Hello, and welcome to the m m QB Monday Morning NFL Podcast. I am your host, Gary Grambling. I will be joined by a special guest in just a moment. And I don't know if you can hear it, but there's a it's a little bit of a pep in my step here, as the kids say. We had actual news this weekend. As I'm sure you already saw, the Jets officially signed offensive lineman Cameron Clark, the pick of the draft, to his rookie deal. And while the reverberations from that transaction were being felt, the Patriots went ahead and signed Cam Newton. Maybe we'll talk about Clark next week, but I think we're gonna mostly focused on Cam in this show. And and with that, I'll bring in our special guest. It is Andy Benoit. Uh Andy kind of a kind of look surprising. The timing is surprising, obviously, but uh I think the landing spot is surprising because it just felt like if they were gonna make this move, it would have already been made. I agree with you, and I guess so you mean you're Cam Newton not Cam Clark. Is the main focus here for the very beginning big weekend for Cam's Yeah, it is um so I said a few months ago, I would be shocked if the Patriots acquired Cam Newton for the reason that I believe Bill Belichick, whose decision it ultimately is. Of course, Josh McDaniel's run the offense, but Belichick is going to decide who the QB is. I believe he wants someone who will execute their system the way it's designed, and he does not want unpredictability at QB, even if unpredictability means that you're gonna have some highs and lows, and those highs are gonna be much higher than what a Brian Horrier can deliver for you. That was my thinking with it. Obviously, in this case that thinking was wrong because Cam Newton's a unique entity and the Patriots are going to take a chance on him. So here's the other part that that's true with New England, and it's paradoxical to what I was at first thinking, is they do a lot of different things to win games. They win in a lot of different ways. We hear that all the time, they adjust their identity. People within football say that as well. It's not just something that that TV host have gotten used to saying and don't really know what they mean when they say it. The Patriots are very malleble in their identities, and I think they're looking at the writing on the wall and the writing between the lines, and they're saying, our best bet is to win through our defense. What complements the defense best a running game, a power running game. If you're gonna be a run based offense, which they've kind of been at times in recent years, if you're going to commit to being a run based offense, then having a uniquely multidimensional running QB does wonders for you. And remember back in there was that Thursday night game I believe against the Texans. They had Jacoby Brissette starting week three. Nobody knew anything about Jacoby Brissette except the Patriots, of course, and they went with a ton of read option that night, which we had never seen from New England. It worked. I think they shut the Texans out. Now you know, it didn't work for long. The Bills caught up to him the next week. But the point is we've seen them adjust and do that stuff before in a three three day week. Now they're going to give it a shot for the season. But Gary one other thing. It's a competition at quarterback, right, I mean Kim Newton's numbers, is his salary is not that of a guy who they clearly view as the no question started. Maybe that's partly because they didn't have any competition for signing Newton. But it's not Cam Newton's job necessarily quite yet. So then the question becomes, is it a fallback option or the option they are they bringing him in to do what we're about to talk about, which is be a run based team, or is that as Cam Newton the screw it, let's throw caution to the wind because Jared Stidham is not working out? Is he that option where you're gonna just try to bail yourself out? And I don't know the answer to that. They haven't seen Stidham throw in several months, so it's not like they. I don't know why they'd be less confident in Stidham. That's where we're at with everything. Yeah, and we're for the sake of the show, we are going to just go ahead and work under the assumption that Cam Newton will be the Week one starter in New England. Uh, As you said, I mean, look that there's the fact that they are, uh you know, according to reports high on Jarrett Stidham. Uh you know who who knows if that's true or not, But uh, it's within the realm of possibility. So uh, you know, this could end up being a straight up competition. Obviously, Cam comes with some health issues. It sounds like he is he is relatively healthy at this point, but uh, with his list of injuries the last couple of years, there's no absolute guarantee with that. He has not I believe at the time of taping he has not taken a physical yet. So that's uh, that's another thing to think about. But let's just let's just forge ahead. Let's just forge ahead. Cam Cam Newton is the quarterback for the New England Patriots in so my first question Andy is uh, you know, I mean, look, we we've talked about this all the time. We talked about it when the Panthers wanted to do something a little bit different offensively the last couple of years with with Cam try and get the ball out of his hands. Um, you're never gonna have a Cam Newton offense that doesn't feature him in the run game. So my question to you is do the Patriots have the the personnel, especially up front, to essentially replicate you know what the Carolina Panthers had. Uh, let's say, let's let's just say circuit. I'm not saying Cam is gonna have an m VV type season, but uh, can they basically run that offense with what they have right now? Well, that's a good question. I think. Can we back up and talk about the Cam Newton in the quick strike offense thing from a few years ago, which I think is really applicable here, because that's a great point you're making. When you signed Cam Newton, you are signing him to be part of your running game. There's no question about that, because as a pure passer, there's there's a lot of wild cards. With him in the run game offsets many of those wild cards. So a few years ago, and we we talked about this a lot going into that season, Well, I believe it was the eason Gary Cam Newton. The plan was for I'm almost positive it was the plans to get the ball out of his hand, Okay, plans to get the ball out of his hand a little bit quicker, and they were gonna include the running back and the passing game more. And that was all good and well, and I think Newton, I want to say he responded positively on paper. I think his numbers were not pull him up right here. Yeah, sixty seven point nine percent completion rate that season, and they had Christian McCaffrey aboard, so obviously he's a big factor in what they do, and he had a hundred and seven catches that year. The overall point though, that we had concerns with, and I think it proved true. Even though Newton had a high completion percentage, when you're running a quick strike offense, you can't afford in completions the same way because that's it's almost like getting a TfL if you're run based offense a little bit to put you off schedule just enough. Also, a quick strike offense is a timing and rhythm thing, and in completion's compromised the rhythm. So Newton had a good completion percentage because I think they did a nice job that season of designing plays, especially with McCaffrey in the in the passing game, but it never looked fully like a quick strike offense where there were three or four receivers that might get the ball given any snap, and they're doing stack releases and crossing routes and and um picks and rubs. They never gotten to that full kind of rhythm, which is what we've seen New England do. That's their hallmark over the years. So I don't believe Newton can run that that kind of passing game, which I you are you with me on that? I don't think you're saying that they can't either, Yeah, I'm with you on that. So then, which means that Newton is here to run a totally different style offense and what New England has as there are other options. If they go with Stidham or Horrier, you're obviously not doing with those guys what you'd be doing with Newton. I think that in and of itself is extremely interesting that the Patriots basically because with story and with with with Horrier in Stidham story story, we'll just call the backup story or now we don't know what one with Horrier and Stidham, at least you could say if one doesn't work out, you plug in the other and everything you've been practicing is still in play. You're still running the same offense with those guys. And I think that's a big deal and a season that has had no offseason. I don't know if you can have two offenses without having had an offseason. But obviously New England's gonna go in that direction because if Newton's in there, the offense will be tailored for him. They're not going to make the foundation a quick strike passing game. In fact, if we'll get into I assume we're getting into the passing game and what you do with Newton, but it will be a very different passing game with him. Yeah, let's let's start with the run game, because I mean, look, the Patriots, like you said, their last Super Bowl run, with the exception of that shootout that they won in Kansas City, it was really it was a It was a heavily run based offense. It was a lot of power run that sort of carried them through December and January that year. And obviously it also assaulted away that that Super Bowl against the Rams. So we've seen that identity from them. Obviously, Cam adds another element to that run game that that that that they obviously did not have a Tom Brady. So I guess my it's a two par question, Andy, especially with David Andrews coming back this year after missing all last season. Uh, they seem to be very formidable up front as far as that offensive line goes. And I would imagine, uh, you know, basically, if you just stole the Panthers playbook and said let's run this, I would think they're they're pretty well built for that. So I guess the question kind of becomes, um one the running backs, especially Sony Michelle stylistically, are they read option type guys? And to how long does it take to you know, getting the mesh points stuff down in the read option game. I mean, like you said, it's going to be uh limited practice time this summer for for these guys, so, uh, you know, how much of an issue does at uh does that become when you're when you're installing this offense or presumably installing this offense. Yeah, that's a good question, and honestly, I'm not sure I know the answer to that. That's that would be a question for coaches that have run practice drills over the years. I study coaches through scheme, but the practice drills themselves and the actual fundamentals, you know, I've never had to encounter that. I don't know how long it takes to develop that chemistry I would assume it'd be quicker than expect. I mean, they did it with Brissette that one week, and they probably weren't practicing it thirty times a day. So um, let's assume for for the sake of these are NFL players and that they'll get that down and that won't be a big issue. Like I could be wrong, but let's assume that. As far as the style of runner, Sony Michelle to me is a really and it's gonna be a backhand to compliments, not intended, but it's going to be. He's a really good generic runner. That's that's what Sony Michelle is. You plug him in, you run the play, and he gets you the play's yards and you can trust it and all that at four point two yards that carry kind of guys standing back. He's much better running out of I formation probably than than shotgun, which is very notable if you're getting into the read option stuff because that's shotgun running stylistically. But that's what that's what Michelle is, and I think they'll have a two back running game, which is really what they've relied on in recent years en especially when they ran the ball. I think they were fourth and rushing attempts that year in the NFL. Uh third attempts. Uh yeah, third attempts. Boy, you know that year they were third attempts uh and twentieth in yards per attempt, fifth in yards. But they basically ran the crap out of the ball all season long and just stayed and committed to it. Michelle will be that guy for him. And Dan Vitali, who was with the Packers as their fullback last year. He's now in here replacing James Devlon. Probably a little bit of a downgrade, but I thought Vitality looked pretty intriguing at times two and you can probably flex him out and do your passing up for them at times. So the real guys in the conversation there are James White and Rex Burkhead, because that's probably who will be on the field for a lot of the read options stuff. I think those guys are better shotguns style runners than Sony Michelle. Even Brandon Bolden is an interesting guy. But it's also quite possible that Bill Belichick thinks, no, guys, let's not let's not overthink this. It's it's you handle the ball, they run the ball, they read the blocks. It's they're simpler runs. QB is reading one defender and decide whether to keep it or hand it off. Defense has to play passive because of all the options we present, we don't let's not overthink the style of runner that we need. We can do this with all these professional backs we have. And am I uh am I correct in just sort of lazily assessing the offensive line as good on paper and and therefore, uh they should be able to to, you know, execute this again theoretically new style of offense without any sort of problem. Yeah, absolutely, you're you're correct to assess it that way because it's not just a good, solid offensive line, it's an athletic offensive line. Andrews is nothing special as an athlete, but he's not limited, and he's the anchor piece and they'll be better just having him back there at center. Joe Tuney has become a good on the move blocker, not special, He's not going to get confused for Alan Fanica, but obviously they franchise tagged him. He's the guy who's primarily the poller when they did their play action and their gap scheme runs, and that's a big part of their offense. So you like what you have and Tuney a left guard check Mason. I've always been surprised that they don't use him as a poller more often, and I think the reason why is more often your pull blocker goes to the right side rather than the left, because that's just kind of how your play action off of it gets set up. But as a right guard, Mason I think can be a much more multidimensional blocker than he's been if they want him to be. And then a tackle Isaiah Win first rounder plus athlete, and Marcus Cannon by right tackle standards. You know, Marcus Cannon plays pretty well on the balls of his feet. He's not a classic thumping right tackle. He he plays up on his toes and is a little bit more nimble stylistically. So there are five linemen there that I think you can ask to do just about anything in the running game there. They have the athleticism to make it work. Um. So then the conversation probably shifts to Dalton Keene at tight end and Devin Assisi at tight end their third round rookies, because I don't know if you can have a great running game without having a solid tight end as part of the equation if you're gonna be a run based team, I mean yeah, I mean, would they just lean on one of the I mean Ryanizo came into the league with the reputation as a as a blocking first guy. I mean, I don't know if he's quite lived up to that, but he just sort of plug one of those dudes in there who have been there, you know, between Ise and Lacosse. Well, possibly if you're not comfortable with Keen or or As are one of those guys. Is is a hybrid player. If I recall, I don't remember which one it is. You probably remember do you study those those draft prospects, Uh, they're they're both fairly well rounded, I think as long term probably h if one of them is gonna end up like a Y, it would probably be U and Keen to me is more sort of move around type of guy. But okay, yeah, you need to move around type of guy. Because the other reason I'm sure the Patriots are considering going this route is they looked at this who was in the Super Bowl for the NFC last year in the forty niners, And I would bet you to a man, people in the nflc that's the best all around offense in the NFL right now schematically, and Kyle use checks a big part of that for San Francisco and what all they can do in the running game with him. And then the other team is Baltimore, who was the best team throughout most of the season and was the number one seed and and obviously they were very run based and had a mobile QB, but they had a lot of move blockers as well. And we've talked about Nick Boyle probably being their most valuable tight end. Even though Mark Andrews is the one that gets the accolades and he's a great receiver, Boyle plays the most snaps. He's the guy who's on the move, and a lot of their designs, I think boil you could argues their most valuable tight end in Baltimore, so on the move flexible blockers are vital because that's the guy who can change your strength of your formation after the snap. You can line up with strong to the left and if the fullback winds back to the right after the snap, now the strength of the formation is likely over there. So you can control a lot and dictate rules to the defense by who's your moving, by how you're using your moving tight end, your blocking tight end, and if that guy can also catch the ball and boils and okay receiver use checks a great receiver at times, then that's almost that's borderline impossible to stop, especially that guy can catch the ball and flex out in different positions and do it like youth check does when he goes out to the slaughter way out to number one at at and wide formation. So which makes more sense that they have these tight ends now and they've always wanted flexible tight ends there in New England. But I think those guys, those third round rookies, will be critical. And I'm saying then because I don't know if Matt la cost cuts it quite Frankly, I thought he was okay, but you know, he didn't do anything special last season as the starter. So those third round rookie tight ends are critical. I think. Alright, let's uh, let's talk passing game a little bit here. Uh, we'll back up just a moment. Look, last year New England's issues were, you know, it was the fact that they didn't have very good receivers. They had, you Line Edelman very very nice season. Other than that, I mean, if you were looking at it on paper coming into Uh, you'd hope you get a step up from in Kiel Harry first round. Or you'd hope that Mohammed Sanu is healthier and therefore better after he was a dud after they acquired him last year the trade deadline and uh, you know the two tight ends s C, s C and UH and keen you you hope you get something out of them instead of nothing? Uh? Correct? How didn't I don't Ryanizzo sets uh set some very good screens in his in his defense, Uh, was there any reason to think that this offense was really gonna be in better shape? U? I mean, look, you're you're downgrading, You're going from Tom Brady Jared Stidham. So um. I just don't know how this was going to add up to being any better than what they had a year ago. No. Why? I mean because a year ago their problem was that they had they didn't have any receiving talent and and teams knew it. By the way, it's one thing to not have the talent, it's another for your opponents to treat you that way. And I have not seen it was so obvious. I watched everything New England did last season and I watched their cut ups as well, so you get to all their third and medium situations, third and long, and you really notice patterns when you do it that way. What was so obvious watching these guys is there were two men on their offense that defense has cared at all about and felt they had to stop. It was Julian Edelman and it was James White, and those guys got all the double teams, all the coverages were tilted and centered around dealing with those guys, and everything else was it was just what we're gonna play, and we're gonna be better because we have better players in what New England has outside of those two guys, and more often than not are a lot of the time, especially by Patriot standards, where the expectation is a Super Bowl every year, a lot of the time it worked for the opponents. They they they often didn't function smoothly and now you've got an issue there. So they haven't addressed the receiver position to kill Harry. I'm sure they feel will be better this year. They used a first round pick on him, but he needed reps. He was was obviously he wasn't quite ready to play at times. He's inexperience aranged, it showed, and now he's coming off an offseason that where he had no reps and they're changing the quarterback. That's a tough uphill slog. Mohammed sannws a nice player. He does not run well, so you have to take that into consideration. And then they did add Marquis Lee from Jacksonville, And when I saw that, I thought, okay, well that makes sense. He's kind of those hybrid stack release, quick slant type of you know, he can run those Edelman type ish routes and complement them there. But that's probably the nerd and me overthinking it because when is it When is an offense going to build itself around Marquis Lee or when is he going to come into the equation and change the end results. So he's their number four receiver most likely, so they don't have the guys to run the style of offense that they wanted to run with with with Hoyer and Stidham, and that, when you look at it that way, that makes that makes the Newton acquisition a little more understandable. Yeah. I was gonna say, I mean, look, what can they do with this passing game? At this point if Cam Newton's understand entner, uh, you know you're not gonna run as we said, You're not gonna run the same thing you you ran with Tom Brady. But what can they do with this receiving corps and Cam Newton's strength as a passer even you know, even if he's a streaky passer in terms of accuracy, well, your best players still Julian Edelman by far. And and let's understand Edelman is not just an underneath shifty ball catcher. I mean he he can get vertical. Is not gonna beach over the top outside, but he can get vertical between the numbers. He can run deep over routes and crossing routes. I think he can win contested catches. Bigger defenders pose a little more of a problem in certain angles. But Julian Edelman is not just a a east and west make a miss type of receiver, by the way, And I know we're not talking at all about this guy, but it's fresh to mind because he gets compared to Edelman all the time he's in the a f C East cool Beasley is not that way either. Cole Beasley is a much more multidimensional receiver. For Buffalo. So if those two guys are multidimensional receivers, it probably reasons that there is no such thing as just appear only slot receiver. At least those guys are very rare because you can do more with them as long as you design the offense effectively. And that gets back to those tight ends. Having someone else in the middle of the field to regulate safeties a little bit, uh, that will help with what you want to do it on all the routes with Edelman, because what you would to answer your question, we're directly gary how you play with those guys in the passing game. Newton's not a timing and rhythm precision accuracy player when he's when he throws the ball, even when it's complete, it doesn't necessarily mean it's gonna be pinpoint where you catch it and get a bunch of yards after catch, because you're able to catch it and stride. So they have to understand that and think, all right, well, then we're gonna throw the ball ten to fifteen yards downfield, eighteen to twenty five yards downfield, where Newton can be very good, especially when he's throwing outside the field numbers. He attacks the sidelines with power throws as well as almost anyone in the league, and his his good throws look as good as anybody's. That's the identity there. So then it's how do we get guys over there to win on those those balls? And that that's gonna be challenging Gary, because even though I just said Edelman could do a lot of things, Edelman is not the guy to win on those outside one on one routes. I don't know if they have that guy unless they think to kill Harry can be him getting into those plays. I mean, are we gonna see Patriots have obviously didn't really get in play action. Uh doesn't make sense to to run a lot of play action to sort of, you know, give your receiver's a chance to get downfield a little bit and and sort of, uh, you know, get later into the down by design. Um. I think you would initially believe it does because Cam Newton's mobile and he's he is a playmakers, such a unique athlete that you think, yeah, late in the downing bear watch out for Cam. But he's really and this is what the Broncos figured out in the Super Bowl the year that Newton was the m v P and Denver just they dominated them pretty much in the Super Bowl fifty was. Newton does not scramble a whole lot. He's a running QB, but he doesn't run on passing downs, and he's he can throw on the move, but he's you know, he's not Russell Wilson. So I don't think you would. I don't think you're bringing in Newton with the idea that he's going to extend plays for you. That's not Maybe you think you can get him to be that if you want him to be the hats Um. It's probably hard to make a guy who's is Newton thirty. I imagine Newton's in his early thirties at this point. Yeah. Yeah, he's been there and he's been in the leagueleven. So we're talking about a guy who's entering his tenth NFL season. You're not gonna make him something he's not right now. He is what he is. He's not a scrambling quarterback. He does not run very much. When when Denver figured that out, they decided to green dog blitz him all game long. So when he whenever that never they could out of man coverage, they sent extra rushers at Newton the thinking is always don't blitz the mobile qbs, because that the blitzer doesn't get there, there's no one to handle the guy running off the QB running off. But the Broncos weren't worried about that because Newton really doesn't run off. And I would imagine the Patriots will not count on Newton to extend plays. I will say, and and and look, I I do wonder how much the fact that Cam had. You know, he's faced Belichick twice in his career, and he had really good games in a couple of Panthers wins both those times. And I remember a couple of years in Foxborough. Uh, he did have a game where he scrambled four or five times and picked up big chunks of yards uh that way. And I don't know, I I always wondered it never really stuck and for the reasons that you talked about, But I did kind of wonder if you know, if someone just emphasized that with him, if if he had a coaching staff that just said like, all right, this is this is what you gotta do. You know one or two reason then just tucked well and go. I mean, you're you know, you're you're so dangerous. Uh, with the ball in your hands, let's let's do that. But uh, and Gary, you might be right on with that too. And I remember that game you're talking about. It was early in the season and the Panthers killed the Patriots with switch releases and with New England's own tactic no stacks and switches and bunches where everyone's intersecting. New England played Manda Man, they couldn't figure out how to switch some of those. Matt Patricia I think lost his mind in the middle of that game because if his guys were blowing so many coverages, if I'm remembering correctly, I think that's what that one was. So, which also says you can do some of those Patriot tactics with Newton. What was different about those Panthers that was their switch releases were vertical routes. Usually they were throwing down field as opposed to east and west or trying to get run after catch yards. But yeah, maybe he can do all that. And one thing we know about Belichick that he's done so well. And Kyle van Noy, who's not there anymore, of course, but he's probably the best example of this because Kyle van Noy was basically a second round bust for the Detroit Lions, and this Patriots signed him, and Van Noy gradually becomes, I think next to Stephon Gilmour, their most important defensive player, maybe behind High Tower as well. But the point is they figured out exactly what van Noy is. He's an edge guy, He's a hybrid edge guy. He's not a stack linebacker. And they turn him into a stut and they've done that with a lot of guys. Are give him this these Nats roles and played to that, you could be very well be right that Bill Belichicks looks at this and says, why hasn't anybody ever told this guy to run? Why? Why? Why wouldn't he scramble? Do you think he doesn't know how he can run away from everybody? Why wouldn't he scramble? Obviously someone has told him not to her has been coached to him to be a passer. And it's commendable because I think that is the better way to play. But if you're signing him for a year and there's been no offseason, and you know that right now, the teams that run the ball have a tactical advantage because even though the best teams run the ball, not very many of them are running the ball, So defenses have not acclimated fully to opping these run based offenses yet. And it's an offseason that has had no practice time. Let's just put in a run heavy game and ask Kim Newton to scramble around, which no one has ever seen him done on film, and maybe we can steal eleven wins out of that and get in the playoffs. Yeah. I was gonna say, you look at this team, and you know, a week ago we're basically saying, okay, well they're gonna try and win a bunch of games seventeen to fourteen with what they have here. Uh. We don't necessarily have to deep dive the defense in this one, but I will point out. I mean, look, this was a defense. They scored seven non offensive touchdowns last season. That was the most of any team in twenty nine or eighteen. Uh. That can't be counted on and happening again. As you mentioned, Kyle Van NOI is not there anymore. Uh, I I don't. There's just no way you can look at this defense and say, Okay, we're gonna get the same uh type of season that they had in twenty nineteen. Here, they're gonna be very good. I just don't think they're gonna be you know, borderline historically great like they were a year ago. So the question becomes, Okay, how are we gonna put up instead of you know, seventeen points per game? How mean four points a game or something like that. And it just seems like a more realistic path to that. H Well, because the other guy who's not there's Jamie Collins, and he was a big deal too, because like Van Noy he was he has the size and the frame and Collins actually could play off the ball, but he also has a size and frame to line up on the line of scrimmage and basically be your edge set of your defensive end. And right now I'm trying to even figure out who will be their starting lineup. It would not surprise me if they go back to doing what they've done for a lot of years and they have different lineups every week. It feels like, I mean, maybe it's Chase Winovich and the Kyle van Noy role this year. I it's they don't have any proven entities at all up front other than Lawrence guy, John Simon and Dante Hire, So three of their front seven starters are proven into he's the rest or question marks. That's that's a bottom five probably front seven in terms of talent in the NFL. What they do have, though, Gary is an unbelievable secondary with the best corner in the NFL and and Stefan Gilmour. And he's not just a stopper, He's not. He makes a ton of plays as well out of Manda Man he led the NFL last year, and interception opportunities out of man coverage you create. I think he had six interceptible balls. I think he hung onto four of them out of Manda Man coverage. Um Devin mccordy can cover tight ends. Patrick Chung's a great player in their system. Jason mccordy when you actually go and watch him in isolation, he had a heck of a year two, much better than I thought he would be. And J. C. Jackson I think can be a top fifteen corner this season for him, covers tight ends and big receivers, long armed guy. Those are their five defensive backs. Adrian Phillips as well from the charges Jonathan Jones and I don't mean to be what happens when you list a bunch of names that it adds a false credence to what you're saying because we just assume, oh, yeah, he's good too. That's like another good player because I'm naming the names. But these are guys who are all above average. On their worst day, they're above average, and Gilmore's the best. You have man demand corners. You can't. You can't avoid that as an offense. You have to throw. If you're gonna pass the ball, you've got to pass against those man demand corners. You can't hide from them. You can't out leverage their zones and and make them wrong by their rules. You line up and play and have to. You have to out execute them. And New England's probably counting on offenses not being able to do that. Alright, Still plenty of things to figure out in this Cam Newton New England Patriots fit here. Uh, I don't know. Maybe they just end up trading them to the Chargers who were asleep at the switch this entire time, and you could have just added Cam. I'd be furious if I were the Chargers fan right now. Yeah, yeah, I don't, I don't know. I don't disagree with you because I know Anthony Lynn wants to play with them mobile QB and that's why they have Tyrod Taylor. And that's why Lennon's speaking the truth when he says he likes Tyrod, because Len's a great run game mind and he knows what a mobile QB can do. So I'm a little surprised, especially because Newton is probably one guy do you think that could help sell tickets in l A. Not that I would ever espouse you build a roster at that mind, but and I guess that's not an issue this year, maybe so much. But there's a hard reality there with the Chargers, which is that they have to develop a fan base, and I Newton might be someone that could that fans would come paid just to watch him play. Yeah, I mean, look, I think that's absolutely true. But I think it was the correct football move to make as well, especially in an off season where you invested in all these you know, late twenties, early thirties age free agents, and you know you had a chance to I'm not gonna sit here and say you add Cam Newton, You're gonna overtake the Chiefs and win the Super Bowl. But uh, you can certainly put yourself in a conversation, uh to know, make a run deep into the postseason if Cam Newton ends up being healthy and and uh, things break your way a little bit. But what what you also have our intermediate deep intermediate type receivers Mike Williams and Keenan Allen are the exact kind of receivers you want to play with have playing with Newton because of the type of routes that they run, go routes, back shoulders in breaking balls, deep post deep slants. So that's another reason the concern though there and it's not a Chargers podcast, but their offensive line. I think they feel there in Los Angeles that that old line is probably a little better suited for outside zone running. And really with with Newton and outside zone, it's just called a zone offense like what the night Wild Niners aren't a good example where the Rams kind of offense that style of running game. Um, and Newton's probably had his best in a man demand style running game with gap scheme blockers, which the Patriots will do and they've done well in the recent years. Okay, uh, we'll do a hypothetical Chargers podcast maybe another time, but uh, Andy I think that's gonna do it for now. Once again, thank you for joining me, and we'll call it just goodbye for now, all right. The mm QB Monday Morning NFL Podcast is me Gary Gramling Special thanks once again to Andy Benoit for joining me for this one. We are produced by Shelby Royson. Sis. Executive producer of podcasts is Scott Brody, ben Eagles, Director of editorial Projects and product Mark Ravick is Emeritus editor of the MMQB. Andy Benoit is the founder of the MQB NFL podcast. Keep up with our entire lineup of podcasts five days a week by subscribing to the MQB NFL Podcast for free on Apple Podcasts. Now why are there? Please do us a favor and leave a rating m review. It really does help other people find the show, which is also available on Spotify radio dot com, Stitcher, si dot com, and wherever else you listen to podcasts.

Hello, and welcome to the m m QB Monday Morning NFL Podcast. I am your host, Gary Grambling. I will be joined by a special guest in just a moment. And I don't know if you can hear it, but there's a it's a little bit of a pep in my step here, as the kids say. We had actual news this weekend. As I'm sure you already saw, the Jets officially signed offensive lineman Cameron Clark, the pick of the draft, to his rookie deal. And while the reverberations from that transaction were being felt, the Patriots went ahead and signed Cam Newton. Maybe we'll talk about Clark next week, but I think we're gonna mostly focused on Cam in this show. And and with that, I'll bring in our special guest. It is Andy Benoit. Uh Andy kind of a kind of look surprising. The timing is surprising, obviously, but uh I think the landing spot is surprising because it just felt like if they were gonna make this move, it would have already been made. I agree with you, and I guess so you mean you're Cam Newton not Cam Clark. Is the main focus here for the very beginning big weekend for Cam's Yeah, it is um so I said a few months ago, I would be shocked if the Patriots acquired Cam Newton for the reason that I believe Bill Belichick, whose decision it ultimately is. Of course, Josh McDaniel's run the offense, but Belichick is going to decide who the QB is. I believe he wants someone who will execute their system the way it's designed, and he does not want unpredictability at QB, even if unpredictability means that you're gonna have some highs and lows, and those highs are gonna be much higher than what a Brian Horrier can deliver for you. That was my thinking with it. Obviously, in this case that thinking was wrong because Cam Newton's a unique entity and the Patriots are going to take a chance on him. So here's the other part that that's true with New England, and it's paradoxical to what I was at first thinking, is they do a lot of different things to win games. They win in a lot of different ways. We hear that all the time, they adjust their identity. People within football say that as well. It's not just something that that TV host have gotten used to saying and don't really know what they mean when they say it. The Patriots are very malleble in their identities, and I think they're looking at the writing on the wall and the writing between the lines, and they're saying, our best bet is to win through our defense. What complements the defense best a running game, a power running game. If you're gonna be a run based offense, which they've kind of been at times in recent years, if you're going to commit to being a run based offense, then having a uniquely multidimensional running QB does wonders for you. And remember back in there was that Thursday night game I believe against the Texans. They had Jacoby Brissette starting week three. Nobody knew anything about Jacoby Brissette except the Patriots, of course, and they went with a ton of read option that night, which we had never seen from New England. It worked. I think they shut the Texans out. Now you know, it didn't work for long. The Bills caught up to him the next week. But the point is we've seen them adjust and do that stuff before in a three three day week. Now they're going to give it a shot for the season. But Gary one other thing. It's a competition at quarterback, right, I mean Kim Newton's numbers, is his salary is not that of a guy who they clearly view as the no question started. Maybe that's partly because they didn't have any competition for signing Newton. But it's not Cam Newton's job necessarily quite yet. So then the question becomes, is it a fallback option or the option they are they bringing him in to do what we're about to talk about, which is be a run based team, or is that as Cam Newton the screw it, let's throw caution to the wind because Jared Stidham is not working out? Is he that option where you're gonna just try to bail yourself out? And I don't know the answer to that. They haven't seen Stidham throw in several months, so it's not like they. I don't know why they'd be less confident in Stidham. That's where we're at with everything. Yeah, and we're for the sake of the show, we are going to just go ahead and work under the assumption that Cam Newton will be the Week one starter in New England. Uh, As you said, I mean, look that there's the fact that they are, uh you know, according to reports high on Jarrett Stidham. Uh you know who who knows if that's true or not, But uh, it's within the realm of possibility. So uh, you know, this could end up being a straight up competition. Obviously, Cam comes with some health issues. It sounds like he is he is relatively healthy at this point, but uh, with his list of injuries the last couple of years, there's no absolute guarantee with that. He has not I believe at the time of taping he has not taken a physical yet. So that's uh, that's another thing to think about. But let's just let's just forge ahead. Let's just forge ahead. Cam Cam Newton is the quarterback for the New England Patriots in so my first question Andy is uh, you know, I mean, look, we we've talked about this all the time. We talked about it when the Panthers wanted to do something a little bit different offensively the last couple of years with with Cam try and get the ball out of his hands. Um, you're never gonna have a Cam Newton offense that doesn't feature him in the run game. So my question to you is do the Patriots have the the personnel, especially up front, to essentially replicate you know what the Carolina Panthers had. Uh, let's say, let's let's just say circuit. I'm not saying Cam is gonna have an m VV type season, but uh, can they basically run that offense with what they have right now? Well, that's a good question. I think. Can we back up and talk about the Cam Newton in the quick strike offense thing from a few years ago, which I think is really applicable here, because that's a great point you're making. When you signed Cam Newton, you are signing him to be part of your running game. There's no question about that, because as a pure passer, there's there's a lot of wild cards. With him in the run game offsets many of those wild cards. So a few years ago, and we we talked about this a lot going into that season, Well, I believe it was the eason Gary Cam Newton. The plan was for I'm almost positive it was the plans to get the ball out of his hand, Okay, plans to get the ball out of his hand a little bit quicker, and they were gonna include the running back and the passing game more. And that was all good and well, and I think Newton, I want to say he responded positively on paper. I think his numbers were not pull him up right here. Yeah, sixty seven point nine percent completion rate that season, and they had Christian McCaffrey aboard, so obviously he's a big factor in what they do, and he had a hundred and seven catches that year. The overall point though, that we had concerns with, and I think it proved true. Even though Newton had a high completion percentage, when you're running a quick strike offense, you can't afford in completions the same way because that's it's almost like getting a TfL if you're run based offense a little bit to put you off schedule just enough. Also, a quick strike offense is a timing and rhythm thing, and in completion's compromised the rhythm. So Newton had a good completion percentage because I think they did a nice job that season of designing plays, especially with McCaffrey in the in the passing game, but it never looked fully like a quick strike offense where there were three or four receivers that might get the ball given any snap, and they're doing stack releases and crossing routes and and um picks and rubs. They never gotten to that full kind of rhythm, which is what we've seen New England do. That's their hallmark over the years. So I don't believe Newton can run that that kind of passing game, which I you are you with me on that? I don't think you're saying that they can't either, Yeah, I'm with you on that. So then, which means that Newton is here to run a totally different style offense and what New England has as there are other options. If they go with Stidham or Horrier, you're obviously not doing with those guys what you'd be doing with Newton. I think that in and of itself is extremely interesting that the Patriots basically because with story and with with with Horrier in Stidham story story, we'll just call the backup story or now we don't know what one with Horrier and Stidham, at least you could say if one doesn't work out, you plug in the other and everything you've been practicing is still in play. You're still running the same offense with those guys. And I think that's a big deal and a season that has had no offseason. I don't know if you can have two offenses without having had an offseason. But obviously New England's gonna go in that direction because if Newton's in there, the offense will be tailored for him. They're not going to make the foundation a quick strike passing game. In fact, if we'll get into I assume we're getting into the passing game and what you do with Newton, but it will be a very different passing game with him. Yeah, let's let's start with the run game, because I mean, look, the Patriots, like you said, their last Super Bowl run, with the exception of that shootout that they won in Kansas City, it was really it was a It was a heavily run based offense. It was a lot of power run that sort of carried them through December and January that year. And obviously it also assaulted away that that Super Bowl against the Rams. So we've seen that identity from them. Obviously, Cam adds another element to that run game that that that that they obviously did not have a Tom Brady. So I guess my it's a two par question, Andy, especially with David Andrews coming back this year after missing all last season. Uh, they seem to be very formidable up front as far as that offensive line goes. And I would imagine, uh, you know, basically, if you just stole the Panthers playbook and said let's run this, I would think they're they're pretty well built for that. So I guess the question kind of becomes, um one the running backs, especially Sony Michelle stylistically, are they read option type guys? And to how long does it take to you know, getting the mesh points stuff down in the read option game. I mean, like you said, it's going to be uh limited practice time this summer for for these guys, so, uh, you know, how much of an issue does at uh does that become when you're when you're installing this offense or presumably installing this offense. Yeah, that's a good question, and honestly, I'm not sure I know the answer to that. That's that would be a question for coaches that have run practice drills over the years. I study coaches through scheme, but the practice drills themselves and the actual fundamentals, you know, I've never had to encounter that. I don't know how long it takes to develop that chemistry I would assume it'd be quicker than expect. I mean, they did it with Brissette that one week, and they probably weren't practicing it thirty times a day. So um, let's assume for for the sake of these are NFL players and that they'll get that down and that won't be a big issue. Like I could be wrong, but let's assume that. As far as the style of runner, Sony Michelle to me is a really and it's gonna be a backhand to compliments, not intended, but it's going to be. He's a really good generic runner. That's that's what Sony Michelle is. You plug him in, you run the play, and he gets you the play's yards and you can trust it and all that at four point two yards that carry kind of guys standing back. He's much better running out of I formation probably than than shotgun, which is very notable if you're getting into the read option stuff because that's shotgun running stylistically. But that's what that's what Michelle is, and I think they'll have a two back running game, which is really what they've relied on in recent years en especially when they ran the ball. I think they were fourth and rushing attempts that year in the NFL. Uh third attempts. Uh yeah, third attempts. Boy, you know that year they were third attempts uh and twentieth in yards per attempt, fifth in yards. But they basically ran the crap out of the ball all season long and just stayed and committed to it. Michelle will be that guy for him. And Dan Vitali, who was with the Packers as their fullback last year. He's now in here replacing James Devlon. Probably a little bit of a downgrade, but I thought Vitality looked pretty intriguing at times two and you can probably flex him out and do your passing up for them at times. So the real guys in the conversation there are James White and Rex Burkhead, because that's probably who will be on the field for a lot of the read options stuff. I think those guys are better shotguns style runners than Sony Michelle. Even Brandon Bolden is an interesting guy. But it's also quite possible that Bill Belichick thinks, no, guys, let's not let's not overthink this. It's it's you handle the ball, they run the ball, they read the blocks. It's they're simpler runs. QB is reading one defender and decide whether to keep it or hand it off. Defense has to play passive because of all the options we present, we don't let's not overthink the style of runner that we need. We can do this with all these professional backs we have. And am I uh am I correct in just sort of lazily assessing the offensive line as good on paper and and therefore, uh they should be able to to, you know, execute this again theoretically new style of offense without any sort of problem. Yeah, absolutely, you're you're correct to assess it that way because it's not just a good, solid offensive line, it's an athletic offensive line. Andrews is nothing special as an athlete, but he's not limited, and he's the anchor piece and they'll be better just having him back there at center. Joe Tuney has become a good on the move blocker, not special, He's not going to get confused for Alan Fanica, but obviously they franchise tagged him. He's the guy who's primarily the poller when they did their play action and their gap scheme runs, and that's a big part of their offense. So you like what you have and Tuney a left guard check Mason. I've always been surprised that they don't use him as a poller more often, and I think the reason why is more often your pull blocker goes to the right side rather than the left, because that's just kind of how your play action off of it gets set up. But as a right guard, Mason I think can be a much more multidimensional blocker than he's been if they want him to be. And then a tackle Isaiah Win first rounder plus athlete, and Marcus Cannon by right tackle standards. You know, Marcus Cannon plays pretty well on the balls of his feet. He's not a classic thumping right tackle. He he plays up on his toes and is a little bit more nimble stylistically. So there are five linemen there that I think you can ask to do just about anything in the running game there. They have the athleticism to make it work. Um. So then the conversation probably shifts to Dalton Keene at tight end and Devin Assisi at tight end their third round rookies, because I don't know if you can have a great running game without having a solid tight end as part of the equation if you're gonna be a run based team, I mean yeah, I mean, would they just lean on one of the I mean Ryanizo came into the league with the reputation as a as a blocking first guy. I mean, I don't know if he's quite lived up to that, but he just sort of plug one of those dudes in there who have been there, you know, between Ise and Lacosse. Well, possibly if you're not comfortable with Keen or or As are one of those guys. Is is a hybrid player. If I recall, I don't remember which one it is. You probably remember do you study those those draft prospects, Uh, they're they're both fairly well rounded, I think as long term probably h if one of them is gonna end up like a Y, it would probably be U and Keen to me is more sort of move around type of guy. But okay, yeah, you need to move around type of guy. Because the other reason I'm sure the Patriots are considering going this route is they looked at this who was in the Super Bowl for the NFC last year in the forty niners, And I would bet you to a man, people in the nflc that's the best all around offense in the NFL right now schematically, and Kyle use checks a big part of that for San Francisco and what all they can do in the running game with him. And then the other team is Baltimore, who was the best team throughout most of the season and was the number one seed and and obviously they were very run based and had a mobile QB, but they had a lot of move blockers as well. And we've talked about Nick Boyle probably being their most valuable tight end. Even though Mark Andrews is the one that gets the accolades and he's a great receiver, Boyle plays the most snaps. He's the guy who's on the move, and a lot of their designs, I think boil you could argues their most valuable tight end in Baltimore, so on the move flexible blockers are vital because that's the guy who can change your strength of your formation after the snap. You can line up with strong to the left and if the fullback winds back to the right after the snap, now the strength of the formation is likely over there. So you can control a lot and dictate rules to the defense by who's your moving, by how you're using your moving tight end, your blocking tight end, and if that guy can also catch the ball and boils and okay receiver use checks a great receiver at times, then that's almost that's borderline impossible to stop, especially that guy can catch the ball and flex out in different positions and do it like youth check does when he goes out to the slaughter way out to number one at at and wide formation. So which makes more sense that they have these tight ends now and they've always wanted flexible tight ends there in New England. But I think those guys, those third round rookies, will be critical. And I'm saying then because I don't know if Matt la cost cuts it quite Frankly, I thought he was okay, but you know, he didn't do anything special last season as the starter. So those third round rookie tight ends are critical. I think. Alright, let's uh, let's talk passing game a little bit here. Uh, we'll back up just a moment. Look, last year New England's issues were, you know, it was the fact that they didn't have very good receivers. They had, you Line Edelman very very nice season. Other than that, I mean, if you were looking at it on paper coming into Uh, you'd hope you get a step up from in Kiel Harry first round. Or you'd hope that Mohammed Sanu is healthier and therefore better after he was a dud after they acquired him last year the trade deadline and uh, you know the two tight ends s C, s C and UH and keen you you hope you get something out of them instead of nothing? Uh? Correct? How didn't I don't Ryanizzo sets uh set some very good screens in his in his defense, Uh, was there any reason to think that this offense was really gonna be in better shape? U? I mean, look, you're you're downgrading, You're going from Tom Brady Jared Stidham. So um. I just don't know how this was going to add up to being any better than what they had a year ago. No. Why? I mean because a year ago their problem was that they had they didn't have any receiving talent and and teams knew it. By the way, it's one thing to not have the talent, it's another for your opponents to treat you that way. And I have not seen it was so obvious. I watched everything New England did last season and I watched their cut ups as well, so you get to all their third and medium situations, third and long, and you really notice patterns when you do it that way. What was so obvious watching these guys is there were two men on their offense that defense has cared at all about and felt they had to stop. It was Julian Edelman and it was James White, and those guys got all the double teams, all the coverages were tilted and centered around dealing with those guys, and everything else was it was just what we're gonna play, and we're gonna be better because we have better players in what New England has outside of those two guys, and more often than not are a lot of the time, especially by Patriot standards, where the expectation is a Super Bowl every year, a lot of the time it worked for the opponents. They they they often didn't function smoothly and now you've got an issue there. So they haven't addressed the receiver position to kill Harry. I'm sure they feel will be better this year. They used a first round pick on him, but he needed reps. He was was obviously he wasn't quite ready to play at times. He's inexperience aranged, it showed, and now he's coming off an offseason that where he had no reps and they're changing the quarterback. That's a tough uphill slog. Mohammed sannws a nice player. He does not run well, so you have to take that into consideration. And then they did add Marquis Lee from Jacksonville, And when I saw that, I thought, okay, well that makes sense. He's kind of those hybrid stack release, quick slant type of you know, he can run those Edelman type ish routes and complement them there. But that's probably the nerd and me overthinking it because when is it When is an offense going to build itself around Marquis Lee or when is he going to come into the equation and change the end results. So he's their number four receiver most likely, so they don't have the guys to run the style of offense that they wanted to run with with with Hoyer and Stidham, and that, when you look at it that way, that makes that makes the Newton acquisition a little more understandable. Yeah. I was gonna say, I mean, look, what can they do with this passing game? At this point if Cam Newton's understand entner, uh, you know you're not gonna run as we said, You're not gonna run the same thing you you ran with Tom Brady. But what can they do with this receiving corps and Cam Newton's strength as a passer even you know, even if he's a streaky passer in terms of accuracy, well, your best players still Julian Edelman by far. And and let's understand Edelman is not just an underneath shifty ball catcher. I mean he he can get vertical. Is not gonna beach over the top outside, but he can get vertical between the numbers. He can run deep over routes and crossing routes. I think he can win contested catches. Bigger defenders pose a little more of a problem in certain angles. But Julian Edelman is not just a a east and west make a miss type of receiver, by the way, And I know we're not talking at all about this guy, but it's fresh to mind because he gets compared to Edelman all the time he's in the a f C East cool Beasley is not that way either. Cole Beasley is a much more multidimensional receiver. For Buffalo. So if those two guys are multidimensional receivers, it probably reasons that there is no such thing as just appear only slot receiver. At least those guys are very rare because you can do more with them as long as you design the offense effectively. And that gets back to those tight ends. Having someone else in the middle of the field to regulate safeties a little bit, uh, that will help with what you want to do it on all the routes with Edelman, because what you would to answer your question, we're directly gary how you play with those guys in the passing game. Newton's not a timing and rhythm precision accuracy player when he's when he throws the ball, even when it's complete, it doesn't necessarily mean it's gonna be pinpoint where you catch it and get a bunch of yards after catch, because you're able to catch it and stride. So they have to understand that and think, all right, well, then we're gonna throw the ball ten to fifteen yards downfield, eighteen to twenty five yards downfield, where Newton can be very good, especially when he's throwing outside the field numbers. He attacks the sidelines with power throws as well as almost anyone in the league, and his his good throws look as good as anybody's. That's the identity there. So then it's how do we get guys over there to win on those those balls? And that that's gonna be challenging Gary, because even though I just said Edelman could do a lot of things, Edelman is not the guy to win on those outside one on one routes. I don't know if they have that guy unless they think to kill Harry can be him getting into those plays. I mean, are we gonna see Patriots have obviously didn't really get in play action. Uh doesn't make sense to to run a lot of play action to sort of, you know, give your receiver's a chance to get downfield a little bit and and sort of, uh, you know, get later into the down by design. Um. I think you would initially believe it does because Cam Newton's mobile and he's he is a playmakers, such a unique athlete that you think, yeah, late in the downing bear watch out for Cam. But he's really and this is what the Broncos figured out in the Super Bowl the year that Newton was the m v P and Denver just they dominated them pretty much in the Super Bowl fifty was. Newton does not scramble a whole lot. He's a running QB, but he doesn't run on passing downs, and he's he can throw on the move, but he's you know, he's not Russell Wilson. So I don't think you would. I don't think you're bringing in Newton with the idea that he's going to extend plays for you. That's not Maybe you think you can get him to be that if you want him to be the hats Um. It's probably hard to make a guy who's is Newton thirty. I imagine Newton's in his early thirties at this point. Yeah. Yeah, he's been there and he's been in the leagueleven. So we're talking about a guy who's entering his tenth NFL season. You're not gonna make him something he's not right now. He is what he is. He's not a scrambling quarterback. He does not run very much. When when Denver figured that out, they decided to green dog blitz him all game long. So when he whenever that never they could out of man coverage, they sent extra rushers at Newton the thinking is always don't blitz the mobile qbs, because that the blitzer doesn't get there, there's no one to handle the guy running off the QB running off. But the Broncos weren't worried about that because Newton really doesn't run off. And I would imagine the Patriots will not count on Newton to extend plays. I will say, and and and look, I I do wonder how much the fact that Cam had. You know, he's faced Belichick twice in his career, and he had really good games in a couple of Panthers wins both those times. And I remember a couple of years in Foxborough. Uh, he did have a game where he scrambled four or five times and picked up big chunks of yards uh that way. And I don't know, I I always wondered it never really stuck and for the reasons that you talked about, But I did kind of wonder if you know, if someone just emphasized that with him, if if he had a coaching staff that just said like, all right, this is this is what you gotta do. You know one or two reason then just tucked well and go. I mean, you're you know, you're you're so dangerous. Uh, with the ball in your hands, let's let's do that. But uh, and Gary, you might be right on with that too. And I remember that game you're talking about. It was early in the season and the Panthers killed the Patriots with switch releases and with New England's own tactic no stacks and switches and bunches where everyone's intersecting. New England played Manda Man, they couldn't figure out how to switch some of those. Matt Patricia I think lost his mind in the middle of that game because if his guys were blowing so many coverages, if I'm remembering correctly, I think that's what that one was. So, which also says you can do some of those Patriot tactics with Newton. What was different about those Panthers that was their switch releases were vertical routes. Usually they were throwing down field as opposed to east and west or trying to get run after catch yards. But yeah, maybe he can do all that. And one thing we know about Belichick that he's done so well. And Kyle van Noy, who's not there anymore, of course, but he's probably the best example of this because Kyle van Noy was basically a second round bust for the Detroit Lions, and this Patriots signed him, and Van Noy gradually becomes, I think next to Stephon Gilmour, their most important defensive player, maybe behind High Tower as well. But the point is they figured out exactly what van Noy is. He's an edge guy, He's a hybrid edge guy. He's not a stack linebacker. And they turn him into a stut and they've done that with a lot of guys. Are give him this these Nats roles and played to that, you could be very well be right that Bill Belichicks looks at this and says, why hasn't anybody ever told this guy to run? Why? Why? Why wouldn't he scramble? Do you think he doesn't know how he can run away from everybody? Why wouldn't he scramble? Obviously someone has told him not to her has been coached to him to be a passer. And it's commendable because I think that is the better way to play. But if you're signing him for a year and there's been no offseason, and you know that right now, the teams that run the ball have a tactical advantage because even though the best teams run the ball, not very many of them are running the ball, So defenses have not acclimated fully to opping these run based offenses yet. And it's an offseason that has had no practice time. Let's just put in a run heavy game and ask Kim Newton to scramble around, which no one has ever seen him done on film, and maybe we can steal eleven wins out of that and get in the playoffs. Yeah. I was gonna say, you look at this team, and you know, a week ago we're basically saying, okay, well they're gonna try and win a bunch of games seventeen to fourteen with what they have here. Uh. We don't necessarily have to deep dive the defense in this one, but I will point out. I mean, look, this was a defense. They scored seven non offensive touchdowns last season. That was the most of any team in twenty nine or eighteen. Uh. That can't be counted on and happening again. As you mentioned, Kyle Van NOI is not there anymore. Uh, I I don't. There's just no way you can look at this defense and say, Okay, we're gonna get the same uh type of season that they had in twenty nineteen. Here, they're gonna be very good. I just don't think they're gonna be you know, borderline historically great like they were a year ago. So the question becomes, Okay, how are we gonna put up instead of you know, seventeen points per game? How mean four points a game or something like that. And it just seems like a more realistic path to that. H Well, because the other guy who's not there's Jamie Collins, and he was a big deal too, because like Van Noy he was he has the size and the frame and Collins actually could play off the ball, but he also has a size and frame to line up on the line of scrimmage and basically be your edge set of your defensive end. And right now I'm trying to even figure out who will be their starting lineup. It would not surprise me if they go back to doing what they've done for a lot of years and they have different lineups every week. It feels like, I mean, maybe it's Chase Winovich and the Kyle van Noy role this year. I it's they don't have any proven entities at all up front other than Lawrence guy, John Simon and Dante Hire, So three of their front seven starters are proven into he's the rest or question marks. That's that's a bottom five probably front seven in terms of talent in the NFL. What they do have, though, Gary is an unbelievable secondary with the best corner in the NFL and and Stefan Gilmour. And he's not just a stopper, He's not. He makes a ton of plays as well out of Manda Man he led the NFL last year, and interception opportunities out of man coverage you create. I think he had six interceptible balls. I think he hung onto four of them out of Manda Man coverage. Um Devin mccordy can cover tight ends. Patrick Chung's a great player in their system. Jason mccordy when you actually go and watch him in isolation, he had a heck of a year two, much better than I thought he would be. And J. C. Jackson I think can be a top fifteen corner this season for him, covers tight ends and big receivers, long armed guy. Those are their five defensive backs. Adrian Phillips as well from the charges Jonathan Jones and I don't mean to be what happens when you list a bunch of names that it adds a false credence to what you're saying because we just assume, oh, yeah, he's good too. That's like another good player because I'm naming the names. But these are guys who are all above average. On their worst day, they're above average, and Gilmore's the best. You have man demand corners. You can't. You can't avoid that as an offense. You have to throw. If you're gonna pass the ball, you've got to pass against those man demand corners. You can't hide from them. You can't out leverage their zones and and make them wrong by their rules. You line up and play and have to. You have to out execute them. And New England's probably counting on offenses not being able to do that. Alright, Still plenty of things to figure out in this Cam Newton New England Patriots fit here. Uh, I don't know. Maybe they just end up trading them to the Chargers who were asleep at the switch this entire time, and you could have just added Cam. I'd be furious if I were the Chargers fan right now. Yeah, yeah, I don't, I don't know. I don't disagree with you because I know Anthony Lynn wants to play with them mobile QB and that's why they have Tyrod Taylor. And that's why Lennon's speaking the truth when he says he likes Tyrod, because Len's a great run game mind and he knows what a mobile QB can do. So I'm a little surprised, especially because Newton is probably one guy do you think that could help sell tickets in l A. Not that I would ever espouse you build a roster at that mind, but and I guess that's not an issue this year, maybe so much. But there's a hard reality there with the Chargers, which is that they have to develop a fan base, and I Newton might be someone that could that fans would come paid just to watch him play. Yeah, I mean, look, I think that's absolutely true. But I think it was the correct football move to make as well, especially in an off season where you invested in all these you know, late twenties, early thirties age free agents, and you know you had a chance to I'm not gonna sit here and say you add Cam Newton, You're gonna overtake the Chiefs and win the Super Bowl. But uh, you can certainly put yourself in a conversation, uh to know, make a run deep into the postseason if Cam Newton ends up being healthy and and uh, things break your way a little bit. But what what you also have our intermediate deep intermediate type receivers Mike Williams and Keenan Allen are the exact kind of receivers you want to play with have playing with Newton because of the type of routes that they run, go routes, back shoulders in breaking balls, deep post deep slants. So that's another reason the concern though there and it's not a Chargers podcast, but their offensive line. I think they feel there in Los Angeles that that old line is probably a little better suited for outside zone running. And really with with Newton and outside zone, it's just called a zone offense like what the night Wild Niners aren't a good example where the Rams kind of offense that style of running game. Um, and Newton's probably had his best in a man demand style running game with gap scheme blockers, which the Patriots will do and they've done well in the recent years. Okay, uh, we'll do a hypothetical Chargers podcast maybe another time, but uh, Andy I think that's gonna do it for now. Once again, thank you for joining me, and we'll call it just goodbye for now, all right. The mm QB Monday Morning NFL Podcast is me Gary Gramling Special thanks once again to Andy Benoit for joining me for this one. We are produced by Shelby Royson. Sis. Executive producer of podcasts is Scott Brody, ben Eagles, Director of editorial Projects and product Mark Ravick is Emeritus editor of the MMQB. Andy Benoit is the founder of the MQB NFL podcast. Keep up with our entire lineup of podcasts five days a week by subscribing to the MQB NFL Podcast for free on Apple Podcasts. Now why are there? Please do us a favor and leave a rating m review. It really does help other people find the show, which is also available on Spotify radio dot com, Stitcher, si dot com, and wherever else you listen to podcasts.