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That's indeed.com/bluewire, terms and conditions apply. Need to hire? Most Paris 2024 Celebrate every point, race, and moment with Team USA and Michelobultra for the Olympic Games Paris 2024. Stock up on Michelobultra and cheer on Team USA. Enjoy responsibly. Copyright 2024 and Hisard Bush Michelobultra light beer St. Louis, Missouri. Well Vince, I wanted to talk a little bit. I've got some comments from Irish defensive coordinator Al Golden that I wanted to get in here as well. And we can always come back to the offensive line talk in rapid fire if we need to or later on as well if some people pop in with some different questions or comments or something like that. But another injury that happened relatively quickly, I think it was day one, once these things start happening, it feels like a month ago but it was a couple of days ago. When camp starts, you've got to brace yourself for interviews, you've got to brace yourself from bad news. I mean, you're not going to get a bunch of good news during camp because good news is expected. You know, okay guys are getting better, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, just be ready for devastating news because that's the only kind of news you're going to get. Boring is what you hope for, but fortunately you just don't get boring. All that often it seems like. So Gabe Rubio injured right away early in camp and here's how golden we got the chance to talk to him on Friday about some guys that he has seen step up on the defensive line in the wake of Gabriel Rubio's injury. Well, it's a great question. So, you know, obviously Donnie and Jason continued. They benefited greatly from the spring, but Donnie and Jason, Armelle has really stepped up and Cole Mullins has played a lot too. So I would say, you know, from that group, you know, will be the fifth in sixth with Gabe's absence. And then obviously hopefully we're not too long with Gabe, we'll see how that goes. Some interesting names there. A couple of them I think are expected, Donovan Heidish and Jason Onye, the first couple names out of his mouth when he was talking about Donnie, of course, Armelle Mucum has emerged in the first week of camp and freshman Cole Mullins jumping into that mix as well. What did you think when you heard some of those names there, Vincenzo? It just tells you how deep this defensive line is, right? I mean, there's a chance for 11 or 12 guys to actually play on this defensive line. And the fact that he rattled off four or five names when he's talking about replacing Gabe Rubio just speaks to it. You know what I mean? Like there's just so much talent in this room. And for as much angst is out there about, you know, defensive line recruiting and I get it. I understand where people are coming from. This defensive line is stacked like that they have a ton of depth, a ton of depth. And while it stinks that Gabe Rubio went down and there's obviously a chance he could come back at some point, they've got guys that can just step right in and fill that void. You know what I mean? And they'll welcome him back. Don't get me wrong. But in the meantime, they've got guys that are balling out. I love it. And look, I think it speaks to the development as well that's going on there. Like we were just talking about Joe Rudolph has got to develop these offensive linemen and get them ready to go. And even though, as you just mentioned, the defensive line recruiting is not where I think most people thought it would be or, you know, think it needs to be or whatever. But the defensive line development is there. And the fact that you're hearing some names like that pop up right away is, I think that it shows, you know, especially with a guy like Cole Mullins. Because again, you just don't know what you're going to get all the time. And these guys walk in the door and are they going to be ready? Cole Mullins was not an early enrollee. He hadn't gone through the spring. He came in in the summer and as a freshman defensive lineman, just, you know, whether you're, if you're in the trenches on either side of the ball, you've got to be able to do man stuff down there, fence and yep, to be able to do man stuff on the defensive line in the interior defensive line, like, like Cole Mullins is doing right now is pretty impressive. I love, and I love the fact that Armel Mucum, by the way, I know this has nothing to do with his talent. I love the fact that he wears number 88. That's awesome. It's freaking awesome, man. Like you're wearing number 88 and you're six, three, three hundred and two pounds, you know what I mean? Like, I dig it. I think that's fantastic. But now there's, there's so much talent there on the interior and, and on the outside, but mainly on the interior that just next man up, let's roll, let's roll. 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With NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV, you get the most live NFL games all in one place every game every Sunday and you can even watch up to four different games at once with Multi-View, one of my favorite inventions of this decade. It's exactly what you need to catch all the action. Make your Sundays more magical and also, YouTube TV is great. I got it this year. It's awesome. Sign up now at youtube.com/bsdevice and content restrictions apply. Local and national games on YouTube TV and a full Sunday ticket for out-of-market games excludes digital-only games. So a name that didn't come up in that conversation was Brandon Vernon, a guy who did come in with some fairly considerable accolades and praise of his own when he came in last year. So where's Vernon in his development? I'm just a young guy, just continue to learn it, you know, trying to get better, but not at that level of our mail right now, but he'll get there and he'll add a little bit more power, a little bit more strength, a little more weight, and that will help him be able to relax in there and play naturally, which is what we're trying to get him to do, sorry. Relax, play naturally, add a bit better and different, what'd you think? The adding weight thing, I think surprised me just a little bit. I mean, I'm trying to remember seeing him in person, it felt like he had plenty of weight on him, but he's only 262 pounds and playing on the inside at 262. He probably needs a little bit more weight, to be perfectly honest with you. And so that actually makes a lot of sense in the fact that he just needs him to settle that sounds like he's pressing a little bit, you know, kind of seeing maybe the writing on the wall with some other of these younger guys, you know, that kind of a thing. And so that's probably something he's not terribly happy about, but he's only a second year player. And so, you know, just need to kind of take a breath, put on some more good weight, and just keep plugging away at it. Yeah, I mean, you know, like a guy like Armel Mukem has 40 pounds on him, basically. That's a lot when you're on the interior, right? I mean, this, you kind of need that, that weight. Yeah. And even Donovan Hainish, you know, like that's been something that he needed to do when he got here. And he's got 12 pounds. Yeah. And like we started to see some of that click last year. And now as a junior, you know, you've got a little bit more bulk on him, a little bit more strength. And I think that, you know, you're starting to see even even more consistent consistency potentially for him. So, yeah, you know, like Tommy is saying, Washington doesn't like Vernon for whatever, you know, I don't know, like, again, well, look at 262, you're too light to be playing on the inside. I mean, I, I mean, just, just, even Howard crosses an undersized interior alignment and he's got almost 30 pounds on him too. He's got like 25, 26 pounds on him and, and he's four inches shorter. You know what I mean? Yeah. He needs to be able to put on some more weight. I mean, you're going to get pushed around in the interior if you're that light bottom line. So that's nothing to do with a coach being against you. You got to put on more weight if you're going to be on the inside. Yeah. I think that this might have like Mr. 2.0 since I think this might have something to do with, with it is just more than anything. Just what we've been talking about. He doesn't like the fact that he's 262 and probably shows because like Vernon so far, the guy who I would say has popped in the, in, in the times that our eyeballs have been out there. Yeah. That does mean he won't, but Bob's ask if Cole Mullins is around that same size. He is, but obviously if Cole Mullins is producing and the other guy isn't, then Cole, you know, then size isn't as big a factor for Cole Mullins. It's about a three pound difference and a one inch difference between the two. Yeah. I mean, I'm not saying he's holding the weight specifically against him, but the job done, you can, you can work around that. Yeah. If you're not getting the job done, it, it becomes a bigger factor. Right. The whole thing. Yeah. Exactly. So some more from Al Golden asked about Kingston, Villiamo, Asa, and his development since he showed up here in the spring. Yeah. Operation maturity and IQ, like those three things are what makes transitions easier, right? Are you mature enough? Do you understand what it takes preparation wise and then you have the IQ, the football IQ to make that transition? That's what's allowing them to transition. What I see is a more comfortable player and obviously if you're a freshman and you're getting the green dot in some portion of practice, then you're doing something right to earn that trust. Yeah. That part of it. But the three elements proceed where he is right now and I just think he's playing a little bit more relaxed. Is he going to be hard to keep off the field? Is it going to be hard to keep him off the field? Yeah, I'm not playing him a lot, as a freshman right? I mean, I would hope that he would fight into the mix. You know, he's doing a great job right now, but you know, we've got scrimmages coming up and a bunch of different things and but right now I'm really excited about the young man and it's warranted because of the way he approaches it. Not getting out as anointing oils just yet. It sounds like. That was an interesting converse like that was an interesting response like he and that's why I left the kind of the follow-up question in there rather than separately to kind of get your take on that. His hesitation spoke volumes to me. He likes where he's at, you know, he thinks he's really good for a freshman, for being his first time in the system, you know, all of those different things. And when the question was asked, is it going to be hard to keep him on the field or keep him off the field? I feel like he wanted to say no, it's not going to be hard. I just don't put him out there. I just feel like he's not ready to as taking your words, right? He's not ready to anoint him as the next great thing. He's not ready to anoint him as the starter right now over Drake Bowen. You know what I mean? And so that was an interesting response. I don't, I think he's a little lower on the list of Al Golden than he is in the fans' eyes. I'll just say that. But that's also not a bad thing because you got to remember this is a freshman linebacker playing a very important spot because you lost a guy like JD Bertrand and they talk about the green dot in the green dot just to make sure that everyone knows what that I think most people know what it is. But the green dot is the dot that they put on the back of the helmets of the guys who can wear the communications, you know, with with the sideline. So that means if Drake Bowen, the middle linebacker ahead of Kingston, Villiamo Ace on the depth chart have been a linebacker right now, like if Drake Bowen is off the field, then Kingston gets the green dot, for example, like at least in the practices that they're running right now, which means that he is the guy communicating, calling the defense for the, you know, for the rest of the guys on the field. So like, is he completely ready for that? I wouldn't expect him to be completely ready for that. And that's realistic though, and that's very rare as a fan realistic. And some of the media out there too is not super realistic about who Kingston is right now, and what his projection should be for this season, and I think also his response to me kind of speaks a little bit to where Drake Bowen is too, you know, he did not drink Bowen here in just a second. Oh, well, even better. But like, I to me, that was like, why would I want to rush this kid on the field when I've got Drake Bowen on the field already, like that, you know what I mean? Like there's no rush to get him on the field. Why rush it when you've got a guy who's killing it. You know where everybody raves about Kingston right now? Billie Amoaysa, the barbershop. Yeah, the barbershop. He hasn't seen a barbershop in a few years though. They're begging him to come in. Let us got that thing, come on. The pass rush, his pass rush skills are what everyone's, and that's where that at least going into the season, I think is going to be his biggest role. And I've talked about this before. You know, like those third down with that's package time situations, yes. That's where Kingston, Billie Amoaysa is going to have a chance to carve his niche and make his name and I love that early on. I love that. Play to his strengths as much as possible, right, but even a situation where he doesn't have to think a lot. It's like, here's what's in front of you. It's pass rush situation. Go get him, big boy. Exactly. It's not much more than that. I can't wait. He'll be on like 10, 15 plays a game and he'll may have like two sacks. There's something in everyone that'd be like, he's got to be the starter and middle linebacker, you know, that's what's going to happen. But I think that's a perfect scenario for him. Be a package player, play to your strengths, go make plays completely agree. I think that would be a perfect scenario. And I think we're going to see, again, I think we're going to see a lot of him. It's just not going to be as an every down three down line backer. It's going to be more situational, but it's going to be to everyone's benefit. That's okay. I believe. Yes. So speaking of Drake Bowen, asked him about how Bowen has stepped up kind of filling J.D. Bertrand's shoes, you know, again, with Bertrand off to the NFL now, Bowen steps into that potential starting spot as the middle linebacker. You know, I didn't realize somebody had said something. I don't know when it was just about. I didn't realize that because, you know, Drake, I feel like Drake has been around for a while, you know, and Jay Narsbury has been around for a while and Jay wants to need. So I don't really, I don't look at it like, you know, I know we lost two starters to the NFL, but I hope we have a bunch of NFL guys coming up too, you know, and a bunch of guys that really gleaned a lot from whatever their role was a year ago and being in those meeting rooms. But I don't look at it like any drop off and I'm pretty sure Max in that room is up for the challenge in terms of anybody on the outside saying that, you know, how are we going to replace? How are we going to play? Yeah, they're ready to go. They'll be ready to go. And he mentioned Jaylin's need and Jay Narsbury in that group as well. You know, there, I think there are a few more things that Jay Narsbury needs to continue to kind of, you know, get together. I think, I think Bowen is definitely ahead, Sneed is ahead. But it's interesting to hear, you know, because again, Bowen is a guy who obviously doesn't have a lot of experience, but as a guy who was an early and early last year, he's been here for two springs already and one full season and now going into his second training camp and I think that just, I'm sure that kind of being an understudied to JD Bertrand last year and being in that room and as smart as Drake Bowen is to begin with and as athletic as Bowen is to begin with, that's probably why Al Golden feels the way that he feels about it. Oh, there's no question about it. I mean, Drake Bowen was studying at the feet of JD Bertrand all of last year, how to run the defense, how to run your, how to operate yourself, you know, how to get yourself prepared, how to study all of those things. I mean, he was right there in his hip pocket the entire time. You can't tell me that doesn't pay dividends, you know, going into this season. You can't tell me that, right? And so again, I think people are overlooking the effect that Drake Bowen is going to have on this defense and I think they're all going to be pleasantly surprised. Al Golden's not worried because look, we've heard Al Golden speak plenty of times. He's not really wanting to throw out praise, right, that's just not who he is. And he's like, well, just like, you know, the thing with Kingston, Villiamo aces, right? Exactly. Like perfect. He said good things about him, but he wasn't just going to heat praise on him and say, nope, we're not going to be able to keep him off the field. He wasn't going to go that far. Yeah, he's like, they're going to be ready. And Max is up to the challenge. Max Bull, the linebackers coach, he's up to the challenge. So yeah, I'm just not as, I'm not that worried about it. I think it's going to be in a great, great feeling. I think Bowen and Villiamo aces are both going to play really big roles in the defense right here. And of course, Jeff says he's going to start by mid season. So you're just going to completely like disregard Drake Bowen and everything that the defensive coordinator just said. Yeah. Yeah. I just. Okay. I'm sorry. You're not going to be able to change the minds of some people that think what they think, you know, when it comes to certain recruits that have done zero at the college level. Let's wait till you see a couple of games and you see what Drake Bowen looks like out there. I think you're going to be pretty impressed with him too. Yeah. I think so too. Yeah. Because this time last year, he was the golden recruit that everybody wanted to play over JD Bertrand. Right. Why isn't he playing for? Yeah. Right. You know what it means? Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. How quickly? How quickly? That's okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. [BLANK_AUDIO]
