00:00Gary in K-Town writes, Kevin, I know you're not a big fan of training camp, but serious question, other
00:06than Jaden right now, is there any part of the team that you feel good about?
00:11I actually asked Logan for the areas in which he's most confident in, the areas in which he has the
00:19most concern for.
00:21It's funny, he actually didn't say Jaden Daniels.
00:24It's almost like it's an assumed, like, okay, we're good there.
00:28Let's talk about the rest of the team.
00:31I think that's really the way a lot of people, not everybody, okay, we know some of the people that
00:36don't approach it that way,
00:37but I think the majority of fans of this team, they look at the team and say, okay, we got
00:43a quarterback.
00:44I mean, there are questions about his health and staying healthy, of course, but in terms of ability, we got
00:49that part.
00:50If he's, you know, healthy and plays all 17 games, what else do we feel good about?
00:56Logan had some good answers, and you'll hear those coming up here this morning.
01:01You know, I thought about it, and because defensively, it's really, like, I guess I could say,
01:10I feel really, really confident that the defense won't be worse than it was last year,
01:16but that's, like, so obvious.
01:18It would be almost impossible to be worse than it was last year.
01:22That was a bad defense.
01:25That was a horrific defense at the end of the year.
01:28When they lost Dorrance Armstrong, especially post the Dallas game, I think Bill Barnwell had this stat.
01:33They essentially had more expected points added in terms of the advanced stat as a defense
01:41than any team in the league over the final 10 weeks.
01:43Like, they were horrendous.
01:46I mean, think back to some of those games.
01:48The Detroit game was embarrassing.
01:51The Detroit game, the Lions scored on every possession except for the last one when they ran the clock out.
02:00I still, I don't know that I can remember a game like that
02:04where the other team legitimately never got stopped in the entire game.
02:12The drives for the Lions in that game, 10 plays, 78 yards, touchdown.
02:179 plays, 65 yards, touchdown.
02:209 plays, 87 yards, touchdown.
02:2413 plays, 64 yards, field goal.
02:28Whee!
02:29They held them to a field goal.
02:30Start of the second half, 5 plays, 72 yards, touchdown.
02:359 plays, 72 yards, field goal.
02:386 plays, 84 yards, touchdown.
02:416 plays, 15 yards, field goal.
02:44And then 4 plays, 14 yards, end of game.
02:49That is literally almost unheard of.
02:53They scored on 8 drives from the beginning of the game until the 9th drive in which they ran the
03:00clock out.
03:02And let me just mention that in that 9th drive, they had already picked up a first down before Jared
03:07Goff took knees.
03:09Or it was another backup quarterback that took knees.
03:12That may have been one of the most embarrassing and gutless performances by a defensive team I've ever seen.
03:19And look, Detroit was a good offensive team.
03:21Let's not, you know, they weren't playing a bad team.
03:25Jared Goff's QBR was near perfect.
03:28He had a 94.0 QBR.
03:31Jameer Gibbs averaged 9.5 yards per carry.
03:36It was insane.
03:37I remember coming in that Monday and saying it wasn't just that players were wide open.
03:44They were wide open on short passes where the line of scrimmage in the area around the line of scrimmage
03:50is condensed.
03:51In the red zone, I remember they threw underneath, I think it was to Jamison Williams on like a third
03:56and five.
03:57And he just expected to get hit.
03:59But he turned around and there was nobody there to tackle him.
04:03And so he ran another five or six yards before he got hit.
04:08So in thinking about the areas in which I'm most confident in the team after Jaden Daniels,
04:18I am confident that they added enough players defensively that enough of them will work out.
04:25I mean, the odds are with the seven or eight players that are capable, new players, of being significant contributors.
04:33Like, let's just say they hit on half of them.
04:36They hit on four of them.
04:38And the other three or four aren't as good as advertised.
04:43I mean, it's actually more than eight now, right?
04:46Owe, Chennaul, Stiles, Chason, Cross, Robertson, Settle, Omenihue, and now Rasul Douglas.
04:56So essentially nine players that were added to the roster that are new players that are all expected to make
05:06contributions.
05:07So let's just say they hit on four and a half of the nine.
05:11You know, four were really big hits, and then one player was kind of a medium hit, and the other
05:16four didn't make it.
05:17That's going to improve the defense.
05:20There's no way they could be as bad as they were last year.
05:24Now, specifically, what part of the defense?
05:27I mean, I would certainly think that they're going to be a better pass rushing team than they've been.
05:34I mean, even the addition of Dorrance Armstrong coming back with the way he played.
05:39Now, we'll see what he's like coming off the injury, and we'll see if Dietrich Weiss can be the edge
05:45setter if he's in there.
05:46We don't know what kind of year Deron Payne's going to have.
05:49I mean, people say he looks fit.
05:51I've heard that he looks fit and in shape.
05:54We know what he did the last time he was in a contract season.
05:58But if I were to be specific, I would say that the thing that I'm most confident in after the
06:06quarterback,
06:08I would say that they're just going to be a better defensive team.
06:12How much better?
06:12I don't know.
06:13But they're going to be better.
06:14And specifically, they're going to be a better pass rushing team.
06:19Because the truth is that last year at times, they weren't a terrible pass rushing team.
06:24You know, with even their linebackers.
06:26Even a guy like Bobby Wagner.
06:28You know, when Dorrance Armstrong was in the lineup.
06:31You know, and I think this year with Armstrong and Luvu, with all of the other players in a more
06:36aggressive scheme.
06:37That's the other part of this.
06:39A more aggressive scheme.
06:40I think they're going to be a better defensive team that is better in part because they're a better pass
06:48rushing team.
06:49Now, for pass rushing teams to be really great at pass rushing, you have to stop the run first.
06:56You know, because if every pass down is third and three, you're not going to be a great pass rushing
07:03team.
07:04Great pass rushing teams tend to feed off of good run stopping as well.
07:11Putting teams into obvious pass down situations so you know what they're going to do.
07:17And it's a long enough third down or second down that they got to let people get downfield.
07:26That's the part of the team that I would tell you that I am most confident in after the quarterback.
07:33It's a good question.
07:34I appreciate that.
07:36My guy, Gary from Kensington.
07:40Yeah, that's the part of the team that I feel best about after Jaden Daniels.
07:46I feel like the defense, it's really going to be almost impossible for the defense to not be improved.
07:53And then specific to that, I think that they'll be a good pass rushing team.
07:58You'll hear Logan's answer coming up on the show.
08:01Logan, you're going to say you're ripping off Logan to a certain degree.
08:05You'll hear him get very specific though.
08:07But it's what I feel too.
08:10Like I look at the scheme, then I think about Owe, and I think about Chenal, and I think about
08:17Chason,
08:18and then adding Dorrance Armstrong back to that mix.
08:22Adding, frankly, Lou Vu, being able to be a pass rusher to that mix.
08:27And then understanding that guys like Omenihue can do it in certain situations.
08:33We know that Kinlaw and Duran are capable.
08:37Duran is capable of being a good pass rusher.
08:41We'll see whether or not that materializes this year.
08:45But specific to what has to come first, I do think they look on paper like they should be a
08:53better run-stopping team.
08:56It'd be hard to be worse.
09:00Of course, they're going to be playing some teams that can really run the football.
09:06Some quarterbacks that are outstanding this year.
09:08Some schemes that are outstanding this year.
09:11I mean, you just go through pretty much the first half of the season.
09:15You're going to get an Eagles offensive line that's really good with Saquon Barkley.
09:19We don't know what their pass attack under Sean Mannion will look like.
09:22You get the Cowboys with Dak and the two receivers and Javante Williams.
09:27You get the Seahawks and their scheme and the way they were able to move the football.
09:32Perhaps even a Daniel Jones dual threat attack in Indy and London.
09:36And then you get the Niners and their offensive scheme, followed by the Rams and their offensive scheme.
09:42And then two weeks after that, it's the Bengals.
09:44And those are your first nine games of the season.
09:47Not a little bit more than half.
09:51Back half of the schedule, Cardinals, Titans, Texans, Falcons offensively, Vikings offensively.
09:58It gets a little bit easier in terms of what the defenses will be facing.
10:02But, you know, right now, the way it looks and subject to change, of course, they've got, you know, some
10:10pretty impressive challenges in terms of the teams they're playing and what the teams they're playing are capable of doing
10:17offensively.
10:20So, 301-230-0980, 301-230-0980.
10:26We'll update all the injuries from camp.
10:28They practiced in pads today.
10:31We'll get you all the sound.
10:33I know the practice on Saturday with fans out there was a good one heard from many of you who
10:39really enjoyed it being out there on Saturday.
10:42But the question at 301-230-0980 is after Jaden Daniels, what part of the team do you feel the
10:52most confident about?
10:54Do you feel the best about?
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