00:01Grant and Danny on the fan.
00:03Logan Paulson was out at OTA practice.
00:06Said that the receiver room got him excited.
00:08He liked how they played, thought they looked sharp.
00:11Thinks they could be a better group maybe than advertised.
00:16Is seeing this wide receiver group as a strength
00:20something that takes burgundy and gold-colored glasses,
00:23or is it a reality?
00:24Could De'Ami Brown actually come back and play like he did in the playoffs
00:28and a new offense?
00:29Maybe he becomes your Aldrick Robinson, your deep threat.
00:32I think a key to them surpassing expectations, Danny,
00:38Traylon Burks has to be pretty good.
00:40They had him running opposite Terry McLaurin as their Z receiver
00:43and two receiver sets.
00:45This was a former first-round pick who's big and he can run.
00:48Logan talked about Burks as a prospect.
00:51That was kind of what it looked like for the most part,
00:53and it's hard to keep track of every single offensive rep.
00:56But basically when the receivers got up and it was routes on air,
00:58it was Terry McLaurin and Traylon Burks.
01:00Now, again, this is one of those things where it's like,
01:03oh, that's exciting.
01:04Maybe he's the number two.
01:06But my antennas go up because there's one OTA.
01:09They're going to show us one thing.
01:11It might be different tomorrow.
01:12It might be different at the next OTA.
01:13I remember covering the OTAs last year,
01:15and the depth chart kind of shifted a little bit every day
01:19that we had access to OTAs.
01:21But it was Traylon Burks, man, and he's a former first-round pick,
01:26and he just looks the part, man.
01:28He's just a big dude who can run, like absolutely.
01:31And so seeing him opposite Terry, it kind of gets you thinking,
01:34oh, man, then you get Antonio Williams in the slot.
01:36You see Chigakonkwo, like the explosiveness that he brings,
01:39and there's some stuff he's got to polish up and clean up for sure.
01:42But that pass group, you're like, man, there's some talent there.
01:46And Deami has an explosive catch down the field the other day,
01:48and you feel that speed and that downfield threat from him.
01:52So, yeah, even though it was Traylon the start,
01:55I'm kind of pumping my brakes on that a little bit
01:57just to see how it develops over the next couple weeks.
02:00But he did look the part, man.
02:01He looked healthy, and he looked fast.
02:04He ran a couple of dig routes, and, you know,
02:05I've always been like he's a little bit off from a fundamental standpoint,
02:08looks super sharp on some of the acceleration, deceleration stuff.
02:12But, yeah, he was the guy that kind of started,
02:14led the charge yesterday to my eye.
02:16And I'm not going to sit here and pretend like Traylon Burks
02:20is going to be some standout number two this year.
02:23But if he is better than we think and takes to this offense
02:28and becomes a weapon and he's healthy and he makes good on some of
02:31being the 18th overall pick, let's not forget,
02:34he was the number 18th overall pick at one point.
02:38You heard what Logan said there.
02:39I mean, now you're talking about, okay, you've got McLaurin on one side.
02:42If Burks is more than we think he is at that number two spot,
02:45Williams as a slot receiver, they just drafted him in the third round
02:48to do exactly that.
02:50Chigakonkwo is a new weapon.
02:51Maybe you run the ball pretty effectively.
02:53You've got Rashad White out of the backfield.
02:54You're starting to see it come together, at least in the way that they're viewing it.
02:57Yeah, it's a major if, though, to go for a guy that had 10 catches last year
03:02and was readily available for anybody to sign at any time for a long time
03:06after falling out of favor.
03:07Not falling out of favor, falling out of the team in Tennessee
03:09as a former first rounder, rather, in Burks.
03:13But, yeah, if that happens, dot, dot, dot.
03:15If Tommy Brown's a thing, dot, dot, dot.
03:17And the last time he was here, yes, he was great in the postseason,
03:20and everyone thinks of him as a deep threat.
03:22Well, they stopped thinking of him as a deep threat during the regular season
03:25when they had him catching bubbles and smokes and slip screens,
03:27and they made him a 10 yards per catch close to the line of scrimmage
03:30wide receiver opposite McLaurin, you know, running some of the same stuff
03:33that Lamy Zaccheaus was.
03:35But, yes, in the postseason, he was splendid.
03:36And maybe you unlock something there.
03:38Maybe that's kind of the new awakening.
03:39Certainly that's what Jacksonville saw when they went and signed him.
03:42And, of course, he was disappointing there, and now he's back in the fold.
03:45But, to me, this is a – if we can't solve this with a bona fide –
03:49and even, by the way, the guy that they tried to get that's bona fide
03:52still doesn't have 50 catches in a season, and Alec Pierce –
03:55but that was their idea.
03:56If we can't solve our receiver vacancy or the thing that we need
04:00with an established somebody, we're throwing numbers at this thing.
04:05This guy's got pedigree in Burks.
04:07This guy was good in the postseason in Dalmy Brown.
04:09This guy was good as Sean McVay's fifth receiver for two weeks in Van Jefferson.
04:15We're going to throw numbers at this thing, and maybe somebody emerges
04:18opposite the players that we know.
04:21The other part of this is, too, because you're right,
04:22you don't often go from 10 catches to being a real helper as a No. 2 wide receiver.
04:27But I would point out, let's not forget about how different the scheme is.
04:33The whole point of this scheme is it makes receivers better.
04:36It gets receivers open.
04:37Anthony Armstrong went from playing receiver in a parking lot
04:40in the Extreme Football League to going for 871 yards with Kyle Shanahan.
04:45Jabbar Gaffney came in here after being a guy –
04:49he was like a 400-yard receiver for a couple years in New England.
04:52He goes for 950 in the Shanahan offense.
04:55I'm trying to think of other Jags that came in here,
04:57Roydell Williams or Joey Galloway who had big games or whatever.
05:00But they're betting on the scheme.
05:02They're betting on David Blau.
05:03I'm not saying that's going to work.
05:05I'm just saying that is the other side of this conversation,
05:08which is they think that the scheme elevates these players.
05:11Let's go to Chris in Hyattsville.
05:13Chris, could you see this receiver room surpassing the expectations?
05:19Yes, because it happens all the time.
05:21I mean, there's tons of historical precedent where teams have cobbled together
05:26unknowns or unproven players, not household names,
05:30and they're doing incredibly well.
05:31I mean, just look at Tom Brady's career.
05:34I mean, he made household names out of Wes Welker and Danny Anadola
05:37and what's the other guy's name does podcasting now.
05:41You know who I'm talking about.
05:42Welker? Edelman.
05:43Oh, Edelman, yeah.
05:44Julian Edelman, right?
05:46I mean, Grant, your point is the most critical.
05:49It's about the system.
05:50Number one imperative, J.M. Daniels has to remain upright.
05:53But, two, he's got to find these guys open in space.
05:57And what I see is a very young, athletic receiver core,
06:02and there's going to be a lot of competition for a few spots.
06:05And I think competition breeds greatness.
06:08I don't think – and one thing I disagree with Danny is that just because
06:12they offered Pierce a contract was some kind of indictment on the receiver room.
06:16Teams try to get better at positions all the time.
06:19I don't really see those two things being mutually exclusive.
06:23I hear you, buddy.
06:23Appreciate the call.
06:24I do.
06:25To me, that is a – for two years, one year they got away with it,
06:29the second year they didn't, and they went – they saw the same thing that I did.
06:32And they go, there's a fire.
06:34We're going to put some water on it.
06:35Now, it's not their fault that he didn't sign for an outrageous amount of money
06:37that they offered a dude, again, that has never had 50 catches.
06:40But it tells you that there was a pretty big need.
06:43As you said, they're trying to make themselves better.
06:45Of course.
06:45But they – you know, you would say the same thing about a defensive end
06:48where they go, we can't get after the quarterback.
06:50What do we do?
06:51Top of the market, free agent, and the defensive end.
06:53I think the truth's probably somewhere in the middle.
06:55Like, I guess I would be a little closer to Chris's side than your side
06:58that the idea that they tried to sign him means that they don't think
07:02that their receivers are good or good enough or whatever.
07:05Like, it's some massive referendum.
07:07Because free agency at this point is, I've got this gigantic bag of money
07:11and I'm in a store where only certain things are available.
07:14And I've got to spend a bunch of this money.
07:16How am I going to do it?
07:17And there's this thing that could help me that's this really expensive thing
07:20that most other people can't buy.
07:22There's only a couple people in this store.
07:23That's true.
07:24With the money to buy this thing.
07:25And that happens to be Alec Pierce.
07:27They didn't go as far as it took to get him.
07:30You know, they could have offered him another million dollars.
07:31What's the difference between 30 and 31 or whatever?
07:34They eventually put their paddle down, right?
07:36So, I think it's true that they want a deep threat.
07:40They want that trait.
07:42The taking the lid off.
07:43The opening everything up underneath.
07:46They wanted their Jamison Williams, essentially.
07:48To hit some home runs down the field.
07:50Yep.
07:51And they were willing to spend money on that.
07:52But I don't think that means necessarily that,
07:55Buck Showalter style, they don't like their guys.
07:58Like, we like our guys was his slogan.
08:00I think they probably like their guys fine.
08:02Now, if they sign three receivers between now and training camp
08:05that are likely to make the team,
08:06then I will go, dude, they didn't think that much of Traylon Burks.
08:10But if it's just Iyuk on a flyer,
08:13and that's kind of the move among veteran receivers
08:16for the entire offseason,
08:17they've got a funny way of showing their desperation
08:19to improve at the position.
08:20Yeah, there's not much available now, right?
08:22Right, but they had a whole offseason.
08:24You could have made trades.
08:25You could have been talking to Michael Pittman.
08:26Totally true.
08:27You could have been doing a bunch of stuff that they didn't do.
08:28Which is my frustration.
08:29And that's where we kind of get back to,
08:30is once they didn't get Dobbs or Pierce,
08:35then it's the, okay, we're going to go shop
08:36in a totally different area.
08:37And I get that, by the way.
08:38You don't have a ton of draft capital,
08:40and you have plenty of salary cap space,
08:42but you don't just spend to spend, right?
08:43You've got to have somebody that you like.
08:45You don't just go, all right, we'll overpay for this player
08:47that we don't think is going to help us.
08:48You don't do that.
08:48Of course, anybody with half a brain
08:50would kill him for doing that.
08:52At 3 o'clock, Darius has just added a guest
08:54to the rundown we're excited about.
08:55Sean Devaney, who covers the NBA,
08:58and he wrote a story about Anthony Davis
09:00possibly being acquired by another team
09:03that the Wizards could trade him,
09:04that he is making these comments
09:07that he may not want to play in Washington.
09:09Darius, if you don't mind,
09:10if you could hop on with this really quick,
09:12what kind of hints did you tell us
09:14that Sean Devaney says that Anthony Davis is dropping?
09:19So Sean Devaney is reporting
09:20that he's dropping not-so-subtle hints.
09:23Not-so-subtle hints.
09:24Oh, so I thought they were subtle.
09:26No, they're not.
09:27Not-subtle.
09:28Oh, that's my fault.
09:29I misread that.
09:30Subtle.
09:31Subtle hints.
09:32Yeah.
09:33You walked into the studio,
09:34and you said Sean Devaney's saying
09:36that Anthony Davis is dropping subtle hints.
09:38I did.
09:39And we went what?
09:40Do you know why that's funny?
09:42Because the actual story was the opposite of it.
09:45Right.
09:45The hints were what?
09:47Not-subtle.
09:48Right, but why else is it funny?
09:52I don't know.
09:53Am I saying subtle weird?
09:54No, no, no.
09:55Well, definitely not.
09:57When I say something weird,
09:58we usually do this kind of bit.
09:59Well, it sounds normal for you, I think.
10:03The word subtle?
10:04What does it mean?
10:05What does the word mean?
10:07Good question.
10:08Let me play Ryan Clary's music.
10:11Aren't you mad Ryan's not on the show anymore?
10:13God, I wish he was on the show still.
10:14This would be Ryan.
10:15Nothing to do with Ben, or I totally love these guys.
10:18No, he would be taking all the umpire with Terry Collins.
10:22He'd be in the jackpot right now, Terry.
10:24He's in the jackpot right now.
10:25The eyes of Sean would be upon him.
10:29Subtle's a word.
10:30Yep.
10:31That has to do with, like, I don't know, dropping hints.
10:37Okay.
10:37It's a synonym for dropping hints.
10:39How do you spell it?
10:40S-U-B-T-L-E?
10:44Yeah.
10:44Subtle.
10:45Or maybe it's S-U-P-T-L-E.
10:47No.
10:48That would be subtle.
10:49It's not subtle.
10:50So it's S-U-B-T-L-E.
10:51Right.
10:52Very well done.
10:53Next, Danny Ruge gets to take a victory lap.
10:57I think.
10:58Great.
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