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Transcript
Last one here as we round out our series, Albert, are the divergent paths or potentially divergent paths of the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots.
We got to talk about the teams that actually made the Super Bowl.
Um, I have resisted, and I'm doing my all 272 record predictions now.
I have resisted.
The temptation to basically sink the New England Patriots.
Uh, I don't, I, I, I, now, are they gonna be a 1314 win team?
I don't think so.
Are they gonna be a better 10-win team?
Maybe, uh, and so let's start there.
I mean, I think that in every conceivable way, the Patriots have improved their roster this offseason, right?
And so now it's up to how they handle the weathers of the schedule.
How everybody stays healthy is Mike Vrabel still Mike Vrabel?
That situation seems to just be blown away.
I don't know.
Um, so I, I don't know.
I mean, I, I, I think that this team has a potential to surprise a lot of people this year.
I, I like that they were aggressive in fixing some things.
Like I, I think that some of the things that affected the commanders in year two with Dan Quinn and Jaden Daniels, um.
Like are in play here, right?
The schedule is tougher.
They had great injury luck last year, like that generally doesn't happen two years in a row.
And like they are older in spots, you know, and that was, I think what really hurt the Commanders last year was they hung on to some guys and some of the guys came back and like got hurt or weren't the same.
And so, like you are relying now on some older guys, Harold Landry on the edge, Robert Spillane.
Um, as, as an off-ball linebacker, Carlton Davis opposite Christian Gonzalez at corner.
AJ Brown now is an older receiver, Morgan Moses, you know, at, at right tackle, although you drafted Caleb Lomu, so you have, you know, a backstop there.
So, like, I think, you know, you look, like what I do like is that this isn't just them running it back and that they were able to kind of move some, Some pieces around so the team looks a little different than it did a year ago, which I think is key.
I think Drake takes another step.
Again, I love his makeup, love his talent, and I think the ceiling for him is , is he could be the best player in football someday.
I don't think it's gonna happen this year, but he could be the best player in football someday.
Um, you know, and so, like I think, you know, it's just kind of, it's the same thing I said with Drake, which is like, you may be battling some forces that didn't exist last year, but there should be incremental improvement in a lot of different areas.
I, I mean, you could make the argument that depending on who plays, you almost have 4 new starters on each side of the ball, um, which is rare for a team that made the Super Bowl and I think shows a keen understanding by Elliott Wolf and Mike Vrabel of like, OK, you know, we understand the parameters of that last year occurred in, and we need to be way better.
Um, and, You know, it's not an excuse to say that, you know, we arrived too early, but I think one of the benefits of arriving too early is that it exposes your fatal flaws, and this team had a few, uh, Seattle went after them, and they ended up kind of knocking them out in the Super Bowl, which is fine.
I mean, I think that's what all of us thought was going to happen.
Um, anyway, um, but, you know , to bring back the Drake May point.
I mean, I think what we're not talking enough about is the fact that like, what if he's the best player in the NFL this year, you know what I mean like it just, it, it, it, it disappears a lot of the other issues.
I mean, look at how many issues the Bills have had collectively for throughout the run of Josh Allen.
Well, that's what a great quarterback is though.
A great quarterback's an eraser, you know what I mean?
Like a great quarterback can cover like that's.
That's to me when a guy becomes truly great.
You know, when he, when you have issues on your roster and he can literally erase them.
You have a deficient defense, he can score more.
You have an offensive line that's got issues, he gets rid of the ball faster.
You got a receiver group or uh a receiver group that can't separate, he can throw into tighter windows, you know, like it's just, Like to me, like that's sort of like the last level of like, OK, like this guy's truly elite is, you know, what Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes have been able to do, which is, Oh yeah, like this isn't perfect around me, but we're still winning because I'm that good.
The other side of this coin is the Seattle Seahawks, and I think that maybe you could peg them as having a quiet offseason, um.
And it's interesting for John Schneider because this is the 2nd time that he gets to look at a Super Bowl champion roster and have to decide who am I going to pay, who am I going to let go, and what ingredients do I need to keep this moving, and what ingredients are kind of superfluous to building a champion.
And, and, and, you know, we had the Russell Wilson debacle where I think he rose to a point where it made some of the other players uncomfortable.
Who do you pay on the Legion, a boom?
Who do you wait to pay on the Legion, a boom, all that kind of stuff.
He had that issue, I think, in Seattle this year where it's like, OK, I didn't think, I mean, I'm curious what your thought is in this.
I would guess if you gave that whole team truth serum, they didn't think Rasheed Shaheed was coming back.
Um, I, I don't think they thought Kenneth Walker, I mean, they knew Kenneth Walker wasn't coming back, um, but I think they got more than they thought they would, and they have a new owner.
I think that's gonna bring, uh, a positive new energy to that building.
Um, I, I don't think the Seahawks are going anywhere.
In fact, I have them going back to the Super Bowl this year.
I, I think like one of the things you gotta look at with the Seahawks is like they still have like a lot of players who are ascending, you know, we talked about this with the Packers yesterday.
Um, the Packers had, the Packers' strength is so many of their guys are still ascending, and I think that's sort of where Seattle is.
Like you get to argue, Jackson Smith andjigba as the Offensive Player of the Year still may have another level that he hasn't reached yet.
Um, Devin Witherspoon, you know, same thing.
Um, you know, Nicky Minrori may just scratching the surface of who he can be.
Byron Murphy, I think has a chance to grow into a dominant, dominant defensive tackle.
You know, Charles Cross already one of the best left tackles in football, you're bringing in.
Ja'aron Price to play running back and Zach Charbonnet was a damn good back before he got hurt, like, we'll see what he brings to the table.
AJ Barner looked really good at tight end, right?
Like you start to tick off the names and it's like all of these guys who are like 3rd, 4th-year guys where it's, it's just, it was like, like to me, last year was like kind of the window opening for that group, you know, and they win the Super Bowl.
And so, like, I think the strength of the Seahawks is, is that so much of that talent is homegrown.
So much of that talent took steps last year.
The environment in the building is really, really good.
Now, that doesn't mean they don't have questions.
I think the biggest one is like replacing Clint Kubiak and bringing in Brian Fleury, and Brian Fleury is really well thought of in San Francisco, and we'll see what it looks like with Brian Fleury is the offensive coordinator there.
Um, you know, I think some people will still have questions about Sam Darnold, although I'd argue he's had two damn good seasons for two different teams.
Like I think we kind of know what he is now.
Um, You know, so I, I just, it's, It's hard to really look at that team though, and like pick away at.
Uh, you know, even the guys they let go, like if you look at their draft class, right?
Like, so, I mean, the Seahawks draft class was, uh, it was sort of like logical, like where they draft Price to replace Walker, they draft Bud Clark out of TCU to replace Kobe Bryant, they draft Julian Neal out of Arkansas to replace Tariq Wllen, they draft Bo Stevens cause that guard, that other guard position has been a problem for them.
You start to look at this stuff and it's like, It's just, if what we're picking away at is, oh, they had a coordinator change, and like, some people still have doubts about the quarterback, like they're in a really good spot.
I, I, I had heard, uh, uh, through the grapevine this offseason that the initial meetings between Brian Fleury and Mike McDonald, I mean, there was just some, some sparks there, not, you know, you know, just like football sparks, you know, and like everyone's like, oh man, like that, you know, I think that sometimes, yeah, when a coach meets his ideological counterpoint.
Um, offensively, special things can happen.
And while it's rare for Mike to go back to back on this, I think one of the best things that could have happened to Mike McDonald was winding up with a quarterback, a coordinator that he didn't want, uh, and, and, and I, I, in his first year, and I'm not saying that he didn't want the coordinator, it's just that he probably, he ended up not wanting him, right?
And I think also that.
I'd also say like there's a pretty good track record of guys coming out of San Francisco and becoming good coordinators too.
Like I, I'd say like if you look at a Mike McDaniel, um, Mike LaFleur, Clint Kubiak, you know, I now Fleury, I think, you know, I think eventually Clay Kubiak is gonna be part of all of this like, uh, like there's I'd say Kyle Shanahan has proven himself to be pretty good at identifying coaches and developing coaches, even if those guys sometimes feel like while they're there, it's like, I know like Kyle can kind of be like the all-encompassing guy, so they, like, I know some guys feel like they have to leave there to get the opportunity that they're looking for.
It seems like a lot of smart guys come out of there on the offensive side of the ball, and it's because they have to be, right?
I mean, I think that there are, there are people who call plays and there are people who understand.
The play from its most elemental place.
And I think that that's San Francisco, that's the Rams, that's the way that Belichick's defensive coaches always were.
And I think that while the Belichick defensive coach track record wasn't great, I think moving forward, a lot of them were still good coordinators.
Like even Matt Patricia, when he was in Philly, didn't know the system came in and at least helped stabilize it, right?
And there are examples of that through timing Ohio State.
He's crushing it right now.
Um, and I think that The same is true with Kyle Shanahan and his guys offensively.
They just understand like the taste of the dirt on a given play, you know, and they know it down to that basic of a function, you know, that's why they all say you have to learn it at the grassroots because if you don't know.
The detail on every single thing then you don't have, you don't have the offense, you know, like I think Kyle would tell, I, I think Kyle would tell you he's like anyone can draw up my plays, you know what I mean like any coach can sit there and draw up my plays like they don't know why I'm doing it, you know, and that's the key is, you know, and I think that's really what it is.
