00:00from 11 alive that had shaving cream on his face to display how 285 was going to be shut down
00:07now
00:07if they are going to get it done this weekend Doug you got to do a redo my mom uh
00:12came up a
00:12whole day early uh because she was coming in town this weekend uh my son's daycare graduations
00:17tonight which is a whole different set of circumstances yeah but my mom came up a whole
00:20day early so she's here you know Friday morning early and then Friday when they announced it was
00:25not going to happen she was like are you serious I literally just came up today just because of
00:30this but it worked out well and clearly the weekend weather was amazing so the rookies had some decent
00:36weather to work with uh they were at minicamp over the weekend talked with the media some
00:40Zachariah Branch I saw he was introducing himself to every single media member which just warms my
00:45heart uh Zachariah did open up about Cash Jones training as a wide receiver oh yeah that's my guy
00:50uh you know and they transitioned him to receiver he's playing slot too so um you know just to
00:55get a chance to have him at Georgia he's always a great energy a bright guy as well and always
01:00keeping the energy up so it's good to have him around me um you know we helping each other out
01:03as out as well um you know me and Georgia guys and Bulldogs so that's always gonna be my guy
01:08and I'm
01:08excited to you know continue working with him my mere reaction was to wonder out loud if this gives
01:15him a better or worse shot to actually make the team um you know the depth is what it is
01:21at running
01:21back right now you need you need uh you need guys that can come in and play special teams and
01:26do a
01:26number of different things I think the wide receiver room is harder to crack but if they're finding him
01:31a role much like we talked about them doing Bajon last year where he can do all those things then
01:36I
01:36think he's in a really really good spot I think it would probably be easier for him to make it
01:41as a
01:42slot receiver at least on the practice squad and be around than in the running back room because I just
01:48don't think he fits what you're probably what you're looking for in a running back um but that
01:554-4 speed is you find speed like that and a guy's a football player and look he can clearly
02:02block he's
02:02a he was a he was there primarily their third down back last year at Georgia right not just last
02:08year
02:08um last couple years much to the chagrin of of some people around the city um and he did a
02:15pretty
02:15good job for the most part he did what he was you know I mean you can't not every play
02:20is just
02:21because of one person so I'm curious I think the speed could be something I think you make something
02:25of him I really believe he's the kind of guy that has a chance to hang around the league for
02:30the next
02:31five to seven years if he can transition quickly to that role and the fact that he was already
02:37receiving running back moving him in that slot I think helps him maybe I'm wrong but I think it helps
02:43him yeah I mean it could like I said I mean it gives you more opportunities to do multiple things
02:48the more you can do in the NFL the harder it is to get rid of you and that gives
02:51you an opportunity
02:51special teams wise I mean I do think he's uniquely situated so everything that I've talked about that
02:56I love about Zachariah Branch being a part of the offense that Cash Jones could be a part of the
03:00the you know practice squad offense in the same way where he's got short burst and short area
03:05quickness um but man that there's a lot of names in that receiver room he is uniquely situated
03:11um and we're probably honestly as unfortunate as this is going to sound we're probably talking
03:16too much about it because the his odds are very much stacked against him being able to do something
03:21but I think it's a fun story to keep track of and I love I love the outpouring of love
03:26from
03:26Zachariah Branch about this he's like yes my guy I love that man uh someone else we heard from over
03:31the weekend birthday boy Kevin Stefanski he talked about if the rookies are ready if they're going to be
03:36ready for a role they will play in this day and age we're counting on rookies to play
03:41in in this league oftentimes so there's no uh there's no concern about putting a guy out there
03:46when they're ready I think so much of this game is earning a role if a rookie earns a role
03:54and week
03:55one he's ready to go he'll be out there I don't think you have the luxury of red shirting players
03:59so to speak so we'll take it on a case-by-case basis but I've had a lot of experience
04:05with young
04:05players that when they're ready they play all about it I like hearing a coach
04:10in his first year in a regime that's in their first year be like no we don't have time like
04:15we're not playing we're not going to stay here and bs you if you come in here and earn a
04:20role if
04:20you beat someone out welcome to the show and it's one of those deals too where like the the the
04:26if you
04:27can get young players it helps you depth wise it also helps you maybe move on from guys that are
04:33costing you a little too much and and help and and create space for other positions that you might need
04:38uh the the secondary look it's funny because we real quick about the wide receivers and Cass Jones
04:45and talking about how thin they were and now all of a sudden we're like well I mean it's just
04:50gonna
04:50be tough for a guy to transition and make a spot because you brought in Dotson and Olamide who are
04:56going to pair with Drake London those guys aren't going anywhere and then Zachariah Branch now you're
05:01four deep now you're talking about you know how many wide receivers are you going to keep and now you're
05:06talking about are you going to keep seven or eight you know probably seven at least right but but are
05:14you going to keep an eighth one I don't know uh where how's that play out special teams I don't
05:18know
05:18look at the DB room look out look how deep the DB room is now with the Avion Terrell and
05:23Billy Bowman
05:24coming back and two safeties who honestly the best safety duo probably in the league right now um
05:31and so what's Mike Hughes's role so it kind of it kind of changes the way everything looks
05:37um and with rookies that can come and compete and you really don't even have that many rookies
05:42yeah I think it's it's interesting too to kind of stack it on top of what you had last year
05:46we had
05:46so many rookies that were making an impact defensively um you know just a year ago and to
05:52to think about that happening again in any capacity is is is kind of crazy to think about but it
05:57gives
05:57you building blocks for a long time to have a sustainable kind of future at a lot of these
06:01different positions on on team-friendly contracts it is interesting because Ben Solak of ESPN he put
06:07out an article naming specifically Mike Hughes that he might be at risk of losing his starting job he
06:12also noted that Zachariah Branch could land the number two receiver job but since Olamide Zakiya
06:17and Jahan Dotson weren't on the team last year he's seeing that more of like a neutral position
06:22that's up for anyone to grab at this point so you're telling me that Ben Solak listened to our show
06:26last week and listened to us talk about the players that were under the most pressure and
06:30he's definitely at the top of the list yeah I thought the Mike Hughes was a little hanging fruit
06:33I was like you're gonna I thought yeah I thought I thought for an NFL insider you're gonna give me
06:37something um and yeah it does sound like he he he like saw a 92 down the game clip of
06:45Mike and I
06:45talking about it and you Allie talking about it and like I'll go with this one um it's a guy
06:50that makes a
06:50lot of sense yeah uh yeah he couldn't have given me like I don't know like oh maybe maybe maybe
06:57you
06:58know Matthew Bergeron loses his job to the rookie from Ohio State no he just like chalk um I uh
07:04I I
07:07look I I think that it's it's fun to say that but it makes the most sense probably to cross
07:14train
07:14avion out there and then slide him in nickel to start um but maybe they see it the other way
07:23around
07:23and maybe they say look let's cross train him at nickel keep him where he's really you know keep
07:30him where we think he's going to be his future and move Mike Hughes in there and then Billy Bowman
07:35can come back and and and and we can look we're going to need depth at some point anyways so
07:41it's
07:42gonna be interesting to see how they use avion trail in camp I do think that is a very intriguing
07:47thing of where he lines up in camp to start when they first put out the the first 11 or
07:54whatever
07:55uh in in in even when they're wet when they're just in uh shorts and helmets you know that first
08:00day
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