00:00But let's talk about the Falcons.
00:01I've got to ask you this.
00:03The wide receiver room, how are you feeling about it now after the draft?
00:07Much better.
00:08Much better.
00:08I mean, look, you know me.
00:09We spent a lot of time talking about Zachariah Branch.
00:11I think there's a lot more potential there.
00:13I mean, I love the idea of special teams.
00:15We don't really talk much about that angle.
00:16But wide receiver, this guy, I think, can be used properly in a Kevin Stefanski offense.
00:20Now, we can debate how reliable the delivery system is going to be to start the year.
00:25But remember, guys, they had to address it.
00:27You've got jokes, huh?
00:28I have to address it.
00:30Well, hey, I was going around and around with steak on this quarterback situation.
00:34More coming up in a minute.
00:35But, no, you've got Jahan Dotson.
00:37We don't even know what Jahan Dotson is.
00:39Talk to some Eagles fans.
00:40They say he's got potential.
00:41He does.
00:42He just got a bunch of better guys ahead of him.
00:44And, look, Jalen Hurst can't even get the ball to A.J. Brown, let alone Jahan Dotson.
00:48But Zaccheaus is a pro's pro.
00:49We know what Drake is.
00:51Because otherwise, with Casey Washington and the Chris players, Casey was a six-round pick.
00:55He couldn't catch the break, staying healthy.
00:56And there's a ceiling with those guys.
00:58I think the sky's the limit with Zac Branch.
01:01I'm excited.
01:01Okay.
01:01But that's my issue.
01:02It was an issue they had to address, and they did.
01:05Look, but the depth there doesn't look appealing.
01:08You mentioned it.
01:09The guys we are aware of, the Chris players, the Casey washington's, the guy, Dylan, who is that?
01:14Who is that?
01:15Dylan Drummond.
01:16Mr. Drummond's son.
01:17Look, that's the issue, I think, is the depth.
01:20But you're right.
01:20At the top, okay, it looks pretty good.
01:23And it looks better with Branch.
01:25Right.
01:25Is Branch an immediate starter?
01:27How are you?
01:27What do you see?
01:28He's got to have an impact.
01:29As a matter of fact, because of, you know what?
01:31Two things can also be true.
01:33Okay.
01:33Go ahead.
01:33I'm excited about the wide receiver room, but it is still a little thin.
01:38So, yes, he must have an impact.
01:41And you've got to, you know, whether it's gadget plays, I'd like to think it's more than that,
01:44because I think with somebody who can see him and does have confidence, unlike, unfortunately,
01:48his previous quarterback, and Gunnar Stockton's got to think for not throwing over the middle.
01:52You know, can Tua and him make beautiful music together?
01:54I think there's a possibility.
01:55He's certainly going to have to have yards after the catch with Tua's arm.
01:58Okay.
01:59That's a low blow.
02:00All right.
02:00First of all, the guy's getting yacked because he delivers the ball on time.
02:04All right?
02:05It's a timing thing.
02:06Yes, it is.
02:07It sure was in Miami until it wasn't.
02:08But, yes, you're right.
02:09It's thin.
02:10That's my issue with it.
02:11It's not that it's not.
02:12No, it's not that great.
02:12It's not.
02:13I mean, look, we're talking about Olamide Zaccheaus.
02:14I mean, he's a good guy.
02:16He started his career with us, and he's been certainly a solid stretch-to-field player, too.
02:20But we're not talking like we didn't sign Alvin Harper here to be a No. 2.
02:24Does it scare you?
02:25A little bit.
02:26But, again, I...
02:27No, no, no.
02:28Not the room.
02:29Like, does this...
02:30Going up against this group, as we see it on paper.
02:33Not yet.
02:33Not yet.
02:34Not yet.
02:35And that's where I'm at.
02:36But, you know what?
02:36Here's the one thing.
02:37He's a tight end that plays like a wide receiver.
02:40Oh, you're throwing Pitts into this.
02:41Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba!
02:41You're going to throw Pitts into this.
02:42Kyle Pitts to the rescue.
02:43Because Kyle Pitts, hey, hey, on this now is a de facto hybrid unicorn that he was supposed
02:48to be in the freaking first place.
02:50All right, all right.
02:50Turns this whole wide receiver room into a whole different thing.
02:52Okay.
02:53So, you've got to include the TEs with the WRs, man.
02:56By the way, this weekend is the first weekend in which the Falcons can host their three-day
02:59rookie minicamp.
03:01Then you get to May 8th through the 11th.
03:03The following weekend is the second weekend that they can do those kinds of things.
03:06We'll be talking about that, guys, because those are the big install things that, you
03:10know, guys get acclimated, Mike, and we talk about, you know, knowing what to expect when
03:13you get back to camp.
03:14But the real one will be the mandatory minicamp.
03:18That's going to be the one where, you heard me, mandatory, where everybody will be expected
03:21to be there, including James Pierce Jr.
03:25He was not at the voluntary.
03:27But my guess is, Mike, depending on where the situation is for him.
03:31And that could be, again, he should be there.
03:33I don't think the Falcons are blindsided by what happened when he made the settlement
03:36for draft week.
03:37And I think, you know, they're aware.
03:38Now, the only X factor on this is when the NFL drops the suspension.
03:41Yeah.
03:42You know, because they will present to court and he's got six months to keep his nose clean.
03:46So I don't know if the NFL, if the suspension would come next year, as we talked about with
03:50the Rasheed Rice case.
03:51Didn't happen the year of the car wreck.
03:53It happened the year after.
03:55It's Dukes and Bell, 404-726-0929.
03:57Text us.
03:58Let us know what you think.
03:59I'm just asking a general question here.
04:01I like a lot about our football team.
04:03Matter of fact, like, I keep looking at the O-line, Mike, and I know you keep talking about
04:06Jawan Taylor, but like, everybody else is back, right?
04:10Matthews, Bergeron, Neusel, Lindstrom.
04:13They played together.
04:15That should be some, and then you talked about the job Storm Norton did.
04:18Storm will be there.
04:19He's a reserve.
04:21Kyle Hinton.
04:22I think we've got a pretty good offensive line, and God forbid, if there are injuries,
04:26we have guys that have stepped in and played.
04:27Right.
04:28And I'll be curious, like, we've been saying about Ryan Neusel, we don't know how this
04:31new group, you know, feels about him, the new coaching staff.
04:33You got one of the best, as we said with Bill Callahan.
04:36You got one of the best offensive line coaches.
04:38Because they really didn't address O-line, guys, in the draft.
04:40They drafted a lineman late.
04:41It's a project situation.
04:42Again, they got a developmental guy, undrafted free agent.
04:44And Cam Dewberry from the Aggies.
04:46We talked about the center from Miami.
04:49So, James Brockermeyer.
04:51And we'll see, because, again, this guy was a starter for Miami.
04:54And hopefully now, with the right, you can be undrafted and still be a star in this league.
04:59The Falcons have done it a lot.
04:59All right.
05:00Let me tell you what room.
05:01We're walking down the hall.
05:02We're just looking in.
05:03Okay?
05:03Just bear with us.
05:04Just imagine.
05:05You look right, and you go, oh.
05:06Look, there's Jalen Walker.
05:12There's JPJ.
05:14There's Aziz Ojolari.
05:17Oh, there's Cam Thomas.
05:21Mike, there's Braylon Trice.
05:24I actually like the guys that we have for the edge.
05:28Yes.
05:29Coming off the edge.
05:30I don't know who's going to pop.
05:32And, again, Jalen, they've got a plan for him.
05:34But, Mike, I'm looking at this.
05:35And who was the guy we signed from the Colts?
05:37The Samson?
05:39Samson Abukam.
05:40I like him.
05:41But, again, all guys on one-year deals, all guys coming off of some level of injury or
05:45disappointment with their previous team, kind of a holding patterns, bunch of contracts.
05:50We now know we've basically stolen everybody's brainpower in the NFL, took the Eagles guy,
05:55so contracts will now be forthcoming.
05:57See how much space we're going to have for guys, like how the contract gets drawn up.
06:01I'll be curious to see what's going to happen with Drake London.
06:03But as far as the defense, there's a lot of guys.
06:06Some of those names aren't going to be here next year.
06:08No, that's true.
06:09But a starting point for Edge?
06:11Oh, but Jalen Walker, I don't think you even came close to coming to what he's going to
06:14be in the NFL.
06:15You're just scratching the surface because he dealt with some nagging injuries throughout
06:17last year.
06:18Yeah.
06:19And, by the way, most of these guys have playing time outside of Braylon, who's been
06:22hurt the last two seasons, and I have no idea.
06:25We had high hopes for him.
06:27We're just taking a look now that the deal is done with the draft, and you go, okay, how
06:33do I feel about this room?
06:34How do I feel about that room?
06:35You know, the running backs, they did that in free agency.
06:38They didn't draft any running wins.
06:39They didn't need to.
06:40Right.
06:41Right?
06:41No, they took care of it.
06:42I mean, we've got some guys that are ready to rock and roll.
06:44And by the way, and I think we mentioned this earlier in the week, it feels so bad for
06:49Tyler Algiel with the Cardinals going with the star running back from Notre Dame.
06:52But yeah, Brian Robinson Jr. is a perfect compliment to what we got with B. John.
06:57Yeah.
06:57Remember, guys, in your fantasy draft, make sure you have the right B. Robinson.
07:00I said, look, you're worried about those things.
07:05Somebody's going to screw that up, though.
07:06You're absolutely right.
07:06Somebody will.
07:07Hey, man, more to get to here on the show.
07:10You can hit us up and let us know.
07:11There are things that we're just looking at from afar.
07:14We got to see it on the field and see how this plan comes together for Kevin Stefanski and
07:18his staff.
07:19But to Mike's point, there's a reason that you can look at some of these areas on our
07:25football team and go, hey, you know what?
07:27I like it.
07:28I don't know what it's going to look like at the end of the day, but I like what it
07:31looks
07:31like as far as how it's been assembled.
07:33For me, that's like the old line, Mike.
07:36I'm not as concerned about that as I am other areas.
07:38Right.
07:38We do feel you've got a coach to get more out of it.
07:41Ulbrich is great with linebackers.
07:42So even though we, and again, you could argue that if guys can stay healthy and some of these
07:46guys who got on relatively inexpensive deals kind of get rejuvenated from Brian, from
07:50Ulbrich, from Jeff Ulbrich, you might find them going elsewhere or we find some solutions
07:54we got to pay for next year.
07:55Well, everybody keeps talking about the LSU kid.
07:57And look, I don't want to overblow this, but like, well, Perkins was a stud a couple
08:00of years ago before the injury.
08:01Like that, that is, uh, that's an intriguing potential steal for where you got him if he
08:09over exceeds expectations.
08:10Is it Ulbrich, Jan Quinn type linebacker?
08:12Yes.
08:13And we mentioned, guys, we talked about, if you missed, it's a big show.
08:16During the week, some guys on the draft rankings and, you know, the ratings that came out felt
08:20that we reached for Kendall Dennis, but we didn't have a pick for like, almost like an
08:23hour and a half.
08:24So that's why maybe we, we moved back and we picked up a guy from Oklahoma.
08:28That's the hybrid.
08:29You talked about rangy, athletic, you know, play preventables.
08:32And he's a guy that's a ball hawk and he's tough, loves contact.
08:35And he, I mean, he's six, five, two 42.
08:38That guy was playing safety.
08:39He turned to the linebacker.
08:40Yeah.
08:41All right, man.
08:41Morning.
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