- 2 days ago
Shan, RJ, and Bobby went Inside The Star and looked at some early defensive projections for Caleb Downs’ and Malachi Lawrence’s rookie seasons. They discussed Malik Nabers potentially missing the season opener, Aaron Rodgers' return to Pittsburgh, and more.
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00:00Getting set for a 2,000-yard rusher, and maybe no Malik neighbors in that opener as John Harbaugh, noncommittal
00:10to Malik, saying if he plays, he plays. We'll see what happens with the surgery recovery.
00:15Yeah, are we trusting anything coming out of John Harbaugh's mouth these days? I've never heard him speak this much
00:25the entire time he was in Baltimore, and all of a sudden he is. We've got like three straight days
00:30of comments. He's at a commencement speech. Oh, he's out there saying we're going to kick the Cowboys' ass. Now
00:35it's the whole Malik neighbors' comments. I'm saying gamesmanship.
00:38But Schefter, we all know that he likes to leak the details, violate HIPAA in advance, and he had already
00:44said that it looked like Malik neighbors was going to be ready to go. So I think that that's just
00:49early gamesmanship there from old Johnny.
00:53As it relates to the 2,000-yard rusher, your boy, Cam Scadaboo, with a prediction.
00:59Cam Scadaboo, look, I do love him. I do love him, but he's an idiot. Not only does he say
01:06that he'll be ready to go week one, but he also says when he plays 17-plus games this year.
01:15Oh, that's a playoff promise right there.
01:17That's a playoff promise.
01:18Or he doesn't know how many games there are.
01:19He said it's going to be 300 carries for over 2,000 yards, which I did some math on that.
01:26That means an average of 6.6 yards a carry.
01:29And I'm pretty sure he was about half that last year.
01:34Bobby, what was it?
01:36Yeah, he was 100 carries for 400 yards last year, which is nowhere close.
01:41Nowhere close.
01:41Yeah, he's not anywhere close there.
01:43I do think the assumption is hilarious that he's going to be carrying the ball 300 times.
01:48Even if he was getting the majority of those opportunities, the idea that, well, I'm just going to come in
01:53and I'm going to take everything from Tyrone Tracy and Devin Singletary.
01:56I'm getting 300 carries next year.
01:57But 2,000 yards, I'm dead serious.
02:01I don't know that he picks up 2,000 rushing yards the rest of his career.
02:04Look, stop it.
02:06I love him.
02:07I think he's fun.
02:07But he's a Mike Allstott starter kit.
02:10All right?
02:11No.
02:11Yeah, he is.
02:12No.
02:12Oh, my God.
02:13That is offensive to Mike Allstott.
02:15No, a starter kit.
02:16He's not a 2.0.
02:17No, he is a Lusaka polite starting kit.
02:20That's what he is.
02:21He is the only back in football who on fourth and one could fall forward and he's still short of
02:28the first down marker because he's that small.
02:31I can't wait to see where my New York and Jersey buddies draft Scadaboo in fantasy.
02:38Oh.
02:38I want to see how high he goes.
02:41There needs to be something.
02:42So the study you got to do is like which player is always overdrafted in that market.
02:45Are you in a league with them?
02:47Yes.
02:48Like a money league?
02:49It's college league.
02:50Yeah, money league.
02:50Oh.
02:51Yeah, you're going to be able to take advantage of that with Dart and Scadaboo, I bet.
02:55But like in every city does this, I'm sure, where the player is.
02:58Like CD will be the first wide receiver drafted in DFW.
03:02But in Minnesota.
03:02Are you sure?
03:03Well, maybe not.
03:04I mean, I wouldn't.
03:05I would take pickets.
03:06But in Minnesota, it'll be Jefferson.
03:08No one else would.
03:09In Cincy, it'll be Chase.
03:11Right?
03:11In Detroit, it'll be St. Brown.
03:13Just keep going, right?
03:13Wherever Tyreek is or was, you know, last year in Miami, it was Tyreek, right?
03:18But Scadaboo is going to be that guy.
03:20And so is Dart.
03:22That's fascinating.
03:22So who would be the, like, what would be the most advantageous city to play people in fantasy?
03:28Because you got like when Miami had their trio of receivers, you would get them to, we'll take all those.
03:32The NFC North.
03:33Chicago.
03:33The NFC North, man.
03:34They are just.
03:36Chicago fans have been, now, not right now because they're decent, but they have been delusional
03:41where Vegas just capitalizes on them every single year.
03:44Dude, Chicago always has.
03:47Remember they thought Justin Fields would win MVP?
03:50That was hilarious.
03:50Chicago always has, like, the highest percentage of bets from any city, you know, outside of Vegas.
03:56You know, Chicago, like Detroit, Pittsburgh always has high bets.
04:00Meanwhile, the Giants do us a favor.
04:03I need that reporter who said he was going to be fired that week.
04:07It was, uh, it was, wait a second.
04:11Was that Rich Cimini?
04:12I think it was Cimini.
04:13No.
04:13Joe Shane extended.
04:15I think it was.
04:16As the general manager.
04:18Joe Shane.
04:19After people said Harbaugh would kick him to the curb right after the draft, here he is.
04:25Extended.
04:25You know how there's always the talk of, like, well, Jerry's just, he's really the general manager name only.
04:34He's not really running it.
04:35He's just obsessed with the title.
04:37He's happy to just have that title even though he's not the one, like, really controlling things.
04:41Pat Leonard.
04:42Pat Leonard.
04:43Pat Leonard?
04:44Yep.
04:44That must be.
04:45That guy looks like an idiot today.
04:47I just wanted to put his name out there because he looked stupid after saying he was going to be
04:51fired three weeks ago.
04:52That must be just.
04:54I hope we don't get him on to preview the Giants during the year.
04:56No, no.
04:57We got Paul Schwartz and John Schmelke.
04:59We don't need anybody else in the rotation.
05:01No, it's the, it must be just he's obsessed with the title.
05:05He likes being called the general manager.
05:07Because the only way I can think that an extension would happen is, yeah, if you're cool just sitting here
05:11and seeding to John Harbaugh on every decision, but you hold the title, okay, fine.
05:17You can do that.
05:18You can have the title and we'll sign you up to a contract.
05:20Just stay out of the way.
05:21And then, I mean, that must be, he must just be okay with that setup and he's willing to take
05:26whatever, which he sounded in all of his interviews right after Harbaugh was hired as a guy who was just
05:30content.
05:31Like, oh, just let me keep my spot.
05:33Let me keep my job.
05:34Well, people love their draft.
05:36I don't know how much credit you give to Joe Shane.
05:39He gets the credit for the draft.
05:40He's the one calling all the shots.
05:41Yeah, but, I mean, like, his, you know, obviously Shane's team did 15 months of work.
05:46They also had two very high picks.
05:48They had two very high picks.
05:48I mean, they couldn't have screwed it up.
05:50Well, you can't screw it up.
05:51They literally were the last team to do it when they had Evan Neal and Kayvon Thibodeau.
05:54That's right.
05:55But, like, you know, when Arbel Reese falls in your lap, like, you could screw it up by not taking
05:59him, obviously.
06:00But any pulse would have taken him in that spot.
06:03A lot of people think they did.
06:04A lot of people are wondering if they messed up with Maui Noah.
06:06For sure.
06:07But they came in with a plan wanting to get an offensive player and a defensive player with the top
06:13ten.
06:14It's not hard to execute that plan.
06:16No.
06:16We need an offensive player.
06:18We did it.
06:18We did it.
06:19We did it.
06:19We did it.
06:20The two picks at the top ten.
06:21Hang the mission accomplished banner.
06:23Yes.
06:23Mike Clay is looking over these draft picks.
06:26Yeah, he is.
06:26So he went and did his.
06:27He's ESPN.
06:28ESPN.
06:29And his projections, NFL rookies in several stat leadership categories.
06:34So, like, you know, passing yards, he goes out on a limb with Fernando leading.
06:40That is going out on a limb.
06:41That is.
06:42He does say he's going to have 14 starts.
06:45That's the limb right there because I don't think many have that.
06:48He only has Carson Beck with two.
06:50Simpson and Klubnik, no starts.
06:52Either one for them.
06:53Receiving touchdowns and yards, he's got Cardinal Tate.
06:56And then right after that is Jordan Tyson.
06:59And then you go further down.
07:00You get, obviously, Jeremiah Love running away with it.
07:03We didn't play, by the way.
07:05Cardinal Tate, we didn't play the audio yesterday.
07:07Caleb Downs said he was with him when the schedule release came out.
07:10And he said Cardinal was just, like, pouting that Downs had, like,
07:13all these primetime games.
07:15And he said, every game we're playing is at noon.
07:17Now, tackles.
07:18Because the Cowboys are obviously defense heavy.
07:21Styles won.
07:22They said he's going to have the most tackles this year of any of the rookies
07:24with 123.
07:25Then Reese at 116.
07:28CJ Allen third.
07:29And then Downs tied with Thienemann with 82 tackles.
07:32How does he come up with those numbers, I wonder?
07:34Like, how is he just like, yeah, 82.
07:36That's what he's going to get.
07:36Great question.
07:37Great question.
07:38It's a great question.
07:39Sacks.
07:41Malachi Lawrence second.
07:43Oh.
07:43Oh, he's doing the Cynthia Freeland thing, though.
07:46With how many?
07:465.7.
07:475.7 sacks.
07:48Which I don't think you can actually get 5.7 sacks.
07:51Rookies are averaging 106 sacks per season over the last decade.
07:55But the past two seasons have been far below that average.
07:58They've been 84.5 and 100.
08:00James Pierce at 10.5 last year.
08:03But, you know, for him to be, you know, ahead of Mesidor and Bain and Falk and even Reese,
08:08you know, depending on how they use him, Lawrence at, you know, let's say 5.5.
08:14I mean, there you go.
08:15If the projection is Malachi Lawrence above Bain and Mesidor, I mean, those are two edge
08:20rushers that Cowboys fans were clamoring for.
08:23Interception.
08:23Here we go.
08:24Here we go.
08:25So, Delane tied with Trayden Stooks.
08:29Trayden Stooks.
08:30And he's tied with Caleb Downs.
08:31And with Caleb Downs with two.
08:33Thienemann with 1.8.
08:34I don't think you can get that.
08:35And then Chris Johnson with Miami with 1.5.
08:39So, there's your...
08:40So, they're top three in interceptions.
08:42Top three in sacks.
08:43Top three in tackles.
08:44I still think...
08:46I'd be careful projecting six sacks from a Cowboys rookie edge rusher because that doesn't
08:49always work out.
08:51You did, right?
08:51I would say that is what I did.
08:54I would...
08:55I think the Caleb Downs thing, and obviously those aren't, like, gaudy statistics.
08:58I mean, two interceptions and 82 tackles.
09:01That's not like, oh my gosh, it's so crazy.
09:02But I would say that some of the projections I've seen from Cowboys fans where they're trying
09:07to say, like, you know, they're on Twitter and they're getting excited.
09:09They're like, Caleb Downs, I bet he's going to have, like, five picks this season.
09:11He's going to do this.
09:12He's going to do that.
09:13It's like, I think you're going to get to the end of the season.
09:15You're going to look at his stat line and you're going to think it's not as good as what
09:19you think you're seeing on the field because...
09:22But that's okay.
09:23His entire impact is going to be gauged or judged, I think, based on the Cowboys' defensive
09:29numbers and how much they climb as a unit.
09:32Because his numbers themselves are...
09:33He's...
09:34It's like Darren Woodson.
09:35Darren Woodson couldn't just stay in a position and stack up numbers.
09:38He was asked to do too much stuff.
09:40He was asked to take things away and impact the defense in a big way.
09:43So he doesn't have necessarily some of the raw, gaudy statistics out there too, but he
09:46was the biggest impact.
09:48And that's going to be Downs.
09:48Downs is going to make a massive impact with not a lot of stats.
09:51We did not get to this yesterday, but Aaron Rodgers quickly said, yep, this is it.
09:57This is finally the final year.
09:59And he gave credit to Bobby's boy, Mike McCarthy, for helping him make that decision.
10:06I had a conversation with Omar at the end of last year, and I encouraged him for an outside
10:14perspective to interview Mike.
10:17Not thinking that he even would, honestly.
10:20Just because the way the league goes and the trend, you know, it's kind of like whoever
10:25worked with John, you know, Kyle, or one of those guys, Matt now, you know, gets a lot
10:35of looks and multiple guys in those trees have.
10:38But then when it became more serious, I was thinking, wow, that'd be a really interesting
10:44thought to come back and play with Mike.
10:47He is so funny to listen to.
10:49First off, I like, I encourage for an outside perspective, hey, why don't you interview the
10:54guy who bartended a mile from the stadium here?
10:57You should talk to that guy.
10:59Really, like, go outside the box.
11:00But then for him to basically, that sounded like the most backhanded compliment ever,
11:04where he's like, you know, a lot of times people just, they want to grab somebody from
11:07the most successful trees.
11:09Like, where are you doing the most successfully offensively?
11:10Not me.
11:11I want to look away from what's working in the rest of the league, and let's go outside
11:15the box and look at it a little differently.
11:17The reality is, Aaron Rodgers knows from history, he can push Mike McCarthy around, and he can
11:21do whatever he wants, and that's what he wants.
11:23He wants somebody who can do whatever he wants.
11:25I got some Vegas prop bets on Rodgers' season.
11:28Will he be benched during the year?
11:32Oh, no, he'll never bench himself.
11:34No, he won't.
11:36No, his minus 500.
11:38His over-under passing yards for the season is 3,400 and a half.
11:44Oh, I got to go see what he had last year.
11:46So we're trying to figure out what the favorite would be?
11:48Oh, you got to pick the over-under.
11:49There's no favorite on that.
11:50He'll go under.
11:51Aaron Rodgers passing touchdowns, over-under is 21 and a half.
11:56Over.
11:57The interception's nine, over-under.
12:01Under.
12:02It's hard to intercept the ball three yards thrown in the air.
12:04He's risk-averse.
12:05Will the identity of Aaron Rodgers' wife be revealed during the 2026 season?
12:10You can bet on this.
12:11Was it already not?
12:12What was that?
12:12Was that a ball sack?
12:15It might have been a ball sack, because that girl looked, as you would say,
12:19Oh, I was going to say crunchy.
12:21Oh, she was crunchy, yes.
12:22What's the difference between chopped and crunchy?
12:24Well, chopped is just ugly.
12:27Crunchy.
12:28Crunchy is earthy.
12:29Crunchy is Nola.
12:30She looked crunchy.
12:31She's crunchy, yeah.
12:32She's not ugly.
12:33If that's her.
12:34Yeah, I don't know.
12:35Noah's minus 300.
12:36Yes is plus 200 for his wife.
12:38You said you were going to figure out her identity.
12:40I know.
12:41I got distracted.
12:42I forgot to actually look it up ever after I looked it up, because I just now was remembering
12:45it.
12:45I was like, oh, yeah, I was supposed to look that up, and I think I'm going to find it.
12:47That could be his wife.
12:48So, Rogers last year with 3,300 yards, 24 TDs, seven picks.
12:52What will he do first during the 2027 season, like in his own life?
12:57Peyote.
12:58Act in a movie slash TV show is the favorite.
13:02Join a TV broadcast team.
13:03Podcast co-hosts.
13:05Announce pregnancy.
13:06Create cannabis.
13:07Psychedelic company.
13:08Oh, baby.
13:08Let's go.
13:09That's plus 650.
13:10That's what I'm doing.
13:11Buy a pro sports team.
13:13Become state farm insurance salesman.
13:15Work for CDC.
13:18Plus 5,000.
13:20Him and RFK.
13:21Also, he's going to start the, I'm going to put money on the start of the cannabis.
13:25Plus 650.
13:26Yeah.
13:26That's good odds.
13:27What happened?
13:28Why do you think he's not, like, setting himself up for another milked decision next offseason?
13:34He already said.
13:34He said this will be my last.
13:35He said it.
13:36I know, but he's an egomaniac.
13:38So, what's the play here?
13:39Is he trying to do the retirement tour?
13:40Does he want, like, the Dirk and Wade send-off in every city with the NFL?
13:45But Aaron probably thinks he's different enough to be able to do that.
13:48No quarterback has.
13:49Nobody ever gets a walk-off-the-field, standing ovation like, you know, the Pistons team did
13:55when they got sweaty.
13:56Everybody, hey, we're going to win.
13:59Baseball, they don't do that.
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