00:00And the Atlanta Falcons have officially announced the signing of wide receiver
00:03Alameda Zaccheaus.
00:04And there is a narrative that we've been talking about all morning long.
00:09Everybody's pointing towards Tua as being the starting QB, at least for week one.
00:12So we've been kind of having the debate back and forth over this quarterback
00:15competition.
00:16Who's going to be week one versus who's going to be week 18?
00:19How is that situation going to play out?
00:21But what other positions do you believe are going to have competitions this year?
00:27I'm having trouble.
00:28I'm having trouble coming up with them.
00:29I think the middle, the other linebacker spot, I mean, the other, the other middle
00:34linebacker, I think, uh, what Christian Harris with Chanin Tindall, uh, Tindall, right?
00:40Is that how you pronounce his name?
00:41Um, from Georgia, you know, he hasn't really been in, he hasn't been overly
00:46productive in the league.
00:47Maybe he's got a resurgence.
00:49He could try to come in there.
00:50Maybe you draft somebody.
00:52Um, that's a spot.
00:54Troy Anderson is still, you know, they, they did, they did something.
00:59There's something weird with his contract where because of him being put on the pup
01:03list, they were basically able to, there's some kind of, I don't want to call it a loophole,
01:09but there's some kind of clause of the way they did it where they basically restructured
01:12him and just moved him doing it.
01:13You know, he didn't become a free agent until he gets another year because I believe that
01:18if he could ever stay on the field, he could be a valuable asset in a Jeff Ulbrich offense,
01:24uh, defense based on his skillset with his, you know, his size, his physicality, his speed,
01:32but we just don't ever get to see him.
01:34Yeah.
01:36Yeah.
01:36And as I'm looking at this, I'm, I'm kind of picturing the front seven and it's, it's
01:41just hard because we're so multiple with the way we play defense and it's hard to ask yourself
01:47what exactly the competition will be.
01:49I do think that there is something to look at there in terms of what is like a, like
01:54Zach Harrison versus what is the Sean hand?
01:57Like, I think that's a conversation worth having.
01:59I think one of those guys probably plugs in at the right spot, that kind of B gap defender
02:03that head up to the tackle, you know, thing in the odd personnel, um, you know, they obviously
02:09hold value for the kill London, or does that leave a body like, um, it's, it's tough.
02:16It's tough because you don't, these guys play multiple roles within this defense, but there
02:20can only be a starting 11.
02:21So what is the kill London as opposed to what is Ruka Roro as opposed to what is Brandon
02:25Dorlis, you know, like that's a, there, there's a lot of fog in there in terms of what those
02:29positions are that if James, if we knew what James Pierce was.
02:33I think there would definitely be a conversation to have around Ojalary versus Pierce versus
02:39a Bukum, you know, versus Jalen Walker.
02:42Uh, I, I kind of, well, I actually know, I think you're, I think Jalen Walker is going
02:47to be your number one edge, but I, I would say without James Pierce, then you, you actually
02:53do have the Bukum, um, Ojalary and, and, you know, again, another, another country heard
03:01from him and Braylon Trice, will he ever be able to stay on the field and we can see what
03:07he is because it's not too long ago that we were very, you know, in Amber with Braylon
03:13Trice, third round pick guys, most pressures and FBS last two seasons he played all those
03:19things. And, and he's just a, he's just a, you know, forgotten person. And yeah, I mean,
03:25I get why I'm not saying it's wrong, but what, what is he, what will he ever be if, if
03:34anything?
03:36So, you know, it's, it, that's a, that's, that's a, that's a, that's a guy that's out
03:40to prove himself too, right?
03:43No, I think the same as him as I do at Troy Anderson.
03:46No, I, I agree. I put him in the same category, but at least we've seen Troy Anderson take snaps
03:51and be, we saw Troy Anderson literally win you a football game one year.
03:56He did.
03:57Um, so we, we at least know what he can be when he plays. We have no clue what Braylon
04:04Trice is or isn't.
04:05Yeah. And then we, we obviously were all rooting for him and to see him play in the
04:09preseason last year was, was a lot of fun play with a lot of physicality. There was a lot
04:13of upside, but you're right. Um, he's got to be able to go out there and do it. I think
04:17for me, I, the, the positions are more depth battles. Like I want to know who's going to
04:23be the first outside corner that comes in. If something were to happen to Mike, he was
04:27an AJ Terrell. I want to know who the swing tackle is going to be. We tried, we traded
04:31for or got Michael Terrell last year. Uh, storm Norton didn't play. Uh, there's a number
04:36of opportunities there as well. You know, and I think those are all things they can
04:39still address through the draft, but as it sits right now, those are conversations I'm
04:42having.
04:43But how can we have that conversation and then be so out on this season in so many
04:48ways? Well, they're not trying to win. Look at the guys they signed. Well, we're sitting
04:54here trying to come up with position battles for starting jobs when they don't really
05:01exist because they've got a, a core that is not bad. We've got a core that was
05:08inconsistent quarterback play and special teams follies away from making the playoffs
05:15winning the division. So I think that's where I get frustrated with talking points
05:23from many in the media and some of the fans that are like, well, this year's this year
05:28sucks that we haven't even done anything in free agency when it's like, well, who are
05:32you going out there and signing for this big contract? Either A, that's worthy of it or
05:37B, that's going to come in and up and, and, and unseat someone. And that's why I get back
05:43to what our conversation yesterday, I thought it was pretty good conversation. There are less
05:48question marks about a lot of positions this year than there were last year. There's the
05:55major question mark at quarterback. Um, there's the, there's an on, on the, on the offensive
06:03side. And then I think Mike Fairley pointed out yesterday, there's a major question mark
06:08at the, um, the vacancy left by Caden Ellis. But other than that, where are all these question
06:17marks of a core that was very capable of winning 10 to 11 games without again, some special teams
06:25blunders? I think the, I think the two themes for me can be mutually exclusive. We can talk
06:31about position battles while also pointing out the fact that multiple of the guys we're talking
06:35about in those battles are on one-year contracts. You know, like this is like me saying Aziz
06:41Ojolari versus Samson Ibukum, I can say that they're in a position battle without saying,
06:47oh, they signed these guys to, you know, go be all pro players and to be under, you know,
06:51under control with this team for the longterm. Well, okay. But how does that mean that you
06:57can't compete this year for the NFC South? Like what? You should, you should compete for the
07:03NFC South. Well, then why is there a, and I'm not saying you're saying this, I'm just
07:08asking the question. I probably am. So go ahead. Then why is there this, this sense that, well,
07:12they're not trying to compete this year. They're not, they're not serious about winning because
07:17I've heard it on this radio station. I've heard it from the media, other outside of the
07:20station. I've heard it from, from, from fans. I agree with that, that line of thinking.
07:25Well, then tell me why, tell me why you can't win this year with very good players on one-year
07:31contracts. Also trying to prove it. A core that we think was, we thought last year was capable
07:36of, of making the playoffs because I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm genuinely confused because it feels like
07:45there's a, there's a lot of things being said and none of them are lining up to me. I'm just
07:51genuinely curious. I, I don't, you just said we signed a bunch of players on one-year contracts.
07:59We didn't make any splash signings and free agency. We didn't go out of our way to sign
08:03somebody that we thought would get us over the top. We signed a quarterback for the, for
08:08the bare minimum. We signed what 15 guys now, one-year deals to me. It's very clear. There
08:14is a soft reset. And when they took over this roster, the guys at the top of this organization
08:19that they took it over with the understanding that we don't have the money, the cap room or
08:23the draft picks to be able to do what we want to do and build this the way we want
08:26it.
08:26Who's the player that you would have signed that would have been not only put you over
08:32the top, but would have given you long-term sustainability as a franchise. Who's that
08:38player?
08:38There's been players that have moved around, been traded, been signed, whatever else this
08:43off season. I mean, I think that the, the Franklin Myers guy that we talked about until we were
08:46blue in the face and ended up with Tennessee. I think if you, if you know, there's just, there's
08:51players out there that have made moves and the teams that have, because you're right,
08:56it's kind of a weak free agent class, but the teams that are doing that this year are
08:58not only trying to sign those top free agents to get them over the top. They're also doing
09:02it through the trade market. Like we've talked about for Denver and like we've talked about
09:06for St. Louis. Those are teams that are in their Superbowl window going, let's roll.
09:10Well, I was like, I was like, wait, what? I think what's being, well, all right, hear
09:15me out. I think what's being confused is the fact that there's limited draft picks and there's
09:21limited cap space. So they're going out and signing the best guys they can get that come
09:25in that can give you opportunities to our playmakers that can make plays, even though
09:31they're not the Max Crosby's or Trey Hendrickson's. And if you can figure out the quarterback
09:36spot, you're going to compete for the division. And then some of those guys might earn new
09:42deals, but also you will then go in to a, to an off, to an off season with cap space
09:48to
09:48resign Drake Bajon, probably Devine, figure out what you're going to do with Jesse Bates
09:54who's entered in the last year of his deal. I don't disagree that you're, I think, I think
09:59what you're just not doing is over extending and signing bad contracts because there's,
10:06because there's just not a lot out there. I, yeah, I would love to have John Franklin
10:09Myers, but are you going to break the bank? Does John Franklin Myers make this team a
10:14Superbowl contender? Cause I don't believe that guy makes you a Superbowl contender.
10:17I don't think, I don't think we're a Superbowl contender with him. That's exactly my point.
10:20Well, I, but I'm not talking about Superbowl. I'm just talking about strictly breaking the
10:24streak of eight years in a row and making the playoffs. Why does people, people say that
10:29that's not a goal. Let me meet you here. Let me, let me try to meet you in the middle.
10:32I think the best way I can put it that you would agree with is right now the Falcons are
10:36making no attempt to create a sustained winner for the future. Is that fair? Can we at least
10:41say that? Because they're not there. They have zero invested in the 26 season as far as the
10:48future of this team. I think the way that you do it this year with cap space, with draft
10:54capital and with the, with the pre-agency class that there is, the way to do it was not go
11:00make some ridiculous signing just to make it. You have a court that's good enough. You
11:07need, you need to bring in complimentary players around those and what you're, and you didn't
11:12way allows you to re-sign the guys that you need to. But the number one thing is you got
11:17to find the quarterback. But going out there and get to figure out which one of these guys
11:21if either is your quarterback. But I have no, I don't, I don't believe they're selling on 26
11:26by not making a bad free agency signing and chasing their tail like we've seen the two
11:32previous regimes do at the end. Because if you're chasing your tail to make a bad free
11:36agency signing just to make a splash, to make it look like you're doing something, that
11:41doesn't help you either. I think that's how you're setting yourself up for it, by not making
11:45a bad signing.
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