Closing Thoughts and Future Previews

Aur roll batteries the same? That's like asking ev soccer players are the same Take Messi, the most decorated player ever Is there any other player who has achieved that? No, just him. Now take Duracl. Is there any other battery with power boost ingredients inside? No, just Duracl. Remember, goats only trust goats because they're built different. and Messi only trusts Duracl W the Miim S showow featuring Lenny, the only NFO podcast. One of the hosts pronounces it Kamari Lass Eater Plenty Aunic Ies. We're going to talk about Kumari Lassader today because I am joined by JP Acosta to do the top ten defenses of twenty twenty six. JP. it's been a while since you've been on the show. For those folks who don't know, JP is the co host of the Pushing the Pile podcast over at CBS Sports I can't remember the last time you were on. It's been a minute. so I'm excited to have you back When you asked me to be on for this show, I was super excited because this is exactly what I like to talk about. We're not talking about like any of the offense. We're not talking about all the all the super crazy offense schem stuff. We're getting We're getting our hands in the dirt. Here we're talking about defenses H. So this was hardart Oensous. Very different experiences from Topt ten offensces, which if you're listening to this and you missed it, I did topop ten offensces last week with Nate Tist. and we had some a few differences. probablyrobably I didn't count, but I think about seven of the ten or maybe eight of the ten were the same. But offensces, my experience was I had like fourteen or fifteen and I had trouble narrowing it down to ten whereereas defenses and I want to hear what how it was for you. I thought there was a very clear top five or six. And then after that really it's not that I think they're all bad. It's just there's so many unknowns. and I was really like going back and forth a million times on those final three to four spots. I definitely agree. I think outside of the top five that we're going to get into, I think once you get past those teams, there are a lot of variables. there's a lot of, you know, what their teams bringing in new coordinators, new pieces on on defense side of the ball. But I think with all of them, there's like potential for them to be good either this year or maybe like in a few years down the line. There' some honorable mentions I was like I want to believe but give it a couple more years. There's what I bet we have the same There's one where I was like I was so tempted to put them in the top ten and I was like, I feel like I need another year. So just to revisit last year's top ten defenses. Oh in a folks note I got some comments saying you should talk about who you picked last year. So I'm going to tell you for defenses I didn't do that last week So the Uh top ual top ten defenses last year and both in DVOA, which is FTN fantasies sad that this is bad, you know, DAs, but it accounts for strength of schedule and things like that Seattle. Houston Minnesota The Rams, which might surprise people and I'm sure we'll get into them today and talk a little bit about what happened last year. I think that's DBOA really likes the Rams because of the opponents Uh Denver Jacksonville Philelphia Cleveland, Detroit and the chargers just outside where the Steelers Falcons, Saints That's another surprising one, I think, and the Raiders EBaper playay pretty similar, just a little bit of a reassortment or re ranking, but the Patriots snuck in at the end there KC was actually twelveth in that mark. and then success rate, which I also checked, again, very similar teams, actually, I think the same top ten as the ABOA just in different order with the chiefs, the Panthers and the jacks outside U So my actual predictions, all right. So this is what I predicted in twenty twenty five. I think Dominique was on the pod Uh Denver fine. Houston, fine. The Rvens who were devastated by injuries, this was of course, before the Madawque injury and there was some other injuries, which we might talk about later. Vikings, yes, the Seahawks The lions also devastated by injuries I had the Steelers who just missed it ackers which I was like I didn't want to put them in, but they had just They had been good the year before and then the Parsons's injury, obviously kind of derailed them. And then my big L. So all those teams I think are you correct or defensible. The big L I took was on the Giants. I just was so tantalized by that pass rush and Turns out stopping the run matters, JP I mean, all those teams, they have a really good chance at not only like they were retty good except for the giants. likeike I the Giants were a very unique team itself for like they're so cool. like you said with pass Rush All of their edge defenders are all very similar in how they win and what they do. So I think all of them like all these teams like have so many cool qualities about them that I think we're to talk about them year over year Definitely U Yeahah and it's a giant. It's so funny because the giants still rank if you looked that because I was looking at a lot of stats last year to kind of think about this year's rankings and the giants in Past Rush were like top in everything and it just didn't matter And it it's a good lesson in defense and how know the expression You got to stop the run and have some fun is actually quite true, especially when you're giving up over five yards a clip on first down. So the giants clearly saw that, obbviously drafting linebacker and signing Termaine Edmunds, but they arere not in my top ten. So JP, I go one through ten. I start at the top Like you said, there's a pretty clear top five, I feel. I think we're going to have a lot of the same teams, maybe not in the same order though I went for my number one team and you tell me if you had them one or where you did The Houston Texans. I also have them at number one. It is it's just so cool watching them play because you would think by watching their fronts and some of their structures, they're sort of the antithesis of what a modern defense should be when it comes to moving people along the line of scrimmage, changing your fronts without changing your personnel. and the Texans don't do that. They just line up And they kick your butt every single time. And it's so cool to watch because they lean so heavily on their force multipliers who are D Neil Hunter, Will Anderson Junior. and then in back in Kamari Lasser and Derek Stingley junior. If you lean on if they lean on those guys to generate all of the just changing the math, they're such an overwhelming force on defense. They also could even be better, which you never want to say every team. that was, you know, first and first or second in just about every metric along with Seattle, who I'm sure we'll talk about shortly. They didn't lose guys and that was kind of the differentiator for me. They didn't lose anyone where I thought Let's see how that shakes out. In fact, I think they gained a couple players who could be impactful. I really love the Reed Blankenship signing. You know, it was that was one of the positions that was a little bit of a revolving door for them at safety. I think him playing next to Caalin Bullook is a great combination. Blankanship, you know, he's not one of the elite safeties in the league, but he's an extremely heady player. He's a great communicator. I think, you know, he's an opportunistic playmaker as well. And again, he just pairs well with everyone else in the secondary. And then they directed Katie McDonald, which was a pick that I loved. and I thought It was like, oh my God, the rich get richer, right? Because this is all this is a team that was already good against the run, great against the run. againg, every like I was like, who, how bad was their short yardage run defense? It was obviously it was great. The only thing that jumped out to me when I was trying to find like run defense metrics where they could get better is there were in their base defense, they were eighteenth in success rate. And I think that's when we're going to see the most out of Kayen McDonald Yeah, like it really like looking at the deepsart AP, like, Where is the hle? Like what are you worried about? Is there any, you know, like you're really picking nits if you're trying to find issues with this defense because they're so talented at all three levels I spent so long trying to find somewhere where they could potentially be like a pitfall for this defense. Maybe their linebacker group. I mean, outside of Al Syer. I get hurt you start to worry. I think. Yeah. if Syer gets hurt, then you really start to worry about their depth there. But they insulate their linebackers so well and that you have R bllankenship You have somebody who can kind of be the cleanup guy if they make any mistakes at that second level and then up front by adding Katie McDonald. I want to shout out Tommy Toggei who has been incredible for them against the run. I think Having those guys up front and having your force multipliers and Deil Hunter and Will Anderson Junr., it makes the linebackers' job so much easier becausecause you're insulated in every area and you allow for Aziz al Shayir in Toto to play so much faster Totally Yeah, that's the thing that right they If I was dropping Reed Blanketship onto a defense where there was issues in the secondary, I might feel a little bit different I think he's a good player, but I think you saw in Philadelphia when he was also part of an elite secondary, he's great as final guy and he gets to be the final guy here. Daniel Hunter shows no signs of slowing down. Will Anderson Junr. is probably one of the four or five. If you're drafting a team in the NFL right now from scratch, he's up there Kamari Lassader is like my favorite player Alacador stat that u I love because I was looking at some corner stats in N gen stats has like different, you know, like coverage stats. and you got sometimes you got to take these a grain of salt because it can be really effective by how often they're targeted and what notot. And you got to really try to examine the context around it They have a stat that I think they added fairly recently, which is the percentage of the time A DB is in tight coverage. the snap. And again this can be influenced by the style of coverage that teams play, right? Like if you're on a team that plays a ton of off Tomorrow was first. every corner in the NFL in terms of the percentage of time when he was in coverage that it was tight coverage He is an elite tackler. We know that. but I think he's really continued to improve as a cover corner as well and the fact that he gets to play opposite Suny Junior is frankly insane. So Yeah, I think like we said, the lineback is the only thing where I'm like if Asir goes down, you then you're It's a little bit of weakness. They added EJ Speeds hurt, Mark Berte Mapu they added, which is kind of an interesting watch him be good there. R who' the freakish back from New England. U I will say I did consider Did you consider Okaykay, so I considered Seattle. for this spot Did you consider them? And if so, what was the Well I I guess I'll jump ahead. Seattle's my number two. is. Seattle your number two S' my number two. So why before we get to the Seahawks in devs, what was kind of the differentiating factor for you? I'm a little worried about the Seahawks's depth and edge Especially losing Mafe, you were able to resign Derek Caall, but you have a Chenos who's getting up there and age Marcus Lawrence getting up there in age and Derek Haall sort of your three rotation guys on the edge. And one of the things I stood out about Seattle last year was they had waves of guys just rotating in that were able to generate pass r us. They're able to win with so many guys, which I think is one of the coolest parts about SeatLle's defense. We'll get into in depth, but because they don't have the same amount of oververwhelming force as the two edges for Houston. That sort of is a differentiator there But I love watching them play for like two separate reasons where the Texans are sort of the antithesis of modern football The Seahawks are what a modern defense like should look like Yes, there're The Zox are the blueprint right now not an easy blueprint to replicate because It's interesting because I imagine we'll talk about the viking. I mean, I'm going to talk about bikings. I imagine you're, you know, They're both pretty schemed up, right compared to the Texans, but they do it in such a different fashion. Um It's like right after the Super Bowl. NLI we talked about around the draft, how what can folks try to do to emulate Seattle's defense But the more time you look at the depth chart, you realize how difficult it is to acquire this combination of talent and how I think just deliberate, how intentional they have been in putting this together for what Mike McDonald wants to accomplish, which is you know, oversimplify it Mike McDonald wants to get pressure with four sometimes through you know deception and he wants to defend the run with light boxes out of a split safety structure playing big nickel or nickel, right? That's the thirty thousand for v to do that, You need corners you can tackle. You need a physical nickel, you need edges who can really set an edge so you can count on them. and you need really smart, selfless pass rushers. I would argue you also need really strong defensive tackles, which is probably the strength of that defensive line. It is the strength of defensive line Laron Williams is awesome. He, by the way, was the fourth most double team player in football last year But I really think the season that Byron Murphy I second had got slept on. He was so good last year. So I do have a little bit of I share your concern about the edge depth a little bit with Mafe leaving and like some of the older. they did sign you like Fower Junr. watch him be good, but You know, there's no, they don't have like it a superstar. And that's again, that's the design of the group But, you know, they lost that. They also lost Kobe Bryant at safety. Tyo Kot has played a lot for them already. and then they lost Rke Wullen who Obviously has a bit of a mixed reputation among CahOwx fans, but he's a really good corner. and They paid Josh Job a discounted price. I thought he was pretty he was super solid last year For me, that was the biggest difference. It's like, okay, we've got three players, three starters. walking out the door and I understand you know, it's not Mafet was part of rotation. That's not nothing. So We'll see, you know, like they got to figure it out We'll see, but I think the biggest thing for the Seahawks is They are able, like you said, to do what they did stopping the run against with light boxes because you not only have Leonard Williams and Byr Murphy the second. you also have Jaon Reid who can rotate it You have guys like the Marcus Lawrence who was incredible coming over from Dallas And some of the coolest things that he did was he would reduce inside. He would go from being outside of the tackle to reducing him inside. That way you could walk Nick Emil Warry down on the line scrimmage. You could walk Ernest Jones down to the line of scrimmage. You can play all of these different fronts losing your coverage bodies. And that way you just open up everything else on the defensive side of the ball. In order to do that, you have to have selfless play from your defensive line. And that is an incredibly talented group, but they are so selfless. Like you said, Leonard Williams eating double teams. Byon Murphy eating double teams. The reason why I think Byron Murphy season went so underrated is because he was taking on so many doubles And it allowed for guys like Drake Thomas and Ernest Jones to get free runs at the running backag. You were able to help the defense the second level of the defense flow faster to football because you have a defensive tackle that not only eats double teams but can make plays off of those. So if you really want to defefend the run out of light boxes. Everybody says they want to defend the run out of light boxes. You need some defensive tackles that can actually go and do that. And I think we're starting to sort of come back around on to that ono that point as we see like NFL like meta sort of changing Yeah, the seeahwks are kind of like the case study for and letter Williams and Murphy, I would argue are better than their kind of like second tier great defensive line. L like they're you know, they're Jeffrey Simmondons and Quin whatever Quin I think Leonter Williams is pretty close. but I'm just saying like they're It's almost like when you look at this defensive group as a whole, it is kind of like wouldould you rather have One suuperstar pass rusher or a bunch of really good, really selfless, really smart defensive linemen. And that kind of cuts to what I was saying about the build, right? Like this is they They've been very strategic about putting this team together. And I think the other thing I'll say about to wrap up Seattle is this As long as Mike McDonald's the coach, I'm probably going to always have them in the top five. I just feel like we've seen enough You know, like I I've seen enough man. he's done it. Tice now. He did in Baltimore to where he went from he completely transformed that defense. He did it again He has shown such an ability to defeat the current offense of meteta San Francisco was the second best offense in football last year and he made them a look pedestrian. I know there's some injuries and maybe, you know, but I'm just saying like He he's kind of it right now. So It's I will always, I think have them extremely high with Mike McDonald as the coach. So number three, I feel like we're going to have the same team Number three, I have the RAams. Rams. Okay. All right. have the Ram. I promise this is going to we're going to start deviating once we get past this top five, but it's just right now it's a very clear Top five I There is absolutely a case for the Rams being number one. Right now I just felt like Houston, Seattle have proven it. like we still have to, you know what I mean? Like you can't do on paper But they could very easily be the best defense of the NFO Yeah, they absolutely. If we look back at this time next year and the Rams are the best defense in the NFL, it wouldn't surprise me. When I wrote about the Mel not Michael Parkarsons Miles Garret trade, I actually compared it to Green Bay signing Michael Parsons last year where you're taking a good defense and the Rams defense last year was good. And I think Chrisula did a lot of cool stuff with The big thing biggest thing was insulating his linebackers to take them away from being middle of the field poole runners The biggest issue for them was They couldn't get quick pressures. They couldn't get teams off the field Now you have a guy who can get quick pressures better than almost anyone in the NFL. He had thirty oneick quick pressures last year and he's double team so much. So you have to have at least two pairs of eyes on him, two sets of hands on Miles Garrett and with as much stunting and looping as they do. you're going to create other opportunities for guys like Kobe Turner for Br disisk for guys coming coming ono that defensive line and just rotating in and then adding McDuffy and Jaylen Watson, I think that gives them a little bit more of a physical presence on the outside and it sort of seems to me like they want teams to get the ball out quick They want to see to start they want to start forcing the issue. And I think it's really similar to how Michael Parsons changed the Packers' defense last year I think that funny because when they traded for McDuffy and added Watson, I'm not sure if I look back at the rumors and when things reported, they knew Garrett was It was going happen. I definitely don't think they kn for sure. I don't know how much, you know, it was like even something being discussed But those corners pair quickly pair so well with passer who gets quick pressure because they're incredible tacklers, right? And I mentioned this after the trade. We have we're on the same page here. The Browns last year faced the fourth most quick game, Lee Wide wonder why, the Rams faced rank twenty first. So the defense was good at getting pressure, but it was not like you said suuper fast. And that's about to change. The other thing that happened last year was in the second half, the defense kind of fell apart in certain ways in the first half of the twenty twenty five season, the Rams defense was first an opponent QBR in the second half through the playoffs, they were thirtieth Uh, They gave up the most yards after catch in the NFL in that time frrame And they gave up the most receiving touchdowns They gave up, They tied with Chicago for the most completions over fifteen yards. It was really all pass defense actually because when I looked at the run defense, that wasn't an issue. So Clearly, they recognized what was a glaring weakness that emerged over the course of the second half of the season and threw enormous amount of resources at it I think this defensive line is going to be a nightmare. I think the linebacker group is still just okay. Uh, and the quarterback group on paper should be dramatically better But let me ask you a question that I did But you know, when they traded for McDuffy, which at the time seemed like a huge trade and the charac trade made it seem kind of small U Do you think him playing outside is the best use of his talents I think leaving him as an exclusive outside corner isn't the best use of his talent. I think for him and for the Rams like have him be sort of a match upp player, having him rotate outside and inside will be able to unlock the best things that you can do with that defense. You want to get your best eleven on the field and that's going to include Duffy's going to include Jayle Watson iss probably going to include another corner that they have on the on the roster. If they're not super comfortable with the manual fors being out there, like I think you could have McDuffy play on the outside. if you really want to get into those nickel and dime packages, I think they're really going to want to go to I think having McDuffy as sort of the nickel to be sort of Like keep him always involved in the play. You can't you can't scheme away from Trent McDuffy if you have him at Nickeoll. So I think having him be a matchup player will probably be the best thing, but I wouldn't leave him exclusively on the outside a team that played if not the most close to it the most time in the NFL. And then yeah, like Lake can be the third safety there Um ye, I think the matchup point is really important, right? Like if JSN is playing in the slot probably want McDuffy on the inside. It's an enormous opppportunity for Chris Sula, their defense coordinator, you talked about to, you know, who's gotten some head co pretty serious head coach looks. been given like the most premium set of ingredients a chef could ask for now I'll be interested in seeing if he uses any creativity with how he deploys Garrett to, right? Like we've seen that a little bit in Cleveland, who could forget thearret you're a step over the center, right? But It's insane. likeike the opportunities here, I'll be interested in seeing like, yeah, like as the year goes on Um what sort of changes this means? Do they play a little bit more man coverage? Do they U ike you said, is it more do they stick with the dime word? How do they use McDuffy? I think these are questions that Chrisula should be able to find answers to Uh and Very well could be the best defense in the NFL. I just felt like we got to give it to Houston and Seattle because they've shown us already. this is still giveven like maybe like half the season. when we when we get to midway point and the Rams are probably going to be very good on defense we'll probably look back and like, Yeah, we figured they'd be in the number one spot around this time. Four and five I suspect we're going to have the same two teams I probably should have gone well, whatever, it's fine. Be I think six or ten, I promise you guys, we're going to have different teams once we get to six through ten. It is just such a clear topic I'm sorry U All right, let's see if we have any difference. I went Philadelphia. I went Denver at. great.. Finally some difference. I went Denver at five. Did you go Philly at five? Philly at five. Um about whyy did you have Denver over Philadelphia? I think I'm a little worried about the Eagles pass rush consistency and I think they also understood that they were worried about their pass rush by trading for Jonathan Genard because their leader in pressure rate as a pass rusher last season was Jayalen Phillips who they acquired a midseason trade now at the Panthers. I think they need a big Jayen Carter year. I think it was a very Very weird year for Carter overall, starting with Spitgate in the beginning of the season and just never really fully being the player that we thought he was going into the season. but I still have them top five because of one, V Fangio and two, their ability to dictate to teams how they how they can play how they want you to play They want you to be a team offensively. They want you to eat your vesgetables. They want you to those four or those three yard checkdowns and they're going to come up and tackle. And they can do that because they have really good tacklers at the second and third level. You have Cooper D Jine, Quinon Mitchell quickly becoming one of the better corners in the NFL. Zach Bond Jha Campbell, I think are super cool such a cool dynamic at linebacker. I just the difference between Denver and Philly is again, it's just the pass rush Yeah Yeah, I They're really close and I think for me with Denver, I was looking at Just first whet there's some uncertainty around Jonathan Cooper who is dealing with like a litany of issues. I mean, he was Um, mention this on the podcast this off season He was arrested and booked on a charge of domestic violence, and then he violated like a make sure I have this correctly like a stayway. So I don't know what's going to happen there. uh they have K Robinon, KQay or is it K or Quay? I forget how you' from the Bama pass for. You Is it Q? You? I can't remember. who is a really interesting player didnn't get a lot of run because he was bling mindeliners in Dallas jior. Dallas Rer But I've physical like super, super talented athlete Um You know, Nick Bonito is awesome. The defensive tackles are awesome. I think linebackers still U, Oxington has been fine, Stern has been fine, but it's obviously not their strength and they didn't this was a pretty offensive focused off season So I was kind of just looking at the I think Denver' got better a better pass rush. Philadelphia' got a better back seven. so it's kind of how these things shake out. They both have brilliant defensive coordinators U Just to go to Philly for a second though. it is funny that like I don't know if there was a more The Eagles pivoting to Jonathan Gernard after failing to retain Jayalen Phillips and ultimately paying Grenard less than Phillips It really is like your friend who just states all girls who look the same. likeike like the like the second miss down Phillips, I was like, step right up Johny Greock because they're really similar play. likeike, you know, there're such big fangio edges which is to say, u, They're very complete good and run defense. They both are more pressure getters. Well Gernard's had some pretty good sack years, but U I think like they fit the same profile that Fango clearly likes and prioritizes and allows the defense to play with its trademark light box structure Um, I think he he's a really good player. likeike I think Phillips, you know, Philips is a little bit younger. Gernard's like twenty nine. and Gernard also had an injury last year too I actually Phillips was sixth in pressure rate. Grenard was seventh like You know, as far as like conolation prizes goes, it's pretty perfect for Philadelphia And good lord, this group of corners, man. I mean, we talked about Rick Wolen on the NFC Xpectors pod, but like It's this is a Terrifying. of corners. I mean, this is Mitchell, Jeene and Woolen. This is the best group of corners in football, right? Like I'm not Missing anyone obvious I mean, if you really you could argue Texans. you could argue the Texans Yeah with I guesser Singley and Jaya Petri If we're talking pure coverage, I don't know if there's a better group just because of the hats that Cooper De Jine can wear in coverage While I think that Jalen Petri, if we're just comparing players one for one, I think Petri is a monster as a run deffender and a menace as a run defender. I think De Je offers similar levels of physicality defending a run Well you can also have him match up on guys in the slot And you can have him play on the outside if you wanted to And he just wears so many different hats. It feels like He's like Vic Fangio's version of like Flex seal where like there's a problem in the second mary, Just put Cooper D Jine there And they're going to play safety by the way when they play base. I saw that, which is not alwaysways what they, you know, they they've I saw somewhere in like one of the offseason notes from one of the Eagles repeporters that's F Fangioos made it pretty clear that that's his intention with D gene. which I think they don't play a lot of pe Yeah, they don't play a lot of base, but I find it fascinating because D Jine was a corner Iowa their safety depth also isn't super great right now. Andrew Mcuba coming off injury. That's again like the flexiil Cuper de Jine like get yelling out there play safety. We'll see what happens. but they don't play base a lot. They're going to live in nickel. and I think they can do that again because They have a sacrificial group up front. where you can play like Zach Bond and Jahhi Campbell both walk down on the edges And you create five and six man fronts pretty easily from that and it just allows you to answer so many different problems that you see with modern NFL offenses Cornia Mitchell E Freaking good head football. neegative.o point one six EPA per target, which was second, despite having zero interceptions. That's so insane. Like so EPA you like as a cornerback. rank highly super high in that remark. Uually usually have to because interceptions is where so much negative expected points is added. The fact that He finished that high despite not getting his hands or he has his hand on foot had a lot of passive fest. He just didn't come down with it, which is the one area, you know, you want to see from him He also, this is one of my favorite stats of his He allowed onene point eight yards after catch per reception, which was first amongst every corarterback in football. He had a forty two percent tight window rate, which is first again. The NFL average is twenty five percent The dude is like Blue I mean, he is so. So complete as a coronner. he just needs to get some interceptions This year I think the coolest thing about having Quinon Mitchell. I think the coolest thing about what Vic Fangio did This season compared to last season is they played more man coverage this year. They are willing to leave Quinon Mitchell on an island and just let him go to work. And I think that aggression is something that Vic Fango teams aren't really known for. They're more of a sitback. We're going to let the we're going to play everything in front of us. But the fact that they're able to play more man coverage with Mitchell I think that's just going to benefit the pass rush even more So again, if this pass rush can if Jonathan Genard can be the guy that Jalen Phillips was, I mean, this defense is going to take off You know, was really good in man coverage Tak freaking' women. like why If anything, my concern is like with him because I do think he is best in a def which Seattle' play a lot of make coverage and it's a little complicated, right? because Fango will play a lot of match. And I think for Woolllen Um There will be some challenges, I think, in terms of switching you know, to super dramatic transformation I think probably also the other thing you worry about is always the thing with Molan, which is he's not a good tackler you know, Fangio does the corners do need to tackle because they play with so many light booxes Third and long as this team with those corners Even if the passast rush isn't amazing, they're going to have the ability to get home because the corner coverage is going to be so sticky. But look, the Broncos are right there. likeike you had them four, I had them five. I went back and forth a couple times. like this is an obviously incredibly talented unit. I mentioned my concerns about pass rush potentially linebacker another Absolutely elite secondary youran Where are you on Riley Moss? Are you on Riley Moss's unfairly maligned island with me? or I think he I think he gets a little bit too much blame. I think that he is the unfortunate guy opposite of the best corner in football. So you're going to get thrown at a lot. He was thrown at the most in the NFL, but I actually think he's grown over. He's gotten better as a player. It just hasn't really been seen a lot because while he's also gotten better Patser Tan a second has also still been the best corner in the NFL. So it really doesn't matter as much because going keep getting the ball thrown at him But I actually think he's improved in a lot of ways. I'll be interested in seeing if Jad D Baron, who's their first round pig last year can find his way on the field, right? Like because he was taking the first round, the thought was he could be starring Nickel. and then Mic Millon just fended him off. and he only played I think like thirty percent of the snapsle sumer. You know, I Yeah, he was I really liked him in college at Texas, but I didn't view that as him being you know anything about him as a referendum on him, I just thought He's just such a talented group. It was just hard for him to find those opportunities last year Yeah, I was really I was curious when they made the pick because I thought Jake Con McMill was really good And for them at Nickel and because he was able to fend them off, I'm curious where he kind of slots into this group and how much dime they kind of play with this team because evenven though like they have the DBs necessary to play Dime I don't know if they have the true like size to really play that those dime packages. You know, we talk about the Seahawks being able to play dime. They're able to do that because Nicki Man War' basically a Sam linebacker. M ic for them. you know, the Texans are able to do that because Jalen Petre is a maniac, but I wonder if J Baron can be that sort of be that nickel or that dime player for them because my biggest worry is that linebacker group. They were they were attacked. If you were looking for a big play against Denver, you're going to go at the linebackers and I don't think they proved there when it came to Just range in coverage. I think they fit for what they want to do run defense and blitzing wise, but I worry about that group in coverage and how much they ask Hufanga to sort of cover everything up Yeah, it was a popular for them are draft was like in the second round, like what if the Brados out of the linebacker? It's kind of been the issue. And I say issue. I really think Singleton and St were fine. likeike they weren't off they were bad, but you know, it's similar to again any of these teams in the top five before picking knits that is has been now for a couple years where teams have tried to go after because largely because there're so want the boss to come out quick because the pass rush is so And coupled with the fact that they blitz a lot, like, you know, the ball, like they're it forces a certain style of play from opposing offenses Zack Allen, I feel like is Probably I don't know if he's the unsung hero on this team. He had forty seven quarterback hits last year ed the NFL. That's crazy. He He's so fun because you could tell that he took that year that he and JJ Watt were in Arizona and sort of modeled his game after Like it's funny seeing the big white defvis tackle we in ninety nine with the elbow brace and like, oh, he's doing the JJ Watt thing, but he is actually doing like all the arm over, the swim moves and the stuff you're able to do with him is super fun. I think DJ Jones is one of the more uns thoseose tackles. to San Francisco He's always been good. Yeah. Aesome in San Francisco. He was one of my like most underrated players in the league because of what he did in San Francisco. I'm curious what this team does without John Franklin Myers because he was sort of there if you didn't want to play some of the lighter edges because Benito and Cooper are going to get upfield And the reason they were able to survive against the run without their edges being so far being without their edges actually playing in that role defensively, you had John Franklin Myers as sort of your cleanup guy. So I'm curious how if you have Malcolm Roach step up into that role, He was more of a rotational pass rush guy But from top to bottom, I still think this team is super fun defensively That's the top five. I know that wasn't that exciting It's about to get a lot weirder I promise. Let's take a quick break, comeome back and I promise you JP and I will have different teams six or ten Get summer going with a Firework freeze five hour energy shot. You get that iconic freezer pop flavor, but with zero sugar and a five hour energy boost. Bursting with cherry lime and blue raspberry flavors, Firework Freeze five hour ennergy shots bring a caffeine kick without the sugar. Iignite your taste buds with Firework Freeze five hour ennergy shots, available online at fivehour ennergy dot com and on Amazon I like things my way, my coffee, my schedule, and my treatment So I talked to my doctor about self injecting with the Vivgard Hytrulo prefilled syringe, which contains ifGR Tigamon alpha and Hyluronidase QVFC It's injected under your skin subcutaneously. It means I can inject in my space, on my time. It's my treatment, My way. Visit vivgardmway. com That's VYvgaRtmway. com and talk to your doctor about Vivgard Hydrulo, brought to you by Argenics Buster only here for Lakinta byy Windam Summer means travel. and for a lot of people, that includes their four legged MVP. Mine is a yellow ladd namedQuiny Finding a hotel that actually welcomes pets can feel like striking out At LaQinta by Windham, pet friendly stays are part of the game plan So you don't have to leave your best travel companion behind. You can bring them along for every inning of the trip becausecause the road is better when the whole team's together And when you book at LQinta. com you can earn Wndham rewards points and your qualified stays along the way Tonight, LQinta Tomorrow you shine Terms and conditions apply All right, we're back. Okay. So I felt pretty good about my six and seven Everything in my body told me not to put the Viking six. I just looked at this depth chart. No, not like that This is the deep sh, I was just like, this is not a top six defense on paper. I can't I can't do it to Brian Flores at this point. I mean, You can't keep getting away with this, Getdy. Letome please I feel so I feel so bad for leaving the Vikings off because of Brian Flores like I didn't have them in my top. one of my you know what? Six is too high. I gave too much credit. I'm looking at the step chart. It should not be six I think I I'm switching them. I'm putting them seven. Youve I I didn't want to do it. I'm going to put different team six We'll talk about r them in a second. We'll talk with vkings. I now have seven Yeah, How would let you backacking up. The benefit the plus side to the Vikings who I think are going to be an improve unit this season is they're just bigger I think they were a small team up frront last year. Jayen Redman was kind of holding their defensive line together by himself with Javon Hargrave John Jonathan Allen not being been caliber players, but you add Kayla Banks to that who win healthy is a force, just a dominant player Dominiqu Orange sort of compliments him really well against the run I think the reason that I left them off is because there's so much change second so much by the way, if they're improved JP, they were third in DVOA. they were seventh in Eer for play. L the man is a wizard. Like it's crazy because like I want to believe in Brian Flores. I want to believe in the defensive line who's gotten. I think they've gotten, like I said, a lot bigger, a lot stronger against the run, which where I think they're going to improve the most. But I don't know what to make of this secondary because like they have M for that. I know, I know year I was like, I don't know, about this corner group and then they Yes. I know. they're really the thing about this dev chart that really strikes you and you've kind of touched this is There's a lot of rookies who are going to have to play U You mentioned banks in orrange Domic Orange, bigig citrus, greatreat nickname I've talked a lot about Gale Banks. If Galeb Banks hits I mean insane. It's to me f You know, he's I don't want I was about his feet are constantly like there's just a lot a lot of issues there. Um Corner Group is kind of this they added pierre, but it's pretty similar. It's not, you know And then like they might need like Jakobbe I don't know what's to happen with Hrison Smith. Jacobe Thomas. I was kind of surprised. He was Miami safety drafted before KQione Scott. That took me by surprise a little bit. U Jake Golday, the steinebacker out of Cincinnati might play for he though, like When they made that pick, I was like, ooh I'm not trying to stereotype and compareative to b Ginkkele like He is the exact type of tweener freaky linebacker that Brian Flores likes. He is and I think the thing about Jake Golday is you can tell that he's a former defensive end in both the good ways and the bad ways when he's like Yeah, when he was sort of as an overhang at Cincinnati, they played a lot of the three safety stuff and he was like their overhang. He wasn't in the tackle box a lot. He would play the run like a defensive end because it's really easy to read the keys of the guard there. He would destroy pulling guards But when he was in the tackle box, it just the game wasn't wasn't seen quickly enough So I'm curious how much of like an on ramp do they give him? starting reps and just kind of be a specialist on my pass r situation. That's like the one position where I actually am not really worried at all because they have Cashman, they brought back Eric Wilson, they have Ivan Pace. So they actually have decent depth there and Good luck trying to describe the personnel that they use. It's obviously makes no sense and it' insane. it's like the looks that they present are insane. You know, we've talked about this. This is the team that blitz forty seven percent of the time and yet played nearly eighty percent zone coverage. Like they' they're just insane. The crazy thing about last year was like this even when they didn't blitz, they led the league in pass rush win and pressure rate And there's a litany of reasons for that. Some of it is schematic and defenses offenses being offensive lines and quarterbacks being fooled by them. But some of it is the production that they got out of pass rushers and Dallas Turner was my NFC my exactor for them this year. This is it, right? Like he's got to the leap so much projection across the board. I'm now I'm regretting it so much. I just I just feel like similar to McDonald Flores is on my, you know what let it ride list. like I'm not going to it is a bit of an eat your vegetables year for them though because they had to shed cap, they had to trade Grenard So they do need some of these rookies to step up immediately Let me ask you a question If Caleb Banks is healthy the entire season Do you think this is a top ten defense Oh. Um I kind of think they're they're like just outside. I still want to Again, I still want to believe in this defense I guess I'm still sort of like, I don't know about this secondary group, especially if Harrison Smith doesn't come back You have so many because this defense has so many moving parts in the secondary. There's so many things that change Counting on a lot of rookies in the secondary is not a It's not exactly a scenario that you want if you're the Vikings, if you're Brian Flores, because then you'd have to sort of You worry about simplifying the defense to make sure the rookies get it right. And that's the best thing about the Flore's defens is that they're all complex. You never know what you're going to get from them I could see this team getting into top ten if Banks is healthy just because If you have that defensive line already back up to speed. If you're if Banks is the guy they hoped he is, you're able to get Dallas Turner that sort of that leap year I mean, there's no reason why Brian Flores still can't pull like a rabbit out of a hat and take this defense to a top ten level All right, who did y? Now' I feel super soft. I'm going to leave them at seven I'm going to switch six and seven Who did you have at six I have the New England Patriots. Okay, I have them at ten I Oh yeah, let me put my I am such a fan of Zackcore and what he did in the second half of the season. And I think it's sort of It's sort of what you got to do when you lose Milton Williams and sort of a passastessher like Milton Williams just say, you know what it's gir. We're just going to blitz all the time. And I think it benefits them because I think their strength is their secondary When you have Chris Gonzalez who was phenomenal last year and had an incredible Super Bowl, Carlton Davis who is a good number two corner when healthy. Marcus Jones at Nickel. Craig Woodson is a guy who I think is going to take a big jump in his second year safety. I think you have you have an alleyway to play so many different things because secondary is that good? And I still think the duo of Milton Williams and Christian Barmore is going to give them a lot of juice up front. And now if you have a guy like Draymont Jones who can sort of be the heavy end, for them and you can get just some pass rush from the combination of Draymont Jones, Harold Landry, Gabe Ocus who I was a fan of. That's the biggest question for them is that passer us off the edge, but the proble Yeah, it's the one Yeah Yes, pre me from bring them higher. is that edge group It's interesting too, like profile wise like Draymond Jones and Akis are like just pusher types, right Aus is hurt now, by the way. So we'll see I hate it when rookies are hurt in the off season and miss the off season program because you're like, I don't know I want to see them. I don't know what they look like. It's kind of frustrating Dreamondes was surprisingly productive last year in Baltimore, I thought after the second half of the season. And Um you know, the defense attackles are awesome. Barmar and Mill Williams are an awesome combo But I think your point about Zach Kerr and like the potential that he might we might see a little bit more during the regular season of what we saw in the playoffs and towards the end, which is to say him smashing pressure makes sense because yah, the cornerback group is the strength of this team Uh I will say Love Jayen Hawkins was like kind of the ples who walked for the Patriots are were like kind of sneaky good which is Jayalen Hawkins and then Paris Tonga and Clavon Chaseon They were all kind of good last year and I don't love losing those three players in particular I understand, you know, capap and all that, but like they they were good Losing Chisan kind of was like, dang, I wish they would have kept him around because of the juice that he had added as a pass rusher and like just designate pass rush situations. I thought he was a nice compliment to Draymont Jones and then bringing Gave Ais obviously would have been a really nice compliment to Chais Son, but I feel like they're putting a lot of chips into the Haralold Landry board or in the Harold Andrew Table I'm not sure if I'm as confident that he's going to return to one hundred percent, but if he can just give you some form of juice off the edge You have these two guys who can W Jones and Ais who can push pockets and funnel quarterbacks to Milton Williams and Kristian Barmore And then you can just allow for Harold Landry to come on in spots. The thing I'll also add is like, I think that this could be a very good run defense. kindind of like how it looked in the beginning of last year and then there was some injuries. And even with Tonga out, you know, Cory Durden's a fine nose, but Barmore Williams Healthy Spillaine who missed summer last year as well. And I talked about Jones the profile of the past rushers that they have It should be quite complete up frront against the run And if the offlence is anything close to what it was last year, they'll get a lot of pass rush opportunities as well. So Yeah, I think u you know, just veryer talented young play coller who really found the right buttons to push on the post season run One thing I'm just sort of interested in is like how much of the post season run had to do with the quality of the offensive lines that they faced. Yeah you know, in terms of like all the pressure that they got against Houston and the charargers and then they got face Jared Sidham. So it's like So a little bit of that is like real Yeah But I do think if they're going to go into twenty twenty six just saying we're going to be a big pressure team. We're just going to spam blitzes because we know we have the secondary to live behind that I don't see a problem with it. I think it's a gamble obviously, But when you have Gonzalees, you have Marcus Jones, Carlton Davis, it's a risk you're kind of willing to take because I don't know if they're going to be able to get consistent pass rush before All right My number new six. after I cowardly changed my team ot to think they're in your top ten. G going with the Jackaxve Jaguars. They are my number seven Okay, great. I'm amaz. All right. so ye Um First of all, let's talk about last year because this was a very I think this is one of the real like take a st that back and look at, you know, I mentioned some of the rankings at the top. The jags were ahead of Billy one, two, three, four, five, six in DVOA, thirird in EPaper play and they were thirteenth in success rate Um, So I think it was a little bit slept on how good they were in Anthony Capan's first year as defensive coordinator. I think retaining him, having that continuity is massive for this team But for me I understand you have players walking out the door in terms of Devin Lloyd and that really does hurt and I have some concerns about the run defense But really like the secondary. And I'm starting in the back here. And I talked about when I talked about Travis Hunter as my ex director for the team group of him Bon Terk Brown, Jordan Lewis. They have decent depths with Jerryian Jones, Dan Jackson And then Antonio Johnson and Eric Murray, So I'm not gonna to talk about Hunter. I'm gonna talk about Antonio Johnson because I think like You know, we've been talking about who are like slept on players. I mean, Merek Brown you would also put in this group because I think he was kind of he kind of came out of nowhere for me and I was really impressed by him last season U So Antonio Johnson W is targeted a lot of passer rating of forty three. best of all saetes in the NFL I I thought he was he was a super complete safety as well. I thought he was reliable. in terms of his tackling and stopping the run as on top of that And kind of feel like when you take a step back and you look at this group as a whole There are really glaring weaknesses, JP Like it's really if Hunter is anything close to what we think he can be as a corner. and I think he and I from what I saw last year, I think it's there I kind of love this veryer well rounded defense. I think.'re I don't think they have a lot of the same levels of force multipliers as teams like Houston or even Seattle, but I do think Anthony Campedell and what he did as a defensive coordinator was a very underrated point about the Jaguar season last year. I think The things that he was able to do when it came to changing personnel and changing fronts, Dennis Gardeck was a July signing. I turned into one of the most important players on that defense Buster Brown, what are you to get out of him and Tonio Johnson I had no idea the ball production was going to happen for the way they way Antonio Johns Yeah just the way that he was able to play the ball coming top down and that's exactly what Camplli wants from his defense is just to play top down. They play a lot of quarter quarter half. they play a lot of quarters defense. You want to try and get your safeties flying downhill. And so I think I think the turnovers probably won't be as sticky because one, a lot of the turnover productions now in Carolina, which is understandable to like turnovers don't really like stick year over year, but I think that trade off of N getting a lot of turnovers, but being able to just get stops. I think they' get more stops this year because Travis Hunter at Cner, you have built such a really versatile defensive backroom and if you really are worried about Jordan Lewis' health, he missed a lot of time last year with injury, Jarry and Jones steps in a nickel and you don't really miss a beat Um, yeah, did Speaking about the turnovers versus stops, this was a team that we we talked about was the elite per to play just outside the top ten and success rate, you could see those kind of approach each other a little bit more where they're a little bit more consistent on a down to down basis very good tackling group, somethinghing I always felt I felt watching them last season, all three levels. againgain d was really good in run defense and in addition to getting the turnovers last season, and I'll be interested in seeing, I guess Ventreal Miller is kind of going to get more run and he looked fine you know Ne to Olakkun, who's just kind of old reliable there But so I do not love that loss But I also think the front is good enough to protect Miller And I think the safeties have just been and the whole the secondaries has been really good against the run to. Hunter to me, looked completely, you know, he's a little bit of a smaller corner. I didn't think it looked like it out there. There's a couple times where we got a little bit pushed around and pressed the light of scrimmage, but like JB, I thought he was like ret solid. definitely. likeike he looked pretty And I think he's put on a little weight if I saw that somewhere, perhaps. So compleplete is the word I keep going back to when I think of this group, like I look at them and You know Josh Hines Allen is their best pass rusher Walker Walker is a great like avatar for this defense He's Srvon Waler No, he's not You know the one one dream upside that perhaps people had in mind when they drafted him He's a good ass football player. He tackles well, he gets pressure fits really well, I think, within the like the scheme of what like K really wants. And I think I feel that way about the group as a whole. likeike there's just really solid top bottom. They're such a physical defense and they want it to be more physical. and I think Going to the Travis Hunter point, I think People lost in sort of the receiver vers DB like push poull last year He was really freaking good at DB last year. Like he had a lot of really nice moments didn't see a lot of it because he was needed on offense. but now that you have him on defense. I think he's going to shine a lot more And then up frront, I mean, Trayvon Walker is, I think he's Anthony Campanlli's madden user If he could useer any player on the defenseive, Travon Walker, he's like, okay We're going to move Travon Walker inside, move Denis Gardck down on the edge and we can rush to pass her that way. We're going to move Travon Walker inside and you can play Danny Strigo who somehow like seemingly became like their third pass ruster last year, which I thought was really cool I just For me for them to be higher, I would like to see them at a different pitch as a pass as a pass. I think they need For all their passast sreers win converting speed to power and with the long arm with the bull Rush I think they need another type of pitch to get quick pressures. I feel like they are sort of in the same range as the Rams were or the Packers were pre adding Miles Gartt Michel Parsons. They need quick pressure guys And I think it's going to have to take Josh Heinzal another career year for it to happen, but that's the biggest word I think my feeling is that if the secondary is what I think it can be, it'll alleviate that to some degree because I just I really like this group in the back end. But yeah, they're good. I'm six and seven' pretty high As you know, managing maintenance, repair, and operations is never easy. For the ones who always rise to the challenge, Granger has your back. 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Application times and rates may vary Okay, so I had six drag, seven Vikings You have you' the Patriots at six, correct. Jacks at seven. You can go next. Who do you have I have the Cleveland Browns They just out p ten Okay Okay. I' I'm still a believer in the Browns. They don't have Miles Garrett, which is going to be a major like, you don't just lose miles Garret and keep up the defense, but I still think this team is very talented on that side of ball. Jared versse while he is not miles Garret. I think that is just always going to be like he's not a miles Garrett player. He's still a really good football player adding him on top of year two of Mason Graham. you have the you have the nice depth on the defensive line I think can really complelment both of those guys. Graham started to come along towards the back endnd of last season Carkarson Swestinger was awesome as a rookie linebacker. just everywhere, but I think just the physicality really stood out. I was worried for him that he would put on weight and get a little slower range was still super, super good. Aing Quincy Williams with him is really is a really nice fit in that defense and then Ading Emmuel McNeil Warren to the secondary group, I think is going to be really fun and just some of the stuff that new Ders coordinateror Mike Rutenberg, who comes from Atlanta, he's going to do a lot more, I think he' do a lot more simulated pressure stuff, a lot more like different looks. So I'm curious how that all looks in the grand scheme of things but This is a very talented team I'm so interested in what this scheme looks like. Because under Jim Schwartz, it was so u of unique in the NFL in terms of like we are just going to you know rush with four, we're going to play band coverage. We're going to line up our edges wide. and now it's like Who knows, right? Like coming from Atlanta. It's really interesting was the defense that was very chaotic last season under Jeff Obrich and I do wonder without Miles Garrett, if we see them send more pressure if we like I said, you see more stimulated pressures. I'll be interested in seeing kind of the identity of this group because there's still a lot of talent. It's still, you know, like you named like the Corners are so really good. We'll see what happens with Denel Ward, by the way. he curious Tyson Campbell was decent for them. obviously, you know, the the backers look like to appear to be a strength. So Yeah. I think that was my big question. I was like, if I think if I had a better feel for the defensive Cordinator, I might have snuck them into the top ten because I do think this is a really talented unit, But this was for me like a let's see what this looks like group Um, ' they' They could be very good. They've obviously The way the Browns have done their rebuild makes a lot of sense and they if they have even decent quarterback play be like a league pass type team. But I don't It's gonna happen I don't either. I like I like how they built their team. I'm curious what year is sort of like all right. now it's time to actually go win some football games instead of being like the cute rebuild team But this defense should be again just An incredibly fast team. They should be still very fast, very physical. Yeah Tampa is my number eight teeen I'm so glad you included Tampa. They're my number ten Okay, cool. Live. The whole NFC south might have good defense this year Crazy I put it off okay, and wanted to put the Panthers on my list, which would have been so like that would have been my big My big one As Isaiah Lve Island And let's put a pin in theanthers and talk about the Blader. We got talk about the Saints which was a team that was massively better last year under Brandis Daily. But I just are and the Falcons too like, right? Like But the tampa, I thought addressed their biggest problem And I think I just like the players the best on this team from top to bottom, even though the Panthers, I think have a very high upside potential, mayaybe higher than Tampa but it's so speculative with them Um, but You know, let's just to it, I mean, this pressure, the lack of pressure has been the biggest problem on this team, particularly pressure with the four manan rush. It's just something that they have not been able to fix since the Super Bowl R run, what was that twenty twenty one It' supposed to be ye Yeah. U, and You know, I looked at this depth chart and I think Ya Dabi is a great number two. I really do. Bane junior. Mohammad who was like crazy productive last year and you don't want look he's thirty one. You wanted to be rotational. I really feel like and then the addressing the linebacker position. with Alex Anceloni. And then they drafted Totter junior. be I feel like in terms of like what was our bigest like the Eagles did the best job of like addressing their biggest problem last year, which was quarterback to Okay, you get table But like as far as like, you know, answers for pass rush This could be a very improved F manan rush, JP I think the way that they improved their pass rush and even their front seven in general might be one of my favorite sort of revamps of a single side of the ball because their biggest issues like you said were lack of a four man rush and then their linebackers just did not have the range and coverage. So Todd Bowles ended up playing this game where you always had to send simulated pressures And when the pressures wouldn't get home, you have games like Um honestly, both Atlanta games last year with simul simulated pressures wouldn't work, Cordbrack would just pick them apart And then if you just tried to run the basic four man rushes, you couldn't really get home and you still get picked apart because your linebackers are still a liability. I think Ruben Bane Jr. is such a fun fit in this defense because not only is he going to play one hundred and ten miles an hour. He is going to be a really good stuunter looper. He is going to open up a lot of things for collollage Kany, who is one of the bigger like question marks, bigger X factors in the NFC is if if he can just stay healthy There's your winner as a pass rusher I love adding Josiah Totter to this defense. He's one of my favorite prospects entering this draft because he just plays so much bigger than his size. He sort of reminded me a little bit of the Kobe Dean coming out of Georgia where just you want that guy flying downhill as fast as possible. And the fit next to AnceZaloni, who is more of the coverage guy now makes a lot more sense. You know, when you just when they just signed Ancealone in isolation, it was like, oh, I see the vision for it, but You need someone else next to him. Now you go get Trotter And then if you can just keep this secondary healthy, like That second that's the question for. So I know on This is the secondary where I was like on paper, I really like this, but like Ben Morrison is hurting it. You know, like it's just Hypothetically You get Jacob Parrish playing outside, which was a position he played in college. and I know he's like and Levven generously. But I'm telling you that he can play outside Chiante Scott then can slide into the nickel. He is like every draft nerd's favorite player, I feel like And then Winfield Junior can play free safety and Ram. And it's like, okay, cool, all of a sudden, you feel Everyone's kind of in their natural position But health is and McCoullum, you know, is the guy he's a solid on opposite the outside You need everyone to stay healthy. and it is also a little bit on paper right now because There's a lot of moving pieces and you and youth, frankly, outside of So I do feel like it could all come together really well. But the thing I'll say about the bucks is this too, JP. likeike I know this is going to be an elite run defense because it's all y. So there's a baseline For this team Last year against the run was first in success rate, first in adjusted line yards, first in stuff rate And there did As long as you got Vita man in that inside, they have Ashean Robson now, which is very funny H Robins is gonna be one of those guys who's like there's such a archetype of like a first rounder who is like initially like disappointing and then just plays in the NFL for like twenty years.ike he came into the NFL looking like he had already played for twenty years. but like I know Rom M Jr is really good against the run to. I know this is going to be a really, really good run defense And so there's It's It's like, okay, cool. Now if you can just get past rush juice and if those guys can stay healthy in the backkend, that's where you go from being like a top ten to fifteen defense to being F to ten, which is where I have And that's sort of where my question is It's does Ty Bowol still know which buttons to press? I still think that he was He was a fine coordinator last year. It's just they didn't have the personnel to do everything that he wanted to do And this is just overall for the bucks, a huge year because it feels like this might be the last year that this ore all stays together. So if Bowles can push the right buttons, which we've seen him do, he is one of those guys where we talked about Mike McDonald, We talked about Brian Flores. I'm one the guys sort of believes like Tod Bowl is going to coach a good run defense. He's going to coach a good defense. It's just now, can you get this pass rush back up to one hundred percent? So you don't always have to rely on the simulated pressures. All right, so you have them ten I had them eight. So to recap, I have Jags, Vikings blank at nine and then the Patriots at ten You had Patriots six, jags seven Eight Wing Oh brown Bowns eight Nine is blank And then ten, you had one of my teams the bucks, the bucks again. Okay, so we both have one remaining team night I'll go first and you could tell me the Ravens here I did too. I also had the Rvensy. I really wanted to be really hipster and say the Saints. That's one of my.ew with the payanthers. The whole NFC stound I was like looking at me like a demononss like the green goblin mask where I was like Jayalen Phips Devin Lloy, those corners, Derek Brown. And then the Saints are so hipster. They were so much better last year Okay, let's talk about let's devote a little bit of time to the Panthers and the Saints. Yeah. That was my big takeaway making this list. I was like the NFC south, I have major questions about every single team on offense. But defensively They're all kind of good. Like I really Sneaky decent. Okay, but let's try Sts were destroyed by the injury bug last year. They were thirtieth in adjusted games loss on defense Um Straight up, I'll just say it. This whole thing is predicated on about a week going for me. Yeah Yeah I to come back. I I want a huge caveat. I'm taking them out Yeah ye onene of my notes is Nandi Med Weig here They're going to be top ten. If he's not here, I'm removing them from this list. A part of the reason they'd be top ten is because if he's there, it's like a really sneaky fun pass rush again Um Travis Jones next to him. They added Clleus Campbell back Tavius Robinson. opppposite Tray Hendrickson and some mix of Zion Young and Mike Green, like that's a good group And it's if Mqu is in the mix. I don't think they'd be awful without him necessarily. But if we're talking about them as a top ten unit, that needs to happen And I thought a stat last year that was pretty telling. This was a defense that was third in EPA play when they got pressure They were twenty six when they didn't and they rarely got pressure. They were near the bottom league and every pressure metric that you look at U should be really good. and we can talk about them in a second It won't matter if the if they're not able to get pressure and on paper This is a group that should be able to get pressure And the biggest thing is adding not only Jesse Mentor, but Anthony Weaver. I think they both have shown they can create pressure. They can manufacture pressures. That's something that when you watch Mentor with the Chargers, of course they had Cleo Mac Tly tw below two, but they were able to manufacture pressure really well. They were able to use a lot of the design pass rush games really effectively I think again, I'm hoping Mad is healthy because he fits this defense and mentors defense so well because he is such an effective guy on stunts on loose. because you have a house in Travis Jones, you can have Madame turning the corner around Travis Jones and you have the ability to do so many different games opposite Ty Hendrixson, who is just your winner. if you want somebody to sort of Fush like You want to you want to you can convert the pressures in the sacks. Hendrirksson's going to convert those pressures in the sacks. So if Madibigque is healthy, you have all these different guys who fit as sort of like hammers on Passse games. Zion Young is a really good hammer. Tav good hammer. You're just going to open up lanes Madui which is why Maduie being healthy means so much to this team I also really likek the Jalen Hawkins edition, who I mentioned, I didn't love the Patriots losing him. I think he's a really solid. It would be the third safety, right? becausecause this is a team that that plays a ton of dime. and I really like them when they have it's a team that is at its best when it has multiple safety so that they can weaponize Kyle Hamilton and Both him and Starks are interchangeable to me on the backke end out of those split safety looks. So you can move Hamilton around, play him close to the box, have him threatening to rush, use him as a big nickel or, you know, like a do it all, you know So Yeah like there's weaknesses to be sure. secondcond corner, opposite Wiggins. Nate Wiggins is great s like Ouie or Tampa, you know, probably Ouzier. the best Um taking linebacker remains a little bit of a question mark But I do think the there's enough pass rush coupled with this three safety look coupled with the coaching additions could get back on track pretty quickly I'm I'm sort of curious if they move Marlin Humphrey back outside. J just because you want Kyle Hamilton closer to the action And I know they sign Jayen Hawkins. I know you want to really play Cal Hamilton in versatile spots, but just thinking about what Jesse Mintter did with Durwin James and just sort of having him close to the and basically a dime linebacker. I sort of feel like you want to do that same stuff with Kyle Hamilton, but that's reliant on Having a second outside corner or having Humphrey play on the outside and just letting Hamilton roam as a nickel I just think there's a lot of variance with their quarterback group, which is not always great, but I just again with the coaching changes. this team was talented last year. They were still a talented defense. It's just Now you have somebody else controlling the sticks and This is sort of hope this is sort of hoping that Mentor can still do what he did in Los Angeles Did you haveave any consideration for his old team, the Chargers I did. I think outside of the top ten, I was I was really considering the Vikings The charargers and then the NFC South in general. Yes that' Yeah but The chargers I gave a lot of consideration to just because like The formula for the defense isn't changing. The structure, schematics aren't changing. Chris O'Leary comes in as Ds to coordinator, was a safeties coach under Jesse Mentor in twenty twenty four. spent time as Deps to coordinator for Western Michigan twenty twenty five, but we've seen recently How changing coordinators but keeping the same scheme doesn't mean that the defense suck We saw Mike McDonald, Zach or like I just worry a little bit about that sort of aspect to it. And I think Jesse Mentor did a really good job of maximizing the players that they did have on that roster because I think the Charges defense is good, but they didn't have a lot of overwhelming like force multipliers. Their force multiplier was Jesse Mentter and now he is the head coach of the Ravens. So I gave them consideration, but I had them just outside Yeah, they've always kind of felt like a little bit some of the parts type defense, right?? And there's really good players. I mean Drwin James Jr awwesome and has been, you know, such a He was so good at her minter and I was thinking like, okay, but you know, like Now you take out the coach I don't know. U I think the defensive line to me wasn't enough for me to feel good about them sustaining with the coaching change. We'll see, I could be wrong And then yeah, the NSC South Port to the Panthers like the saints were like quietly I like very high on the Saints andj I like a lot about this team. We even talked about them briefly in the top ten offices. we didn't put them in, but You know, there's a lot to like there and there's a lot to like on this defense. that was extxtremely good in the second halfleet last year. And yes, that's because of the competition to some degree, but guess what? They get to play the same offenses for the most part. I saw it Brandon Stay to like Quetly rebuilding his resume is kind of a funny storyline. Um Cody Alexander, who does a great substack, which people should check out, had a really good piece on how The Saints defense sort of made some adjustments as years went on and ended up playing a ton of bass which with a split safety structure behind it as a way of stopping play action and they were very effective against the run. I encourage people to go check out. I'll get into it more when I talk about the Saints and Division preview U When you look at the depth chart, it makes sense. likeike I like this group of linebackers. I love that Ken Ellis is back I think There's some talented players in the young secondary, the safeties, you know, I Read Justin Reeds been really good there. but Yeah, I think There's still no superstars on this defense. and that's ultimately why like I feel like if they added Jayalen Phillips, you know, maybe to put them in the top ten. I'll talk about the team that did because this team was more fundamentally sound than the Panthers last year But right now it still feels like they're missing like a dude in terms of rushing the quarterback As good as Chase youangs, by the, because he's been pretty good for them too So I was looking up like some stats for and prepping for like potential breakout units this season. and I came along to Saints defense who in twenty twenty five, according to True media, they were third in percentage of explosive plays given up behind Seattle and Denver They were fifth in havoc rate, which is plays in the attack for loss, Sack, force Fumble pass breakup interception. They were fifth and defensive success rate and I and like every step that I was looking for for great defensees the Saints always popped up. And so When I went and watched them, was I was kind of surprised. like I was sort of thinking going in like is the brandest Daily D defense. It's going to play incredibly light They're going to try and keep everything in front of them But I do want to shout out their defensive line coach Bau Davis for just the turnaround this defensive line unit has been in general. They do so much comes to running stunts and games. they know that they don't really have like a true force multiplier on that side or on a defensive front So they do so much when it comes to pass rush games when it comes to lining up and showing simulated pressures. And then the secondary, I think is fun. I still think I think they're maybe like a year away and I think they need like one more like impact guy. But I mean, a group of Jonas Sanker who I thought was pretty good as a rookie U Quincy Reilly, who was one of my draft crushes as u in twenty twenty five, I believe. And then you had Justin Reed on top of that linebacker group, like Danny Stutsman played at a level high enough, they're willing to let D Mario Davis walk, which is huge because Mickey Loomis doesn't let anybody walk. So This Saint's defense could surprise a lot of people I'm very curious about what they do this upcoming season. Yeah. I mean, brought back Cam Jordan, who was again, like pretty productive last year. And Chase young is kind of similar to what I said about Ashan Robinson, L a player who like never lived up to the initial hype, but is like just going to be a good I think, NFL player for a long time And Carolina, look, I'm so enticed by this. Deve. I was so close to putting them in the top ten because They have just they have I think and players at premium positions, which is something a lot of the teams we talk about about Derek Brown Jayalen Phills Devin Lloyd JC Horn and Mike Jackson Like that in alone. is enough I have questions about a lot of the other positions, safety Do. second line there's, you know, like it feels like, okay, like let's see if those players can kind of elevate everyone else. Nick Gordon was I think showed promise next year. Now he gets to run rush opposite Phillips. So like that's a great example. like if Philips' presence suddenly elevates Sorton and makes he creates opportunities for Derek Brown. It's so easy for me to imagine this defense, especially with those corners being really good. It is so hypothetical at this point If they would playly biglyap It is very, very hypothetical and I do want to see this pass rush because one of the things Isroo Everro, the Panther D coordinator does, he does not send pressure Yeah They're not They're not going to blitz So I just think that having guys like Jaylen Phillips who can win who can win with four Nick Gordon, you have guys at Prince Lan Mllen Coming off the edge, the designated pass rusher. Nailed that pronunciation. L nailed it. I just think you have all these guys as a password unit, like It should work So I'm curious to see what happens, but on paper, like it's easy to believe Also def moment like I know again, some of his reputation was a little bit inflated last year by interceptions and those can be not sticky, especially for the linebacker position. But he was also like very fundamentally sound against the run and plays a position where players tend to peeak at this age, right? Like so And I thought the contract was totally reasonable. Phillips a little bit an overpay, but It is funny, right? Like the fangcio disciples just kind of passing around the same kind of type of Everu, it's not surprising that They wanted Dallan Phillips And I remain a big fan of his game even if the Sacks haven't been there. So I don't know. I'm excited to watch this group. I think they could be really good. The whole NC South could have competent defense, which is really funny Um, So yeah, I okay. so to recap rebine again, ours were like basically the same at the top U, Texans, seeahawks Rams, eagles Broncos, scrolling, jags Vikings, I I regt that one, I know I am. Bucks Ravens Patriots revisit reread yours to the class. Okay, so I had Texans at one Seahawks, Rams, Broncos, Eagles rounding out the top five The Patriots at six, Jaguars at seven, Browns at eight, Ravens at nine, and the Tamp Bay Buccaneers at ten Who's gonna be the angriest about not being discussed? Steelers, maybe. I could see Sears fans