The Teams To Expect Great Things From In The NFL Draft

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We are those guys.

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We hope to be your guys right here on Ride the Wave Media.

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I'm Alex Hardy, joined as always by Nick Ferguson.

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We are breaking down the NFL Draft and it is sprinting towards us with incredible 4 2 1 speed like Xavier Worthy would on that track.

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Uh, if you missed our last episode, we talked about the teams in the first round that we had no clue what it was they were doing, plus kind of the wide receiver market resetting, which definitely comes into play considering what a deep class this is supposed to be.

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Nick Ferguson, I'm thrilled to have you with me.

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Because this time on Those Guys, we are talking about the teams who need to stand pat in the first round of the draft, nail a couple of their picks, because of the expectations that are building for them this upcoming season.

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What's going on, Nick Ferguson? Nothing much, man.

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Uh, nothing but these new uniform reveals, and we've seen a couple over the past couple of days.

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Some are spectacular.

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Some are, you know, uh, interesting, to say the least.

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So, uh, I'll say that.

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A couple of your former teams involved.

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I love the New York Jets saying what's old is new.

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Trying to call recycled uniforms brand new and the Texans here.

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Texans coming out of left field with that big old H on the side of the hat.

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Uh, definitely something to look out for.

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And what better way to combine the almighty dollar.

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And the almighty NFL, where you're getting new players coming in the draft with these brand new jerseys.

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It's a perfect synergy, which is why this is one of the, uh, most lucrative professions in, in, in, in the entire world.

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We'll just leave it there.

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Well, I would agree with that because give it to the NFL to find more ways to enhance the viewership of the game.

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Like you mentioned, you know, you got a draft coming up next week, and when you look at the schedule every single year, the season is over, the end of the Super Bowl, free agency starts, Then it's on to Indie, and then it's the draft, but in between there, the league has to find something to get the fanbase excited for the draft, and what better way to do it than coming out with new uniforms, and the way I look at it, It's always, you know, divisive.

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You can't make everyone happy because you have those of the old school way of thinking, who wants to see the throwback stuff.

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Then you have the new school saying, okay, give us a little flair.

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Give us a little pizzazz to it.

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And whatever teams come out with, it never meshes with what you thought in your head.

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So the idea is.

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Man, to hell with that.

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Support the team that you're going to support and the uniforms really not going to change, uh, anything.

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It's about the production on the field.

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That's right.

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We play for the name and the new design on the front of the jersey as opposed to the one on the back.

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Nick, I started by Teasing what we were talking about today.

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And in terms of this NFL draft, we weren't so sure about a handful of teams earlier in this podcast.

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And now I want to talk about teams that we are sure of.

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We're sure of the expectations that are on them.

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We're sure that.

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They're going to stand pat and we're sure that they're going to get key contributors that are ready right now.

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Not projects, not your QB4s or QB5s that may have to ride the pine.

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I'm interested and I'll start with you, Nick.

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We're looking for teams with the expectations as high as they are that need to get their first few draft picks right.

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And I know there are 32 teams that.

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Would like to get their draft picks right, but Nick, uh, what's a team that stands out for you in particular to kick off this conversation? I'm going to start with, uh, the Atlanta Falcons.

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I would have to say that they're one of the most intriguing teams rolling into 2024, because last season they went seven and 10, and then they watched the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

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Kind of lead the division and get into the playoffs and actually win the playoff game at nine and eight.

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So the Falcons said, you know what, if you did that with Baker Mayfield, we're going to double down and we're going to go get our quarterback.

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And the idea of Kirk Cousins now coming into the fold.

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No, he's coming off of injuries, but they're paying him a hefty amount of money.

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I'm sure, you know, Terry Fontenot and that organization, what they want to do, they want to come out with the bank because this is not, you don't acquire Kirk Cousins to give him the money that you gave him just to be mediocre.

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And let's be totally honest.

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Playing in the NFC South, that's a winnable division.

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So you go up and you go get a top edge rusher, a top corner, that can really flip things for Kirk Cousins and the fortunes of the Falcons.

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So that is something that, uh, I'm going to be looking at.

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And I know before in the last part that we did, I was talking about teams moving down.

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But the Atlanta Foggers is definitely a team that needs to stay in pat because there's some top defensive players that will be on the board.

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So your assumption is defense because you mentioned the addition of Kirk Cousins.

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They also add Darnell Mooney, Charlie Werner.

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Ray, Ray McLeod and just these, uh, these pieces that are hoping to all fit in and build up, um, Kirk Cousins, right? This offense had premier top picks again, you know, it's four straight years.

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They're picking in the top 10.

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So success has eluded them, but by giving Kirk Cousins, the keys to this offense, there is now an expectation that no, not only are they not picking top 10, they're going to be.

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competing for playoff victories and hopefully an NFC championship appearance.

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Um, so the assumption is they go defense at 8th overall because of the additions that they had this offseason in Cousins and Mooney, plus those top 10 selections they made for Kyle Pitts, 4th overall, Drake London, uh, uh, 8th overall, and Bijan Robinson, 4th overall this past draft.

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Why not go defense? You already somewhat stacked offensively now still first rounders at that and it's on the offensive line too.

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Yeah, exactly.

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Now, they still can go offensive line.

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They need to flip things and take things entirely different direction.

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Even though they picked up Kyle Pitts, like you said, I mean, and get a guy who's no stranger to the Atlanta area and Brock Bowers.

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And even though I know.

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Most times, it's like the idea is that you don't take a tight end that early.

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You can wait to take that guy.

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But if they feel as though Brock Bowers, coupled with the Cal Pitts, can take that game to another level offensively.

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And you know about this being a Patriots fan.

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When, when you guys rolled out with those two tight ends, You know, uh, Hernandez and Gronkowski, how that changed things with Tom Brady.

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So everything is on the table for Atlanta, but right now that's a team that should stand pat and go out and try to get a best player available for their team.

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It's interesting you bring up Bowers because I thought that if they were going to go offense, maybe one of those three receivers, if that's Harrison, Odunze, or Neighbors gets down to them at eight.

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You know, that may be a direction that they go in because we know the brand of offense that Kirk Cousins operates in utilizing three receivers and having, uh, London Mooney and a top 10 elite prospect like that would just be outstanding.

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Um, so either of those are certainly an option.

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Um, but again, if, if they are picking eight and we get seven offensive players to start that draft, if it's four quarterbacks or three quarterbacks, three wide receivers, or two wide receivers, at least one tackle, I think we can all assume that Brian Callahan is going to get a, uh, a stern talking to from his father, Bill, that they're taking a tackle at seven.

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Um, does that mean, you know, Dallas Turner? Terry and Arnold out of Alabama.

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Quinion Mitchell.

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Allegedly the greatest Mac player in that conference's history.

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Uh, I mean, are you going off of positional need? Best player available because on the defensive side of the football, it's edge rusher and it's corner.

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Those are the two elite spots and they could have the pick of the litter there at eighth overall.

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That's the thing that's interesting about the draft because the conversation would start like, Hey.

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Throughout this whole draft process, we've seen several different versions of mock drafts from different people.

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And when a guy's not selected at a certain point by a certain team that it was projected, it's like, well, what were the red flags about that player? And why did they fall? It's not necessarily that it was anything wrong with that player.

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It's about the team that's drafting at that position.

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How many teams wanted to move up? That was actually chasing them.

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So there's going to be a lot of defensive players still on the board.

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And look, we could see a draft where several offensive guys are taken off the board, but you know, this just as well as I know, pick all the offensive players.

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You want defense still wins championships.

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We started with the Atlanta Falcons and I'm going to get to my first team, kind of the team that I first think of and really where the whole genesis of this topic came from for me, because a team with no greater expectations, With less of a record than success are the New York Jets.

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And Aaron Rodgers being there, um, leaving everything said off the field, exactly that, off the field and out of this conversation, um, the expectation is to win.

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And I'm assuming he's playing more than four snaps this season.

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So, it's, fingers crossed, right? It's, it's, it's the National Football League for a reason.

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So, this offseason, they depart with Bryce Huff, Who goes to Philly and then acquire Hassan Reddick as their rotational pass rusher.

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But, you know, Hassan Reddick is the first of many names that come in.

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Um, with some, let's say, uh, mileage, right? Tyrod Taylor comes in as the experienced backup in a now three quarterback room with Zach Wilson, who's on the trade block.

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Uh, Mike Williams will be turning 30 years old during the 2024 season, um, dealing with a number of his injuries as well.

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Uh, Tyron Smith.

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Currently slated to be the starting left tackle for this New York Jets team.

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And, you know, they've made other additions to, I think, you know, paying for John Simpson was very wise for them to do a one year prove it deal for Javon Kinlaw to strengthen those trenches.

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But now sitting 10th overall, Jets need somebody, what Nick, to.

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Help Aaron Rodgers win now or to build the foundation long term or can they accomplish both considering they pick 10, they don't have a second round pick because of the Rodgers trade and they don't pick again until 72.

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Yeah.

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The idea for Joe Douglas and Robert Sala is to build for right winning right now and build for the future.

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We know that Aaron Rodgers only has, but so many.

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Could he have a career like a Brett Favre where you're just kind of still holding on? That's all a possibility.

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So if you're thinking in that way in futures, you want to make sure that your quarterback has talent around him.

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And the way I liken it to this, because I know this time of year, everyone loves comps.

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So let me ask you a comp.

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Give it to me.

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Lay it on me.

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A quarterback without a supporting cast.

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That is like being stranded in the middle of the ocean without a buoy, right? Or a life preserver, right? You're going to sink.

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And even though we get all this talk every single year about how great quarterbacks are, how they lift up the team, they don't do that by them damn selves.

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There's other people around him that helped and known as though Rodgers is older still one of the best quarterbacks in this league when he's coming off an Achilles injury.

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The idea is to put weapons around him so you don't make, you don't put him at a point where he feels though like he's got to go play hero ball.

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No, no, no, no, no, you don't have to do that.

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Off.

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You added Mike Williams, who should be an asset once he's back on the field and then play to your defense.

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It's a recipe that Robert Sala knows all too well from his days in Jacksonville, from his days with the Seahawks, from his time with the 49ers.

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We want to be able to get after the quarterback and force him to make some error throws.

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We capitalize and take advantage of them defensively.

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But also we set our offense up.

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Don't forget, Robert Sala went to the Super Bowl with Jimmy Garoppolo as a quarterback.

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So it's a simple recipe.

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Can you do that with a more superior quarterback than Aaron Rodgers? Yes.

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Could you still do that if Tyron Taylor is your backup quarterback? Yes.

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But you can only do that if you can corral and get after the quarterback.

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This is a very important draft for the Jets, but it's not just about winning now, it's about setting the team up for the future.

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Well, and that future, you know, Aaron Rodgers is under contract for two years, but Sala and Joe Douglas, um, you know, as great as we can talk about the job they did getting Garrett Wilson and Sauce Gardner.

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In, in, in the first round a couple of years ago and both of them winning, um, you know, rookies of the year, you, you just don't see a history of coaches and GM sticking around this long when their top two quarterback has a sub 500 record, it's almost unheard of for them to be entering year four, I believe.

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Um, so with the pressure on.

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Rodgers, I think more so, you know, he's got two years left under contract.

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Um, you're certainly year to year with coach and GM.

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Uh, Nick, do you have another team that the expectations make you think, wow, more than the other 32 teams, they need to nail this first couple of picks in the draft? Well, I'm going to go with the Dallas Cowboys.

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I mean, uh, earlier this week, we heard, you know, CeeDee Lamb saying, Hey, listen, he's looking at what other receivers are making.

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He's not, you know, reporting to the voluntary workouts.

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He's going to hold down and see what the market is like.

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But that is a team that has always been on the cusp, on the precipice of making noise in the playoffs, but they're always one or two plays short.

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And knowing Mike McCarthy, uh, and Dak Prescott, like Joe Douglas.

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And Robert Sala, you know, there's no expansion in their contract.

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So you have to try to strike fire now and put Jerry Jones in a tight squeeze and say, look.

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You know, we had a great season last year and we fell short.

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Okay.

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I get it.

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But this year, even though our contracts are not renewed, we're going to really show you what we can do.

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And when we do, we expect for you to back up the Brink's truck.

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So that's what Jack Prescott is right now, but he can only do that if Jerry Jones and company go out there to get him the right pieces, because we can blame players and quarterbacks all day.

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But what I've seen, if you don't have that support staff.

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It makes it that much more difficult.

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And that's.

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Great as a quarterback that some Dallas Cowboys fans and former, you know, Cowboys coaches speak of Tony Romo.

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Even the great Tony Romo couldn't get them where they needed to go.

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Once again, it goes back to supporting cats.

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So Dallas is a team I'm definitely going to be looking for next week.

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Yeah, of course.

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You know, the, the, it's all, it's all too well to Juxtapose Jerry Jones saying they're going to be all in and then watching Dan Quinn sign a bunch of their depth and, uh, key pieces in the trenches to Washington.

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Um, and they've spent the least amount of cash and free agency.

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That's, that's typical of them, but knowing that Dak Prescott and C.

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D.

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Lamb are both unrestricted free agents after this year, uh, sure.

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They're, you know, all in for this year.

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C.

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D.

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Lamb, as you said, hasn't reported.

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And, um, you know, we're, we're in a world.

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Where Deuce Vaughn could be getting a hundred touches this season, you know, unless they upgrade that running back room.

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I think you and I are all for it, but I think organizationally they've realized that there's a, a dearth of talent after replacing Tony Pollard with Royce Freeman, Rico Dowdell still in that room, it's, it's certainly a position of need.

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The type of positional value that running back brings, they can certainly look at that.

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To make up for that later on in the draft, the last team that I want to get to here as we're having this conversation about teams with expectations and really needing to get their draft picks.

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Right.

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Um, it's always, it's always the new Orleans saints for me.

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Um, with the way that they've spent their money and how.

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The cap situation is sort of a kick the can down the road type of deal.

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They've created themselves enough cap space just to keep certain guys under contract, uh, not big spenders in free agency for that reason.

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Chase Young comes in on a one year deal, uh, after he played very well in the playoff run, uh, for the 49ers.

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Up to the NFC championship game.

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Um, my beloved Jamis Winston plays for Cleveland.

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So you have some questions in the quarterback room after Derek Carr, but for, you know, average, mediocre quarterback play, Derek Carr is owed 70 million over the next two seasons.

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And after signing him a year ago, they've already restructured so that there's, you know, void years and dead cat money, they're going to deal with Derek Carr.

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Long after he leaves this team.

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So there are major concerns about how this team balances their books, which is why they have to nail their draft picks.

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Thanks to one Sean Payton, they picked a 45th in the second round.

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So after they've go 14th first, uh, in their first round, 45th in the second round, I look at this team and I think that, you know, they certainly can't afford to trade down, but But unless they get a tackle to fall to them, I think that's absolutely a position of need.

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Well, I think looking at the draft as it's currently constructed, I mean, the Saints would be able to do that.

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Now, they may not be able to get the tackle that they wanted, their top tackle, but they will be able to get a tackle in this draft.

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And the idea is, you hope to find a young guy who can be a swing guy.

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And the reason I say that is because most guys, young players, No matter what position you play, you're going to struggle coming in because you spent four years, three to four years in a college program where, you know, that system in inside and out, and when you thrust into the NFL side of things, it's going to take time to kind of get grooved in.

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Meanwhile, you got guys across from you trying to rip your head apart.

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Who's got mortgages that in college tuitions, they have to worry about.

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So there is a learning curve.

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They'll get their guy, but maybe not the guy that they want.

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And it's funny that you bring this up.

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And you talking about the salary cap, the whole thing is that teams have manipulated the salary cap by pushing years back, years back, kicking the can down the street, like you said, but at some point Rick comes new and whatever took place with Mickey Lumas and Sean Payne down in New Orleans.

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Now, I mean, other individuals have to now deal with the financial strife of, uh, Being hamstrung by the salary cap.

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So you just have to try to make best what you have and hope that you draft well, and you pick up a couple of free agents that can add some depth and eventually end up becoming stars.

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Well, that's the exciting part is that we do have a deep tackle class that the saints have been able to sort of piece things together and they've made impactful moves in free agency, but they, you know, their penchant is to take big swings in the draft and move up for positions.

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You know, that aren't quarterback, right? They traded up to get Marcus Davenport at edge rusher.

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That didn't work out for them.

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Uh, and they've done the same trading up for Trevor Penning, uh, to get back in the first round and he was benched.

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So between Penning, between Ryan Ramchick, who has a degenerative knee, which is.

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Affecting his career outlook here.

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He may not be able to play.

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He's at least going to give it a go.

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That just seems to be a spot that makes a ton of sense for me.

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And it's a deep class, but not everybody's different.

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Um, you know, a swing tackle to me, I, I'm assuming Joe Waltz not going to be there at 14, but you've got, um, you've got Foshanu, you've got Fawaga, you've got Fontenot, they're all great in what they provided for their teams collegiately.

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There's a different package there.

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The swing tackle, I think would be, um, Foshanu out of Penn state, who's more of a traditional tackle, play both sides, uh, for a big 10 program.

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Fuaga, I think, is the wild card out of Oregon State because positionally he, he's that Swiss army knife, the size kind of profiles as a guard, but he has most experience playing tackle at an elite level for RIP, the Pac 12.

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Um, and then Fontenot Washington played both tackle sides and moved over to left tackle when Michael Penix came in as the left handed quarterback.

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So the Saints are going to identify what they need.

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And to me, if they just need.

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Help all over that offensive line.

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You, you, you can certainly miss with a dart throw, but all these guys can fill different roles that they need.

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So I wouldn't go pound, you know, the table as much as I would for the Titans, but tackle makes a ton of sense for me.

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Uh, but as we mentioned with the Atlanta Falcons to start the show, if one of those key defensive players fell to them at 14, there's no such thing as having enough edge or corner play.

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Help.

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Nick, we covered four teams that the expectations are so high that we really want to see them more than others nail their draft picks.

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And of course, the caveat being, we really want to see the Broncos nail their draft picks.

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We really want to see the Patriots nail their draft picks.

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We really want your teams to nail their draft picks.

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So if you have any questions about what your team is doing for this NFL Draft Pick, please Reach out to Nick Ferguson at Nick underscore 25 on all social platforms.

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He's been grinding tape.

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He's going to tell you which quarterback fits his Denver Broncos, whether they're there at a 12th overall, or they need to make a big swing or Hey, later on in the third, fourth round, because you don't have that second round pick, but you do have Sean.

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Nick, before we split, we started talking about the Atlanta Falcons and the biggest news I think coming from an ownership standpoint, because that's the fun part.

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Plays on the field and draft prospects are great, but when we can spill the tea on NFL ownership, because remember, NFL owners own the footballs.

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They own the story of, uh, of, of this week.

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The reports that Robert Kraft.

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Advised Arthur Blank, owner of the Atlanta Falcons.

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I don't trust my former coach, Bill Belichick, and you should consider that when discussing hiring him.

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Ultimately, Raheem Morris getting the spot in Atlanta.

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Bill Belichick remains a free agent, working on a book this offseason.

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So Nick, before we split, as your time in the NFL can tell us, are owners really going Petty to the point of advising their fellow owners who to or not to hire? Um, is this more about the relationship between craft and blank? Or Kraft and Belichick.

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Well, I think it's more or less, uh, about protecting the Patriots way, right? Because the idea is that you've had Bill Belichick for a large number of times.

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I mean, some kids, that's all they know is Bill Belichick, the Patriots, and Tom Brady.

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24 years.

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That's right.

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So when you break up that family, there's a little competition between owners and not wanting to see another owner.

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Have the same level of success.

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So two things can be right at the same time.

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Also, I think, you know, Robert Kraft was trying to inform Arthur Blank of the possibilities of what could happen, because let's be totally honest.

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We've seen owners make decisions before, share information to do things that they say, or they feel is in the best interest of the business.

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Of the league itself.

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Look at the Colin Kaepernick situation, no matter how you feel about him and him not having an opportunity to continue his career, look at the Lamar Jackson situation and no owner wanting to go out there and give.

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Lamar Jackson, the type of deal that maybe the Browns gave, uh, uh, Deshaun Watson.

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Right.

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And when we're talking about spilling the tea, it's owners don't mind having Lamar Jackson as their quarterback.

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They don't want to set the precedent Haslam did of handing out a fully guaranteed contract.

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Exactly.

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So with that being said, Owners do talk now a word that some may want to bring up.

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They may say, well, it's collusion.

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I'm just going to call it friends sharing information with other friends, right? And I'm sure Arthur Blaine wanting to go in a different direction with his organization.

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He didn't want to run into the headache that maybe Robert Kraft ran into.

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Okay, well, who do you side more with your head coach or, or your quarterback? Right? And sometimes you have to have the ability to acquiesce to maybe your quarterback.

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And I think it's a benefit to actually listen to the input from your players and try to put them in the best situation to be successful.

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Because at the end of the day, as an owner, you own the team.

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As a coach, you are put there to delegate.

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And lead the team.

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But guess what? Neither of those two people in those positions are playing the damn game.

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So you should, should put more of the emphasis on the player because that's how you get success.

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A man who played the damn game is Nick Ferguson.

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I'm Alex Hardy.

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I played no damn games.

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I just played games with you right here on this podcast.

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And we are those guys.

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We hope to be your guys.

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Uh, make sure to keep us tracked.

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Let's see, we've got We got one more episode before the draft and then you can catch us, uh, recapping the first two days of the NFL draft.

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So keep it right here on this podcast feed, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, if you want to see our faces and our hats.

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Uh, I'm just, you know, it's, it's exciting because the mystery, like the mystery box could be anything.

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It could be a franchise quarterback.

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It could be a boat.

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It could be comedy tickets.

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I'm just, I'm going to keep recycling that, that family guy joke.

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I just, there's so, there's, there's a lot to look forward to.

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It's all grounded in reality, thanks to the perspective that Nick brings us.

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Having been there, having done that, um.

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I just, you know, we'll be back.

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It'll be draft week.

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And what do you have to say for the people? Hey man, hopefully your team goes out there and drafts the best player to fit what you guys are doing.

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If not too bad, so sad, you're going to be losers.