00:00And OTAs continue at Flowery Branch. We did get some interesting commentary from Greg Cosell
00:05on Zachariah Branch. Let's hear that. So I'm going to sit here and say he's exactly Tyreek Hill,
00:11but I think there's a vertical element to this game. And by the way, he showed toughness working
00:16in zone windows in the middle of the field. He was aggressive attacking the ball in the air.
00:20He's got great balance and body control as a runner after the catch. I think there's more to
00:26this player than there was shown at Georgia. And obviously, Kirby Smart's job is to win
00:31football games and he used them the way they thought was best. And obviously, they went a
00:35lot of football games at Georgia. But I think there's more to Zachariah Branch than we saw
00:39in college.
00:40I don't think there's any doubt that there's more to Zachariah Branch than what we saw in
00:44college. And I just, I could not be more excited. You guys have been around me a long time now
00:50and I have been asking for this type of player inside of this offense, whatever this offense
00:55is, for a long time. And I've always used the term acceleration, short area burst or
01:01whatever else you want to call it. But I think Greg Cassell's right. I think there's a vertical
01:06element to this game of being able to get north and south. And there was a video, I don't
01:11know if it was yesterday or two days ago, of the quarterbacks throwing. And it wasn't
01:14pretty, right? But it was a difficult throw. And what it was is it was mirroring what I would
01:20believe to be like a seam route, like somebody closely aligned to the snap of the ball and
01:26quarterbacks kind of throwing it on the top on a rope. It's a tough throw. But just seeing
01:31that in practice, it kind of registered, man, we have not seen many like seam style concepts
01:35over the last couple of years. Zachariah Branch right there in the middle of the field. I'm
01:39not saying don't use him for screens because that's what he did at Georgia. But if he can
01:42just run some of those curls, crossing patterns, things like that and accelerate and maybe break
01:47a couple tackles, that's how things hit a new level around guys like Drake and Kyle.
01:52Do you remember a player I'm about to ask you about? I want you to know if you remember
01:56him and if you think that, not saying they're going to be the same player, same impact, but
02:02they could have a similar careers. Zachariah Branch, could a comp be for him Deshaun Jackson?
02:13Because Deshaun Jackson was 5'10", 175. Zachariah is 5'8", 175.
02:225'9". Deshaun ran a 4'3", 5". Zachariah Branch runs a 4'3", 5".
02:30They're both guys that I think, I asked the question all year during the draft or the whole
02:36draft process, can Zachariah Branch do more? And we talked about it and I've seen some
02:43video of him doing more than just what, you know, like things that kind of got hidden
02:51in his time at Georgia, I think, of things he did. But I wonder if this could be a version
02:57of Deshaun Jackson for the Falcons and Zachariah Branch. Also, he can return kicks, we know that
03:02if he wanted to, with punts and stuff. But, I mean, you go look at Deshaun Jackson's early
03:08time at Philly, and look, I mean, it was, it was like his second year in the league, he
03:16had 62 catches for almost 1,200 yards and nine touchdowns. Yeah. I mean, the guy scored
03:2158 touchdowns in his career total. Now, he played quite a long time. He played 15 years
03:28in the league, which is a lot for a guy like that. Oh my goodness. That's forever. But,
03:33but I mean, I just wonder if you think that's the guy that they could, he could, he could
03:37be in the same light of. Same skill set. Yes. For me, and maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm wrong.
03:44Maybe my perception is off. But for me, I think of Deshaun Jackson being able to win on the
03:49outside more than I think of the usage of Zachariah Branch. Now, that's just, that's just
03:55me. You haven't seen it though, right? Right. I mean, that's just me. I think of more along
03:58the lines of slot, not gadgetry, but more along the line design plays where you're kind
04:04of in traffic and making contested catches or you're running curl routes and being able
04:08to really accelerate, accelerate and break a tackle. I think of Deshaun Jackson as skill
04:13set of running by people more than I expect Zachariah Branch. I expect the acceleration of
04:18Zachariah Branch more. Again, just my perception. So you could be spot on if I go back and watch
04:22Deshaun Jackson highlights might be exactly what we see. I know a lot of people have
04:26questions about the quarterback competition going on at Flower Branch. That is going to
04:30continue to be a question until we know who is QB1. So Kevin Stefanski did talk about what
04:36he wants to see from the quarterbacks at practice. For the quarterback room in particular, it's
04:41grasping our system, taking the lead of that or in that regard, and then going and operating
04:49at a high level in these practices. As you guys well know, seven on seven is an offensive
04:53drill. There's no pass rush out there. So you'll see our offensive line out there so
04:57that they feel players around them. But it's really a passing drill that skews the advantage
05:04to the offense. So we want our guys to operate well in those periods and pitch and catch at
05:11a good clip. And then in the team periods and everything else we're doing, just having
05:15a very good command of what we're doing and why we're doing it.
05:19His last sentence says everything you know about his first one. He's like, I want them
05:22to grasp the offense. And when he says at the last part, I want them to know what we're
05:26doing and why we're doing it, that's what grasping the offense is. It's understanding
05:31situations and it's understanding really what you are at your core. And truth be told, none
05:34of us sit in this room or at this radio station really know what this offense is at its core
05:39right now. I'd say you're Bajon Robinson at your core. But again, that run game is going
05:44to get a little bit of a makeover with Bill Callahan up front. And they're going to figure
05:47some things out along the way. So I think both of these quarterbacks having the opportunity
05:51and really all, what, four of them that are in that room right now having the ability
05:54to grasp that.
05:55Well, that's one of the biggest things to me that is the unknown is what does the run
06:01game look like and what does it look like without Bajon Robinson on the field? Because we
06:07knew what Tyler Algier brought to the run game when he wasn't on the field and we knew
06:12what the run game was. But we don't know, you've alluded to the fact that you think
06:18that what you think you know about and what we think we know about what they were going
06:24to do, that Tyler Algier wouldn't have been the best fit for this system that we think
06:30they're going to run. But I think the unknown for me is in that first or second game, because
06:36I think that's when you're really going to know. And Bajon comes out and Brian Robinson
06:41goes in there and they're going to run the football. Man, what does that look like?
06:46Yeah.
06:46That's one of the biggest questions that no one is talking about.
06:50I think that, and this is piggybacks off the Zachariah Branch conversation.
06:56Talking to my buddy last weekend over beers at the house and my neighbor asked me, he said,
07:00what player for the Falcons are you most excited to see this year, given all the changes?
07:06I think it's actually Chris Lindstrom for me. Like, I think I'm most excited to see what
07:11his skill set is after having done one thing so well over the course of his entire, what
07:17are we at, seven year career right now, to being asked to maybe play more in space, to
07:21pull a little bit more, to do some different things offensively. And I think that's the
07:25answer to the question for me. And it goes back to what we see Zachariah Branch. I think
07:28that he could be mentioned. I think the quarterbacks could be mentioned or how they might flourish
07:32in the play action game and under center. But I think Chris Lindstrom kind of brings them
07:36all together for me. And obviously I'm kind of an O-line nerd. So it kind of is what it
07:38is.
07:39There was a video that the Falcons put out yesterday. I don't want to gloss over it.
07:43Miss it through this show because it was catching some steam. Matt Ryan was talking to the rookies,
07:48giving them some advice. I think the video shows exactly why Matt Ryan is in the role he's
07:53in. Let's take a listen to a little bit of it.
07:55Leadership has no age. So there's guys that you're going to play with that have 14 years
08:01in the league, that have done this for a long time, that might be at a different stage of
08:05their life, that at some point are going to need you to lead them. You need to own it.
08:08The impact you can make on this locker room is immeasurable. So we expect you to come out
08:13and the way that you work, the way that you train, the way that you meet, the way that
08:18you take notes is something other people are taking note of. The guys that have been here
08:22for a while, you can make them better. We expect you to make them better. And we encourage you to
08:28lean into all the resources that we have here to get the best out of yourself. Thank you,
08:37Kevin, for letting me come share my piece for a minute, but looking forward to seeing you guys
08:42progress the next couple of weeks. Mike, how are you? 39, right? 39, yes, sir. As I sip my water,
08:49sorry. Let's see, you were a rookie 16 years ago? Correct. So you were 23? Yes. 23-year-old Mike
08:58Johnson just got drafted, and I'm going to use the exact settings you would have had. Rich McKay
09:04comes and sits in the room, because that's who the president was then, and gives you that spill or
09:10something similar. What does that mean? How's that taken from you? Because, you know, you know,
09:17and look, Rich had, this is a guy that was, you grew up in an era knowing that Rich McKay
09:23was the
09:23GM of a Super Bowl champion. You know his history. Just like these guys know, Matt Ryan is a Hall
09:30of
09:30Fame caliber quarterback and, you know, a legend in the city for what he did. Like, how did that hit
09:35with
09:35you? Yeah, I think it's a great point. And this is, I have a lot of respect for Rich McKay,
09:40but I
09:40will say this, and just ask this in terms that you'll be able to comprehend and understand.
09:45You ever hear the radio people, the radio listeners to come up to you and go, yeah,
09:51the show's fine, but y'all should do this. And it's something they don't understand. It's something,
09:56hey, you guys missed the top of the hour. We're not aiming for the top of the hour. You know
09:59what I
10:00mean? It's something you completely don't understand. Gosh, play more music. Yeah, that's going to be a
10:04copyright issue. Like, that's exactly how it feels when somebody like a Rich McKay walks in the room
10:09and tells you to go be a leader to a veteran player. It's like, you don't understand. You
10:13have no idea. You have no comprehension of what that's going to feel like when I try to step up
10:17to a veteran guy as a rookie that's been here for a while. But guess who did it? Matt Ryan.
10:22Matt
10:23Ryan did exactly that and came in and put his foot down the minute he got here. So I think
10:28it's a
10:28phenomenal point, Beau, that you make is it's like when it's coming from that guy, it means
10:34something way different. And you guys have been around radio people or whatever industry you're
10:38in. When you hear it from the top of somebody who's successfully done it the entire way that
10:42you have respect for, it hits completely different than somebody that might be saying something
10:46similar, but you know they ain't been through it in their life. Yeah, there are a lot of people
10:50that give radio advice, but when that Howard Stern Netflix special came out, I was glued to it.
10:55He was explaining how he kept people listening. I was like, I am in. Yes. I'm bought in.
11:00There you go. He's done it.
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