- 2 days ago
Greg Cosell of NFL Films joins Willard and Dibs to discuss all the angles surrounding the 49ers at training camp.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00the great uh executive producer the big the big honcho at nfl films um and uh and joining us on
00:08the river islands guest line for the first of many throughout the 2026 season is greg cosell
00:14and we are so excited to get this going again and the question is greg do you know or have
00:22you ever
00:23um had sort of an intimidating effect on people before that you're aware of
00:30i sure hope not yeah i mean i can't my my i mean my partner over here i mean it's
00:37uh he he's been
00:39hot under the collar all day getting ready for this well you know not a lot's really happened yet so
00:45it's it's you know now we're in the speculative stage gentlemen where everybody has an opinion
00:51about things that haven't happened yet which is why the nerves really start to come in because
00:56i mean uh what do you think dejan stripling's going to look like guys i can't tell you that
01:03because it actually hasn't happened yet and when it does i'll look at he's obviously good he's
01:06obviously going to be jerry rice we all know that hello go ahead and cut that hello yes it is
01:13it's
01:14speculation season greg i'm i'm surprised you even went to your office this time of year
01:20oh god god i i don't think i've been out of my office i've probably watched let's see
01:26since the end of the draft i've probably watched about 110 guys who will be in next year's draft
01:32they won't all be but probably 90 of them will be so i've seen a ton of guys getting a
01:38foundation for
01:39those guys a couple of weeks ago i started going back to the nfl so i started watching tape the
01:45way i
01:45can't do during the season where i can watch you know five or six games of a team in a
01:51row
01:51um i can watch quarterbacks and just focus you know find focus on quarterbacks i can look at
01:59some defenses in great detail these are things i can't quite approach it that way during the season
02:04when i just have to try to get as many games watched every week as possible i i do bet
02:10and and
02:11sure this is speculative but at the same time you know a lot about both players and so i wonder
02:16what
02:17you think the marriage of brock purdy and mike evans is going to look like well you know it's funny
02:24because i did a deeper dive into purdy this this offseason which i pretty much do every offseason
02:30with certain quarterbacks purdy's one of them um i think it's not so much you know the connection
02:36they'll get to that i think it'll be the deployment because don't forget mike evans assuming health
02:42um he's a true what we call boundary x where he's he he's the single receiver to the short side
02:49of the
02:49field the boundary side of the field the 49ers have not had that kind of receiver in recent years and
02:57number one that can change uh what your um you know receiver distribution and it looks like in other
03:05words you can line up in more three by one sets because now you have a true boundary x that
03:10single
03:10receiver um and it also changes the way defenses have to react to that uh so you know that's one
03:17thing that i think is is is important for the fact that mike evans is there uh so and you
03:23know he can
03:24win one-on-one you know and that's a big deal in this league because you know it's it's it's
03:29a match-up
03:30league in some ways obviously there's a lot of variables with a pass game but it's it's a match-up
03:36league and you need receivers who can win one-on-one and if you don't have that as the niners
03:41really
03:41haven't in your words in the past does that change not only your concepts but your formations as well
03:48it can sure um there's no question um you know look obviously we know that kyle shanahan is one of
03:55the best in the league when it comes to um use of of formations shifts motions so many elements that
04:02go into offense but he's he's one of the absolute best in the league but sometimes you'd like to be
04:08in a situation where you can you know just line up and call a play for a player knowing that
04:15you like
04:15the matchup in a let's say in a critical situation and that it doesn't always have to be a masterful
04:22play
04:22call because you know at the end of the day the 49er offense is built on the play caller you
04:28know
04:28this is not a situation where the quarterback is asked to do a lot before the snap of the ball
04:33you know brock purdy is not calling protections he's not changing protections unless it's he truly
04:39sees something that is absolutely problematic the kyle shanahan approach is it's the play caller's
04:45offense so now evans gives you a guy where hey in a critical situation you like a
04:52matchup against a certain opponent and you feel like you know what we can call a play for for mike
04:57evans greg cosell nfl films his debut performance for uh at least football season 2026 uh with us here
05:06on willard and dibs 95 7 the game keeping it with the receiver room i know none of us know
05:12exactly how
05:13they're going to deploy him but based on what debo used to do with the niners and then based on
05:19what
05:19you saw him do in washington last year what what do you what kinds of things do you think are
05:25available
05:26uh to debo in this niner offense well all we can assume is that he's still relatively debo i mean
05:34we're not going to sit here and and decide what percentage of debo he is you know let's assume he's
05:39debo um we know what he how he was deployed in the past and we know with mccaffrey and debo
05:45samuel
05:46that it gives shanahan so many options in terms of formation variation in terms of shifts in terms
05:52of motions in terms of really dictating how a defense has to react and play so there's it just
05:59gives them so many more options in terms of what they can do offensively you know before the ball's
06:05even snapped and it just makes it harder for a defense because very often if a defense is uncertain
06:11as to motions and shifts a defense can go to what we call their default defense which is whatever it
06:18may be for the opponent and offenses know that kyle shanahan will know that and then he can attack it
06:24so now you have um you know players like debo and mccaffrey that are really they can line up anywhere
06:31within your formation with ricky pierce all missing the year now that he's going to have
06:35pcl surgery going to be out for nine months which of their current receivers or perhaps stripling has
06:41the skill set to be the best one to replace him um you know stripling skill set wise for sure
06:51but
06:52you know he's a rookie so you know again it's it's a difficult offense to master so i'm not out
06:58there i
06:58know what's going on uh but stripling is very very gifted and uh he can be used in multiple ways
07:05you know christian kirk is there christian kirk's played a lot in this league he's a player that's
07:11been able to be a slot guy he's lined up on the outside he's been a movement guy which is
07:16very
07:17important in this offense so there's a lot of options here you know the guy that's always been a
07:22curiosity for me because i watched him in college for a number of years as jacob cowling and you know
07:28he's going into his third season you know when he was at utep before he went to i believe arizona
07:34he was a deep threat he was a an explosive vertical dimension he can run so again i think this
07:42is
07:42probably all up for grabs now to some degree uh given that um you know rookie pierce all's done for
07:48the year i got another stripling question for you and i don't know if you'll be able to answer this
07:53but you're so good on on grinding the college tape and and i i i don't understand why this went
08:00the way
08:01it did this feels like a weird process to me where the niners draft stripling early in the second round
08:07the whole world goes mock draft crazy because stripling wasn't necessarily supposed to go there
08:14but the only thing we've heard since the pick is the actual football people going this dude's
08:20incredible and i'm like yeah why wasn't there more pre-draft hype on stripling then if that's what
08:29everybody thought you know those are hard questions for me to answer don't you find that weird
08:36i do but you know people get caught up in this consensus bs and and it's it's total garbage um
08:45you know look there are guys who are quote-unquote draft gurus i guess i would fall into that category
08:52because you know i grind away there's only a few guys that really do it the right way and i
08:58can tell
08:58you that because i know these guys and you know we're not going to sit here and mention names i
09:01would
09:02never do that that's not what i do but there's only a few guys that really do it the right
09:06way
09:06so you know i can't tell you why stripling wasn't thought of higher you know i watched his tape i
09:14watched his tape from last year at old miss i went back a year prior to oklahoma state and i
09:20really
09:21really liked him a lot you guys know that i mean we talked about it when they drafted him um
09:25and i
09:26obviously had no idea who was going to draft him when i evaluated him um you know everybody has heard
09:31you know which i'm sure went pretty viral certainly in the bay area when kyle shanahan spoke about
09:37the whole process of why they drafted stripling where they did and it made perfect sense when you
09:42think about it you know so uh you're dealing with a guy that's 6-2-2-10 can run under
09:484-4
09:49and is a good route runner and worked the middle of the field an awful lot when he was at
09:54oklahoma
09:54state wasn't asked to do a lot of that at old miss which is why i went back a year
09:58to oklahoma state
09:59so you know to me he was a really good prospect you know that's why i don't do lists guys
10:06because
10:07you know you can't like to me you can't compare stripling to makai lemon there are two totally
10:12different kinds of receivers you know and obviously everybody had lemon quote unquote rated higher you
10:18know but there are two totally different kinds of receivers that will likely be deployed in totally
10:23different ways and now defensively the 49ers have a different coordinator than what they've had in the
10:28pass raheem morris gets the job what are the hallmarks are the keys in a raheem morris scheme
10:35traditionally that is different than what the niners have done well i think there'll be more
10:40multiple in what they do robert sala who has been very good obviously in this league as a coordinator
10:45he has a pretty defined approach in the way he plays last year it didn't play out exactly the way
10:51he wanted to because his approach is based on the front four and when you lose nick bosan you don't
10:56have
10:57a pass rush and you lost mikhail williams as well then it all changes and you saw that he had
11:03to
11:03change last year but that's not his comfort level he has a defined way to play so what you'll see
11:08this
11:09year is a lot more variation raheem morris in his career as both a head coach and a coordinator he's
11:15also been on the offensive side of the ball as you guys know he's he's been exposed to a lot
11:20of
11:20different schemes um and i think that you'll see more man coverage i think you'll see more more
11:26pressure um you'll just see more things i mean you know it's i think back to atlanta a year ago
11:32and
11:32even though he wasn't the coordinator um he still has to sign off on how they play and they were
11:38a
11:38very aggressive uh pressure defense a very very aggressive man-to-man defense um i don't know how
11:44training camp is going but one guy i'm particularly anxious to see and by the way when you're a fourth
11:50round pick it doesn't you're not even guaranteed to make the team but i'm really curious about this
11:55asifian's price sock because he's six feet four he's long and he can play man and i'm curious to
12:01see how all this shakes out you know in connection with how raheem morris is gonna you know put together
12:06the defense yeah when we talk about that side of the ball and the defensive backfield there's another
12:10guy i want to ask you about the lasting image for 49er fans last year was kyle shanahan yelling at
12:16this guy on the sideline and i think people thought he was in the doghouse and going to get traded
12:20and now we're starting to hear a little bit of a low camp buzz that renardo green
12:25is is is doing really well what what's your assessment overall of him at this point in his
12:30career well renardo green strength is press man and obviously under robert solid they didn't do a lot
12:36of press man but i remember watching him for two years at florida state and under that coaching staff
12:42they played a high percentage of press man and i thought he was a really good prospect if you were
12:47going to play press man now when i say that i hope people understand i don't mean every single
12:51snap nobody does everything every single snap but he is at his best a press man corner um and i
12:58think
12:58if this team's going to play more of that which my guess is they will then i think renardo green
13:04fits that profile so much better he's feisty he's competitive he's tough he's just a better press
13:10man corner than he is an off coverage zone corner when you look at this team up front some of
13:15the new
13:15additions uh odigizua and romello height who came out of college what have you made of their tapes at
13:21their various levels and how they might fit with the raheem morris scheme well odigizua with his
13:27best trade is rushing the quarterback and that's why they made the trade because they really did not
13:31have an inside pass rusher you know the two rookies from a year ago collins and west uh were are
13:37not
13:37pass i think they hope collins can become somewhat of one as he develops he was a second round pick
13:43but they're not truly inside pass rushers odigizua is a very good inside pass rusher and then they
13:50drafted grayson halton in the fourth round from oklahoma and he's an athlete so you know they're
13:55hoping that you know he like i said fourth round pick you never know but you know if he does
14:00well
14:01in camp even if he plays 15 snaps a game and can play in certain pass rush situations because he's
14:06an
14:06explosive mover and he's a gap penetrator so you know obviously they knew they needed pass rush which is
14:13why they made the trade uh for odigizua bose is back it's why they drafted halton um you know we'll
14:19see how it all plays out greg cosell nfl films willard and dibs 95 7 the game uh okay greg
14:26uh miles
14:27garrett and aaron donald uh-oh um what what what are the nine he's not back yet officially right he's
14:34gonna be he worked out officially today but i mean i'm i'm really really yeah so i'm really i reading
14:40tea leaves i think he's going to come back what what are niners going to do with that
14:46what is anybody going to do with that that's what i'm talking about so what is anybody going to do
14:50yeah you know i mean what do you say about that i mean they were a really good d-line
14:54a year ago and
14:55they didn't have either guy and now they have uh because jared burst is a very good player obviously
15:00no one's my own miles garrett i mean i've heard jim schwartz who's not coaching this year he's been in
15:05the
15:05league i think 33 years and he said in his 33 years there's two players who are just different
15:10than anybody else miles garrett and calvin johnson you know players that he both coached uh so i mean
15:16i don't know what you say that's that's a crazy d-line i mean they got garrett they got brian
15:22fisk
15:22they got kobe turner who's a really good player that probably not a lot of people other than being
15:27you know in the west coast and in the nfc west know about nationally but um yeah it's it's a
15:33tough deal
15:34for whoever plays them i mean you know i don't know what to tell you you know it's it's not
15:38going
15:38to be a lot of fun and you know what they score a lot of points too yep yeah and
15:42i want to ask you
15:43about that side of the ball for the rams because that's the niners first opponent opponent obviously
15:47down in australia outside of down under yeah down thank you that's a great breakdown right there
15:52geographically from greg cosell uh what else about their offense would give the 49ers and other
15:57defenses reason to pause i would say there are multiple use of personnel in formations and shifts
16:06and motions it's a very difficult defense to play against they look last year they played by the time
16:11the season ended they played more than 30 percent of their snaps out of 13 personnel and the way they
16:16lined up in that you had no idea so now as a defense you have to decide how you want
16:21to play
16:21how you want to match up to that and of course they don't have to play at a 13 personnel
16:26they still
16:27have davante adams they still have puka nakua um so it's it's it's a just a really difficult
16:33offense to play against from a tactical perspective putting aside the talent level and you're dealing
16:39with matthew stafford who you know every quarterback and and hardly any r would love to be in a situation
16:45where your mental acumen and your physical traits remain when you're 38 years old i mean this guy is
16:53incredibly intelligent and his physical traits have not deteriorated at all i mean how many
16:58quarterbacks have been like that basically in the history of the league so you know you it's it's a
17:04hard offense you know it's one of those things what are you going to say um greg let's uh how
17:09about
17:09this let's go back to the uh back to the 49ers offensive side of the ball um and and talk
17:14about that
17:14instead since the rams are going to depress us um it's a bummer both of them right now have some
17:21camp
17:21injuries that are slowing this process but i'm very curious who's going to win this gig behind
17:27christian mccaffrey what what do you see as the possibilities for jordan james and calon black
17:33with their characteristics and how that they might fit with with a kyle shanahan scheme
17:41well just in terms of pure traits i like calon black more and i really liked his tape
17:47um in fact when the niners drafted him in the third round i thought that was a perfect fit
17:52um because he is a tough hard-nosed physical runner he's a drive sustainer um he's a take no
17:59prisoners guy uh he ran over people in college uh you know he's just one of those tough guys and
18:06i
18:07think that fits how they run the ball uh you know particularly inside so i mean i like his traits
18:12better than jordan james i don't know how that'll play out but you know calon black you know don't
18:17forget he started at james madison then he went to indiana um so you know he's he's someone who's
18:24who i really liked coming out i i thought actually after the the two notre dame guys and and the
18:31kid
18:31from arkansas mike washington was fascinating because of the size speed but after that i thought
18:35calon black was the the best running back prospect in the draft when you look at the niners offensive line
18:41mostly intact from last year i think four of the five returning starters how did they look to you
18:45last year and what do you make we had dominic pooney coming up on the show a little bit later
18:49today
18:50what's your dominic pooney scouting breakdown maybe we'll play it for him greg
18:56yeah i mean i think as a whole they probably have to play um a little better than they did
19:02a year ago i
19:03mean look we saw what happened last year the run game you know with mcafree you know was just not
19:10the same as it was in terms of creating space for him um and uh you know i think it
19:16just has to be
19:16better overall in terms of um you know of how they play this year you know so i guess we'll
19:23see how it
19:24goes you know um it's you know look it's an offensive line they've expanded the run game over
19:30the last number of years because they've had to you know you can't just want run one kind of run
19:35but i think that you know in terms of trying to run the ball inside that's one area where i
19:40truly
19:41think that they're going to have to be better running the ball inside than they were a year ago
19:46in terms of the offensive line uh we know you don't do lists very often but where did this
19:51conversation rank uh in terms of your favorite ever appearances on willard and dibs
19:58well you know obviously the best one ever guys right i mean you know thank you
20:04until next week at least until next week exactly exactly but um you know i think you know just
20:11getting back to pooney for a second you know is his first season was really really good don't forget
20:16you know he played every snap i think he's played every snap i think for two years right
20:24yeah i mean and you know he's one of those guys that is is you know the way we would
20:30probably talk
20:31about him you know if you think the way o-line people would talk about him he's got linear
20:35explosiveness and play strength you know he can match up physically i mean when he's at his best he's got
20:43power um you know he can create movement in the run game he can displace people in the run game
20:49he can hold his ground in pass protection um sometimes he gets his base too wide you know
20:56as you asked me about that i was just thinking back in my mind's eye because it's been a while
20:59since i've seen him so i'm just trying to think back to you know watching the tape every week
21:04you know sometimes he can get too wide in pass protection and that can cause some problems
21:09particularly against you know guys who are powerful inside because if your base is too wide and
21:14everything in other words if your feet are wider than your shoulders you just don't have a whole lot
21:19you don't have a firm base um you know i think that he it's all there for him to be
21:25a really good
21:26player but he was not as good overall in the second year as he was his first year uh we'll
21:31we'll talk to
21:31him a little bit later on the show and the first question will be why is your base so wide
21:36yeah don't
21:37mention my name because i don't want him to like you know take a trip out here and come after
21:41me you
21:42know no no no we'll we'll keep your name out of our mouth because he's a little bigger than i
21:46am a little
21:46bit a little bit a little bit yeah greg great stuff as always thank you so much we're already
21:50looking forward to next week i'm really excited to be back with you guys i look forward to it
21:55every wednesday thanks guys us too yeah absolutely greg co-sell nfl films every wednesday on willard and
22:03dibs
Comments