Nate Tice & Charles McDonald's 10 FAVORITE free agent fits
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This episode of Football 301, we do our 10 favorite free agent fits from the first week of free agency. Charles McDonald joins me to do that. We give five each. A player, sometimes what a team did, a whole bunch of signings, but we're just calling it one fit. Small signings, big signings, everything in between. We end the show panning for prospects. We got a defensive player in there, a couple offensive players for me because I can't help myself. Super fun show, free agency draft, all that good stuff. Chuck is back.

See you guys in a sec. There are some things in life that just shouldn't be forgotten, like bringing your keys when you leave the house, setting your fantasy lineup, and most importantly, having Hidden Valley Ranch to watch the game. Especially if you're having pizza, those creamy, zesty, cool ranch flavors take each cheesy, melty bite to an unforgettable level. Hidden Valley Ranch, only serious about flavor. You don't wake up dreaming of McDonald's fries.

You wake up dreaming of McDonald's hash browns. McDonald's breakfast comes first. Hello and welcome to Football 301. It's the end of week one of free agency. Not the end of the NFL season. Not the end of all free agency. Just week one of free agency. We're going to recap some of the news that happened this week and give out

Our favorite free agent fits and team fits and all that good stuff. It's going to be a lot of fun. Some of the teams, some sneaky signings that we like, maybe some bigger signings we like. And me, because I can't help myself, I just went with the whole team's signings because I just couldn't narrow it down to one. I just can't help myself. But to help me do all that, it's my guy, Charles McDonald, who has his voice back and is finally home. He is finally home. He's finally well rested. How are you doing today, Chuck? It's good to see you.

I'm doing good. It's like as soon as I got back from my dear friends, Marcel, Louis Jacques, got married this weekend in Miami. It was a great time. I got back. I finally got to get some sleep as I'm sifting through some of these expenses. My car doesn't get suspended again. And I got hit with the, you know, it's getting warmer here in New York.

So I got hit with a little allergy this morning, but I'm being so brave about it. You know, we're just, I'm just trying to have like one smooth day where, you know, I'm not exhausted. I'm not at the airport. Everything feels normal. I haven't quite gotten there yet, but I'm home for the foreseeable future, which is amazing. It's just, it's just amazing.

We'll try and get a normal mucus flow for you. That's kind of what you're trying to go through. Yeah, I got hit with the allergies pretty rough the last couple of weeks here because it's super windy in Vegas. That's kind of the weather you get here is wind. And I got hit hard with some pollen. Not as bad as when I lived in Georgia. You know the... Oh, yeah. Did you get the green mist?

On the cars, I think we've talked about this, but that was something that was new for me when I lived in Georgia. The pollen is so bad, it coats your car with green pollen. I remember the first time it happened, I was like, what is this? That was one of the craziest where I lived somewhere and I was like, I didn't know this was a thing. The other one was where I lived in Orlando and they have these things called love bugs. It's like these...

you know, lab engineered bugs to eat mosquitoes and they just coat. I've never heard of that. Oh my God. I, I, yeah, it was, that was an experience for me coming home from practice one time or workouts like my first summer at UCF. And then also the door was just coated with bugs and I'm, you know, I'm from Minnesota.

And I was just like, we have a ton of mosquitoes. And I'm just like, what is this? And then a couple of guys just walk up and just wipe them off. They're love bugs. And they just, you know, open the door up. And I was like, we had this thing called winter in Minnesota. It just wiped all these bugs out. We genetically engineered these guys. But yeah. Yeah.

I think my body went into shock with the allergies because I went from in the span of like four days, I went from like 25 degree weather to 85 degree weather. And now it's 55. So I was like, oh, yeah, just back and forth. And then New Orleans. We're here.

Indy, you got every type of weather in Indy. Yeah, I know here in Vegas it's raining, which is something I always have to get used to here, but it happens, but also something to get used to some teams and some fans with some new signings. Yeah. How about that transition? So today Charles and I will go over a couple, maybe a couple of signings that happened on Monday and opening day, you know, quote unquote opening day, a free agency and

and maybe some other ones that trickled in throughout the week, ones that we just stood out to us that we want to talk about, highlight, thought this was a good player with a good team, or maybe just a nice bargain, something of that sort. Trust me, there's one that's just for me that I want to talk about. I'll probably start off with it, actually. But Charles, let's go with your first favorite free agent fit with the team. I'm actually pretty excited for you to talk about this one.

I went with the Robert. Is it Spillane? I realize like just now I've never heard his name pronounced. So many games on mute. Signing a three-year deal with the Patriots. I haven't looked at the contract structure, but three years to him, he's fine. He's 29 years old. And he seems to have a game I think that will age pretty well. But most importantly, like,

they need a linebacker so badly. So, so badly. If you look back at what happened last year, even beyond Christian Barmore dealing with his health issues that had him in and out of the lineup, the linebacker situation was a disaster. And I know they had an injury to Jawan Bentley who couldn't play last year. But,

even if he were to come back and he's gone off to a new team, they're still going to need an upgrade. So to get Spillane, I think it's a good move. It's automatically your linebacker room is credible again. You have someone who's physical, someone who can get you lined up right. Because I think what's interesting is Spillane,

about what he did last year is the Raiders defense fell. Well, not the Raiders defense. I should say like the Raiders as an organization, they just fell out of the spotlight, which is what happens when you're boring and you're bad, but they finished with, it's true. You know, they, they finished with a top 10 defense in terms of success rate for the season. Um,

And he was a big part of that. He started every single game over the past two seasons. He's got a ton of tackles, you know, tackles for loss. But I think he's just the steady veteran presence that they needed after three for 33, I want to say, was the deal. That's fine. I mean, they have...

infinite money to spend we were talking about it yesterday about people laughing at the milton williams deal like they still have about 100 million dollars in cap space and they're going to have like 90 million next year they have to spend on something you know i i don't really know if there's such thing as an overpay would you have that much money and the length of these deals it's not like it's going to affect you uh down the road so i'm i'm i'm a fan of what the patriots uh did with the spalane and milton william styling but i think spalane was huge because

If you watched that defense last year, linebacker was a huge, huge problem. Now they have a capable starter. Yeah, I thought it was a fair deal, too. I think he's a real three-down linebacker. He's not great at anything, but I like him a lot. I actually thought he was kind of a...

with the Raiders because I thought he was much better with the Raiders than he was with the Steelers and had some nice moments and had better coverage ability than I maybe even thought he did. I just think he's a nice three down starting backer. It's going to play every snap like that. That's huge. And, you know, paying, say, his AAV is $11 million. That's less than Aziz Alshier got from the it's about the same 11.3 million.

al shayer got from the texans last year dre greenlaw just got 11.6 with the broncos i like what the broncos did with a couple of those former 49er signings but uh zire franklin got 10.4 frankie louvu last year got 10.3 so that's kind of that off ball linebacker they're all kind of different types of players but uh bobby okara k got 10 million aav from the giants so that's kind of that starting linebacker number you know maybe not

the star but the three down starter of some way shape or form so i thought that was a fair contract and like you said they had money to blow and so and they did you know the milton williams was a splurge don't get me wrong but the rest was just a lot of fine signings you know carlton davis and everything i like what the patriots did they need bodies and they need guys that

are true starters and true, I don't want to say like locker room leader types, but guys you can rely on to play those snaps. And that's why you're paying them the money. So yeah, I like this was playing. You're getting them before 30. Yeah, I have a good shout out here because I like the player and Patriots is a good fit. That defense might be good.

I'm hoping they can just be a little bit better than we project them to be. Oh my God. It fell apart. It fell apart for sure. But still, you know, I was, I was, I, I, I dusted off true media for the first time in a good while this week. I, it was, it was good to get back to my true lab, true media.

Just look at some of the Patriots' defensive stats last year. It was pretty bad. One area that I'm guessing they're really hoping to see an improvement, they were 31st on third and short conversions with 69.6%. Not nice. Almost 70% of the third and shorts were converted. Oh, that's awful. Yeah.

Yeah. That's awful. Yeah. That, yeah, that's not where you want to be. And when Bentley got hurt last year, you know, what's his name? Tavai was July. Yeah. It was cotton space so many times in coverage. So that's where they needed to shore that up. So, yep. I like this one and yeah, they needed it. And then, yeah, I think they're Patriots are interesting. Patriots are an interesting team. Figure out some more of the offensive line pieces. And then baby, we got a stew going, going with,

One of my kind of, this is just for me. This is just a signing maybe just for me. And that's why I wanted to shout it out. That is Roy Lopez.

formerly of Arizona Cardinals signing with the Detroit lions for a one year, $4.6 million deal. I just want to talk about Roy Lopez. He is like, he is a nose tackle. Nose tackles are kind of my thing. I'm realizing I kind of like these sneaky nose tackle signings. I'm kind of treating them like closers and pit in baseball. Like you can kind of make them fungible, but you need them. I just like this. The, the, uh,

Lions have DJ Reader still on the roster. Reader's getting a little older. So again, these two are kind of going to maybe split snaps as Reader gets older, but you get another run plugger here. And the guy that can provide some pressures, you don't want him as a true pass rush guy.

kind of front, but he can get after the quarterback a little bit. He only has three career sacks. He is a nose tackle. He is a plugger, but he does have some shake to him to make some plays and create some chaos in the middle. I just think this is a good football player.

Not saying a pro bowler or anything like that. This is just a guy that can play those 20 to 30 snaps and play good football for you. And you're getting them on a one-year deal for chump change like that. These are the type of signings I really like, especially for a team like the Lions that's trying to compete. So you split time with the reader. Alim McNeil works back from injuries.

He's about to turn 28. He was a fun scrap heap signing for the Cardinals on a bad defense last year. And then this defense really improved this year. They ended up going with Dalvin Tomlinson to kind of maybe get a true more of a needle mover at that position as opposed to maybe, you know, funge it up with a few of these guys.

But man, I just really like this with the Lions because this is a true Lions type player. Just a good football player, does the dirty work, can just do a lot of good things, gets his hands up on the ball, is just around the football, doesn't make mistakes, can really push the pocket a little bit. And also that they brought back Levi Odom.

owns a Rike on an also on a one year deal for 5.5 million. And that was probably he tested the market. It seemed like back problems, something you could probably speak to Charles back problems, but that's probably why his market wasn't out there. Back problems are scary. So, but I don't know these two little signings for the lions really liked them. These are not the ones that are going to,

grab the headlines or anything but these are the ones that win you football games because there's not wasted snaps out there as these guys just eat up downs eat up blocks and clean everything up for the rest of the team so yeah i just got to give roy lopez a shout out one of my favorite dirty work players i've really started to like the last couple years and of course he goes to the lions who seem to kind of keep accumulating these types of guys yeah my my it's funny because my

When I think of Roy Lopez, I think of Madden franchises. We might have talked about him on the show before, but he was just my go-to. If I was running 3-4 defense, I just needed one year just a body up front. That wasn't terrible. I would just fight Roy Lopez every year across so many franchises. So it's kind of funny to see him have the same fate in the NFL. Just a run-plugger, ass-kicker for a year. We'll go get Roy and we'll see what happens. See if he can get someone a little bit more dynamic next year. But hey, there's a place for those guys.

There is. It's in baseball to come innings eaters like and football to snap eater. And one that gives you positive snaps. You know, he plays 20 snaps. 14 of them are positive snaps. OK, that you can win with that, even if they're not creating sacks and everything like that. So.

They got the other guy. They got the guys to do that. You know, you got the Hutchinson's of the world, but to do those, to create those big plays, these are the guys that do everything else. So I had to get Lopez in the shadow. I promise some of my other ones I'm going to bring up are a little, maybe a little sexier to talk about, but let's go on to one of your next favorite free agent fits, Charles. Which one is that?

Puna Ford, defensive tackle now for the Los Angeles Rams. I feel like this one was pretty simple. The Rams were 30th in stuff rate last year. So they don't know that's runs. They go for zero or fewer yards. So

And honestly, I feel like this makes sense when you think about it. Because the guys that they have added over the past few years, you know, Kobe Turner, Braden Fisk, Jared Burst, Byron Young. Like, these are guys that want to get upfield, you know? Yeah.

The fact that they can have a quality defense by the end of the year and still not have a great run defense, I think it makes sense for the styles of players that they had last year. But still, having one of the worst stuff rates in the league, being in the bottom nine in terms of rushing defense, EPA per play, success rate, that's definitely not where you want to be. But luckily, that's not...

too expensive of a problem to fix. So I think going out and get someone like Puno Ford is exactly what they need. Just someone to get you a little bit more stat up front. If you're going to have, you know, the penetrators up front and have especially someone like Braden Fisk, who I imagine is playing around like 280,

And, you know, his game of speed. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe 280. Yeah. And he's playing a lot on the interior, you know? So it's not really surprising that you might have a...

a shaky run defense with lighter bodies. But to get Puna Ford in there, I thought that was just the kind of big body that they need just to help kind of ease up some of the run defense responsibilities for everyone else. And if you can eventually use Puna's ability to maybe help you get into, you know, get some stuff on first and second down, then we know that

based on the back quarter of the season, that when the Rams defense is playing with lead, that's something that they can really take advantage of and get up the field in a hurry. So I like this move as part of, as like a complimentary piece to the defensive line. Maybe they still need one more of those bodies up there, but it's a good start for a group that really last year was just trying to get up the field, which I can respect. It's a lot of fun, but you'll get gashed that way.

Yeah. And that was kind of the thing. It was that they were trying to create, they were trying to get you to pass rush downs and just get after you create a lot of one-on-ones and everything. And no, it's their defensive fronts, kind of the island of misfit toys. And I mean, that was a compliment though. You know, you get Puna who's what? 5'10", 5'10", 3'10".

And then you get, you know, Braden Fisk, who has T-Rex arms, is an undersized, you know, defensive tackle. Byron Young is kind of a unique player in his own right because just of his background. He, like, came to football late. He was, like, an old rookie. Just kind of, yeah, they just get these guys. Kobe Turner is kind of a unique player as well. They get...

that's what that whole defense is. It's just a bunch of unique players, but that's kind of their money ball. Like, you know, that's their kind of how the Rams are doing this. It's like, all right, we're getting these overlooked guys. We think they can be good players and be dynamic players. So far, they've been right with a lot of these bets. Puna Ford, of course, has the background of now shoot several defenses. He's made an impact and that nose tackle role. And I like what you said. You need, they need the guys that can eat up blocks, make it dirt, you know, do the dirty work. There's the balance with it. You,

And we're going to, I'm going to talk about the guy in my next thing. You need guys that can disrupt and shoot gaps. You need pocket pushers. You need guys that can eat up blocks. There's kind of different type of skill sets. Um, sometimes you can make a living with all the same types, but it's a lot more fun. I think when you have the, you know, the balance of these types of guys, cause they can kind of clean up and mitigate some of the, each other's weaknesses and stuff. So great shout out here. I like the Puna Ford signing. I know there's some other ramp signs we're going to talk about in a sec too. Um,

we're going to stick them with beef. I'm going with the Vikings. I couldn't narrow this down. I just said that the Vikings adding beef to their offensive and defensive lines is one of my favorite fits. First, I'm going to, that was Jonathan Allen signing for defensive tackle, signing for three years, Javon Hargrave signing for two years. That's on the defensive front. Ryan Kelly, the

center from the Colts and then Will Fry's guard from the Colts. Kelly was a two-year deal. Fry's was a five-year deal. Kelly's had some injury history. Actually, a couple of these guys have had injury histories. Vikings are kind of betting on their performance staff, which has been a decent bet. Look at the Byron Murphy re-signing. That was a bet that they took as well as kind of a high risk or low signing

I should say low risk, high reward signing because of his injury history. And now they're paying him because of how he played. But we've talked before is that maybe the disruptive Vikings defense maybe just needed more needle movers, guys that actually had the talent to maybe eat some of the stuff up and create plays when it's not just all gamed up and slanted and everything. And I was just talking about

how guys gap shooting, you kind of need that balance. Javon Hargrave wasn't that great fit for the 49ers that maybe we thought he might be. He's still a good player and everything, battle injuries and everything, but he's a true gap shooter. And on that 49ers defense, they kind of needed more beef and needed more ugly players, I guess is a good way to put it, because they had the boasts of the world. Even Fred Warner is such a shooter on the back end of the linebacker spot.

And now you picture him, Hargrave, slanting on defensive stuff, on all these blitzes and all these simulated looks and creepers, all these defensive line games that the Vikings like to do. Now you get a guy that's amazing at that stuff. Great fit. Even if you're overpaying for maybe an older guy, I still like that because I think his skill set's perfect for this type of defense. And then Allen, you know, I don't consider him a true nose tackle, but he's rugged. And we've talked about it, like...

hey, Flores, kind of lean into maybe your Belichick background here. Maybe get some more rugged guys to kind of help out with some of your gaminess and some of the finesse stuff you do. He's dangerous on defensive line movements because he's athletic as well. Been pretty healthy most of his career, but he tore a pec last year. He came back, which was crazy. And he also, he's had a foot injury in the past as well. But

I like these defensive front signings. I'll talk about the offense in a sec, but what'd you think about these, these two guys going there? I know we've talked about the Vikings, maybe adding some beef and adding some, you know, some talent up front. Yeah, that's exactly what they needed. I think Hargrave probably a bigger risk than John Allen at this point, just because, yeah, I thought, you know, Hargrave was just going to be an assassin on that 49ers defensive line. And unfortunately, you know,

football's hard it's hard on your body it's hard on your body and you know you're getting up there yeah yeah i mean honestly you it's weird because i remember like covering javon hargrave for the draft and that was what 10 years ago you know so this is a this is a long career but still it's it's it's a start i think they should still probably look at drafting a guy maybe in the top 100 somewhere uh just because you're gonna need like the the longevity at some point uh but

just to get these two guys is is kind of obvious that they realized they needed some real difference makers on the defensive line not just uh bodies and we're going to try and orchestrate it like madden and get everyone to the right spot sometimes you just need guys who can go out and win on their own so i've been getting john allen who um i thought was playing some good football last year they let the commanders let him go uh so for him to end up here on this defense it's obviously going to put him in good spots i thought that was a

a really good landing spot for him. And for Hargraves, this is also a good spot where he can try and reclaim some of what he was able to do in the past, where you got John Allen, so it's not the onus is all on you to just be great on the interior. You're going to have to help with the scheme. So I think this is a good landing spot and we'll see how much they have in the tank. And like I said before, I think he's

Still got to add another young guy, probably just to get a rookie contract in on that room for someone who's got some talent. But this isn't a bad draft for your offensive line or defensive line needs. Yeah, they got the first rounder pick 24 and they got a comp pick, pick 97.

So that's it for their top 100 picks. Then they got two fifths. So, you know, but still, like you said, it's a great defensive line draft, which we'll talk about in a couple of weeks. But like, you know, Kenneth Grant, I mean, there's a few guys in their range in the first round. Even that pick 97, there's a couple interesting guys. I'm going to talk real quick about the offense too. And something I feel like

about their offensive line signings. And this is something I think has been misconstrued about the Vikings last year, and we've touched on it a little bit at the end of last year when we were breaking down a lot of Vikings going into playoffs and previewing games, is that the Vikings' offensive line

for lack of a better word, by the end of last year, it was, it was not, not a good offensive line. And everyone keeps bringing up the Vikings ecosystem system with Sam Darnold stuff. And, and that's a whole different conversation, but I want to kind of reiterate like what the Vikings offensive line was last year. Cam Robinson, they traded for after Christian Derrissaw got hurt. Hopefully Christian Derrissaw comes back, but,

Cam Robinson allowed a 17% one-on-one QB pressure rate last year once he played with the Vikings. So week nine onwards, that would rank first among all offensive linemen, not just tackles, all offensive linemen in the NFL last year. The league average for tackles is 9.8%. So always hovers around 10%. So 17%, almost two times as much as the league average tackle. He gave up pressure. Blake Brandel, their left guard.

Allowed a one-on-one pressure rate of 12.9%. This is all from next-gen stats. That was third highest among all left guards. Fifth highest among all guards. After Kenyon Green, who the Texans traded away, and Lakin Tomlinson, who the Texans just signed. I just thought that was funny. So a couple former Texans and future Texans that he was behind. Garrett Bradbury, their center. This is who Ryan Kelly is basically replacing. Not basically. He is replacing. He allowed a highest one-on-one pressure rate among all centers in the NFL last year. 12.7%, including 13 quick pressures. Yeah.

Yeah, almost double. That's insane. At center. The next high, there's only one other player above 10%, one other center above 10%. Most centers are like 6%, 7%.

There was one game a few years ago where I remember Garrett Bradbury had a 0.0 PFF pass blocking grade. So it's kind of, but like, dude, at center, there's no way you should be losing that many times. No. And that's what, and that's why they signed this guy. Even if Bradbury is out there and it was apparent you watch any games or anything that happened, he was lost. He was dead.

Ed Ingram, who they benched and is terrible, allowed the highest pressure rate among all guards before he got benched, 16%, 15.9%. Dalton Risner comes in, and Dalton Risner seemed like, Risner seemed like, oh my God, this guy's so much better

His was 10.5%. The league average is 8.8%. He was still allowing a higher pressure rate than average. So Brian O'Neill and Christian Derrissaw are solid, good players. I would just say straight up good players. But their interior needed so much help, which led to these signings.

And now they can maybe draft. We're talking about beef. Maybe however they want to go. Maybe they sign one other guy or they just leave it as this. Have some depth. Figure it out. But this is why they need to sign these guys and why I actually liked it. Whoever's playing quarterback for them, most likely McCarthy, but all these weird Rogers whispers, which has been very funny to me. But I think that's why they had... Not I think. This was...

they needed to do this in this off season. And the fact that they were able to accomplish so much with this poor offensive line play speaks to Kevin O'Connell speaks to the offensive passing game, but also speaks to fricking what Sam Darnold was mitigating at times. And it all fell apart in the last couple of weeks, of course, but this is, this is what they kind of, he was dealing with and kind of just want to reiterate this. They were 31st and QB pressure rate allowed from week nines onward 32nd and one on one QB pressure rate allowed the,

Darnold's time to hold the ball was about league average 3.12 13th longest the league average 3.07 time to pressure and he took a league average sack rate so

Just had to kind of bring that up about the Vikings, quote unquote, amazing ecosystem and some of the Geno Sam Darnold discussion as well. But yeah, beef in Minnesota, Hormel Hall of Fame, which is probably not a reference you will get, but a couple of Vikings fans listening will get that one. So it's a Hormel beef pork company. You know, they will do a row of fame where they give out hot dogs at Vikings games to one row.

in the stadium. And it's like, they have like a whole little song that plays with it. But yeah, it's very folksy and very... Yeah, yeah. Very Midwestern. Very Midwestern-y. The song and everything. Hormone, roll of fame! Anyways. I was...

Maybe I just wasn't paying attention or just kind of zoned out for a little bit before free agency started. But once the Will Fries contract came in, I was like, oh, I wasn't really... I don't know, five years, $88 million, and maybe that kind of flew under the radar for me. So I went back and watched the four games he played this year before he broke his leg. It seemed like someone the Colts should have been trying to hang on to. It's not like the...

It's going to sound crazy, but it's not like he tore up his ACL or PCL. He just broke a bone. So he should be back to playing pretty good football. And to find a guy like that in the seventh round who's like a capable starter, I don't know. It's kind of weird. I didn't really view it as a big overpay once I dug into the film. He's a pretty good player. Especially when you're trying to figure out your quarterback. Yeah. And then the guy that you also signed to a one-year deal to compete with that quarterback also falls apart to interior pressure.

Yeah, it seems like I'll sign a guard or keep my guard. That's pretty good. And when he got hurt and Kelly got hurt as well, because they were playing, shoot, five different centers, it seemed like. Garrett Bradbury is still allowed a higher pressure rate than those centers. But from week nine onwards is when I looked up the bottom teams and one-on-one pressure rate. And why I look at one-on-one pressure rate, that kind of seems sticky with guys' plays and everything. It's just something I'm working out with the line stats and looking through next-gen stats stuff.

But the bottom teams from week nine onwards and one-on-one pressure rate for the whole offensive line, Vikings, dead last, 32nd, Colts, 31st, because all these guys got hurt. Giants, Titans, Seahawks, Bears, Bengals, Raiders, Patriots. So it's all these offensive lines that we know are terrible or got hurt. And then the Vikings, who kind of keep seeming to escape the

that kind of discussion this offseason. So that's why I want to bring it up that they needed to do this to kind of try and win double digit games this next year, especially if they have a young quarterback that they're trying to make his ecosystem decent as well. Yeah, we're staying on beef, though. Let's go to your next. Yeah.

Let's do it. Let's do it. I was looking at skill players yesterday. I was like, there's not really anything that exciting here. Well, that's why everyone said it was a bad free agency class because they don't recognize any of the offensive line or defensive line names. Yeah. But I want to talk about Patrick McCurry who signed with the Jaguars. Man, this is like...

They needed offensive line competency so badly. Brandon Scherf is gone. Even if you were to somehow stay, they still would have needed help up front. Basically, the entire interior could use some help. So just to get someone who can play multiple positions, like Patrick McCurry, I think that was a pretty solid move for them. McCurry's played all over.

the offensive line for the Ravens. He might have played like every single spot at this point. I think so. Yeah. But last year was the first time he started 17 games. Obviously,

we saw what they did on the ground. He was a big part of that. I thought he had probably the best season of his career. I'm sure for the Ravens, had a little bit more cap space. We've been trying to hold onto them, but this is kind of a great landing spot for him in Jacksonville because they need the offensive line help. Last year, the Jaguars, they ranked 29th in both percentage of runs and went for five more yards.

and yards before contact, 1.15 yards before contact last year. I'm sure some of that has to do with the running back talent, but a lot of it also has to do... Yeah. It was all that. We're not blocking. We're not seeing what is there when it is blocked. So to get McCarty there, at least it should make life a little bit easier for McCarty.

for whoever's running the ball back there next year. We'll see if Travis ETM can last the whole season like he did last year. So I do think this is a good move for them just to get some more credibility on the offensive line, just to get something steady, a lot more steady than he had last year. And I think three for, what, 37 and a half? That's not that bad.

Yeah, it's a guy that can start somewhere and get your best five out there, especially when you're a line like this that needs to just get your best five out there. That's what he unlocks for you or you can able to do with him. You know, it's nice to see, you know, the Jags. I feel like they try to hit a bunch of singles and doubles, and I'm all for that and maybe get guys have more versatility to their game. You know, that's something I've just seen.

blasted them in the past with the old GM with Balky was that how much all these guys were so singular that they are so narrow with their roles. If somebody got hurt, it all fell apart. So maybe getting some guys with versatility, even on the offensive line that allows you just to, you know, keep your head above water. So one injury, even if it's to an average player, it doesn't cripple everybody, you know, Christian Kirk and her hurt should not,

cripple your entire offense. Zay Jones getting hurt should not cripple your entire offense or an offensive line. It's the same type of thing. So they signed Robert Hainsey too at center.

He's whatever. There's a reason that the Bucks went with Graham Barton and drafted the guy in the first round. He's fine. But again, it's just getting guys that are tangible up there and trying to shore up. And they signed a bunch of tight ends. That was interesting, too. No, good shot out there. I like that one because the versatility is you pay a premium for versatility. And I think Macari can line up at some places and be at the very least average versatility.

You know, we just talked about the Vikings offensive line, all those guys. It's like just being average is a bump from maybe what they had last year. So good shout out there. We are going to take our first break and then we'll come back with a few more of our favorite free agent fits. There are some things in life that just shouldn't be forgotten, like bringing your keys when you leave the house, setting your fantasy lineup, and most importantly, having Hidden Valley Ranch to watch the game.

Especially if you're having pizza, those creamy, zesty, cool ranch flavors take each cheesy, melty bite to an unforgettable level. Hidden Valley Ranch, only serious about flavor. All right, we are back. And this, now it's one of mine. I'm going to go with Javon Holland, who signed with the New York Giants. He is a safety, in case you didn't know. And, you know,

So Giants defense interested me last year. Another defense that I maybe had some hype for, they fell apart as Dexter Lawrence got hurt. Some other guys kind of tapered away. The whole team kind of fell apart as they're trying to figure out the quarterback. They're trying to figure out who's starting on offensive line. Hey, neighbors did some cool things. That's kind of what felt like the Giants did. Oh, look at a couple of the rookies. But this defense, it's not going to be good.

Getting excited about them again. Holland's part of that. The short up the back end, which was part of their weakness last year, giving a lot of explosive plays, especially on third down. Last year, some missed tackles, checkdowns, going for big gains. It kind of just seemed like to crop up throughout the season for this Giants defense. They got Dexter Lawrence hopefully coming back healthy. He had an elbow injury. Brian Burns up front. They got some solid linebackers. And now they got a really interesting DB room.

Drew Phillips had a fun rookie year last year. Some good moments in the slot. Tyler Newman is another safety. Good tackler. Fun little top-down guy. I like him best in a quarter system. And then they just signed Paul Seneidebo from a free agency as well from the Saints. I like that one. Has some talent. Could be a nice, I don't want to say steal, but get more out of that signing than maybe what he went for. And then you hope

You know, you hope bringing in some adults in the room will get Deontay Banks back to at least average, who a guy that I thought had Pro Bowl potential after his rookie year and looked

I would outright say bad last year. Corner play is volatile. I think everyone should know that, but it was, it was pretty, it was pretty drastic what he went to from his early, early returns to what he looked like last year. So maybe he gets his head on straight again, get some more vets in that room as well. Any thoughts on this signing with Holland going there? He was kind of the,

prize of the safety class, I guess. You know, he went for three years, 45 mil, 30 million guaranteed. Talanoa, Fonga went with the Broncos for 345, but he got 20 million guaranteed. Bynum went to the Colts.

for 58 million four years um justin reese signed with the saints for whatever reason he's from louisiana i guess that i'm so disappointed that like sign with a go to the ravens like go somewhere you're like do make it go to the giants make like an impact on these teams go to the saints all right whatever uh but no i i really like this one with holland going to the giants and the giants defense kind of catches my eye one more time but any thoughts on this one uh charles

Well, this was the concern going into last year, if they were just a little bit too green in the secondary. And that was one of their problems. It wasn't the only problem by the end of the season. But clearly, they needed to get, like you put it, some adults in the room in the secondary.

Adebo skills wise probably is. We'll see. We'll see about how it goes once the game starts because he had some pretty funny moments for them for the Saints last year. I remember the end of the Falcon, the first Falcons game where he had like

Just an egregious pass interference call on the last drive of the game that they ended up losing. He's getting up cheering and screaming at his teammates, immediately throwing their arms in the air because it was that obvious. He's a funny guy, but man, when he's on, he's a pretty good cornerback. Like you said, he's got a chance to outperform that deal pretty quickly. Now they have just some credible players in the secondary that they didn't have last year. The drafting for cornerbacks for...

for Joe Shone has been a little hit and miss. He spent a lot of third round picks that haven't really become anything. So to go out and get a real legit body, I think it's something they had to do.

Yeah, it's just they had to. And it's a guy with tangible play. Like, you know, he's young, you know, mid-20s. Safeties are kind of so, I mean, most players in football, but safeties especially are so about what scheme you're in and how you're used and everything because they can be used in so many different ways. So I think that's actually a decent fit for him as well because of what kind of the Dolphins did last year and what he's probably going to do with the Giants this year and kind of that defensive setting. So that's why I can't.

wanted to give that one a shout out even if it was a a little bit of a splurge i think it's still a very fair signing for them uh what's going on to your next one charles what do you got uh i i feel like we have to do one skill player you know yeah so i i went with devante adams for uh the rams and

I don't know. I don't really have too much to say. I just think he's still a good football player. And if you're going to lose Puka, not Puka, if you're going to let Cooper Cup go, you probably needed another big boy on the outside who can play some real X reps. I,

Two Swatwells, not going to be that guy, even though he did get re-signed for one year, $10 million. So I think, you know, obviously you have Puka, who is a star. Then you can get Devontae Adams, who I thought looked pretty good last year, even though him and Rodgers weren't always on the same page. I thought he still looked like he was moving like, you know, somebody who can be a really strong contributor for an NFL offense. So for Stafford,

You lose one target monster because we know he loves to, if you've got a guy or two in the passing game, all the targets are going to go that way. So to lose Cooper Cup, replace with Devontae Adams, I think it gives them a chance to just kind of keep on cruising with a good passing game like they had last season. And hopefully you can get a little bit more consistency and Devontae Adams can stay a little bit healthier than Cooper Cup has stayed the past couple of years.

Yeah, no, we talked about it, Matt and I did, after the signing kind of came in. I really like this one. I think it's a great fit for some, you know, he's an ex. And they kind of have filled that role out with different guys that he can move around to in the slot, which you talked about with Matt. Gives them a man-beater. That was where they really struggled last year was, you know, and Puka's solid against man and everything, but it was more just like, okay, we focus on Puka. What else you guys got?

Oh, Demarcus Robinson? Okay, we can shore that up. Tutu Abbo? We can hem that up. So now you get, all right, pick your poison. Are you going to play zone against Matthew Stafford as he rips another dig route on you? Or are you going to play man and let Devonta Adams cook on you? Or even Pukunukuwa? Because Pukunukuwa is so much better outside on the catch point. I think he really improved in that area. Now he's like a legit...

shoot, top six, top seven, top eight receiver, however you shake it. Devontae Adams is almost going to be the 1B, 2A. I think that's great for him in this setting. So talk about it more with Matt if you want to kind of hear some more nerdy stats on this too. But I really like this one too. I thought I gave this two thumbs up on Monday and I haven't really...

changed my thinking at all. I think he's going to age well. I just think his skill set and his game age as well. He doesn't win on true speed. He wins on body control and hand-eye coordination and everything. I think that, like you said, he was still productive and everything. Really like this one. You got a couple of Rams. You got Puna Ford. You got Devontae Adams. You like what they're doing. I know. I like these two. It's a good team. Dude,

They're a competent team, you know, a little goofy sometimes, a little weird, but they're relatives for a reason, you know. They do their own thing. Okay. So where they're picking, they are 2690. They have their, they have no second rounder. They have two third round comp picks. Where do you kind of think they should go next? Maybe in the draft?

Ooh, that's a good question. I know, right? On day two, probably quarterback. You know, if you're already here with Stafford, you were thinking about potentially moving on this offseason. Jimmy G, you know, he ain't the answer. Stephen Bennett, that was a fun little meme draft pick. That's all I really got for that one. Yeah, because...

4305, 10, 190 pound quarterback. That was 26 or whatever he was. Just for fun. You know, because why not? We just want a Super Bowl. We can do whatever we want. We got some nice, we got a clean runway here. So, you know, I don't know who that would be on day two in the third round that you could grab, but that makes a lot of sense for them. And, you know, maybe even if you're looking at the first round, I think we were looking at like a cornerback for them past couple years or maybe

maybe last year in the first round, I still think they could use a guy to play out on the edge at corner because that's one area where they could use a blue chip talent. I'm not sure like who you're really rolling the dice on maybe this year, especially at the bottom half of the first round, but you can find like a dice roll on a, on an outside cornerback. Maybe that's where Shaban Revell from ECU ends up. Yeah.

Because they have the like I said, they have the runway to stash them if they need to but they still need that guy on the outside You can play make some plays down the field. That's one of the last things that the young defense is missing But they're they're close man. They were close to being another run through the playoffs. I think yeah, it's kind of nice the first round They don't have to they don't truly like oh, this is glaring. We need anything They can kind of get fun with it and go with a few spots. Yeah, I mean they could go I

man i mean if they want to go linebacker but omar spites played decently for him too if campbell's there that would be interesting as well but yeah i think corner maybe if they want to get offense alignment of the future you know that could be something interesting in the first round i uh i liked what you said quarterback on day two i i've my fan fiction is riley leonard going to the rams at

whatever pick 101 uh but the they could also if titan state cam ward are there are they interested in will levis i don't know i don't know i know they had i know they i know all the shanahan mcveigh guys and kubiak guys like levis when he was coming out of college probably because liam cohen was coaching him so they're like hey how is he uh but no that's that's my other little fan fiction of maybe trading for him uh no that's a good one i i oh

But when Stafford's the same age... Someone please shake him off his hands. Please, God.

I do have a bullet for you that just says Falcons, just in case we want to talk about what they're doing. Let's get one more. This is one of mine next. This is another little one-year signing that I really liked. And it was a continuation of something I talked about on Monday, which was the Titans signed Kevin Zeitler, my former teammate from the University of Wisconsin, for a one-year $9 million deal to play right guard for them. Really like this. This is still a good signing.

player, um, at the very least an above average starter. Uh, I mean, he played it last year. He has not really missed time in his career, at least recently, even in college, Zyler took really good care of his body and everything. So I'm not shocked that he has a long career like this. I just like what the Titans are doing. And this is why I think they're going to go with Cam Ward with the number one pick. I, I, I'm, I kind of want to call it now. Um,

that I think they're shoring up that offensive line and creating a good little system ecosystem for him to operate out of, which I'm all for. I like the Dan Moore signing way more than other people. I understand that he's probably just, yeah, I don't know, man. He's a young, solid left tackle who's now getting coached by Bill Callahan. I don't know. Like,

And now you got JC Latham to the right side. They have 700 pounds on the right side of their offensive line. Now between Zeitler and JC Latham, like they got Lloyd Cushenberry at center that Peter Scaranci at left guard and Dan Moore at left tackle. That's a good starting five like that at the very least is top 12 to me, I think.

Um, and now you drop in cam ward who I I'm writing about right now, probably be posted by a time on Yahoo by the time, uh, uh, this comes out, but I really like him. I really do. He's liked him before watch did this deep dive study, pulling clips and everything. And I'm like, man, yeah, he's the number one pick easy to me, especially for the Titans. I think he's an exciting player. So, um,

to shore up this offensive line. I think Zeitler is a part of that. He's a good player. That's a good signing. And now they don't need to draft a guard or need to draft another offensive lineman in this class. They can kind of go and choose your adventure throughout the class, get another receiver maybe as the draft goes along, something of that sort. So I really like this, getting a vet next to Latham, shoring up the right side. That's been just...

dog crap for them for a couple years really just showing up the entire offensive line i got bill callahan yeah kind of really liking the picture the titans are drawing especially if they drop in cam ward yeah i i really like the dan moore signing uh you know we talked a lot about jc latham at left tackle last year and it started okay until it didn't you know it didn't yeah yeah yeah

It was good until it wasn't like a lot of things in life. But yeah.

Speak of Kirk Cousins. Hey, man, you guys aren't drafting early ever again. Yeah, just wait till 2026. I like the Dan Moore sign because this is, we've talked so much about how often the blind is in some of those parts position and, you know, all the football, you know that. And, you know, is Dan Moore Shrek Williams? No, but he's a solid starter. And now you look across the off in the vine, you've got a handful of solid starters. Yeah.

which means he should have a pretty good off the device, especially like you said, with Callahan coaching them. And I was, you know, I was a little surprised that people were down on the Dan Moore stuff because, you know, maybe outside of Zach Frazier, he's probably been their most consistent off the lineman over the past couple of years, just in terms of like standing on the field and not being like a total loser out there. And I know that, you know, Broderick Jones had,

His own issues were, you know, only consistencies where he couldn't get on the field. But, you know, a former fourth round pick was able to keep a first rounder on the bench at left tackle. So there is some credence for him, you know, actually being a quality player. I just don't know if it's like a draft pedigree thing where people are like, ah, this is, you know, a former fourth round tackle. How good could he actually be? But, you know,

I think he's a solid starting tackle. And now this gives Tennessee a pretty credible offensive line. I mean, you go across Dan Moore, Peter Skowronski, Cushenberry, Zeitler, Latham. If those guys can stay healthy, that's a pretty good core to play with. No one's worse than a B.

Right. Right. Like, I mean, maybe a B minus if we want to say like, if you're lower on Latham or something like that, but like, you know, that's, I don't know. I, I've really come around on this and, and,

I tweeted this is that, again, I'm glad he brought the draft pedigree stuff and people are dropping some numbers. He gave up all these sacks and it was, you know, do you see who his quarterbacks were? Right. Come on now. Russell Wilson, two of the highest sack takers. And you can look even in the numbers. And again, I try to use eye tests mostly for Lyman, but there are some numbers that do kind of show what's going on. He finished with a league average one-on-one QB pressure last year, identical to Colton Miller.

Have you heard anyone say Colton Miller's bad? And slightly better, slightly better than Ronnie Stanley and Jack Conklin last year. It was, yeah, so he was 10.3%. I believe Ronnie Stanley was 10.8%. So in that tier of average tackle play, see what Ronnie Stanley just went for at 30-something years old coming off all those injuries? And Stanley, of course, had more, his highs were much higher. Don't get me wrong. But Moore allowed 48 one-on-one pressures last year. He gave up 14.5 sacks last year.

Ronnie Stanley allowed 49 pressures last year, one-on-one pressures. Gave up three and a half sacks. Okay. Colton McKibbitz gave up 48 pressures. Same as Dan Moore. Gave up three sacks. Colton McKibbitz is not a good tackle. And he gave up only three sacks on the same amount of pressures as Dan Moore. Jack Conklin, who I just already brought up, 47 pressures, eight and a half sacks because you have frigging Deshaun Watson back there.

QB in the situation matter with these numbers so much. But again, I'm just going to say for the 40th time in the 40th different way. This is at the very least at league average. I would even say above average starting at tackle who's 26 with no injury history. These are the guys that get paid and I understand why the Titans did it. So off my soapbox. All right, we'll go on to what is your next free agent fit that you liked?

I went with Josh Palmer for the Bills. It's not sexy at all. I don't even think it's that exciting, but they just need another starting body out there. And I think it's cool when teams kind of realize, oh, you got Josh Allen. Maybe we don't need to splurge on a hardcore number one wideout that's going to take up 150 targets or something like that. We can just get

Starting quality wide receivers across the board, and we could still probably have a top three offense because that's kind of where they're at right now. So I really like this Josh Palmer signing for them. It's funny, when you go through True Media, you filter out guys who didn't get a whole lot of targets last year. He's like...

He was just like a flatly average receiver in terms of efficiency stuff. But that's kind of what they needed to just add to this roster. Because I think outside Shakir, and we'll see what happens with Keon Coleman, they were getting pretty thin out there at wide receivers. So just to

slap a bandaid on it with uh josh palmer who's going to come in and be a solid starter for them uh and we'll have a better you know passing game uh construction ecosystem than he had with uh that have the charters maybe he can have a career year this year but uh you started looking at you know we got josh allen we can run the ball we got a good offensive line we can uh we got shakir and now we got josh palmer who can play on the outside

that's probably all they need to go out there and have one of the best offense in the league again, assuming everybody can stay healthy. So just from like a stability standpoint and just kind of plugging holes with solid starters, I actually really liked the signing.

Yeah, it's one of those in Matt called him basically Mac Collins plus. And it was like, yeah, that I think that's what they're going for. Because Palmer is a big body. He does dirty work. Like, I really like him as a power slot at times and can win on the outside. Like you said, he's he's solid. He's average, like, but it's that's he's useful.

Like, he gives you good snaps. And how the Bills have this offense this year that led to Josh Allen's MVP on top of his own play, of course, was they had a badass run game with a great offensive line. And all the receivers would block their butts off.

like that is why that was a part of it Josh Palmer's part of that he can be on the outside all these bubbles and flats they like to throw to Khalil Shakir and Dalton Kincaid there's Josh Palmer willing to be that kind of Matt Collins role get big on the outside block those up come on in the inside if they want to run up the middle on duo or zone like that Palmer can do that him and Shakir can kind of both do in and out Z you know slot roles he can kind of invert with Dalton Kincaid as well where Palmer's on the inside Kincaid's bumped out and

So it's not he wasn't for everybody. And yes, he's technically like the two, three in this offense. But that's what this like you said, they have Josh Allen. They kind of want to live that way with a whole bunch of twos and threes that do all the dirty work because it helps out the entire offense. So, yeah, this is one.

Morris ad on it really made sense because they kind of are just continuing that whole bully spread thing. And I think Palmer is just a part of that. I'm just going to reiterate what Matt said, kind of Matt Collins plus younger, a little bit more talented Matt Collins. And I totally dig that. So yeah, not for everybody, but I like Palmer for the bill. So I'm glad you brought this one up.

Actually, speaking of the Bills, this transitions nicely to my next favorite signings, and that's the Bills signing Joey Bosa to a one-year $12 million deal. Also, a little kind of

Dot, dot, dot. Also signing Larry Ogunjobi for a one-year deal of $8 million. Like these, they needed mercenaries on this defense and on their defensive front. I was trying to figure out how they were going to do that. Are they going to draft a guy maybe to get some pass rush there? I mean, they just paid big money to Gregory Rousseau. So it's like, all right, do they want to forge even more resources on this front?

Bosa is this type of mercenary that can impact games. He's going to be part of a rotation. Sean McDermott loves rotating his defensive line. They also signed Michael Hoyt, speaking of the Rams, who's kind of a do-everything guy for the Rams. He's going to be a little more curious in this defense that's a little more traditional. You know, four down. Yeah, Rush, that's a little...

He's a curious fit for me there. I'll admit that one because I like him actually. He's just not for everybody. I almost liked him with a Flores or even like maybe a Bold or Spaggs, like a guy that's just kind of like all over the place with this guy. So that one I'm a little curious, but he's going to be a role player here. Larry Ogunjobi, probably better in a four down front like this than what he's been playing in.

These are guys that are part of the rotation, but they're still guys that can impact the game. It's not just bodies that's like, oh, yeah, their best days are behind them. They just, you know, Bosa's battles injuries. You know you're getting that, but you're hoping now it's not like how he's had to be with the Chargers where he's playing 40-plus snaps every game, 50-plus snaps. Now we can get him for 20 to 30 really impactful snaps, basically doing what Von Miller was doing for them. But I think Bosa is probably a little bit better player than Von Miller was, I mean, recently.

So I like this one. I think this is the type of moves that the Bills have to make. I like the team makeup, and they're trying to just fill in the edges with maybe guys that are a little more impactful than what they had, but same type of roles. We just brought up Josh Palmer, maybe replacing Matt Collins, and maybe it would be a bump there. Joey Bosa, Von Miller, kind of same thing, that mercenary one-year role bumping up right there. So had to kind of continue the Bills love a little bit because I like these little mercenary signings.

Yeah, the Joey Bosa signing, that was a clean, easy, you know, you're looking for a standard like four, three ends. There you go. I was thinking the same thing about the Holt signing. I was like, you know, Sean, I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing. It's just how he likes to run. Obviously, it's not a bad thing because he's been one of the best defensive coaches of the past decade. But just for...

For how he likes to run his defense. I'm really curious to see how they deploy him because you know, he's a guy that's uh, Not only played a lot but has got undergone like a crazy body transformation like through his NFL career because he used to be Uh, you know over 300 pounds and now I think he's in the 270s. So maybe they got him coming off the edge. I You know, maybe they beef him up and put it back inside I'm really interested to see what their plan is there because he can he can do a lot, you know

Yeah. And, and both of you, yeah. Even both of the two, they, they can drop a little bit too in the coverage. So maybe they're getting a little more creative with their stuff or they're maybe going to have those ends drop and blitz somebody who knows. We'll see what they do. But yeah, I liked what the bills did. These are the kinds of stuff that you shore out, shore up with your team, especially when you're kind of make the final four, like they did last year. I mean, they were close to making their fricking Superbowl. So I, we said that after they lost, we would do the kind of post-mortem all of these teams. And it was like,

all right well this is what they need and we i think we both kind of said it's like they need a couple more needle movers on defense they have a lot of solid and it's like bosa isn't the true star he was but he's still like an impactful bat in the lineup as they would say in baseball uh let's go on to before we get to we're gonna end the show with a little painting for prospects but just a couple other signings that happen just kind of a little news round up here

I want to talk about Daniel Jones signing with the Colts. Kind of already brought this up a little bit. Signed with them for a one-year $14 million deal. Mac Jones also signed with the 49ers, which I just thought was funny that Kyle Shanahan finally got his guy. But Daniel Jones signing with the Colts. Did you have any thoughts on this one, Charles? Because I just had a couple ideas. But we've talked plenty about Anthony Richardson, and this feels like a continuation of that discussion we've had about him.

Mean why like okay? I actually I I like the idea of having Daniel Jones's back of quarterback, you know, it's just a backup He's better than a lot of guys. Um, yep promise either just wasn't good enough to start but as a backup, you know, you're gonna be fine They you can win games or the guy that can run around like this. Yeah um

I don't get why he is competing for the starter job though. I, I, what has he done to make you think, Oh, I'd rather try that than just seeing whatever I can squeeze out of one year of Anthony Richardson before, you know, they probably move on to something else. Um, it just, we all get fired. We all get fired. It doesn't, uh, I'm trying to figure out the right way to frame this because I'm, I think that Anthony Richardson obviously could have played, could have played better up to this point than he has. Um,

But you knew, you kind of knew this is what you were getting into when you were the Colts. So just to not...

not even really tried to see it all the way through and just eat it. Like all the development that you're going to have to get in these games has just been a little bit baffling to me. Like, why did you bother even drafting them before if you were never even really going to get that far? Now we've got, you know, Pat McAfee saying, Oh, you don't even want to know what I know about Anthony Richardson. Like, man, what, what, what is it? What's going on here? I don't understand how they got to the point where Daniel Jones is supposed to be someone that can compete for this job. But, um,

I don't really understand a lot of things the Colts have done over the past few years, including hiring Jeff Saturday. Last year, benching Anthony Richardson for Joe Flacco. I don't know how that was supposed to help. Just a lot of weird decisions along the way, and now this is just another one to me. Yeah, flailing is a word. I mean, Anthony Richardson is two, three, three days older than Cam Ward.

three days, not three years, three days. Ken Ward's about to get drafted. He is younger, several months, I think four months younger than Shadur Sanders.

Uh, he is very young. He's still 22. He turns 23 in May. Uh, I, that's what the whole Anthony Richardson experience was supposed to be. Take your lumps and hopefully in year three, you start to see the real, okay, this is why we draft him in year four. You're like, okay, we're off to races. Now we're competing because we got a dude at quarterback, uh,

I thought this was curious. I know that what I've heard through the grapevine, of course, with the whole benching, the lead up to that was Richardson. Maybe they did not have God. It's hard to use this without kind of like people running with it or to say this about people running with it was that he works hard.

But they were maybe expecting the franchise quarterback to work even harder. But I also think that's part of the things with being spoiled with having Peyton Manning, Andrew Luck, Phillip Rivers, Jacoby Brissett, Matt Ryan, all these quarterbacks that have come in in the past that maybe have spoiled this franchise a little bit. But they said that after he got benched, he did kind of take that a little bit and he got motivated a little bit. And I think Albert Breer also reported that.

that they felt like benching last anthony richardson last year with joe flackle taking his job lit a fire under the number four twenty twenty three twenty twenty three number four overall pick so indy hopes spring and jones will push richardson to firmly firmly turn the corner

Sounds like a Batman gambit to me. You know, it's kind of a everything's got to line up for that to work. Yeah, like idealistically, let's say Jones does start and he actually plays well for you, as some people seem like they want him to do. Mike Silver reported that he would consider him the favorite to win the job, as others have said as well. Okay, you have him on a one-year deal. Now what? Now what's the playoff?

Wow. Masterful gambit, sir. So that's where, okay. And also the signings before, you know, bringing in Joe Flacco to be the backup. If you were worried about the learning to be a franchise quarterback, you signed Joe Flacco?

who, whose whole MO, whose whole reputation is that he's aloof, that he didn't work hard as hard as he should have to be the franchise quarterback. So it was like, that's the guy you brought in. Andrew Luck, when he started out, had Matt Hasselbeck in his room. You know, that's a great vet to have and Luck didn't probably need that, but that's a great guy to be a sounding board. Having that true vet guy in there that started games and

I always thought that they should have kept Jacoby Brissett back because I think he's that perfect role guy in this stage of his career as well that just knows his role. Great teammate guy. Teach a guy to be a pro. Guess who Drake May had last year? Jacoby Brissett. So that's what, yeah, just don't understand any of this. It's all Rob and Peter to pay Paul

Maybe we'll see what happens at the end of August. I think Richardson wins this job. I think this is all BS about it, but they signed him for 14 mil for a reason. I guess that's an expensive motivation to me on stuff that the coaches and the franchise should be doing. You guys should be the ones guiding them along. But rant over. Get on to another signing that I thought was just really interesting. Demarcus Lawrence signs with the Seattle Seahawks.

Three years, $42 million, $18 million guaranteed. Just not nothing. That's not nothing. I think I looked it up. That's like top 10 edge money. Cap going up. I get that. But Lawrence is 32 years old, coming off a foot injury, Liz Frank injury. Has had pretty good health previously. I'll say the positives of this. That's Seahawks front.

Pretty juicy. Leonard Williams, Byron Murphy, Jerron Reed, Boy Mafi, Nwosu, Derek Hall, re-signed Ernest Jones at linebackers, rumplugger, interesting DBs on the back end. Maybe need another corner. What did you think about this? Because this was kind of a, I saw some people pulling their hair about it because of his age, the injury and everything, but Lawrence and maybe his fit with the Seahawks, Chuck. Um, yeah.

it's a risk you know it's a risk all right it's a big risk i would say because you know and i feel like i i just had a moment where i was like god damn demarcus torrence you know he's about to turn 33 years old man i still remember when he was in the draft that i got that dissociate there for a second but now um after you like after you cut draymond jones which they had to do i think he still did another body um

And yeah, he's top 10 edge money, but I would imagine they're just seeing maybe what he's got for one or two more years. I mean, it's not like he's going to be playing that much longer after this, but the risk here is like I saw with my own team with the Mad Judon trade last year, you know, you're trading for an older pass rusher who is coming off a pretty serious injury. Only played in four games last year. There's a, there's a, there's a pretty real chance to serve out to just be nothing. Just a total dud. I,

Which is okay for them because they think they've pressed the retool button. It's probably a little closer to the rebuild button with where they are on offense in terms of their skill talent. But this at least gives them a chance to have another sturdy front seven this year. The defense should be good this year. Hopefully, if they can get off to a little faster start, maybe they did last year. But you're looking at a defense now that

is in your 200-mile McDonald. They swapped out, you know, they swapped into Marcus Lawrence to let go of Draymond Jones. This is a pretty talented defense. Now it just comes down to the offense. I've watched these teams before. I've covered a few of them where defense is really good, the offense is really bad. It's tough. It's tough to sit through for 17 games, but...

At least you'll have a chance, maybe a better chance to be more competitive than you were a week ago, or maybe more competitive than people thought they were going to be after they traded Gino and DK.

Yeah. I'm, I'm sneakily bullish on, on the Seahawks. I don't know. I don't know. It's the offensive line, of course, but I think they can figure some stuff out. Also Lawrence re re re nights with the defense coordinator, uh, Aiden Dirty, who was the defensive line coach with the Cowboys, uh, when he was there as well. So there was a little connection. Cause it seems like no team ever signs a guy without some previous connection. I'm just, I knew that before, but it just gets reiterated with every one of these signings. I,

I think this defense is going to be very good. I think this McDonald had that cool front with the Ravens and yes, Ernest Jones is in prime Roquan prime Roquan being a year ago. But you know, they could do some interesting things on the front end. I think they're gonna be really good against the run and now they can do some other interesting stuff against the past, especially with the guys on the back end too. So yeah, I,

It's a splurge. It's risky. Hopefully other guys can eat some of the snaps, but man, they have a lot of talent up front. That could be fun. And we'll see you again, like you said, with the offense. All right, we're going to take our last break and then we're going to come back with some painting for prospects. There are some things in life that just shouldn't be forgotten, like bringing your keys when you leave the house, setting your fantasy lineup, and most importantly, having Hidden Valley Ranch to watch the game.

Especially if you're having pizza. Those creamy, zesty, cool ranch flavors take each cheesy, melty bite to an unforgettable level. Hidden Valley Ranch. Only serious about flavor.

All right, we are back and we're panning for prospects. For those that don't know, this is where Charles and I get our prospect from this year's draft class that we've been watching or focusing on this week. I already stated that I've been writing about Cam Ward, but I don't want to give away anything before our quarterback deep dive episode. And also make sure to check out that article. But I have some other Miami Hurricanes I'm going to talk about. But Charles.

who's the prospect that you were painting painting sounds bad who is the prospect that you wanted to talk about this week

I'm going to go with Mike Green from Marshall. Potential first round pick in the draft. He led college football with 17 sacks this year after having five and a half in his whole career prior to the season. So maybe a little bit of a risk, but I think he's a guy that's got a lot of upside potential.

I still question maybe if he can be like a leadoff pass rusher in the future, but like at the very least a strong number two, that's going to play with a lot of effort. It's got some really good athleticism. He's a guy who used to play offense in high school. So you kind of see that come through when he's chasing quarterbacks down from behind the

I'm a big fan of where he has room to grow. I still kind of wonder what his day one impact is going to be like because I think he's got some room to grow in terms of learning pass rush moves and kind of the rules of engaging and disengaging. But at the very least, you're going to have an athletic guy who plays hard, is going to get stronger and faster, and he already has some production to back it up. So it's easy to make a case for him, even with, you know,

some concerns about his game because he's got just all the upside in the world to get better. So I'm really, really interested to see where he ends up in the draft. And I think if he ends up in the right spot, you know, that's a guy that can really boom throughout his career. Yeah. Twitchy and plays hard. That's a fun combination. That plays a different line, you know? Yep. Twitchy, explosive, plays hard. It's a little chaotic. I agree with you where he still has to work on some stuff or he's just,

The hands are everywhere. Just all right, all right. We're just trying to do something to win, but he can win off athleticism. And the thing is, too, when you're taking a guy that's not a power five guy or power four now guy, it's like you want to see him dominate.

And he did. And even when he played better competitions, senior bowl or even Ohio state had good games as well. Impactful games. It wasn't just a couple of snaps where you're trying to go like, okay, yeah, maybe there's something there. Um, doesn't have ideal size, 32 inch arms, eight and a half inch hands, which is,

It's always weird to me when you see just like a big guy with tiny hands. It is. But, you know, like I said, Twitchy, he's strong. He plays the run real hard as well. He's not just a guy that's just DPR. I'm going to get after the passer. I had him 13th on my big board or last updated post combine big board. You had him at 17th. So we're about the same range for him. I can't say I'm in that next kind of tier of player.

But yeah, like him for a pretty loaded class. He's a guy that can get after the passer and that always plays well and plays hard. And I think that's going to be something that teams like have to say does have some character concerns because of an incident that happened at the University of Virginia and I think high school as well. But I'm not do not quote me on that. But they are going to teams are going to look into that. I know they are. Seems like some teams are OK with it from what I've just heard.

through the grapevine. So, but again, might impact the stuff because he's not maybe that overwhelming true, true blue chipper, but man, good prospects. I'm glad he brought him up. The man. So what, where do you have him among your edges? You have him. Okay. You have dual Carter edge one, Mike L Williams, who's kind of a tweener, which is a long Walker, kind of a tweener, Shamar Stewart, and then green five, but man, that's five edges in your top 17. That,

that's kind of how i am too yeah that's the class i'm not concerned about the michael williams 40 time i saw it people post about the michael i think it was like four six four seven five four seven six around that time but if you watch the game that sounds about right to me you know it's uh he's not a guy who's winning with a whole lot of speed he's just gonna beat the crap out of you for four quarters you know it's five yards and he's gonna blow whatever's in front of him back he's gonna just a

maul everything in front of him. That is what he does. Yeah. Joey Bosa ran a 4.85. They win totally different ways, but you know, 40 isn't, you want to, of course, have a good 40, but broad jump and three come.

for edge rushers that that those are the ones that carry over the most or have the most kind of correlation um so of course he didn't jump yet there i've not i that that's what we're doing now that there's multiple pro days that you only do the 41 day and then we're gonna do our cones and broad jump at another day uh because that's where we're at in 2025 but i'm still high i'm still high michael i i had him at 11 i had him over green as well i i just think

I think upside, if it does work out for Mikel, I know we're talking about Mike Green, but if it does work out, he could be like a Demarcus Lawrence, who we just talked about, or a Montez Sweat, where not the bendiest guy, but he pushes the pocket. He's an eight sack guy and he's really good against a run. And that's, I think that plays and plays hard. Like I'm all for that. Might have more to tap into. So that's why I like Mikel.

All right. I mentioned this. I hinted at this. Wrote about Cam Ward this week. But also, it's fun when a team has several talented players. You get to check out some other guys. So I did a twofer here from the University of Miami, Hurricanes, the U. Got Damian Martinez running back and Elijah Arroyo tight end. Like both of these guys, I'm going to start with Martinez.

add them into this loaded running back class. I now have double digit running backs that I think could be a, either a starter like the true one in a room or be part of a split where he's taking a 50, 50 load. Martinez is, could be a starter to me where he takes the majority share of a running back room.

I think just a tough runner, good vision, excellent balance. I'll even go excellent here, not even very good. Will whip out a spin move, whips out a juke. He breaks off safeties, and safeties are scared of him too because he'll run them over as well. Can get a lot of doubles.

Maybe he doesn't have the elite home run speed. He ran a low four fives plays about that. I also think he cut weight to get that. I think he's going to be more of a 225 pound back. I think he weighed like 218 at the combine listed at 230, just a

big, tough runner, catches well, good in space, but he's got plenty of juice and vision where he's not just, he's not Javante Williams running into a wall all the time, and that's why he has to break tackles. He has the vision to avoid hits as well. I described him, I said, every one of his runs should be like a Chris Berman, like Chris Berman should be narrating every one of his runs. It's either whoop or whoop.

on every one of his runs. It's every one. Dude, and Mike, I like the Miami's offensive line a lot too. I like the run game and they ran duo over and over. So of course, I'm a sucker for that. He's great on it. He knows how to kind of tempo his runs.

he has more than other guys I've seen a comparison has more comparisons to Le'Veon Bell than other guys they do in this class as far as how he tempos his runs and far as how is he waits waits waits and then hits the hole not comparing him exactly I'm still working on my one-to-one comparison for Martinez but yeah I really like him I have a late second early third round grade on him like I do with like eight other backs in this class he's probably gonna end up in that range with Devin Neal for me you know

uh, Dylan Sampson from Tennessee, Travion Henderson from Ohio state, different type of players, but in that kind of tier of class and yeah, just really like Martinez. And then Arroyo, um,

Blew up at the Senior Bowl, tested well, looks the part. I shouldn't say tested, measured in well. Looks the part, looks like your big athletic tight ends. He's an iffy blocker. He's the classic athletic tight end that blocking a defensive end is not his favorite, but he'll be some defensive back and then celebrate about it. He's really good at that. But man, just a really good athlete with a long speed.

Can turn upfield. They run a lot of RPOs with him where he'll catch maybe a flat or a stick route, and he can get upfield. He's not just that long-legged stiff that takes a second to get upfield. So it's functional athleticism on top of just how he looks like a good athlete, but he actually plays like one as well. I have a third-round grade on him. He'll end up being...

I'm debating whether he's tight end four for me or not. But I have him just after Mason Taylor. He just missed my top 50. I would say Arroyo is probably more like top 60 for me. But both of these guys are. But I wanted to give him a shout out too. It's a very fun tight end class. And he kind of looks like that type that maybe has more in front of him because he's such a good athlete and a functional football player as well that can win isolated as well. There's some good clips of him winning one-on-one routes as well. Any thoughts on Martinez and Arroyo, Chuck?

I've watched some Martinez. He's a good player, man. I'm glad that... Because he was a guy who transferred from...

Oregon State, right? Yeah. Good for him, man. Corvallis, Miami, man. They got left in the dust with all the conference realignment stuff. You never know what that program or what his season will look like if he got stuck there. I'm a big fan of his game. Kim Ward obviously deserves a lot of credit for being the engine for the Miami offense, but

martinez certainly played a big role in that too i don't think you know without those two guys i don't even know if they sniff um you know college football playoff contention like they did towards the end of the season so um i think it'll be kind of interesting to see you know moving away from the drafts and see what happens to miami next year because those guys carry such a big load but i also think that that kind of bodes well for for the nfl futures it does yeah i know can't my

I don't want to blow it too much, but what kind of

High, high upside comparison to Cam Ward is Steve McNair. But, you know, McNair had a little bit better traits, but they're built exactly the same. They're the same height, same weight. Ward maybe is not as fast and explosive, and his arms are maybe not as strong. Ward has like a good arm, while McNair probably had a very good arm. But, man, they play exactly the same. It's kind of funny actually watching them back-to-back. I found some old YouTube games. I was like, yep, yep, this is where I'm going with right here.

But no, they had some talent on that offense. That's why it was the most explosive offense in college football last year. It's really fun to go back. They have Xavier Restrepo as well, who's getting compared to every other white guy. But every other white receiver you can think of, even though no one's thrown out the Wes Welker comparison. But yeah, he is one that he's a good player as well. Probably a third round pick in my eyes. So yeah, some talented offense players and they were used well. I really like watching that offense. All right.

We're closing it out today. Free agency. Got some draft in there. We'll be back on Monday and we'll be previewing running backs and receivers. Got a little special guest for that. I am Nate Tice. You can find me at Nate underscore Tice or Nate Tice on blue sky. Charles, where can they find you? What are you, what are you working on this week other than recovering your voice and getting your body back? Right. Exactly.

Expenses. Expenses. We're going to start up a little prospect spotlight series that kind of mirrors yours. So I think next week we're looking at Shemar Stewart with hopefully going to get a couple quotes from people in there about him and a little breakdown and start my own little prospect profiles that way. And I think next week is when I'm joining Harmon on his podcast

you know, his, his little draft prospect preview show that we've done the past few years. So definitely check out, you know, we're the three of us. We're pumping out a lot of draft content for, for Yahoo sports right now. Keep an eye out for all juice team. Once I get kicked up with me and see you around the next month or so. So yeah, we are, we're, we're busy. If you need the draft, just stay right over here.

Yes. Yeah. Free agency and draft. Like I said, our pro scouting department and college scouting department over here. No, yeah. Make sure you check out Matt's stuff. He had a whole bunch of stuff out this week. Yeah. And Charles's stuff too. His profiles are coming up. We'll be previewing positions where we have deep dives on maybe singular positions for it.

the draft quarterbacks receivers all that good stuff like i said we're starting running backs at tight ends i'm sure we'll get you charles talk some d-line coming up too and defensive players as well um also we'll get to some mailbag questions soon i promise to send those questions to football 301 mailbag at yahoo sports.com if you can't tell we keep going long that's why we're not going to mailbag questions there's a lot to get into we got player transactions it's fun but uh i do like the questions i've seen so keep sending those in or you can leave us a

five-star review on Apple Podcasts and jump the line. Subscribe to us, follow us, rate us that five stars pretty please. Also, you can watch us on YouTube on the Yahoo Sports YouTube channel. So make sure you check that out. You can do both. Listen to the pod, watch us on video. You can do either. Sometimes works don't allow one of them. So Spotify, Apple, YouTube, they all work. But thank you to everyone for listening. Like I said, we'll be back next week previewing some more draft stuff. Also, thank you to everyone

to everyone behind the scenes for helping us out, making us look and sound good. Thank you again. Have a great weekend. See you guys next time.

There are some things in life that just shouldn't be forgotten, like bringing your keys when you leave the house, setting your fantasy lineup, and most importantly, having Hidden Valley Ranch to watch the game. Especially if you're having pizza, those creamy, zesty, cool ranch flavors take each cheesy, melty bite to an unforgettable level. Hidden Valley Ranch, only serious about flavor.