- 2 days ago
The Atlanta Falcons were back on the field in front of media this week and Drake London was one of the stars that spoke afterward. Hear what he had to say about the difference this year under Kevin Stefanski.
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00:00That's James Pierce Jr. You'll hear from Jeff Ulbrich talking about the scheme and his edge rusher coming up.
00:06Also, Divine Diablo, I said Divine Diablo, is back and healthy.
00:11And what Ulbrich had to say about him on this defense as the Falcons OTAs continue,
00:17you'll get a chance to hear from Drake London and Kyle Pitts coming up as well.
00:20So stay there as we've got a lot more in store for you when it comes to our Falcons.
00:24One of our discussions today, guys, has been it's too much job to lose.
00:28It's what I believe. It's what I think after hearing Kevin Stefanski yesterday
00:32and hearing others talk about where he's at in this process.
00:36It does not mean he is going to win the job.
00:39I do think it's his to lose because, Mike, right now, if this is a race, he's got a little
00:44bit of a head start.
00:45So with that head start, guys, it's allowing him to get the more reps, right?
00:49Even at OTAs, you might say it doesn't matter. I always say if it didn't, let's cancel it.
00:53They haven't. He's getting more opportunity right now
00:56because Pinnick's can't necessarily do all the things that he's doing.
00:59And we said it earlier, guys.
01:00I mean, if you look at even on a down year where he got benched in Miami, he's still eighth.
01:04He's in the top ten in completion percentage of the NFL.
01:06He's always been accurate.
01:08Stefanski said, look, that's a God-given talent.
01:10You can't coach accuracy.
01:11Some people would say Frank Tarkin has said that.
01:13And then we looked at Michael.
01:14Michael came in at 32nd last year in accuracy.
01:17So in addition to learning the new offense, getting under center, doing the play action,
01:20waiting for the knee to get to 100%, he's also got to be more accurate.
01:23These are all things that, you know, it's a long laundry list of things that have to happen
01:27for Mike to win this job.
01:28And look, I hope that everything plays out perfectly for him.
01:33But it might not.
01:34And we're just giving you the information right now.
01:36And then we had Louis Riddick go on TV.
01:38We'll talk more about it at five.
01:39But Louis Riddick basically said, hey, it's to his job to lose, to your point.
01:42It is, man.
01:43404-726-0929.
01:45And as we talk about this, it's one of the things that, you know, look, there's probably,
01:52Mike, I'm just thinking out loud right now, maybe four storylines for our Falcons as we
01:57get ready for camp in July.
01:58One of them is going to be, obviously, the wide receiver room.
02:01They feel like they've improved it.
02:03They went out, Jahan Dotson, right?
02:05They drafted.
02:06They feel like that's an area that we're going to be improved in.
02:09It's something we'll be watching.
02:11And it's something, you know, I read an article today, ESPN.com, they were basically breaking
02:16down everybody's offseason free agent moves.
02:18So I thought it was a little bit off the mark because it talked about, you know, Jahan
02:21Dotson, they thought that maybe we overspent for a guy, that, you know, there wasn't such
02:25a big market.
02:25I didn't feel that way.
02:26We didn't overpay.
02:27It's two years, and that's why I said it.
02:28I thought it was really getting out of ticky-tack.
02:31Not to mention, you know, where does he fit in the offense?
02:34Like, they're not talking about the draft pick, so there's no mention of Zachariah Branch,
02:37but it made it sound like it wasn't a great move.
02:39Like, you're betting on the come.
02:41And guys, guys that are first-round picks always get extra life or extra opportunities
02:45to reestablish themselves.
02:46They do.
02:47And that's, I don't blame Ian Cunningham for that because there was something that made
02:50him good enough to initially be drafted by the commanders and then fall to the Eagles.
02:53Yeah, and the other part, as far as, you know, what we're watching out for, and these
02:57are things we're not necessarily discussing now because we've got to see what this looks
03:01like, is that linebacker room.
03:02You know, we joke about Devon Diablo, him being back healthy is great.
03:05Hey, who's going to be his cohort?
03:07Who's going to be the Cate Nellis this year, Mike, and pick up that slack?
03:10Well, Jalen Walker, according to what Ulbricht's been saying, Jalen Walker's going to be asked
03:13to really assume the role of Cate Nellis.
03:15Look, I think they're going to use him all over the field.
03:17There's no debating that.
03:18But you also went and signed a bunch of linebackers.
03:22Yep.
03:22All on one-year deals.
03:23So, somebody's got to play a little bit more than somebody else.
03:26Jalen's going to be on the field.
03:27I'm wondering what Christian Harris and all these other guys are going to look like.
03:31It's a great opportunity.
03:31We initially thought that it would be, you know, Divine Diablo with Christian Harris side
03:35by side.
03:35But in the comments, and we'll play some more, we've got tons of audio for you in the Falcon
03:38Report at the top of the hour at 5 o'clock.
03:40But Ulbricht basically saying that, you know, he almost wishes that he gave Jalen more stuff
03:44to do last season.
03:46It might have been an overload, though.
03:48Right.
03:48And again, the snaps.
03:50Cate Nellis, 1,100 snaps.
03:52It was about 432 snaps for him last year.
03:56So, we'll see.
03:57See, I know that in Georgia, that's what made him such a tremendous draft pick, and we thought
04:02he'd never get to us, but we never thought he'd fall to 15, because you can use him in
04:05a myriad of ways all over the field.
04:06Yeah.
04:07I'm curious to see how that's going to look.
04:09The main thing for him is just being healthy during camp, so he can be utilized in the
04:13way that they want him to be utilized.
04:14Last year, he was fighting those hammies and all the stuff that was going on.
04:17Hey, man, it's Dukes and Bell.
04:18Find us on social media.
04:20You can also call us and text us at 404-726-0929.
04:23You can always get into the conversation.
04:25Phone lines are always open if you have a thought or two.
04:27You completely disagree with the assessment that, too, it's his job to lose.
04:30That's fine.
04:31We had a guy call in and say, well, I think you've got to be very careful with both of
04:34these quarterbacks, and then he threw the what if they get injured.
04:37Guys, everybody around the league has that scenario.
04:40Yeah.
04:40I mean, that's everybody.
04:41The question is, is it your quarterback's first injury?
04:43As we said, Daniel Jones becomes a savior in Indianapolis until he blows out, he has the
04:48injury that he kills, and then all of a sudden, there was a knee.
04:50I forget which is a knee, but Daniel Jones goes down.
04:53They're stuck with having to roll the dice with Phillip Rivers at the end of the season,
04:56and now Daniel Jones comes in, and now you're worried about him because is he 100% healed?
05:00Is he going to get back to speed and doing those things he needs to do?
05:03You know, Jaden Daniels was a guy that, I mean, he was all world.
05:06He was like Caleb who?
05:07When Jaden Daniels came out, and then he gets hurt and misses some time, and then the
05:10commanders kind of take a backslide, and now they've loaded up.
05:13They had a really good offseason.
05:15New coach.
05:16New coach.
05:17And the soundbite, you know, Dan Quinney was pretty funny.
05:19One of his linebackers was looking around and he was like, guy was cussing.
05:21And I saw it on NFL Network today.
05:22He's like, this guy can kick ass, and that guy can kick ass, and he's basically going
05:25to all the guys on defense.
05:27So don't sleep on the commanders.
05:29I call it a sophomore jinx for Dan Quinn, but coming back this year.
05:31Well, he lost his quarterback, right?
05:33I mean, Jaden Daniels wasn't 100%.
05:35That played a role.
05:36But, yeah, I think they've retooled the defense, and they got younger, Mike.
05:38They needed to get younger on that defense, and they've done that.
05:41Hey, while we're talking football, let's hear from Drake London, Mike, because he was asked
05:45about Kevin Stefanski.
05:47I want you to listen really closely, if you will, okay?
05:50Here's what he said about Kevin Stefanski.
05:52So far, he's doing his thing, and he just brings, you know, accountability and honestly,
05:58just pushing us to be the best that we can be right now.
06:00You know, we're never complacent, and I think that's the big motto right now is just never
06:04be complacent at all and just keep on pushing forward and striving for greatness.
06:08And that's what he's kind of implementing it in, like, probably the most chillest way ever.
06:12But at the same time, he's like, we're about business, and I love it.
06:15Okay.
06:16First thing he said is accountability.
06:20I don't take that for granted.
06:22It's something Mike and I have talked about.
06:24It's something we discussed at the end of last season.
06:27Then the firing played out with Raheem Morris, and what did Arthur Blank say he learned from
06:32the research firm that he hired?
06:34There wasn't enough accountability in the building.
06:36There you have Drake London, Mike, saying the first thing, well, Kevin Stefanski, it's about
06:41his business, and he's holding us accountable.
06:44Really?
06:44That's the thing.
06:45When you were on vacation last week and I was working with Abe, we had the same, basically
06:48a very similar soundbite from B. John Robinson.
06:51And same thing.
06:51And me and Abe were like, aha.
06:53And that's why, you know, some guys, look, you're being down.
06:55Again, Raheem Morris, he's yesterday's news.
06:57He's a defensive coordinator with the 49ers and wish him well.
06:59But we tried to tell you last year and the year before, but you're hearing it from the
07:04players.
07:04They're telling you.
07:05And we didn't say the other guys weren't accountable.
07:07Well, the first thing he says is accountability, which most people would say, well, maybe you
07:10weren't getting that with the previous regime.
07:12That's how most of us viewed the soundbite or listened to it, I should say.
07:15When you get a new boss, if you've had the fortunes of this happening to you, and I've
07:20had many, when you get a new boss, there are things that fall into place.
07:26And when you start talking about that individual, he or she, Mike, if one of the first things
07:33out of your mouth is, well, yeah, man, we got a new boss, man, they hold us accountable.
07:39That tells you everything you need to know about the former guy or the former lady.
07:43That's it.
07:43That's it.
07:44I guess some folks just don't read between the lines with some of this stuff, but it's
07:47pretty apparent to us.
07:49And it's apparent, the Bijon quote was basically very similar in nature about, you know, the
07:54detail-oriented and all the things that you need to have happen.
07:57Look, you can be a player's coach.
07:58That's great.
07:59You know, and usually the players are going to pick, it was like, it was even Arthur Smith
08:02had, the players had his back.
08:04There was no dissension, but you've got to be organized and you've got to have things
08:07where they need to be.
08:08And Raheem never, you saw it by virtue of the coaches that he hired that were bad hires.
08:12But you also saw it on the field with the mistakes that were made, not enough men on
08:16the field, the kicking game mistakes, timeouts.
08:18Plays not being called into the quarterback in time.
08:21You know, things like that.
08:22That's basic stuff.
08:22That's attention to detail.
08:23Yeah.
08:24All right.
08:24Let me hear Drake talk about how excited he is for the wide receiver.
08:28And we just mentioned this, and I just want you to hear from our star wide receiver
08:31because he's got a lot of new faces in that room with him now.
08:34Yeah.
08:34Just ball players.
08:35I mean, Jahan, you got OZ back, which I'm stoked about.
08:41CB, you got ZB.
08:43Yeah.
08:44I mean, you could go down the list, really.
08:46Drum, Casey.
08:48I think we just have a lot of versatile guys that are kind of, right now, like I wouldn't
08:52say Jahan or OZ or anybody like that, but guys who also too, like, are flying under the
08:56radar a little bit, who can really, really ball.
08:58So I'm really excited for them to go out there and showcase that and just show the team their
09:02value right now.
09:04Yeah.
09:04Look, I hope that is the case.
09:06I like the Jahan Dotson signing because I said there's a lot of upside there.
09:10In Philly, they already had paid their wide receivers.
09:12He wasn't going to get the run there, Mike, and the snaps.
09:14So, you know, he becomes expendable.
09:16But the bottom line for him is he can come here and really prove himself and maybe become
09:22a weapon.
09:22And ironically, he was asked yesterday about what he wants to do here, and his direct quote
09:26was, I want to be one of the greatest wide receivers in the NFL.
09:30No debate, no clowning around.
09:31Like, that's what he wants to do.
09:32So this is his opportunity.
09:34You didn't get those snaps in Philly.
09:36Let's see what he can do here.
09:37You know, whoever the quarterback is, if he can make plays, stretch the field for us,
09:42I'm all about it.
09:43It's rare that a guy, you know, goes to a team, you know, at this stage of his career,
09:46this will be his third team, and really gets the traction, unless, you know, a testament
09:50to what we just talked about with Stefanski and his offensive pieces and how Tommy Reese
09:53gets him involved.
09:55I mean, with all due respect, I'm more excited about Zachariah Branch than I will ever be
09:59about Johan Dotson.
10:00Well, you should be.
10:01And I think that he's a rookie.
10:02And he's a guy that you can put him all over the field.
10:04It's not like he's a gadget guy.
10:05Yes, he can do that, but he can do everything.
10:07Yeah, I just feel like you always get excited about the rookies because there's promise.
10:11Right.
10:12When a guy's been in the league and you think that's what he is, that's the rarity of when
10:15a guy turns his career around and does something really special, but for our sake, I hope Trinon
10:20Dotson does.
10:20I hope he's a player.
10:21It would be the exception to the rule, but, and that's why, again, I didn't, I mean, I
10:24saw that as Bill Barnwell did the breakdown on ESPN about the free agents and thought
10:28the two thing was brilliant for all the things that, you know, you've already talked about
10:31the same reason that Kyler Murray's in Minnesota.
10:33It's a cheap option.
10:34He's a guy that, you know, can, as Louis Riddick said, has been there and done that
10:38at a high level.
10:39And if you can get, if you get him at 80% of what he was two or three years
10:42ago with what we've
10:43got on the other side of the football, we got a good piece.
10:45And that's, that's a winning formula right now.
10:47Yeah.
10:47I just think people think he's just not a good quarterback based on the circumstances
10:52that he was in last year at the end of the season.
10:55And he is, as a matter of fact, I think he's better than anybody we've got on the roster
10:59right now.
11:00When you just talk about experience, Mike, and the things he's been able to do, doesn't
11:03mean he's going to be great for us, but that's, that's the difference.
11:05They built the thing around him.
11:07So unless Mike McDaniel just completely lost his, lost the script, which a lot of people have
11:10said, he did also, he had some awful games last year too.
11:14We're talking about, had some horrible games.
11:15He threw three picks, but going into the game with us.
11:17That's why we, he had a great game, a great game against us and he reverted back.
11:21And then shortly thereafter, down the season, he gets benched.
11:24Play calling.
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