00:00We are looking at how Kevin Stefanski and Ian have assembled this team,
00:04took a look at the strengths earlier this morning,
00:07but the pendulum always swings the other way,
00:08so we have to look at the weaknesses.
00:10Where do you think there's still room to be improved?
00:12I mean, there's a glaring obvious one, but where do you go?
00:18What's the glaring obvious one?
00:20Because I'm afraid I'm going to say it and I don't want to be like that guy.
00:22But the glaring obvious one for me is the edge room.
00:26And the reason is I know that you signed Z'Darrius Smith,
00:32who just based on highlight reel and his first press conference here,
00:41I am a massive fan of.
00:43In fact, I don't care.
00:48I want him to produce.
00:49I want him to be a success.
00:51But all of that aside, it will not in any way change my feelings about him.
00:56And why he's here in that first press conference.
01:00But Cameron Thomas is a guy I'm a big fan of.
01:03I've seen some good things.
01:05Kind of tend to believe he's more of a run-stopping edge player.
01:08That's kind of his meat and potatoes.
01:11I'm not saying he can't get to the quarterback,
01:12but that's what I think of Samson Ebukam.
01:15He's had that one big season, right?
01:16He's got 35 sacks and is going into his 10th year.
01:22So he's had that one good season, but he's not this big guy as far as pass rush.
01:27You've downed James Pierce and Jalen Walker to start the season.
01:29So I think Harold Perkins will play in there.
01:32But that edge room, to me, is one that I'm very unsure of.
01:38Yeah.
01:38No, I'm with you.
01:39As a matter of fact, if you wanted to tell me that you thought Jeff Ulbrich
01:43would end up playing more of a four-down scheme with Brandon Dorliss playing the end
01:48on the short side, I would say that that's probably going to happen.
01:51You could easily talk me into that and saying that you're only going to keep
01:55one of these edges on the field at a given time.
01:57I just – and I think you're saying the obvious one is the quarterback.
02:01I think that that's very obvious.
02:03I think that that one just has the longest route to actually improving.
02:07And clarity on that situation is really what I was aiming for on that.
02:11That's what I think is glaringly obvious.
02:12Yeah, no, there's no doubt about it.
02:14I'm still a little bit timid.
02:16I'm curious to get both thoughts.
02:17I'm still a little bit timid about the wide receiver room.
02:21Because you did a couple of moves.
02:23You did more than a couple of moves.
02:24You did plenty of moves to make that position room better.
02:28However, be lying to yourself if there's not still unknowns, right?
02:32We think Zachary Branch can be great.
02:35It's still an unknown.
02:36Like, yeah, we haven't seen it.
02:37We think Jahan Dotson can have a bounce back here and reclaim what he was supposed to be
02:41throughout his career.
02:42We don't know that.
02:44And a lot of that has to go back to the fact that we don't know who's playing quarterback.
02:47Right?
02:48So we don't know how.
02:49And we really don't know what the offense is going to look like.
02:51So how do they best utilize some of these players?
02:53And I think that that's the one for me that I still look at and go,
02:57huh, you could talk me into them needing to add a piece there at some point.
03:02I don't know.
03:03I don't want to be a contrarian here.
03:07I understand the conversation about the wide receiver room because Jahan Dotson
03:12just didn't really see a lot from him in training camp in the preseason.
03:17And I'm not saying he wasn't out there.
03:18I'm not saying he wasn't doing things.
03:19But there was never a pop moment in any of the camp practices or in a preseason game.
03:26Didn't play a lot in the preseason, though.
03:28So that's fair.
03:30But I'll push back that this wide receiver room and their success is going to be very dependent
03:40on the quarterback.
03:42Because if you want to talk about if Tua is your guy and that's what he starts more games
03:49than not, you've got a couple of guys that you can get the ball quickly to that can create.
03:57I think Olamide Zaccheaus with the ball in his hands, Kyle Pitts, Johan Dotson, so to
04:03speak, I guess, if he lives up to it, and Zagari Branch are all guys.
04:07You get the ball with them on the go in a short, quick hitting route, and they're going to be
04:13able to create a little bit.
04:14If Penix is in there, I wonder who's going to be the guy that opens it up downfield.
04:22And that's what you're going to want to do a little bit more of if he's in there.
04:28I think of that, now, to the totality of Mike's point, that is the bigger question, is to me
04:33in this league, you have to be able to push the ball downfield.
04:36I'm not saying you can't live in a short passing game, but you have to have the ability.
04:44And other than Drake, who is not in Olamide a little bit, they don't have a deep threat.
04:53I don't know what Johan Dotson is, to be honest with you, in a totality speaking.
04:58But I know Drake can go downfield and catch that 50-50 ball, but who's that home run threat?
05:02And Zagari Branch is supposed to be it with speed, but it's a part of the game we didn't
05:07see in the preseason, and you didn't see a lot at Georgia.
05:13Now, I think he's capable of it, and I hope that he can answer those questions.
05:17But until they're answered, it's just a hope.
05:21If you need some clarity on Johan Dotson, you just ask Dylan over there.
05:24He knows everything about Johan.
05:26See?
05:27Hey.
05:28Man.
05:29There it is.
05:30Couldn't even get the headset on fast enough.
05:31Now, notice who did it.
05:33Starting to show our true colors on this side.
05:35Okay, Allie.
05:36Noted.
05:38It's always me attacking you, but it's not.
05:40Honeymoon phase is over.
05:41It's not.
05:41Right, yeah.
05:42Allie's taking the gloves off now.
05:43I see how it is.
05:44No, I do recall the day, though, that Simone was very upset that Johan was coming down
05:48here.
05:49She was.
05:49And Dylan was very excited on social media.
05:51I was.
05:52And I'm rooting for my guy, Johan, now that he's come to the right bird.
05:55So, you know.
05:55Did he show you a lot when he was on your Eagles?
05:58No, because he got hit.
05:59Well, it's not my.
06:02Yes, pause.
06:03Hey, yo.
06:03Second of all, they're not my Eagles.
06:06I am a diehard Falcons fan, despite the continuous false propaganda y'all continue to spew out.
06:11But what I do know from the inside information I got from Simone is that he just got lost
06:17in the fray among A.J.
06:18Brown, Devontae Smith, Saquon Barkley, Dallas Goddard.
06:22So, you know.
06:22Now that he has a little bit more of a defined role here, we'll see how it plays out.
06:25But to y'all's point, hasn't shown much.
06:27But again, that could be due to preseason quarterback play.
06:30Don't we think the lack of somebody that fits that profile lends itself to play action passes
06:36having to be a bigger deal this year?
06:39I think that when you look at it that way, and now Johan Dodson has speed.
06:43Like, he has speed.
06:44We just haven't seen it play out.
06:46So maybe it does.
06:47But I think it lends itself to you just saying, man, the play action really has to hit this year
06:52in order for that to kind of be a success with, like Bo was talking about, pushing the ball
06:56down the field and doing some of the longer throws that, you know, you were able to hit
07:01a couple of those last year.
07:02And I think maybe we take Zach Robinson's passing game a little bit for granted.
07:06The problem that I always had with him is he didn't marry to the running game, and it was
07:09inconsistent.
07:10So we'll see how it all pans out.
07:11But yeah, I mean, they've made improvements to a lot of these rooms, and we'll see how it
07:15all rolls out next weekend.
07:17I am so curious when they're going to name captains.
07:19Is that going to be Monday or Tuesday of next week?
07:23I don't know.
07:26So, I mean, look, sometimes there's coaches in the NFL that just don't do it, you know,
07:32officially at the start of the season.
07:34So maybe we'll see that.
07:35But I think Stefanski ended up doing that beginning of the year last year in Cleveland.
07:39So maybe.
07:40Well, one of the reasons I'm so curious about it is because Drake London was very much out
07:46there saying that he wanted that C on his chest this season.
07:49I hope he does.
07:50I hope he gets it.
07:51Yeah.
07:51The bigger question would be, will either quarterbacks be captains?
07:54That's always the question for me.
07:56So I don't know.
07:58Yeah, I don't know.
07:59I wouldn't expect him to have 15 captains like some teams in the league do.
08:04So I would make Drake a captain.
08:07I wouldn't make a quarterback a captain.
08:09Because how can you be a captain if we don't even know where your standing is with the team?
08:16I remember Pennix was the captain last year in week one.
08:18And I thought that was kind of crazy given the circumstance.
08:21But it's also named the starter before week one.
08:26It was named a starter before the season started.
08:29I mean, before they even had a training camp last year.
08:31So I can understand that a little bit more.
08:33But I mean, just name Jack Strand the captain.
08:37Just be done with it.
08:37Then all of Atlanta will be happy.
