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Scoop City: Inside The NFL
Will J.J. McCarthy lead Vikings to playoffs & why Joe Burrow is NOT thrilled with Bengals schedule?
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- [00:00]
Chase Daniel
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- [01:02]
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- [01:27]
Chase Daniel
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- [01:41]
Alec Lewis
Race the rudders.
- [01:42]
Jacob Robinson
Race the sails. Race the sails.
- [01:45]
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- [01:48]
Jacob Robinson
Roger, Wait.
- [01:50]
Alec Lewis
Is that an enterprise sales solution?
- [01:52]
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- [02:30]
Jacob Robinson
All right everyone, welcome into Scoop City. I'm Chase Daniel. Rule changes, quarterback competitions, OTA previews, all on today's episode. Don't forget to like and subscribe to get the latest scoop the Athletics Jacob Robinson joins us today, filling in for Diana Rossini. Jacob, great to have you. Jacob runs the Scoop City newsletter. How you doing man?
- [02:52]
Unknown Guest
Doing well, man. I did my hair today, got all set up, excited to excited to be here. As Chase mentioned. Yeah, I run the Scoop City newsletter. We send out a daily newsletter to about 600,000 NFL fans. My mom says it's the best in the world and I try to live up to that every day.
- [03:08]
Jacob Robinson
It's absolutely the best. I get it every single day. A little bit of sad news on Wednesday as the NFL community mourns the death of Colts owner Jim Irsay. The athletic Zach Kiefer had a great post about Irsay. He started as a ball boy scooping up jock straps in the locker room. He was a GM at 25, which is wild, and an owner at 37. He was honest and unpredictable and complicated, but he poured his heart and soul into his team for 50 plus years. Rest in peace to an NFL original. Our thoughts are with the Colts organization, an entire Irsay family.
- [03:47]
Unknown Guest
And I think one thing I just want to point out too with with Irsay that was interesting was if you look at the record his father had with the team, 400 or winning only 40% of games. Jim comes in, wins 54. I think 54% of games gets the super bowl. But most importantly and he had his demons and he wasn't perfect. But I think the anecdotes that people shared in Zach's story were quite telling of what the man was all about. And they tell stories about him, meeting him in the intensive care unit, local hospitals. He's handing out $100 bills, sending people flowers. If he knew season ticket holders had struggles going on in their own lives. He spoke out a lot about mental health and I think the positives from his life share a lot of lessons that we could all learn.
- [04:35]
Jacob Robinson
Yeah, absolutely. Such sad, heartbreaking News. He's only 65 years old. The Colts will be back on the field next week as OTAs continue for all 32 NFL teams. What quarterback competitions do we have our eyes on? Plus, hear what Joe Burrow said about Cincy's upcoming schedule, which is sort of crazy. But we start with the Tush Push. The Eagles signature play could not be stopped. Again, we'll tell you what we're hearing around the league. All right. The spring league meetings have wrapped up Wednesday in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Tush push survives another day. Vikings beat writer for the athletic Alec Lewis and proud Mizzou Alum. Gotta get that in there. He was there at the meeting and he joins myself and Jacob. Alec, what saved the tush push?
- [05:26]
Alec Lewis
Yeah, well, first of all, a few days ago I had my editor say, you want to go over to the Omni Hotel and make yourself useful? And I'm never gonna, I'm never gonna not make myself as useful as I can be. I thought at the, at the bare minimum I'll get to see some owners walking around with briefcases and eat some nice polenta with oyster mushrooms. And at best case I find out what happens with, with some of these rules. As for the tush push, I mean you guys have probably seen the reporting from Diana and from others across this industry, but it's, it's so funny to see the reporting, but to know what it was like being in that building. It's like it's a pretty normal hotel lobby. All of the owners kind of file into their meeting rooms and you get when that Jason Kelsey's walking in with, with Jeff Lurie and come to find out that Jeff Lurie had a very long winded speech that was very passionate and involving some analogies that were quite interesting to say the least. And then Jason Kelsey, yes, speaks to the owners and they went back and forth, but I mean, you know, I had a conversation with somebody in league the day before, so it must have been Tuesday. And they're like, look, I mean, you give a team credit for designing a play and being as effective as they've been at it, and if it were that easy to just adopt and mirror, then everyone would have probably already done it. Now we'll see now that this play continues to be possible if every team does try to replicate it. But ultimately it felt like that last ditch effort by Jeff Lurie, who obviously with the success he's had, both as the owner of that team and in business in general, I mean, he has some cachet to him. And so to see that it held up, I mean it was interesting. Rich McKay spoke to the media afterwards and so did Roger Goodell and you could just feel like it had been a tense little meeting for 30 very wealthy folks about a football play in this silly little game that we cover. So interesting, interesting day. And I always wonder, like, do you know, does the media care about this as much as the people listen to this show or not?
- [07:45]
Jacob Robinson
We do, yes.
- [07:48]
Unknown Guest
And when it comes to discussions like this, Alec, I found it interesting and I think under discuss that 22 teams voted to ban the tush push and that's a healthy majority of the league. Now, there were probably a lot of owners and coaches and GMs that were upset with how this vote turned out. Was there any discussion about when this could come up again and what the implications could be long term? I mean, there's no way they revisit this next year, is there?
- [08:13]
Alec Lewis
Yeah, it's a great question. Rich McKay, who, you know, he's kind of operating within these committees, he made reference to that point many times that like 24, he said, he made a joke like, I've got the number 24 tattooed on my back because of how, I mean, how large a number that is in terms of, to, to, to affect one of these rules and to make one of these changes. It does require a very healthy amount of teams to do that. He mentioned Rich McKay did many times that there is going to be a targeted kind of officiating priority, especially on plays down the field, that any pulling, any pushing down the field is going to be. It just sounded like in the crosshairs of the officials throughout the league. And now you hear often every year that the officials have certain priorities and targets, and you wonder if those exist throughout the season or if it's just like a target in the first couple weeks and then they, they tail off. But there's no question, because this one play has been as effective as it's been, and the Eagles have become almost villainous within their, their ability and usage and success within it, that I can't imagine that the conversation around the play just dissipates entirely because of the amount of passion and fervor both from the Philadelphia folks, but also everybody outside. So it's, it's, it is. I say it's interesting, but again, I end this with, is it that interesting we're talking about one play? I mean, I've thought about it as I'm eating the polina in the Omni Hotel.
- [09:52]
Jacob Robinson
Look, I think the NFL made this into their Mount Everest of things they want changed. And I think it's telling to me that, you know, Roger Goodell could not get this done because the owners, right, they are Roger Goodell's boss. And Goodell said, hey, like, I want to do this. I, I, I thought it was surprising it didn't pass. The other thing, Alec, I thought that was surprising. That didn't pass. Was the playoff receding. Because in my opinion, it makes a lot of sense. Diana Rossini told us on Wednesday the Lions actually withdrew their proposal for playoff receding. Could this be back on the table later?
- [10:28]
Alec Lewis
Yeah, I think absolutely. I mean, this was one where you could tell with the comments of, of Roger Goodell and others that they will continue. They, they felt like the conversation around the reseeding proposals was very healthy and gives them kind of a roadmap moving forward. I mean, you guys know I cover the Vikings and this is a team that won 14 games last year and then had to go on the road to play the Rams. And they ended up playing in Glendale, Arizona because of the, the unfortunate circumstances obviously with the fires in Southern California. But the initial proposal, you know, would have affected like a team in the Vikings circumstances. Then they, they, they, they massage the proposal. They were going to do some reseeding for second round games. But again, in conversations with people in the lobby of the Omni Hotel who work within the NFL, I mean, I think there's just a lot of people throughout the league who feel very passionate about like if you win a division and if you're relevant in your division, you should be really rewarded for that in a league that values these divisions. And so many of the rivalries in this league that we love, that we watch every day are built upon like the relationships with these divisions. I mean, Chase, you know, I mean the Bears playing the packers, the Bears playing the Vikings. Like if you win that division, regardless of record, there is immense pride to be taken from that. But I would not be surprised to your initial question at all if it's something that comes up over time in the future.
- [11:57]
Unknown Guest
And one thing I just want to touch on when it comes to the tush push that I don't think most people realize is how unsuccessful the Eagles have been running the ball when there's one yard to go for a first down. And I crunched the numbers in today's Scoop City newsletter and found that their success rate when rushing with Jalen Hurts Under center since 2021 was 91%. That's first in the league now for most attempts and success rate per attempt. Like when you look at all the numbers, it's phenomenal. But then when you look at what happens when the Eagles hand the ball off to a running back with one yard to go, that drops down to 68.9%. There were only five teams worse than them last year. So not only is this a play that the Eagles are great at, they aren't quite as great at everything else when it comes to converting those short yardage gains. And Alec, you were there, right? You were hearing the talk. Was there any discussion? And a lot of the talk, right, has been the health and safety which we've seen strong pushback from the league, from members of the Eagles in particular, whereas a lot of people in the league, the packers, the Bills, I think the Rams as well, have spoken about those health and safety issues. What was the. Like, you left. You were there. What was the consensus around where the actual facts are to show yes, there's a risk or no, there's not.
- [13:16]
Alec Lewis
Yeah. And I think that's. You asked for a consistent. I think there just. There still remain. Did not remain one in terms of the health and safety implications of the play. And that was from all of the reporting that has been done. That is what it sounds like. Jason Kelsey arrived to talk about. I believe he has been. I mean, it's been reported as him saying that he would return to play if he could just perform 60 tush pushes in a game. Now, is that, is that, you know him? Is that ideal to the narrative? Yeah. Is that ideal. Is that him playing to the narrative that Jeff Lurie would prefer? I don't know. I mean, I find it hard to believe that if you line up 10 guys in the line of scrimmage and you, you know, jab your helmet into the opposition, the opposition jabbed your helmet in the direction of you, that it wouldn't have some kind of effect. But it just didn't feel like there was a consensus from a, from a data perspective, from enough anecdotal perspective to really have that be what swayed 24 plus teams from, from, from banning the play. But yeah, it's, it's, it's. If just the whole thing. And I don't, I don't want to minimize it because it is obviously an inter. If you're a Philadelphia fan.
- [14:36]
Jacob Robinson
Yeah.
- [14:36]
Alec Lewis
You're very passionate that you have a play that you're going to convert on fourth down 91% of the time. And if you're a person who despises Philadelphia, and there are a lot of those, you probably want to make it harder for them. But I did find it just very silly that. I mean, it's 45 degrees and raining in Minnesota at this beautiful hotel in the middle of nowhere, and you have billionaires sitting in a conference room for, for an hour multiple for an hour plus talking about this, this play that we call the Tush Push at a very, like, general, broad level. To me, it was just kind of somewhat hilarious. But that's this, that's this league. That's why we love it.
- [15:17]
Jacob Robinson
Yeah. Hey, Alec, before we let you go, we have to ask you about the Minnesota Vikings. J.J. mcCarthy about to hit the field next week. The Oak Days. Your column just dropped, man. I had a chance to read it. Amazing job, amazing work like usual. We've talked about J.J. mcCarthy, Minnesota Vikings, Aaron Rodgers, which, you know, put that to the side. What are the realistic expectations this year for J.J. mcCarthy in your mind?
- [15:41]
Alec Lewis
Man, that's, it's a phenomenal question, Chase. And it's really the question that will dictate what this Vikings team can accomplish. I mean they've had. And you know this because we, you guys both do, because we've talked about it a lot. In the last three years under Kevin O' Connell, this team has won double digit games two out of three times. They've thrown for more than 4,000 yards every season under Kevin Oconnell, with Kirk Cousins, with Sam Darnold, with the season with Josh Dobbs and Jaren hall and the mayhem that that was. And they've also thrown for 30 touchdowns all three seasons. And now you have a team with a better infrastructure than they've already had because they overhauled the interior of their offensive line and they have improved the trenches defensively and have Justin Jefferson. They added Jordan Mason at running back. And so you are placing a 22 year old quarterback who won a national championship at Michigan in the driver's seat of the nicest Ferrari that you can buy at the dealership. I mean this is as optimal of a road that you could, of a, of a navigating system that you could possibly have. And so it is going to be incumbent upon him to get back to where he was on the field last year before the Tormaniscus. I'll tell you this. You know, they play. He played one preseason game last year against the Las Vegas Raiders. He played really well in that game. And they were going to Cleveland for joint practices the next week. And Kevin o' Connell and that staff was prepared to really increase the first team reps for him in Cleveland and joint practices. They felt that, that well about the way he had performed. And so obviously the injury was brutal. You can't imagine what it would be like to be in JJ's situation of you're the guy, you're drafted to be the quarterback that they have, have really haven't had here since Fran Targeton. Then you suffer this injury, you're kind of cast aside. The guy who, you know, get not cast aside, but you're not in the driver's seat and the guy who ultimately has the job, Sam Darnold, becomes the talk of the town, the talk of the NFL. That was Probably a very interesting dynamic for JJ and so here he sits now. Next week on Wednesday, we'll be back on the field in a competitive environment for the first time since that preseason game. And it's like, buddy, you got the Ferrari. Drive it well, man. Because everything is kind of. Yeah, everything is. Is. Is dependent upon that. And I'll tell you this, like the people here, the fans of Minnesota, they adore this guy. They feel so strongly about this guy. And that is part primarily a byproduct of the way Kevin o' Connell has talked about him, the way other teammates have talked about him. So I can't wait to see him on the field. I can't wait to see the interactions with teammates. I can't wait to see how this thing progresses, because it's a lot on a young guy's shoulders, but they drafted him to be able to handle the weight. And so it's. It's a fascinating team with a fascinating circumstance when the biggest question mark is the most important position for a team that has the expectations that they have.
- [18:55]
Chase Daniel
Yeah.
- [18:55]
Unknown Guest
And if the Vikings are for a Ferrari, Alec, they spent the off season, to me, adding special rims, adding tint to the windows. Right. An interior offensive line is improved. Jordan Mason adds a little bit more explosiveness out of the backfield. This is a team that is putting their quarterback in every position to win, which we've seen them do. And to me, it was always interesting to see how Kevin o' Connell responded after, I think it was two of the past three seasons, losing the quarterback that was projected to start, if not in week one, throughout the majority of the season. And Kirk cousins and then J.J. mcCarthy that made Josh Dobbs start one game after Jaren hall got injured, after, I think it was like, what, two or three days.
- [19:36]
Jacob Robinson
Amazing, too.
- [19:37]
Unknown Guest
It was unbelievable. And so we've seen, like, Kevin o' Connell. If anyone knows the importance of a backup quarterback, it's Kevin o' Connell. Right now that backup projects to be Sam Howell. But I have to ask, is there any other talk that you're hearing recently about Aaron Rodgers to the Vikings?
- [19:54]
Alec Lewis
There isn't. I mean, I have not heard anything, you know, in recent times about Aaron. Like, I saw reporting, you know, we're speaking Thursday, I saw reporting that someone spoke to Art Rooney and asked him and was like, art, you said you would wait a little bit longer. Where are you at now? And he said, we'll still wait a little bit longer. So it feels to me, me, I mean, it's like, it feels to me that this. In that the situation remains. Aaron Rodgers, if he, if he, if he was desperate to be in Pittsburgh right now, that, that that move could be pulled, and, and if he decides that he's. He wants to hang it up because he went on The Pat. Pat McAfee show and, and talked about, you know, having other aspects kind of weighing on his life right now, if he decides to hang it up, then that's the decision he makes. But for now, in Minnesota, it feels like this is JJ's opera, JJ McCarthy's opportunity. What can you do with it in these competitive environments during the summer, which isn't a ton. I mean, Chase, you know, at this time of year, it's not like it's 11 on 11. You're seeing.
- [21:01]
Unknown Guest
You're.
- [21:01]
Alec Lewis
You're seeing the full extent. Yeah, but. But I mean, it. For him, it is. Can you show up every day and prove that you are a guy who can balance the weight? That is a really competitive team with a lot of veterans. And look, I mean, Jacob, you talked about Kevin o' Connell and the job he's done, and he won Coach of the Year, and he's been unbelievable in every regard. Play calling, offensive design, establishing a culture, dealing with the media. I mean, it's been like the playbook. If you're a young coach taking a job, you want to follow this playbook. But he has not won a playoff game in three seasons. And so there is going to be conversation, especially if you get through this year of seasons without playoff wins. So there is a level of expectation with a young quarterback here that may not be the most typical but reasonable expectation to your initial question, Chase. Like, it's hard to say. I mean, like, anything remotely close to what Patrick Mahomes did in his first year feels. Feels utterly just ridiculous to even talk about. And then, I mean, you look at, you know, circumstances that even come close to what the Vikings have, and it's hard to really find them. So is it, you know, is it what. What Jay Color did? Is it what Jordan Love was able to do having been in the league? There's. There's a lot of different comps that you can use, but if this team with this really difficult schedule can win 10 games, can win 11 games, and if JJ can. Can't perform at a solid level within this infrastructure, I think people here would feel pretty good about it.
- [22:38]
Jacob Robinson
I think that he'll have success, mainly because it is a Ferrari. You have Kevin o' Connell, who. Coach of the Year is just. He's done everything right, except on A playoff game. Right. But Alec, let's play devil's advocate here, man. Like, what happens if this doesn't work out? Because the Minnesota Vikings had every opportunity to sign a veteran guy that could start just in case. We know he's healthy. But what happens if this doesn't work out?
- [23:10]
Alec Lewis
Well, I mean, it is an interesting question. Obviously, Sam Darnold was in the building and Sam Darnold exited the building for Seattle. And then Daniel Jones was the preferred option to pair with J.J. mcCarthy. Daniel Jones, the team acquired him with intentionality last year to potentially be the guy alongside JJ to work within this system and kind of absorb it and then be an option this season. Daniel Jones ultimately signs with the Colts and prefers to compete with Anthony Richardson. And then obviously that's when the Aaron Rodgers conversation became what it was. And it's been pretty clear in every regard that Aaron Rodgers and Kevin o' Connell have had a phenomenal relationship for a long time. That Aaron is not dumb. He understands the Ferrari that exists in this parking lot here in Minnesota. And so if he had his choice, it would, it would have been to be here. The Vikings obviously did not make that happen at the time and still have not made that happen at a time when that has existed. So to your question of, you know, playing devil's advocate, what happens if this does not work? I mean, it's going to raise some very complicated questions, one of which would be, can, can Kevin o' Connell, Would Kevin o' Connell be able to get Sam Howell to play anywhere close to the level that he got Sam Darnold to play? And it seems very far fetched and it's wild that we'd even have that conversation. I've joked to people like, if I'm in Dublin, Week four, watching Sam Howell play against the Pittsburgh Steelers, that is going to be a very odd time in my life. And that' and that's why these devil advocate conversations, you hope not to go down them because I mean, they have invested from the get go. I mean from the time that they set out before the 2024 draft to draft a quarterback, they poured every possible resource into finding that guy. And, and, and obviously you can't plan for the torn meniscus, but, but you have had opportunity to plan for, you know, option B, option C, option D. And so, you know, we'll see play how it plays out. If it works out, becomes the guy and he performs really well, then everybody, you know, hopefully will be happy at the end of the day. And if it does not work out then it's going to raise very hard questions that are going to be uncomfortable for a lot of, a lot of people.
- [25:41]
Jacob Robinson
Look, it's the end of May here, Alec, and we like to, on this show in Scoop City, we like to play devil's advocate because it gives us something to talk about, man. But thanks for being on and joining us, man. You are great. You have given me every reason to be a Minnesota Vikings fan. Thanks for joining us, man.
- [25:58]
Alec Lewis
Yeah, thank you guys for having me. Appreciate you and Jacob being here. But yeah, no, I mean, what, what? We could talk, we could talk more about the tush push, but I mean, how much longer can we do tush push conversation? I mean, let's be very clear.
- [26:12]
Jacob Robinson
Done.
- [26:13]
Alec Lewis
Yeah.
- [26:13]
Jacob Robinson
Done.
- [26:14]
Alec Lewis
Yeah. Yeah. Vikings conversation. Much better. Thank you guys for having me. Talk soon.
- [26:19]
Unknown Guest
Thanks, Alec.
- [26:20]
Jacob Robinson
All right, coming up, teams are back on the field for OTAs next week. We'll tell you what early quarterback competitions we're locked in on and who is in line to win the job. That's next on Scoop 6.
- [26:37]
Chase Daniel
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- [26:56]
Chase Daniel
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- [27:45]
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- [28:09]
Chase Daniel
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- [28:22]
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- [29:04]
Jacob Robinson
All right, welcome back to Scoop City. OTAs continue next week for all 32 teams. And of course we have our eyes on the quarterback competitions. There's not many this year, but the biggest one, in my opinion, is probably an Indy with Daniel Jones and Anthony Richardson. So OTA start there is a quarterback competition. Anthony Richardson, obviously been there for a few years, has not lived up to expectations. Richardson's first two seasons have been abbreviated not only by injury but a 2024 benching. He's played in 15 of a potential 34 games. He's completing only 50% of his passes for 2,300 yards, 11 touchdowns, 13 interceptions. This move made a lot of sense to me. You knew that Ballard and Steichen were going to bring in a veteran. Daniel Jones getting 14 million was a surprise though. How do you see this quarterback competition shaken out?
- [29:54]
Unknown Guest
Jacob well, Chase, what they've done is Shane Steichen has said, hey, this is going to be an open competition. Everyone gets a chance to win the starting role. I don't necessarily believe that. And our beat reporter James Boyd has sort of agreed with me in the sense that this is Richardson's job to lose. And I think you having experience as a quarterback in the NFL for 14 years, you know what it's like going into training camp when there's a highly drafted player looking to win the job. That said, I do think this is a phenomenal move for the Colts. Take another shot on a highly drafted player. Anthony Richardson only has 15 NFL starts. He's not even played a full season due to injuries. Daniel Jones has 69 starts. Now you're getting someone with experience who knows what it takes to compete at the NFL level and you're lighting the fire under a player like Richardson who needs it. I do think the idea of quarterback competition is so important in the NFL. It works for college teams and I'm surprised we don't see more teams do this in the NFL.
- [30:54]
Jacob Robinson
Yeah, and that's the thing. You don't have a lot of quarterback competitions around. We'll talk about the Saints in a little bit. But going back to Daniel Jones just really never lived up to expectations in New York. Obviously spent last year with Kevin o' Connell and Kevin o' Connell and the Vikings made a huge push to keep him on the roster ultimately and even offered him, according to Diana Rossini, the same money as the Colts did. But Daniel Jones felt much more comfortable with the Colts gig. I do believe it's Anthony Richardson. The thing about Anthony Richardson, to me, I don't. First of all, I don't think he's going to have a really short leash or I think he's going to have a really short leash is what I'm saying. Like I. It makes sense to go with Anthony Richardson for the time being. If he gets through three or four games, Jacob, and they're not rolling, they're not winning, they're going to have to make a switch. And Daniel Jones one brings that quarterback ability to run and I think that's huge in Shane Steichen's offense. It's not the same amount of. He's not the same athlete as an Anthony Richardson, but he is a better thrower. And that's my problem with Anthony Richardson. The one thing he does well is he throws the deep ball extremely well. Remember this Sports Center Top 10 play last year where he's just throwing off the back of his foot 70 yards in the air? It was an unbelievable type thing. He can't complete the short and intermediate throws and it's not like they're the cupboards bear there in Indy. They do have some offensive weapons. You know, Shane Steichen has not really had the ability to show what kind of offense he can have because of the struggles at quarterback. When Shane Steichen took that job and they took Anthony Rich and they were like, hey, let's run this Jalen Hurts style offense that we had in Philly. It is not worked out like that. So I do believe it's going to be a little bit of a short lease. And I do think eventually they're probably going to end up turning to Daniel Jones for more than one reason. The main one is, in my opinion, Jacob, Shane Steichen and Chris Ballard, this is their last year if they don't make the playoffs.
- [32:47]
Unknown Guest
Yeah. And I think it's really interesting now with Jim Ursay's passing because now you have new ownership potentially coming in someone who doesn't have that pre existing relationship like Jim and, and didn't hand pick this GM and this coach. Does that change things? And one thing I want to ask you, Chase, given your experience, is how you see a competition like this playing out in the locker room. Because last year the big discussion around Anthony Richardson was when he tapped out, he took a playoff, a lot of people didn't like it. How do you see the locker room reacting to having someone who really is right on the heels of Richardson when it comes to opportunities to play?
- [33:25]
Jacob Robinson
Yeah, look, anytime you quit on your team, not a good look. Right. And that's exactly what Anthony Richardson did last year. I was very honest about my thoughts on that last year. And I'm, I'm still the same. Anytime you quit on your team, it's just not a good look. It might rub guys the wrong way. I've talked to Chris Ballard before. They weren't happy with it. They aren't excited about it at the time. That's why they ended up benching him. And I think that that benching really, at least in their minds, turned a corner in his mental development. Meaning like, hey, I have to work harder. I have to be more of a quarterback, like a starter. I have to be the leader of, of the team. So I don't know if that damage, you can repair it or if he's working hard this offseason, if he's doing all the right things off the field. That was the main thing that I got when I talked to some people from Indianapolis. But you got fresh blood coming in. And Daniel Jones, and look, Daniel Jones, he's won a playoff game, he hasn't played great. So I don't know if anybody's excited about that quarterback room per se. Like, hey, this guy's going to take me to the promised land. But at least it brings in a guy who has had some success in the NFL. And it's a way to push Anthony Richardson because let's be honest, teams who draft guys in the first round, they're going to give that guy every single opportunity to play and to play well because they put the resources in to actually get them. Let me ask you this before we move on to the Saints. What do you believe is a realistic expectations for the Colts this season? Because I remember last year and I don't know if you followed us or not in this podcast. I was very, very high about the Colts expectations going in and I just want to temper them this year a little bit.
- [35:14]
Unknown Guest
Yeah, I think it'll be interesting because to me you mentioned even the first couple games with Richardson when he comes in, that's going to be the defining point of the season. If this team gets to week four and they have a winning record, they're playing good football, the receivers are happy, that means chances are Richardson is thriving. And I think if we see the Anthony Richardson that they drafted him to be, that Shane Steichen who work with Justin Herbert, who work with Jalen Hurts, can bring, if he can bring him to the level that he wants him to get to, I think this is an easy playoff team. The Texans are a great team, but we've seen the Colts be right on their heels the past couple of years.
- [35:50]
Jacob Robinson
You don't feel like the Jacksonville Jaguars are our borderline playoff team as well in that division? Obviously the Texans probably the favorite. They are the favorite to win that division. But Liam Cohn, Trevor Lawrence, Travis Hunter, that's going to be an interesting division in my opinion.
- [36:05]
Unknown Guest
I think so too. And I really like what the Jags have been focusing on this off season, which is bringing Jaguar's DNA and you've spent time at fantastic organizations. You wrote a great piece about the Saints and Drew Brees and his leadership, you see, and I think a lot of people outside the NFL, myself included, don't really understand what that top down leadership does. I'd love to hear you talk a bit about that where hey, we're setting the tone, we're setting the standard.
- [36:30]
Jacob Robinson
Yeah, I mean look, it is something that as a head coach in an organization and a GM and the ownership, it is a top down leadership standpoint and you have to have your head coach in front of everything. He has to be the leader, the end all, be all on a team. I do think that Liam Cohn is going to do that. Let's transition to the quarterback situation that I find most interesting down in New Orleans. They have to move forward now without Derek Carr. The Saints selected Tyler Schuck in the second round, joining Spencer Rattler and Jake Hayner, who is now injured and will not be participating in any OTAs. He'll be back for training camp. Diana Rossini just Reported that along with some other people. How do you think things will shake out in New Orleans?
- [37:16]
Unknown Guest
Man, I think it's Tyler Schuck's job to lose. They brought him in. He was handpicked by Kellen Moore. He wants him to be his quarterback. We saw last year what Jake Hayner and Spencer Rattler bring to the table and it was pretty underwhelming. This isn't a team that is a quarterback away from a Super bowl, but if they can have someone who is. I believe he'll be 26 years old either when the season starts or just early on in the season. You're drafting him to play now. I don't think this is a Michael Pennock situation where they're planning to rest him in the short term at all.
- [37:46]
Jacob Robinson
Yeah, and I would agree with that. Look, I think that Tyler Schuck walks in and I think that he is day one starter based on the team that they have around him and the quarterbacks they have in their room.
- [37:56]
Alec Lewis
Him.
- [37:56]
Jacob Robinson
Let's be real about this. Between Chuck Hayner and Rattler, the Saints have seven career NFL starts and zero NFL wins. And look, when a guy that I'm close with, Kellen Moore, who took the job down there in New Orleans, that was the number one question he had and the number one question that all of us had when he took the job. Who's going to be the quarterback? Derek Carr obviously got hurt last year, didn't play a lot, and then everything that happened with him ends up retiring. And I don't know if you can walk into a better situation for Tyler Shuck than the New Orleans Saints to actually go out there and start right away. They have some playmakers, Chris Olavi, Alvin Kamara, some other guys. Rasheed, like Shahid, can fly. And it's interesting to walk into because Chuck is 25. He'll be 26, I believe in October. This Kellmore offense in Dallas and in San Diego or in la, the Chargers, it was pretty complicated. And when they went to and how they ran it in Philly, it wasn't as complicated. It. It relied a lot on the run. I don't know if the New Orleans Saints with an offensive line that needs some help. I know they drafted High, the guy out of Texas, Kelvin Banks, I believe. But when you look at their offensive line, an older Alvin Corner, I don't know if they're going to have as much success running the football. And so that puts a lot of pressure on the quarterback in a Kellen Moore style offense. I'm not sure. How Tyler Schuck will be able to handle it. And so that brings up an interesting little nugget that we've been thinking about and I've talked about a little bit, but you almost have to, if you're the Saints, figure out how training camp goes the first couple days, how OTAs, how OTAs go. Can Tyler Shuck actually handle the gig? There's a guy by the name of Kenny Pickett. It's a quarterback room that's crowded in Cleveland. He might end up being the odd man out. In fact, I think he probably will be. You have Joe Flacco, you have Dylan Gabriel, you have Shador Sanders. How that plays out, who knows. But do you think that could be a possibility for the Saints if they look in and shuck? Ah, he's not ready to play right away because can you pick? It was with Philly last year in Kellamore.
- [40:13]
Unknown Guest
I think that's definitely a possibility. And if you look at the Saints opening schedule, they start with the Cardinals, then go to the 49 or then the host the 49ers, visit Seattle and then head to Buffalo to play the Bills before facing the Giants. Those are some tough defenses. And that is not an opening schedule that you'd want a rookie quarterback to face up against if you're hoping, hoping for them to thrive. And Chris Olave's health is still uncertain. I mean, he's had a concussion. It seems like every other game when he was playing with Derek Carr. So his health is going to be in question. Rashid Shahid's health is going to be in question. And then Alvin Kamara could just go nuts, hopefully for my fantasy football team. But, you know, there's a lot we still need to see play out there. So I do think anything's on the table for the Saints. And I mean, you know Kellen Moore better than I do. It seems to me like he'd be open to bringing in an outside quarterback. But I do think week one we're going to see Tyler Schuck start.
- [41:07]
Jacob Robinson
And it's crazy to think that because nowadays, you know, he was a second round rookie. Quarterbacks are expected to play right away. I did a study going back to 2020 on when is the average time a first round or second round quarterback starts. It's like week three. So they're expected to start right away. Tyler Schuck spent a lot of time. He started to organize Justin Herbert's backup and Justin Herbert's like entering his fifth or sixth year in the league. And Tyler Schuck is a rookie. He, he's with Texas Tech. The thing that I'm worried about him and a lot of people obviously I studied him quite a bit coming out of colleges. When he was at Texas Tech for three years. He had season ending injuries all three years. The health was an issue. The Saints felt good with it. He did have some of the best footwork of any quarterback that I had studied in this draft. Footwork is at a premium as a quarterback. When you're throwing the football and when you are throw over the football, it starts from the feet down so or feet up so you're starting at your feet, your feet are right, your armor right, all that stuff. It's going to be an interesting quarterback carousel. Those are really the only two that we have our eyes on as of now. There might be another one in Cleveland that we can talk about at a later show. But coming up, Joe Burrow has had some notes for the schedule makers. Hear the Bengals quarterback what he had to say about Cincy's 2025 calendar coming up.
- [42:30]
Chase Daniel
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Chase Daniel
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- [44:57]
Jacob Robinson
All right guys, welcome back to Scoop City. The Bengals kick off their season against the Browns in week one, but that is not what has caught the attention of Joe Burrow when he was asked about Cincinnati's schedule. Let's take a listen. Playing in Baltimore for the fourth straight primetime year isn't ideal. Maybe we could get one of those.
- [45:18]
Unknown Guest
In Cincinnati next year, please. Maybe an international game next year too.
- [45:26]
Jacob Robinson
So first of all, he seems very happy, very relaxed, he's healthy, heading in to the regular season. So the Bengals have lost each of the previous three primetime games in Baltimore. One Sunday night, two Thursday night games. And this year the Bengals and Ravens are set to meet on Sunday night and week 13. What are your thoughts about Joe Burrow's reaction to the schedule makers?
- [45:53]
Unknown Guest
Look, I think I might be the only Cincinnati Bengals fan in Canada and and I'm not surprised to hear him say that there's six and one under Zach Taylor playing primetime games at home. On the road, that record drops to 4 and 7. It makes sense why they want especially you're often traveling on a short week for Thursday games or a longer rest for Monday games. You don't want to be traveling. And I mean you, you've been on the road for these games. You know how road trips, it's harder to play on the road for a lot of reasons.
- [46:20]
Jacob Robinson
Yeah. Look, so last season, to your point, Cincy had five prime time road games. So the schedule Makers are not doing them any just justice at all. A couple things about prime time road games. Thursday night road games are the absolute worst. If you're on the road because you're not only finishing up your prep on a Wednesday, but Wednesday around noon, you board a bus to head to the airport and you play Thursday night. Whereas if you're a home team, you get to have a normal Wednesday, you get to sleep at home or sleep at the hotel. Wednesday night you're getting there at like 8. It's not as rushed and especially Sunday night. Here's the thing about Sunday night. When you're playing on the east or west coast and you have an 8 o' clock kickoff, the game doesn't get done till 11:30. You don't leave the actual stadium until like 1am and then you're at the airport. I mean, there's a lot of times where these Sunday night road games, especially on the west coast and you're flying back east, it is absolutely awful. There's been multiple times where you get in at 4am, 5am the next morning and then that Monday is sort of like jacked up because you're trying to get in, you're trying to recover, but really sleep is at the end of it. I get what he's saying. I mean, what, what do you think about, what do you think about Cincinnati's chances this year? Right. Like obviously signed T. Higgins back, signed Jamar Chase, a Trey Hendrickson. Thing is, is, is going on. Where do you see these Cincinnati Bengals this year?
- [48:01]
Unknown Guest
I think it's going to come down to the defense in a way similar to what we saw last year, where this team can keep up with anyone, run as fast as any other team in any high scoring track meet, but can they get a stop? And, and that's what it came down to in the Chiefs game where they got that flag on fourth and pass interference. I was pretty upset at the time. I may have broken a remote controller. May have. But if you look at this team, I mean, they got rid of Lou Amarillo. I was a huge fan of his. I thought he was a great coordinator. He didn't have the pieces. It was time for a fresh start. Bring in a new defensive coordinator, focus on defense during the draft and really make a point at bringing in a new culture on that side of the ball. And I think that's going to be the most important thing to watch for the first couple weeks. I mean, if you remember week one, they started with a huge upset loss to the Patriots. And that to me Set the tone for the whole season, because now you're trying to play catch up. And then even they went. I think it was. They won their final five games or they went on a run at the end there, it didn't matter.
- [48:59]
Jacob Robinson
And they started slow. And the seasons that Joe Burrow has been healthy, for the most part, other than last year, they've made the playoffs. My thing, like you said, even with Trey Hendrickson resigning, or so we think. Like, I'm not sure if the Cincinnati Bengals can stop anyone. They can score with anyone. But that was sort of the issue, in my opinion last year with the Cincinnati Bengals and Joe Burrow is they would score a lot. Joe Burrow arguably had his best season as a pro, but they. They'd have these 45 to 40 games. And Joe Burrow would make one mistake. I remember the Chiefs fumble, sack, fumble taken back to the house. Remember the Baltimore Ravens interception. He's played so well. And then. And in these tight little moments where, you know, three or four plays go bad for the Bengals, they were able. They weren't able to overcome it because they felt like they needed to score. And as that, as a quarterback, when you're feeling like that, you sometimes press. But Joe Burrow, unbelievable player. I feel for him. So last season, the Burrow and the Bengals were actually on Hard Knocks. So we get these Hard Knocks happening right now. This year, it'll be the NFC East, Giants, Cowboys, Eagles. Oh, my gosh. The league also announced the Bills will be on the traditional version of the Hard Knocks. What is your reaction? First of all, let's start in Buffalo. To the Buffalo Bills being on Hard.
- [50:21]
Unknown Guest
Knocks, I can't wait. I think Josh Allen is one of the best personalities we have in the league right now. And getting to see more of his process, more of what happens in those meeting rooms, to me will be a real treat. And. And I think with Hard Knocks, what my favorite aspect is just seeing what teams joke about with each other. What's the culture like? And we always talk about culture in the business aspect. And I was a lawyer for a few years, and I saw what a different culture could look like in different industries. And to see what it's like in the football team atmosphere where players actually like each other. Do they. Is that real? And you do get a sense of that in Hard Knocks. Have you ever been on the other side of the camera during that time?
- [51:01]
Jacob Robinson
Thank goodness, because I would have gotten roasted for multiple things, mainly when I was playing a little bit of a potty mouth. So I just, I Agree that it is cool to see the league is sort of forcing it on, on people. But out of 22 teams that have been featured, only eight have made the playoffs and no team featured on Hard Knocks has ever won the Super Bowl. But you go back to those meeting rooms, you can see where the cameras are placed, right. I haven't been on, but I've had some buddies on. And you almost just. You almost in the back of your mind be like, oh, I can't really act myself. So I do think there's some drama built into it. My main thing for the, for the Bills before we move on to the NFC east is I really am going to want to see how Sean McDermott talks to the team because I have heard nothing but great things. You look at last year, what the Buffalo Bills were able to do. Josh Allen obviously mvp. But I think the key component here is how Sean McDermott has handled this team. It's been up, it's been down, and he's consistently made them into a contender. Excited about that. So from the NFC east, one thing. Oh, yeah, go ahead.
- [52:09]
Unknown Guest
One thing. Quickly on Hard Knocks, I think to me, the dream Hard Knocks guest would be Saints accountants in the off season as they're trying to get under the salary cap. Like how they're crunching the dead cap, the void years. You got it. That's gotta be fantastic tv.
- [52:25]
Jacob Robinson
Yeah. For, for, for nerds that like math. Yes. But for most people, I feel like, hey, show me, show me the interactions. But that, that would be funny. So, NFC east, who's your favorite team you're looking forward to watching?
- [52:40]
Unknown Guest
I think for me, I mean, when it comes to the NFC east, there's quite a few, like, ways this can go. Like we're thinking about the commanders as these contenders. All of a sudden I don't think that's a shoo in. If you look at a lot of rookie quarterbacks that first season, teams are adjusting to tape. By the time they get reports from the scouts, a few weeks have gone by. We're already mid to late season. They're starting to get a sense of how the quarterback likes to play, the schemes they're running. Cliff Kingsbury really tailored his scheme to make it easier on Jaden Daniels. Will that come back to bite them in year two? Their schedule is a much tougher one than it was last year. We also, every other team knows what to expect from them. They're not going to enter those games thinking these are the same old Washington teams. This is going to be a much harder season. For the Commanders, I think they're the most interesting team. I do think we're going to see a lot better results from the Cowboys. George Pickens trade to me was a huge bet on themselves, which I'm glad to see them finally make a year and a half after Jerry Jones said they were all in. And as always, there's the Eagles. I mean, to me, it's the class of the league in terms of how they're running. They always re sign players early to get the best deals they can. They use void years very strategically and they draft really, really well. And so to me, those are really going to be the three teams to watch. And then of course, there's Jackson Dart, which I'm sure you're excited by.
- [53:59]
Jacob Robinson
And that's probably my number one thing of all the teams, right? Like, Commander's great. They went out and they secured Larry Tunsil, they got Debo Samo, they're getting better, tougher schedule. We'll be interested to see. My whole thing is how the quarterback competition shakes down in New York. We know Brian Dabel and Joe Shane, in my opinion are on the hot seat this year if they don't win, if they don't make the playoffs, probably gone. They were almost gone this past year. You go out, you sign two legitimate veterans and Jameis Winston and Russell Wilson, who in my opinion still have good ball left. Not great good, good ball left. And then you trade back into the first round and you get Jackson Dart. Remember what I said. Since 2020, the average time to start for rookies in the first round is week three. When does Russell Wilson. Does Russell Wilson play good enough to keep the job? At what point in the season do they end up going to Jackson Dart? I don't think Jackson Dart will start right away and just the job security of Brian Dabel and Joe Shane. And look, we got to see hard knocks in the off season with the Giants, I think last year and the whole Saquon Barkley thing went down. Do they do enough on camera to sort of sway the way maybe fans feel about them? It'll be interesting to see.
- [55:12]
Unknown Guest
And my favorite moment of the Scoop City podcast recently, and I put a gif of this in the newsletter, was you and Diana reacting to the Giant schedule. This is not a friendly schedule for a coach GM that are on the hot seat.
- [55:26]
Jacob Robinson
Yeah, it's. It is when you look at their schedule like, and I said something on my Fox show, the facility that got me in a little bit of heat, but I truly believe it, like there's a real possibility that the Giants start one in six when you really look at their schedule and you really break it down one in six ain't ain't good. Like like I've said from the start, I think Jackson dart should start sooner rather than later. A couple reasons my main reason being that Brian Dabel and Joe Shane they drafted them give him a chance. If they can show hope hope with this rookie quarterback and win 78 games they might keep their jobs. If they can show a plan of attack with hey this is what we want. Jackson they're consistently getting better. Malik neighbors one of the best young rookies second year guys in the league at receiver they have some weapons versus if you win nine games revolves Wilson I don't think you keep your job back. That's going to be something we're interested in. I love Hard Knocks. I think it's great for the league. Jacob, you to want were awesome today man. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for listening for Jacob Robinson. I'm Chase Daniel. Bye guys. Tag me next time. Heads up.
- [56:48]
Chase Daniel
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- [57:13]
Jacob Robinson
And I'm Noah Michaelson, also from HuffPost. And we're the hosts of Am I Doing It Wrong? A new podcast that explores the all too human anxieties we have about trying to get our lives right. Each week on the podcast, Raj and I pick a new topic that we want to understand better and bring a guest expert on to talk us through how to get it right. And we're talking like legit credible experts, doctors, PhDs all around superheroes from HuffPost and Acast Studios. Check out Am I Doing It Wrong? Wherever you get your podcasts.
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