It is Tape Pets, the new podcast where we get inside the xos and os with the guys that watch the tape. They're not just going to tell you what happened, They're gonna tell you why it happened. And if you're brand new to this podcast, we welcome you to it. I'm Bobo Shusan longtime radio voice in the New York Jets, longtime college football voice at ESPN. My college football partner, Dan Orlovski is here as well. And of course, if you watch any of our NFL shows on ESPN, you're gonna see Dan standing at the big screen with his tellustrator, breaking film down in a way that nobody else, even at ESPN does. And Scott p Oli, longtime NFL executive general manager. He gives us not only the football the inside view of the tape, but also a front office perspective and how we're gonna be putting teams together based on what we see each week. And so, guys, happy to be talking football with you again as we take a look towards Week number two, but back to Week number one and some of the rookie performances, and you know, let's start at the top. If I'm a Jacksonville Jaguars fan. I saw three touchdowns, I saw three interceptions. I saw the number one pick out there looking at times like the number one pick, looking at times like a rookie. When you crawl inside the tape of Jacksonville's first week performance of Trevor Lawrence, what do you see? I loved a lot of the things that I saw to Trevor because he played with conviction. You know there there was a lot of reasons why he did what he did. If you watched him on tape with his feet. A lot of people are gonna go, man, three interceptions, they're concerned, No throw thirty of them? This year. Your team isn't good. You're gonna lose a lot of football games. This year is about learning for you what you can and cannot do, what you're able to do, and you know what, in the NFL, I can't do that, and my big I don't want to say concerned, but what I want to pay attention to is are the Jacksonville Jaguars gonna kind of encourage him to stay aggressive because he was the number one pick, Bob, he wasn't the twenty seventh pick. You're expected to go be great, and you cannot be at that position in the NFL unless and calculated times the ball goes into harm's way. It's not careless. You don't want him to be careless with the football, but he's got to be willing to make difficult throws when it's demanded, and he's got to figure out how and when those times are and so a lot of really good stuff. His ability to navigate the pocket was shown in the arm strength, but I want to encourage him to continue to test the limits of his ability at this level. And Dan, the personnel guy and me is going to talk about one of the things I noticed in him was a little bit more confidence and comfort, and to me, that had to do with some of their personnel. The acquisition this offseason of Rodney Hudson at center made the inside of that pocket look like Kyler felt there was gonna be depth to the pocket so he could do things like stick his foot in and make throws. And again, granted he did a lot of a lot of things outside of the pocket, but just seeing his comfort and his confidence I think has a lot to do with having a center who's a former pro bowler and one of the smartest centers in the National Football League. You're right because the situation that Clemson was so favorable. I think that this is where you know, I've sometimes go into a coaching thought, Scott, you know, and this is where you got to know the player and his mentality. And what I mean by that is, is he going to be mentally tough enough to endure some of the rigor of this this year? Because that's the reality of what it's gonna be. And if I'm going to ask him to figure out his way and and figure out what he what he's capable of doing, I do have to expose into some hits. And I think you're you're right where you don't want There's a difference between exposing yourself two hits and taking unnecessary ones. And again, I think that's a process for him to learn, is that's an unnecessary hit for me to take and different to all right, here's a shot play, I gotta hang in there. There it comes free. There's free rusher. If I hold this for another blink, I'm gonna get this forty yard crosser. But I have to hold it. There's the difference between that and he's got to learn it. You know we just started this podcast, and I can already tell the two of you are really excited to like make me miserable. So I really want to transition to the guy that's not gonna make me miserable, because and I want to start with Scott because I already want Danna Slow's roll about mac Jones, Like, stop telling me Mac Jones is already being fitted for a gold jacket. I want to hear from Scott because at least he deserves that. He built a little New England legacy and destroyed my life for the better part of a decade. So when you watched mac jones debut, Scott and you saw a clear cut plan for how Bill Belichick and that coaching staff wanted to set him up for success, what was it? Yeah, Bob, it goes back to something that has so many iterations. It goes back to when Tom Brady first started. It goes back to when we as a as a group had Vinny testaverdis our quarterback. Going back to when Bill Belichick and Bill Parcels and Ron Earhard was the was the offensive coordinator at the New York Giants and they had young Phil Sims. What they made sure that they did was high percentage throws. Make sure the quarterback let his ego aside and was comfortable with check downs and short passes and things underneath. You know, too often, I think what happens in the league is you have this shiny new tool and you want to show it off. An offensive coordinators want to get the ball down the field rather than do what's best for the team and the quarterback. What happened with Mac Jones, yesay, I think eight of his first nine completions were for less than ten yards, and he had no problem checking the ball down. And if you have a young quarterback, you have to do a couple of things. You have to get that quarterback comfortable. You have to get him in a rhythm. You've got to build his confidence. Most importantly, you've got to build the confidence of the players around him in that quarterback. And I remember when Brady first came into the league, first couple of years, and certainly that first season, everything that was talked about was Tom Brady can't throw the deep ball. Well, we weren't asking Tom Brady to throw the deep ball. We didn't have the people to get down the field that. Yeah, we had Terry Glenn, then we got David Patton. You know, we had some guys that had some speed, but the reality was we didn't have enough in terms of an overall reace even core to get enough people open. So the checkdowns to j R. Redman, to Kevin Falk, to all these players underneath and intermediate. That's what they were doing with Mac Jones the other day, and I think that they'll continue to do that because again, you have to build the confidence of the young quarterback. But this is something Charlie Weiss did it, and Charlie learned from Ron Erhard, who you know, and so this has been a it's kind of the family history of bringing in young quarterbacks. Yeah. One, Mac Jones was the best rookie quarterback that played in the NFL yesterday. That's that's the truth. That's the truth, just the heart, it's the reality, the chest. We don't sugarcut on this podcast to think two reasons why that stood out. Number one, just look at his eyes and I'm not talking about the look of I belong or at this moment is not too big. Where is eyes going given what the coverage is, is you go into the right place on a consistent basis with where he's looking. That was constant. In the case he has a seam ball versus a two trap defense, they get a nickel pressure, they roll over the top and the mic starts to carry. Mac goes one to three on the middle of his third step, peeks through his right balls on the right hash the linebacker that's supposed to carry vertical with Nelson Aglar, excuse me, straightens up. I win as a quarterback. I've gotten you to straighten up. Just that, straighten up because I peeked to the right. He goes four or five hitch one, hitch drives the ball seemed left Algilar, slide and catch your eyes are doing exactly what they're supposed to do. And there was a consistency to that, and that tells me it's not too big at least the conceptualization of what I'm supposed to do. And the second thing, and this was the most impressive for me. He made five or six throws while getting sawed in half by the defense that were big time throws. You know, the the ability to stand in there. I'm going to wait till the guy gets open or throw of open, and I know that guy's coming. I can feel them coming, I can feel his color. Don't matter. I'm gonna stand in there and make that throw the ball to James White on third and eleven, which was a perfect example of that. The shot is a perfect the touchdown pass, you know there's an unblocked wrapping linebacker. I thought his ability or desire or choice to stand in the pocket and make some of those throws was very impressiveent in his strength all right. Having said that, though, and I get everything you're saying, just give me some nuggets something to hang onto with. My guy, Zack Wilson as the Jet broadcaster outlook, he had a terrible first half. They couldn't protect him. It was a bad performance of the first thirty minutes. In the second thirty minutes of his debut, I thought he showed a lot of why they believe that he can be a franchise quarterback number one and number two. And again, just I know it's not all physical strength to play that position. But if you go back and look at the second touchdown pass he through on an out to Corey Davis, like Matt Jones can't throw that ball to a can't throw that ball. Josh Allen can throw that ball, but he might be the only other guy in his own division that could even attempt that ball. And I I think that there's enough there, even in an opening day loss, for a Jet fan to grab onto to say, all right, I mean this is the guy to build around. I completely agree. I would say that the first half he he realized, Wow, this game is a lot faster than I'm used to and these windows close a lot faster than I'm used to. And the second half you can see he's playing He's playing quicker. His interception, it's the windows there. I've watched him throw that short crossing scene fifteen times in college. It's just you're not throwing it over a six three six ft three and a half inch linebacker, you know. And that's what the difference is. The underneath guys in the NFL, they just they close windows quicker, so to speak, with their length, and you could definitely see how that got sped up for him. I think the most impressive thing in the second half was he played fast, but not in a hurry. And you'll hear me say that a lot. At the quarterback position. He started to play faster there, but wasn't in a hurry. I would be incredibly encouraged. And Bob, the last thing I say is this, he's tough. You know you could already see week one he is a tough dude at that quarterback spot. Dan, I love that line about being he's fast but not in a hurry because that gives it, that gives it visual right, you know exactly what you're talking about when you say that. And and Bob, I'd be encouraged to if you're a Jets fan being encouraged because again you you hit nailed it at the top. He wasn't protected very well. He doesn't have a running game, he doesn't have some of the things around him to help him even have a chance to be a good player in week one. So again there's he has tools and skills and intelligence. He just needs to be kept up right well. The spot that Zach Wilson currently occupies is the spot Sam Donald used to occupy, and boyd that things look a whole heck of a lot different on opening day for Sam Donald than it ever did with the Jets. Boy did things look a whole of a lot different on opening day from Matthew Stafford than it ever did in Detroit. Those are a couple of guys we're going to talk about when we come back after a quick time out, quarterbacks with new jerseys, on new addresses, new destinations, and very new results that when we come back, just a moment on Pets back here on Te Pets Bobo. She was Scott Boldly Dan Orlovsky talking right after we talked about the rookie quarterbacks. Those guys are brand new, but boy, there were some quarterbacks that almost looked brand new based on the new jerseys they were wearing and the fun they seemed to be having at their new destinations. And you know what, Dan, let's just start off with your buddy, right. You spent a long time in a quarterback room with Matthew Stafford getting to know him, and you know everything that he went through in Detroit. You made no bones about the fact that when he got to l A with this coach and this supporting cast, you were going to see a player that could go out win the m v P. He did nothing to dispel that thought with his performance in Week one. How good was he and why was he so good? He was les out? I've said this, He's the as talented a quarterback that has played in this scheme, the Mike Shanahan Gary Kubiak scheme, since John Elway or since Aaron Rodgers and what he did in Green Bay. That's the talent that Matthew has. I'd say that the biggest thing was as a coach, Sean McVeigh sitting there going, you know what, I can dial up a lot of things, and I can create throws for us, but I need a guy that can make them. You know, I need a guy that can on the first touchdown past the Van Jefferson, when I go and move you from the middle of the field and roll out to your left. I need a guy that can flip his hips in one snap and throw the ball fifty five yards across the field. Yeah, because the window is there. As a coach, I'll get that done. I just need you to be able to do it. And the reality is there's not a lot of guys and and I said flip your hips in one snap for on purpose, A lot of guys have to flip their hips, gather, gather. When that happens to venders close, you know, the fifty five yard throw comes a sixty yard throw because that guys tracking so much ground. As a receiver. So in the play action movement game, I can create more just game changing explosive place because the quarterback's arm and then the second touchdown to Cooper Cup the bomb that is somewhat of that blown coverage by the nickel. It's another ample of I always say this, coaches are supposed to, you know, kind of widen the talent gap. And that's what Sean McVeigh does there. I gotta I got this scheme that I could attack in this defense. It's the perfect play call. And then Matthew Stafford goes, well, coach, I know exactly what I need to do to this certain defender for this to become a touchdown. And I think that's the difference between Matthew and a lot of quarterbacks and certainly Jared in Los Angeles last year, is they're going to be able to do things more that actually flip games from an explosive play standpoint that that they were just enabled to last year. Dan, what was that line you just said, the coaches are supposed to do do what I want, widen the gap? You know why the absolutely so? Will you say that? That reminds me of of a phrase we used to have where a good coach will accentuate the positive and limit the limitations. And what I saw in the game, you say, now you go back and you look at Sean McVeigh. Over the last four seasons, they were one of the top play action teams in the NFL. Right they where they called play action passes more often. On the flip side, Matthew Stafford didn't wasn't used in play action a whole lot, but when he was, he was extremely successful last year in play action passes. He had a quarterback radio like a hundred and eight or something, some number like that. And yesterday what I was waiting to see and Dan, I'd love to get your opinion on this. I've always thought that Matthew Stafford is a better athlete than we've been allowed to see than the scheme because he was always seen as a pocket passer. He's this guy, but yeah, but but he was. I've always felt that he was going to be more. He could be more than that, right because you see him move on boots, you see him, you see his movement. It's like schemes that put him that And I thought that when he got to Sean, Sean was going to use his play action like he wanted to, and Matthew would be fine. I saw some movements last night that I was so excited to move. I really thought they were going to be aggressive, and they were. But I also think that they did some things from a scheme standpoint where Seawan married up with an ability that Matthew Stafford has. But we haven't been able to see enough he is is he again? I'm not saying this is, you know, a superior athlete, Bronte. This is a really good a good athlete. They can do some things. Yeah. I think his athleticism is very similar Aaron Rodgers, I really do. Is a guy that we notorious Lee peg as man. He's a really kind of shift the sudden um athlete that can be a difference maker with this feat and I think Matthew has that and we'll see that on display this year. Well another guy, guys kind of I have a soft spot for him because I saw the hand he was dealt firsthand, and that is Sam Donald. And I watched every snap of the first year three years of his career. I know what he was up against. And I had Jet fan after Jet fan telling me the Jets whiffed. They took the wrong guy. They don't know what they're looking at. UF. They missed on a quarterback again, and I kept saying, over and over again, you're wrong. He can do this. He can do this at a high level and wait until he gets someplace else. This doesn't mean, by the way, the Jets did the wrong thing. I think they made the right this vision for their organization, moving on from Sam and drafting it now a new quarterback to reset the financial clock. But I also said, you watch what happens when this guy goes to Carolina. He's gonna throw a three yard ball to Christian McCaffrey. Christian McCaffrey's gonna run thirty yards and Sam's gonna look at him going, where have you been my whole life? And to me, that's what we saw in week one? Right, give him some weapons. Sam Donald can do this. Am I right about that? And why do you guys think he was so successful throwing for almost two fifty in the first half against the Jets? Yeah, you're you're absolutely right about it, you know I I share the same sentiments, are very similar ones about Sam Donald. I'd say the number one thing that stood out was, you know, Sam was a guy that when you put people around him, he doesn't force the ball like we saw in New York. You know when when you have people that are capable around you, you are so much more willing as a quarterback to all right, you go earn your scholarship, so to speak, you go earn your paycheck, and you play at such a simpler, clearer mind frame. And you saw that connection kind of re rekindle with Robby Anderson as well. And I thought he settled in, you know, kendidly not great in the first court, I don't want to say not great, but had some misses in the first quarter, and then he settled in the thing that I'm gonna watch moving forward, Bob, because I think he could be a breakout superstar. Where is the connection with terrorist Marshall Jr. Because if the terrorist Marshall Junior connection gets on this somewhat similar level is that he has with Robbie Anderson said, we're gonna talk about Sam Donald the same way we talked about Ryan Tannehill. The other thing he has that is an incredible weapon is Christian McCaffrey. Being able to use him is going to help him enormously. He didn't have anything like that in New York. You know. The other thing I'll say is this is I'm just a firm believer that in the case of quarterbacks, sometimes players don't ever get to manifest themselves into their best version because of the circumstances around them. And I'm with the two of you. Where I thought Sam Donald was going to be a good player, I still think he has a chance. I also think that you're right, Bob, that the Jets did what they had to do and that was the best thing in everybody's interests, uh and all parties involved. But I think we're going to see a player quickly begin to ascend because again, if we look around and truly dig down deep into some of the quarterbacks that have developed and some of their circumstances where sometimes if guys had to sit the bench, that worked out best for them. Some guys get thrown into the fire that's best for them. Some guys get thrown in the fire and it ruins their career. I think one of the other guys we talked about earlier, you know, that I really think is going to benefit by having a slow start to getting on the field was Jalen hurts. I think it's different, but it's similar that you know the fact. I know he's with the same team. But I think if he was thrown into it the way the circumstances were previously and he had to be the guy too much too early, that it might have been a problem. But I think he's going to play himself into being a good player, and I think Sam Donald will as well. Yeah, the Jets are in a rebuild mode that they still have draft texts coming next year from the Jamal Adams trade, so they were not in a position where it would make sense to spend already to forty million dollars on a quarterback when the rest of their roster is still in its infancy. So I get it. But the one thing I will always say about Sam Donald, and I'll tell Carolina Panthers fans have faith that this is everything that you want the face of your franchise to be. He will never be in the v I p. He will never be on the red carpet, He'll never be some place at two o'clock in the morning. He will never be anywhere but right where he's supposed to be. I think representing your organization exactly the way you want your organization to be represented in being a leader. I just think he's that kind of a kid and it has just been raised the right way. Yeah, we'll take a quick time out and we will come back and talk about week number two and have Dani Lovsky and Scott Pioli give you from a tape head standpoint the game that they are most looking forward to this weekend and why that's coming up on tapeds. Back here on Tapeds with Dani Lavsky and Scott Pioli, Bobo Schusan, We're gonna take a look ahead at week number two because there are some big ones, um that these guys, I know, Bo want to break down for you. But Scott, while we were away just a moment ago, I kind of closed up the last segment talking about what I think the bright future is not only for Sam Donald and Carolina, but also just for the Carolina Panthers organization getting Sam now as their franchise quarterback and how I think he brings a lot of the off the field and tangibles you want in addition to what a good kid he is on the field, And and you had to take on that. Yeah, Bob, I'm really thankful because again, this is part of what I love to dig down into. You know, when he was in his last year at USC, I used to love this setup because U c l A would practice early in the mornings, and then you would go to the early morning practice at u c l A, go across town and catch USC practice in the afternoon. So going to l A and getting those two schools knocked out as a scout was awesome. So I did both of those schools and I remember going out to the U c l A practice and watching, you know this Josh Rosen who could throw the ball really well, very crisp, and all of it, all the stuff that some of the quarterback gurus love to talk about, his deliveries, throw his arm, angle, all of that stuff. And then I watched, as it's important to watch a quarterback, the interaction between him and the players, and it was it was okay. Then I went to the USC practice and I'll never forget walking out to the field that day. Before I was walking out, I was with Ivan Lewis, who was the strengthened condition coach at USC at the time, and Ivan just talking about Donald and talking about how Donald had just gotten done lifting and doing squats with the offensive lineman and went out to practice and just watch the energy and the just the ability of Sam Donald to communicate with his teammates to be just one of the guys on a level that here was this superstar quarterback, but he was just one of the dudes, and he was a good guy. And and this is not being derogatory towards Josh Rosen in any way, but when you watch and you evaluate quarterbacks, you want to see the tools. The tools in this those are critical, but you also if you're going to be a championship quarterback, generally speaking, you need to have that other thing about you and you need to be a bit of a dude. And Sam Donald is that. Yeah, there's no doubt you can tell that his teammates respond to him the way that you want teammates to respond to a leader and a quarterback. The quarterback has got to be that. I mean, that's just there's no way around it, right, That's just something that a quarterback has to have innately in him. And I agree with you, I think Sam Donald has it. We'll see if he is able to continue that in now long term with a new destination alright, a new week to talk about. Obviously, Week number two kicks off with the Giants the Washington football team Thursday Night Football. But let's talk about some of the games this week. If there's one game that's catching your I, which is at dan Orlovsky You're up start with you, yeah, Bob. For me, it's going to be the Rams in the Colts game. Really, defensively, for the Colts, how are they going to stop some of the big passes that they let up last week? Their rush wasn't enough and it's similar scheme Shane Waldron went over to Seattle and you know, brought some of that Sean McVeigh elements, but also the explosive shots down field, and the Colts secondary just wasn't good enough with their discipline and their leverage and again not tied to their rush. And so how are they going to get that fixed? The Rams vice versa. Offensively, they're watching tape going all right, we could we could take advantage when they're gonna play cover two and we could get on top of these safeties. And so I want to see if they're gonna continue to be aggressive. And then for the Colts, I was encouraged by a lot of this stuff their offense did last week. You know, the challenging thing is they don't have anybody to kind of create some of those big plays downfield. With t Y Hilton out, Carson Wentz was deliberate with the football. He made good decisions. But their offensive line is supposed to be their strength. It's supposed to be one of their two strengths, and they got absolutely whooped this past weekend. I want to see that offensive line come out and be a little bit more physical in their run game, but also have more pride. In their past game, it was not because Carson or the quarterback held it too long. They just got beat one on one situations too off the I want to see their offensive line play significantly better this weekend. All right, Scott, how about you? What's your week to match up your most intrigued to see? Well, I know Dan went went that one o'clock game with the Rams and the Colts, but I'm going with another one o'clock game. I cannot wait to see the Bills at the Dolphins because I know this as a Northeast team. Anytime that you have to travel to South Florida in September it's a problem. All my years with the Patriots, that was a huge problem for us, and I think for a lot of teams going into South Florida playing this time of the year is a really difficult thing. Now the Bills are looking at oh and one right now, the Dolphins are one to know, Hey, if the Bills lose this week, they're staring at oh and two. And then the Dolphins are looking at two and oh. But not only two and oh, but two and oh in the division. So to me, this is gonna be a critical game. And again, I know this is only Week two in the NFL, but this may be a week and a game that may have implications later in the season. And what I'm gonna throw at you two, I want to get your take on a real quick before we go to me. This is almost based on what I saw last Thursday and what I think this quarterback can be as well, both quarterbacks. Almost a dark horse Super Bowl matchup Cowboys Chargers. I thought Dak Prescott was as good as you could possibly be in a loss on Thursday night. I came out of that game on Thursday night thinking if I'm the rest of the NFC East, they lost and I'm worried because if he plays like that, that looked like a division champion to me in the Dallas Cowboys and uh and Justin Herbert, boy, he looks like the real deal for the Chargers. Yeah, that's gonna be a good game. And I'll tell you, not only will Dak be important, but having Zack Martin back this week, which they should, is gonna be really important and helpful for the Cowboys offense. With Zack Martin back, I would guess that Ezekiel will be a better running back once he established the running game again. That'll make Dac even better, which is a little bit scary. And I'll tell you what I love. Justin Herbert, we didn't talk about this. One of my favorite plays was in the Chargers first drive. They get down it's third and ten inside the twenty yard line and he goes hard count and that makes it third and five. Then they pick up the first down leads to the first touchdown. It's one of those exs and those things that we kind of talk about that isn't on the game plan, but it's just smart quarterback. And here's a second year quarterback that knew when to use the hard count against one of the best defensive lines in all of football, got him to jump and bought himself five yards to make it third and five rather than third and ten, and that opens up a bunch of other plays. So I'm really looking for to that game as well, Bob. See, that's great stuff. That's why we call this show Tapets. That's why this podcast is what it is, because that's the kind of stuff you get right here, Scott, thanks a million for doing this. I can't wait until next Week's been a last talking ball with you. Thanks guys, this was great. I really enjoyed it. Had a great time. Danny. We'll talk to you soon. Thanks Ci Bilion. Alright, and that'll do it for week number one, an episode number two of Tapets again. Our episodes drop every Tuesday and Thursday. You can subscribe, rate and comment wherever you get your podcasts. Enjoy week two. If you listen to us, that's why they call this show tape heeds, you can consider yourself an honorary tape heed And we can't wait to bring you more football talk week two. We will be back on Tuesday. Enjoy the Week two football everybody

It is Tape Pets, the new podcast where we get inside the xos and os with the guys that watch the tape. They're not just going to tell you what happened, They're gonna tell you why it happened. And if you're brand new to this podcast, we welcome you to it. I'm Bobo Shusan longtime radio voice in the New York Jets, longtime college football voice at ESPN. My college football partner, Dan Orlovski is here as well. And of course, if you watch any of our NFL shows on ESPN, you're gonna see Dan standing at the big screen with his tellustrator, breaking film down in a way that nobody else, even at ESPN does. And Scott p Oli, longtime NFL executive general manager. He gives us not only the football the inside view of the tape, but also a front office perspective and how we're gonna be putting teams together based on what we see each week. And so, guys, happy to be talking football with you again as we take a look towards Week number two, but back to Week number one and some of the rookie performances, and you know, let's start at the top. If I'm a Jacksonville Jaguars fan. I saw three touchdowns, I saw three interceptions. I saw the number one pick out there looking at times like the number one pick, looking at times like a rookie. When you crawl inside the tape of Jacksonville's first week performance of Trevor Lawrence, what do you see? I loved a lot of the things that I saw to Trevor because he played with conviction. You know there there was a lot of reasons why he did what he did. If you watched him on tape with his feet. A lot of people are gonna go, man, three interceptions, they're concerned, No throw thirty of them? This year. Your team isn't good. You're gonna lose a lot of football games. This year is about learning for you what you can and cannot do, what you're able to do, and you know what, in the NFL, I can't do that, and my big I don't want to say concerned, but what I want to pay attention to is are the Jacksonville Jaguars gonna kind of encourage him to stay aggressive because he was the number one pick, Bob, he wasn't the twenty seventh pick. You're expected to go be great, and you cannot be at that position in the NFL unless and calculated times the ball goes into harm's way. It's not careless. You don't want him to be careless with the football, but he's got to be willing to make difficult throws when it's demanded, and he's got to figure out how and when those times are and so a lot of really good stuff. His ability to navigate the pocket was shown in the arm strength, but I want to encourage him to continue to test the limits of his ability at this level. And Dan, the personnel guy and me is going to talk about one of the things I noticed in him was a little bit more confidence and comfort, and to me, that had to do with some of their personnel. The acquisition this offseason of Rodney Hudson at center made the inside of that pocket look like Kyler felt there was gonna be depth to the pocket so he could do things like stick his foot in and make throws. And again, granted he did a lot of a lot of things outside of the pocket, but just seeing his comfort and his confidence I think has a lot to do with having a center who's a former pro bowler and one of the smartest centers in the National Football League. You're right because the situation that Clemson was so favorable. I think that this is where you know, I've sometimes go into a coaching thought, Scott, you know, and this is where you got to know the player and his mentality. And what I mean by that is, is he going to be mentally tough enough to endure some of the rigor of this this year? Because that's the reality of what it's gonna be. And if I'm going to ask him to figure out his way and and figure out what he what he's capable of doing, I do have to expose into some hits. And I think you're you're right where you don't want There's a difference between exposing yourself two hits and taking unnecessary ones. And again, I think that's a process for him to learn, is that's an unnecessary hit for me to take and different to all right, here's a shot play, I gotta hang in there. There it comes free. There's free rusher. If I hold this for another blink, I'm gonna get this forty yard crosser. But I have to hold it. There's the difference between that and he's got to learn it. You know we just started this podcast, and I can already tell the two of you are really excited to like make me miserable. So I really want to transition to the guy that's not gonna make me miserable, because and I want to start with Scott because I already want Danna Slow's roll about mac Jones, Like, stop telling me Mac Jones is already being fitted for a gold jacket. I want to hear from Scott because at least he deserves that. He built a little New England legacy and destroyed my life for the better part of a decade. So when you watched mac jones debut, Scott and you saw a clear cut plan for how Bill Belichick and that coaching staff wanted to set him up for success, what was it? Yeah, Bob, it goes back to something that has so many iterations. It goes back to when Tom Brady first started. It goes back to when we as a as a group had Vinny testaverdis our quarterback. Going back to when Bill Belichick and Bill Parcels and Ron Earhard was the was the offensive coordinator at the New York Giants and they had young Phil Sims. What they made sure that they did was high percentage throws. Make sure the quarterback let his ego aside and was comfortable with check downs and short passes and things underneath. You know, too often, I think what happens in the league is you have this shiny new tool and you want to show it off. An offensive coordinators want to get the ball down the field rather than do what's best for the team and the quarterback. What happened with Mac Jones, yesay, I think eight of his first nine completions were for less than ten yards, and he had no problem checking the ball down. And if you have a young quarterback, you have to do a couple of things. You have to get that quarterback comfortable. You have to get him in a rhythm. You've got to build his confidence. Most importantly, you've got to build the confidence of the players around him in that quarterback. And I remember when Brady first came into the league, first couple of years, and certainly that first season, everything that was talked about was Tom Brady can't throw the deep ball. Well, we weren't asking Tom Brady to throw the deep ball. We didn't have the people to get down the field that. Yeah, we had Terry Glenn, then we got David Patton. You know, we had some guys that had some speed, but the reality was we didn't have enough in terms of an overall reace even core to get enough people open. So the checkdowns to j R. Redman, to Kevin Falk, to all these players underneath and intermediate. That's what they were doing with Mac Jones the other day, and I think that they'll continue to do that because again, you have to build the confidence of the young quarterback. But this is something Charlie Weiss did it, and Charlie learned from Ron Erhard, who you know, and so this has been a it's kind of the family history of bringing in young quarterbacks. Yeah. One, Mac Jones was the best rookie quarterback that played in the NFL yesterday. That's that's the truth. That's the truth, just the heart, it's the reality, the chest. We don't sugarcut on this podcast to think two reasons why that stood out. Number one, just look at his eyes and I'm not talking about the look of I belong or at this moment is not too big. Where is eyes going given what the coverage is, is you go into the right place on a consistent basis with where he's looking. That was constant. In the case he has a seam ball versus a two trap defense, they get a nickel pressure, they roll over the top and the mic starts to carry. Mac goes one to three on the middle of his third step, peeks through his right balls on the right hash the linebacker that's supposed to carry vertical with Nelson Aglar, excuse me, straightens up. I win as a quarterback. I've gotten you to straighten up. Just that, straighten up because I peeked to the right. He goes four or five hitch one, hitch drives the ball seemed left Algilar, slide and catch your eyes are doing exactly what they're supposed to do. And there was a consistency to that, and that tells me it's not too big at least the conceptualization of what I'm supposed to do. And the second thing, and this was the most impressive for me. He made five or six throws while getting sawed in half by the defense that were big time throws. You know, the the ability to stand in there. I'm going to wait till the guy gets open or throw of open, and I know that guy's coming. I can feel them coming, I can feel his color. Don't matter. I'm gonna stand in there and make that throw the ball to James White on third and eleven, which was a perfect example of that. The shot is a perfect the touchdown pass, you know there's an unblocked wrapping linebacker. I thought his ability or desire or choice to stand in the pocket and make some of those throws was very impressiveent in his strength all right. Having said that, though, and I get everything you're saying, just give me some nuggets something to hang onto with. My guy, Zack Wilson as the Jet broadcaster outlook, he had a terrible first half. They couldn't protect him. It was a bad performance of the first thirty minutes. In the second thirty minutes of his debut, I thought he showed a lot of why they believe that he can be a franchise quarterback number one and number two. And again, just I know it's not all physical strength to play that position. But if you go back and look at the second touchdown pass he through on an out to Corey Davis, like Matt Jones can't throw that ball to a can't throw that ball. Josh Allen can throw that ball, but he might be the only other guy in his own division that could even attempt that ball. And I I think that there's enough there, even in an opening day loss, for a Jet fan to grab onto to say, all right, I mean this is the guy to build around. I completely agree. I would say that the first half he he realized, Wow, this game is a lot faster than I'm used to and these windows close a lot faster than I'm used to. And the second half you can see he's playing He's playing quicker. His interception, it's the windows there. I've watched him throw that short crossing scene fifteen times in college. It's just you're not throwing it over a six three six ft three and a half inch linebacker, you know. And that's what the difference is. The underneath guys in the NFL, they just they close windows quicker, so to speak, with their length, and you could definitely see how that got sped up for him. I think the most impressive thing in the second half was he played fast, but not in a hurry. And you'll hear me say that a lot. At the quarterback position. He started to play faster there, but wasn't in a hurry. I would be incredibly encouraged. And Bob, the last thing I say is this, he's tough. You know you could already see week one he is a tough dude at that quarterback spot. Dan, I love that line about being he's fast but not in a hurry because that gives it, that gives it visual right, you know exactly what you're talking about when you say that. And and Bob, I'd be encouraged to if you're a Jets fan being encouraged because again you you hit nailed it at the top. He wasn't protected very well. He doesn't have a running game, he doesn't have some of the things around him to help him even have a chance to be a good player in week one. So again there's he has tools and skills and intelligence. He just needs to be kept up right well. The spot that Zach Wilson currently occupies is the spot Sam Donald used to occupy, and boyd that things look a whole heck of a lot different on opening day for Sam Donald than it ever did with the Jets. Boy did things look a whole of a lot different on opening day from Matthew Stafford than it ever did in Detroit. Those are a couple of guys we're going to talk about when we come back after a quick time out, quarterbacks with new jerseys, on new addresses, new destinations, and very new results that when we come back, just a moment on Pets back here on Te Pets Bobo. She was Scott Boldly Dan Orlovsky talking right after we talked about the rookie quarterbacks. Those guys are brand new, but boy, there were some quarterbacks that almost looked brand new based on the new jerseys they were wearing and the fun they seemed to be having at their new destinations. And you know what, Dan, let's just start off with your buddy, right. You spent a long time in a quarterback room with Matthew Stafford getting to know him, and you know everything that he went through in Detroit. You made no bones about the fact that when he got to l A with this coach and this supporting cast, you were going to see a player that could go out win the m v P. He did nothing to dispel that thought with his performance in Week one. How good was he and why was he so good? He was les out? I've said this, He's the as talented a quarterback that has played in this scheme, the Mike Shanahan Gary Kubiak scheme, since John Elway or since Aaron Rodgers and what he did in Green Bay. That's the talent that Matthew has. I'd say that the biggest thing was as a coach, Sean McVeigh sitting there going, you know what, I can dial up a lot of things, and I can create throws for us, but I need a guy that can make them. You know, I need a guy that can on the first touchdown past the Van Jefferson, when I go and move you from the middle of the field and roll out to your left. I need a guy that can flip his hips in one snap and throw the ball fifty five yards across the field. Yeah, because the window is there. As a coach, I'll get that done. I just need you to be able to do it. And the reality is there's not a lot of guys and and I said flip your hips in one snap for on purpose, A lot of guys have to flip their hips, gather, gather. When that happens to venders close, you know, the fifty five yard throw comes a sixty yard throw because that guys tracking so much ground. As a receiver. So in the play action movement game, I can create more just game changing explosive place because the quarterback's arm and then the second touchdown to Cooper Cup the bomb that is somewhat of that blown coverage by the nickel. It's another ample of I always say this, coaches are supposed to, you know, kind of widen the talent gap. And that's what Sean McVeigh does there. I gotta I got this scheme that I could attack in this defense. It's the perfect play call. And then Matthew Stafford goes, well, coach, I know exactly what I need to do to this certain defender for this to become a touchdown. And I think that's the difference between Matthew and a lot of quarterbacks and certainly Jared in Los Angeles last year, is they're going to be able to do things more that actually flip games from an explosive play standpoint that that they were just enabled to last year. Dan, what was that line you just said, the coaches are supposed to do do what I want, widen the gap? You know why the absolutely so? Will you say that? That reminds me of of a phrase we used to have where a good coach will accentuate the positive and limit the limitations. And what I saw in the game, you say, now you go back and you look at Sean McVeigh. Over the last four seasons, they were one of the top play action teams in the NFL. Right they where they called play action passes more often. On the flip side, Matthew Stafford didn't wasn't used in play action a whole lot, but when he was, he was extremely successful last year in play action passes. He had a quarterback radio like a hundred and eight or something, some number like that. And yesterday what I was waiting to see and Dan, I'd love to get your opinion on this. I've always thought that Matthew Stafford is a better athlete than we've been allowed to see than the scheme because he was always seen as a pocket passer. He's this guy, but yeah, but but he was. I've always felt that he was going to be more. He could be more than that, right because you see him move on boots, you see him, you see his movement. It's like schemes that put him that And I thought that when he got to Sean, Sean was going to use his play action like he wanted to, and Matthew would be fine. I saw some movements last night that I was so excited to move. I really thought they were going to be aggressive, and they were. But I also think that they did some things from a scheme standpoint where Seawan married up with an ability that Matthew Stafford has. But we haven't been able to see enough he is is he again? I'm not saying this is, you know, a superior athlete, Bronte. This is a really good a good athlete. They can do some things. Yeah. I think his athleticism is very similar Aaron Rodgers, I really do. Is a guy that we notorious Lee peg as man. He's a really kind of shift the sudden um athlete that can be a difference maker with this feat and I think Matthew has that and we'll see that on display this year. Well another guy, guys kind of I have a soft spot for him because I saw the hand he was dealt firsthand, and that is Sam Donald. And I watched every snap of the first year three years of his career. I know what he was up against. And I had Jet fan after Jet fan telling me the Jets whiffed. They took the wrong guy. They don't know what they're looking at. UF. They missed on a quarterback again, and I kept saying, over and over again, you're wrong. He can do this. He can do this at a high level and wait until he gets someplace else. This doesn't mean, by the way, the Jets did the wrong thing. I think they made the right this vision for their organization, moving on from Sam and drafting it now a new quarterback to reset the financial clock. But I also said, you watch what happens when this guy goes to Carolina. He's gonna throw a three yard ball to Christian McCaffrey. Christian McCaffrey's gonna run thirty yards and Sam's gonna look at him going, where have you been my whole life? And to me, that's what we saw in week one? Right, give him some weapons. Sam Donald can do this. Am I right about that? And why do you guys think he was so successful throwing for almost two fifty in the first half against the Jets? Yeah, you're you're absolutely right about it, you know I I share the same sentiments, are very similar ones about Sam Donald. I'd say the number one thing that stood out was, you know, Sam was a guy that when you put people around him, he doesn't force the ball like we saw in New York. You know when when you have people that are capable around you, you are so much more willing as a quarterback to all right, you go earn your scholarship, so to speak, you go earn your paycheck, and you play at such a simpler, clearer mind frame. And you saw that connection kind of re rekindle with Robby Anderson as well. And I thought he settled in, you know, kendidly not great in the first court, I don't want to say not great, but had some misses in the first quarter, and then he settled in the thing that I'm gonna watch moving forward, Bob, because I think he could be a breakout superstar. Where is the connection with terrorist Marshall Jr. Because if the terrorist Marshall Junior connection gets on this somewhat similar level is that he has with Robbie Anderson said, we're gonna talk about Sam Donald the same way we talked about Ryan Tannehill. The other thing he has that is an incredible weapon is Christian McCaffrey. Being able to use him is going to help him enormously. He didn't have anything like that in New York. You know. The other thing I'll say is this is I'm just a firm believer that in the case of quarterbacks, sometimes players don't ever get to manifest themselves into their best version because of the circumstances around them. And I'm with the two of you. Where I thought Sam Donald was going to be a good player, I still think he has a chance. I also think that you're right, Bob, that the Jets did what they had to do and that was the best thing in everybody's interests, uh and all parties involved. But I think we're going to see a player quickly begin to ascend because again, if we look around and truly dig down deep into some of the quarterbacks that have developed and some of their circumstances where sometimes if guys had to sit the bench, that worked out best for them. Some guys get thrown into the fire that's best for them. Some guys get thrown in the fire and it ruins their career. I think one of the other guys we talked about earlier, you know, that I really think is going to benefit by having a slow start to getting on the field was Jalen hurts. I think it's different, but it's similar that you know the fact. I know he's with the same team. But I think if he was thrown into it the way the circumstances were previously and he had to be the guy too much too early, that it might have been a problem. But I think he's going to play himself into being a good player, and I think Sam Donald will as well. Yeah, the Jets are in a rebuild mode that they still have draft texts coming next year from the Jamal Adams trade, so they were not in a position where it would make sense to spend already to forty million dollars on a quarterback when the rest of their roster is still in its infancy. So I get it. But the one thing I will always say about Sam Donald, and I'll tell Carolina Panthers fans have faith that this is everything that you want the face of your franchise to be. He will never be in the v I p. He will never be on the red carpet, He'll never be some place at two o'clock in the morning. He will never be anywhere but right where he's supposed to be. I think representing your organization exactly the way you want your organization to be represented in being a leader. I just think he's that kind of a kid and it has just been raised the right way. Yeah, we'll take a quick time out and we will come back and talk about week number two and have Dani Lovsky and Scott Pioli give you from a tape head standpoint the game that they are most looking forward to this weekend and why that's coming up on tapeds. Back here on Tapeds with Dani Lavsky and Scott Pioli, Bobo Schusan, We're gonna take a look ahead at week number two because there are some big ones, um that these guys, I know, Bo want to break down for you. But Scott, while we were away just a moment ago, I kind of closed up the last segment talking about what I think the bright future is not only for Sam Donald and Carolina, but also just for the Carolina Panthers organization getting Sam now as their franchise quarterback and how I think he brings a lot of the off the field and tangibles you want in addition to what a good kid he is on the field, And and you had to take on that. Yeah, Bob, I'm really thankful because again, this is part of what I love to dig down into. You know, when he was in his last year at USC, I used to love this setup because U c l A would practice early in the mornings, and then you would go to the early morning practice at u c l A, go across town and catch USC practice in the afternoon. So going to l A and getting those two schools knocked out as a scout was awesome. So I did both of those schools and I remember going out to the U c l A practice and watching, you know this Josh Rosen who could throw the ball really well, very crisp, and all of it, all the stuff that some of the quarterback gurus love to talk about, his deliveries, throw his arm, angle, all of that stuff. And then I watched, as it's important to watch a quarterback, the interaction between him and the players, and it was it was okay. Then I went to the USC practice and I'll never forget walking out to the field that day. Before I was walking out, I was with Ivan Lewis, who was the strengthened condition coach at USC at the time, and Ivan just talking about Donald and talking about how Donald had just gotten done lifting and doing squats with the offensive lineman and went out to practice and just watch the energy and the just the ability of Sam Donald to communicate with his teammates to be just one of the guys on a level that here was this superstar quarterback, but he was just one of the dudes, and he was a good guy. And and this is not being derogatory towards Josh Rosen in any way, but when you watch and you evaluate quarterbacks, you want to see the tools. The tools in this those are critical, but you also if you're going to be a championship quarterback, generally speaking, you need to have that other thing about you and you need to be a bit of a dude. And Sam Donald is that. Yeah, there's no doubt you can tell that his teammates respond to him the way that you want teammates to respond to a leader and a quarterback. The quarterback has got to be that. I mean, that's just there's no way around it, right, That's just something that a quarterback has to have innately in him. And I agree with you, I think Sam Donald has it. We'll see if he is able to continue that in now long term with a new destination alright, a new week to talk about. Obviously, Week number two kicks off with the Giants the Washington football team Thursday Night Football. But let's talk about some of the games this week. If there's one game that's catching your I, which is at dan Orlovsky You're up start with you, yeah, Bob. For me, it's going to be the Rams in the Colts game. Really, defensively, for the Colts, how are they going to stop some of the big passes that they let up last week? Their rush wasn't enough and it's similar scheme Shane Waldron went over to Seattle and you know, brought some of that Sean McVeigh elements, but also the explosive shots down field, and the Colts secondary just wasn't good enough with their discipline and their leverage and again not tied to their rush. And so how are they going to get that fixed? The Rams vice versa. Offensively, they're watching tape going all right, we could we could take advantage when they're gonna play cover two and we could get on top of these safeties. And so I want to see if they're gonna continue to be aggressive. And then for the Colts, I was encouraged by a lot of this stuff their offense did last week. You know, the challenging thing is they don't have anybody to kind of create some of those big plays downfield. With t Y Hilton out, Carson Wentz was deliberate with the football. He made good decisions. But their offensive line is supposed to be their strength. It's supposed to be one of their two strengths, and they got absolutely whooped this past weekend. I want to see that offensive line come out and be a little bit more physical in their run game, but also have more pride. In their past game, it was not because Carson or the quarterback held it too long. They just got beat one on one situations too off the I want to see their offensive line play significantly better this weekend. All right, Scott, how about you? What's your week to match up your most intrigued to see? Well, I know Dan went went that one o'clock game with the Rams and the Colts, but I'm going with another one o'clock game. I cannot wait to see the Bills at the Dolphins because I know this as a Northeast team. Anytime that you have to travel to South Florida in September it's a problem. All my years with the Patriots, that was a huge problem for us, and I think for a lot of teams going into South Florida playing this time of the year is a really difficult thing. Now the Bills are looking at oh and one right now, the Dolphins are one to know, Hey, if the Bills lose this week, they're staring at oh and two. And then the Dolphins are looking at two and oh. But not only two and oh, but two and oh in the division. So to me, this is gonna be a critical game. And again, I know this is only Week two in the NFL, but this may be a week and a game that may have implications later in the season. And what I'm gonna throw at you two, I want to get your take on a real quick before we go to me. This is almost based on what I saw last Thursday and what I think this quarterback can be as well, both quarterbacks. Almost a dark horse Super Bowl matchup Cowboys Chargers. I thought Dak Prescott was as good as you could possibly be in a loss on Thursday night. I came out of that game on Thursday night thinking if I'm the rest of the NFC East, they lost and I'm worried because if he plays like that, that looked like a division champion to me in the Dallas Cowboys and uh and Justin Herbert, boy, he looks like the real deal for the Chargers. Yeah, that's gonna be a good game. And I'll tell you, not only will Dak be important, but having Zack Martin back this week, which they should, is gonna be really important and helpful for the Cowboys offense. With Zack Martin back, I would guess that Ezekiel will be a better running back once he established the running game again. That'll make Dac even better, which is a little bit scary. And I'll tell you what I love. Justin Herbert, we didn't talk about this. One of my favorite plays was in the Chargers first drive. They get down it's third and ten inside the twenty yard line and he goes hard count and that makes it third and five. Then they pick up the first down leads to the first touchdown. It's one of those exs and those things that we kind of talk about that isn't on the game plan, but it's just smart quarterback. And here's a second year quarterback that knew when to use the hard count against one of the best defensive lines in all of football, got him to jump and bought himself five yards to make it third and five rather than third and ten, and that opens up a bunch of other plays. So I'm really looking for to that game as well, Bob. See, that's great stuff. That's why we call this show Tapets. That's why this podcast is what it is, because that's the kind of stuff you get right here, Scott, thanks a million for doing this. I can't wait until next Week's been a last talking ball with you. Thanks guys, this was great. I really enjoyed it. Had a great time. Danny. We'll talk to you soon. Thanks Ci Bilion. Alright, and that'll do it for week number one, an episode number two of Tapets again. Our episodes drop every Tuesday and Thursday. You can subscribe, rate and comment wherever you get your podcasts. Enjoy week two. If you listen to us, that's why they call this show tape heeds, you can consider yourself an honorary tape heed And we can't wait to bring you more football talk week two. We will be back on Tuesday. Enjoy the Week two football everybody