you'd see it all the time and nobody would blame you for it. That's something that you want to like untuck the chain and if they did I I would put it on my middle finger and then there you go.
Fair enough, fair.
Enough, So congratulations to Britain Covey. He joins Pokinakua with the la Rams appreciate JB's Long JB Long's time on this Tuesday afternoon