NFL Offseason Highlights: Texans' Ascension & Brandon Aiyuk's Contract Saga

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We are back, we are those guys, we hope to be your guys, bringing you the latest around the National Football League, and Nick, there are happenings around the National Football League that I will get to shortly, but first What's going on, my man? How you doing? Nothing much, man.

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Just, uh, trying to find ways to beat the heat.

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It's Denver, Colorado, so I'm guessing 36 hours of heat and then you'll get snow by, uh, the weekend here? Uh, no.

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If that were to happen, we have a much larger problem called global warming.

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So, uh, hopefully we don't get any snow by the weekend.

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Well, that's not really our problem.

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We both have kids, so they can, you know, just like with everything else, take care of us, um, you know, as both our planet and our, uh, you know, our, our, our own bodies get older too.

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It's just, just the thought, Nick, just the thought.

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Um, I, I was excited to announce that there's actual football.

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I mean, not really.

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However.

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As of this recording and as you're listening to us, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, wherever you get your podcasts, uh, we have a team fully reported and ready for camp, training camp, Nick, not many camp, not OTAs.

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We got ourselves the Houston Texans, one of the favorites in the AFC.

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Your former Houston Texans are there.

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Rookies, veterans are all at camp, uh, as of Wednesday this week.

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And they seem to be one of the favorites in the AFC.

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Um, looking at a team that overachieved, certainly they had the number two pick.

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They traded up for the number three pick as well.

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Landed both offensive rookie of the year, CJ Stroud, defensive rookie of the year, Will Anderson.

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Um, the sky's the limit, right? What are you just zooming out? You look at a roster and a team like the Houston Texans think that you're very close to.

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Well, let's take a 30, 000 foot view and take a look at the Houston Texans, because for me, they're one of the tougher teams.

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Just look at what they did ahead of schedule.

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Rookie quarterback, rookie head coach, rookie officer coordinator.

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No one could have projected that they would do as well as they did.

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Especially thinking about the negative narratives coming into the draft.

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When CJ Strott was coming out, but this kid showed that he is mentally and from a skill stand standpoint, farly advanced than most people had originally thought.

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And look at the additions they made on both sides of the ball.

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And for me, We go through the cycle every single offseason and no one really wins the offseason, but you have to give them a lot of credit for retooling and restocking on both sides of the ball and CJ Strauss should be much better in year two.

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And dare I say this, man, there's not going to be this thing of sophomore slump.

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No, no, no, no, no.

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It is not going to be like that with this guy because.

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He's got a bunch of veteran wide receivers around him, and they added Stefan Diggs.

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So, we haven't done a fantasy football show, but forecasting, I already know where I'm going with my fantasy roster, and they added Joe Nixon.

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Yes.

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Yeah, yeah.

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They're primed and ready to go.

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You know, I realized that, um, first of all, first of all, Nick, we're talking about two excellent additions on the offensive side of the football for an ascending quarterback.

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I'll get into some nuts and bolts.

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We'll, we'll do the offense first because we want to do our fantasy football lean, uh, and I'm sure I could tell you about my, uh, Scott fish bowl draft, which is still going.

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We, we started the draft nine, started the draft nine days ago.

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We're halfway there, but that's, that's, uh, for another time when we do, uh, Alex, before we split, um, the Houston Texans additions.

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I personally am more excited about Joe Mixon.

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In that Bobby Slowick offense than I am Stefan Diggs.

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Or maybe I should say, Nick, I need you to help me break down this Houston Texans offense.

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Is the addition of Stefan Diggs a shift in personnel grouping? Or are we going to see a little bit less of one of those three stud receivers between Diggs, Nico Collins, and another rookie sensation last year in Tank Dell.

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The Houston Texans were bottom 10 in 11 personnel.

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That's one running back, one tight end, three receivers.

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Uh, 60 percent of the time they had three receivers on the field.

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And we know from listening to you and many others discussing this offense, they're a team that wants to establish the run.

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And set CJ Stroud up and play action.

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Well, 40 percent of their offensive snaps, you're going to not have one of Nico Collins, Stefan Diggs, or Tank Dell.

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You got to help me shake this out, Nick.

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How do they get their skill players? on the field and are we going to see a drop from maybe Tank Dell's the odd man out if Stephon Diggs is the veteran coming in or Stephon Diggs is playing a smaller role? No, I listen, the fact that we've seen more of 11 personnel in the NFL over the past five years than we've ever seen.

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We, that trend is only going to grow, especially looking at what they're done, the Houston Texans, That is from an offensive standpoint, you're going to see 11 personnel, but you're going to see it in different varieties.

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You're going to see different combination of guys on the field.

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And this is an excellent problem to have if you are Offensive Coordinator Bobby Slug, because each game is going to change as far as who's the featured person.

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It is going to be difficult on opposing defensive coordinators to say, okay, well, I'm going to Who's going to get the ball this week? We got to shut down Nico Collins.

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We got to shut down Tank Dale.

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Uh, then you have Joe Mixon, then it's Dalton Schultz.

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It's kind of a pick your paws and this is the best offensive situation you will love.

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Being any quarterback.

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So this is, this is a game where we're going to see C.

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J.

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Stroud's numbers probably be better than they were last season.

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And I know that is crazy to say, but having all these wide receiver combinations, we know one, guys are going to get hurt.

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So you have enough depth for that.

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And then you can spray guys out and create ideal running lanes.

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For a guy like Joe Mixon, because Joe, you can hand it off to him, but guess what? He's a past catching running back.

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I'll say this, and you tell me if you like this comp.

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It's more like, like Joe Mixon is what Ezekiel Elliott was in his prime with the Dallas Cowboys, but Joe Mixon is older running back, but he still possessed those same kind of skill set.

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Hmm.

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You know, I, I see the fit.

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And I wonder if he's that type of guy who, like Zeke, never came off the field, right? The similar skill set, running between open lanes, um, you know, the other receiving we hadn't seen as much with the Bengals constantly cycling in other pass catching running backs, and that, that may continue with Zach Moss.

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Um, but we'll get to previewing the Bengals a little bit later, because I do like me some Zach Moss this year for fantasy purposes.

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But, I, I, I am wondering Um, one, if we're cycling receivers off the field, if, if Joe Mixon is the type of player that is going to stay on the field for them constantly, right.

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You know, we had seen a flash, um, two years ago, uh, from the Florida running back, Oh, God, why is his name escaping me all of a sudden, Damian Pierce.

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And then being phased out of that offense, Devin Singletary stepping up in his absence this past season, now he's with the Giants.

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So, you've got a rotation of running backs, as well as the receiver position, that as many weapons for CJ Stroud, that's what you're supposed to do, taking advantage of that rookie contract that he is under.

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Um, again, the offensive line Poised to be one of the best.

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They had Laramie Tunsell in and out of the lineup.

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They had, uh, basically a, a, a shuffling of the deck with all the injuries that they had, um, with Shaq Mason on, uh, on the right side.

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And this year they're coming poised in with hopefully a healthy Juice Scruggs, a healthy Kendrick Green.

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To solidify that interior to go along with a pair of the best tackles.

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And I mentioned tonsil and, uh, on the right side.

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Oh, I'm just, you know, Nick, this is when we do things on the fly.

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Titus Howard, Titus Howard.

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Thank you.

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Again, the Texans achieved not just because they had a rookie quarterback, not just because they had a rookie fifth round wide receiver opposite Nico Collins, who had his breakout season, but they did this with a bruised, battered, and injured offensive line.

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Cup is half full because everybody's healthy in the offseason, uh, even Tank Dell, who's back running routes after he was, you know, a victim of a, of a shooting at a nightclub after recovering from a fractured fibula.

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Like he's healthy, like this team looks poised to go with all of the issues that they may have had coming into last year, being projected as another team looking to pick a top draft, let alone a team that won a playoff game.

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You know, the sky's the limit, uh, for, especially for that offense and on that defense.

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The Neil Hunter comes in with Jonathan Greenard going to Minnesota.

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So they're adding, you know, for a do it all defensive end, like.

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Greenard was, who was one of the best run stoppers from the outside edge.

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Daniel Hunter and linebacker Aziz Al Shaheer coming from Tennessee.

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They're really going after the pass rush.

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So I think getting after the quarterback for them is going to be a lot of fun to watch, but it puts a lot of pressure on whoever that second corner is opposite Derrick Stingley Jr.

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We've talked about the former.

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Uh, top 10 picks they brought in.

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Jeff Okuda, CJ Henderson.

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They use a second round pick on Kamari Lassiter.

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Uh, you know, I think they're really going all in on rushing the quarterback, which is huge in the AFC South in particular, and they need to make sure that the secondary is shored up to, to, to boost that.

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Well, here's what I'll say.

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This, this kind of recipe that.

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You know, both Sloy and D'Amico Ryans are cooking up.

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I'm quite familiar with it.

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All you have to do is look at San Francisco.

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Before D'Amico took over as the defensive coordinator for Robert Sala, who's now the head coach of the New York Jets.

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Right, so you were there in San Francisco with D'Amico.

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Right.

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After you guys played together in Houston.

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Yeah.

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So it's the same philosophy.

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So you want to build somewhat of, I'll say, your offensive line can be average, but you have to have weapons.

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And just think about Kyle Shanahan's history that dates back to Mike Shanahan's history.

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There's always been a stable of running backs.

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Now you may have your marquee backs, But you have two, three, maybe a fourth guy who can spell the first guy who has a similar skill set, but he's not as explosive as the first guy.

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So this is why you have Damien Pierce and then you have Joe Mixon in the backfield and then you have the bevy of wide receivers to make matchups.

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Uh, difficult for opposing defenses around the league, but then you look at the defensive side of the ball.

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You talked about the Houston Texans secondary, which I would say not the best secondary in the league, but not the worst secondary, but pass rush.

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And back in play go hand in hand.

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And if you got dogs up front that can speed up the clock of the quarterback and force error throws, I don't care who you have in the backfield.

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Hell, you and I could be playing the corners.

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We're going to have big plays, but that's how it works.

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And to me, that is the recipe they're trying to duplicate in Houston.

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They went so young in that secondary.

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Um, now guys are coming into their own Jalen Petrie and they brought in the veteran, um, No, Jimmy Ward is still there.

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Jimmy Ward is still there, exactly.

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So, I'm excited to see how things kind of shape up and, you know, how effective they are going after, you know, the Will Levis's, Anthony Richardson's of the world.

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Um, to really ensure that they remain not just dominant on offense, but that defense takes a step up that really solidifies them as one of the true contenders in the AFC.

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I mean, aside from the Kansas City Chiefs three peating or, uh, you know, your, your, your crazy Jets fans that are getting an MVP season from Aaron Rodgers.

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Like the, the Texans are up there.

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With maybe Baltimore, who they lost to in the divisional round last year as one of the top three or four teams coming out of the AFC this year.

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So Nick, we're going to do this with every team that we preview.

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And again, we're dipping our toes in.

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I don't have all my notes, but I'd like to hold ourselves to this.

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I don't necessarily need a win loss record from you because honestly, what's the exercise, but what's the floor and the ceiling for this team? Is it You know, as a baseline, they're going to win the division, or just a wild card, and as they're sealing, maybe the number one seed in the AFC, where do you sort of, In your, uh, range of outcomes, put the Houston Texans fortunes for this season? Well, obviously the floor is you are winning the, a FFC South.

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Wow.

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I, I'm just, they're winning the AFC South no matter how you slice it.

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Because think about the teams who are in the, A FFC South for one.

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Right? But also the ceiling is, you know what? May not, it may not be the number one seed, but they're going to be in the mix and they're going to make a lot of noise in the mix.

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And I'll say this, the Houston Texans are the biggest threat to the Kansas City Chiefs three peating.

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They are and I know that may seem far fetched because they lost to Baltimore, a team that lost to Kansas City, but still you look at the fact that a team like the Houston Texans being ahead of schedule.

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Usually when the team gets a rookie head coach and offensive coordinator quarterback, it takes them at least four years to even be in a conversation Where they are several games away from the big game.

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That's where the Texans were this year.

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The one, there's two things that could disrupt that.

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Injuries and being overly confident.

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Those are the two things that can hurt the Houston Texans.

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But the idea is if they play the way that they played last year, desperate and hungry, and they stay healthy.

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Yes, they are the biggest threat to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.

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Alright, well, if it's the Kansas City Chiefs that are in threat of going back to the Super Bowl, we'll switch over to the biggest news coming from the NFL this week.

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Of the San Francisco 49ers and in a very unsurprising and very telegraphed move.

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I'm going to bring up a tweet that came in, uh, from February 12th after they lost the Superbowl, Brandon Ayuk, it was a screenshot from his, uh, Instagram reels, his story, don't forget what got you there now, fast forward from February all the way now to July.

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Uh, he formally requested a demand to be traded.

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Uh, this coming after the athletics, Diana Rossini reporting San Francisco wanted to offer him 26 to 27 million a year in a contract extension.

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Well, we just saw Amon Ross St.

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Brown make 30 million.

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Jalen Waddell, 28 million.

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And.

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He's decided that that's not going to be enough for him.

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There's no hometown discount, um, especially given much like the Houston Texans, the 49ers can take advantage of a rookie contract for Brock Purdy.

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So now Nick Ferguson, an organization that you know too well, and many of the players involved that you know too well.

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From both the front office and from the player personnel standpoint, I think historically, the 49ers have had the leverage for a number of reasons.

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Number one, they win games.

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Players want to play for teams that win games and can get them to Superbowl appearances, even if they don't, you know, it seems to be elusive for them to win them.

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Uh, Debo Samuel had previously done a, uh, put in a trade request.

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They got a contract done in August.

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George Kittle, Joey Bosa, both previously held out for off season workouts.

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They got contracts done.

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Is this a matter of the timing or are we going to see Brandon Iuke play out the fifth year option and he may end up somewhere in free agency this time of year from now? I think it's more likely that Brandon Iuke will play out that fifth year option and then end up playing somewhere else.

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And here's some things that I think everyone should think about because Brandon Iuke has a point.

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You mentioned the Bevia players are currently on the 49ers roster.

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Who used, I guess, negotiating tactics and they eventually got paid.

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Problem for the San Francisco 49ers is, which is a good thing.

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It's a bad thing.

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At the same time, you mentioned, uh, Iuke is up.

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We're talking about Bosa.

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And Debo Samuel, and not to mention that at some point, the realization of paying Brock Purdy, they're going to have to deal with, but they have so much money invested in so many players that someone's going to have to go.

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It's inevitable.

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And why do you think Pearsall was actually drafted? Because before the Niners realized that we've had issues with Debo Samuel before, and then they knew they were going to have a Brendan Aiyu.

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But to Brendan Iyuk's point, he's watching all these other wide receivers who are getting certain type of money and he's like, no, 26 million? Yeah, that sounds like a lot of money, but not in comparison to my contemporaries.

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But also think about this, Brendan Iyuk plays for the San Francisco 49ers.

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Where taxes are high as hell.

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Right.

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So, so think about it.

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26 million sounds like a lot of money, but when you throw in the taxes, how much is he really making? Sure.

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Right.

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So it was like, either you guys are going to pay me what I feel as though I'm worth according to the guys who made money before me, or you're just going to let me go.

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But here's what I do know.

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There is still value in Brennan IU.

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So either San Francisco ponies up and paying the money.

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Or he's going to get it somewhere else.

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Now it's, I don't want to say it's a chicken or egg situation, but we understand that Kyle Shanahan's strength as an offensive play caller has been able to shuffle out pieces, even at quarterback, but also all over the field.

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Um, Is Brennan Ayuk the type of exception, you know, they went all in on Christian McCaffrey, they haven't given him a new contract, I mean, the Panthers did, is he at that level of a McCaffrey, or a Trent Williams, or George Kittle, where their offense is that much better With Brandon Iuke on the field that they need to make a financial investment in him.

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I know for sure that on plays where the pocket breaks down or Brock Purdy needs to buy time, Brandon Iuke was the number one receiver.

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I mean, based on metrics provided by Matt Harmon, who, uh, gives us the great reception perception, finest work over at Yahoo, again, one of my favorite voices.

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Fantasy football.

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Uh, he was in the, you know, the, the, the upper echelon, the top 10%, 90th percentile plus success rate versus man zone and press coverage.

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You asked Brennan Ayuk to get open and he did, and he was hugely influential in the past game when maybe the Shanahan play or the first couple of reads broke down for Purdy in the pocket.

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So.

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I'm just trying to figure out, it's not a pecking order, but I feel based on the last two years worth of production, and the underlying numbers, that IU should be in that same tier of what McCaffrey, Trent Williams, and Debo Samuel, and George Kittle bring to this offense.

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It's without a doubt that Brendan Ayoub is a very valuable cog in the wheel for the 49ers offense.

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Right? So, essentially, they've created this monster and it happens around the league all the time.

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And you're absolutely right.

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I mean, you actually answered your own questions.

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Posting all that, the information about production and you go back to the game against the Detroit Lions where the 49ers were down at home.

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I mean, Brendan, I used to make some very key plays to get them and dig them out of the hole and he did it by either catching passes or he did it by blocking.

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Yeah.

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When you play in a Shanahan offense, you have to be as committed to blocking as anyone else as a wide receiver.

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Because Kyrsten McCaffrey's father, my former teammate Ann McCaffrey, that's the one thing both he and Rod Smith did well.

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You cannot run the ball with Kyrsten McCaffrey whether you Run it with him and throw it to him without wide receivers blocking on the outside.

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And that is something both Deebo Samuels did well, George Kittle did well, and Brendan Agnew did it exceptionally well.

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So once again, the 49ers find themselves somewhat at an impasse.

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Either you give him the money and you disrupt what you currently have.

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Or you let him walk.

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Now let me throw this in as one particular option.

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We've seen Brett Beach out in Kansas City get deals done, right? Yeah.

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In the 25th hour when they only had like $75 in the cap, right? Somehow everyone gets paid, but once again, can you get players? On the same stage as saying, look, we have something good here.

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We got to keep our core guys together, but we also have to make sure financially we take care of them.

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So, in order to pay you, they may have to say, well, kiddo, we may have to take some back end of your money transferred to a side of bonus.

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Right.

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And we say, well, we're just going to extend your contract out, which we're going to have to pay later on.

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Yeah.

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I mean, there's no luxury tax in football, but still at the same time, we're going to kick that can down the street.

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We need to take advantage of the window that is open now.

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I mean, hopefully Kyle and John, my former teammate, John Lynch, that is, they're thinking that way because You don't want to break up the team.

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Now, Kyle, being a very smart guy he is, could say, you know what? We knew we were going to lose one or two players and we're okay losing those guys because Pierce all out of Florida, that kid can go, but we haven't seen him work on the NFL level yet.

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As you were explaining how they negotiate and navigate the cap.

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What I had to do was Google what the New Orleans Saints dead cap is right now.

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Yeah.

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Because they're, they're the poster child, right? Mickey Loomis and that front office will pay guys and kick that can down the road.

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And we'll take a smaller cap hit now so we can add more players.

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And, um, they owe 41 and a half million for seven other guys to be playing for different teams.

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Or, in Michael Thomas case, to be a free agent.

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So, yeah.

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Your Denver Broncos are doing the same with Russell Wilson, about 40 million dollars for him to play elsewhere, but it's just the part of the business that, uh, When you're the Saints or the Broncos and the expectation isn't not only, you know, just show up at the playoffs, Superbowl, Oh my God.

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But for the 49ers, that fan base has been starved for a Superbowl.

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So it's a much more incredible tight rope act than a lot of other teams that.

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Have the ability to kick the can down the road and just be happy that they go eight and nine with Derek Carr or, um, Bo Nix at the helm.

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And I know eight and nine is a little lofty for your Denver Broncos, but it would be for my Patriots as well.

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I'm not trying to throw any shade.

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I'm I swear, I swear, I swear, Nick, before we split, uh, I think more so on my timeline than I've ever seen.

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Um, everyone that I know, whether they're in their, you know, late twenties and their thirties like me and their forties like you, uh, everyone is just enamored with playing the first NCAA college football game in about a decade with the latest, uh, uh, college football 25 coming out, um, you know, many years ago, maybe even as many as during COVID.

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I think one of my favorite things in all of video games, if it was mad and if it was FIFA, if it was NBA 2K was building.

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An organization, building a franchise and going through the years and, and, and setting things off and, uh, establishing long traditions of success.

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Um, something that I was used to with the Patriots and the Celtics in real life, but, you know, we'd have fun and.

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Do it with the, uh, do it with the then San Diego Chargers, who never had that type of a relationship with winning.

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So Nick, before we split, are you among the people enamored with college football 25? If you are, who are you using? If you aren't, um, is there something appealing? Maybe you take over your yellow jackets or you do something.

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You become better than Dion with the buffs.

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I mean, what would your vision be? In a simulation where you get to run a college football program, and this could be something we kick out You know to to our guy Blaine right here when he does game related.

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I don't think they've tackled You know sports games To this point, but there's no reason that they can't Nick.

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Well, for me, I am not big into the football video games.

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Uh, I'm usually a spectator, but my son, uh, has, uh, was it Madden 2024, 2023.

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And, um, he's beaten me, right.

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Which was his, I guess, his rite of passage and he bragged and all of that.

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So just take him out to the driveway and hoop.

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So I don't play the games in that way.

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But.

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If I were to play, I would say I would have to play with maybe, I don't know, Texas, right? Really? Texas would probably be that team I would have to play with because Steve Sarkeesian, man, they just keep loading up with, with players.

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And I don't know the nuances of the new game because they always add these hidden things that you can do, uh, maybe crowd noise or whatever.

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I don't know, but that, that would be the team I would pick because my first impulse was Texas.

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Would be Michigan, but there's no hardball in Michigan anymore, right? And they don't have some of the same, uh, players anymore.

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Blake Quorum is not there anymore, right? So I'm going to go with Texas if I were to, uh, play the game.

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And, you know, my co host, On a radio station here in Denver that I feel in with, he's got an advanced copy of it and he's played the game and this whole thing is like he played someone.

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He had army playing against Eastern Carolina.

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He ran the ball the entire time.

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Triple option.

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Yes, he passed the ball one time and he had over 3, more than 325 yards in total offense.

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I told him I couldn't play him.

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It would drive me crazy that you're running the ball every single play and you're picking up yardage.

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So, I can't wait till the game come out.

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Uh, I'll probably get it to watch my son play.

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Uh, but I myself, I wouldn't play, but if I did, I would.

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I, you know, Paul Johnson right now just livid that one of his former Yellow Jackets just absolutely spitting all over the triple option.

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That's what your team on the map, ACC champions.

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No! You know, throwing the football 150 times for the entire season.

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No, man.

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No, I want to see a balance attack.

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Get, get, make, even though it's a video game, make it somewhat real to me.

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I don't want to see you run the ball every single play, man.

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That's boring as hell.

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Well, uh, I, I, I can imagine that it's going to be an inflection point.

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And maybe just a way that you try to figure out how to steer your son away from Army or, uh, you know, um, any other program that wants to implement that offense.

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I know you didn't ask, but me, I want to take, um, any, any lower tier football program and I want to build them up.

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Um, of course, I am regionally biased.

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Give me Boston College, the team that I fell in love with watching Matt Ryan.

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Or give me a UMass Amherst where I partied at the zoo when I was 18, 19 years old.

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That's the whole point.

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It's the nostalgia factor, Nick, because this is a game that hasn't been out for more than a decade.

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And you have people my age, your age that are picking up the sticks for the first time and about that long hopping online and, uh, kids like your son, just absolutely tooling them online.

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That's just a little age gap that.

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You know, it's just something that sort of escapes us in our old age.

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Uh, again, you, um, you're not really showing your old age, Nick, except for when you do talk about getting beat on the sticks by your son.

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Um, but that's okay, right? There are other ways that we excel.

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There are other ways that you can find us at NickFerguson underscore 25 on all social platforms and anything you have about your team entering training camp.

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Uh, this week, next week, we're going to keep going.

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Maybe.

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Spend some time on Just About Every Team.

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Will we get to all 32? Maybe, maybe not.

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How do we get to your team first? You just let us know.

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I'm Alex Hardy.

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He's Nick Ferguson.

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Let's get on out of here.

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What do you have to say to the people, Nick? You're not always as old as the calendar may presume that you are.

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As long as you have old or younger type of thoughts, you're still in the game.

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So don't let people throw that, oh, you're old type of melody on you.

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No! You are not! That's a good plug for College Football 25.

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In the game.

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EA Sports, it's in the game.

310
00:31:19,594.0369903 --> 00:31:19,904.0369903
Peace.