Brett Kollmann & Trevor Sikkema’s Week 3 Preview | NFL Pro
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
55 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Sep 25, 2026
Published
Fri, September 25, 2026
31
Player insights
29
Players mentioned
Topics
Bo NixMarcus MariotaAaron RodgersBen JohnsonCaleb WilliamsCarson WentzCase KeenumCeeDee LambDak PrescottDrew LockDwayne AllenGeorge PickensGreg OlsenJameis Winston
Player analysis
Player insights
Aaron Rodgers
NegativeMatchup19:00
Through two weeks of 2026, Rodgers has the lowest EPA per dropback against man coverage in the NFL (lower than Derek Knicks' second-worst -0.68); the source notes that being in Rodgers' territory for poor man-coverage performance is not a compliment, especially to start the 2026 season.
Insight pageBen Johnson
NegativeMatchup9:18
Johnson's pass-play success rate as the Bears' play caller is significantly lower on plays with motion against Brian Flores' Vikings defense compared to any other opponent; motion often serves as a formation indicator (man vs. zone), but the Vikings play zone regardless, negating the deception value.
Insight pageBo Nix
PositiveUsage20:04
Nix's design rollout rate increased from 6% in week one to 19.4% in week two (third highest among starters), and he has posted a 0.74 EPA per dropback on those design rollouts, which is the second most this season; this is a strategic counter to defensive pressure and line-of-scrimmage chaos.
Insight pageNegativeMatchup21:04
Facing Rams man coverage; the source notes the Broncos may dial up pocket movement and bootleg plays to mitigate chaos at the line of scrimmage, as crossing routes off-boot tend to perform well against man coverage when paired with receivers like Jalen Waddell or Cortland Sutton.
Insight pageCaleb Williams
NegativeRole49:29
Going from Caleb Williams to backup Case Keenum would require a different playbook; the source contrasts this with the Darnold-to-Locke transition, noting that Keenum's skill set would necessitate offensive adjustments, whereas Locke can preserve the Bears' offensive identity.
Insight pageCarson Wentz
PositiveRole50:02
Wentz as a Cardinals backup can preserve the offensive identity without shrinking the playbook, as his skill set is fundamentally similar to Kyler Murray's, allowing the team to maintain their offensive system.
Insight pageCase Keenum
NegativeRole49:29
Keenum as a backup for Caleb Williams would require the Bears to shrink their playbook and change their offensive identity, as his skill set differs significantly from Williams' capabilities.
Insight pageCeeDee Lamb
PositiveProjection32:00
Explosive performance in week two; the source highlights that into the boundary last week, Lamb was 8 of 9 for 153 yards and 2 touchdowns (fourth most in a game this season). On vertical routes in week two, he had 4 of 5 for 107 yards and 2 touchdowns. The source emphasizes that despite concerns about George Pickens taking over the number one role, Lamb and Pickens are both top-15 receivers who can go off at any point, and Dak Prescott is playing at an elite level, making the Cowboys offense 'bananas.'
Insight pageDak Prescott
PositiveProjection32:00
Playing at an elite level; the source describes this as 'a kind of normal Dak season now' and notes 'when he is at his best, he is damn near unstoppable.' In week two, Dak had 5 throws getting over 100 yards, 4 of 5 for 107 yards and 2 touchdowns on vertical routes (3 total TDs this season on vertical routes, fifth most in the league), and made 'unbelievable' throws in the fourth quarter including far hash hole shots to CeeDee Lamb. The source emphasizes his elite arm talent and decision-making.
Insight pageDrew Lock
PositiveRole49:29
Locke has been effective as the Vikings' backup, capable of making the same throws as starter Sam Darnold and preserving the offensive identity without requiring a playbook shrink; the source credits him with strong early-season performance and notes that his skill set allows the Vikings to maintain their bread-and-butter plays.
Insight pageDwayne Allen
NegativeRole12:00
Allen was part of the Colts' one-two tight end combination with Kobe Fleener, exemplifying the 12-personnel trend where teams sought to replicate the Patriots' success with multiple tight ends playing specific roles.
Insight pageGeorge Pickens
PositiveProjection32:00
Cowboys have two top-15 receivers in the league; the source notes that despite concerns about Pickens taking over the number one role from CeeDee Lamb due to his strong season last year, both receivers are elite and can go off at any point. The offense is so talented that it doesn't matter which one has the big game—as long as Dak Prescott is playing well, the Cowboys are unstoppable.
Insight pageGreg Olsen
NegativeRole12:00
Olson is cited as an example of a unicorn-type tight end who could effectively execute the 12-personnel heavy tight end scheme; the source notes that without elite talent like Gronkowski, Graham, or Olson, the 12-personnel strategy does not work.
Insight pageJameis Winston
NegativeRole50:13
Winston as a Chargers backup would require playbook adjustments from Jackson Dart's system, as his lack of mobility means the team cannot intentionally run the same mobile-quarterback schemes that are central to Dart's offensive role.
Insight pageJared Goff
NegativeRole13:48
Goff ran the air raid in college and was part of the wave of air raid quarterbacks entering the NFL that led to the spread offense era; this contributed to the shift away from condensed 12-personnel schemes.
Insight pageJayden Daniels
NegativeRole50:19
Going from Jaden Daniels to backup Marcus Mariota involves roughly the same skill set, though Daniels is more dynamic; the source notes that the playbook would not need significant changes, though Mariota would not be intentionally run at his age.
Insight pageJimmy Graham
NegativeRole12:00
Graham is cited as an example of a unicorn-type tight end who could effectively execute the 12-personnel heavy tight end scheme; the source notes that without elite talent like Gronkowski, Graham, or Greg Olson, the 12-personnel strategy does not work.
Insight pageJulian Edelman
NegativeRole12:00
Edelman is cited as an archetype that teams tried to replicate during the 12-personnel era; he exemplified the move tight end/slot receiver role that was central to the Patriots' offensive scheme.
Insight pageKyle Juszczyk
NegativeRole3:00
The 49ers have been using Juszczyk on motions where he's positioned as a fullback but moving as the ball snaps, creating fast inserts at warp speed that are difficult for linebackers and defensive linemen to react to; this creates new gaps on the fly at high pace.
Insight pageKyler Murray
NegativeRole50:02
Going from Kyler Murray to backup Wentz does not necessarily shrink the Cardinals' playbook; the source notes that while Kyler will execute the offense with more regularity, the fundamental offensive identity is preserved with Wentz.
Insight pageMarcus Mariota
NegativeRole13:48
Mariota's arrival from Oregon (where he ran the air raid) was part of the wave of air raid quarterbacks entering the NFL that led to the spread offense era; this contributed to the shift away from condensed 12-personnel schemes.
Insight pageNegativeRole50:19
Mariota as a Commanders backup can preserve the offensive identity with roughly the same skill set as Jaden Daniels, though he would not be used in intentional run plays given his age.
Insight pageMark Andrews
NegativeRole29:40
Getting more involved in Ravens passing attack when Zay Flowers is out, but the source expresses concern about his current form. He notes Andrews is 'a little bit long in the tooth here as a veteran tight end' and 'he's not the same Mark Andrews that he was a couple of years ago,' suggesting diminished effectiveness despite increased usage.
Insight pageOmarion Hampton
NegativeUsage36:36
Had good volume stats last week, but the source cautions that this was driven by high touch count rather than efficiency. The Raiders run defense is elite, allowing 0.9 yards before contact per attempt (same as last year, best in NFL), 34% success rate allowed (sixth best), negative 19.5 EPA allowed on the ground, and negative 0.39 EPA per carry allowed (both best in NFL). The source notes Hampton's volume stats 'added up over time' but the Raiders make run games inefficient.
Insight pagePatrick Mahomes
NegativeRole13:48
Mahomes ran the air raid in college and was part of the wave of air raid quarterbacks entering the NFL that led to the spread offense era; this contributed to the shift away from condensed 12-personnel schemes.
Insight pageRashod Bateman
NegativeUsage29:40
Receiving increased target volume when Zay Flowers is out; the source notes he's being leaned on more heavily in the Ravens passing attack during Flowers' absence, though the overall offense becomes less explosive without Flowers' skill set.
Insight pageRob Gronkowski
NegativeRole12:00
Gronkowski is cited as an example of a unicorn-type tight end who could effectively execute the 12-personnel heavy tight end scheme that the Patriots ran in 2011; the source notes that without elite talent like Gronkowski, Jimmy Graham, or Greg Olson, the 12-personnel strategy does not work.
Insight pageSam Darnold
PositiveProjection49:29
Darnold will execute the throws that backup Drew Locke can make with more regularity; the source notes that Locke's ability to run the same offensive plays preserves the Vikings' offensive identity, meaning Darnold's return would maintain continuity while improving execution consistency.
Insight pageWes Welker
NegativeRole12:00
Welker is cited as an archetype that teams tried to replicate during the 12-personnel era; he exemplified the move tight end/slot receiver role that was central to the Patriots' offensive scheme.
Insight pageWill Levis
NegativeRole50:50
Levis, despite having all the tools in the world, was not immediately picked up as a backup and instead signed to the Jets practice squad; the source explains that the most important part of having a backup quarterback is having somebody you trust, and Levis does not yet have that trust factor with NFL teams.
Insight pageZay Flowers
PositiveRole27:29
Ravens offense is dramatically different with and without him; on-off splits show yards per attempt drops from 18.0 to 8.2, success rate falls from 63.6% to 55.2%, and explosive play rate plummets from 54.5% to 17.2% when he's out. The source emphasizes the Ravens lack a true replacement with his skill set—LeJonte Wester is the closest option but cannot replicate Flowers' impact. Without him, the offense pivots to Mark Andrews and Rashad Bateman, but this fundamentally changes the scheme and reduces explosiveness. The source notes this is worth monitoring throughout the season as a potential vulnerability.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
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0:55How do you turn 16 games injury reports, team notes, betting lines and matchup trends into one clear weekend preview?
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1:25Football is a game of and. Offense and defense.
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1:43Nationwide Investment Services Corporation. Member FINRA. Columbus, Ohio. Welcome to the NFL Pro Week 3 Preview Podcast.
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1:57The theme of the day is aggression. Everybody's blitzing.
2:00It's not just Brian Flores. Although Brian Flores is blitzing a lot.
2:03I tell our guys all the time, if we're going to go down, we're going to go down a certain way.
2:10He's sacked! It does feel like so far this NFL season is just a race to the top in terms of who could be the biggest psychopath.
2:19Don't challenge Brian Flores because he's already at crazy levels.
2:22And hearing you say that anybody might even be within the realm of conversation with him could take us to DEFCON 1
2:29numbers when it comes to how many resources Brian Flores is going to send at the line of scrimmage.
2:35But you're right. We're going to do a lot of things here on this show.
2:40We're still going to preview some of the big games that are coming up for Week 3.
2:46But specifically, you and I and the team, when everybody talked about it, we're two weeks into the season.
2:52We are kind of starting to see some trends that I think are at least worth pointing out.
2:57And one of them is how defenses are kind of fighting back here.
3:02Before the season, you and I talked about, hey, the air raid style is dead.
3:07We talked about these more condensed sets from offenses.
3:09And defenses are now not just containing those, but we've seen in the numbers early on, they're kind of punching back here, which is pretty fascinating to see.
3:18Yeah, it's all about meeting aggression with aggression, right?
3:21And I think one small sliver of that that I want to highlight.
3:26So we had talked briefly, honestly, probably should talk more about it.
3:29But after the Australia game, right, the Niners really put it to the Rams.
3:34They were doing some fun stuff with Juszczyk on motions where they would basically motion him sort of kind of into being a fullback.
3:42But he's on the move as the ball is being snapped.
3:45And then he would just open back up and they would do these really fast inserts.
3:50And what that does is it really, it kind of ups the pace that a defense has to react to you.
3:57Not only are you creating a new gap on the fly, but you're doing so at warp speed, right?
4:03And so it's really hard for linebackers to react to that.
4:07It's really hard for defensive linemen to react to that.
4:10And we almost saw like an immediate adjustment in week two of like, oh, okay, if we're going to be getting these inserts on the fly.
4:18Mike McDonald did this also in the NFC West against the Cardinals this week.
4:23And we see a very similar thing, right? We're motioning somebody into the backfield.
4:27He's not violating the rules technically because he's not going forward, but he is carrying that momentum as an insert.
4:34And what do we see the Seahawks do? They're in what's called a tight front here.
4:39So we've got the 4-I. We've got the 0-nose.
4:42We've got the 4-I. You have a bubble here between the right tackle and the tight end.
4:47That's where the insert is going to try to go on the fly.
4:52They want to get up to Witherspoon quickly. So what the Seahawks do is, okay, we're going to slant this 4-I into that gap.
4:59This insert is going at full speed, so he can't adjust and run off the inside hip of the tackle like what
5:06a normal fullback would do when starting from a static position because they have time to correct their angle.
5:12You have no time to correct your angle. So you're getting a 2-for-1 here.
5:17Witherspoon's blitzing. You get a run-through and pretty much a free tackle for loss.
5:21And so that's really the theme that we're seeing with some of these early down blitzes is, okay, if we're going to
5:29be getting these inserts fast, we're going to disrupt those by being aggressive as well.
5:33Because if we can't time it up, that means you can't time it up either.
5:38And now we just have a bunch of chaos at the line of scrimmage, which typically is going to be a win for the defense.
5:46And you talked about that chaos at the line of scrimmage.
5:50So here's some numbers that kind of back that up.
5:53When you look at the average width of a formation on offense in 2026, it's just 21.7 yards.
5:59Now, that used to be back in 2016. This is just an example.
6:032016, it was 28.1 yards. That means, okay, where are the furthest or widest offensive players?
6:08So an entire 7-plus yards inside where things sort of used to be, that shows that things aren't as spread out.
6:15They're getting more condensed and the rise in 12 personnel, more heavy personnel, more tight ends on the field.
6:21That also echoes that. So what if defense is done early on this season to combat that?
6:27You talked about blitzing. We'll talk about run blitzing and pass blitzing a little bit more in a second.
6:33But even those insert blitz that you mentioned, those little cheat code things that the offense can feel like they could do.
6:40Well, you get to neutralize that if you stack the line of scrimmage.
6:44Flores is the most famous example of this, but it's not just the Minnesota Vikings.
6:49Teams around the NFL are stacking the line of scrimmage and they're sending their guys.
6:54When you look at the five-man front percentage this year, it is 34%.
6:58Last year, it was 30.1. 4% of a jump is a massive jump in that category.
7:03And it has never been above 31%. Really, 30.6 is the highest that it was in 2022 since 2018.
7:09This year, we are seeing more five-man fronts than we have seen over the last eight years.
7:15So whatever you're trying to run with heavy personnel, whether you're getting an extra offensive lineman on the field in the form
7:22of an extra tight end, whether you have these fullbacks or these insert blocks, whatever, the defense is already ready.
7:28They already have their game plan. So it's a new-look philosophy, I think, for defenses to, like you mentioned at the top
7:35of the show, match aggression and creativity with aggression.
7:38Well, maybe this isn't creativity. Maybe it's just out-aggressing the creativity, honestly, what it feels like from defenses because the blitz rate
7:45is up, not just overall, but on early downs as well.
7:49When we think of blitzes, we're thinking of, oh, okay, you know, those obvious passing situations where they get a little bit
7:56more trigger-happy to send an extra guy. It's early down stuff, too.
8:00It's rumblesses. It's first and second downs. So you're able to do that when you're crowding that line of scrimmage a little bit more.
8:07So coming off of the peak spread offense era, when you started to see teams trickle in, getting more and more condensed.
8:14We saw the Rams do this a little bit more.
8:18They went from this outside zone rushing scheme to, okay, now they're a power rushing team.
8:23We're seeing teams that are adding more tight ends on the field, not just wide receivers.
8:28So they were trying to combat the fact that defenses were spread out to match their spread, and they were trying to get ahead of the curve.
8:37Now defenses are basically saying, wait a second, if you're just going to go condensed, we're going to go condensed, and then we don't have to guess anymore.
8:46If you're – like, we just get to attack the line of scrimmage.
8:50There's no, ooh, we're going to try to deceive that this guy is going to blitz you or not.
8:56He's already there. There are players already on the line of scrimmage.
9:00So it's a long way of saying that the more condensed offenses have been going over the last couple of years to
9:07say, hmm, now we've got the advantage over all these spread defenses.
9:11This year, for the first time since certainly 2018, they are more willing to stack the line of scrimmage to match the
9:18condensed sets and actually have an advantage with how aggressive they can get with more blitzes.
9:23Yeah, Theo Ash made a great point this week, friend of the show, Theo Ash.
9:28And he was talking about this Bears-Vikings matchup and how Ben Johnson, in terms of his success rate in the pass game
9:35as a play caller, on plays with motion is way lower against Flores than anybody else.
9:40Because a lot of the times when you're using motion, right, it's a formation indicator or rather a defensive structure indicator.
9:47Are we getting man? Are we getting zone? Vikings are in zone anyway.
9:51So you send a receiver across the formation. It's like, oh, it's zone.
9:55Congrats, buddy. You knew that. We were doing that.
9:58Anyway, you know what we're doing. Right. There's no deception here.
10:02Right. The deception is just which one of these eight guys in the line of scrimmage are we bringing?
10:08That's the part that you don't know. And you can't know.
10:11Short of having the greatest hard count in football history, you're not going to know who's coming and who's not.
10:18And so I think when you're looking at the league wide early down blitz rate trend, they're at 31.7%.
10:24That's early down blitzes, highest since at least 2018.
10:27And the fact that so many teams are just playing zone with those pressures and not really caring if you know that they're in zone.
10:35It's almost like simplicity through aggression, right? And it's it's you know what we're doing.
10:40We know that you know what we're doing. The question is, is your offensive line in sync enough to pick up whichever
10:47of these five or six guys that we're sending?
10:50Typically, the answer is going to be no, especially in September when nobody has reps.
10:55So, again, offenses becoming more condensed. I think that they did that to believe that they were getting ahead of the cycle, right?
11:02Because football is a cyclical thing. But I actually believe that even though there was a short period of time, like a
11:09year, two years, whatever it was, where they did have sort of this advantage over the last couple of years.
11:16Now the defenses are adjusting. Now that we are seeing five man fronts at a higher rate than ever, and it's the
11:23only time that we've seen a higher six man front rate is last year.
11:27So we know that that aggression is there from them as well.
11:31You are allowing defenses to stack that line of scrimmage and just go after you all the time.
11:37And I just feel as though in this cycle of football of, OK, it was really spread out and now it's more condensed.
11:44I think defenses are going to have more of the advantage because of how much they can run these multi-man fronts that
11:51are beyond four players on the line of scrimmage.
11:54I like this kind of party. I like this kind of party, baby.
11:58All right. It's so funny because before everything was spread out, it was condensed and it was 12 personnel, right?
12:05Like you remember that 2010 tight end draft, like Cronk, Jimmy Graham.
12:09Oh, yeah. Everybody was running 12 personnel because the Patriots were really good at it and they were tearing people apart.
12:15Like that 2011 Patriots offense was one of the best in modern NFL history.
12:20And it was a bunch of tight ends and slot receivers.
12:23Woohoo! I just blocked him, baby! So you had a bunch of teams around the league that were taking tight ends early.
12:31Like Kobe Fleener made a lot of money in the draft because of that trend of everybody just wanting two tight ends that played specific roles.
12:39You had your Y tight end. You had your move tight end.
12:43Everybody wanted a Wes Welker. Eventually Julian Edelman. Like everybody was trying to match those archetypes.
12:48Real ball knowers remember the Kobe Fleener, Dwayne Allen, one-two combination for the Indianapolis Colts.
12:53Just needed to shout that out because you shouted out Kobe Fleener.
12:57And real ball knowers know the intense debates between Kobe Fleener and Stephen Hill for which player to draft in the first round that year.
13:05Everybody had an opinion. Deep pull. But, you know, you saw everybody try to mimic that.
13:10But if you don't have Rob Gronkowski or Jimmy Graham or Greg Olson, it's not going to work.
13:16Right? Like it takes a unicorn type of tight end to do that.
13:20And so eventually, a few years later, you know, after defenses were responding to that and also playing really condensed, right?
13:27That was the Legion of Boom cover three era, which ironically teams run more cover three now than even back then.
13:33They just do it a different way. That's a topic for another show.
13:38Boom! A few years later, after like the Marcus Mariota Oregon revolution happened, you have Mariota coming in.
13:43You have Jared Goff coming in. He ran the air raid in college.
13:48Eventually, you had, you know, Patrick Mahomes coming in who ran the air raid in college.
13:53All these air raid Lincoln Riley, Cliff Kingsbury quarterbacks that we talked about in the season preview, they all came to the league.
14:00Everything spread out. Defenses eventually found their answer. Now everything's condensing.
14:04It's a 15-year cycle of just going up and down and up and down.
14:08Tight ends, yes. Tight ends, no. Spread, yes. Spread, no.
14:11Like we're just doing the same thing again that we did in like 2012.
14:16And this is sort of how football has always been, right?
14:19From the beginning. It's about offensive and defensive coordinators trying to find the advantage.
14:24And so for as long as football has existed, it's always been a little bit more of something, right?
14:30Okay, like here's the cycle of football is more of a power game between the tackles.
14:35I'm not trying to say that it's not. It obviously all starts up front no matter what.
14:41But you get more emphasis on sort of what's happening around the trenches and everything.
14:46And so everything's very condensed. It's this power profile and everything.
14:49And then offenses trying to push the envelope a little bit further out, further out, further out.
14:55And obviously in the 20, what was it? 2017, 2018, 2019 kind of era where we just see offenses more spread out than ever.
15:02You're putting more wide receivers, more speed on the field.
15:06Now we're having this next evolution of what the cycle is.
15:09But it also sort of depends on the types of players that are existing.
15:14Because the types of players and athleticism and size and skill sets, those things have also evolved as the game cycles through.
15:21And I just, I kind of feel as though in today's football with defensive players built the way that they are with the skill sets that they have.
15:30Inviting them and in some ways allowing them to play those five man fronts at a higher rate than ever.
15:36I just don't know if even some of these innovative condensed sets are going to combat what defenses are going to be able to do.
15:44So look, it's only two weeks. We're only two weeks into the season.
15:48But I feel as though this trend could be one of the defining trends of the entire season with how much defenses
15:55believe they can stack the line of scrimmage and just be aggressive given how condensed offenses want to be.
16:02We do want to talk about some of these marquee matchups that we have in week three.
16:07The first one that I want to talk about is Rams and Broncos.
16:11And there's a lot of interest in this one.
16:14But it's a good first game to preview because it also ties in a little bit to what we were just talking about.
16:22Pairing certain coverages with how aggressive you want to be.
16:25So look, both of these teams have the ability to suffocate you on defense but in a little bit of different ways.
16:32Brett, when you think about this game, where do you want to start sort of with our preview here?
16:38Both teams played a lot more man coverage in week two.
16:42Especially the Rams, right? They were a 44.1% man rate in week two.
16:46They were 16.7% in week one. We criticized them for bringing in two corners that can play man and not playing man.
16:53And obviously they weren't listening to us, but I think they saw the same thing we did.
16:58No, they subscribed to the show. Yeah, I've looked over.
17:01Definitely. Chris Shula, he has subscribed. He has smashed those notification buttons.
17:05No, I don't know if that's true or not.
17:08No, please nobody write that. But they did front a lot more man in week two.
17:13And it worked, by the way. Like, they were excellent.
17:17And while it is unfortunate, well, not beyond unfortunate, it's awful that Jackson Dart got hurt in the last game.
17:23This defense was playing so well on the back end, I still think it would have been tough for Giants receivers to get open, quite frankly.
17:31And also just the way that they paired that man coverage with pressure.
17:3666.7% of all their man coverage reps in this game, about two-thirds of it was paired with five-plus pass rushers going with the quarterback.
17:43Aggression and aggression. That's exactly what that is. You're playing tight coverage and you're hoping that you get home because you're just firing guys to the line scrimmage.
17:52And when you have Aaron Donald and Byron Young and Kobe Turner, like, yeah, you're going to get home because everybody has a one-on-one.
18:00And the windows are tight because you got McDuffie back there, Quentin Lake back there.
18:05This was the game plan that I feel like the Rams remembered.
18:09They have a lot of talent, so they should just let their talent be good.
18:14And they didn't do that in week one. It was a lot of zone, a lot of four-man rushes.
18:20It kind of felt like, oh, we have Miles Garrett, we'll win with four.
18:24It's like, well, Miles' knee isn't right, so you kind of can't get away with that.
18:29And they didn't have Aaron Donald on the field yet, obviously.
18:33And so they played very passively in week one.
18:36And meanwhile, the Niners were playing super aggressive on offense.
18:39And that aggression steamrolled them. They really course-corrected quickly of, okay, we're just going to be as aggressive as possible because we have guys and you don't.
18:48And we're the Rams and you're not. And it worked.
18:51They don't need to be worried about me. They don't need to worry about me at all.
18:56And it's interesting going up against Knicks specifically because in 2025, Knicks had a 0.17 EPA per dropback against man coverage.
19:03That was the seventh most amongst qualifying quarterbacks. So he was a top 10 quarterback in the NFL.
19:09But when you look at the last two weeks, now one year of a sample size is a, I would say, a
19:16much more stable sample size than two weeks. But it's worth monitoring through two weeks this season, negative 0.68 EPA per dropback
19:23for Knicks, which is the second fewest in the NFL.
19:26I believe Aaron Rodgers is the only quarterback who has a lower EPA per dropback.
19:31By the way, if you're in Aaron Rodgers territory, that's not good this year.
19:36That's not good. And you know what? Normally, that would be quite the compliment to be in Aaron Rodgers area.
19:42But over the last couple of seasons, not quite the case, especially to start 2026.
19:47So I wonder what's going to mean more here.
19:50Is it going to be the Rams and how talented they are with how they run man coverage?
19:56Is it going to be how well Knicks played against man coverage in 2025?
20:00Or is it going to be a little bit more of, hey, it seems to be something that he is struggling with this year.
20:08And does it have to do with the fact that it is man coverage paired with pressure?
20:13The Broncos have already sort of tried to mitigate for that pressure.
20:17A lot of guys around the line of scrimmage, a lot of chaos around the line of scrimmage, because the design rollout
20:24rate for Bo Nix went from 6% in week one to 19.4% in week two.
20:29That was the third highest among starters last week.
20:32And overall this season, Nix has a 0.74 EPA per dropback, which is the second most this season on those design rollouts.
20:39So that's one way to sort of counter. Hey, we've got a lot of chaos that's crowding the line of scrimmage, but
20:46I'm just very curious to see how this plays out.
20:50Because a lot of times it's like, alright, week one, all sorts of stuff is going on.
20:55Week two, sometimes it's continuing what we saw in week one, sometimes it's totally different.
21:00Week three, we start to get into, okay, are these struggles real?
21:04Is this success real? Do we really start to see things moving forward?
21:08So how often are the Rams going to continue to play man coverage?
21:12Is Nix going to be good against it? And how much are they going to try to get him away from the
21:19pocket as maybe a way to mitigate a lot of that chaos and clutter that might be up at the line of scrimmage?
21:27Yeah, if you don't think you can keep him clean in the pocket, move the pocket.
21:32Like that's... Right, exactly. Exactly. Football 101, right? Exactly.
21:35So I am fascinated to see if they dial that up even more this week.
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22:39How do you turn 16 games, injury reports, team notes, betting lines, and matchup trends into one clear weekend preview?
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23:52And if they really kind of go back to the Broncos' roots of wide zone, wide zone, wide zone, boot, wide zone,
23:59wide zone, wide zone, boot, like let's see if it works, right?
24:03Especially if you're getting that much man coverage. Well, those crossing routes off-boot tend to do well against man coverage, especially when
24:10you have Jalen Waddell or Cortland Sutton. I think that could be a worthy game plan for them.
24:15I kind of want to flip it over to the other side of things.
24:20You know, got a marquee matchup. Devontae coming off a remarkable game.
24:24Yes. Especially for a receiver his age. Like one of the best.
24:28Vintage. Vintage Devontae Adams game. That was 2019-2020 Devontae right there.
24:31Honestly, he doesn't look like he's slowed down. Not that he was ever like a true speedster back then anyway, but it
24:38feels like he just, he hasn't lost what steps he did have even back then.
24:43His skill set just ages so gracefully in the sense that he's a great technician, catches everything.
24:49And when you have, you know, the Giants blowing cover three, you can score off that as well.
24:54Or when you have safety stepping in the bucket and you give him a little nod and go, like he can still get it done.
25:02Hard part is going up against Pat Sertan, who he has faced a lot throughout his career, having spent time in the AFC West.
25:10Sertan has the third most matchups against him. And in particular, during their career matchups, he's matched up with Devontae Adams on 70 of 132 routes.
25:19That is 53%. So they will give him shadow duty against Devontae.
25:22Because as much as we like Riley Moss, if you're paying Pat Sertan that much money, you're going to put him on Devontae Adams.
25:30We're going to get our money's worth on that.
25:33And I don't think, that doesn't happen around the league as much as people think that it does.
25:39Like true shadow, like the old Darrell Revis style of, we're going to build our defense around one guy taking away one guy.
25:46It just doesn't happen very much in the league anymore.
25:49So for Sertan to have that sort of a rate, man, that just shows you the faith and trust that they have in his talent.
25:58That's really impressive. And, you know, they still target him.
26:01At least the Raiders still targeted Devontae a lot against Sertan.
26:04He had 22 targets against Sertan on those routes.
26:07Nobody else in the league has more than 12 career targets against Sertan.
26:11He has 13 receptions versus Sertan. DK is the only other one with more than six.
26:17He has nine. Adams has gained 172 yards against Sertan.
26:20DJ Moore is the only other one with more than a hundred over the life of his career.
26:26Right. And he is the only player in the entire NFL to score twice on Patrick Sertan.
26:31Nobody else has done it more than once. So not that he's like the Sertan kryptonite, because even those numbers aren't gaudy
26:38across four games, but he's the one that gets like success at all, which I would say is something to watch in this game.
26:46So what you're saying here, Brett, is may the most aggressive team win.
26:50Essentially, yeah. Devontae brings it in over the shoulder.
26:53For our next game, we'll talk about Ravens and Cowboys.
26:56Two teams that are one-on-one. Two teams that have championship game aspirations in both of their conferences.
27:02Brett, where do you want to start with this one?
27:05Because the Ravens looked unstoppable in week one, let down in week two.
27:09The Cowboys had a letdown in week one, looked unstoppable in week two, especially with how they ended the game there.
27:16And Dak Prescott will have thrown more touchdown passes than any Cowboys quarterback in a career ever.
27:21Where do you want to start with this preview?
27:24I kind of want to start with, you know, the Zay Flowers of it all.
27:29This team with and without Zay Flowers, again, two-week sample size, I understand.
27:33We're not going to get too crazy with it.
27:36But just watching the game, like even setting the data aside, which we do have the data, just watching the game, it's a different offense without Zay Flowers.
27:45Dude, I'm with you 100%. When you look at the, again, small sample size, it's one week and one week.
27:52But when you look at the on-off splits with Zay Flowers when he was out there in week one versus when he
27:59was not in week two, even when he was not out there in week one, the yards per attempt averages overall for the offense.
28:06It goes from 18.0 to 8.2. Insane. The success rate drops from 63.6 to 55.2.
28:11But then this is, to me, the most important one.
28:14The explosive play rate overall on the offense, it went from 54.5% in week one to 17.2% in week two.
28:21Again, small sample sizes. But to me, the big issue here and the thing worth talking about is not necessarily, oh, Zay Flowers is a good player.
28:30Who knew? We knew that already. The issue is the Ravens' depth chart with and without him.
28:35Because when you look at their receivers, they have Rashad Bateman.
28:39They have Elijah Surratt. They did have Jacoby Lane before his injury.
28:42They elevated veteran Chris Moore. Okay, they've got Devontez Walker.
28:46Who's the Zay Flowers replacement? They don't have one.
28:49There's not. They have LeJonte Wester who can sort of give you that same skill set.
28:54But that's what I'm saying. There's nobody to get those targets.
28:57So for some great receivers that may get hurt for a short period of time or go out of the game or
29:04whatever, you have somebody else who at least gives you that prototype of wide receiver that you can put in the game
29:11and say, we can still run our offense. Now, is this going to be as good as when we had our top guy in there?
29:20No. But we can still fundamentally run what we want to run schematically and from an emphasis of how we want to put pressure on the defense.
29:28Without Zay Flowers, the entire passing attack changes. They got Mark Andrews a lot more involved.
29:33Obviously, they're leaning more heavily into Rashad Bateman, but we knew that that was going to happen.
29:39But then it's like, okay, who's next? And even fundamentally getting Mark Andrews more involved with him a little bit long in
29:46the tooth here as a veteran tight end. I mean, he's not the same Mark Andrews that he was a couple of years ago.
29:54So the pivot to a totally different offense that is not only less explosive because you don't have as talented of a
30:01player out there, but also because you don't have that replacement skill set, that worries me about the Baltimore Ravens.
30:07Now, as of us doing this show, it looks like that Zay Flowers is going to be back out there.
30:14But this is something to monitor as things go on here in a long NFL season is, are the Ravens, are they
30:21just completely derailed on offense, even with Lamar Jackson and Derek Henry, if they don't have Zay Flowers out there?
30:27It's worth sort of monitoring, I think, as this year goes on.
30:31The splits that you're talking about, I think, just kind of highlight how much of a knife's edge a lot of these
30:38teams are on because not a whole lot of teams have two Zay Flowers, let alone one Zay Flowers.
30:44But, you know, one of the teams that you could argue has two receivers that might be even better than Zay are the Cowboys.
30:52And so they're one of the few teams that I think could withstand that kind of injury.
30:57The Ravens are part of the vast majority of the league where, you know, you lose your number one receiver and your offense looks very different.
31:06The Cowboys, they have two number one receivers. So they're a little bit more insulated than 95% of the rest of the league.
31:13And that's probably a good transition to talk about this Cowboys offense because, goodness gracious.
31:18Yeah! They've had 15 drives so far this season.
31:21Keep in mind that the Raiders had 13 drives just last week alone.
31:25Cowboys have had 15 the entire year. They've scored on 10 of them.
31:29They punted once the entire game. Like they had eight possessions last week.
31:34They had 37 points. This offense is bananas. And it's largely because you can have a George Pickens game.
31:40You can have a CeeDee Lamb game. No matter what, as long as you're having a Dak game, you're good.
31:46Because you have two top 15 receivers in the league that can go off at any point.
31:52And Dak is just playing out of his mind.
31:54Like this is a, this is kind of a normal Dak season now.
31:59Which sounds like faint praise. It's not. I'm saying that Dak, this is just what he is.
32:04When he is at his best, he is damn near unstoppable.
32:08Some of the throws that he made in the fourth quarter last week were unbelievable.
32:12Like far hash hole shots to CeeDee Lamb. And CeeDee went nuclear.
32:16Which I know some people were concerned of like, okay, is George taking over the number one because of the season he had last year?
32:24Nope. They just have two number ones. If you're looking at Dak and CeeDee into the boundary last week, eight of nine for a buck 53.
32:33Fourth most in a game this season. And two touchdowns.
32:36If you're looking at Dak total on vertical routes in week two.
32:40Four or five for 107. Two touchdowns. Three total TDs this season on vertical routes.
32:45Fifth most in the league. Five throws getting over 100 yards.
32:48It's just unfathomable numbers. This offense is so deadly when they're going vertical.
32:52Because when you have a quarterback like that, and when you have receivers like that, even when the defense is playing shaky,
33:00the fact that you can still put up 37 points in eight drives, nobody else can do that.
33:05I mean, literally. Right. Nobody else can do that.
33:08So, okay, if you want to play the low possession count game, that's fine.
33:13We'll beat you doing that because we're going to score more than you.
33:17All day, brother. All day. Love you. Got your back.
33:20You already know it. I'm very curious to see how the Ravens continue to use Kyle Hamilton.
33:26Because we've got some numbers from NGS here of how Kyle Hamilton has been used so far this season.
33:32Their all-star do-it-all defensive chess piece. 4.0 yards deep from the line of scrimmage.
33:36That's the fewest in his career. Which means he's been lining up more at the second level than he has even in the slot or deep at safety.
33:45He just has 11 snaps of safety this year, which is 9.5%.
33:49That's the lowest in his career. He's got 20.7% of his snaps at the line of scrimmage.
33:55Highest in his career. 36.2 snaps at linebacker. Again, highest in his career.
33:59And then overall, 56.9% of his snaps in the box.
34:02Once again, highest rate of his career. So it kind of goes back to how we introed the show.
34:08Our team's just really trying to crowd that line of scrimmage with chaos.
34:12Now, there's some logic to why, even outside of that trend, Kyle Hamilton might be put in that spot.
34:18This team signed Jalen Hawkins. They drafted Malachi Starks.
34:21They may think, oh, we're good at safety. Let's use Kyle Hamilton elsewhere.
34:26But I think that it leans into being more aggressive at the line of scrimmage.
34:30And having that sort of agent of chaos in Kyle Hamilton closer to the box, closer to the line of scrimmage.
34:37You never know. Is he blitzing? Is he in man coverage?
34:41Is he dropping? What's he doing? I think that that five-man front philosophy, that crowd the line of scrimmage philosophy, only gets
34:48more and more daunting for quarterbacks when you have a player like Kyle Hamilton who is sitting right there.
34:54So that chess match between Dak and Kyle Hamilton this week, I'm very much looking forward to see how that plays out.
35:01You need a dance. You have some turf above your left eye.
35:05Right here. Blowing. Blowing. Let's talk about the Raiders and Saints.
35:08To give some love to the Raiders and the Saints here.
35:12Saints we've talked about quite a bit. Kyle Shuck's been fantastic so far this season, especially under pressure and especially in the vertical passing game.
35:20But the Raiders, also 2-0. And I feel like we haven't talked about the Raiders as much as maybe we should.
35:27The comment section reminded us of that last week.
35:30They do. Hey, look. Raiders fans haven't been 2-0 in a long time and they want somebody to talk about their team.
35:37So, Brett, how do you feel about this one?
35:40Where do you want to start with this game?
35:43So, one of the only good things the Raiders had going for them last year was they had a very good run defense.
35:50It didn't look that way because of volume stats.
35:53But if you're looking at carry to carry, you know, efficiency-wise from carry to carry, they were really good.
35:59Right? Their yards before contact allowed per attempt last year.
36:02It's a mouthful. 0.9 yards. So, basically, running backs were getting less than a yard before getting hit against them last year on every single carry.
36:11That was the best in the NFL. It's just when teams are running it against them, I don't know, 35 times a game because they're in the lead.
36:20Yeah, the volume stats are going to add up.
36:22This year, it's still 0.9 yards before contact per attempt.
36:26They have a 34% success rate allowed against the run this year.
36:30That's sixth best. They are negative 19.5 EPA allowed on the ground and negative 0.39 EPA per carry allowed this season.
36:36And both best in the NFL among all run defenses.
36:40So, this team can really stop the run. I know Omarion had good volume stats last week.
36:45But if you're looking at total touches Omarion Hampton had, that kind of explains why he had the numbers he did.
36:52They were feeding him and feeding him and feeding him and added up over time.
36:57But this team makes run games inefficient. And, you know, when you have, you know, the Saints already taking on injuries in
37:04their offensive line going against a very good Raiders run defense.
37:07I worry about their ability to stay ahead of the sticks and at least make third downs manageable.
37:13And then you get into third and long and you got Max Crosby against a backup left tackle.
37:19Things could go sideways pretty quick here. And it's so night and day from what it was last year.
37:25Specifically, the fact that I'm just watching this defense.
37:28And do the Raiders have the most talented defense in the NFL?
37:32No. I don't think that anybody's going to sit here and say that the Raiders have, you know, the best defense in
37:39the NFL or even a top five defense. But are they a lot better than what they were last year?
37:45Yes. And that is while getting a lot of really important snaps from rookies, from young guys.
37:51And yet, Rob Leonard, their defense coordinator, and probably just, honestly, top down, John Spitek, their general manager.
37:57Clint Kubiak, their new head coach. Like, there's so much confidence in all of these guys that are playing.
38:03And you see that on defense. Trayden Stukes was a standout at safety for them in week one.
38:08But Hezekiah Massis, my guy. Somebody who I had as a top 100 player on my big board.
38:14I thought there was no way he should have lasted until the fifth round.
38:19He is such a great early success story for the Raiders.
38:22Because this is what happens when you have a cohesive vision between your front office and who is doing the scouting and
38:29drafting of these players and what the defense wants.
38:32Hezekiah Massis, cornerback out of Cal. What was he best at when he was at Cal?
38:37Off coverage rolls. Cover three step. Quarters. When he could sit off the line of scrimmage and really read quarterbacks and just bait those throws.
38:45Sit and manage space very, very well. That's when he was at his biggest impact in college.
38:51The Raiders run zone second most in the NFL this year.
38:55And when I watched Hezekiah Massis, who had one of the best games of any defensive player last week.
39:01Or I should say one of the most impactful games.
39:04Because you go back and you watch some of the snaps and there's still a lot of rookie plays that are out
39:11there where, okay, he needs to handle this a little bit better.
39:15He needs to be a little bit stronger in run defense when he's taking on a block.
39:20But you see him fire downfield in run defense.
39:23And even though he got got on some run defense plays, he also had some serious run stops.
39:29And Brett, I'll take you back to my scouting report that I had for him pre-draft.
39:34One of the things that I noted is has to play stronger and with more fire in run defense.
39:40He had a missed tackle rate above 25 in each of the last two seasons that he played college ball.
39:47But this year, even though, again, it's not perfect, the confidence he has.
39:51Yeah, he's about it. Dude, and the same thing with Trayden Stooks the week before.
39:56So you're playing this Raiders. Again, is it the best defense in the NFL?
40:00No, but they're playing with so much confidence. That's when you get the results here.
40:05You are identifying players' strengths. You are identifying their weaknesses.
40:08You are putting them in a position to succeed with those strengths more often.
40:13And then when it comes to those weakness points, you're making sure that they're playing with as much confidence as possible.
40:20That's what Hezekiah Massis was this past week. And it's an encapsulation, in my opinion, early on of how different this Raiders
40:27organization feels this year versus last year. The confidence is those young guys are playing with.
40:32How do you change the place? You do something they say you can't.
40:36You guys did something they said you can't. Seven point dogs.
40:40So seeing all that, there is a non-zero chance that one of these young Raiders DBs gets their hands on the ball in this game.
40:48And that did happen to Tyler Shuck in week one.
40:51He threw two picks in the first half against Detroit.
40:54And they were both against zone coverage, by the way.
40:57And they were both against zone coverage. Yes, they were.
41:00Yes, that has been something that we've talked about with him.
41:04Even though he was better against zone last week, it is something we're going to have to keep an eye on.
41:11But, you know, Dimitri, who's on the team with us here at NFL Pro, he happened to be a former teammate of Tyler Shuck at Texas Tech.
41:19And we were talking through it with the meeting about how well Shuck was able to bounce back from those picks.
41:26How well he's played in these second halves of games so far.
41:30And even, you know, late last season, like he faced some early adversity.
41:34Got really hot late in the year. He's tried to, you know, carry that over this season.
41:40And something Dimitri brought up is just how resilient he is, right?
41:44And how even when he fails, he's so good at kind of just flushing it, moving on to the next play.
41:50And he has supreme confidence and he has belief in himself.
41:54And that really is a necessary skill set to have as a quarterback.
41:58Because there are some guys, you know, they throw two picks in the first half.
42:03You're down 21-0. You just go completely in the tank.
42:06And you can see it just based on body language.
42:09Like, wow, we didn't win this game. We'll move on to next week.
42:14Whereas, you know, Tyler Shuck is like, 21 points in the second half?
42:18Yeah, I can close that gap. And he did.
42:21No, we're good. Right? And, you know, Dimitri compared it to Josh Allen, which I found interesting.
42:26Because Shuck got fired up last week by an opposing coach referring to him as a poor man's Josh Allen.
42:33He reminds me a little bit of like a poor man's Josh Allen.
42:37Has all the arm talent in the world. Can run.
42:40Right? I don't think he gets enough credit for how good an athlete he is.
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44:58And then the entire week, everybody in the Saints building was just calling him poor man over and over and over again
45:05and just really getting under his skin. You don't say the Josh Allen part.
45:09Because honestly, I thought that that quote was hilarious.
45:12Because if you're called a poor man's Josh Allen in your second year in the NFL, that's a genuine compliment.
45:18That is a genuine compliment. But by just calling him poor man all week and leaving out the Josh Allen part, that's
45:26when he's just, you know, he's the LeBron Miami Heat meme where he's like, all right, okay.
45:31Can I get like an upper middle class Josh Allen?
45:34But he played really, really well. You know, I think part of it is mentality.
45:39Maybe I'll use Eli. Eli Manning is like a better example.
45:43Like anytime Eli made a mistake, I don't want to say he didn't care, but he didn't let it affect him.
45:49He was always just coming out firing and having belief.
45:53Okay, I can make this tight window throw. I'm not going to second guess myself because the second you stop shooting is
46:00the second you stop scoring and then the defense wins.
46:03And I just really respect the hell out of Tyler Shuck for having that mentality and not letting those early picks get to him.
46:11It's very possible the Raiders get him once, maybe even twice in this game.
46:15But I still think as long as he's there and as long as he has all those vertical threats, the Saints are never entirely out of a game.
46:24We've already seen that this season, that that's not the case.
46:28I mean, we saw it on the road in Baltimore on week two.
46:32What that does for morale and confidence to know that you are never out of it because sure, like a quarterback's mentality is really, really, really important.
46:41But let's face it, like everybody has to believe that you're going to come back.
46:45Everybody on offense, everybody on defense, all of that, man.
46:49And I just, I feel as though when the quarterback will show you what he's capable of, it just permeates with confidence
46:56throughout the entire rest of the roster. When you look at Shuck in the first half and then the second half slash
47:03overtime, we'll throw overtime in there as well. Over the last two weeks, first half, 0.29 EPA per dropback, which is the
47:10sixth fewest in the NFL, but in the second half and overtime, plus 0.26 EPA per dropback, which is the 10th most.
47:17So when this man's back is against the wall, when they need Captain Clutch, when they need somebody to lead them on
47:24a comeback here, he is a top 10 quarterback in the NFL through two weeks into the season.
47:30So to me, just it's such a difference maker.
47:33Again, when you have a player that can instill this kind of confidence and you've seen it a couple of times from
47:40him already in his career, that never say die mentality.
47:43And how that goes to the rest of the team, extremely powerful stuff.
47:47When you talk about a long NFL season against some really, really good teams that you're going to face.
47:53Now, Saints and Raiders fans both wanted us to talk about them.
47:57Be careful what you wish for. Anytime I start praising a team, they start doing poorly.
48:02So if they lose this week, it's on you.
48:05The Coleman curse. But hold on, hold on though.
48:08You talked about both teams. So if they tie this week, we have to.
48:13We'll see you next week's intro next week's show with the Coleman curse being just an insane force of universal properties here if they tie in this game.
48:22We could do a super cut over the last five years of every time I praise a team and they immediately lose.
48:29So you ask for it, guys. The last thing that we want to talk about here on this episode of NFL Pro is the importance of backup quarterbacks.
48:38We're talking about a lot of trends that we're seeing early on in the season.
48:43But Brett, I feel like you pointed this out or somebody on the NGS team pointed this out.
48:49How much teams have relied on backup quarterbacks already?
48:51And through two weeks of the season, we've already seen 41 quarterbacks play in the regular season.
48:57Just for those keeping score at home, there's only 32 NFL teams.
49:01And we've already had 41 quarterbacks play through two weeks of the regular season, which I think lends itself to a bigger conversation.
49:08I'm not just like, oh man, a lot is sort of up in the air when these quarterbacks go out.
49:15But the importance of backup quarterbacks and acting that we're seeing that early on in the season.
49:20And especially backup quarterbacks that don't make you change your offense.
49:24Yes. Are they still capable of running the same plays that are your bread and butter?
49:29Right? Look at Drew Locke. Drew Locke can make the throws that Sam Darnold can make.
49:34Now, I think Sam Darnold will make them with more regularity.
49:37But Drew's out there spinning it. Like, Locktober came early this year, I would say.
49:42Like, he's been great. Because you don't have to shrink the playbook.
49:46You know, going from Caleb Williams to, if he doesn't play this week, to potentially Case Keenum, that's a different playbook.
49:53Right? It's a different conference. Even going from Caleb to Bajit, you call it different stuff.
49:58Going from Darnold to Locke, it preserves what your offensive identity is.
50:02You know, going from Kyler to Wentz, I don't necessarily think that shrinks the playbook.
50:07Now, will Kyler execute it with more regularity? Maybe.
50:10But at least you're fundamentally still preserving the offense.
50:13The Jackson Dart to Jameis drop-off, I think the playbook does change a little bit, especially with how mobile Dart is.
50:19You know, I think going from Jaden to Marcus Mariota, roughly the same.
50:24But Jaden's obviously more dynamic. Yeah, but to your point, it's the same skill set that's there.
50:29Yeah, you're just not going to intentionally run Mariota at this age.
50:33Right. Which, by the way, 10 years later? Jameis and Marcus starting games?
50:37Let's go. We got there somehow. Longevity, folks! The Bucks!
50:40The Bucks and the Titans! They knew all along that these guys are going to be in the league.
50:46No, but I think that you bring up a good point.
50:50And there was actually a transaction earlier this week that happened with Will Levis signing on the Jets practice squad.
50:56That I think he's a perfect example of sometimes people go, well, hold on.
51:01How does somebody with all the tools in the world like Will Levis, how is he not picked up immediately just as a flyer quarterback?
51:09And I think the reason why is because the most important part about having a backup quarterback is having somebody that you trust.
51:16Or at least, that's how I would fundamentally view it.
51:20In a perfect world, I'd love to have three spots for quarterbacks.
51:23One is your starting quarterback. Two is a backup that you know can give you the chance to win football games, the
51:31chance to win football games for a two to four week span.
51:34Right? Like a short-term reliever type of quarterback if your starting quarterback has a high ankle sprain or something like that.
51:41And then ideally, you'd love to have a younger, higher ceiling type of quarterback that you have as sort of your QB3,
51:48whether it's on the practice squad or you've actually got it on the 53-man roster.
51:53But that middle player, that short-term reliever is so, so important.
51:57And I think that that player often gets overlooked by some fans who just want sort of the flashy, high-ceiling, younger quarterback.
52:04You need that guy. You need dependability to be able to come in and sort of steady the ship for you for
52:11a week or two or maybe even a month while your starting quarterback is down.
52:16So when I go to that wedding Halloween week in Vermont, who's my backup that you're going to bring in that you can execute the same show?
52:24Remember, Connor's watching. Brother. No pressure. In the very first show that we did, you brought up people.
52:30What position was it? Somebody's getting Timothy Mozgov money?
52:33Who else is doing that? I don't know. Who's the replacement there?
52:37I don't know. At that point, I'm just getting a young hot shot to come in and I'm just throwing it deep.
52:44I don't think I can find anybody that's going to be able to give me that sort of comp.
52:50So you'd have to give me a while to think about that one.
52:54Can we get Danny Kelly on loaner for a week?
52:58Just with the creative comps. Yes, yes. Thank you for listening to our week three preview podcast.
53:03Listen to NFL Pro on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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