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Mark Schlereth, former NFL offensive lineman and current NFL analyst, joins Willard and Dibs to break down the 49ers Week 1 win over the Rams in Australia.
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00:00Now, back to Willard and Dibbs.
00:03What do you think is going to happen in this game, Stink?
00:06That's a great, that's a great, I think it's going to be a really tight game.
00:09On 95.7, the game.
00:11I mean, we should let Stink know what a tease he was to us in that famous moment,
00:18which was either last season or the year before.
00:21We give extra credit around these parts if you can get a guest to say that's a great question.
00:26Yeah.
00:26And it really, really felt like we were about to get one there.
00:30And then, boom, he just turned left right in the middle of the answer.
00:34Like a quarterback with a hard count.
00:36Like, we jumped off sides, both of us.
00:38I jumped, yeah, I jumped.
00:39So, let's go out to the River Islands guest line because we are joined by Stink.
00:45Mark Schlereth, this NFL Insider Call is presented by Nationwide for your insurance and financial needs.
00:51Nationwide is on your side.
00:53And this, of course, is the host of the Stinkin' Truth podcast,
00:55which we air here on 95.7, the game, every single Saturday morning at 7 a.m.
01:01Stink joining us for the first time here, the 2026 season.
01:05How are you, my friend?
01:06It's great to have you.
01:08I am doing great.
01:10And I love the fact that you guys play those games.
01:13Like, I've always said this.
01:15There's always a game going on.
01:16If you don't know what it is, you're probably it.
01:18I was the game.
01:20But apparently, I flipped it on you guys, which I'm very proud of right now.
01:24I'm like a proud father sitting here in the study.
01:27So, that is great, man.
01:29I'm doing great.
01:30And what an unbelievable opening Thursday night game for the Niners, man.
01:37I was geeked up.
01:38I was geeked up for that.
01:40Well, let's dive into it.
01:41And by the way, you were very right to not say that's a great question because I remember the question.
01:45And the question was, what do you think is going to happen in this game, which is not a great
01:49question.
01:50It's a very mundane question.
01:52So, let's see if we can ask some more interesting questions.
01:56Okay.
01:57Niners, Rams, Netflix, Australia.
02:01In your mind, how much of this did have to do with the rare circumstances of the game versus just
02:09the X's and O's?
02:12Oh, I think the rare circumstances were, like, I thought those things were legit.
02:17And I had talked about it on the Sink of Truth podcast.
02:20I cannot imagine.
02:22And I played a game in Australia.
02:24I cannot imagine flying out there the day before, landing, and then getting up at whatever you had to get
02:33up at 530 to head to the stadium to get ready for a 1035 kickoff.
02:39And, like, that, to me, was almost Sean McVay saying, hey, man, we're just going to go ahead.
02:43If we can compete in this game, great.
02:46But we're ready to just go 0-1 on the season open, whereas the Niners went out there prepared.
02:53And it showed, especially in that second half.
02:56And then I thought, like, the one thing I was really thinking, because I thought the Rams opened up.
03:02They were running the ball pretty well.
03:03They had a little bit of momentum there.
03:05When they're fourth and goal on the one-yard line, and your call is, let's let our 60-year-old
03:12quarterback try to sneak it over the goal line.
03:14I was like, what are we doing?
03:16By the way, Matthew Stafford last year was 0-2 on quarterback sneaks.
03:20Wow.
03:20What do you think?
03:22It's like, what are you doing?
03:24And then for the Niners to turn around and go 99.
03:27I mean, you talk about Nina and Luftballoons, 99 all the way for the touchdown.
03:33What a dramatic turnaround.
03:35And from that moment on, man, it was a good old-fashioned, kind of what the Broncos took last night,
03:40a behind-the-barn just ass-whooping is what they took after that.
03:45So I was really happy about the results, really happy for Kyle and the 49ers.
03:52Now we'll see how they respond, because I think the whole principle behind Sean McVay's thought process was, let's stay
03:59on California time, and results be damned.
04:04If we lose, we lose, but we're going to be better off coming in week two and all that stuff.
04:09So we'll see if it pays off.
04:11But, man, I can't even imagine asking your players to do that.
04:14Yeah, it's got to be brutal, and, you know, the Niners back at it tomorrow after four days of re
04:19-acclimating.
04:20I wonder what your thoughts were about the Raheem Morris defense and the different look they had with more five
04:26-man fronts, more nickel and more dime in the back end.
04:30What stood out for you from the defense?
04:33Yeah, you know, all those things, but that is the trend of the league.
04:37Everybody wants to play a five-man front.
04:39You know, everybody wants to get small.
04:40And listen, if you can play and be legitimate stopping people with smaller personnel, then I think that's an appropriate
04:53thing to do.
04:54I thought early in that game Raheem's defense was getting pushed around.
04:58Now, did Raheem's defense make a bunch of adjustments, or did the Rams in that 16-hour flight finally, you
05:06know, finally take its toll on the Rams?
05:09You know, you'd have to ask them.
05:11But I believe the latter of those things being true is that, you know, that travel schedule just finally caught
05:17up to them.
05:18So it'll be really interesting going into next week.
05:21I thought one of the really wild things about week one for me is, you know, back when I played,
05:27you know, and I'm an old man with black socks, but back when I played, you know, we actually played
05:33in the preseason.
05:34You know, we actually worked on football in the preseason.
05:38And normally, week one, you know, the defense is way ahead of the offense, you know, because they're just pinning
05:45their ears back and they're going.
05:47Man, week one, the defenses in this league, the busted coverages, the lack of understanding defensive leverage in coverage, just
05:56the missed gap assignment stuff, the missed tackles.
06:00It was evident that nobody played in the preseason and most of the defenses just looked horrendous.
06:09And so that was kind of endemic of the league in general.
06:13Now, I will say a couple of things, man.
06:15It was really cool to see Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw playing side by side again after a year here
06:22that was just kind of a know-nothing year for Greenlaw who kept getting hurt.
06:27You know, when you guys saw it, he was one of the best in the business, tore that Achilles in
06:31the Super Bowl, really two years without much production, really couldn't stay healthy.
06:36Then in Denver for one year, really couldn't stay healthy either.
06:40And it was cool to see him back out there playing next to Fred.
06:45That's a pretty dynamic duo.
06:46And then, you know, when you get guys like Bosa back, the dude is not human.
06:53The defense has a chance to be really good.
06:56Nationwide is so much more than a great insurance company.
06:59They're one of America's largest financial services companies, too.
07:02Nationwide is on your side, and we're talking with Stink right here on Withered and Dibs, 95.7 The Game.
07:07Okay, Mark, normally when people say something like, let's get the band back together, it's kind of got like this
07:15campy vibe to it.
07:16And it may be fun, but it might mean like it's a band that's in their 70s.
07:22And, you know, okay, we can all kind of gather around the fire and do this.
07:26I don't know if it works in football, but it feels for a week like it did.
07:31So how do you see that?
07:34Greenlaw's back.
07:35Debo's back.
07:36The old 49ers are trying to recreate themselves.
07:39Can they?
07:42You know, I think so.
07:43I think Greenlaw is still a damn good football player.
07:45He's just had some injury issues over the last several years.
07:49And if he can get himself right and stay right.
07:53Now, again, that's a tall task being in San Francisco because, you know, is it the power station?
07:58I have no idea.
08:00But the injury issues are legit.
08:02And you saw Stribling go down.
08:03I thought it was an Achilles when I first saw him going down like that.
08:07I was like, oh, shoot.
08:10But, you know, if he can be that, it would be great.
08:14I said, you know, I said on the Sinking Truth podcast, I was like, Debo in San Francisco is the
08:20biggest fit.
08:20And I think one of the things you've got to understand about Debo is Debo is a weapon.
08:25Debo, you know, has never been the most polished or greatest of route runners.
08:30He's just big.
08:31He's thick.
08:32He's hard to tackle.
08:34He attacks the ball in the air.
08:36He does all kinds of things.
08:37He can run out of the backfield, the motions, the orbit sweeps, the jet sweeps, all that stuff.
08:43And, you know, I think there comes a time in your career where you look at yourself and say, hey,
08:48man, I want to be like a go-to wide receiver.
08:51I want to be that guy.
08:53I want to be like the guys that get paid, you know, the legit, you know, X's or the legit
08:59Z receiver.
09:00And I think there comes a time when you, like, you come to the realization, hey, man, I'm going to
09:04go back home and I'm going to fit the role that made me a superstar.
09:09And you know what?
09:10That's okay.
09:11That's going to be good enough.
09:12And I always said, if he could accept that role, it'll be freaking phenomenal.
09:17And so, like, that's what he is.
09:20And I think for sure he's accepted that role.
09:24And I think that is great.
09:25Mike Evans is, you know, Mike Evans is old.
09:28But Mike Evans is the most, like, he is such a production machine.
09:32And he is, I mean, he is, like, he is a thousand yards waiting to happen.
09:37Last year was the first year ever he didn't get a thousand yards receiving.
09:41And so, I love the moves they made.
09:43You know, again, some of the guys are a little bit older.
09:46And how will they respond?
09:48And can they stay healthy?
09:49That remains to be seen.
09:50But I was really excited about some of the moves that John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan put together.
09:57Is Mike Evans maybe the most underrated receiver that we've ever talked about?
10:02I mean, he's on his way to being a thousand-catch, hundred-touchdown guy, which there's only eight members of
10:07that group.
10:08Is it just because we're out here and he was in Tampa?
10:11Or is he really being slept on?
10:14No, you're 100% right.
10:16He's been slept on his whole career because he's been out in Tampa.
10:19And then, let's face it, we only started really recognizing what Mike Evans was doing because Brady got there.
10:26And they won a championship.
10:28And, you know, he was putting up numbers with Jameis Winston.
10:32He was putting up numbers with other guys.
10:35And then when Brady got there, that's when you really started to kind of go, wow, this dude is really,
10:43really good.
10:43And we all knew he was really good, but nobody really talked about how good he really was.
10:49And it was interesting.
10:50I think Brady had a huge effect on him as well.
10:53And I just remember, I think I did five or six Tampa games back when Brady came to the Tampa
10:58Bay Buccaneers.
11:00And I sat down with Mike once and, you know, and just had him in a production meeting.
11:05And he was just like, man, you know, you think you're studying, you think you're prepping, you think you're working,
11:11you think you're doing, you know, you think you're a professional.
11:14And a dude like Brady walks into your building, you're like, oh, shoot, I got to pick up my game.
11:19I'm not nearly as professional as I thought I was.
11:22And, you know, and that effect that guys like that have on an organization, I think that was big for
11:29Mike.
11:29Like, I've really enjoyed Mike over the years, because I think, you know, I think like a lot of guys,
11:33you come in and maybe you got a chip on your shoulder.
11:36Maybe you're not that mature.
11:37And then you kind of figure it out.
11:40And he's just one of the good dudes.
11:42Like, he's a good dude and a great player, man.
11:45Just a great player.
11:46Stig, I'd love to know your thought on what has just taken place with the Rams.
11:50They win the offseason.
11:52They are the big favorites.
11:53So now, in a week and a half, the Aaron Donald stuff calms down because he hasn't played yet.
11:59Miles Garrett goes on IR.
12:01You go a long way to go 0-1 in the division.
12:04And Matt Stafford, at least for that day, looked old.
12:06Now, it's still very early.
12:08But what are we looking at here?
12:10That locomotive has slowed down in what way, in your mind?
12:16I just think from just the national narrative, it's slowed down.
12:21I think the Rams are a damn good football team.
12:24And they will show that they're a damn good football team.
12:28You know, Miles Garrett will be back and, you know, and whatever.
12:33I will say this, though, man.
12:36And I am, like, I think I've told you guys this, man.
12:39I met Trent Williams.
12:40I was doing one of your guys' games in Washington a couple of years ago when Brock Purdy was, you
12:45know, fighting for MVP of the league.
12:47I mean, he was right there in that final conversation talk.
12:52And I am telling you, man, I'm talking to my director and I'm talking to my crew, my producers talking
13:00to the PR department.
13:01And Trent Williams is right there in the lobby.
13:05And in mid-sentence, I just dropped what I was doing and I went over and fangirled him.
13:10Like, Mr. Williams, Trent!
13:13And, you know, he just porphed me, you know.
13:16And I'm just like little stink.
13:17I'm like, oh, I'm such a big fan.
13:19I'm such a big, you know.
13:20And it was like, it was, my crew still gives me grief about it.
13:24They're like, it's the most embarrassing thing I've ever seen from you.
13:26The most embarrassing thing I've ever seen.
13:28But I am fascinated by that dude as a player.
13:33Like, I was texting with Kyle Shanahan after the game when they were on the plane.
13:39And I was like, Kyle, man, like, great job, da-da-da-da-da, you know, we keep in touch.
13:44But I was like, please tell Trent that performance, his movement skills and his strength for a player his age
13:52is, like, he's not from the planet Earth.
13:55And him, and you can sit there and say, well, Myles Garrett was hurt.
14:00I don't care.
14:02Did you line up?
14:03Did you play?
14:04Because if you lined up and you played, I had a rule.
14:08If you're going to line up and you're going to play, you damn well better play well.
14:12Because that's your job.
14:14And I don't care if he was tweaked or hurt.
14:18Trent Williams just opened a can of whoop-ass on him.
14:21And I loved it.
14:23Absolutely loved it.
14:24So, completely fangirled over Trent Williams.
14:28And I do every time I watch him on film.
14:29And how much does a performance like that, and he is 38 and he'll be almost 39 by the time
14:35the season ends,
14:36like, how much does that help somebody like Connor Colby who's trying to make it happen at left guard and
14:41the rest of the line?
14:43Well, listen, man.
14:45Like, there's guys that you play.
14:48But, you know, I just talked about wide receiver Mike Evans and, like, just how incredible he was.
14:58When I got to Denver, and I was a Pro Bowl player when I got to Denver, and I ended
15:02up lining up on left guard besides Gary Zimmerman.
15:06And, you know, and I practiced hard and I prepared.
15:09I studied like nobody else.
15:11You know, I was always in it.
15:13And we got out to practice one of the first days of practice.
15:16And then we flipped the film on after practice.
15:19And I was like, oh, shoot.
15:21I got to pick up my pace.
15:23Like, Gary Zimmerman's running circles around me, right?
15:26And I was like, damn.
15:27And, like, that's those type, when you have those guys around you and you watch the pace and the effort
15:35and the nastiness,
15:37I always thought that when San Francisco got Trent Williams, it made Mike McGlinchey 10 times better.
15:49Like, I thought Mike McGlinchey went from, oh, he's an okay player, he's a good player, to, oh, my God.
15:54Like, now he's playing with an aggressiveness that I haven't seen him play with.
15:59He's attacking the line of scrimmage and pass pro.
16:01And it's almost like, hey, man, if I whiff, at least I'm going to whiff going 100 miles an hour
16:06and trying to shorten somebody's neck.
16:07Because you see Trent Williams do it all the time.
16:10Trent Williams will miss a block every now and again because he's not trying to block somebody.
16:13He's trying to murder them.
16:15And, like, that stuff is contagious.
16:18And that's what he brings to an offensive line.
16:22That's what he brings to a football team.
16:25And I'm telling you, man, like, that dude is one of my top, you know, three or four guys.
16:32I mean, I will put him in the class of guys like Larry Allen, who, you know, when I was
16:38a player, you'd watch guys get the Larry Allen flu on Sunday because they didn't want to play him.
16:45We used to sit and film and call, you know, we called him the landlord because he owned all the
16:51space between center and tackle.
16:53That was, you were just, you were there, you were just renting from Larry Allen.
16:57And he was just whooping your ass.
16:59And we used to mess with guys, too, man.
17:02I used to mess with Trevor Price.
17:03We played the Cowboys and Trevor Price at the time was a young player, became a really good all-pro
17:08player, you know, for us in Denver.
17:10But I'd just be like, dude, he'd be like, what?
17:13I'd go, man, just watch Larry Allen.
17:18I was like, whoa, man, buckle your chin strap.
17:21He looked angry, like he's hanging, you know, and just totally messing with him because I knew, you know, next
17:28week we had the Cowboys or two weeks and we're following the Cowboys right now.
17:32And what Larry Allen is doing to people, there are people doing five to ten in the state pen that
17:38did less to get there than what Larry Allen just did to that dude.
17:43Stink, I mean, while you're talking about Trent, I'm always fascinated by this.
17:46And this is why his nickname is Silverback, right?
17:49Like, when you are in the NFL, these are the biggest, baddest, most maniacal, physical people in all of sports.
17:58And he's at a level where all of those people won't mess with him.
18:03Like, he's that much of a president.
18:05Can you compare him to anybody else?
18:07Is there anybody else, your career, NFL, where you were like, yeah, like nobody even wants a piece of him?
18:15Yeah, well, like I said, Larry Allen, and that's high regard.
18:19Back in the day, your guys' guy, Justin Smith, former Cincinnati Bengal, the Cowboys, that was a bad man.
18:29Like, and some of those dudes would just as soon hurt you than, you know, than actually use good technique.
18:36I mean, they didn't care about that stuff.
18:38There were dudes out there, like I remember talking to DBs about covering Randy Moss.
18:44And they say, you know, the trickiest thing about covering Randy Moss is you convince yourself during the week that
18:50you can run with him.
18:51Because he's so smooth.
18:52It's so effortless.
18:53It's not even like he's trying.
18:56And then you go, you get your first one-on-one with him, and you're like, I got depth, and
19:00I'm going to turn.
19:01And all of a sudden, he's three steps by you.
19:03And you're like, how in the hell did that happen?
19:05Like, that was intimidating for people.
19:07Tyreek Hill was a freak among freak shows.
19:11You know, Michael Vick back in the day for crying out loud.
19:16The arm talent, the speed, Lamar Jackson.
19:19There's always a few of those dudes that just you look at.
19:23And like you said, in a league of alpha males where you're at the top 1% of athletes in
19:30the world,
19:30and then all of a sudden, you'll find a guy that is just not human.
19:36I've always said this, man.
19:37I'd love to do a series.
19:39I'd love to do a series, television series, called Legends of the Game that you'd never heard of.
19:45You know, and it's all these freak shows that are part of NFL teams that, you know, some of the
19:51guys aren't superstars.
19:52I'd play with a guy named Jumpy Gathers who had a forklift move that was unblockable.
19:57He's just unblockable.
19:58I mean, I'd watch him make guys cry on a football field.
20:01Like, professional athletes go, I can't block him.
20:03I need some help.
20:04You know?
20:05And you're just like, wow.
20:06I mean, just different dudes, man.
20:09Just different dudes.
20:10Stig, we can't wait to do this every week, man.
20:12Great to catch up.
20:14Great to start the football season with you.
20:16We'll do it again next week.
20:18Sounds good, guys.
20:19Always appreciate you, man.
20:21Have a great, great evening.
20:22Same to you, Mark Schlereth.
20:25Ladies and gentlemen, Mark Schlereth with us here on Withered and Dibs.
20:29This NFL Insider Call presented by Nationwide.
20:32For your insurance and financial needs, Nationwide is on your side.
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