[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, or it looks like I'm trying to visualize it. I know, I'm just trying to give you the extra square footage. And there's a thousand rattlesnakes? Yeah, a thousand.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So there's a rattlesnake for every 10 square feet. Ooh, man, this is a tough one.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And a thousand rattlesnakes. One rattlesnake for every roughly 10 square feet.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alright, man, I'm just, I'm trying to do the... Man, that is...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, yes, the snakes can bite you. Snakes also don't like humans. Like some of those snakes are gonna be getting out of the way. The snakes aren't like coming after a human. They're not like- They can't.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, there's a thousand snakes in the giant thing. Each snake is not required to be in a three foot.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I almost said effing snakes. Cause they're just like great reptiles. Like they could do something stupid and you could get a pathway. Where's the path?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like the landmine, you're going to spend, I mean, how long are you standing there? How much time do you have to think about where you're going?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, no, I'm saying like once you like, okay, give me the landmines. How long do you have before you have to start running?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] All right, Pete Briscoe, checked in. Wow. This is no surprise. Where do you think he took in the?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Both of the old timers, Alan Munoz, Alan would kill him in the run game and have more trouble in pass protection, but he would still win.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, I guess, I mean, I guess, oh gosh, we should, man, we need to get Pete all to like say that and then we tweet it out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't think, I don't know if that's a comparable. I thought of that, but I don't think that's a comparable.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I asked the, I asked the Pete Presko and Jamie Isenberg the same question, the snakes, landlines, follow up off the uh, Munoz. I can't believe that. And he immediately said snakes.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think that's, that's right. Adam H in the comments has a good suggestion. What does he say? Take the landmine and just throw your shoe out there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I think I'm taking the snakes because I feel like there is a chance that the snakes will. Well, like rattlesnakes in particular.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I understand that, but I'm saying like there's a chance at like, like first of all, oh, and you know, sneaky factor here. Some of the snakes might kill each other.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, at least I can see my own death coming. That's right.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, oh, I meant to ask you this, uh, earlier, and I never even do this podcast for freaking never. Uhm, but, uh, have you watched, uh, For All Mankind? Oh, have you, have you watched, uh, uh, oh god, what's this thing show?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, not succession, uhm, severance on Apple TV.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For all mankind is like, uhm, do you remember the, uh, the man that I was on?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, this is, this is a great, like I've got, this is like the group thread. The immediate, I gotta, I think I need more details, landmines, snakes all day man. Like, there's not a good answer, this is a really good one.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I keep, I keep, I've done this out there, I'm like, a thousand snakes and people are like, what kind of snakes? It's like, sorry, I meant rattlesnakes. My apologies. Yes, the freaking snakes are poisonous. It was a thousand black snakes. Everybody's taking the snakes and running around.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's, it's kind of a Rorschach test for like your, your personality, I think too.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If I'm, if I go slow and step on one and hear the click, can I MacGyver my way into keeping the button pressed down with gum just long enough to throw it? No!


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think, I think we are underestimating too, like it depends on how quickly you get bit by the snake.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like there's a chance you end up laying on the ground, writhing in pain, unable to run, being eaten by snakes.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So it's in a thousand, you're going to get way more than a couple of bites. He said, doubtful. They're more scared of me and I'm flying.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Pete is like, the problem for, you see, uh, Pete's getting like, man, the snakes are getting Pete quick.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, I, I think I'm ultimately, god, this is a good one. I, I, you're, you're going snakes, right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, this is a good question from Amarquez in the chat. Can we do it simultaneously?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, yeah. One person's running versus the month. I mean, like obviously, yeah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, you know what? It would be fun. It would be like Mr. It is a Mr. Beast special. Maybe Mr. Beast can do it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're like about to make it through. You're like, I've made it and my torso comes ripping across. That would be the most.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, but like Mr. Beast, we watched, Robbie and I watched one where it was like...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He puts, he puts $20,000 in a brief, $20,000 in cash in a briefcase, but you have to walk across this pond.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It features like little, you know, like it's a little swampy area and there's like 15 or 20 enormous alligators.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And like the first two dudes who were like his friends were like, I'm not doing that. Like hell no. And then this like professional.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, like alligator wrestler, snake tamer comes up. He's like, all right, I'll do it. And he gets like three steps in and he's like, oh, I've made a big mistake. He eventually gets across, but like it looks so dicey.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I feel like snakes, I feel like snakes in the dark is basically landmines. And snakes in the dark is way worse than snakes in the light.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's snakes in the dark. A thousand snakes in like 10,000 square feet in the dark.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] How many snakes? 20. 20 snakes in the dark? Yeah. Same distance. Come on snakes.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A thousand snakes, uh, 20 snakes, whatever. You can at least like, you can, 20 snakes you can maybe discern like where the rattles are.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh man, snakes in the dark, half a snake in the dark. Alright.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Somebody, somebody animates in the comments like, please message Breach to see what he says.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Breach is definitely taking... He's taking the snakes. He typically does the not crazy thing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I think he's saying that. Well, but I also see him being like, I'm actually good with snakes.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You may have like chosen to like, like one of his, like, like one of his choices in one of these may have been like drink urine.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Would you rather, would you rather...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] All right, uh, this, well, this, so much for not having a podcast today, Diva.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We used 90 minutes out of this, but yea, this is what happens when you make us podcasts. We're going to sit here for a while.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh gosh. I'm just kidding. Um, thanks as always for listening, for hanging out with us.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If it's, if it's Monday and you're listening, I'd be at a great weekend. If it's Friday and you're watching on YouTube, enjoy your weekend for Wilson. I'm Brinson. See you guys later.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, like I was, I was not happy with him in 2020, but every time he kicked last year, I thought it was going in and it did.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] At the beginning of last season, but also I could say the same thing about the quarterback and some other players. So yeah, I think things are trending upwards, but it wouldn't be like absolutely shocking. There's, there's some decent expectations on the team this year if they fall flat and are 6 and 11.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But yes, if Sean Payton shows interest and this year goes poorly, uhm, sign me up.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'll just say I was watching some uh, Reggie White highlights the other day.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And just busted his ass in half a second.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'd like you guys to do better math here to help me make my decision.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I've already trod on dangerous ground. We're on dangerous ground right now. Because of our secrets and our lies. They're practically what define us. When the truth offends, we...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We lie and lie until we can no longer remember. It is even there, but it is still there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In my dreams it went exactly like the way I dreamt it. No, you, you, you never, you can't know what people are going to be thinking about 18 months in the future.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It felt to me as though it arrived at a perfect moment and it entered part of a conversation, part of the zeitgeist and it was, it sort of started to articulate what was on people's minds if they just shifted their, their gaze just two inches off the screen into the real world.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I had a guy come up to me at the airport recently whose father was a liquidator. And he, uh, he was a Ukrainian and he was saying that thank you, thanking us for making the show and for bringing the world's attention to that story.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, I met someone at the TCAs who fled the Ukraine and fled the fallout. So yeaah, there's a lot of personal stories that people come up to you and they're grateful for the story having been told and for


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The focus that Craig brought to the, the heroism and the sacrifice that had gone unrecorded, you know, they hadn't been recognized in their own country at the time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, my recollection of those conversations was, well, there was a, there was a movement person that we, we Skyped with, but also a certain thing of a, uh, uh, underplaying and a, and a kind of, um,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A deadpan quality rather than that sort of, you didn't wear your heart on your sleeve and you weren't describing situations that you were in and from a performance point of view, yeaah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Behaviours that were emblematic of, of uhm, people from that society. And it was a certain way that they carried themselves. The thing that I remember mostly was the way they nod.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That when we nod in agreement, it's from our, it's a downward motion, but when they nod in agreement, it's upward like that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, that's the one, the big one I remember, but also a certain kind of uhm, like a Buster Keaton quality in your face where you don't give anything away. You're, you're concealing your emotions and your reactions and, which is always, it's interesting.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because one expects that when you start to play a scene that way, you're going to get the direction. What are you doing? I need to see what's going on inside your character. But Johan was completely the opposite. He was always, he was about...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The stakes are high enough and we, you know, you can hold it as much in as you can and make us look to see what's going on.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Pull the script apart, uh, which is probably really annoying because then you start asking questions and then you sort of figure out why it's been put together the way it's been put together and of course Craig is


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Then you understand, you're basically just trying to understand the story you're supposed to tell because you're a one strand of the whole canvas and you need to understand what's your responsibility, what story are you telling.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So one of the things that appealed to me as we started to do it about this, about the role was that he was a reluctant hero, he was not somebody who, well for example,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The heroes in the first episode are the sort of traditional heroes. They're the first responders who go towards danger. And he's not one of those people.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And he never, he didn't make that choice in his life and he never thought he was gonna have to be. Plus, when he gets dropped into that situation, he's still, it's not a choice. He can't leave.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But he's aware of the, of the fact that what staying means constantly. So his journey towards being a hero is a slow journey, if you like, and I like the idea of he was afraid.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And, and he was afraid because he understood at every turn what the consequences were of just remaining there and also of uhm, at a certain point trying to subvert the narrative.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Stellan should have been making that, well his character should have been making that speech.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, he's had the wind knocked out of him by me telling him that we're gonna be dead in five years. Uh, he's been sidelined at that point. And I'm doing a really bad job of lying to these people and of talking to them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And he steps up and of course he understands who these people are and you have to tell them the truth, so he tells them the truth. Probably not something that he's familiar with doing either, but as a party official.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He would be all along the lines of those, uhm, the party official in the first episode, which is, uh, you know, cut the phone lines and contain the spread of information. So, but he's suddenly...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He steps forward into that situation and he tells them what they need to hear so that they can make a dignified choice at that point.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] More words! Uh, there were, actually there was more, but it, uh, it got, some of it got cut out, uhm, uh, cause it was a, it was a, I'd say it was probably about two and a half pages longer, wasn't it?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know. And the weeks before it were all the giant Kremlin scenes with all that exposition as well. So it wasn't like, well I can sort of, I can coast through the first two weeks and spend that time figuring out what's gonna happen. Nah, no that didn't happen.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, I mean to answer your question, the challenge, the specific challenge of this part was


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A tremendous amount of explaining.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That he had to do in many many scenes.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And the largest example of it was episode 5 and what amounted to a 24 page monologue.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Cool water takes heat out of a system. As it does, it turns to steam, or what we call a void. In an RBMK reactor of the type used at Chernobyl,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's something called a positive void coefficient. What does that mean? It means that the more steam present within the system, the higher the reactivity,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Which means more heat, which means more steam, which means it would appear we have a vicious cycle on our hands.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] How do you make that interesting? I mean, how do, how is that more than just I'm conveying information? Because that's boring to watch. So the biggest challenge of playing the part was a, finding a sort of a subtextual


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, journey or narrative. So I, I was playing something else other than here's this information. And some of it was planned, but a lot of it we discovered in the room and.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There were, uhm, and some of it comes from, it was in Craig's script, so for example in that first, well, it was all in Craig's script, but uhm, for example, all of the, the scene in the first Kremlin, where he's having to explain why he feels that the situation's worse than it is,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Travelling at nearly the speed of light. Concentrating everything in its path. Woods, metal, concrete, flesh.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Every gram of U-235 holds over a billion trillion of these bullets. That's in one gram. Now Chernobyl holds over three million grams and right now it is on fire. So then you look at that and you think, well, why does he, why does he use that word?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then you, I understand that where Craig's mind was and that was, okay, he's in a room full of people that if I start describing it in scientific terms, I'm going to lose them and they won't understand. I need to explain this in a language that they do understand and the language that they understand is bullets to the back of the head.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And, but he only discovers that at that moment.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, uhm, so that's useful because you can plan that. There's other stuff that you can't plan that there was versions of it that we did that were really passionate. And I think the one that they use that I liked was where he gets carried away and then he suddenly realizes the room that he's in and he gets scared and he dials himself back because he understands who he's talking to.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] With a, a big narrative where you're having to explain stuff and then,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Specifically in that last courtroom scene, Craig had set the whole thing up, so we're watching it going, is he gonna do it? Is he gonna tell the truth? And then also that, that Johan and Craig's approach to that scene and the way it was structured was,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They didn't want it to end up with a giant sort of, uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And just as for all, uh, Al Pacino, you're out of order, you're out of order, like a big thing like that, that it kind of...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It kind of, it's like a balloon losing its air. It's a kind of fart at the end that they, he lays out this thing before them and there's just no response at all. And it was a futile gesture that, um, at the end of the day, you can look at and say, well, why would you ever think this could work? Yeah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because there was a sort of several choices where you could go, okay, well, he makes the decision here, but okay, what if we push it off and push it off? And so it was almost, it came down to the moment when he's looking at the judge and he's, he's, uh, there was, it was sort of in the script that there's a sort of pause and he's,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's right at the edge of the cliff and he pauses right before the edge of the cliff and there's a moment where he's staring at him and the realisation of what he's about to do hits him and then he goes over the edge. And I think from an acting point of view,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That you know that by the time you get to this part of the story, the audience wants to know what happened.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because again, as part of Kray's construction of how he put this thing together, he starts with the explosion and you see the immediate after effects and then you're dealing with


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The uhm, the aftermath of it, but always constantly talking about it, and then the narrative question is posed, why did it happen? How did it happen? Which Emily's character starts to go off on.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, on this, uh, detective trail, if you like, which is the sort of political thriller aspect of the, of episodes two and three. And then...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] By the time you get to five, yeaah, you wanna know what happened, why did it blow up? So, that's interesting.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so you know that at that point, you're, you're answering questions that the audience will have in their mind. So that relieves some of the pressure off of you as a performer and some things you unite, you need to juice up and other stuff. You're like, no.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is where I'm holding these threads at the moment and that's where the


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yes, I mean, there's a couple of answers to that. I mean, I'm just...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Winding back to slightly, one of the other things that was keeping me going was the, was understanding his sense of culpability, which I initially found quite confusing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But, uh, but as you play out those scenes prior to that, you started to understand where that feeling of culpability was coming from. So that was a big part of what was happening. I, I think that he thought he was going to be shot. I mean, the image that I had in my mind was that I was going to be


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm up against the wall at the back of the courthouse and shot within within 60 seconds of this happening.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There was, well, there was a paradox that I enjoyed, that you and I discussed, uh, Craig, and that was that early scene in episode five where Homuke is, is trying to persuade him to do this, that this is the right thing to do. And on the one hand, he's dying.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's the same thing that gives him the power to, uh, to make the sacrifice that he makes at the end of his life for it to be an instigating event. But on the other hand,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If you've, three years you've got left, that's eternity for you, and they're precious. So, you still have a life left to live. Uhm, so in that moment, uhm, you're, you're, you're dealing with this idea of, well I'm gonna die anyway, but on the other hand,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is all the life I have left and even if it's 60 seconds, it's the most, that becomes even more precious. Uhm, and I knew it was sort of balancing those two feelings as you were approaching that choke point, if you like, of right, am I gonna do this or not?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I think there was also something, cause this is why, this was something that again, that Craig and I talked about, which was, it was the idea of the culpability and the culpability also ties into the Dyatlov character. Right. And, and Dyatlov was firmly in the crosshairs as being responsible for the whole event.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But there was a bit in the script, I don't think it didn't make it in, which is where the prosecutor starts to dig into him about his uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] History behind the motivations of why he did what he did. And at that moment,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Although as a, as a, so as an actor though, I had confusion about it because then I would sit there and go, well, practically speaking, what could he have done ten years ago?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're still in the Soviet Union, it's still top-down control, then they decide what the story that's going out there, they decide the narrative that's put out there. So how could he practically have done something about it at that time all the way back then and yet he still feels responsible because that's the story.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And, and the idea that it, that again, you're taking something out of that scene with Stellan, that it's gotta all be worth, it's gotta, it's gotta mean something, it had to be about something.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Everyone, and we had even on the day or the leading up to the day, it was all swirling around and I'm sure there's versions of it where you could have, because it was uhm, it was a fluid thing, but there was no rehearsal, so you have to treat.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Every single take as though you're in a rehearsal, you know, and you don't know what's going to work and allow the editors to finally put the performance together because you, you, it's not, you know, in a play you get together, you rip the, pull the scenes apart, you do them this way and,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, as many different ways as you can through the rehearsal and you finally, with the director, arrive upon a narrative structure and that's how you're gonna do the play for the audience when they come in. Well, you don't, you can't do that in cinema.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Nobody, they, they don't pay for rehearsal any longer. Back in the old days, you used to have three weeks of rehearsal. That's gone. So you, I feel as though you have to treat.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The takes, uh, that's why you keep begging for takes so that you can try and put the story together a different way each time and then let them decide when they rewrite the script for the last time in the editing room which way works best.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean there's a, there's a couple of things that spring to mind. One is that I encountered people who are nostalgic for that system.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Really? They tend to be older, yeaah. And they feel that life was simpler back then. Do you see what they mean? Can you understand that perspective?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, it was partly to do with, the thing that struck a chord was everyone had the same car, everyone had the same clothes, everyone had the same, you know, phone. Whereas now, now you have to worry whether your car is as good as your neighbour's car, and uhm, and that was caused as dissatisfaction.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And which they didn't have before, uhm, and yes, there was, there was no choice, but then.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There was a feeling of, that it caused, there was some harmony that came about from that. Uhm, I don't know whether I agree with them or not because I didn't experience it. Uhm, what else? There was something else that sprung to mind that just popped out of it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That question, uh, is in the DNA of the show, is in the DNA of what Craig was interested in. I mean, it's from the very opening line to the last line.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think that, uh, when, when people sort of say, well of course our cultures or our system isn't like that system, the closest analogy to me to the way that the Soviet system was set up really is in corporate culture.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, and the way that corporations are structured. And, uh, and of course what's happened in the West is so much of the way that our lives are run, our governments are run, are influenced and mandated by what is good for the corporations rather than what's good for the individual citizens. And then I remembered


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The second part of that question you asked me before and it does relate to this because the thing that I walked away with as being sort of the biggest lesson about this was


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The biggest danger happens when you become cynical.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, towards your ability to have a dialogue or to affect your government and in, in that, in this story, nobody believes any longer that they are going to be able to impact what their government does and it takes something this huge


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, for, for them to wake up and realize that, uhm, they aren't in control and that their narrative is being blown wide open. And that knows, I mean that's the purpose of that joke, isn't it? About the, uh, Apple machine, the Soviet machine that cuts an apple into three pieces.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They are all perfectly aware of the, the system that they live under and they've become cynical as to, as to their role in it and their ability in it. And that's the biggest danger, I think, is if you no longer believe that you can do anything and then you just, you give up.


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[Assistant] I was gonna ask you Craig, I was gonna wonder whether or not people are basically throwing comedies your way or are they now that that's completely off the table and now they're throwing sort of dramas and historical dramas because it seems like people sort of tend to follow the pattern of the last thing they saw.


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[Assistant] Comedy is really hard. I mean, you know, that is not something that you should say, you know, you take on. I mean, there's that sort of famous, uh, I don't even know if it's true about Edmund Keane as he's dying on his deathbed. Have you heard that thing? I have, but I want to hear you tell it.


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[Assistant] Well, uh, so he's dying on his deathbed and then someone asks him if he's, is he alright and he looks up at the person and he says, dying is easy, comedy is hard. And I always wondered whether or not he probably had thought those were going to be his last words and then he survived for three more days and he couldn't say anything.


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[Assistant] We are doing Edge today and I'm excited about this group because every year you look at the NFL and they're looking for impact players now at wide receiver it seems like, quarterback of course.


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[Assistant] Defensive tackles and edge. Like the guy on defense who can really mess up a game. Definitely. Defensive tackles and edge. So before we look at this year, let's take a look back at what we learned from last year. So we'll look at your 2023 draft rankings and this is what we like to do.


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[Assistant] Uh, in college football last year, he came out, he did very well. It was awesome. For the Houston Texans last year. Awesome. You voted for him as Defensive Rookie of the Year. Yes I did. Correct. And he won that award. Right.


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[Assistant] Uhm, so as we look at these, and Tyree Wilson was hurt most of the year, had a couple flashes with the Raiders, but never showed in the NFL that awesome tape that he had in college. So in totality, as we look at your top 5 from last year, what do you think?


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[Assistant] Will Anderson is the top-graded rookie edge guy from last year. Uh, had Nick Herbig, number two, limited snaps, but when he played, he looked awesome. He was a guy you liked, and you shouted out your others receiving votes section last year.


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[Assistant] Tui Pulota. Yea, right. So he was the third most snaps, he had 852 snaps last year. Right. It's not all about some of that's team need, but I think if you're playing a rookie that many, snaps, especially on a defense for the Chargers that had some big names hurt, but big names on them. Yea, it means you're good, regardless, you're good.


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[Assistant] To no surprise, uh, to me, to anyone out there, TJ Watt leading with 47 sacks over the last three years. He's a first round selection, but you notice about a lot of these guys who are certainly in the top four. You have 11 first rounders total on this board. The first four, Micah Parsons, Nick Bosa, Miles Garrett, TJ Watt. So it seems apparent at first glance here that


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[Assistant] The drafting community, you do a pretty good job of identifying the studs in EDGE in college who will be the studs at EDGE in the NFL.


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[Assistant] So Matt Judon went to Grand Valley State. Exactly. That seems like an easier one. Right. You got some smaller Alex Highsmith Charlotte. Right. So that. There's some of that. In Gokwe, Maryland. It was still a bigger program, but not in the spotlight all the time. That's right. You know. Trey Hendricks in Florida Atlantic. So that explains some of it there. Yeah, right.


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[Assistant] I think that's a part of the psychology of this a little as well. Not all busts are made in the draft. They're in player development and you can go the opposite way too. Just like you mentioned there, where a guy that could be a bust gets the right coaches or right environment and then becomes a


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[Assistant] Sack artist. Yes. We hope that we have some sack artists in your top five here today. Uh, did you find some of those guys who are 275? Are these the freaky 250 explosive days?


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[Assistant] You like the fact that he has still room to grow. He has technique work to do and he understands that as well. He had that in the conversation with you and Mike Florio at the combine talking about what he still needs to work on. We have that soundbite from back then.


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[Assistant] An unnamed NFL executive says he is such a talented athlete, one of the biggest mistakes people make is looking past athletic ability and focusing too much on technique or polish when they come out. Just look for dudes and coach the rest of it.


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[Assistant] We got the Octagon, which is not as good as a Nonagon, or a Decagon, but I'm still glad that he did the Octagon, because he didn't have to do this at all. You talked about that in your conversation with him, like, why are you doing that? He's like, because I think I can go out there and dominate, and that's exactly what he did.


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[Assistant] Uh, height and weight on the, on the lower end for, for a prospect here, but all of the athletic traits, broad jump, vertical jump, 40 yard dash, were off the charts 98% of the time.


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[Assistant] Uhm, I thought that the Michigan offensive line, which was one of the best in college football last year, of course, handled him pretty well. There wasn't a ton of plays that he made, he got locked up on that game-winning overtime touchdown by Colson Loveland, tight ends, I was like, that's not great. They did run away from him quite a bit, so I do think they were trying to avoid him.


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[Assistant] Uh, but he had, he had a very little effect as a physical force in that Michigan game. So I'm like, alright, that wasn't what I expected. 1987HLW says, is Dallas Turner your Will Anderson this year? From the bits I've watched so far.


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[Assistant] I don't get the hype. Nothing amazes me with him, especially against the good tackles. So, how do you balance those two things? Like the Rose Bowl, it's like, I didn't even know he was out there that much. And then you got a guy like 1987 HLW coming at you with like, he didn't see it either.


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[Assistant] So you've got two players in your tier number one of immediate impact. Number two, you've already hinted at it. You've alluded to it. Your number two edge rusher who, uh, you watch the tape of this guy and you're like, well that stands out.


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[Assistant] I mean, there's so much to his story too, that you got a little bit with your interview with him too. Started at Washington and then was medically retired with a neck injury.


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[Assistant] It was a neck injury, right? Um, cleared by doctors at UCLA and then went on to dominate, had 13 sacks leading the Pac-12 last year, was UCLA's first ever winner of both the Lombardi Award and the Ted Hendricks Award as the nation's top D.E.D. end.


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[Assistant] Defensive linemen, so, like, his production is off the charts. And you look at his tape, you're right. You look at his tape and he's like, no tight end, has any chance of stopping him. And most tackles don't either. You do wonder a little bit about the Pac-12 and, and


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[Assistant] That whole situation. Uhm, but uh, Saturna Vine, and this will be the big question with him, because his tape is awesome. Saturna Vine says, how much should Latus medical?


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[Assistant] Factor into his evaluation, even though he played at UCLA for two years, played a lot. In my opinion, he has some of the best tape hands maneuvers to generate


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[Assistant] And I think the other question with him, the medical thing, whatever's happening there, hopefully he's healthy and he's back. His power, right? How much strength does he have?


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[Assistant] If you want to fall in love with him, just watch the USC tape. Because I feel like he may have beaten every single one of the USC offensive linemen. Left, right, in the middle. Everywhere. Just everywhere.


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[Assistant] So get what he did during COVID here. He built a home gym with his dad, put on 40 pounds of muscle. So that's where he got the extra 40 pounds that would not have been natural without COVID. Thank God for the pandemic. He told us that story.


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[Assistant] Lance Zerline from NFL.com says he has hellish speed to power, bull rushing ability to run tackles deep into the pocket. PFF says his hands are powerful and violent. His swipes look like they hurt. Uh, so some of the things they saw with verse here.


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[Assistant] A slam dunk first round pick is what most people believe and that's what you believe as well.


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[Assistant] The 12-sided Dan. So this might be the record. I don't know that we've had a Dodecagon. I don't know if we have either. I'm sure we have in the past, but I mean, this is all 12, this is all 12 sides right here. And, uh, broad jump was very good, 90th percentile, 40-yard dash. Uh, what, what is he lacking in? The weight, like you mentioned, and he might be playing heavier or as heavy as he can.


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[Assistant] Wingspan down just a little bit there. Arm length in the 50th percentile. Strong though. Bench press in the 92nd percentile.


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[Assistant] Right, lateral movement, just a little clunkier. You watch, you watch him right after you've watched Turner and Lattu and it's not really that close.


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[Assistant] Khalil's football talk says, do you believe there's a clear big three at the top with Latou, Turner, and Vers, where you can make the case for any as edge one depending on what you're looking for. Now that's what you're doing here, the practice of separating these guys, and you do have a clear pecking order for the edge in this class.


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[Assistant] It's just making a case. Could you make a case for verse number one?


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[Assistant] He is in tier two for you. Traits you can cook with and also in tier number two, your number four edge. This will be the final of your top four. Your number four edge in the class of 2024 is Chop Robertson, Penn State Robinson.


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[Assistant] All the athletic stuff, I mean, that's what he did at the combine. People were just like, he's gonna, he's gonna blow it out of the water, he's gonna be awesome in all the athletics things, and he was. 40 yard dash, 97th percentile, broad jump, 95th, 10 yard split, 97th percentile, but then all the physical things, height, weight, wingspan, arm length, you're talking 27th percentile and lower in all those.


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[Assistant] But the traits, get em into your top four and that's it.


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[Assistant] We stop there with your top four, two tiers, immediate impact guys, Dallas Turner.


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[Assistant] Lay out to a lot two and then you got Jared verse and shop Robinson in your tier number two. And so here are the others receiving votes. You mentioned them. Austin Booker, Kansas, Chris Braswell, Alabama, Jonah Ellis, Utah.


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[Assistant] Uhm, Marshawn Keeneland, uh, West, uh, Western Michigan. Western Michigan. And you got Braylon Shrice there, uh, from Washington. And so what Matt has instructed us to do with your others receiving votes. Right. Is give the one best thing that they do, and one thing you think that kinda holds some of these guys. Okay. These guys back.


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[Assistant] So as you flip through here, I will say that as you described your top four, and now we're getting into these other guys, it does seem like overall,


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[Assistant] Like you don't, it's a little underwhelming. Like I think last year when we had this same podcast and you talked about all the edge guys like the Will McDonalds, the guys that even had lower on your list, you're kinda talking up some of the traits. I feel like these guys you have a few more concerns or just reservations.


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[Assistant] Can anybody block him? Man amongst boys who you didn't really see with these guys all the time. But we got some others receiving votes. Some guys who did do some things. Austin Booker from Kansas who, you know, he's got like lightning quick speed to the quarterback. He played against Illinois. Luke Altmeyer, I think he knocked him into next century. It's just like he can get to the quarterback. If he sees the quarterback, he gets to the


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[Assistant] Next on your list here is Chris Braswell from Alabama. I put in here, uh, he believes in his strength for sure. He attacks double teams with pleasure.


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[Assistant] And he stuck it out at Alabama too. He wasn't starting the first few years, stuck it out, didn't transfer, and then got to start and shine. I like to see that too. Jonah Ellis, I liked watching him from Utah. Uh, I put slippery, definitely slippery element to his game. And I think in watching him against USC, he got his hands on Caleb Williams as much as any other defensive end did.


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[Assistant] This guy's got two butt cheeks. Big ones. 267 pounds, 6'3".


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[Assistant] 34 and a half inch arm, so you like to see that. From Western Michigan, Marshawn Nealon.


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[Assistant] Uh, at the combine was good too. Ran the fastest three cone and shuttle of any defensive lineman and linebacker at the combine. Uh, showed some power on his tape, winning some battles with the Iowa offensive lineman. Played all over inside, outside on the line. Former high school tight end. Raw.


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[Assistant] Certainly, but I think the clay is there to be molded. I do.


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[Assistant] So he is included in your others receiving votes along with one more, Braylon Trice from Washington.


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[Assistant] But yea, just not in the class of some of the other guys. Watching all these Pac-12 guys, I mentioned it before, you get to watch Caleb Williams with a bad offensive line. He's amazing. Like, like, should have been sacked.


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[Assistant] Bryce had no, had no chance. Even when he beat the offensive, he had no chance of sacking Caleb Williams on any of those pressures. Uh, so those are all the guys who were in the running for number five. If you were to do a top five, but we chickened out because there were so many that were in the others receiving votes category. But now draft Kings is not going to chicken out. They're going to give us the exact odds for the first defender drafted. Ooh, this is good.


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[Assistant] And right now the odds on favorite is Dallas Turner, your number one edge out of Alabama minus two 20, but then your man crush corner, Quinian Mitchell out of Toledo plus three 50 Jared verse, the third choice at plus 700. Then you got a corner and Terry on Arnold, a defensive tackle who we have not talked about yet out of your.


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[Assistant] Texas University or University of Texas Longhorns Byron Murphy.


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[Assistant] And then you got Latu after that. So these odds, what stands out to you? Anything in particular?


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[Assistant] It would be the Atlanta Falcons. If the Atlanta Falcons, who it seems like they're going to go edge, you don't know for sure, but like if they just like Lahtu better.


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[Assistant] What about the year with Trayvon Walker and Aiden Hutchinson, right? It's like Trayvon Walker had the traits and all the physical ability and tested great and was strong. And Aiden Hutchinson did as well, but he also produced at Michigan, so maybe it's a little of the same thing.


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[Assistant] Hold on, we gotta say this. Oh wait, in our odds here or no? No, not in our odds. DraftKings Sportsbook is an official sports betting partner of the NBA as well. And this season, new customers can bet $5 and get 150 in bonus bets instantly. You can download the app, use the promo code unbuttoned when you sign up.


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[Assistant] DraftKings Sportsbook, the crown is yours. And now we end with one more thing about two more players, apparently brought to you by Peacock, streaming exclusively on, uh, or Colombo, streaming exclusively on Peacock. Chris, go. Jalex, Jalex, okay, Hunt.


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[Assistant] Yeaah. That's good. Alright. Two more things brought to you by Colombo. Streaming exclusively on Peacock. On the Peacock. That's it. We did it. We did it.


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[Assistant] Any personal questions, anything you want to know about us personally. Basically. Yes. It's AMA. I'll tell you everything.


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[Assistant] So what we got, we got AMA, we got the homies with a bunch of questions, but we wanted to bring Devin on the podcast because we love Devin. We'd have you on all the time if you'd come on all the time.


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[Assistant] I just wear the buttoned up shirt next time. Yeah, come on. Uhm, but, but we went through your top corners just a couple weeks ago. Right. And, and your list, which again was a little bit...


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[Assistant] Had some of the consensus top guys and some were the, the Chris Sims special where you saw some qualities and that you liked or didn't like with some of those guys. And so here's your top, top five. And we told Devon, we were like, okay.


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[Assistant] Let's just stop, or start right at the top. Yeah, let's do that. Cause you had Quinian Mitchell, the corner from Toledo, who was awesome, blew it up at the senior bowl, people loved him, question maybe the competition. You had him number one, you had Nate Wiggins number two, from Clemson. Let's just start right there, Devin. Do you see those guys as the top two, and would you rank them in that same order?


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[Assistant] Yeaah. So Devin, when you watch these two, and it was interesting you mentioned about Alabama, because that was part of the rankings that created the most stir probably out there, is a lot of people have those Alabama guys in the top five, some even Terryon Arnold have number one corner, and Chris talked about the context clues of how they used them and how they played them,


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[Assistant] Uhm, you mentioned kind of the same thing there, where, where Alabama, not necessarily were protecting them, but maybe did not trust them on an island. Did you, did you gather that from watching them, or is that just what they do?


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[Assistant] A wide receiver before that at Michigan. And so these are the guys kind of also receiving votes. And, uh, Decarian Richardson was also a guy. He's number five on your list and that is outside of consensus. You see him sometimes, like not even on the first page of prospects for some, but, but you liked him as well, Devin.


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[Assistant] So, so what, this is one of my favorite things about football is that everything affects everything else, right? It's like you have a bad secondary or they're getting beat up. Invest in your defensive line to make the time that the quarterback has to throw a little bit late. There are different ways to do things. So when you have two guys like that, like shut down island corners,


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[Assistant] What does that do to you and the rest of the defense? Like how much easier is your job there? Or just how different is it when you have that mentality and that guy out there that has that mentality?


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[Assistant] I love that. We could talk about that all day, but I do know that Devin probably has other things he has to do. Uh, we could talk forever. So Devin, we got a couple questions here from the homies. We got some Patriots questions too. Let's uh, let's give you some of those. Here's Corey Joskiewicz, who is a long time homie.


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[Assistant] Always with the good questions. He goes, as a defensive back with some real brains, he's talking about you, Devin. Devin, can you speak to the difference in needs when covering a guy like Marvin Harrison?


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[Assistant] So his answer on who he would rather cover, D Hopper or Odell, was neither. That was neither, I think, was the final.


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[Assistant] So again, it's, nothing's easy with those two, that's for sure. Everyone takes a whole lot of attention on the defensive side. Thomas Pena says to you, Devin, what are the main traits you look for in a safety to draft? How much would you balance the importance of athleticism versus high IQ?


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[Assistant] How often did you do that? Stuff like that, that you knew that if it didn't work out, that Bill would, would, would have your head.


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[Assistant] What should the Patriots do with the number three pick? Select a quarterback or trade down?


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[Assistant] Well, yes, exactly right. That could be an issue. Right. And they went down this road, not that long ago. You know, Mack Jones, they hoped he would be that guy that could run this offense, and that didn't work out. Alright, last one for you here, and I think this is assuming they get a quarterback. Lucas Bitek says, Devin, as a former New England Patriot, what type of wide receiver


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[Assistant] Would you pair with their future quarterback? And you can speak to this and maybe a little bigger picture too, cause we just saw it with Bryce Young.


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[Assistant] Last year, it's like you can get the franchise quarterback, but if he doesn't have enough around him, it's not going to work. Uhm, it's going to put him in a bad spot. So if, if you were the New England Patriots and say you go with a quarterback with those, one of those top picks, you know, what are you looking at at wide receiver? What are you looking at to put, put around that player?


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[Assistant] It's kinda like the draft almost starts there, cause it seems like Washington's gonna stay put and pick some quarterback at two. Anything could change, but...


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[Assistant] Well, Devin, we'll have to have you back. Chris has got his safety rankings coming up here, and so you gotta definitely come back for that. Do I have to have him back? I mean, he just said Rod


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[Assistant] Four years for Devon at Rutgers. Uh, you had a pick six your first year, you had a pick six your second year, and that was it. No pick sixes after that for Devon.


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[Assistant] Uhm, Josh Passner, former coach at Georgia Tech. He called, he looked for this for his recruits. He goes, there's two types of guys. There's an energy giver and an energy taker. And he's like, those energy takers, they're energy takers. He's like, you have to supply them with, people around him have to supply him with energy, get him going, hey, come on, let's go.


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[Assistant] And it's just like, that is exhausting. That's a tax. That's a tax on the coaches, that's a tax on your teammates, where the energy givers are the exact opposite. It's just like, you come in a little down, you're just like, I'm not totally pumped. They're coming in, they're getting you pumped up, and that's a big thing.


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[Assistant] I want those type of guys. All good stuff. I love that. Uh, Devin can come back whenever he wants to. We've got some questions coming up here, but let's take a look at some pro day, some quarterback pro day stuff. Cause we haven't done that here on the pod. And I think we should just start Pete and Kristen back there if we could just with a video and just take a look at the video.


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[Assistant] And if we, if you want to move a guy up or down on your rankings because of the video, here's Drake May, who you famously have as the number six quarterback, but he just hit a guy in stride, running left, and now, look at this, perfect arc.


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[Assistant] One handed catch, two for two. If you like to move him in your rankings. Uh, you're funny. No, but really, did you take anything away from Drake May's pro day? I did, I took a lot away.


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[Assistant] Devil's advocate, if you were to take the best five throws from Drake May and compare them to everyone else.


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[Assistant] I would think that there are evaluators that say, you can't coach that. Like what he has there is a rare skill set. And we'll fix all the other stuff. Like he's got inconsistencies. We think there's something wrong with the throwing motion. We'll fix that. But those five throws, like what he did there, like no matter how much we coach some of these other guys, they'll never be able to do that. Is there that for Drake Man?


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[Assistant] Well now it's time to look at the delivery of the lefty in the draft. Michael Panix Jr., he was your number four quarterback in this draft ranking. I think we have his pro day as well, so we'll see if we want to move him. Oh, slow motion! Oh, that's perfect for looking at the mechanics.


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[Assistant] Are Chris Sims or start sounding like Chris Sims after a while. The Raiders 24 at the Raiders 24 says, Do you think the Raiders should draft Michael Pennex Jr. at 13? How high could he go here? If not, which quarterback should we draft? Looks like only Bo Nix and Pennex will be left for us to choose from.


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[Assistant] Let's get crazy. Yeaah. Let's say the Washington commanders feel the same way about Michael Pennex. It's like there's not a whole lot separating all these guys. We want to take a quarterback. We don't want to trade down because we don't know who we'll miss. But we love Michael Pennex. We'll take him number two. How high is too high for Michael Pennex?


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[Assistant] I didn't say I played, I maybe did and mistakenly said that. But I do cover it here at NBC and I have been a long time proponent of more rugby. Like that's one of the things, not only a proponent, but I just think it's gonna happen. Like I'm more sure of that than anything that we will see.


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[Assistant] What if the game completely changes and then we have to have rules to bring it back to what we knew and love all those years.


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[Assistant] Let's take a look at that, uh, as we, as we switch to our pro day. I was really impressed with Jayden. Carousel here. Good hoodie. I like that look. Purple's always a good look. Alright, here we go. Fake handoff. Good. Over the top. Right on the money, I would assume.


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[Assistant] Let's go full circle on your quarterbacks before we get into a couple ask me anything here. Uh, red and purple 77 here. So we'll go full circle. We'll go back to Drake May because now maybe Vikings fans are starting to feel like maybe he'll drop. Maybe Drake May will drop to us now and this will all work out perfectly. If Drake May sits for a year under Kevin O'Connell, would you anticipate him reaching his ceiling?


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[Assistant] And then what is his ceiling? So that's the idea now, is that maybe he's more of a Jordan love, sit behind, although there's no Aaron Rodgers in Minnesota, sit behind Sam Darnold and learn.


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[Assistant] Alright, so some Ask Me Anything questions now as we roll through this one. We got about an hour in here, so we got some time for some good questions from the homies. Uh, Edge Prospects, you did last time we were together. And so got some buzz on that. JD's Burner.


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[Assistant] Says listening to the Edge pod seems like there's a lot more bust potential with the Edge prospects this year. A lot of high-end traits, but no all-around studs. Do you think the same?


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[Assistant] Aiden Hutchinson, Trayvon Walker, Jermaine Johnson, the year before. Right. Oof.


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[Assistant] Alright, so we will talk about him. Uh, the Falcons control a lot at number eight. A lot of people think they're going to take the first defensive player in this year's draft. Eight chains with a Z on the end says Dallas Turner or Quinian Mitchell for the Falcons at eight. I feel we have a better shot at getting a pass rusher on day two than a cornerback two. That's uhm,


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[Assistant] Yeah, I mean, I think you were more excited about your guys in contention for the five spot at edge than you were the guys in contention for the five spot at corner.


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[Assistant] Who's gonna, uh, run routes against these top corners in the NFL now. M. Parham 15. Love the pod. Been listening since the Bleacher Report days. Have you watched Marvin Harrison Jr.'s 2022 film when he had Stroud? And does that change your opinion of him at all? We were just talking about this today. I watched a little and I saw of course a lot last year.


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[Assistant] I don't care. You would almost rather see the quarterback play with a less talented wide receiver so you know it's the quarterback that's doing the work and not the wide receiver. To a degree, to a degree, and sometimes it's the receiver, right?


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[Assistant] Are each of his top wide receivers and can he list his top three wide receivers for each position? So that's a lot of work. Let's just look at your wide receivers here first and see if you have a guard forward and a top center.


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[Assistant] Out of your wide receivers that we have.


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[Assistant] Just the power forward type of guy, right? I would like to see that in a game. All those wide receivers together. You know, I've thought about this in the past because wide receivers would win.


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[Assistant] He says running back, but when I think about running backs, I would think that I just see them shooting and it's just so stiff.


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[Assistant] Because we have a hard time evaluating these players based off who they played, competition. Every year, there's a rookie team in the NFL, an expansion rookie team.


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[Assistant] How do you think that team would do? A team of all of the top rookies coming to the-


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[Assistant] That was not even close. Uh, this one comes from Coach Feratu.


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[Assistant] Oh, they take too many chances or something. I do think there's, much like I feel like there's a coming wave of rugby in the NFL, I do feel like, and we've seen this for a while, it's that, it's not, well, why are teams all of a sudden doing all this, you know, risky stuff? Why are the Lions playing into this? Well, maybe just because


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[Assistant] The league was far too conservative for far too long, and the evidence piled up that, you know, maybe we shouldn't just kick every fourth and one. Maybe, you know, our offenses are good enough to get that extra yard every once in a while. So that would be my big pushback on the Lions. We take too many chances because


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[Assistant] As, as is the case with any team, if you do something that is atypical or against the norm and then it doesn't work out, you look like an idiot. You're like, okay, well you tried to be too smart for everyone and it didn't work out, even if you do feel like it's the best course of action.


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[Assistant] It's so funny, it's almost like a New York thing, remember that like with Mike White, right? The Jets. The underdog thing, they do love that for sure. That's interesting.


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[Assistant] I know. He looks like Tom Brady in a lot of ways, right? It does seem like that. Let's do a couple more here. Let's do this one from Ringo number four. Cause we said that we have these ask me any things. We're not getting the any things, right? We're getting a lot of the football questions, but we say anything. You can ask us whatever.


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[Assistant] I usually go, I usually go, they are poison. I usually go, you know, three ounces of, uh, of Woodford or whatever, or Bullet, and then, uh, you're good. Decide later on if I want another three ounces after that. Uh, what do we got time for here, Pete? Maybe one more? Is that what we're thinking here?


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[Assistant] Alright, so here it is. Glory days. BigChiefer92. Whoa, sounds like my kind of guy. Love the pod and beyond question here.


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[Assistant] Uh, thank you, Big Chi for 92. Uh, Ahmed once mentioned many moons ago a funny story when he was a high school quarterback about thinking of cheeseburgers while breaking a huddle. In the spirit of draft season, can we hear more of Ahmed's quarterback stats? See any film maybe? That is true.


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[Assistant] That is true. Do you have some film? I do. I think I probably do. My dad might have it. Why don't you bring that in? And show us some plays of you. The story.


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[Assistant] My one best play was at like the end of the first half. I was just rolling out to the right. We were at the 50 yard line.


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[Assistant] And it was just like a Hail Mary situation. It was like, ah, throw it as far as you can. I could throw it maybe 40 yards. Yeah. But this one I got out of the pocket. I just, it was more of a sidearm throw. Just put my whole body into it. It came off perfect spiral, which you know when you throw as hard as you can. So were you running to your left? Running to my right. You were running to your right. Righty, righty quarterback running to my right. Up, up, up, up, up. And then I just set up and I just threw it as far as I could sidearm.


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[Assistant] It was like 45 yards, and it was like, hit my receiver right, right in stride, who had beaten the corner, and it was like a touchdown at the end of the first half. If we have that, I will definitely bring that. I will bring that in.


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[Assistant] Uh, I wore four for Jim Harbaugh. Okay. Uhm, he was, he was my guy. Yeah, red, four, red, four. You wore four because of Jim Harbaugh? I did. I loved him. Michigan guy. I loved him at Captain Comeback with the Colts. So it was just like, yeah, he was, he was my guy, but I did one time in a high school varsity game.


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[Assistant] I was getting behind center, and for whatever reason, it popped into my mind. I was like, huh. I was like, I'm gonna be getting McDonald's after the game.


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[Assistant] Damn, that is amazing. So this is when I, okay, so this is when...


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[Assistant] Uhm, and so what does it say about me? Is it talking? I'm afraid.


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[Assistant] Ahmed Fareed didn't end his senior year as a middle infielder for Sparta High School baseball team by crushing a long home run or scoring the winning run. Instead, he grounded into a double play that ended Sparta's season!


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[Assistant] Ending the season. They're putting you on blast right there. I must have told them that story. I did. It was a regional game. Last at bat of my athletic career in anything. Because baseball was the last sport that I played.


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[Assistant] It was like winning run on third, man out first and third, one out.


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[Assistant] And I crowded into a double play. That stinks. And then I'm talking to you now. Yeah. Many moons later. Look at the gifts the Lord has given you. Yeah. Yeah. So that's my, that's my athletic career. If I can find some, some tapes. Please do. Please do. You've seen me throw, you've seen me throw the football. It's okay. It's okay.


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[Assistant] Alright, cool. Is that it? Or do we got one more, Pete? Is that? Alright, Pete says we got one last one. Dcowboy777. Yesterday at Easter dinner, at my cousin's house, there was someone that said he played peewee football with you here in New Jersey. But he said Phil would come to the game, but not get out of the car.


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[Assistant] Yeah, yeah. He remembers it. I mean, that is the fortunate thing about, that you have. I mean, that's the hard thing about playing in the NFL and doing all the stuff and coaching and being involved in the league is that you do it young, you have young kids.


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[Assistant] What I'm good at, you know, my body control and balance.


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[Assistant] Really going up and attack the ball, speed guy, acceleration after the catch. Right. Uhm, good at a point of contact, good at creating space for myself. Uhm, I would say, you know, I'll go against a lot of DBs, especially since I'm outside and inside, so I'm pretty good at, you know, getting open at any DB that's on the field, really.


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[Assistant] Oh yeaah, that's right. His name is Philly Willie Sims in our house. That's Phillip William Sims. He was very concerned. His buddy.


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[Assistant] It's the third day of free agency. Connor Rogers is here. My way cooler, cooler in general, cooler dressed host.


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[Assistant] Yeah, well it's, it's, this is like the official start of the season, this is the official start of hope for fanbase. That's right.


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[Assistant] So everybody's looking for it. And again, even guys like us who do this and evaluate for a living, right? I still, people go, well, tell me how this team's gonna be next year. And I'm like, well, can we just get through the first week of free agency? Let's see what they look like. Let's see draft. Let's do all of that.


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[Assistant] Running backs. That's the craziest part. Getting crazy, getting money and having a market.


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[Assistant] Right? I think the other thing that's shocking to me, and I don't know if I can put my head around this, I've been thinking about this, all the one in three year deals basically done out there, right? Is that where we're going?


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[Assistant] As far as the NFL and the way it's concerned, are players gonna take this new, like, hey, I just want two or three years guaranteed money, gonna do it that way and get me back at the market, and they're willing to take the risk of injury and not having more long-term security? I think so. I also think the team's like it. I think it makes it clean for the team.


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[Assistant] Right? Wait, wait, I don't have to figure out and balance shit seven years down the road and kick the tires and kick the can down the road to now where it is a little bit more clean cut to go, wait, okay, this is this for the next two to three years and now we know where we stand and we move on, right? I think that's where we're getting with the kind of money that's available in the cap space and all of that.


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[Assistant] The really super special star players are gonna see 4 years or more. And then everybody else is coming down to, yea, it seems like 1, 2, or 3 year deals, but more of them this year than I can ever remember.


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[Assistant] Yeah, two year deal that maybe is really just a one year deal. Let's see how it works out. If he stays healthy, we give him the two years, right? Something along those lines. But yeah, some interesting things. We're going to try to dive into all the ones that we find interesting. The topics interesting, teams interesting, whatever, right? So you lead the charge there.


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[Assistant] Wow. That's a great question there. You know, I mean, one, there's a lot to dive into, uh, with this conversation and why it's gone this way. At a base level, I think the big thing is this.


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[Assistant] Where, hey, maybe some of these guys still aren't getting the value that I'd like to see out there. The value has gone up, and I think a little bit of that is because I do think teams gotta be looking at it going, wait, we don't need Adrian Peterson.


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[Assistant] Having a good running back definitely makes your team different on that side of the ball. Like, uh, again, Isaiah Pacheco, Christian McCaffrey with the 49ers, Jameer Gibbs and the Detroit Lions. I think those are lessons to be learned this year, you know, throughout football where teams are like, well,


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[Assistant] Cause there's definitely some value in that, and I think teams realize that for sure.


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[Assistant] Right? And I think a team like, again, I'm going to take low hanging fruit. I still love the Saquon Barkley move. I do. I think Saquon fits that system of the way they run, the way they play.


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[Assistant] You know, Saquon, if there was any weakness to his game at all, it'd be like, well, he's not a sledgehammer, right? Gonna just go put his head down and drive the pile, you know, three or four yards every play. That's not who he is, right? There's gonna be a little dancing and moving cause he's so great at that. He's gonna look for yards that way to a degree. Well, Philadelphia is going to provide a formula.


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[Assistant] I think it was a smart contract with what they did. Basically a one year deal that


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[Assistant] It's three year options after that, right? Right. And I think that's the proper approach too. Josh Jacobs, I mean, in the dog house with Josh McDaniels, overweight last year, right? I think he's one you gotta kinda keep your eye on and hope he stays on his game when he's away from the facility. So that one, I like that for sure, right?


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[Assistant] And I think Green Bay with their offensive line damn good as we saw.


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[Assistant] Plus, you add in Jordan Love and the ability to throw a play action pass, and that, and all of that, I look at that and just go, yeaah, that, that, that has potential to be like something really, really special there. So those are maybe the two main ones, and then I, I mean again, I think you throw in,


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[Assistant] The Ravens and Derrick Henry? There's not a lot that I don't like here. I will say that. But the Derrick Henry one's exciting for obvious reasons.


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[Assistant] You know, again, I think it's more of a, uh, uh, an environment that's conducive to what we used to see with Derek Henry when he was rushing for 2000 yards, right?


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[Assistant] Hey, it's not gonna have to be all about him. The problem with Derrick Henry the last two years especially is he's like,


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[Assistant] Wait, in Tennessee, our old line's not as good, and there's no pass game to defend at all that anybody's scared about, so it's all about stopping me. He's not gonna have to worry about that anymore either, let alone he's got a good old line, we know he's got Lamar, they got young weapons at receiver, and Derek Henry now I think will be able to, when he's at his best,


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[Assistant] Can get all the momentum going downhill, right? He's not a, oh wait, he's gonna stop behind the line of scrimmage like Saquon and jump cut and, and try to bounce it outside. That's not who he is. He needs a little space to get going.


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[Assistant] Then he becomes the locomotive and he becomes impossible to tackle, but I think those are the ones that probably jump out to me the most. But there's not many here that I don't like, I will say that.


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[Assistant] He did it both, as far as zone and pulling guards, right? They did that in Tennessee and had a pretty good variety there in his career.


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[Assistant] Here's the one thing that I think jumps out to me, and what I think they need to, you know, maybe re-evaluate how they play a little bit. I do like when Lamar is underneath the center for them.


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[Assistant] Lamar's another one with play, action, pass. He's phenomenal, let alone the space it creates between the offensive line and defensive line and where you drop back to throw gives him great lanes to move and run and see the rush, right?


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[Assistant] So, that would be the first thing I would say is, listen, I love Derrick Henry I think more at this point of his career probably behind the pulling guards and all of that, right? You know, not that he can't do the zone stuff, but the zone stuff to me was more like Derrick Henry in his prime. Like, hey, I can kinda go out here to the right at like 80%.


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[Assistant] And just kind of pick and choose my hole and when I see it, I'll hit it and go 100%. You know, I feel like, hey, he doesn't have quite the same explosion he did a few years ago to where I'd want him behind one of my big pulling guards playing smash mouth football like that. But I wouldn't want him doing it. My point to where I was getting at is out of the shotgun all the time.


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[Assistant] Well, again, when you're in the shotgun and you hand the ball off, you know this, the first step or two by the running back are going to be sideline to sideline. They don't get to get going downhill. And I think that's when he's at his best. And I would hope that Baltimore messes with that a little bit more.


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[Assistant] Yeah, uh, so, so here is what I would say, first off. Don't judge Tony Pollard just off of last year. Right. Right? The first part of the year, he was not the same. He was coming off a broken fibula, he was, he's a running back. Last time I checked, the lower leg's kind of important to run fast and make cuts, right? Very explosive guy. Right. Second thing I would say is,


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[Assistant] That offense got some firepower, no doubt about it, right?


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[Assistant] Right, but I don't sit there, and you've heard me say this during the year last year, I don't think it's like, oh wow, they're so creative and they know how to use a guy like Tony Pollard to his total capacity anyways.


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[Assistant] That would be the thing I would say. And then, you know, last year, they became definitely, even though Mike McCarthy started the year saying he wanted to run the ball, they became a pass first football team. No doubt about that. And they were better playing through the pass game than they were opening holes in the run game.


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[Assistant] Pollard fits, alright, to the question, cause this is a great, this is a really good question, uh, at titans1313.


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[Assistant] Pollard fits what you guys are going to do on offense better now. That's the big thing. Let alone, he isn't in the prime of his career. And again, when he was healthy two years ago, he averaged five yards per carry, right?


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[Assistant] So, that, that's where I think you're gonna see more of that player, and he's got greater value in the past game too, and I think that's the importance there. So, yeaah, younger, in the prime.


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[Assistant] You know, does have big playability, right? You're gonna see that this year. I don't doubt that at all. And then I think when you add that to the pass game aspect, which, you know, again, there are gonna be short passes, intermediate passes, and they're gonna use the tailback a lot, he's gonna be perfect for that.


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[Assistant] You know, Pollard, Pollard to me has got some specialness about him. Again, don't, don't go too harshly on, on grading him for what he was last year.


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[Assistant] Uh, and I don't think that, that Packers offense, I mean that Cowboys offense, all that creative, nor did I think last year that they were some force that, oh wow, they can just run the ball on anybody. That's not who they were either. So we've talked about the Stars.


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[Assistant] I think at the same time, I mean, he's still got big playability and we saw him go 60 yards down the sideline in the last game we saw him in the divisional playoff game against the 49ers, right? So he has that ability and another one for the Kevin O'Connell offense.


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[Assistant] You know, now they got another weapon in the pass game, and I think the first time since Kevin O'Connell's been in Minnesota, that they'll have a back out of the backfield that they'll go, ooh, like we can legit formulate, you know, 10 to 15 plays a game around Aaron Jones and what he can do out of the pass game. And they haven't had that with Dalvin Cook or Madison last year.


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[Assistant] That'll be a cool little element, a new wrinkle they can bring to the offense, but I'm with you there. I like that a lot.


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[Assistant] Hey, I think Antonio Gibson's better than people realize, right? I think he will help out the, uh, the New England Patriots. Uhm, who else did I want to hit on here?


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[Assistant] Joe Mixon's got some wear and, I mean, Joe Mixon's still got some value out there, right? I, I, you know, Joe Mixon behind that offensive line when they're healthy in Houston, you know, in this physical nature and still in which he runs, I like that as well. I don't know. There's not one here that I look at and go, that's stupid, or I don't like that.


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[Assistant] Right? I don't. Now, I know we have Zach Moss as replacing Joe Mixon, but I think in my heart of hearts, Chase Brown will be the starter, and Zach Moss will be the guy that comes off the back.


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[Assistant] Which he was great at last year. Yea, right. But a lot of system fits. Gus Edwards makes sense for the Chargers, right? You know, Singletary makes sense for the Giants. And of course the year he had and Dayball knowing him and him knowing the system and all that.


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[Assistant] That's where I like, the one I'm most interested in, or have a question about, is Austin Eckler in Washington.


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[Assistant] We're getting to that point where, up there in years, certainly, definitely not as good as he used to be, right? You know, I know Robinson's gonna be the main guy there, but I am gonna be interested to see Austin Eckler and kinda what he brings to that commander's offense.


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[Assistant] I've had a few people ask me that, like, oh, we upgraded, right, with Eckler over Gibson, and I'm like, I don't know if I feel that way, I'm sorry. Right? I mean, I think Gibson is like, when his toe is healthy and he's good, I think Gibson's a pretty damn good football player.


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[Assistant] No, no, he adds value to them. You can run between the tackles with Gibson. Like, there's no question about that. And, uh, yeaah, I think there is more versatility as far as, you know, his scheme use and what he can do there.


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[Assistant] Can you sustain it? Is there a real culture behind that? Or is it just like, hey, it's an energy bump from a few new guys and all that. Can we stay motivated? But I do think there's value in it. There's no doubt in my mind there.


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[Assistant] I mean I do. Now it's just, I think what you're talking about, you know, can you sustain it?


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[Assistant] Right? How are the contracts? Did you have to leverage, you know?


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[Assistant] A bunch of other things just to be good for a year or two, you know, in doing that and spending that money, right? I think there's, there's some thought there. So I think that all plays into it. But I think as a whole, my general thing is, yeah, if you spend money, you're going to change your team. Now I know last year was a little different. We don't maybe have that one team that popped out.


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[Assistant] And here, here's good job Pete and everybody in the back coming up with a list here, right? But I still think, okay, maybe we didn't have that team that went, oh wow, they made a deep playoff run like the 2017 Jags did on the previous list, right? 3-13 to 10-6 to AFC Championship game and all that. Okay, then maybe none of those.


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[Assistant] I still think there was some positive outcomes here with the spending of money last year that is gonna help them turn the corner.


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[Assistant] Help them turn the corner last year and now put them in a spot to now we've turned the corner and now we're a contender for real this year. And I think maybe that's what you got a little bit more last year as compared to the, you know, shot in the arm. Oh crap, here we are. We're an awesome team right away after a great, you know, great year in


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[Assistant] They worked. We don't have any questions about Atlanta except one position. And now we don't anymore. Let's go right there. So I'm with you there. And the Broncos turned the corner too. I know they didn't go to the playoffs and all that, but they turned the corner. So now we're going, okay, I know they got the quarterback and all that, but a lot of pieces are in place. Same with the Bears.


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[Assistant] The Bears were one of the better teams in football the last six, seven weeks of the season. And I look at the Bears roster right now and, you know, they drafted Caleb Williams and whatever and they continue to have a good free agent here. I go, the Bears turned the corner last year and now they're in a


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[Assistant] I hear what you're saying to a degree, okay? This is a really interesting conversation. It really is.


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[Assistant] Now, I don't even know where I want to start with this. Here's the first thing I would say. Alright, the first thing I'm gonna say, I don't love the whole primetime 500 record game, all that crap.


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[Assistant] You know, one, the primetime thing's overrated. Here's the first reason I would say. The biggest ratings on every Sunday are the 425 game. And he's played really good in a lot of those games, but nobody knows. But there's more people watching that game than the Sunday night or Monday night football game. The other thing I would throw into about the primetime performance and all that


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[Assistant] You know, I think if we don't go back in time and you really unpack that, you're going to see in a lot of those prime time games.


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[Assistant] Guess what? Kirk Cousins' team wasn't as good as the team he was playing in that game.


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[Assistant] So, you know, again, it's easy to go, oh, he doesn't play well in prime time, but I think we go back and look at the list, you'd go, well, they definitely weren't supposed to win this game, and they weren't supposed to win that game, and they weren't supposed to win this game, and they were a shitty team here, and they were playing a much better team, they weren't supposed to win.


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[Assistant] Right, and I think that's just, it's become a narrative that I, you know, I don't agree with there.


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[Assistant] Billy, a good team still matters. It's that simple. This is where, I'm glad you're leading me into the, this is, this is where, you know, this is where I think


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[Assistant] Brady and Manning and Mahomes are erasing our memories of like world past of, you know, teams with a good quarterback used to go to the Super Bowl, right? They used to do that a lot. Now maybe that'll be less and less as we go on here.


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[Assistant] There was, you know, again, I certainly didn't think the Rams with Jared Goff were supposed to be like, you know, oh, Jared Goff, he's going to take them to the Super Bowl, right? They had a damn good team.


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[Assistant] Most people didn't think that about Matthew Stafford, right? Until he went to the Rams, right? Most people had these thoughts, well, he'll never win a Super Bowl. He can't win a big game. He never only won one playoff game with the Lions. He got with a good team. Look what the hell happened, right? Now I was, I never, I always was a believer in, in that, but you know, I think again, I think we're a little stuck in, in that, you know, Peyton Manning's the man, right? He's great.


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[Assistant] Again, in 2015, he was the last rated quarterback in football. They went to the Super Bowl. It wasn't because of Peyton Manning. It was because of the rest of the football team. The Seahawks went to the Super Bowl twice. It wasn't because Russell Wilson was carrying the squad. Go back and watch all 16 games of those two years. They played unreal defense, ran the ball, and asked Russell to make like three plays a game.


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[Assistant] So, we're forgetting that Joe Flacco and the Ravens, right?


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[Assistant] I mean, Colin Kaepernick and the 49ers. It's just, I think Brady has really erased our memory of that a little bit.


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[Assistant] And so I do think you can win a Super Bowl with Kirk Cousins. And again, he's not a.


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[Assistant] And, it's not easy to find those guys, let alone the top three or four guys that you mentioned already before. So,


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[Assistant] I'm a big fan in a lot of ways of Atlanta making a move for a guy that they go, wait, he's a proven commodity, he fits our offense, he knows our offense, Raheem's worked with them before, right? Zach Robinson is coming from a coaching staff that


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[Assistant] Diana's roster is legit, right? I mean, now you got the quarterback, I love the darn Elle Mooney move.


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[Assistant] I mean, to open the field up, because a little, that to me was their problem. We run the ball, we have pits, right, he's a tight end, even though he's awesome and athletic, he's still not a guy that you go, oh, he's going to open the field and stretch the, stretch the field that way. Drake London's not that kind of guy.


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[Assistant] Drake London is big body, awesome route runner, gonna catch a bunch of 10 and 15 yard passes and just tear your ass up that way, right? So now they got a guy where it's like, ooh, they're playing the run hard.


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[Assistant] Ooh, they're all over Drake London and some of our 10 and 12 yard concepts, right? Oh, here goes Darnell Mooney deep down the middle. Boom, touchdown. So I love that aspect of it. The defense was already damn good.


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[Assistant] As we dive into this more, my thoughts on this trade, I feel like the more time I had to think about it, the more, really what happened is I started to talk about it. I went on a radio a few times and did that. And as I was saying things out loud,


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[Assistant] You know, sometimes it hits you when you say it out loud and you hear yourself, right? Because, Connor, I've been a little bit of like,


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[Assistant] Man, I can't believe Kirk Cousins is gonna leave that, that formula. And wow, Atlanta's gonna take, you know, a little bit of a risk here on a guy that's older and Achilles, right? And all of that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I kind of thought about it through that prism and thinking that Kirk Cousins really wouldn't pull the trigger on this move. I wasn't sure either. I didn't know if he would either and I didn't know anything substantially from anybody I trusted in the league to know that was happening. I'd heard some of the rumors and all that, right?


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[Assistant] You know, so I was kind of thinking, and I was thinking like, man, why, if you're Kirk Cousins, you're going to throw away Kevin O'Connell and the Vikings offense and Justin Jefferson and Mary Addison, right?


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[Assistant] As time went on and I started to talk about it more, I started to look at, you know, Jacob, Aristotle, again, hey, I think you can win with Kirk Cousins, but I sit here and I do go, I don't know what the hell Minnesota was thinking. I really don't. I don't.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now again, I know they want Mahomes or Josh Allen or something like that. They want an elite quarterback, you know. Uh, you know, the GM said that. Kwasi Adolfo Mensah, right? He said that two years ago.


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[Assistant] Like, sure, I want one of those guys and one of those elite guys too, but where are you gonna find it? Who is it? Who's it gonna be?


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[Assistant] You let go of a proven commodity top tennis type quarterback where your offense was basically unstoppable for two years, right? You have a big time receiver and a coach


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Who knows a quarterback, a coach who knows how to get the most out of that quarterback and the quarterback who can handle the most of what the coach has to offer as far as the offense.


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[Assistant] And you throw that away when you look at the rest of the team and go, damn, the team's pretty good. I like some of the moves they made. That to me is.


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[Assistant] I think of Vikings Blunder. I really do. And here's the point I made.


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[Assistant] If we don't hear the numbers of what they offered Kirk Cousins here in the next like 24 to 48 hours, that means they gave him something that was not even respectable. Not competitive. And would tell you that they didn't even really want him.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But the head coach wanted him, for sure. And there's obviously- He's just saying it at the combine. There's a disconnect. And that to me is like, watch out for dysfunction going forward here. And this is why guys like Ben Johnson of the Detroit Lions, Shanahan, whatever, other offensive coaches in the future are gonna go, I want last say on roster control.


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[Assistant] Cause here I am. I'm an awesome coach. I know how to evaluate quarterbacks. That's why you got me. I'm telling you, I want this guy and we're awesome and we're just going to be even better. And we're going to not offer them the extra three or $4 million a year to keep them here and let some other team swoop in. I think that's a big mistake by the Minnesota Vikings.


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[Assistant] I don't agree with that from this standpoint, George Norrath, and, and, and, and, like, I think at a base level, right, a lot of people are gonna think what you're thinking at, George, and I don't think your thoughts crazy, right, but here, let me,


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[Assistant] Unpack it for you and why, you know, I think it's, it's probably better for Russell Wilson to be the Steelers in Minnesota.


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[Assistant] He's never been surgical quarterback, I'm gonna run an offense and have 9 million checks and we're just gonna surgically destroy you and I'm gonna go 30 for 35 today, right? You know, I'm sure he had games like that, I know he did, but I'm talking like week after week after week after week, right?


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[Assistant] So he's not that. He is a little bit of, like, like we talked about with the Seattle or, you know, what you saw with Sean Payton. You gotta like, hey, we're gonna run the ball, we're gonna call this pass play, we're not gonna give too much to him at the line of scrimmage, a ton of checks, right? And then occasionally we're gonna call a deep shot because he's a great deep ball thrower and we're gonna play that way. That fits Pittsburgh.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Pittsburgh wants to run the ball, they want a quarterback to take care of the ball because they have a defensive head coach, and then Arthur Smith