Inside Access with Jason LaCanfora and Ken Weinman

How deep is the Ravens secondary?

In the third hour of Inside Access' live show from The Angler Restaurant and Bar with the ultimate football guy Bobby Depaul, the guys discuss how deep the Ravens secondary really is. They also discuss the Ravens being heavy on offense this season.

Duration:: 41m
Broadcast on:: 12 Aug 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

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Purple has a wide variety of mattresses from the original purple mattress to the restore hybrid collection that 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 back at the angler by the sea. We are here until six o'clock. It's a fantastic place. It feels like we're sitting in a yacht right now as we are doing the show. Bobby D is here. Ultimate football guy our first opportunity to do a full show with him and Bobby D. Let's take a look at the defensive side of the book football. They lost clowning up front. They lost Patrick Queen. We've been talking on the show a lot that they we think they feel scheme matters over personnel that display these losses. They'll be fine. They lost coaches. Yeah. Yeah. Do you feel like do you buy what what we think they're selling? Well, I mean, I've said before in the past, the defensive coordinator is really John Harbaugh. Yeah. Okay. And so he's the guy. He's a defensive coach. When I work with him, you know, he was special teams and he wants to become the secondary coach. So it's safeties. And so he's he's a defensive guy. So he's he's got his own little conveyor belt. Yeah. He produces these guys. But there, you know, Zach wore, he's got some big shoes to fill. I mean, you know, you talk about Mike McDonald. I mean, he's a boy wonder. He deserved to be that head coach. I said last year all season, you know, this guy is legit. Okay. There's just his demeanor. There's approach to the game. His play calling, combination, a lot of things. And he trained for it. And Zach's in the same boat. Yep. And one thing about Zach, you know, he coached live baggers. So he's got the run game and he's got the, you know, the coverage. Okay. So he's going to have experience at both of those. Okay. You see, you got a situation where the start off with Patrick Queen, the start off with Patrick Queen. Okay. And, you know, watch Trenton Simpson. I saw him play last year at the end of the season. You know, when they had the, you know, that last game of the year, he went in there and really was impressed with him then. I saw him in college, succeeded my expectations. Okay. From what I saw in college, you know, then I started hearing about his dad was an army ranger. So it's all starting to fall together. Yeah. For him, I think what's going to happen is based off what I saw the other night, I think he's going to be better at Patrick Queen. Wow. Without a question. I mean, he's an upgrade this year. Patrick Queen, this year. Wow. I mean, how many plays did he make the other night? You talk about Nick Wigg is the other guy that showed up was Trent, Trenton Simpson. Okay. So I feel, and he doesn't have Woke on on the field with him still making the play. So it only gets better. Right. We're in the dot himself. Yeah. I just, I just want to point out Patrick Queen was a second team all pro a year. You know, Woke on has an impact on a lot of people. Yeah. Okay. And I like Patrick. I guess, you know, like I said, I had to evaluate him. I had to write him up, put a grade on him. I like him. This first guy gave him big money. He deserved it. But Trenton Simpson has just got out there. He's making more plays that I've seen out of that spot. And he doesn't have Woke on on the field. Woke on was on the field with Patrick Queen. And that's what made the big turn. So I don't feel like I'm going out on a limb. Yeah. Yeah. One thing we've been wondering about is how they would deploy people. They keep loading. Right. They bring in Eddie Jackson recently, like they want to be as deep as they can in the secondary and we'll get specifically to the secondary in the next segment. But last year, those two linebackers were on the field for almost 100% of the snaps. Like they never wanted to take Rokwan or Queen off the field, regardless of situation. You think you think Trenton Simpson starts there? Or do you think because you have three safeties, you trust and you know, you've got corners and you've got other hybrid defenders that maybe he's not on the field and subpackaged enough? Or are you already convinced he's a staple? I think he just, like I said, I think he's an upgrade on Patrick Queen. Right. Okay. That's a, you know, big shoes to fill because of the accolades you got at the end of the year. But based off what his movement skills, the way he plays with his hands, gets off box, makes tackles. We'll see where he is in man coverage. You know, it was the big knock. Well, that's what I'm sorry, I'm losing to. I think there's an upgrade there with coverage. If not, they have enough safeties right now. They got a lot of people in the secondary and, like you said, we'll get to it later that they can play some dime. Okay. And it could potentially be Marlin playing in there. Okay. Down the road with a dime package. Look, somebody that can cover a running back. I don't know if he can, but that would be the guy I'll be looking at because he's so physical and he's big. But, you know, when I, when I look at the linebackers, I don't think they really, you know, it was a big drop off after Trent Simpson. You know, the next guy for me, you know, it's number 51 Ross, Josh Ross. Okay. The kid he's been on a practice quad last two year to get out of Michigan makes a lot of plays. Every year, I think this kid's worked his way onto the lineup and then they caught him or he gets hurt and he goes on a practice squad, but he made a lot of plays. They brought back Chris Ward. So I think now we start talking about special teams play as opposed to what they can do at linebacker. You know, the guy that caught my eye is Joe Evans. It's number 48. They kind of played at Iowa. The guy that's in trouble is Malik Harrison because he does the same things that Malik does because you know they have played outside linebacker to have playing, but as an edge guy, he's a better pass rusher than Malik. So that's that's a battle to keep an eye on for that fourth or fifth linebacker spot. So when you get down to the defensive line, we talked about the edge rushers. Okay, maybe that's the question that you had next. Yeah, probably. Oh, and now he's entering year four. They picked up his fifth year option and we keep waiting to see it. I mean, he's been a very solid player for them. And Eric, the cost of the ratings, they pointed to the analytics about the pass rush win rate and he's getting close, but not getting the sacks at is this the year for you for away to finally take that leap? Yeah, I agree with Eric. Okay, because, you know, I look at the pressure rate. Yeah. Okay, that doesn't equate to hits on the quarterback. It doesn't equate to the sacks. Clowney was had a big pressure rate last year. I remember I did an interview with ESPN before the 49ers game and I brought it up to her and said, Hey, check out this pressure rate. I think he's got it all time high that she called me back since he does. So that pressure rate is something that is unseen. You know what I mean? Only the advanced analytic people see it. You don't see it out there in the public eye, although ESPN did put it on there. But Oway stepped up last year. I'm comfortable with Oway. He made plays last year. I think he's meeting the expectations that they originally had. I it took him a little while for me to come around. It took me a little while for Patrick Queen to come around. But there's a pattern here. You got to be patient. Yeah, you got to let these guys develop. And Oway, you know, once he gets out there, I feel very comfortable with him. You know, you got you re-signed Van Duy. He had, you know, multiple sacks, multiple pressure rates also. So that was big. You're not clowney had one of those years. You know what I mean? They did. He played so well. He played himself out of ball. You know what I mean? That's kind of what happened there. And that was just a special year for him. And you know, he exceeded anything that he ever did anywhere else. Okay. So they had to replace him. The guy to keep an eye on is this, uh, a decent Isaac at a Penn State. I did some college day on him. Hey, he could rush the passer. And he's got the numbers unlike Oway coming out. Right. I'd like to see a little more bulk. I think he was dealing with a hamstring. So he's a guy. Let's put it this way. This is the best the edge rushers have looked at about three or four years as a group at this point in the season. Last year, clowney wasn't signed until I looked it up. He wasn't signed until August 17th. So, and then year before they cut the two edge rushers, they got five guys here. So this is, this is like the community village that's going to do it. And they're a pressure team with the blitzes and stuff. I think they have enough on the edge. Clowney was, uh, you know, played himself out of here. There's nothing you can do about that. I mean, that's a high first round pick that, you know, that they don't have right now. Okay. They're picking low because of who they are. We haven't talked about the elephant in the room. David Ajabo, um, and, and we kind of felt like he, he's a guy who probably needed these games more than most. And then we come to find out he, he's not even cleared to play in these games yet. He had a hell of a time defending the run in the preseason last year. How much of a concern is it that they only play three of these now and he didn't play in one. And I don't know if he's going to play Saturday. Well, you know, he's coming off the knee. Yeah. Okay. Those things take time. They're set back. He's not cleared. I, I think I heard John say that he's not cleared. Yeah. Yeah. So that tells you what you need to know. So he's not in the mix right now. That's where Adisa Isaac's got to come in and, and, and replace him right now. Um, I, I, you know, I'm looking at Van Neuoy. I'm looking, I'm looking at, uh, Adisa. Okay. You got Tavius Robinson, not a lot of people talk about him. Right now he's my third best guy on my board. Okay. This guy played. Okay. He, you want to talk about a guy stepping up and meeting the challenge. Watch number 95 as this preseason unfolds. I think he can move right into the start and line up if Ojabo doesn't come around. Cause you know, Van Neuoy is a guy you want to mix and match. Yeah. You don't want him to be out there all the time. Yeah. He's on a pitch guy. So the, I'm expecting 95 to be that guy. You know, you know, last year they used Malik Harrison, you know, out there at, at times as a supplement. But this guy plays with his hands, gets off blocks. He's got size. Guys, I mean, it just has to, it just have, you have to just watch the tape to see what I'm seeing right now. Bobby, before we step out, there's a couple of people you want to give shout outs too. Okay. Hey, Bob at a Paul chair. This is a proud supporter to walk in with Anthony Foundation, a charity organization on a mission to provide help to kids who struggle from unexpected hardships. Together, this team is committed and giving back while helping deliver financial aid assistance or equipment to those in need. If you'd like to help me help some kids, please go online and walk www.walkiewithanthony.org or make a donation. Or if you want to make a direct donation, you can hit my Venmo charity link. It's Venmo at Bobby DePaul charities. And thanks again for all your support. That's Bobby DePaul. We are live here at the Angler by the Sea here in Ocean City. When we come back, we will continue talking defense and we'll take a look on that back end. It seems really deep does Bobby DePaul like what he sees is going to tell you next year on the fan. 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. This season Instacart has your back to school. As in, they've got your back to school lunch favorites like snack packs and fresh fruit. And they've got your back to school supplies like backpacks, binders and pencils. And they've got your back when your kid casually tells you they have a huge school project due tomorrow. Let's face it, we were all that good. 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Purple has a wide variety of mattresses from the original purple mattress to the restore hybrid collection that 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 percent off. Today's episode is sponsored by NerdWallet Smart Money Podcast. Get your head in the financial game with smart investing and budgeting tips straight from the nerds. NerdWallet's 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 NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast on your favorite podcast app. Hey, Fantasy Football fans. This is Zach from Upper Hand Fantasy. You don't want an embarrassing tattoo just because you lost a bet in your Fantasy Football League, right? If you do, I suggest I'm remade holding a football, but let's avoid that altogether. Bros and I are here to get you ready for your Fantasy Football drafts with insights and advice. From sleepers to busts, we've got you covered to give you the upper hand on your friends. Start your Fantasy Football prep now. Join us and stay ahead of the competition. Follow and listen to Upper Hand Fantasy on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. We are back at the Angler By The Sea. It is happy hour with Bobby DePaul and Bobby Dee. Put your headset back on as he joins us here. You're back to work, brother. It was a short one. He is a football savant, a Hall of Famer, and we want to talk about the Raven secondary. We think it's deep. They drafted a couple TJ Tampa back in practice today. You talked earlier. You were impressed with Nate Wiggins before he got hurt. What do you think of this secondary? Love the secondary, okay? We saw Nate Wiggins just dominate and make more plays Friday night than we saw Marlon Humphrey make all of last year. And that's not the ding Marlon. Marlon just needs to stay healthy and make plays. He makes a lot of money, okay? He's got to deliver for the secondary to be, you know, what they need to be to be successful. Saying that, the one guy that I want to go to is their seventh round draft choice, okay? This snoosey kid, Kane from Purdue. This guy is a find, okay? You're talking about a seventh round player. They lose Geno Stone and, you know, he's starting for Cincinnati right now. And, you know, a lot of people were worried about him, but you were talking about a special team's guy, a guy that can make tackles plus five wingspan differential. You've heard me talking about it all the time. He played just, you know, he in terms of exceeding the expectations. You know, we Wiggins was a low first rounder, played like a top ten corner, okay? This guy played like a third round safety. Fourth round, you know, where do you usually get a safety? Third, fourth round. I heard Rob Woodson, you know, he, with the Purdue, he's like, you know, got the Purdue oil maker flag flying, but this guy, I see him in the mix. And I think he could play nickel, okay? So here's another nickel guy, potential, okay, with your ad steps there. You know, Peppy Williams, here's a guy that's been banged up, right? He played aggressive. And he's got punt return skills. That's going to come into play because they're going to need spots. They got a lot of, the Ravens have a lot of guys in the second there. They're going to need to find places for. So we, you know, we, the Ravens need somebody to be the punt returner that can play another spot, okay? And that's where Peppy, you know, that's why they got him back there. You know, you talk about the Gante Harb, Hardy, the kid they brought in. I mean, he's really one dimensional. He doesn't really help him as a receiver. He takes a spot. You want to replace that guy, and you might be able to get it with Peppy, you know, just looking at him. He looked like Arthur Millett on the sloplets there. Well, I mean, he's a football player. He's aggressive. He's, you know, that's what you look for. That's what they thought he would be. He just needs to stay healthy. He just hasn't done it because he hasn't been on the field. But I look at him. I look at him at nickel, Arthur Millett's injured. This other kid is college free age. Same with the nickel. Bump Cooper. He's a football player. He's a college free age. So he's going to go into practice squad. He's got a lot of promise. You want to talk about Eddie Jackson? This guy in 2019 was in the Pro Bowl. Okay. He, he, another Alabama kid. He's got talent. I think he's like the fourth or fifth safety. So that tells you how deep he is. Wow. They got to find spots. Okay. Worldly right now is the odd man out. He's at number six. Okay. You talk about, let's go try to say we got jail and armored Davis. Number five playing corner. Another guy has been hurt. Good length, made tackles, hit his landmarks. The biggest difference between the Ravens three years ago, opposed to last year and what I'm seeing this year and that's a credit to Zach or because they've changed over a lot of coaches, they're hitting their landmarks. They're breaking on the ball. You know, they didn't give up big plays. Yeah. Right. So that's who they are. A team that doesn't give up big plays. They're opportunistic. They go after the ball. They keep everything in front of them. They don't beat themselves. That was the thing with that we with Wing Martindale. They were always beating themselves. Yeah. The trend is your friend. Okay. As they say on Wall Street, right? These guys are not beating themselves. Is it skiing over the coaching? You know, I think the players have a lot to do it. I'm a person though, guys. So I'm going lean towards that. But we got all these new coaches and they seem to be doing what they were doing before. So that's a big positive. Bobby, I think one of the big X factors for this secondary is the health of Marcus Williams, where his time in New Orleans didn't miss any games back-to-back years, serious injury. If he can stay healthy, I mean, could this secondary be even better than it was last year? Well, they have everybody back and they've added guys, right? They've lost. They lost Darby and they got Wiggins. Wiggins, better than Darby right now, the way I'm looking at it, okay? As long as he stays healthy. But Darby had problems staying healthy too. So, you know, you got to have a little luck on your side. You know, Marcus Williams, you got Eddie Jackson right there, who's just got to play himself in the shape. He's got to earn it. Nobody's going to hand it to him. But this guy was in the Pro Bowl in 2019. That doesn't mean that's who he is. I think he's really brought in as an emergency and wait and see how things. But Kane is a football player. I feel like he could go right in there and play. I mean, that's what I see. I saw it in college when I was watching the college take. I watched it in college and I'm seeing it happen right away in the first pre-season game. That doesn't happen. I mean, we got veterans out there struggling to just do something, right? These guys are stepping in. That's a credit to Eric, to Costa, and the college scouts. They're hitting on a lot of guys and they need them to hit on them because they got the cap situation with Lamar. They did. It's fallen into place for him. And like I said, the edge rushers are better than they've ever been. The defensive tackles. You got Travis Jones developing. You got Trenton Stepson coming in there. I've already said he can upgrade on Patrick Queen. I know it's hard to believe, but it's on tape. You know, Bobby Butler told me when I first got hired a resident, I said, how do you scout? He said, just watch what you see. All I'm doing is telling you what I see on tape. Now, that takes a set of eyes to see it, right? But it's happening and it's going right through to the secondary. And there's a lot they've got 11, 12 guys right now. Real quick free put a bow on this and we'll talk, go through Bobby's impressions of the Ravens draft in the next segment. But Brandon Stevens, how imperative is it to try to get him done or are we looking at a franchise tag next year with the way that the market has exploded for wide receivers and therefore corners. And this guy in his walk here, I don't know that he's inclined to do something now this late in the game. I keep looking at Marlon Humphrey's money. Yeah. You know, and I, you know, that they're just tied into that one because you really want to just switch those guys out. Yes, they can get out of that deal next year, though. That's probably something that will be looked at. I mean, Marlon's got to play. I mean, you know, I have always said expectations where you picked and how much you pay. At some point, you got to deliver the baby. Okay. We, you know, we're all Ravens fans right now. It's my fifth year looking at him. And I'm still waiting for that guy to make that money, you know, to earn that money. And I don't want to beat him up because I think he's a good football player. I just want to see him do it week in and week out and be more consistent. I mean, when you got a rookie coming in who's made more plays in one game than we saw all last year on the guy, you got problems. And now you got Brandon Stevens, who's developed. He's tough. He's durable. He makes plays. He's starting to make plays. That was his big knock, not making them plays on both. He's doing that now. So that's a decision for the future. But that's what you got to look at. Bobby DePaul giving you the knowledge. It's inside access. We're alive at the Angler by the sea here in Ocean City. When we come back, he's touched on some of these guys throughout the show. But it's our first opportunity to get an in-depth look at what Bobby De Paul thought of the Ravens draft class. He'll tell you what he thought next year on the family. This is the moment that a lot of people have been waiting for. Usually we get Bobby De we twist his arm and after the draft, he'll give him a little bit of time and he gives you his thoughts on how the Ravens didn't said draft. Well, this time there was no amount of arm twisting that could get Bobby do you want to talk about the draft. So we waited till today and Bobby DePaul, the Ravens, they had nine draft picks. You've had a lot of time to sort of ruminate over this. How do you think the Ravens did in the draft? I think when you're a pro evaluator, number one thing you want to do is get the expectations right. Once you get those expectations right, then you can see if a kid meets, exceeds that expectations or he doesn't. Because that has a lot of impact on the assistant coaches, which I was once for about eight years. So just in review, we also, the first round pick, Nate Wiggins, Clemson. I mentioned today that what you saw Friday night is exactly what I saw on tape. At Clemson, I mean, if you watch the South Carolina game, he had two submarine tackles and knocked two guys out from South Carolina gamecocks in back-to-back plays. So he may be thin, but he's fearless. If we saw the cover skills, all you got to do is ask Devontes Walker from North Carolina. I watched that game when I was watching Walker. So he took him out and he's a vertical speed receiver, and he had no problem covering him. And he's only 20 years old. Okay, so keep that in mind. The only knock I had on him is that, you know, he doesn't, you know, I've talked about the wingspan differential over the years, and he's got a plus one wingspan differential, and that's his, you know, tackle in the building. We talked about how, you know, that shows up in the NBA, and we got it from them and how it has balance. And so maybe that's the reason why he uses that shoulder tackle, because he struggles to break down and make tackles when he wraps up. So he's susceptible to injuries. There it is right in my report there. I'm looking at it right now. So hopefully, he just stays healthy, and he just has to pick his spots. He's got to start playing smart. It's pre-season. You don't got to kill anybody. It's not the game's not on the line. The Super Bowl's not on the line. So, you know, I'm sure they'll coach him up this week and back him off a little second round pick. We're talking about Roger Rosengarten, Washington. There's a reason why Michael Penix had that pocket to throw for him and play for the National Championship, because they had bookend tackles. Okay, this guy's nasty, tough, great athlete, instincts, football player. He's not great at any one thing in the run or in past, bro, but he's solid at both. It's a combination of the two, and that's kind of what you're looking for. This guy should be playing. He'll probably start over McCarrie, no problem, and you know, probably play for the next eight years. So, that's another big pick, credit to the scouts. Third round pick, edge rusher from Penn State, Adisa Isaac. You know, a lot of people are down on Penn State players. Finally, we get a guy that actually had production. Okay, coming in, and he's got the length. You know, you'd like to have more bulk size. I mean, he's only 250 pounds, but he's got the length made plays. He gets off blocks. I think he's going to be right in the mix. He just got to get out there. He had a hamstring. He was a two-year starter. Does he remind you of anyone? Do you have a comp for him or anybody who Isaac kind of could become if everything comes together? He's a poor man's clowny. Okay, you got length, you got speed, you got hand development, right? That's what clowny had. No, he's not clowny. Sure. Okay, let's play with that strength. You know, clowny had a natural strength, you know what I mean? But you're looking for a past rusher's. Okay, he's an edge guy. Third round pick. He's meeting and exceeding the expectations. You know, I think he's going to exceed these expectations. You got to remember, there was a lot of offensive players picked early in the draft that pushed a lot of defensive players. So we're seeing it right here in the Raven's draft. Nate Wiggins probably should have been higher. Okay, here's another guy, a decent Isaac probably should have gone in the second round. But because the offense had such a run, they pushed everybody down. So the Ravens took capitalize toward it. That's your credit to their scouting department. Okay, the next guys, Devontes Walker, I just mentioned him, you know, watching him against Wiggins. What he is, he's got length, he's got straight line speed. Okay, he's an outside the numbers down the field, deep ball receiver. And then he has a little change up shallow cross. He's not a route runner per se, where he can stick his foot in the ground and make those quick cuts. He's got length. And you know, this is where Lamar's got to get better on the deep ball, because this is what he does. So if you want him to excel, you got to get him the ball so he can catch it. But that's who he is. And you have me look this up, Bobby, before I want to make sure we give it here, last year, Lamar on balls that traveled 25 yards or more in the air was just 16th and passer rating 81.8, a few ticks above Kenny Pickett. So obviously room for improvement. The number one thing Lamar has to improve on from last year this year was a deep ball. I've said all along, put a trash can down at a goal line, 25 yards deep and just start throwing the ball in practice and get that high arc and let it drop. That nose of balls got to come down. It's an NBA three point shot. That's the type of angle that you're looking at. Yeah, Bobby, a lot of it. And Jonah Shaver, buddy who works for the banner, he dissected every single deep ball Lamar to Rashad Bateman. And it was substantially worse than those numbers. I mean, as part of that, just the lack of practice by Bateman not getting on the same page. I mean, what is that disconnect? It's probably a combination of the two. But Lamar's numbers are Lamar's numbers, right? That's what he has to improve on. He's talented athlete. Practice makes perfect. Get out there after practice, before practice, work on that deep ball touch. I've seen guys improve. He'll improve. He just needs to get out there and do it. I'm hoping, you know, that he did it all off season. We're going to find out because the one thing about analytics is you got in it, you got numbers. Bobby, before we step out, I do want to get your thoughts on TJ Tampa who just got back to practice today. He had a hernia surgery. Look, plus six wingspan differential. When I was when I was watching him, he wore jersey number two. I'm thinking Tampa, too. Front zone player. But I saw him cover. He's got talent. He's one of these is another guy. It's going to be in the mix. I said earlier in the show, Raven's got about 12 guys in a second. This is going to be a tough cut for the Ravens. They got five spots to keep all these guys left to make a few trades, Bobby, maybe, maybe, and there are some deficiencies as I'm telling as you've been, there are some deficiencies in areas, Bobby, with his evaluator hat on thinks they can upgrade. We'll do that in five 30. They'll tell you where they need to get better. Maybe they can trade some depth corners for something. Coming up next, though, Bobby D takes a look at the AFC North, a very special edition of Northern Exposure, how he's stacking this division. You'll have to tune in next to find out. So this might end up being two segments because Bobby D has a lot of info on this division. But let's start Bobby D with the Cincinnati Bengals who finished in last place a year ago in large part because Joe Burrow got hurt. What do you think about the Bengals heading into this season? Well, you guys picked them to be done first. So I hate to tell you this. Cincinnati Bengals got a chance. They have, they're so good, in my opinion, coming in on paper. It's all on paper. I actually would recommend somebody taking a shot at these guys winning the Super Bowl this year. Okay, Joe Burrow is back. Yeah, they lost Brian Callahan, their offensive coordinator, but we all know Zack Taylor's are calling the place. Of course, they got a great backup we saw last year. It's a brownie, brownie. Off it's a line. Hey, look, they have Orlando Brown and left tackle. They went and they got men from Georgia in the first round, got rid of Jonah Williams, who I thought was their winning. I mean, you want to talk about, I mean, I'm so, I mean, I coached there for three years. Mike Brown and his staff, and I've said this year after year, these guys know how to evaluate talent and they saw problems. And that's what we're talking about. One of the, you know, they had four starters coming back. They had a hole. They got a first round pick. They slide them in there. They went out and tied it. Last year, I kept saying, you know, they lost Hayden Hurst. They didn't have that vertical thrust. What do they do? They go at Simon Mike Jaleski, another Penn State kid, a vertical threat. No, he was at Miami, and they came up and they resigned Tanner Hutz and the guy that kind of, I talked about him and how he was the guy and they started using me. So, you know, right after I brought him up, all of a sudden, he gets 10 balls in the game. So, they resigned him. So, they got two guys right there, no different than likely in Andrews. Okay. They also drafted a tight end from Iowa, Eric all in the fourth round. So, they've got, they fixed that problem. Running back, they got rid of Joe Mixon, they traded him and they signed Zach Morse, who had a great year last year for Indianapolis, Chase Brown, player. Okay. They had picked him up last year. He played a lot last year. So, solid at running back. And I actually, I work with a running back coach who was there for like 30 year Jim Anderson. Somehow, I feel like he's in the background in Mike Brown's here still, even though he's out of the business. That's how Mike Brown operates. I mean, they've really done a great job. So, you offense the line solid, tight end solid, fixed that vertical threat, gives them another weapon running back. What about defense though, Bobby? But you got T Higgins, Jamar Chase, the top 10 of them in football. Yeah. Scoring points. I just have flashes for a couple of years ago where the Ravens couldn't stop, I remember. Okay. So, they solved all kinds of problems. You want to go to Lou? We love Lou and Arumo, but they didn't have horses last year. Okay. The back end was terrible. Let me tell you something. What do they do? Okay. They lose DJ Reeder. Right in the injury. They let him go to Detroit. They pick up Sheldon Rankins from Houston, three technique. Chris Jenkins, good counsel kid. Okay. From over here from Maryland, played at Michigan. This guy came on at the end. I mean, I, I mean, you, you want to talk about three tackles. I do the defensive tackles. You know, I looked at him coming out of high school. He put on 60 pounds at Michigan. Okay. So, there, there you go. You got Chris Jenkins, Sheldon, Sheldon Rankins. I mean, then that goes with BJ Hill. So, you got three, three techniques. Yeah. Who's got that? Nobody. Right. So, then you talk about Trey Henderson. Now, Sam Hubbard is going to be replaced this year by Miles Murphy. That guy ended up picking up steam last year. I think I talked about him last year. Yes. First, first or high first or second or second round pick player. Okay. So, you got a very formidable front four. They got Logan Wilson, the two linebackers coming back. You go to the secondary, Geno Stone, and they went and re-signed Vaughn Bell. Yeah. So, they, they, they beefed that up with intelligence. So, they went strong right down the middle. Defensive tackles, safety, and they got smart guys. They took Dax Hill, who I really like. That's where he's playing now. Corner. Corner. Okay. So, that just gives you the idea of what they're doing there. So, you got DJ Turner, Cam Taylor Britt, and Dax Hill. I mean, you got a solid secondary. This defense is going to be as strong on paper, as good as I've seen by them. How do you expect Geno Stone to follow up what he did last year? He just needs to play smart and be a ball hook. That's why they signed him. There's no reason why he drops off. He knows the division. He knows the quarterbacks. He should be able to just go right over there. It's like baseball, man. He's a first base. He's going to be a first baseman for, you know, free safety for them. Okay. That's Cincinnati. What do you think of Cleveland? We'll save Pittsburgh for next segment. We'll save the Memphis. Okay. Look, when I look at the Cleveland Browns, I got to start with the shot Watson. Okay. I'm just not a believer in the Sean Watson, right? But, you know, they got a new offensive coordinator. We know Kevin Stafansky's the guy, but they brought in Ken Dorsey. Okay. They lost Bill Callahan, the top offense, a lot of coaching football. You know, so that you don't overcome something like that. But I know that the fans know this. Mike Brable showed up. He's now a consultant. He's working on the offensive solder ball. You know, I think they said he's working with the tight ends or something. So, you know, he's, they call him the human resource. He's got all, all the knowledge of the NFL. And, you know, as Ohio State Buck, I saw it was a really good fifth one. I'm glad to see him get that worked out. Look, if on paper, if the offensive line stays healthy, one of the better offensive lines in the National Football League. Okay. It's just, and then they got the Juan Jones, that huge six foot nine guy now is the backup behind Jack. I think Jack will be the backup and the Juan Jones will be the starter young animal that Bill Callahan produced last year out of nowhere. And then they got in Joko, they got Aikens back. Chub, we don't know. But Jerome Ford filled in nicely last year. So, you know, you still got him. I think they need, they're probably looking for another guy at running back. Amari Cooper, you know, his cell form, Elijah Moore, the slot, Cedric Tillman, big physical guy, but they brought in, they traded for Jerry Judy. So, we'll see if he can, you know, Amari Cooper, Alabama guy. So, you know, maybe that helps him, Cooper helps him because, you know, Cooper was straight. Yeah. Right. So, so, they're going to play off each other. I expect that Jerry Judy to get the best out of him this year, try and play for a contract. You go to the defensive side of the ball, one of the top defenses in football. You know, Mount St. Joe's graduate, Jimmy Swartz, George Taft graduate. Yeah, coach against him when he was a young kid. In college, Miles Garrett said, Darius Smith, pretty good edge washers. Okay. They picked up a three technique, something that they haven't had. Ohio State, Mike Hall, three technique. You know, you, you know, I looked at them like, oh, my gosh, they got exactly what the big upgrade for them. They're going to have something they haven't had. Think about it. This is the Cleveland Browns defense, and now they have something they haven't had. Bobby, what do you make of just the insane home road splits from them last year, where they were one of the best defenses ever at home and a terrible defense away from home? Well, I think quarterback play comes and is involved in that. Are they playing from behind? They're playing, you know, with the league, you know, that plays into defense. Okay. And, you know, I think Jimmy's got to answer that question. You know, I don't really look at numbers per say. I kind of look at the talent level. Sure. That shouldn't happen. But like I said, you know, when you got a quarterback situation where you're playing a different quarterback and they ended up signing Joe Flacko off the street, somehow the defense got better, right? So that kind of helped them. I mean, they got one of the best will linebackers, a Rucio Coramour, best cover guy in football. So you're talking about a front seven, and then you add Mike Hall, secondary wise, they got everybody back. Denzel Ward, Greg Newsom, Martin Emerson, Thornhill, Del Pette, they re-signed them all. It's one of the top secondaries on the national football league. Then they got a new kicker. So finally, so maybe they're planning on making a lot of field goals this year, but they got, they signed up. Despite all that, if the quarterback isn't better than he was last year, is this a playoff team for you? Because Flacko's the one who got into the playoffs, not to Sean Watson. I'm out of believer in the, until he does it. He's look horrible. Yeah. Okay. So, you know, well, this, if he's going to do it, it's going to be, it's, yeah, it'll be this year. And I don't know what they do if he doesn't, because it's all guaranteed. It's insane. It's worse, worse trade in the history of the national football league right now. Coming up next, we have one team left to talk about in that division. The Pittsburgh Steelers, what does Bobby DePaul think of those Steelers? He's going to tell you next here on the fan. Today's episode is sponsored by Nerd Wallet Smart Money Podcast. Ready to expand your financial game? Nerd Wallet can coach you on smart strategies like choosing investments, finding your next credit card, and setting a budget that works for you. Score major points towards your summer vacation by learning expert tips for choosing a high yield savings account, and how to build wealth by investing in index funds. Slide into summer with smarter decisions in 2024. Follow Nerd Wallet Smart Money Podcast on your favorite podcast app. Future you will thank you. Trying to figure out what to eat for dinner yet again? 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