Gregg Rosenthal is joined by Nick Shook to discuss training camp takeaways for all 16 AFC teams. The guys start by going through the teams in the AFC East (1:17) and following that, the teams in the AFC North (12:34). Next, Gregg gives props to the players inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2024 (25:24). For the rest of the show, the duo give their takeaways on the teams in the AFC West (26:50) and AFC South (36:01). Find out the guys’ thoughts on training camp position battles, who’s standing out, news, and overall storylines on this new episode.
Note: time codes approximate.
Welcome to NFL Daily, where we don't need a phono finish to determine our champs. I'm Greg Rosenthal and beyond lucky today to be joined by Nick Shook, who is going to help us crank through an entire conference of camp notes. I love shows like this. Ooh, Shooky. I gotta admit I'm still buzzing from that one hundred meter final. What a sporting event? Ten seconds every four years like that is just pure adrenaline. I think it's awesome.
We pass over twelve hundred days just to wait for those ten seconds, and boy are they thrilling.
It really is. I'm not even kidding just to have that much meaning in that short of time. It just in the way that thing finished, it was electric. But I know a lot of people are watching the Olympics this time of year, and that's where we come in. Shook. I love these shows because it forces me and you two, I know, to kind of go through each team and find what the beat writers there are saying and find out what's happening in practice, because I know if you have normal jobs, you don't have time for this. So we're gonna hit all sixteen teams in the AFC will hit the NFC on our next show with Jordan rod Rieg and yeah, I'm excited. Let's start off with the Bills and the AFC East. I'll lead the way here. A lot going on with the Bills. The thing that probably sticks out to me the most is the receiver group. And I think we're at the point where we can trust Khalil Shakir. He's not a wide receiver one in the traditional sense, but he to me, is going to be the guy who's on the field the most for them. And then a little bit of a surprise, maybe early in camp, is that Marquez Valdez Scantling might be out of their top four receiver rotation. There's an undrafted guy from a year ago, Tyrell Shavers who's maybe ahead of him, and other guys you know, Chase Claypole, kJ Hamler And yeah, you think about this team was going to play two tight ends a lot, and there are four receivers who are going to be Shakir and Coleman and Samuel and Mac Collins your guy. And yeah, it looks like MVS might be the guy on the on the way out.
Yeah, I'm not surprised by this though, I mean, if we saw what his trajectory was like in Kansas City last year, then this is a team here that threw a bunch of spaghetti at the wall and are hoping something sticked in the absence of Stefan Diggs. You know, they drafted Keyon Coleman to kind of hopefully replace him, but not expect as much. They're gonna do a committee type approach at this receiving corps and for MVS to not be in that group, I mean, if we looked at what he did last year and where he was going, not a huge surprise, especially if they like somebody who's cheaper, who's undrafted.
That sort of thing. Right.
A couple position battles I find interesting Jamar Hamlin right now. I mentioned a couple of weeks ago getting starter snaps, and the other two guys he's competing with, Mike Edwards and Cole Bishop, who was the second round safety or rookie, are both hurt and there week to week. So that might have been Bishop's job. But it's interesting Toamar Hamlin, I might actually be an NFL starter this year. And then I've kept an eye on just the return veterans that were hurt last year. It seems like so far, so good for Matt Milano and Von Miller. Of course they're gonna say that at this time of year, but we also heard them saying it wasn't going so well, and so Milano off the acl Miller off just a disastrous season. That's one other thing that stuck out. And then Ray Davis looks like they're backup running back just for the fantasy heads out there making some plays.
Yeah, and that's gonna be interesting too, because I think that's actually a sneaky pick. Not that James Cook isn't gonna be the lead guy, because he is, but mins you with the Bills in previous years was that they didn't run the ball traditionally well. And you know, once we had the changing offensive coordinator last year and Joe Brady took over, it became kind of apparent that they could run the ball that way. And James cook value increased late in the year. So if you have a backup who's going to get a decent amount of carries, then hey, keep an eye on him. I'm not much of a fantasy head myself, at least my friends would tell you that, but they're going to run the ball better in a traditional sense that they did in the past.
Yeah, we're gonna draft do a mock draft on the show later this week with Clay Vaughn and the fantasy guys at the NFL Market scrant and Mike Florio. I'm looking forward to that. All right, Let's let's go to the Patriots. I was about to say, my Patriots, I'm not I'm not there yet. Man. They have a lot of questions. Let's start negative with them. I mean, they're rotating Chuck Sacora for uh, kind of a guy who struggled with the Steelers, Kayden Wallace, and Verderian Lowe as their three tackles, and none of them are playing well, none of them are healthy, and they don't really have any other option. Calvin Anderson's another journeyman who's also hurt there, and I think it's going to make it hard to evaluate this this offense. That position alone makes me like drop the expectation level for this team like a couple wins.
You know, anytime I have to hear Verderian Lowe's name mentioned in a sentence, I get a little nervous. If that's taken as a serious opportunity for him, not because he's not, you know, a decent player, but that was a guy that when I saw him in the combine, I was like, Okay, potential there, and then you know, he flew under the radar and was not notable for a reason. I mean, it's hard to play offensive line at a high level in the NFL, and if you find yourself in a position where you're considering somebody like that, I get nervous. I get nervous because you're supposed to be blocking for a rookie quarterback at least eventually, maybe not right away, but eventually, and if you have any sort of weakness there, that's gonna hurt his development as well. So it just kind of makes me feel a little bit uneasy about the entire offense in the direction that they're going.
Right, it makes me think it's gonna be Jacoby Brissett. Although you know, I'm someone who I track every you know, camp report, and for the most part, it sounds like May started picking it up towards the end of the week, that the offense in general has been picking it up towards the end of the week. So I think it was a rough first week for may not a shocker, but it's gone getting better. The other thing I wanted to hit was the receivers there. I don't think Juju Smith Schuster is making this team. I don't care how much guaranteed money you have. And Javon Baker, who a lot of people loved coming out of the draft like, is living up to that hype making a lot of plays at camp. And it really seems like their top four are gonna be two rookies, Javon Baker and Jalen Poke, and then to Mario Douglas who popped last year. That's his nickname too, and then kJ Osborne has been solid for them. That's probably their top four. And that means Juju gets cut. Weird team.
Weird team, yeah, I mean, but they're in that transition phase right now where we don't know what to expect from with the new head coach, and they've got a young quarterback and they're gonna have a veteran probably start in his place. And you have a bunch of different names of the receiving corps that you look back and think, well, there's no clear number one, but there's some potential there. Jalen Polk is with potential and Jalen Baker like if you saw me, UCF kids just stunned.
I mean people watching camp are like this guy has the most juice, Like, yeah, you don't want to get too carried away, but he has transitioned it into padded practice. He's getting open. He's a part of their first team. So like Juju's not Taekwon Thornton, I don't think will be either, And that's fun. If you're going to be bad, at least be bad with rookies. Let's go to the Jets first team offense struggled quite a bit early in camp. There. Their center has been struggling, like can't snap the ball and Rogers is getting all over them all the time. It sounds like it got a little better the last few days before we're recording this, and the thing that stuck out to me the most is that their offensive line was finally together on the field late in the week. And that's like the first time that Jets have had an offensive line that's been healthy in I don't know the Robert sala Era, so cross your fingers, but on paper, it's a good offensive line. They could be six deep. They could you know, they have a good swing tackle and for now a bunch of guys coming off big injuries like Verah Tucker, it's like, okay, Tyrone Smith, they're getting back on the field and for now they're healthy. So that that to me is everything.
Well, I mean, Abt when he's healthy is a very solid guard, and that's when he went down last year. It was one of the big losses that you looked at and you, oh, no, they're not going to recover from that. The Tyron Smith acquisition on paper makes a ton of sense because you're thinking that's good value for a veteran. He's a stud, but he doesn't stay healthy. So to back him up with Olufashanu from Penn State is a big move in my opinion, because you have to pretty much prepare to lose Tyron Smith at some point. And that's the beauty of what they did in the off season. They knew, like a lot of teams do this in the off season. They look at it go that we're fine. Starting five is fine, you know, in case of emergency, will figure it out. The Jets have been burned enough that they now understand that they have to prepare for that emergency, not saying that that's like that across the board. But they're still in a better spot than they were last year, so you do have to feel encouraged about that.
You just hope that Aaron Rodgers stays healthy.
Yeah, I and you know Mike Williams has in practice and that's not like a shock. He's coming off at tourney cl but you know we're getting closer to the season. Malachi Corley is a bit of a mystery box, you know. I think some days they think he looks pretty good. He's a rookie who's maybe pretty unrefined, and then you have Alan Lazard is maybe in a big role if those guys aren't there. So I think the offense has been a little up and down. They lost one of their starting corners, Michael Carter for a couple of weeks, but sounds like he'll be ready for the season. Tarik Cohen retired, so sad to see he was back and retired. This has happened a lot, so that was sad. And then you know, one thing I noted was Will McDonald was their first round pick a year ago and he went into the offseason wanting to add weight and he couldn't get on the field last year, he's still a backup. Even though they got rid of Bryce Off and even though Hassan Reddick is holding out, he's still behind Chris Clemons. And he didn't add any weight. He's two hundred and thirty five pounds, So that might be a first round pick that is take it a little while to get going.
Yeah, he's not a Vernon Golston necessarily, But when you spend a first round pick on a guy like that, and it makes you think, like, did you add to an area that you didn't need to add? Was it the best player available situation? You hope that he puts it together, but would be a bummer if they don't end up getting any sort of production that they would expect from a first round pick.
Yeah, right now, not getting a lot of time. All right, let's tuck. Dolphins. Tyreek Hill got paid since we last talked. That was something I thought could be simmering, and it wasn't at all. I give credit to the Dolphins who are paying their top guys a lot of money. I think they now lead the NFL in terms of the amount of money they pay their five highest paid players. So they're a very like top heavy team and that includes some defensive players like Bradley Chubb at least is in there. But he got paid. They just pushed a lot of guaranteed money from the back end of his contract into the next two years. So that's the perfect way. They're not paying him huge guaranteed money until he's thirty four. But he's the He is the number one player in the NFL according to the the tires out there. How about it. I don't know if you watched that video, but that meant a lot to him, and I get it like he was into it. He was into it.
Yeah, I mean, I can't argue with them. The player voted thing tends to have some pretty big discrepancies from year to year. Guys who get hurt fall out of consciousness. Among players you saw, you know, Joe Burrow fall into like the thirties. But Tyreek, I mean, it's hard to argue with him. Guys had over seventeen hundred receiving yards in each the last two seasons. It's a guy you pay. And good on the Dolphins for not tacking on more years and instead finding a way to make him happy while staying within the realm of possibility.
Yeah, I thought this to a Tyreek thing had a chance to be a distraction and a problem, and I was wrong going into camp. I should I should always remember contracts, for the most part, are overrated to talk about.
And the and the salary cap is a myth. Let's not forget the salary.
Totally a man, but you if you want to keep them, you can't. A couple other things from from camp, Chop Robinson reportedly in the one on ones just unblockable, like who knows if he'll be good on running downs, but unlike Will McDonald for instance, I think Chop Robinson is going to have a role right off the bat. And uh notice you know Obj is still not practicing. That's kind of like a thing that we've gotten used to. So everyone's pencil him into the third receiver role and he should be that. And Braxton Barrius, you know, might not even be a lot to make this team, but man, is he ever going to be healthy? And then I noticed Mike McDaniel talked about, you know, with Johnny Smith there and a couple of their additions and a rookie like I think they want to feature the tight end a little more too, Uh, so that could be something just to keep keep an eye on.
At golf with the interesting personnel wise though, because like they they did make some changes of the position last year and you move on from you know, a handful of different tight ends and kind of just cycle through and you rely so much on the receivers that if you could actually have that element, that would make that offense that much more dangerous. And now that Tua got paid, we don't talk about that anymore, but we still have to evaluate who he is because he didn't get paid quite as much as some of the other quarterbacks, and that's kind of a sign that, you know, we'll see where he is, he said.
You know, McDaniel said, it was all about what you emphasize, and they're emphasizing in practice, according to the practice reports, throwing to tight ends more and their deep as hell is running at running back like Jalen Wright is popping off long runs and he might be like their third or fourth running back that they're They're a fascinating team. I feel like they have one of the highest ceilings but also a shaky floor if things go wrong. All right, AFC North, why don't you kick us off now? Right?
Let's start with the Cincinnati Bengals. Joe Burrow is back in camp and he's looking good. The offense is looking good, and he's hooking up with guys not named t Higgins or Jamar Chase. He found Trent Nordwin for a touchdown at the end of a long eleven on eleven period in practice this weekend. Overall, you know, this team, if you look at the offensive line, that's what's gonna matter most because you got to keep Burrow healthy. And on that offensive line is a guy who's very familiar to you coming from New England and been in some other stops, Trent Brown, and he just was recently cleared to practice. He has not fully participated with them yet, but that's going to be a key part of this offense because you know, you have Orlando Brown the opposite side. To get both Browns at both tackles, if they're healthy, that's going to do a huge job to help Burrow, who's not going to be the same immobile quarterback that he was at this time last year. But again, this offense starts and finishes with the Bengals, and and frankly, you know you look at their numbers last year, they were pretty solid without him. They went four and three without him and five and five with him as a starter, but they'd lacked the juice down the stretch to get over the hump. Jake Brown did a bang up job, much better than anybody anticipated, including myself. But again it's this starts and finishes with Burrow, so being able to protect him is huge. Another defensive side of the ball, you know, you're you're relying potentially on some young corners because they spent you know, they invested in DJ Turner a couple of years ago and now he's going to slide into a prominent role. But she also got guys like Diy John Anthony, you know, he's a youngster, could end up playing the nickel. He's been seeing an amount of snaps in camp so far. You know, some of the people there have said he's looked pretty good, especially in sub packages, dying packages where you have more defensive backs on the field. If you can find strength in the secondary, that's going to go a long way toward making this team a legitimate contender, because we know what you have in Burrow, but at the defense can actually make some plays and create some turnovers, then suddenly we're looking at his real beast in the AFC North.
Yeah, quietly, Sam Hubbard and Trey Hendrickson. They're their two best defensive linemen and two of their best defensive players have are out and it's like a week to week injuries where they don't think, you know, there's no risk that they're going to miss the season, I mean, miss anything into the regular season, but they're out right now. In Trent Brown, that always worries me. This is a guy and who knows. Maybe he's a veteran who is ramping up slowly to the season, but you just never know if he's going to be on the field or not. But the positive there is, you know, I've read a lot and heard a lot that Marius Mims so far doesn't seem like he's having that long adjustment to the pros that he is blocking out the and he's blocking out now at their backup pass rushers because the starters aren't in there. But supposedly he's looked really good, and my guess is he's just gonna start Week one over Trent Brown potentially, unless they're they're worried about Trent Brown being upset with Trent Brown tends to do. I do want to say before we move on from the Bengals, though, Andre Yoshavas this is a camp story. I'm buying. I think he's their wide receiver. Three. Paul daaner of the Athletics, said he's been the best receiver in camp, like including t Higgins. That and Joe Burrow even said it, Andre is gonna have a big year. So this is what camp is all about to me, is he thought, Okay, that's Jermaine Burton, who's a rookie, that's gonna be his role. But this is a physically talented guy who's in his second year, and it seems now like it'd be a shock if he is not the third receiver in a real part of the offense.
This was a guy that I loved in Indianapolis before the draft a couple of years ago. When they snagged him, I thought, oh, that's a good long term play because he's got the physical tools and he's obviously got the brain. He's an ivy leaguer. You just need some time to get your feet underneath him. So why does he get ahead of Jermaine Burton going to this camp? Because he has that first year under his belt. Granted he didn't play a ton of snaps, but he did get some live bullets and has some experience. And then you get into year two, when you start to settle in, you get comfortable. The rookie wall is no longer an issue. I would love to see him because he didn't make contributor for them.
Yeah, I think he's gonna all right, let's hear your next team.
All right, we're gonna go over the Browns, and I'm gonna express some concern about this team. And the reason is, Look, I know it's early in camp, but anytime you get a number of guys to start on PUP, I get nervous.
I get real nervous.
And right now the Browns both are starting tackles are on pup, Jed Wills and Jack Conklin. We obviously know what Jack Conklin went through in a season ending injury last year. You got Dwan Jones there, so he shouldn't be that nervous. But I also think about the long term plan. Does Jed will stick around after this year? They just resigned Conkland to an extension, so you think maybe Dewand ends up taking the left side. But that's not where he's experienced. But if we're thinking this season, all right, well, both guys are on pup right now, let's hope that they get off of that before long. You have to start Week one with hackem I dentity at left tackle, because we know how that went for the Bengals right tackle in the past. It's not pretty. And then you go down the list Nick Chubb, who's getting closer, but he's still on pup as well.
I worried about that.
And then Dalvin Tomlinson, another guy on the backside, you know, on the defensive side of the ball, in the interior, guy who really played well for them last year. And they do have some depth there. They added Quentin Jefferson, they have Mohurst, they drafted.
My call.
But anytime I see a number of guys with with that PUP next to their name at this point in the season.
I get a little worried.
And it's not even anything to do with the Shawn Watson, who apparently has been showing off the arm strength. But we already know that this is a big year for him and that we can't necessarily be confident in where he is healthwise until he proves it, so big question marks on the health side early in camp for the Browns as they return from their stay at the Greenbrier.
Right they're they're back in Cleveland. As of Sunday, they're starting corner. Greg Newsom is also out for a number of weeks. There was some news on the Chubb front that Mary Kay Cabot of the Akronbeacon Journal, now, I think a Cleveland it's hard to keep dot com yep, that he could be activated during camp, which is interesting because I kind of thought he'd be a pup guy into the season, so that that'd be good to have him.
I mean, the question Star is this is like, if you activate him in camp, does that mean that he's actually ready or is that just like the next step in the acclamation, Like, I fully don't expect him to be good for the first few weeks.
Well, you can't put him in the injury yet. Now, I guess you could move him to IR, So it's not that huge of a deal. You lose you lose the pup status that you can have for the season. There's a certain amount of IR spots, so I would say this, they would only activate him if they thought he has a chance to help them in the first three weeks of the season or so, so that that's a positive sign if it happened. And they did get Jerry Judy back at team drill Sunday, They did get Miles Garrett back at team drills for the both of them for the first time all camp. So yeah, they they've had a lot of injuries. I have a hard time Browns fans think I hate this team because I hated the Deshaun Watson acquisition, and yeah, like that's a problem. I do think if you're a Browns fan, there's a lot like this is a really good roster. And on the Watson front, I think this offseason's gone as planned. He had a scheduled day off, but he's basically doing almost everything at camp and it's just the injuries. Other than that, Like, all they need is average quarterback play. We saw it last year, Like that's all they need. And I think so far, so good for everything. It's just they got to get everyone around him healthy. Let's hear about the Steelers, all right.
The Steelers.
The big headline is one that's been dominating the beat writers' focus for most of the last week, which is that Russell Wilson a little bit of a lower body issue, you know, listed his calf kind of limited him a little bit in practice going into this week, and of course turned all the attention to how many snaps does Justin Fields get versus Russell Wilson. Mike Tomlin was pretty adamant that no matter how hard Wilson wants to be or how bad he wants to be out there, that he he's not gonna, you know, just let him force his way out there.
Which is great.
That's the structure that somebody like Russell Wilson probably needs at this point in his career to really.
Be you know, his own safeguard.
But I do sit back and think a guy that's been mobile for a lot of his career was good and extending plays any sort of lower body issue, I get a little concerned, And it just makes me wonder, how do we see Justin Fields get worked in this offense? Because at some point it's going to happen. And if this is the way, it's unfortunate, but it does open the door.
Yeah, So Wilson hasn't been taking first team reps, but he has taken seven on sevens and he was ramping up his individuals, and when they asked Tomlin about it's Sunday, it did sound like, I think, I think the team drills are coming maybe after the break. I think they have Monday off, and then maybe he's coming on Tuesday. But they got they got a proof of concept, and supposedly as the week and a half went on, Fields was more and more comfortable and had some really big days where the offense dominated. There was one red zone session where they said he did he had six straight touchdown and then Russell Wilson steps in for one snap where he hands it off and you know that's killing Russ when they're scoring six touchdowns without him. And then it really struck me. Tomlin talked about the running back just how impressed he is right now that Jalen Warren and Najee Harris are kind of the leaders, the tough guys of this team, and they're playing a lot of two three tight ends and they want to run the ball and it's Arthur Freakin Smith and they're saying Reid option, they're saying pistol and which quarterback would you rather have run that offense? It's just in It's just in Fields, so I think this is a story. This is something. All right, let's wrap up the AFC with the Ravens.
Looks like the defense is balling in Baltimore so far with the Ravens. A number of defenders are really standing out. Odafe Oway, a guy who had a really good year a couple of years ago, has been pretty disruptive in camp. I'm really excited to see if they can actually get that turned up because, look, they lost Mike McDonald, the defensive coordinator, They lost a lot of defensive coaches this offseason. It was a bit of an exodus, not because the Ravens were bad, but because they were so good other teams wanted them. So how can they kind of sustain that momentum going into this season. That's gonna be key, And especially on the back end. You got veterans back there in that secondary. Now you got Marcus Williams. You know, you got Eddie Jackson back there as well. Those are guys who have a lot of experience making plays in the back end. If the front four and the back end can work together, then we're not even going to be thinking about Rokwan Smith or the loss of Patrick Queen.
Who cares if that both sides are doing that well.
So a lot of good signs from the Ravens defensively in practice so far. Trenton Simpson, that's another guy who's gonna get a bigger role this season. Curious to see how he takes advantage of this camp. So far, so good on their end, and that's going to be the key, because you know your offense can put up points like we could sit here and talk about year two with Todd Munkin all day, but and you know you have Lamar at quarterback and he's gonna be electric. But it's all about complimentary football. And if that defense could be nearly as good as the offense, then they're gonna be just as good, if not better than they were last year. And they're gonna be a tough out.
Yeah. I look at them, and they've got three offensive line positions up for grabs, which is a little crazy, Like it's Andrew Wore's at left guard so far, this mountain of a man, Daniel Filele is at right guard, but that's open. It's gonna be my brother, Roger rosen Garden or McCarry at right tackle. But I'm not worried. They always figure that stuff out. You're right, I actually think I think it's fair to expect the offense to take a little step back because they were just so good last year. But I do think the defense can make up for it even without Mike McDonald. Their cornerback, Nate Wiggins, their first round pick, is to me one of the key guys in the division. There was a stat that they tracked him as the fastest player they've ever tracked during practice earlier this week, and so he's just like pure speed. Can he hit like we'll see they usually coach that up a lot. But I'm into the Rashad Bateman summer, like Rashad Bateman January March OTAs everything it keeps happening. He's supposedly having a good camp and he's healthy, so it's all happening. And then one last note on the Ravens and we'll take a break after this is John Harbaugh said Justice. So I see him as a starter. I think he's going to play a lot, and uh, obviously he's not going to play as much as Derrick Henry, but just just something to put in your pocket there that they think that highly and Derek Henry not always the best on passing down. So Justice Hill might be in the mix quite a bit. We're going to stay in the mix. We're going to go through the entire AFC South and the AFC West after the break back on NFL Daily. We're cranking, We're speeding through. Did you do track? You look like a guy that would have done the hammer throw or something like that.
No, I was never fast enough.
And what springs sport? What was your spring sport?
Did you have a spring I was a basebook.
It was a pitcher and a corner infielder until I tore my shoulder playing football and it was all over.
It's gonna say that surprises me as someone who was, you know, on your softball team. No, I'm just kidding.
You hit it a long way now.
Shook and I actually played similar roles. I think on the team. We were very solid role players. We weren't the best players on the team, but we were rock solid starters that you could depend on to get on base, to make smart plays in the field. And that's what that's what being a team's all about. Nick.
Yeah, you know, we stepped up. We did our job. We sprayed the ball around the field.
I'm messing with you. I did want to hit before we hit the division just very quickly. They had the Hall of Fame ceremony on Saturday. Our good friend Colleen Wolf was there, of course, and that's why if you're missing Colleen on the show. She is going to be a big part of the show every week. But like a lot of the reporters, like Steve Weish, they're traveling all over the country right now, so looking forward to when they all get back. But after a rain delay they had the ceremony. Julius Pepper's in very satisfying to me to see how his career arc worked as someone who was there at the beginning of his career already covering football people. I remember you chumps who were saying, Oh, this guy's overrated, or he doesn't try hard enough, and it's just a reminder of how toxic the media can be, because that dude busted his ass and had an incredible career. It's so many offensive linemen say he was the toughest person they've ever had to block, and so it was very cool seeing him in the Hall of Fame. Dwight Freeney, Andre Johnson, who is just all class and a total awesome. First Houston Texan to make the Hall of Fame. He'll always really have a special place in those fans' hearts being the first. Patrick Willis who I'm glad got in because I'd rather have a really high peak rather than the compilers, and he had such a high peak before injuries took him out. And then Devin Hester, Randy Gratischer, and Steve McMichael getting in from the Veterans Committee. So congratulations to all them and their families. I love that Canton weekend. Let's move on to the AFC West. I'm gonna lead off. Let's talk chiefs. Okay to me, there's some like similar stories here that I remember from last camp. Dean Eric Prince. He was kind of a buzzy guy last camp and then he didn't do anything in the season. It's like, oh, is this guy the RB two? Like who is this random dude? He is explaining exclusively with the first team him and he's you know at him and Pacheco, But it's a clear drop off to whoever's behind him, like like Clyde Edwards Hilaire. So this guy's gonna make the team. He's probably gonna be the backup and then Justin Ross. Every year we get to this point in the season and Chiefs fans love Justin Ross. You don't need Justin Ross anymore because you got big time plays going down the field. But it's almost like this team is two set up. You're you're just looking at the margins for new stuff.
Yeah, because they're so good.
But the thing about Justin Ross is he ends up not being the most important justin to this receiving court by the time the season actually arrives.
That ends up being Justin Watson, not Justin Ross.
I would love it if he was, but he just hasn't gotten the volume of targets that he would need. But it is interesting when you talk about the running backs, because this is a team that has thrived on being able to rotate guys in and out and find roles for them, going back to twenty nineteen when they came back to beat the forty nine ers in the Super Bowl. So to see a new name included in there, and it's not just Isaiah Pacheco's show, that's good. It does disappoint me though, that Clyde Edwards Hilaire has faded into the background because of where he was drafted and how much people liked him when he first came.
Out, Well, they resigned him. He'll probably make the team as like their third back. He had some moments in the Super Bowl. It's just yeah, they're gonna go younger and really look like Prince. So that's a guy that's now gonna get drafted in fantasy leagues. The other deep ball narrative that's been there, I mean it's day after day after day. I read these great reports from Pete Sweeney of Arrowhead Prides. Every single day Mahomes is bombing to Mark Ease Brown and zaber Worthy and some days they hit three or four, two or three, and some days it does they don't hit as many. But the fact that it's what you emphasize that is coming with the regular season. And John Gruden in Chiefs gear at practice yesterday or Sunday rather. I don't know if he's part of the team, if he's an officially part of the team, but he's wearing Chiefs gear and he was there, so that's just something to watch. They obviously used to coach together Andy Reid and John Gruden. He might be back in the league. All right, let's go to the Raiders, Pierce Antonio Pierce has been saying that the running back position is wide open, which is surprising to me. I thought it was Amir White. They have an undrafted free agent Dylan lub someone to watch a little bit in the preseason, and then the quarterback battle supposedly it's just been mostly bad from Minshew and Aidan O'Connell. I'm pulling for O'Connell. The reports were Saturday, which you know, was one of those practices with fans and the owners that you know, Mark Davis is there, that Minshew had a much better day and maybe he edged ahead for the first time, but we still got a little ways to go there.
It's weird because if you looked at it on paper going to the season, most people probably thought, yeah, this is Minshew's job to lose, even if it's still Gardner Minshew, and yet we're not seeing much of separation so far, which I'm not surprised about because Minshew to me, is a plus back who's going to do everything he can to avoid ruining games for you, but he's not going to go out there and win games for you.
I know Connell has probably more of a higher.
Yet unknown ceiling and has the experience of playing with them in the backside of last year. So it's kind of an intriguing battle. It's not an exciting battle because the outcome. There's no high peak there. There's nobody you're pulling for here. You're like, yeah, he's gonna win us a super Bowl. So I'm concerned, but I wouldn't be surprised if we see a little bit of back.
And forth of that position this year.
Yeah. Jacoreyan Bennett, second year player, looks like he's emerged as the starter opposite Jack Jones. I think the tight ends have been as advertised and they're going to play a lot. Supposedly. The third receiver who I liked last year, Trey Tucker, has been pretty rough and Tyree Wilson, a top ten pick who did nothing as a rookie, very quiet camp. Again, this is according to Victa For and to Shun Reed of the Athletic that I just don't know if it's happening for Tyree Wilson and Raiders fan. I'll tell you what I see. I'm going down there on Tuesday. We're not doing a ton of content, but I will have at least like one interview and talk about what I saw practice. So I'm looking forward to that. And yeah, I'm actually kind of high on this roster. Check out Mina Kimes's AFC West preview. I did it with her and we did fifteen minutes. This roster is pretty good except for the quarterbacks. Go ahead.
Sorry, that's just the disappointing part about it is if you look around, you're like, this could be a team that could contend for the division, like.
The defensive side of the ball.
I mean, well, I mean because the Chiefs exist in the division, but you know what I'm saying, they could make it at least interesting. And then you come back to quarterback and you just think this is going to be the thing that holds them.
Back, right the Chargers sort of the opposite. The quarterback is going to be lifting everyone up at least when Justin Herbert gets back. You know, I hit that injury that Herbert had at the beginning of our last show, and no, nothing new on that front. East and Stick, No Surprise, has reportedly struggled against the starting defense a couple of days, although maybe it's more about the defense because the Rams had a joint practice with the Chargers on Sunday and supposedly couldn't get anything done, like turn the ball over every other snap and couldn't block anyone. Now they have a lot of injuries up front, but the pass rush for the Chargers playing well, you know, they go pretty deep in terms of their pass rush. But I think offensively it's going to be tough getting anything productive done with East and Stick as your quarterback, and Quintin Johnston is hurt again, might be minor. Lad McConkie's been in and out of the practice because of injuries the last few days. So this is a team I think that's happy. We're still what is it five, We're five Sundays away, you know from starting the season. They need that time.
Yeah, And you know, I would be too concerned to necessarily receiver when it comes to lad mconaky because I think you just need to get him healthy and if he's healthy, is out there, he's gonna find a way.
It's nothing major. He's been in and out like but he then he came and played one snap and then he was out again the so.
So get him healthy. You have time to get him acclimated and get him healthy. Quentin Johnson on the other hand, the pressure has to already be on because he did not have a notable rookie season at all, and he was known more for failing to come through in the clutch than actually producing. So to know that he's hit another bump in the road is not exciting for them. But defensively, man you talked about you know that the Rams gonna do muchgainst him, Well, look at the defensive coordinator. I mean that's the guy who was the mastermind behind Michigan's defense will win the College Football Payoff national title and Jesse Minter. So if that could be the strength of the team this year, I'm cool with that. And then you let Justin Herbert make the plays that he makes and hopes that the receivers on the other end of the pass is you know, catch the ball. But if the defense is the strength, that's actually really exciting because that's not something that we're necessarily used to with the turn.
No, they need it, I mean they need to just get closer to average. I think they're getting a really good camp out of Christian Fulton, who starting and bothly had a good day. Our Rams correspondent Jordan Rodrieg said he kind of shut down Cooper Cup throughout the day. On Sunday, let let's go to the Broncos. Bo Nix has taken first team reps and four out of the last five practices. Sean Payton compared his ability to avoid sacks to Drew Brees on Sunday.
There is you know it was coming.
I think it's I think we know which way that that's going here. I thoughts, did him aunt a chance? Maybe he still has a little bit of a chance, but I don't think he has much of a chance.
The Knicks aissance is here. This this is gonna be the way it was gonna go the whole time. The first sign was Zach Wilson fall out of the rotation. Now you're hearing it, you know, Sean.
Okay, here's the thing, though he could he could have just stunk. There is a world where like everyone watching practice is like, man, Nicks is not ready, and that doesn't seem to be the case, you know, So that credit to him for doing that, you know what I mean. Like Zach Wilson's first camp, no one would have said like, oh, this is going the way we thought it was gonna go, you know what I mean?
Yeah, yeah, but I think a lot of that has to do with what bo Nix has between the ears.
He's got a ton of college experience. Basically.
That was the big question, is like could he get the job done. I think he fits into what Sean Payton does, So I'm not at all surprised to hear him start making Breeze comparisons, because you know that's gonna be his guy.
Yeah. A couple other just little notes there Orodric estimate is it estimate? Or Yeah, a lot of love and Javonte Williams, Peyton says is a totally different player. So he's either gassing up Williams to try to trade him, or maybe that's your one two punch. I think Esma is gonna do something this year.
That's your thunder and lightning and Estimate is the thunder. That's a big back and he runs hard. It's not the fastest, he's not the most explosive, but he'll run guys over. It's the perfect compliment to Javonte Williams. Can make a nice little backfield there.
Okay, Yeah, listening to Peyton's press conferences, I don't think he's a Greg Dulcach guy. Not his guy who they always want the guys they brought in, makes sense that that's why they brought him in for a reason. And then Levi Wallace, who's competing was probably the favorite to start at cornerback, is going to miss a couple of weeks and that's a thin position for them. We'll wrap up the AFC West we already did. I didn't even notice. Let's go to the AFC South, all right.
We're gonna start with the Jacksonville Jaguars, where cornerback Christian Braswell is having a good camp. He's standing out, but he also had a rough time against Christian Kirk, which points to what I really want to talk about, which is this revamp receiving corps with the Jaguars. They added a ton of talent in the offseason. They let some talent go as well, but Brian Thomas has been turning heads and they're going to depend on him a lot. I think this season you get a top three of Kirk, Thomas, and Gabe Davis, and suddenly Trevor Lawrence has multiple options to go to. You add in Devin Duvernet, who's got experience from Baltimore. It can be a bit of a field stretcher at times. I love this group. Now beyond those first four, you get a little concerned. You don't want to be relying on Parker Washington that much, even when he did step up occasionally last season. But I like this top four. It's a big year. Trevor Lawrence just got paid, but it's still a big year. Because of the way they finished last year, they cannot afford to struggle out of the gate again. So getting these new additions in there and acclimated is going to serve them really well. And then you know, of course, like I said, on the defensive side of the field, you know braswell, a twenty three sixth round pick, if he's standing out in camp, that's going to go along the way toward helping their depth. And you already know what you have in mister Joshua hinz Aellen, a guy who we've already highlighted because.
Of his name change. And so I'm feeling excited about this group.
I think that there are some question marks, there's there's some holes that they've passed with veterans. You know, you got Ronald Darby back there as well, And I don't feel necessarily great about that, but Tyson Campbell got paid recently, you got Andre Cisco back there. That's still a group that I kind of like. And if you get some depth contributions from guys that you didn't expect, then you're looking better going into a pivotal season for Doug Peterson.
I hate that I'm saying this about the AFC South, but there's just a couple of teams here. I don't know what to say at Yes camp because I went through the camp notes and it happens they haven't had devastating injuries, although their offensive line right now is banged up, but it doesn't seem like they're long term injuries. Tank Bigsby better, according to SI's John Shipley, having a good camp. That's good to note. Their rookie kicker is killing it, Cam little well, and otherwise I see like Gabe Davis has a couple good days, Brian Thomas has a couple good days within a couple of quiet days. The offense definitely got better after I talked about how they were really struggling early in camp, and that's fine. It's push and pull. They don't have a lot of huge headlines, they don't have a lot of big position battles, they're like looking for a third edge rusher. But quiet is sometimes okay in camp, so I'm not like looking any differently that it's been a quiet camp and definitely arrow up. It sounds like for the offense over the last week.
Yeah, they need it.
You're right though, That's very true about a lot of this division, which is why I'm going to go to a notable news item coming from Tennessee where the Titans lost DeAndre Hopkins to any issue, he's going to miss multiple weeks.
That would be.
Concerning on the surface, but those who know the Titans fairly well understand that Treylon Burk's has not produced at the level that they expected and this could open the door for him to either prove it or lose it, because look, if DeAndre Hopkins isn't out there, you were drafted to replace AJ Brown and you were so unproductive.
They went and got DeAndre Hopkins last year.
So now they've spent some money elsewhere, they've added other talent in the offseason, so now we need you, Trailon Burks to step up. And so far we don't really have conclusive results, but we did hear them talk a lot about it yesterday about how the fact that it's going to give him a chance to prove himself. It's just, look, we've got five Sundays till the first you know, till the regular season. They didn't pick up his fifth year option already. They know he's got to prove it right now. So this is going to be an important month for him and whether he can actually carve out a role with his team or not.
Never was a big Burkes guy coming out of college. Now I did think as a rookie, though he did more than I expected. Very disappointing second year. I think if you could carve out the right role for him, he can be valuable. Calvin Ridley has reportedly looked really good. I think they're going to use a lot of two tight end sets. Again, I can say that about a lot of teams. Josh Wiley, I believe it is making some noise him in Chickakonquo. That's a bit of a battle. So you don't need you know, you don't need trailing Burks to be some of you just need him to be a contributor. But he was wide receiver four before this injury, which which says a lot to me. One last thing I'll say in Tennessee is Devandre Devandre Sweat, who was a very polarizing draft pick and immediately with the starters and by all accounts, immediately making a lot of noise at camp. And so that was a guy that felt like as boom or bust as anyone in this draft. And so far, I think they're really happy with what they see, and I think he's going to start day one.
I think we've kind of fallen out of the era of the classic gap plugging nose tackle. They still kind of exist, but not in the same way that they used to. This guy fits that mold. I was just blown away by the picture that was posted of him next to Jeffrey Simmons, making Jeffrey Simmons look small on Jeffer Simmons.
Oh, I already see that. That is WI.
Yeah, this dude is a unit.
So if they can actually plug gaps consistently with him, and if he's actually living up to you know, the notes so far that he's with the starters and he's making plays, it's going to be a huge boon for them on that defensive side.
Yeah, And I think with Levis, it seems like more good than bad. There hasn't been a lot of hot takes from people. There just kind of as expected, making some plays, making some boneheaded plays. That's will love us. All right, Let's go Texans.
Actually, let's all right, We'll go Texans. I was gonna go Colts, but we'll go Texans next. Look, we know the story of this team right now, right it's c J. Stroud in this entire offense. But what I'm thinking about is what they did on the defensive side of the ball. Because we can spend all day talking about, oh, they got Stefan Diggs in the off season. They look great offensively. You know, they gave Nico Collins money. Tank Dell's coming back from injury. That's all cool, But I need to know how your defense is gonna play in key situations, and as he is. Al Shire is a guy that I thought was a super sneaky addition in the offseason, and so far he's proven his worth in campus. I mean, he's been very solid, especially in the red zone. He's stuffed the run, He's done pretty much everything you would ask him to. He's a guy that came from San Francisco, spent last year in Nashville, somebody that wasn't really appreciated that much, I don't think, and maybe it was because the situation in Nashville last year. But now with Houston, Texans, I think he's got an opportunity and that's not necessarily to become like a pro bowler and all pro and pop like that, but make some key contributions at the second level where I thought they were their weakest. And now he'll play alongside Christian Harrison and maybe serve a big role because we'll pay a lot of attention talking about Will Anderson and about Danil Hunter.
But I think this second level is gonna be the make.
Or break punt this defense and really what's gonna make Dimiko Ryan's unit into something good or not?
Yeah, and I have so much faith in Ryan's ability to coach up that group that was his position and he's done it. He did it last year with lesser talent. I'm with you. I think Kamari Lassiter has been one of the big stories in Camp. If I could pick two Camp hype bunnies that I featured on this show that that I believe is for real, it would be Yoshavas with the Bengals and Lassiter with the Texans, just because the people I trust that are there that are really smart football people are seeing it day after day and they're saying, he is matching up against this great receiver trio and he is really holding. And you know they didn't of course, they didn't play him in the Hall of Fame game, Like he's a locked in starter as a rookie corner. You're gonna have ups and downs as a rookie corner. But so many rookie corners come in and they get barbecued in camp. And the fact that he's come out and everyone's really impressed with how he's looked to me that that's a really encouraging story out of Texans camp. Yeah.
I mean he's ahead of Jeff o'cuda on the depth chart right now, Like, oh yeah, yeah, that's a that's a good move, that looks very good and that fills out that secondary and.
A good sign. Damian Pierce Revival didn't play in the Hall of Fame game. I think I think they like what they're seeing right now. Demian.
I'm gonna make one note on the Hall of Fame games, since I was sitting in the press box and sat to that storm and got drenched in the way out, and I also ran to Colleen, so that was fun. We got to talk for a minute in the press box. But the Bobby Slowk offense looks just as good as it did last year. I know it doesn't show on the scoreboard, but when Davis Mills was in there early, I was like, oh, baby, like, he looks comfortable. They're moving him around in the pocket. He is not a statue. He's designed rollouts. He's navigating, just breaking away, he's delivering the ball. He didn't play very long, but I just sat back and thought, man, they were picking up right where they left off and they don't even have Stroud out there. I love the idea of this offense this year with Slowly, He's gonna be getting head coaching looks before long, and especially if they produced this year.
So it was a good sign.
Hot take. They have the best quarterback room in the NFL. Oh CJ. Stroud, Davis Mills in case keenum. I mean, if you have to go one through three and you're not like overly waiting one as obviously one is by far the most important, but you got a top ten quarterback at least at one and then Mills at two. Keep him at three. That's pretty strong. I'm just saying, not many go three deep like that. That's all hit.
Hey, you know what, let's not forget camp arm.
Tim Boyle, who I have to tell his Jory, the head official at the game on Thursday night, actually left his mike hot for a little bit and I caught a part of a conversation he was having with Tim Boyle.
Let's just say it was.
Hilarious, and it was you would expect from an on field conversation.
Okay, Okay, we'll have to keep that a secret. All right, let's wrap this thing up. Colts, We're done. Nick shook one more team.
All right.
So a lot of that expectation for the Indianapolis Colts and Anthony Richardson and so far not exactly as great as you'd think. At one point during our recent practice, he went two for five in the eleven on eleven period.
We talked about this.
You know, he had moments of inaccuracy as a rookie, and it's more about his ability to make plays with his legs and his feet.
But I am a little concerned about that. It could be a signed for the defense, could say, yeah, the defense is.
Playing well, but I know it really comes down to Richardson, so we'll keep an eye on that. And so far, that's got to be my biggest point, just because I think that the whole season hinges on him. You don't want to have to turn to Joe Flacco. You don't want to have to unless you absolutely need to. So it's all going to come down to him and whether he can establish a rapport with Adi Mitchell. So far, Die mitchells looked good in practice, and I expect nothing less, you know. I know he's slid in the draft, and maybe it was people were concerned about, you know, the way he presented himself as maybe that was why he slid.
But I'm not worried about that. Kids are baller. He was a baller in college. I would love.
I'm a little worried. I'm a little worried shook, at least in terms of like fantasy, because supposedly he's been written you a little quiet and Pierce. You know, Reggie Wayne is gassing up Pierce that like this is the first time he's had to compete, and for now it seems like that's Pierce's job. They'll need them both. But I think to me from what I'm here in Downs is the clear too. They're playing them outside, they're playing them inside. It's it's gonna be Pittman one, Downs two, and the other two guys get in the mix and the tight ends get in the mix. And that's fine. You know, Mitchell's a rookie receiver. But I guess I've I've gotten a little more Pierce hype than than I expect that that's fair.
I just wonder, you know, in evaluating Alec Pierce so far in this career, he's had a lot of change of quarterback and I think that hasn't done in any favors. And I just wonder if, like, is that the reason why I'm not fully sold on him yet.
Now he's never opened, he's never the opportunity he's got.
They weren't good, so now they weren't become good, then he'll prove himself. No.
And you know, we hit the Samsung Ebcom injury. I think they're deep enough to withstand that. You know, they've moved at practice. You know, they have a couple of holes on the defense, especially at safety Julian Blackman, who's good. They moved him recently to free safety and when they asked about possibly adding someone, Shane Steichen more or less was like, yeah, that might be something we do. So there's a couple big name safeties, you know, relatively big name experience safeties out there, starting with Justin Simmons. I think they might be the number one Justin Simmons team. So that's just something to put in your.
Poet that void that makes sense. Yeah, keep an eye on that. I like that.
All right, we did it. We hit all sixteen AFC teams. That was fun. We're going to do the same on Tuesday show. I'll do it with Jordan rod Reeg talking about the NFC. In the meantime, you know, you can watch the Olympics a little Yeah, some inside training camp live though we're on all day on NFL Network.
Hey, come watch the two lane Green Wave on Twitch. We just got a big win over Oklahoma last night.
Yeah, you gotta check out Shook on Twitch playing with the twu lane Green Wave. That was a lot of fun. We will be back again on Tuesday the NFC All sixteen teams with Jordan rodrig So for Nick Schuck and for Noville helping us out producing this show on a Sunday evening. We'll see you next time.