00:00Let's talk about another Rookie of the Year.
00:02Let's do it.
00:04We're going to focus on Defensive Rookie of the Year here,
00:06but I've got a problem.
00:07I'm going to list real quick the Offensive Rookie of the Year options.
00:11Ben Solak had written an article over at ESPN,
00:13and I think Ben's a really good writer.
00:15I've been aware of Ben for a long time, 10 years plus,
00:20like before he was ever at ESPN.
00:22And he's always been a really sharp guy
00:25and somebody who I like the way he looks at things,
00:27kind of blending analytic thinking, X's and O's,
00:30and just like common sense.
00:33Ben was missing on this one, I think, a little.
00:35Just a little bit.
00:36But real quick before we get to his Defensive Rookie of the Year candidates,
00:39he lists top 15 potential names for each side of the ball.
00:42And on the offensive side, he said Fernando Mendoza was number one.
00:46I don't know that he is.
00:47I don't think he's going to play that much.
00:48No.
00:49Jeremiah Love was two.
00:50Then you got Carnell Tate.
00:51The concerning thing is some of the stuff you see here,
00:53like Makai Lemon being one of the 15 on here.
00:57Or even somebody like third-round pick Antonio Williams
01:00for Washington being on this list as somebody that you could see
01:04being Rookie of the Year.
01:05But then he got to Defensive Rookie of the Year,
01:06and I did not like the way that he broke this down.
01:10He said Defensive Rookie of the Year is conveniently organized for prognosticators.
01:14Since 2000, 22 of the 26 winners have been first-round picks.
01:19The four players who didn't go in the first round
01:21were linebackers taken before 40.
01:24That's such an oddly specific, like, if you weren't a first-round pick,
01:28the other four winners are all linebackers taken between 33 and 40.
01:31So you're a top 40 pick if you've won Rookie of the Year in recent years,
01:35including last year's winner, Carson Schwestinger.
01:37Schwestinger was pick 33, first one on day two.
01:40He said, sadly, there were no linebackers taken in the second round
01:42before number 40 this year.
01:43We can stretch our constraints slightly to fit three, maybe four,
01:46maybe five linebackers on day two, and we will when we get down to the long shots.
01:50Otherwise, we're constrained to the first round.
01:52He talks about Arvel Reese and all these different players that are there.
01:56He says, for as special as Caleb Downs is,
02:00a safety has not won Defensive Rookie of the Year this century.
02:03They simply aren't around the ball enough.
02:06Downs is a candidate to spend more time in the slot given the needs of Dallas' defense.
02:09I am so tempted to keep him alive on the list in that I believe he's a spectacular player,
02:14but by the harsh reality of history, he must be cut.
02:18So he cut Caleb Downs from his top 15.
02:21I have a hard time seeing how, I understand if they haven't won before,
02:24safeties are being used a little differently now,
02:27and outside of the safeties being used differently,
02:30you've also got the fact that last year,
02:32the guy who finished second in Rookie of the Year was a safety.
02:34It was Nicky Minori.
02:35And you've had, there was another safety there that was in the top five
02:38who got a first place vote, Xavier Watts.
02:40And so they've been guys who definitely would be in the top 15,
02:44and you would think Caleb Downs is likely to me to be the guy who is getting the most reps,
02:49the most consistently out of all these players that were picked.
02:52And he's going to be out there all the time.
02:53So I don't think that that exactly passes the smell test,
02:57but this was his list.
02:58And I'm going to read basically the guys who are in the NFC East,
03:00mainly out of the 15,
03:01and then we'll go down to the larger list.
03:03Let's hang on one sec,
03:04because Jake Ray,
03:05and I was very impressed that he knew this NFL player,
03:09given how young he is going back in the day.
03:12But Jake found a Caleb Downs soundbite that's making some rounds.
03:16Yeah, so I found,
03:17I was doom scrolling one night and came across this Chris Carter.
03:19What is doom scrolling?
03:21It's when you're laying in bed and it's time to go to sleep
03:23and you scroll for an hour.
03:25Okay, I do that.
03:26I just didn't know it was doom.
03:27Yeah, that's the Gen Z term for it.
03:29So I came across this clip of Chris Carter,
03:32obviously a Hall of Fame wide receiver from the Buckeyes,
03:34and he wore number two with the Buckeyes in his time.
03:37Well, he came across Caleb Downs on the sideline in Ohio State game.
03:41Here's his interaction with the Ohio State safety.
03:44So it's the kickoff before the Oregon game,
03:46and I'm standing on the sideline,
03:48and I'm standing behind it.
03:50I'm reading like I don't know him.
03:52I'm like, hey, Downs, number two,
03:56you got to be a bad dude to wear that number.
03:58I used to wear that number.
04:01I consider myself the best to ever wear it.
04:05I mean, he slowly looked over his shoulder and smiled and said,
04:10until now.
04:13Like it.
04:14That's pretty good.
04:15I'll tell you what.
04:16Something we haven't talked about enough.
04:19In fact, while I'm reading this,
04:20you may want to pull this up and look.
04:22Go to YouTube and search Caleb Downs return.
04:26We are not talking enough about the fact that that dude is an electric punt returner.
04:32Electric?
04:32Electric.
04:33If you can go pull it up,
04:34go look up Caleb Downs return.
04:36He was not asked to do it very much at Alabama or Ohio State.
04:38When he was asked to do it,
04:40he was a monster.
04:41And it's something that like when people talk about,
04:43oh, is he that athletic or is he this or that?
04:45Yeah, he's athletic.
04:46And then he's able to do a lot in the return game.
04:48I kind of hope they would throw him back there for a punt return or two every now and then,
04:51actually,
04:52because he's a monster at it.
04:54All right.
04:54Over at ESPN,
04:55I'm going to read from the NFC East names that they have up here.
04:58First one,
04:58Arvel Reese.
04:59Ben Solak says,
05:00it's harder for an off the ball linebacker to win this award than you might expect.
05:03Only three halves since 2009 when Brian Cushing finished a four year run of stack linebackers,
05:08bringing home the hardware.
05:09We simply value pass rushing far more than tackle collection in the modern NFL.
05:13But that might be good news for Reese,
05:14who figures to grab more pass rush reps and sacks than the average off ball linebacker.
05:19The more we learn about the Giants plan for him,
05:21the easier he'll be to predict right now.
05:23He's mostly theory.
05:25There was a little bit of last year when everybody had assumed that Abdul Carter was going to be a
05:29big player in the rookie of the year conversation,
05:32that the way that the Giants kind of varied his usage slowed him down a little bit,
05:36and he wasn't one of the top candidates.
05:37I can see that absolutely being the case with Arvel Reese.
05:40Next name on this list of the top candidates to be defensive rookie of the year,
05:44Sonny Stiles,
05:45linebacker from the Commanders.
05:47This is the comp we've gotten a lot.
05:49I think you read from it yesterday that people are saying Sonny Stiles is just taller Bobby Wagner.
05:54And first thing to say here.
05:55I was thinking to myself,
05:56who are the other linebackers?
05:58Are we limited on middle linebackers to compare people to?
06:02We got Urlacher,
06:03we got Keekly,
06:04and we got Wagner.
06:05Ray?
06:06Yeah,
06:06I think it's also that you just,
06:07you don't want to...
06:08None of those guys are older.
06:09Like,
06:10that's,
06:10it's kind of telling of the linebacker position when,
06:13and we got Warner.
06:15You know?
06:15So,
06:16I don't know,
06:16sometimes when I hear he's Bobby Wagner,
06:18I'm like,
06:19are we just lacking other people to compare to recently?
06:21I think they're scared to say other names at times.
06:24Bobby Wagner is a hell of a name.
06:26Right,
06:26but nobody will ever say Patrick Willis.
06:28And then they really hesitate to say Keekly.
06:30And so people generally don't want to throw out those names,
06:32but then also it's like,
06:33okay,
06:34if you don't throw out that name...
06:35Patrick Willis better than Fred Warner?
06:37Yes.
06:38Patrick Willis is,
06:39to me,
06:40I think the best linebacker I've ever seen.
06:41Whoa!
06:42Like,
06:42he's so,
06:43so good.
06:43It's just,
06:43he was such a flash in the...
06:45It was so fast.
06:46And he was gone.
06:47I love Fred Warner.
06:49Fred Warner's great.
06:50Yeah.
06:50Fred Warner's really,
06:51really great.
06:51Fred Warner's a Hall of Famer?
06:52Yes.
06:53Yeah.
06:53Okay.
06:53I do.
06:54Or I think he will be.
06:55By the time his career's over and we take a look at the whole thing,
06:58so long as he doesn't get slowed completely by injuries here at the end,
07:01then yeah,
07:01I think he will.
07:02But I mean,
07:02Willis was,
07:03and Willis played,
07:03what,
07:04seven years?
07:04Yeah.
07:05Whatever he was.
07:06But they talk about Sonny Stiles saying,
07:08Bobby Wagner was a tackle vacuum for the commanders,
07:11but can Stiles do the same as he steps into his shoes?
07:13It's a towering task,
07:14but Stiles also has the DB background and unique frame to make far more plays
07:18in the passing game than the average starting linebacker.
07:21Riddling out whether Stiles can get 100% of the snaps in week one,
07:24with Frankie Louvoo and Leo Chanel also on the depth chart is the key to
07:28defining just how strong of a candidate he is,
07:30but the blend of tackle production and pass coverage might be too much for
07:32voters to ignore.
07:34And this is Ben Solak's list over at ESPN of the top defensive rookie of the
07:37year candidates.
07:38Did you get a chance to see Caleb Downs running around on punt returns yet?
07:41Yeah.
07:42The first one I was like,
07:43he doesn't look that fast.
07:46And then I saw the one in the Bama uniform and that one was much more.
07:50He's got some wiggle.
07:51He can move.
07:52So Ruben Bain is on this list.
07:54You've got some names like Caleb Banks,
07:56the defensive tackle for the Vikings,
07:57which doesn't seem like a better candidate than Caleb Downs to me,
08:00but you do end up.
08:01This Caleb Banks pick is polarizing.
08:05It is fascinating.
08:07They're making it sound like this was a Brian Flores pet project.
08:12That Flores was like,
08:13I don't care about all the questions.
08:14I don't care about the injury.
08:16I think it was that held him back.
08:18This guy can be an absolute freak show and a monster.
08:21And I know that you are very surprised over him getting selected there.
08:24So I can't wait to see how it works out for the defensive genius in Minnesota.
08:28He's the most football player looking non football player you've ever seen.
08:32Like he looks like a football player.
08:34He's massive.
08:35And you look at him and go like,
08:36man,
08:36that's the prototype.
08:37And you watch him play.
08:37You go,
08:37Oh,
08:37he doesn't know how to play.
08:38He has no instincts.
08:39And so that's the,
08:41I don't know.
08:42You'd have to really be banking on,
08:43man,
08:44the traits are there and we're going to be able to pull it out of him.
08:46But on this list,
08:47coming in at number seven on the top 15 is a Dallas Cowboy and it's Malachi Lawrence.
08:51He says,
08:52it's unclear just how many snaps Lawrence will get in Dallas as second year edge rusher Donovan
08:56as a rock who and trade acquisition or Sean Gary are also on the depth chart.
08:59But with new defensive coordinator,
09:00Christian Parker,
09:01tons of snaps are up for grabs.
09:03Lawrence has a lead explosiveness measure or explosive measurables and a better path to
09:07every down opportunities than late drafted pass rushers.
09:10He's the sleeper to circle as defensive rookie of the year,
09:14says Ben Solak.
09:15So the rest of the names,
09:16David Bailey was on this list.
09:17He was number one.
09:18Reuben Bain was second.
09:19Mansoor Delane.
09:20And then some of the others that may be notable.
09:22Number six on this was CJ Allen,
09:23who we talked about.
09:24Caleb Banks was number 10.
09:26You've also got Jacob Rodriguez as number 13 on the list.
09:30And so that was the top 15 rookie candidates from Ben Solak.
09:34Christian Parker on Malachi this past weekend.
09:36We had him in the formal process of the combine.
09:38I think you just see a natural rusher on tape.
09:41He has natural instincts.
09:42He can turn his toe at the top of the rush.
09:44He plays with power.
09:46He plays with urgent effort.
09:47You see him running down quarterbacks.
09:49And that's one thing we talked about.
09:51Three quarterbacks in our division are all athletic.
09:53So anybody we deploy on the edge has to be able to run sideline to sideline with him.
09:58And he has that.
09:59When we had him in the room,
10:01very smart,
10:01very bright,
10:02very thorough,
10:03very detailed in everything we talked about from run,
10:05pass,
10:06and how we study O'Lyman just a whole nine yards.
10:09I had a really good exposure to him in that process.
10:12Props as well to John Owning,
10:15formerly a PFF.
10:16I don't know.
10:17I don't want to speak as John's agent since he hasn't come on this show after G-Bag stole him
10:22from us.
10:22But he really looked good after this false step scouting report that he gave on Malachi weeks ago.
10:30I don't know how long it was,
10:31but it was before he was drafted.
10:32And then Malachi in talking to the Cowboy media was talking about how their new specialist is coaching him to
10:39get that false step out.
10:41And people are like,
10:42Oh my God,
10:42John Owning,
10:42you know what you're talking about.
10:43Yeah.
10:44John,
10:44John,
10:44John knows what he's looking at when he looks at the tape.
10:46And yeah,
10:47if they can,
10:47that's one of the things that if you can clean that up,
10:49he's going to be,
10:50what is it?
10:51False step is basically like off the line of scrimmage.
10:53It is a movement.
10:54You lift your foot off the ground.
10:56A lot of times it's the front foot that basically it is a step that doesn't actually go forward.
11:00So like when you're coming off the line of scrimmage,
11:02maybe you like start by pushing your front foot backwards and then you go.
11:06That's a false step.
11:07You're actually moving.
11:08You're making body movements and not going anywhere,
11:09or it's a side step.
11:10It causes you to just lose ground quickly.
11:13And so it's about making sure you're always moving forward or in some cases with offensive tackles,
11:17it's moving backwards,
11:18driving backwards.
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