Inside Access with Jason LaCanfora and Ken Weinman

Bucky Brooks: The AFC North is always tightly contested

NFL Network analyst and former player Bucky Brooks joined the show to discuss where he views the Ravens heading into the upcoming season. He touches on how he believes Derrick Henry will be used, what the rest of the AFC North looks like, Jerry Jones recent comments, and more.

Duration:: 15m
Broadcast on:: 13 Aug 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

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Are you confident that the Ravens can be as good as they were a year ago entering this season? Yeah, I mean, going in, everything looks good for the Baltimore Ravens. They're green Derek Henry over. They have a running game that should offer, I would say like a different dimension to the offensive attack with Derek came coming downhill, kind of complimenting what Lamar Jackson does. And then when you just look at what their defense has personnel wise, they should be good. Now they're questions because Zach war takes over to defense after Mike McDonald did such a great job. But the Ravens are always going to be in the conversation because they're always talented to talk about. Bucky, if there's one big question that we have about this team heading into the year, it's on the offensive line where they're replacing three of five starters. It's going to be a very young group. I mean, four of their five projected starters are going to be on their rookie contracts. Any concern there? I mean, yeah, I mean, I think there's always concern when you kind of have to change out the offensive line. And because the way the preseason is, you don't get a lot of work in terms of physical work where they can jail. So it may take the first month of the season, the first half of the season for this unit to come together. You just hope that they're able to play well enough and the pieces around the offensive line are able to do their jobs well enough that you can take some time for them to kind of find their way as you start trying to play your best ball down the stretch talking to Bucky Brooks inside access here on the fan. I want to go back to Henry if we can. And like, is he just such a freak that the fact that he's 30 and he's got all those carries under his belt? That doesn't matter. We're going to see prime Derek Henry this year. I mean, it matters. Obviously it matters just because like the sheer volume of carries that he's had. But I think you're encouraged because of how physically 50 years, what he's done, he's been relatively healthy for most of his career. And you get the sense that the Ravens have a plan to kind of manage his load until they get down to what we call money times. The last part of the season where they kind of the weather turns and you kind of need to start leaning on the running game more if they can kind of keep them fresh over the forced part of the season. So it can be a big impact player down the stretch. I think the Baltimore Ravens will kind of be going according to script when it comes to why they brought him in and what he could offer them as a playoff piece. Let's go to the Ravens rival in the AFC North and that is the Pittsburgh Steelers and it sounds like they're really in the mix with Brandon Ayuk that trade hasn't been made official yet. But how are you viewing the Steelers heading into the year and especially at the quarterback position? Who do you see as their starter? Look, I think the still is always dangerous. I think that division is always one that is tightly contested. And when you think about Pittsburgh, Baltimore, six men in Cleveland, every talented roster. So the winds are going to be hard to come by. But the Facebook still is Mike Tomlin has a unique ability to take a team where they are when they're struggling and kind of figure out how to do enough to get them over the top. This year is different because the quarterback situation kind of is up in the air. Russell Wilson will expect to be the starter, but he's missed so much time to the kind of left-to-door crack for Justin Fields. Justin Fields didn't necessarily seize it with his performance in week one of the preseason, but there's been a lot of positive buzz from his teammates about what he could do. I mean, ultimately they go as the quarterback goes and if one of those quarterbacks finds a way to just give them confident play, they're going to be in the mix to win a lot of games and they're going first to be 10-11-10. Bucky, you talk about the quarterback and the team goes where they go. You look at Cleveland a year ago and Deschaun Watson gets hurt. Joe Flacco gets up off the couch and leads them to the playoffs. Are you buying that Deschaun Watson can get back to the guy he wasn't in Houston because we really haven't seen it in Cleveland? Yeah, four years is a long time. All right, that's a lot of rust to knock off from being a pro bowl caliber player, even though he dominated three of the first four years that he was in Houston. Ken Dorsey, new offense coordinator, maybe new ideas, new concepts, new process, works out better for Deschaun Watson than it did when Kevin Stapanski was in charge. Look, I think a lot of questions on Deschaun Watson got a big contract but he certainly hasn't played up to it. Only he knows if he can kind of do enough solo-searching and deep digging to kind of unlock parts of his game that we haven't seen in the last three or four years. Look, man, I think I can't even say he's on the hot seat because he guarantees in his contract. But I would say that the pressure is certainly heating up around him and his people because there was a lot expected of him and he certainly hasn't delivered. Temp check, what kind of summer are we having this year? A family road trip summer, a beach bump summer, or a wake me when the sun's set summer? With Instacart, choose your own adventure and skip the shopping side quests. Where available, you can get ice cream delivered to your hotel, sunscreened to the pool, or cold brewed to your bed. Well, door, in as fast as 30 minutes, wherever you find yourself this summer, you can get the goods. Download Instacart for free delivery on your first three orders. Offer valid for a limited time, minimum $10 per order, excludes restaurants, additional terms and fees apply. We all belong outside. We're drawn to nature, whether it's the recorded sounds of the ocean we doze off to, or the succulents that adorn our homes. Nature makes all of our lives, well, better. Despite all this, we often go about our busy lives removed from it, but the outdoors is closer than we realize. With all trails, you can discover trails nearby and explore confidently with offline maps and on-trail navigation. Download the free app today and make the most of your summer with all trails. Nothing is more important than getting a good night's sleep, and when you don't get the rest you need, your whole day is thrown off. That's why it's so important to choose the right mattress. Sleeping on a purple mattress is truly a unique experience, because purple mattresses are made with a gel flex grid. The gel flex grid is an innovative material that moves with your body to relieve pressure in areas like knees and hips, and support in others like you're back. It feels soft where you want it and supports where you need it. Purple mattresses instantly adapt when you move, you don't sink in and get stuck like with memory foam, and thanks to over 1,400 air chambers in the gel flex grid, you will sleep cooler on a purple mattress. Purple has a wide variety of mattresses, from the original purple mattress to the restore hybrid collection. It combines gel flex grid with coils, and the rejuvenate lux collection, the height of luxury. With over 112,000 to five star reviews to prove it, visit purple.com to find the perfect purple for you and enter code podcast 10 to get 10% off. We're speaking to Bucky Brooks. It's inside access on the fan Bucky. Elsewhere in the AFC, the Texans were the biggest surprise in the conference last year. Amiko Ryan's rookie head coach, rookie quarterback with CJ Stroud, they brought in step on digs, among other moves. Could that be a team ready to take the next step and compete for this conference? Potentially, right now, everything is on them, right? They're the height bunny. Everybody loves them. They love the CD Stroud. He's been able to do. Rightly so. He was the offensive rookie of the year. He looked like it's in your veteran when he played the position. He may be surprised, people, because the second overall pick isn't supposed to kind of play like that, a quarterback, but he got it and they updated the cast around them, step on digs, comes over as a third receiver to give them another weapon opposite Niko Collins and Tank Dale. Joe Mixon is an underrated addition, bringing them in to be the bail call running back. He essentially did Neil Hunter coming over to give them another pass rush to really compliment what is a solid defense where they're extremely genuine pantry and others. This is a really, really good team. The trick will be, how much do they celebrate the success last year and can they quickly move beyond it to get to the business of playing ball this year? Bucky, last year, the second pick in the draft, CJ Stroud turned out to be better than Bryce Young, the first pick. Can we see that again this year? Are you buying Jaden Daniels? Are you confident that Caleb Williams could be the guy? I'm a big Jaden Daniels fan and if we go back and we look at it like kind of like the predictors of quarterbacks success. One of the things that Bill Porcio used to lean on is for you, graduate guys that were starters for three seasons, you ask him to complete a certain benchmark when it comes to completion percentage. But when I look at Jaden Daniels, 54 starts in college is significant. When you think about what Brock Ferde was able to do with 49 starts in his collegiate career, you begin to understand that there's some maturity, there's some advance knowledge that comes with playing that many snaps in college and, you know, he has the it factor because he's a door threat playmaker who can really explode as a runner as a passer. We've heard people talk about the buzz come out, uh, commander's camp, but I think he's real man. I think ultimately, man, it's going to be interesting to see how he stacks up to Caleb Williams, not this year, but in two, three years when we're looking back at a position. Bucky, a team that we've talked about a lot on this show are at the Chargers. And we know that Jim Harbaugh, he wins everywhere that he goes. But is this a situation where he might take some lumps his first year in L.A. and maybe it's going to be a year or two before he turns it around? Maybe, but I think a lot of it just kind of depends on how healthy is Justin Herbert over the course of the season. And then if he's healthy, then just opens up the past game where they can be balanced and those things. But when you hear about the injury to a script, not his frame, but have some list frame elements. Man, that makes you think he's going to have to struggle with that for a while. But if he goes back in place and he plays that in love with that, he traditionally plays the Chargers are going to be in the mix. It's just a matter of can they close the gap on the defending back to back world champs. That's what everyone is chasing before you've been able to do it. Bucky, before I let you go and finish with this, what's Jerry Jones doing? Like we know the cost of CD lamb because there's comp. So like we know the cost of Dak Prescott because there's there's comps. Why is he dragging this out and potentially alienating two of his best players? I have no idea, man. I kind of feel like all of these things should have been done in pecking order. Like don't let the quarterback get to the last year of the deal. Like find a way to do it. But he's always made deck, negotiate and haggle for his contract. And so that's part of the course. The other guys, I mean, you knew you had to pay top of the market prices for those guys. And so we see the land. This shouldn't be done this deal sooner rather than later. And I know CD probably wanted a way to see what Justin Jefferson was getting to get $1 more. But now that everyone knows what the market is, pay CD lamb, what the market says. If you're leaving top five corporate top five pass gets you, then you got to pay him that. And Michael Parsons is coming down the pipe. You have to pay him. You're talking about the Cowboys potentially looking at the highest pay quarterback wide out and pass Russia in the game. Uh, look, they should be so lucky. We should be so lucky to have that, but they didn't have to pay a pretty coin. That's what happens when you draft well. Bucky Brooks from NFL Network. Also check out the move the sticks podcast with the Andy Jeremiah available wherever you listen to your podcast. Bucky. Always great, man. Thank you so much for your time. Hey, take a look today's episode is sponsored by nerd wallet smart money podcast. Find your head in the financial game with smart investing and budgeting tips straight from the nerds. Nerd wallets experts will set future you up for success with dependable fact based insights, no financial misinformation allowed. Learn how to save on your summer vacation. Find your next credit card or loan for a big purchase and invest in your next index fund. Make smarter decisions in 2024. Follow nerd wallet smart money podcast on your favorite podcast app. Trying to figure out what to eat for dinner yet again with nor sides and bully on as you're not so secret ingredient. 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