The Rise Up, See Red podcast

2024 Cardinals opponent preview: San Francisco 49ers with Kyle Madson

The series of 14 shows in 14 days for 14 opponents of the Arizona Cardinals in 2024 continues. This is the fifth show and is about the San Francisco 49ers, whom the Cardinals face in Week 5 and Week 18. Jess is joined by Niners Wire managing editor Kyle Madson to talk about the Niners' 2023 season, the recent offseason and expectations for the 2024 season.

Duration:: 54m
Broadcast on:: 13 Jul 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

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I'm your host, Jess Root, from cardswire.com. You're the USA Today NFL Wiresight that covers yours and the Cardinals, and we continue with the opponent preview series. Again, as I'm recording the 14 opponent preview shows, I don't know what order they're recording out of order, so I'm not going to give you an episode number on this one, but this one is one of my favorite every year, because it is a long time friend of the show, and Kyle Madsen from Niners Wire, the site editor over there, the last several years, and as you listeners, if you've been paying attention, you've heard Kyle many times a year, because he comes on every year to preview the 49ers. We had him on a couple of times last year to talk about the two games against the Cardinals. Kyle, welcome back. It's always a pleasure as we wait out this very, very hard time to write content. So worst. From the middle of June through about now, because now's the time you can start doing training camp reviews, and most of the free agents are all kind of scooped up, but there's a couple of names out there you can you can start writing about, and how do they fit, or how would they fit. This is kind of the time of year where you go, okay, now we can get back, but man, that three-week stretch from like the middle of June to the first week of July is just, it's just brutal. It is, it's the, and then the NFL networks, they keep pushing every year, they used to spread it out, their top planet players, at least you'd have some, some NFL network content, because this is, you know, June is about rankings and lists, and I know I don't like making them, I like writing about them, but I don't like making them. Sure. Sure. But 49ers coming off a great season, disappointing, and as they were, they were Super Bowl favorites, they were among contender Super Bowl favorites to make it, they made it, and Patrick Mahomes got them, got them, and so, tell us about last year, I mean, did it, was there anything that didn't meet expectations in terms of regular season and post-season? Yeah, I don't, I don't actually think so. It, it kind of went, they didn't get off to the slow start that we've typically seen them get off to under Kyle Shanahan. It was just very workman-like all season. I thought week one really set a tone, they went into Pittsburgh, and that was a game that I actually picked Pittsburgh. I thought that you, we've seen the Niners have a ton of slow starts, like they lost to the Bears to open 2022. I mean, seriously, like that's, that's kind of where, where we've seen this team go. It was Brock Purdy coming off of, of major elbow surgery, he didn't really have an off season. He had all, he had a full training camp, but his reps were limited, and he was taking a day off here and there, and, and I thought they were going to go into Pittsburgh and, and really struggle, and it was dominated that game. Just start to finish. It was very, it was, it was like I said, very workman-like, and that's just how they went about the regular season. They, they, you know, I think they, what they finished, 12 and 5, 13 and 4, whatever they finished. So they lost some games, but there was nothing, never a point in the year where you went, the team is playing way below its standard. They lost, they lost week 7 and 8 consecutively to the Vikings and the Bengals. And the Vikings, it was the three games in a row, because you had the, that's right. Week six of Browns as well. Yeah, because you had the, the, and that was honestly, that game was, that was the game where I felt like Brock Purdy kind of proved himself, because all the other times he's just, he's just managing all this talent. And while he had a bad game, he put them in a position to win, only have the rookie kicker, you know, miss. Yeah, that was tough. Yeah. There's third round pick, by the way. 99th overall. 99th overall pick. Can't make the game winning pick. Cool. But in fairness, you know, Trent Williams was hurt. Deebo Samuel was not 100% in that stretch. And then the rest of the way was, you know, they rolled except for when Lamar Jackson and the Ravens sort of just dismantled them. Yeah. Yeah. And that was, that was the point that, again, I didn't take that Christmas day game as, as, oh my god, then the 49ers got exposed. It was just a, it was just evidence that, man, if they meet the Ravens in the Super Bowl, they're going to have a really hard time beating them, because I didn't think there was a team in the NFC. They could, they could really hang with San Francisco last year. And this is your first time listening to me talk. I'm not like a niner, Homer. I'm pretty, pretty rarely, super optimistic about them. But, but last year, you just kind of looked around the NFC and you see the Cowboys get blown out in the wildcard round. They're going, okay, well, they should be able to handle the Packers, which they just barely did at home. And then the Lions and it's like, okay, the Lions are good. Like the Lions are a lot of fun, but you know, they probably should have lost the Rams and then, and then the Bucks really had a chance at them. So, you know, and then the Lions came in and punched them in the mouth for the first 30 minutes. And then the Niners did the opposite in the second half and just kind of took over that game. So I didn't, it wasn't a huge shock to me. They got to the Super Bowl. It wasn't a huge shock to me that they lost to Patrick Mahomes. I just, you know, just to answer your question on kind of how the season went, it just, like, if you told me that's exactly how the year went, I wouldn't, there was nothing surprising to me. They were one of the best teams in the league. They didn't make the one or two plays they needed to make to beat the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. And now they're here again. I mean, honestly, every year it seems like some opponent against Patrick, but they're like, we should have beat him. Yeah, probably. But yeah, that's why they're the Chiefs, Andy Reed, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelsey. I mean, it was, you know, the Eagles a year ago, they hated Jonathan Gannon because of it and it turned out that Jonathan Gannon wasn't the problem. Though I will say one thing that was interesting because I mean, the 49ers had an abundance of riches. It was, it was unfair. Like, you look at the roster and it's unfair the amount of talent that they have on both sides of the ball. Christian McCaffrey, not only what talent-wise, but then he goes and has one of the best seasons of his career. He's offensive player of the year. Rush is really 1500 yards. He's fantastic. You get Brandon and I, you having a rookie, having a career year, over 1300 yards, looks finally looks like the guy. George Kittle gets back to over 1000 yards. And then defensively, you added J. Von Hargrave. You've still got the best line back in court. You got Nick Bosa. Although his sack production was only 10 and a half, but you got seven sacks from Hargrave. Chavarius Ward looks fantastic. It was down the stretch that it felt like the defense took a step back after, is that they were so good early on, and it felt like basic. It was kind of like the Cardinals, like the 49ers boat race in 45 to 29, but the Cardinals ran all over them. And it was, yes, they were without Eric Armstead. And were they without Hargrave that game too? Yeah, they were without Hargrave that game too. And so they complained, but after it looked like they broke the 49ers from seven, they're run defense. And after that, it was a separate again, except for against the commanders because they're terrible, is that they had to score a lot of points. And that was not a problem because they could do it defensively. They seemed to take a step back after that game against the Cardinals. Yeah, man, they they had their issues defensively last year. And that's why we saw C Wilkes let go at the end of the season. No, it wasn't. It wasn't because when you go look at all the metrics, like they were fine. But there were just certain things that were like effort questions in the NFC Championship game, which is insane. There was the week six, seven and eight stretch that we talked about, where he's calling against the Vikings, the Niners just need to get into the half. And he's calling like a zero blitz and putting Cheverias Ward on an island with who's the cap from USC, Jordan Addison. And Addison beats him to the ball and takes it in for a touchdown in a scenario where the 49ers is needed to literally do anything other than let the Vikings score a touchdown. And if that doesn't happen, they probably they probably win the game. And so all of that's to say, I think they had some schematic issues last year for sure, where Steve Wilkes did not, I think view defense the way Kyle Shanahan did, in terms of the 49ers want to do everything up front. Everything runs through the front seven. And I don't think that the front seven and the secondary were tied together the way they need to be last year, which I think is part of the reason that you saw Nick Phosas sack totals come down. Yeah, I know they went because it was for five straight weeks, it was 59, 66, 88, 46, 70. And then the Cardinals, 234, 102, 62, it's a commander, but 109, 136, 182, and 130 there for the season, including the postseason. Yeah, they just don't like look, but the base element of why the run defense struggled last year is because J. Von Hargrave is not a runstopper. Eric Armstead in week 13 tore his meniscus MCL. He tore something in his knee. And when he is not on the field and fully healthy, the Niners run defense suffers a lot. It was a lot of Jevon Kinla, who is is I don't think a great NFL player. He gets for players big as he is, he gets moved off his spot way too often. You know, God love Kevin Givens. He's a rotational defensive tackle in the NFL. And the Niners never had a functional enough defensive and opposite Nick Phosas. They went in with Drake Jackson, who's been really disappointing as a second round pick. He got hurt I think in week seven. He went down. Robert Beal, a rookie, was was on IR for most of the season. They trade for Randy Gregory, who is a situational pass rusher at best. They trade for Chase Young, who again, situational pass rusher at best spent a ton of time looking the wrong way on run plays last year. They just didn't, they just didn't have the personnel man. And, and I think the Cardinals certainly exposed that a little bit. But I think that it was bound to happen at some point just because they didn't have the horses up front. And I think that was a pretty significant problem. And I think that's why you saw them go overhaul that this office is and they get two defensive tackles, two starting defensive tackles in Jordan Elliott from the Browns and Malik Collins from the Texans. They signed Leonard Floyd, who's been a really effective pass rusher the last few years. They signed him to a two-year deal. They go get year to gross matos. Former day two, relatively early day two guy in the draft from, from Carolina to play kind of like that interior pass rusher, but run stopper on the edge in, on, on run downs. So I think they, they made a pretty concerted effort to overhaul that position group because it just wasn't good enough last year. Now, the, we, we would be remiss to avoid the not talk about the guy that got all the talk last year. And that's Brock Purdy, who, you know, I don't know if you like, say what you want about what the talent is, his ability, you can't deny that he was an MVP level player all season, passing for nearly 4300 yards, 31 touchdowns, only 11 interceptions pass a rating of 113. How good was he last year? Because, because everyone wondered, they do like after like, you know, that second half of his rookie season to have it, to have it go into year two for the entire season. Is there any doubt left about what he is as a quarterback? Yeah. Yes. To it from, well, I mean that not, not with this particular group of players. Right. Right. I think, I think an underrated part of last year was what I mentioned earlier. He had elbow surgery in the off season. He tore his UCL in, in January. It was, there was talk of him, what having Tommy John surgery, potentially? Yeah. Yeah. And he had, he had a different procedure that wasn't full blown Tommy John, which is why he was back in, in July, or the end of July, but he didn't get an off season. He didn't get to work on being a quarterback. He was rehabbing his elbow right up until like, literally he missed the first day of training camp because it was a rest day from his rehab. That was, that was why he wasn't in camp on the first day. So, um, I say all that to say the fact that he was as good as he was impressed me a lot, because I had some really major questions about him in his first full season as a starter, particularly coming off the surgery, particularly because he didn't get an off season. And then he come out, came out and, and lit it up the way that, that he did. And I thought that was really impressive. He set the nine or single season passing yards record. Um, he was, that is, I mean, the NFL now, it, it leads to that, but considering the history that the 49ers have a quarterback, Joe Montana, Steve Young, and who's the passer, the passer record for yards, it's Brock Purdy. Brock Purdy. Who, who passed Jeff Garcia, by the way, Jeff Garcia held the record. But yeah, he just, he just statistically put together like the best season we've ever seen a 49ers quarterback have. Um, and I say, again, statistically, because if you put prime Steve Young into the college and hand offense, he's throwing for fifty five hundred yards, like that's, so it's, it's not to say Brock Purdy is the best quarterback that I've had. It's not that. So please don't take it that way. But statistically, it was, it was the best season by a 49ers quarterback ever. And there's something to that that you're, you're not bad at football and doing that. Like there's a reason Nick Mullins didn't do that. And Jimmy Garoppolo didn't, didn't perform at that level. Um, and you know, some people point to Christian McCaffrey, but man, George Kittle looked like he was on the backside of his career and he had a thousand yards brain and I, you had a career, you're Debo Samuel is still really good. So, so that has to do with Brock Purdy. He's better at pushing the ball down the field than, than anybody they've had under Kyle Shanahan. He makes the right decisions. He's more mobile. We sell that in the NFC title game. His legs really, really wound up winning the Niners that game. So I say, I answered your question. There's, there's still questions about him as a quarterback, because a, I want to know what he looks like this year with a full off season. Does he take some kind of leap or was last year just kind of it where that was it because that's really good. Yeah, right. But I just mean, I just mean from a, from a like growth standpoint, is it just, is throwing blindly to the middle of the field going to lead to some interceptions, just kind of through his whole career or does he eliminate some of those kind of, you know, as pro football focus calls in those two and are of a worthy play because he still does that way too often. Um, I think he panics in the pocket still too much sometimes. Um, so there, there are definitely, and then, and then I think if he can keep up this level of production in the post, Debo Samuel, George Giddo, Christian McCaffrey era, like if, if one of those guys are in four years, if all those players are no longer on the team, what does Brock pretty look like? Is he still averaging nine and a half yards per attempt or nine point three per attempt or whatever he was last year? Is he still thrown for nearly 5,000 yards? Is he still 30 plus touchdown? I don't, that's the question I have. But for now, like I'm not going to knock the guy because the team around him is good. You know, I, I, I, so I expect him to produce at a really, really high level this year. And the thing that I, I think I, one of the other times we were on, I was on the show with you is saying that his strength is a perfect compliment to what that offense needs. One, he's smart. He makes the, he's got the talent, but his ability to be very, very accurate on mid-range throws is ungodly almost because he gave me a number. Was it something like, is the second half of the rookie season? Wasn't something like 85 percent? It was insane. It was insane. Yeah, it was, it didn't really drop last year, did it? Uh, he regressed a little bit for sure. Um, but he was still like so good in the intermediate area of the field. And then if you're a pro football focused person, uh, he was also one of the highest graded deep ball throwers in the league. Like this isn't, this isn't just a dink and dunk check down guy. Okay. Well said, let the 49ers and passing, of course he let the 49ers in passing air yards, but he had over 2,200 yards in air yards for his throws, for his passing yards. Yeah, that's crazy. That's, that's bonkers. All right. Let's move on to the opposite season. Coming to next on the rise of Sierra podcast, Pissarp, Cardinals, Talk Live, let's move on and talk about what the 49ers done have done in the off season. That's coming next in the rise of Sierra. Buick Enclave is designed to make together your favorite place to be with an abundance of thoughtful features like the hands-free power liftgate and with generous space for up to seven. Your family will agree. Time spent together inside this SUV is time well spent. Enclave gives connectivity a starring role. Your family will stay connected to the world even when you were on the move. Experience Buick Enclave today. At short line Buick, 1301 South Havana Street, you do the drive-in. We'll do the rest. We all have somewhere we're trying to get to. As the largest energy producer in Colorado, Chevron is working to responsibly meet rising energy demand. So everyone can get to where they want to be. You've arrived. That's energy in progress. Visit chevron.com/tankless. 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Ayuk going and telling Jayden Daniels that the 49ers don't want him. But is something going to end up happening with Ayuken and how much you think he's going to get paid? Yeah, I think they're getting a deal done with Ayuk. That's been, if you go check Niner's Wire, everything I've written about Brandon Ayuk includes that caveat. Whether it's about a trade rumor or his meeting with the Niners or whatever it is, this is just the timeline that Niners operate on. And I think the urgency was ramped up with Ayuken in a way that it wasn't with like Debo Samuel or George Kittle or Fred Warner. There's one I'm missing in there. Samuel Kittle Warner. Doesn't matter. Anyways, this is just the timeline they get these deals done on. Oh, Bosa. Nick Bosa. They go deep into training camp or deep into July right up to the start of training camp or a little bit after the start of training camp with Bosa. He held out until the week the regular season started. This is just kind of the timeline they do business on. And the Ayuk urgency ramped up, I think A, because of all the trade talks during the draft. And then B, because the wide receiver market reset and then reset and then reset like five or six times throughout this off season. And you see Devontay Smith and not equanimity St. Brown. Amunaras St. Brown. And AJ Brown and Justin Jefferson and Jalen Watt on all these receivers getting paid. Meanwhile, Brandon Ayuk's over here talking on TikTok about how the Niners don't want it. And I get all those signs point to, wow, he's gone. He's out of there. But the bottom line is I think the Niners have no interest in trading him. I think honestly, it's felt like Deebos, the Deebos Samuel off season again. Yeah, but Deebos was even worse, right? The Niners, like look, Deebo full blown requested a trade. The Jets picked the 10th that year in the 2022 off season. They picked 10th and they like while they were on the clock, it was like pre-written Deebos Samuel traded to Jets. Like that was a thing. The Niners had to fly to Deebo to talk him down off a ledge. Meanwhile, you've got Brandon, are you requesting a meeting with the Niners? He's at the team facility working out all this other stuff. So I think absolute worst case here, Ayuk plays out his rookie contract. Because the CBA makes it where, if you don't play out your deal, you're in a way worse spot the next off season. So I think absolute worst case, he plays out his rookie contract and they kick the scan in the next off season and potentially lose him for nothing. Sure. The 49ers get those like in droves every year because they keep getting their coordinators hired by other teams. So I think he gets like a four year deal where he's making 28, 28 and a half per with second or third most guaranteed money. I just, I think the Niners are waiting this out. I think I used to waiting this out and I think we get word of that deal late July early August. Makes sense. Lots of players changed teams from the 40 Niners. But if you look at some of them, it's not significant. I mean their backup quarterback, Sam Darnell goes to Minnesota. They released Eric Armstead or in Burke's leaves, but he was their special team's third linebacker, Ross Dwellie back up tight end. Clealing for Elle, backup pass rusher Randy Gregory, Sebastian Joseph, day a guy that picked up late. Javon Kinlaw, Ray Ray McCloud, Isaiah Oliver released Matt Reyer, Logan Ryan retires, Charlie Werner, and Chase Young. Is there like, obviously Armsteads is, I would guess Armsteads' loss is going to be the most impactful. Was there any loss that was like, I wish they didn't have to lose him? Yeah, I think Armstead is, is that guy? But it's, that's more, that's less to do with on field production and more just like, oh, he could have been with the team for 10 years. That would have been a cool thing. The Niners have this thing called the 10 year wall. And there's only 51 players in the franchise history who have made it to that wall. And no player has done it since Joe Staley back in 2016. So that just would have been kind of a cool thing. But the losing Armstead is a big deal from a leadership standpoint. But he had been hurt a lot the last couple of years. He is a very, very good player. I don't get it twisted. I don't want this to come across like Eric Armstead isn't good. He is. The Jags got better because they have him. But I don't think he is so irreplaceable that the 49ers defense is going to look markedly different this year. Like I said, I think in the aggregate, Malik Collins and Jordan Elliott can kind of just fill that void and maybe some Kevin Givens, like it's going to be an all hands on deck effort. But I don't, I don't think we'll see the Niners defense look demonstrably different with, with Eric Armstead gone. So to that point, like, I think that's probably their biggest offseason loss. And I'm not totally sure it's going to be super impactful. And that was, you already mentioned that. So Malik Collins had a great year for Houston last year. Jordan Elliott, I've heard mixed things. I don't, I don't pay to be like, is he good? Is he not good? But you added, definitely added some bodies to to them. I think he's better than Jovan Kinla. And that's, that's probably fair. That's probably fair. As Kinla went left and rejoins Robert Salah, interestingly enough, because he didn't do anything when Salah was here. He's mostly hurt. And then you add some guys, Cardinals fans will kind of laugh, cry to see Josh Dobbs sign his backup quarterback. Obviously the big loss we didn't talk about was, was Drake Greenlaw and his Achilles tear during the Super Bowl. That was, oh my gosh. And then to see the, like, after the Super Bowl and everything, to see the video clips of guys reacting to it, Fred Warner reacting to Greenlaw getting hurt, because he's just running back to the field, falls over. That makes no sense at all. They add Devondra Campbell, a guy that played for the Cardinals was in, but then was great for the Packers and then wasn't so great. But I get a feeling that playing next to Fred Warner will be very, very good. Who, who are the guys that were added? Do you believe in it? And I think Leonard Floyd, that's, you know, he's got 39 and a half sacks over the last four years. Yeah, it's been really good. Like, like, what, what y'all wanted to see from Chase Young, opposite Nick Bosa, you get someone that has actual, you know, sustained production. He is quite good. Yeah, man. I think Leonard Floyd is going to be the big one. I think I'm with you. Devondra Campbell's fine. I don't think he's going to be an old pro like he was back in 2021. I don't think that player's there anymore. But I think if you're going to have somebody fill in for Dre Greenlaw, whether it's for half a season or a full season, there are worst players you could get. And I know they're really high on Jalen Graham and D Winters, who are two reserve linebackers who are rookies last year didn't play a lot. But so I think they'll be okay there. Losing Dre Greenlaw definitely hurts. But Leonard Floyd is the one that he is a bona fide, like you just said, what was it, 39 and a half sacks the last four years? I mean, he is a bona fide, like, go get the quarterback, pin his ears back on third night and will impact the pocket type of player. He just didn't have that last year. Chase Young had flashes. Randy Gregory hadn't had a flash or two, but it was never sustained. And I think that's something that Leonard Floyd is really, really going to help with. And I think that frees things up for Nick Bosa. I think it frees things up for Jim on Hargrave. If it's Utergroves Matos rushing from the inside, I should free some things up for him. So yeah, I think I think of the players that they brought in, I think Leonard Floyd is a going to start for them opposite Nick Bosa and B, I think be a really, really impactful player. Anybody else of the additions? I think Logan Thomas at tight end is a, is an unknown add late in the off season. A lot of former Cardinals. Yes. Yes. Although we'll say this Logan Thomas was a Cardinal so, so long ago. So 2014, dude. That's what he was drafted. And dude, and it was a fricking quarterback then, it was a terrible quarterback at that, but had one highlight that 180 year ago against the Bronco's when he, yes, laser the ball into Andre Ellington over a lot. Yeah. I dude, I will not, I remember that throw. That was outrageous. Um, no, so on Logan Thomas, just real quick, um, from, from a him perspective, um, the fact that he was drafted as a quarterback was really bad at it left to the league for two years and then came back and has carved out just a really nice career as an effective tight end is amazing. Oh, I duchess. The athleticism that he had, because he was a tight end when he started. Incredible. Um, but yeah, his athleticism was in question and I'm really, it's really great that he's been able to have the curve that he's had. So, yeah, man, just amazing. What a, what a guy. Uh, but he's a legitimate, the Niners have tried for a while. This is something my, my podcast partner, Chris Biederman and I talk about a lot. I don't know if this is just a, because Logan Thomas is starting tight end in the NFL. He's, he's one of the 32 best players to position the league, I think. So they, the Niners bring him in. This could mean one of two things. One, they want to be able to spell George Kittle because they've not Charlie Warner, who is their, their backup for the last four years and Ross Dwellie, who, who was also a reserve tight end for the last four plus years, are not like good, like good, they're like number three titans on most rosters. Thank you for putting that succinctly for me. So they're just dudes, like they're fine. Logan Thomas is a legit threat and can legitimately fill in for George Kittle, particularly as a pass catcher. So I don't know if this is so they can get George Kittle off the field more often because by the end of last year by the Super Bowl, he was beat to heck and he had core muscle surgery in the off season. So maybe it's that my, my thought process is Kyle Shanahan has been trying for a while to get a second pass catching tight end. They brought in Jordan Reed in 2020 and lo and behold, he had some injury issues. I don't really play it. I think I gave games. But they also went and when Austin Hooper was a thing, they tried to go get him and pay him like big money. The same off season or right after they had paid George Kittle, they went and tried to go get Austin Hooper when he was still a guy and George Kittle was in his prime. So I think this is something Shanahan's been trying to go towards for a while where he can mix in more like 22 personnel or 12 personnel, where he's running two running backs, two tight ends in 22 or 12, which is a running back and two tight ends. I think he wants to be able to do that because it's just maximum deception. And that's his thing. He passes out of run formations. He runs out of passing formations like that's just a gets a defense thinking. And I think his defenses have gotten smaller and more like you saw the chase in the Super Bowl were constantly. It's like four or five corner backs on the field. And I think Shanahan wants the ability to go two tight ends where they can just go big, just eye formation to tight end and just go bully ball. But off of that, if you try and get big with your defense, now all of a sudden they can split Kyle, you check and Christian McCaffrey out and they have two pass catching tight ends who are actual threats. And so I think we're going to see more of that from the Niners this year, more more 22 looks, especially on like third and shorter, second and short and goal line situations. I think it's just a headache for defenses to have to try and cover all those guys. And now, oh, here's a backup tight end who had 55 catches and five touchdowns last year. Yeah, the gentleman talent at that the position. It's, it's really, really good. Then you go to the draft and everyone was waiting. Everyone was waiting. I'm sure you were too for maybe you weren't. Maybe you had more insight onto this, but everyone was waiting for the Brandon Iuk or Deebo Samuel trade. And then when they went and drafted Ricky Pearsall for like, oh, then it's definitely happened, but it didn't happen. One of the big surprises of the first round to compare Saul a guy I'm familiar with because he played at the Arizona State was really exciting when he was here and then, you know, took off to Florida when he could because, you know, we were bad. We're bad. But very versatile player, a kind of a guy that can kind of do everything isn't built like Deebo, but can it do a lot of things in terms of versatility that Deebo offers? Yeah, I thought that signaled to me more about where the 49ers are going than where they are. Because that was the reaction, right? Was the draft Pearsall in the first round. Oh, one of Samuel or Iuk are getting traded. But it was really clear to me and to people I talked to who know things that the only way I Iuk was getting traded is if like they talked with Washington, right? I'm guessing those talks were with Washington where the Niners going, hey, can we have the number two pick and Washington going, no, how about a second rounder and the Niners going, now we want a first and that that's kind of like it was really clear they wanted to get into like the top eight because they weren't getting neighbors or a Dunes or Marvin Harrison Jr. Arizona Cardinal. If they weren't getting one of those three guys in, they weren't interested. So they needed like a top seven or eight pick. And when that went away, I think Deebo would have been available for like a mid first. And I think teams were calling around. But I don't think they ever planned on on trading one of those guys for anything more than what would have been a major policing. I think they've planned on having Samuel and Iuk on the roster this year. The Pearsall pick, I think has more to do with a helping out their depth at that position. Right. Because if Samuel or Iuk is out, it's Jwan Jennings steps in who's who's fine. He's a good player. Yeah. But after that it was like nothing. It's like Ray Ray McCloud is like a gadget player, punt returner, Ronnie Bell, seventh round pick is probably a career special teams guy. Danny Gray couldn't get off IR last year. They just don't have they just didn't have the bodies. So I think Pearsall is a player they liked a lot. They bring him in to help their depth this year where I think he'll cut into Jwan Jennings snaps a little bit. But I think he'll return some punts and be a fourth receiver this year. But then next year whether it's because they couldn't come to a deal with Iuk or they did come to a deal with Iuk and they have to get rid of Debo Samuel now. I think next year's the year where they're going to need another receiver. And I think Kyle Shanahan like Ricky Pearsall a lot for a lot of the things that you listed out. He's tough. He can run all the routes. He can play all the positions. He can you can hand it off to him if you need to. He's towards the ball really well too. Got got that in his bag. We saw the Niners pull that out in the in the Super Bowl with the with the wide receiver pass. So yeah, I think that's more about 2025 and beyond more than than this year. And I never thought that one of Samuel are you we're getting traded. And I and I still don't believe that's good. Second round Renardo Green corner back third round Dominic Pune the offensive lineman Malik Mustafa safety running back Isaac Arendo out of Louisville and the fourth round fast fast Jacob Cowling out of Arizona little and fast Jared Kingston a tackle in round six and Hayden Bithu and linebacker in the seventh round. Yep. Do any of these guys figure into 2024? Yeah, I think so I mentioned Pearsall is going to be maybe the wide receiver three in some instances but probably four. I think Renardo Green has a legitimate chance to start at one of the corner X spots. If you go watch his tape Doug for our who's our colleague at the NFL Wires is a huge Renardo Green guy. Him and and Greg Cosell both love Renardo Green. And if you go turn on his tape against LSU where he just puts Malik neighbors in a padded cell for four quarters, it's really hard to not be in Bernardo Green. He's just he's a dog. Pre-draft analysis of him was all over the board but if Doug and Greg Cosell like a guy then I have a hard time believing that they're not going to contribute at least a little bit. So he has a legitimate chance to start and I think Dominic Pune is the other guy who probably should start at right guard for the 49ers this year. They might give him a shot at tackle but I would I would bet that he's going to be their starting right guard to try and shore up that spot. I mean between Feliciano and Burford that's very remarkable. Yeah Feliciano was really good last year but I don't think you want to go into a year with John Feliciano is like your sure fire starting right guard. That's probably not a great spot to be. So I think Pune will start this year and Malik must off as a player. I like a lot. I don't think he's going to play a ton with with Talno Hufanga being back from a torn ACL and and Jair Brown live a good last year. Yeah yeah he was he was solid. So I think he's gonna he's gonna start and play a ton but Malik must off as a player I really like and I think if he doesn't have an impact this year I think he will done a lot for sure. Coming next on Rise of Seaward podcast Mr. Cardinals talk of the web will move ahead to 2024 and expectations and hopes and dreams for this coming season. 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We're back on the rise of seared podcast bessar cardinals talk on the lip talking to Kyle Madsen of Niners wire we've gone over last season in the off season the 49ers the last I checked were the Super Bowl favorites in um right behind right ahead of the Chiefs right ahead of the Ravens um how do you feel about that being the favorites for this year uh I think it's fine it just like the 49ers have been good enough for long enough now that the preseason analysis stuff doesn't move me anymore I don't I don't it gets nice that they're the favorite it's nice that pro football focus causing the best roster in the league and ESPN says they have the best roster in the league and they're the betting favorited whatever sportsbook you want to go look at uh they're over under their their win total is as high as anybody's I don't great they they should be there and in the mix and making a deep playoff run again but it's like when you've run into the NFC championship game wall or Super Bowl wall four times in the last five seasons it's hard to be super you know thrilled by the idea that they're a preseason favor because it's like yeah they should be it's just kind of what they are now uh and and I think the NFC is gonna be tough this year you know pick your NFC North team that that is gonna be really good I think the NFC West has a chance to be to be really really good top to bottom quietly yeah we made themselves they went from a team that was aging to having now great we'll see what happens without it aerodontal but that team has very good young talent at a lot of spots yeah and you got a new head coach in Seattle I think Michael McDonald's a heck of a coach and he's gonna have that defense playing really well uh I like the direction the Cardinals are heading like the NFC West might just be six really tough games for everybody in the division um so I I it's great that they're you know still have this awesome roster and and all that but like dude if it doesn't result in a Super Bowl then it just doesn't matter right is it is at that point for fans are they is it sort of championship or bust or is making the Super Bowl still satisfactory obviously you don't want to lose in this no no but it is is the fan base are they are they gonna start making noise about Shanahan if they don't win it's started after Super Bowl 54 it's like wow he was the offensive coordinator in the 28 to 3 Super Bowl and now this man this guy sucks like that was just like that's I worked in radio in San Francisco and that was calls the Monday after the Super Bowl we're like is it time to fire Kyle Shanahan like they just look at the Super Bowl we're talking about and then 2020 was a disaster but then 21 uh they were a jakwoski tart dropped interception from beating the Rams in LA uh in 2022 uh I don't know if they would have beat the Eagles if Brock Purdy was healthy but when you see how that game went this past season in Philly I like their chances to win that NFC title game in in Philly if Brock Purdy stays healthy um and then and then this year you know they were they were up 10 on the Patrick Womes Chiefs they had him in a fourth and one in overtime and Nick Bosa for some reason chases they're running back instead of hanging out and waiting for Patrick Womes to pull the the read option I could just um there's all these things you can point to where they've gotten so close and man if they go to the Super Bowl again and lose again I don't I don't think there's going to be I have friends dude check us out I have I have friends who who work in media like in radio who are like just now like okay I can think about football again no if they lose it if they lose another one I don't know how anybody's going to recover particularly the team like you can only you can only face plant just shy of your goal so many dives before before it starts to mentally message you the big picture you're like Super Bowl twice in five years and if he championed like oh it's an incredible run pick it's incredible but in the moment it what it's you know I could see it being kind of a reason of a team quickly falling apart yeah dude that's that's very much on the table man hey that's why I would bet the Niners under this year maybe they go over maybe they go 14 and 3 and they they're they're just rock solid super tough they know what it takes and they they know that this is their last ride is a core so they're gonna get after it maybe maybe but also maybe they lose week one and then the doubt sets in and everybody's looking at at Brandon I you can go and hit you only had a catch for six yards you held out you know Debo what what do we you know is he staying or going what's the deal here oh Brock birdie's gonna get paid and then all the sudden all this other stuff starts creeping in that that instead of focusing on this goal everybody starts looking ahead to next season where things are gonna look a lot different and now all of a sudden that's where that downward spiral comes and now you have this loaded roster that finishes 9 and 8 missing the playoffs I get happens it can happen yeah and I that's why like man I don't think it'll happen I think that I think this year that the focus will remain I think if they don't make it all the way like if there's a playoff failure or a Super Bowl loss I think that's where things get hairy for next year but I think between the the talent of McCaffery the level of play a party that offensively it's gonna be really it's gonna be really hard to take that much step that much of a step back offensively and you still have arguably the best pass rush in football you've got the best linebacker in football you've got one of the best cornerbacks in football and your duo of Hufanga and Jair Brown are a formidable duo at CD got so much talent and then you add the learner Floyd to that I mean they should be good they should be good like they should be but but like like like I said look if they go 15 and 2 and losing the first round nobody nobody psyched if they go 15 and 2 and losing the Super Bowl like nobody psyched if they go 10 and 7 and win the Super Bowl everybody's fired up it just it's kind of reached that it's reached that point for this for this team um so they've been too long they've been too good for too long and and you want something to show for it yeah man especially especially because this isn't a patriot situation where it's been Tom Brady and Bill Belichick and it's different players and they're moving it out and the team looks a little different like no it's been largely the same core since 2019 and then you then you look at the the question is what happens when pretty it's because he's gonna get paid whether whether they wait till year four uh but he's gonna get paid which is going to change the roster a lot yes um so yeah yeah that's gonna be obviously you've given the worst case scenario uh that you think worst case like they they kind of fall apart and be a nine win team obviously the ceiling is the Super Bowl um do you predict a Super Bowl appearance slash win here's why I don't I wouldn't know I know because it's happened once since the turn of the century where a team has has lost the Super Bowl and gone back and that was the Patriots in 2011 a long time ago it was a it was a while ago um so I don't was it no it's the Eagles Super Bowl they lost to the Eagles and then beat the Rams the next year I guess how that went but anyways it doesn't matter it doesn't matter it doesn't matter make foals come on I know dude just brutal um but no so so it just doesn't happen anymore like it's it's so tough to do now and I think only eight teams have ever done it where they they've lost the Super Bowl and then gone back the next year it's it's something I have a more bills half of the bills yeah right no that yeah that that's that's eight total but the bills did it four times themselves um yeah man I just don't yeah they have all the pieces for sure but history history tells us it doesn't happen and with how good Green Bay might be with how good you mentioned the Rams the AFC by itself you know in the Super Bowl is going to be tough but it's even getting there that Detroit Green Bay the entire NFC West I think is is gonna be is gonna be tough like I said earlier um I just don't I don't think there's a lot of uh an easy road for San Francisco um and they got a tough schedule this year too man so I'm uh I'm not betting on a on a return just because A the odds are stacked against them and B history is stacked against them as well and with that we will wrap up this edition of the rise-ups here at podcast the 49ers opponent preview the opponent preview with the 49ers with Kyle Madsen uh you can find Kyle stuff over at Ninerswire.com and on X slash Twitter what is what is your what's your handle Kyle Kyle A Madsen M A D S O A there we go awesome man Kyle it's always a pleasure man um I love I love when I have you on and good thing is I'll get to have you on twice during the regular season all right man take care appreciate you anytime we'll be back again soon thanks guys for listening. The first ever Buick Encore GX Avenir is now in stock and short-line Buick it's been said luxury is in the details and Avenir's exclusive embroidered leather seating with a quilted stitching pattern welcomes you to this luxury SUV Avenir comes loaded with advanced technology including a rear camera mirror HD surround vision and wireless charging staying connected and safe on the road is possible now it's short-line Buick experience Buick Encore GX Avenir at 1301 South Havana Street you do the drive-in we'll do the rest we all have somewhere we're trying to get to as the largest energy producer in Colorado Chevron is working to responsibly meet rising energy demand so everyone can get to where they want to be you've arrived that's energy in progress visit chevron.com/tankless how dangerous is it to unwrap a burger at 40 miles per hour more so than you think in a little over two seconds your car can travel slightly more than 117 feet which is the same length as 20 bicycles anything that distracts you while driving is dangerous that's why driving while texting can be deadly too so put it down it can wait don't drive distracted shifting to safe a message from the Colorado Department of Transportation thanks for listening to the latest edition of the rise up sea red podcast listen to previous episodes and subscribe to the show on apple podcasts stitcher radio audio boom or many other podcast platforms so shows are delivered directly to your mobile device please give the show a five star rating and always support the sponsors who support the show we'll be back soon for the best hour of cardinals talk on the web rise up red sea be red sea red and of course rise up sea red sea red sea red sea red sea red sea red sea red sea red sea red sea red sea red sea red sea the first ever Buick Encore GX Avenir is now in stock at short line Buick it's been said luxury is in the details and Avenir's exclusive embroidered leather seating with a quilted stitching pattern welcomes you to this luxury SUV Avenir comes loaded with advanced technology including a rear camera mirror HD surround vision and wireless charging staying connected and safe on the road is possible now in short line Buick experience Buick Encore GX Avenir at 1301 South Havana street you do the drive-in we'll do the rest how dangerous is it to unwrap a burger at 40 miles per hour more so than you think in a little over two seconds your car can travel slightly more than 117 feet which is the same length as 20 bicycles anything that distracts you while driving is dangerous that's why driving while texting can be deadly too so put it down it can wait don't drive distracted shift into safe a message from the Colorado Department of Transportation