Rookies to Watch in Preseason + Bucky's Rankings of 6 QBs Who Got Paid This Offseason

Published Aug 8, 2024, 2:30 PM

Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks are back with a new episode of Move the Sticks. To start off the show, the guys give a few names of rookies, non-quarterbacks, they can't wait to watch in preseason (:23). Next, Bucky discusses a Jaguars rookie that may pop in preseason and DJ does the same for a Chargers rookie (3:32). For the rest of the show, Bucky goes through his rankings of 6 quarterbacks who got paid this offseason and further looks at who will have the biggest impact this season and beyond (6:31).

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And now move the sticks with Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks. What's up, everybody? Welcome to move the stacks. DJ. Buck back with you, Buck? What is the word manna?

Not too much here? We are read ready to see some preseason actions. So I'm excited about it.

Yeah, preseason action is here. A lot to get excited about, a lot to look forward to. If you were going to say, let's go rookies, let's go, let's take the quarterbacks out of the mix. Buck, So if we're looking around, we've got all these wide receivers to choose from. We've got some linemen, We've got some pass rushers, some young pass rushers to keep an eye on. Give me one or two names you're interested in watching here with some of these rookies.

Okay, I'm gonna go with the people's champ first, and that is key on Coleman. I want to see DJ if maybe we just met, we slept on him as a first round pick. I know he went in the top of the second round, but remember the buzz most of the fall was he was going to be a top ten, top fifteen pick. He didn't go. But everything that you hear out of Bill camp is just how easy the game has been for him. His high IQ. Josh Allen has been raving about him. So I want to see if he's going to be a dominant player right from the rip, much like Puka Nakua was a surprise dominant player ken Kean Coleman jump right in and be a dominant player for the Buffalo Bills from day one, and then the other guy is look Layout two Latu only because he was so good as a pass rusher, and we have talked about the craftsman being able to kind of jump in and have immediate success. I don't know if there's a better fit for that scheme than LA two in Gus Bradley's system, where he just really want to make it simple and allow guys to play. I want to see if he can be really impactful right away. Because defense is normally ahead of the offense this time of year, and because he's so instinctive in terms of getting off the ball and utilizing a handful of moves. I want to see if he's able to make an impact right away.

Yeah, that's a good one. I'm look, I'm not going to get too creative here, but Marvin Harrison Junior. Whenever we get a chance to see him out there. How much did we talk about it and the run up to the draft last year? Man, if he had good quarterback play his final year like he had with CJ. Stroud, even though you know he was a buzzy player and someone I think most casuals knew about. I think we could have been talking about, Oh, this is like they would have been so much juice and excitement about him entering into the league. And now I'm like, Okay, him with Kyler Murray. Maybe I'll kind of group them all together. I don't know how much we'll see of their frontline guys in the preseason in Arizona, but that's one of those teams and offenses and Marvin being a big part of that. I'm excited to see how that looks. That looks like that could be kind of a nightmare to defend.

It absolutely can be a nightmare to Devin Just and in thinking of what he can be. Like the thing about Marvin Harrison Junr. And my comparison was for Larry Fitzgerald and just in terms of like someone dead is like, just break the box open, put him on the field and let him go. He's ready to be year number one. That's how he struck me. Just like Larry Fitzgerald was when he was coming out of Pitt Marvin Harrison Junior was smooth, he was fluid, he was polished. I don't know how he is, but I do know he plays the game like the traditional number ones have played the game for a long time. To me, he's a high end receiver. And putting him in Arizona where he will have Lar Fitzgerald to come through every now and then to drop some nuggets, I can only imagine how I can't even imagine how good he would be right away.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to that, and again, all these guys. We'll break it down next week too. We'll have a lot of thoughts on what we saw for the weekend. I'm excited to dig into the tape, not just TV stuff, but actually dig into the tape and watch what transpired for the Jags. You're calling Jags games. I've got Charger games. So give me one name on the Jags. A rookie that doesn't have to be a top guy, but just someone you're looking forward to seeing, you think might pop a little bit here in the preseason bucket.

Well, look, I'm gonna go right away with the first round pick. There's so much excitement about Brian Thomas Jr. He's really gifted, DJ, It's really easy for him, but you haven't been able to really launch the deep ball in training camp. I want to see if he has an opportunity early to just tease the football world with his big playability. He did it like no other last year, even though he played with my league neighbors. Seventeen touchdowns. That's crazy production on the backside of another first round player. I want to see if he can find and carve a rollout for himself as the vertical specialist right away.

Yeah, I'm excited to see him big time juice and it's always fun to see guys that look fast on the college field. Does that translate over the NFL? Like is there separation and juice like we saw from him in college. I'm looking forward to to keep my eye on that. I don't know. I'm not big in the farming community. Buck or what do you call what do you call baby goat? Does that have its awn years? Just a goat? Yeah? I don't know, Like, what is a baby I don't know a lot about animals. But because I'm going to go Brennan Rice for the Chargers seventh round pick, I still again it was a deep receiver draft. Man. I did not think he would be there in the seventh round. And obviously Jerry Rice's son, totally different style. We talked about him a good bit lead up to the draft, just going out there to practice the other day. Man, he's big, he's physical, he's strong. I would imagine we can see a lot of him in the preseason. It'll be you know, East and Stick and Max Duggan and company throwing him the ball. But I think he's one you can pin this like I think you come back next week. We might be saying, dude, did you see the plays or the catches that he made? Like he's he's intriguing to me as someone who just spent one day out there at training camp.

So far okay, baby goes to call kids, Okay, something there. So we want to so we want to. We want to see kid Rice get get get busy and see if he can he can kind of uphold his dad's legacy on the perimeter.

DJ.

When you watch this, dude, man, this dude has some jews to him. He has some spectacular playmaking ability that he offers. And on a team that everyone is looking around trying to figure out who where they get into production on the perimeter, maybe he kind of surprises from the gate. The one thing that we know, he's gonna get every opportunity because it is a meritocracy there, and so he's gonna get a chance to kind of show and prove that he can be one of those guys that deserves to be into rotation to see if he can make some plays.

Yeah, and some irony there right. Think about Jim Harbaugh and the war that he had with USC when he was at Stanford and and here he's got a trojan receiver to throw into the mix. There's lots of different layers that too. We think about that Chargers team, Joey Boso Ohio State. You got the Michigan Ohio State thing there as well. So a lot of storylines talk about with the Charges as we get into the preseason. Buck, you wrote an article recently looking at these quarterbacks that got paid, and there were a number of them this offseason. So you can take this whatever direction you want to go through. What I want to go through all these guys and and give me your thoughts on how this ends up working out for all parties involved. Yeah.

So, and in doing the article DJ, what we wanted to do is we want to talk about the player. We want to talk about why he was worth the money that he got and why it's a risk to pay the player the amount of money that you played when you paid them.

All right, so let's start us off here, Buck, you can work your way through them.

Okay, So let's start with Jerry Goff and the reason why he's worth it is the winning pedigree. You can see a lot of things about Jerry Goff since the end of the league, but Jerry Golf has been a multiple time Pro Bowl, Jerry Goff has led a team to a Super Bowl, and Jered Goff has helped I would say engineer the renaissance in Motown. The Detroit Lions are able to do where they do offensively because Jerry Golf, to me, is the perfect point guard for this team. We may not talk about him being I would say elite when it comes to the tools, but he certainly is elite in terms of the way he manages and distributes the ball to the playmakers, and I will say the Detroit Lions have a cast that is terrific, right, Amama Saint Brown. You think about Sam Laport or Jameson Williams. You got a two running backs in Montgomery and Jimiy Gibbs. They can come at you a bunch of different ways, but without the point guard, it doesn't work. And Jerry Goff, to me, is the ultimate point guard, which is why he's worth it. The risk is I think some would say the low ceiling. How much more can Jery Goff give you? If it's not the playmakers playing at a high level, How can he elevate the team if it's really on him. We've had the conversation for years about trucks and trailers and where with Jared Goff fall into that equation. I don't know what kind of truck he would be, how much he could haul, but I certainly know he's a high end trailer. With the rest of the pieces around him, they're worthy, They're good enough to get to a super Bowl with him, But I don't know if they can get to the super Bowl strictly because of him elevating his game and doing it with nondescript players on the perimeter.

You know how we love to do the little word twists there. You talked about trucks and trailers, something we kind of birthed on this pod. Maybe, gosh, it might be a decade ago, by a long time about it forever. So when you look at these contracts and you're going through all of them, I'm thinking about the locker room, and I put two words down. Applause from your teammates or apprehension from your means now apprehensive. Let me read you the definition of apprehensive, because I just looked this up. Apprehensive anxious or fearful that something bad or unpleasant will happen. We've seen some quarterback deals get done or I think it's fair to say that some people, maybe in the locker room as well as maybe in the coaching staff or upstairs, could be a little bit apprehensive about how this whole thing's going to work out. I think with Jared Goff, I think everybody's universally excited. I think it's easy for us to say it's not our money. I think that's an easy check to write based off what he's done in his career.

I think so, And I think the only reason you would have some apprehension is we always talk about it. Can you envision a quarterback having the confetti fall on his shoulder?

Yeah?

I think that would be tested if we said, hey, is Jerry Golf versus Pat Mahomes in a shootout to win it? How much confidence do we have that Jerry Golf can elevate his game to knock off Pat Mahomes.

But though he has the Dam's Chiefs game that was one of the highest scoring, craziest games in NFL.

History, he has done it. And the only reason there's apprehension in because in the scouting world, in our mind, we're always looking at tools and traits and all this other stuff as opposed to the final product. I believe that's the only reason why would be considered the risk is in that scenario when we talk about the confetti test, and hey, Jerry Golf versus Josh Allen, Jerry Golf versus Lamar Jackson and a winner go home shootout, do you have enough confidence that Jered Golf could win it if the rest of the team isn't playing at a high level.

Yeah. I think they've built up the roster around him too that there's enough support that he can he can pass that test. My opinion on that one. But I mean, oh, I'm with you. I'm right there. They're right on doorstep.

And look, if you go back and look at the NC Championship game, they should have been in the Super Bowl. Yeah, Like they dominated the game for the greater part of the game and they let it slip. Now they have the test is can they go back and take the next step.

We'll see what it looks like. All right, keep us going through the list. Term here we go.

Jordan Love, Jordan Love from the Green Bay Packers. Why he's worth it? Look, he played at an MVP level last year. Why is risky one year?

Wonder?

So when we think about why he's worth it, DJ he had a stretch where he had twenty one touchdowns and only one interception from Week eleven through the wildcard round. He was absolutely on fire. He did it with a cast of no names around him, a bunch of young emerging receivers but no one that's established in the league. From all of the wide receivers on the outside to the two edd tandem at tight end, all young guys all scratching and klawn to do it for a quarterback. To be able to do that with so many young pieces around him speaks volumes about who he is and what he is. That said, he did it for half a season, So we're paying him fifty five million dollars based on seven eight games of work where we saw him at his best. In the league, quarterbacks are evaluated on how they counter the counters, meaning when the league gets a book on them, are they able to write new chapters to the book to deal with how the league is going to react to him this year after really studying his game. Is risky because it's unknown. We don't know how he's done it because we've never seen him have to adapt and adjust to the way new defensive coordinators or defensive coordinators will implement new game plans. That's the risk involved. But look, the talent is there. It took him four years to get to the field, but man, he certainly proved the Packers right when he got into the field because he played great.

Yeah, I would say I like him, I believe in him. I was just hopeful, at least from the team side of things, that they'd be able to get just maybe a little bit of a discount with having such a small sample size, that's a big bet. Like I'm happy betting on him because of what we saw last year it was impressive, but because of the sample size, I didn't think they'd have to go to the tippy top of the market. That to me was maybe just a surprise there.

Huge surprise. I mean, it's huge surprise. But then we always talked about it, if not him, who, if you don't Love, who's in that one? And so they had to do it. But the risk is can he get back to the level that we saw him at his best and can he sustain it over the long call in Green Bay where you've had two Hall of Fame quarterbacks play back to back. Brad far I've handed off to Aaron. Aaron Rodgers now hands it off to Jordan Love. Can Jordan Love play at a gold jacket level? That is TBD?

Yeah, no doubt. All right, we're gonna take a quick break. We come back. We've got I think we got four left here, four big quarterback contracts we're going to get into right after this. All right, Buck, who's next up?

All right? Trevor Lawrence, Someone near and dear to my heart, The Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback has called a lot of conversation. He might be now the most polarizing quarterback that we see in the game based on how much he got paid, got his fifty five million dollars deal, and so people want to know why Lawrence worth it. Talent potential. You're the number one overall pick in the draft. You've been held and celebrated as the top prospect since Andrew Luck and John Elway. He has all the traits that you look for, size, arm, talent, athleticism, great leadership skills. All that is great. He has a young cast of dynamic playmakers around him that when they've been at their best, look they've been a winning team. They've been a playoff team. He bounced back from a poor performance in a wildcard round in the first half to win a game that you're not supposed to win when you're down by as much as they were down. So all of that is positive, and people forget last season the Jaguars were eight and three at the top of the AFC and then it fell apart. But it fell apart because Trevor Lawrence got hurt. And so if he doesn't get hurt, how did they finish the season? So that's one thing. Why is the risk turnovers? DJ has more turnovers than anybody in the National Football League since he entered. Like people love to bring up the stats comparing him to Daniel Jones and all that other stuff, but the facts are the facts. You have sixty turnovers in three years, that's a lot of turnovers. Last year at twenty one giveaways, that's too many fourteen interceptions, seven fumbles. Can he take care of the ball and make better decisions in the red zone? And the final part of the risk is not only the turnovers, but the consistent elevation. Elite quarterbacks show you four or five times a game why they're elite. Trevor hasn't done that consistently enough to go all in on him being an elite player. Well, now that you have the contract in hand, he has to demonstrate that while also taking care of the ball. He has to show each and every week this is why he's elite, This is why he's worthy of being a fifty five million dollars quarterback.

He has to be on the level when you look inside the division at c J Stroud and c J Stroud is coming off one year, but like they pay him what they paid him. They paid him to be at the level or to be the best quarterback in the division. We can't be sitting here. You're saying c J. Stroud is clearly the best quarterback in this division. Trevor's not there that that will make this a very bad deal. He has to at least get that to an even matchup.

Okay, So what you're saying is in the AFC South, this needs to look like the Olympic one final. It needs to be a photo finished where we're trying to figure out which quarterback is really the best quarterback in the AFC South and it needs to be Trevor Lawrence and CJ. Stroud or Trevor Lawrence and somebody else. But we're saying Trevor Lawrence and c J.

Stroud.

It needs to be neck and neck to see who wins the division. Uh yeah, you talk about the fifty million dollar club. You got to play at that level. How about Tua Okay, so makes a TOA makes the track team go two. Is the first leg on the relay team because he is the one that gives the baton to the fast guys and makes it work. When he has been healthy and available, This offense is terrific. It looks like a video game offense when you are giving the ball to look in essence an Olympic level track team Jaylen Wado, Tyreek Hill, Ryane Moster devon a chain. You got obj in the mix when he is dealing from the pocket. This offense is unstoppable. He look, he's going over four thousand yards back to back. You talk about passer rating near the top of the charts whenever he is being able to play with his crew. So he certainly has the upside in the I would say the production to be worthy of being a fifty five million dollars quarterback. The reason it's risky is simply the injury history. Going back to college, it was the hip. Then you go to the pros just to concussion, and you just worry will he be able to be in the lineup each and every week? Last year he was able to do it. Can he do it going forward? Because the one thing that you don't want is a quarterback with a contract that's an albatross around the franchise because the quarterback isn't available to play. If he's available, then too is gonna make it will worth the risk but if he's not, then it becomes a situation that look, you look back, and you might have some regret about putting so much into a quarterback who has been offended.

Real quick, buck, I'm gonna read to a report coming out of college because when he got paid, it's always fun to go back and look at that. Tulac's ideal height for the position, but he has quick feet, eyes and release. He primarily operates in the gun, but he'll take some snaps under center. Very crisp and urgent in his setup. Throws off a firm platform, spins the ball well. He always throws with the proper pace on slants and crossers. Doesn't have an overpowering arm, but he can still place balls in tight windows. Understands how to hold to manipulate safeties with his eyes. Makes good decisions in the RPO game. He's a nifty runner, but prefers to buy time behind the line and remain in passing mode. Did struggle with identifying some underneath defenders when in the red zone. Coming off a serious hip injury, that must be factored into his evaluation. Overall, Tua is the ultimate point guard if he can remain healthy. He has the potential to be one of the NFL's most efficient passers, and he's been there.

He's been very efficient when he's been healthy and available, He's.

Lived to what he was supposed to be.

Like, yeah, and look, he's a hard he's a hard player to debate because of the injuries making polarized. The other part that makes him polarizing people always talk about, much like Rock Purdy, he's propped up by those around him, but DJ is there are few quarterbacks that aren't at the mercy of their supporting cast when it comes to their production. The myth that like, oh, quarterbacks can elevate the players those around them, Yeah, a little bit, but you still got to have players to make it to make it happen. And so for Tua, it's just a matter of him playing at the level and just being available. If he's available for all seventeen. Look, there's no doubt he's certainly worth the money that they're paying.

And I think this is it's kind of a complicated, nuanced discussion, but I think there are more talented players than him at the position that wouldn't fare as well in that offense. I yeah, he's perfectly suited for that offense. There might be some other big arm guys that play well and make big plays with their legs and their big arms. I don't think they would offer operate that offense is efficiently as he does, the way he processes and the way the ball gets out accurately and quickly. Yeah. No.

One thing we talked about in evaluation fit in scheme. How does a player fit in the scheme? I don't know if there's a better fit in Mike McDaniel's scheme than two a tiny bellow. How about Kirk o So, Kirk Cousins is really interesting because he's worth it because of the consistency and the experience. DJ. If I tell you can get a veteran quarterback with seven four thousand yard seasons, a guy that is consistent winner, a guy that really shines during the regular season, you take that all day. He's been that. He's been terrific in terms of just in the regular season, being able to really light it up and be effective and efficient with the people around him. And he's done it in two locations. He did it with Washington, he's done it in Minnesota. He's done it in Minnesota with older players. He's done with younger players, and so you know exactly what you're getting. When I tell you that someone has a two hundred and seventy to one ten touchdown in interception ratio and a career passer rating near one hundred, you love that. So all of those things are positive. Why is risky? Age? Injuries and the quarterback that's behind him? In Michael Pennis, you know you have a quarterback that is older, you have injuries where he's coming off in Achilles, and you have Michael Pennix, your first round pick, who at some point is going to take the ball from Kirk Cousins. You paid him a significant amount of money. So if he's available and if he plays well, that's great. By how long? When's the expiration date on the milk? When does the milk spoil and you have to go and get another carton? So the other carton is already in the refrigerator. In Michael Penni's like, or how are do you manage this? If you're Ringy Morris? And so that is the risk. The risk is dealing with an older quarterback who everyone in the building knows has an exploration date, because eventually you can give the ball to the young quarterback.

That's a good point. I mean, that's the intriguing factor of that contract is just what happened after the deal was done. But I will say on Cousins my last thought on him him. I'm obviously, as you know, I'm a lifelong Padre fan, and I remember Machado was having was struggling. It might have been this year or the year before, but somebody asked him, like, are you worried? Man? You know you're not playing as well. And he's like no, He's like, look at the back of the baseball card, like, I've got ten years of consistent production. Like I feel like Kirk Cousins is kind of like that. Like if he posts in place seventeen weeks, he's going to put up good numbers. He's done it for a long period of time. Right now, He's kind of a made man in that regard. I love that. Is that great?

Like they come on, man, don't worry about my confidence. Dude, I know what this is. I look at the back of a baseball card. But for Kirk Cousins DJ seven four thousand yard seasons. We can said a lot of things about what Kirk Cousins can't do. But when Kirk Cousin gets the ball and he shows up, they put up points and they put up yards. And as a quarterback, that's part of what the job is. You got to put up numbers and it has to be because of you, and Kirk Cousins certainly has done that.

All right.

How about Baker Baker Mayfield former number one overall pick. He settled in after bouncing around from Cleveland to Carolina to La, finds his way to Tampa and really surprised everyone with the way he played. He's worth it because I say swagger and spirals. The confidence that he has is unbelievable. It's infectious. His teammates feel it. He has been I would say humble going into Tampa while still retaining the edge that has made Baker Mayfield great. The spirals. This dude, we talked about it like I think some people have talked about him being just a manager, But when you watch him up close and personal, he can spend it. He has terrific arm talent. He can make throws, and it worked in Tampa because they surrounded him with big body playmakers Chris godw and Mike Evans. Those guys are able to put it in the paint, and Baker is the right guy for the job. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers found their way into the postseason, and they could do more damage in the post season with him really comfortable and settled in as the QB one.

Yeah. I think he's going to be kind of a north star for some teams too, of trying to find the guy who we feel like we're we can marry the talent with the fit. It's kind of what we talked about a little bit into it. Maybe if Tua had been dropped in some other systems, other personnel, it didn't work. It just works. It works with Baker there with what they have, and I think we'll see Sam Darnold is going to be an interesting case study in Minnesota if he plays really well. And I know they've got JJ, but you know, is that something if he plays really well that they try and keep Sam around for a while, Like that's going to be you know, I think Baker is kind of that target of saying, let's find a talented guy. Maybe it just didn't fit perfectly where he was, and let's see how he rolls with what we have in place.

Yeah, And so that's it like the risk when it comes to Baker Mayfield is just the journeyman's game. He's bounced around a few different players. So there's the apprehension that you have, like why did he bounce around? If he's so good, why is he bouncing around? Why did it take him so long to kind of find the right fit for him? And that's look a legitimate question. But if you're Tampa, you probably feel good about him winning the competition that he had to win last year, the way did he perform last season, and the way that he continues to endear himself to his teammates. We talked about the quarterback position being more than the talent. It is about the connectivity. The best quarterbacks are able to connect with their teammates and their teammates feel like they're playing for him as opposed to just playing with him. He does a really good job of connecting with his teammates, and so even though we may ask some questions about his journey, his effectiveness with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers makes it a very, very worthwhile investment.

Yep, there you go. You can check out that article by the way NFL dot com or Buck Ranks, and I took one out of order by the way there because you had him, you know, with the risks involved there. Baker was five on the list and I had him discuss six. So him and cousins with flipped. But again check that out NFL dot Com. Great great article, Buck, great idea. As we look at all these new quarterback deals and man, it's preseasons here, buddy, we've got games tonight. We'll be recapping all those next week with three fresh episodes. Anything you want to add before we jump out of here.

No, man, it's here. We're kicking it off. We get a chance to see some of these guys live out their dreams. More importantly, we get to be on the call and talk about some of these great games.

Now excited about it? All right, that's gonna do it for us. We will catch you next time right here on, Move the sticks.

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