00:00All morning, we have been talking about the Falcons, the new guys coming in,
00:03who might be feeling a little extra pressure on the defensive side.
00:08So, Mike, you've mentioned Jalen Walker, Divine Diablo.
00:11Bo, you've mentioned James Pierce and Mike Hughes.
00:13Who is left that you think is feeling a little extra pressure going into this season?
00:17I've only got one left, and he's already a guy that Bo has talked about.
00:22And there is, to me, there is only one true answer to this question, and it's Mike Hughes.
00:27Like, Mike Hughes, as far as the pressure that he's under,
00:30because I think every other guy that we could talk about defensively,
00:33they're either a newcomer or, you know, maybe under pressure because of a new contract pending.
00:38I'm talking about Divine Diablo, guys like that.
00:40Maybe even you could look at a Troy Anderson from a personal level.
00:43But Mike Hughes is not only under pressure from that angle.
00:48He's under pressure of an early-round draft pick.
00:51He's under pressure of, you know, actually playing well and participating in all the games
00:56and everything else that comes along with it.
00:58So he's not only under pressure from a contractual standpoint,
01:00he's under pressure of getting your job taken.
01:02And if this defense is going to hit anywhere near the levels that they were last year
01:07and actually exceed those levels, Mike Hughes is definitely the guy
01:10that has to have the pressure and stuff over the plate
01:12because it's not just from one aspect.
01:15You know, you're not going to look at Divine Diablo and go,
01:17okay, somebody's taking his job.
01:19Yeah.
01:19Mike Hughes is dealing with both those things right now.
01:22Well, that's why I think – I got three.
01:24I think Braylon Trice and Troy Anderson are in the same boat.
01:28They're two guys that have not played much at all lately.
01:34I mean, Braylon Trice has never took a snap in a meaningful game.
01:37In fact, he's only took like maybe nine or ten in his career preseason
01:41and it was one game.
01:42But what – like you've brought in guys to take both their jobs.
01:48I think Kendall Daniels could be a guy that takes away Braylon Trice's job.
01:52Or maybe he's there to take away Troy Anderson's job.
01:57Maybe Harold Perkins Jr. is there to take away one of their jobs, if not both.
02:01So these two guys got to show up, show out.
02:03And not only is their Falcons career in jeopardy,
02:07but these guys' NFL careers are in jeopardy.
02:10Can they stay healthy and show enough to get on the roster?
02:14Can they be out of – maybe they could beat out of D'Angelo Malone
02:18and keep him off the roster and they can take over that spot with special teams.
02:22Like this is a big year for both of those guys.
02:24There's a lot of pressure on both of these guys.
02:27And that's hard, especially when the number one enemy you've had in your career is health.
02:34Because you really – other than eating right, staying in shape, training,
02:40doing all those things that you're supposed to do from a care of your body point,
02:46there's really no other way, anything else you can do.
02:48Yeah, I agree.
02:49So those two are both on there.
02:51I don't know how they're not.
02:52They have to – this is like have to show up and show out years for both guys.
02:58Yeah.
02:58It's very important.
03:00I think that Allie, when I looked at this topic,
03:03and he's brought up some really good names and made some really good points.
03:06It's almost like, to me, Mike Hughes is the only guy in the middle of the Venn diagram.
03:10You know what I mean?
03:11Yeah.
03:12Like he's the only guy that crosses over in I could have my starting spot taken
03:16and also my Falcons future is in jeopardy because of where my contract is.
03:20Like he's the only guy to me that fits in the middle of that.
03:22I have one more I think that might fit in the middle.
03:24Okay.
03:25Zach Harrison.
03:27Okay.
03:28Zach Harrison is a guy who has had flashes in multiple defensive schemes.
03:33He's also had bad moments.
03:34He's also been banged up.
03:38How does he fit in the system?
03:41He's kind of a – he's done a tweener physically, but he's a tweener for the system, I think.
03:47For sure.
03:48And based on his size and can he do some of the things that Ulbricht wants.
03:53Personally, I think he – Mike and I both like this guy.
03:57Mike probably more than me because he's able to kind of watch him and see little things
04:03that he can do more than I am just because he had to go against guys like him
04:07and of the things he can do to make it tough to block.
04:12But this is your four for Zach Harrison.
04:17Listen, I deem him as a starter, but I also think he's a guy that can lose a starting role
04:22and maybe he's already done it.
04:25So I think it's a very, very, very important year for him too because I could tell you they
04:31didn't draft him, this regime obviously, but I think most personnel guys look at him
04:38and see, man, if we could get this guy to do this and that, man, look at how good he
04:43could be.
04:44What do they need to show, these guys that need to show up and show up,
04:47what do they need to show Jeff Ulbricht and Kevin Stefanski at training camp?
04:50Like how do you do that to get that starting role?
04:53That's a really good question.
04:55And I'll give Bo credit because when you initially said Zach Harrison,
04:59and I was talking about the Venn diagram of guys that can lose their starting role,
05:01I'm sitting there going, Zach Harrison's not a starter, but he is.
05:04He is, yeah.
05:05He is right now a starter.
05:07So, yeah, it's a good call on your end.
05:10Allie, I think that the way training camps are designed now and, you know,
05:17especially I've had this conversation with multiple guys that coach
05:20and play football the last couple days, like training camp is designed to keep you healthy
05:24throughout the longevity of the season.
05:26That's what it's for.
05:26It's not, and we're going to make sure that you know the plays.
05:29So the third part of that, the mental errors, I think is the biggest thing
05:32for a guy like a Zach Harrison.
05:33And the upside is that Zach Harrison spent the first couple years
05:38under a couple different coordinators, and this year you actually,
05:40and this is why I've stood 10 toes down, like Dylan says,
05:43and said, Olbrich has to come back.
05:45Now you can come back and, you know, be involved in the same system
05:48and know some of the same stuff going on, even though there is a change at the top.
05:52So I think it's simply being in the right place, right time,
05:55and not, you know, not allowing the mental errors to become part of the way
05:59that this coaching staff looks at you.
06:01For most of these guys, Allie, half their battle is something that they all,
06:07I don't know if they can ultimately control, which is staying healthy.
06:10And it sucks.
06:12Because Harrison, Trice, and Troy Anderson, they just couldn't,
06:18it's just been one bad thing after another for them.
06:23And, excuse me, it's not their, like you can't blame them.
06:26It's just part of it.
06:27The Braylon Trice thing specifically, because we talked to him last year
06:31at training camp, and he was talking about how he was in a good place.
06:34Yep.
06:35Was he getting married?
06:36He just, or was he having a kid?
06:37Having a baby?
06:38Yeah, just getting married and having a baby, yeah.
06:40And then makes an elite play on his first snap in a Falcons uniform,
06:45and then injury strikes again.
06:48Yeah, and it's unfortunate.
06:49I mean, you look at Troy Anderson, the first year he kind of got penciled in
06:52as a starter.
06:53He was three or four games in.
06:55He was the NFC Defensive Player of the Week, had a pick six.
07:01Like, you saw everything he could be.
07:04And then it wasn't.
07:05And then he misses half that year and the entire next year,
07:09which was last year.
07:12So, it's just like a bunch of unfortunate circumstances for some of these.
07:17But I do think that Zach Harrison and Mike Hughes are the perfect shining examples
07:25of what Dylan had in mind when he asked us about this as far as, like,
07:32I think it'd be cool to talk about the pressure and what you're asking.
07:35It's like, this is the perfect example of these two guys.
07:40And I put James...
07:41Mike Hughes, we need you.
07:42Yeah.
07:42We love you, and we need you.
07:43Honestly, it sounds silly, but in a perfect world, for me,
07:48I would start the year with Mike Hughes at the nickel and Avion Terrell outside.
07:52Because I tend to believe it'd be easier for Avion to adjust to just being back
07:58on the outside.
07:59People think the nickel is really, like, oh, they can't play the outside,
08:05so they can play nickel.
08:06But it's not necessarily that easy.
08:08Who was it that told us it was a qualified linebacker?
08:11Mike Hughes.
08:12That's why I want him back there.
08:14I thought the best Mike Hughes we've seen was at nickel at this team.
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