Welcome to NFL Daily, where we don't need a photo finish to determine our champs. I'm Greg Rosenthal, and beyond lucky today to be joined by nick Shook, who is going to help us crank through an entire conference of Camp Notes. I love shows like this. Shuki. I got to admit, I'm still buzzing from that 100-metre final. What a sporting event. 10 seconds every four years. That is just pure adrenaline. I think it's awesome.

We pass over 1,200 days just to wait for those 10 seconds, and boy, are they thrilling.

It really is. I'm not even kidding. Just to have that much meaning in that short of time in the way that thing finished, it was electric. But I know a lot of people are watching the Olympics this time of year, and that's where we come in, Shook. I love these shows because it forces me, and you too, I know, to go through each team and find what the Beat writers there are saying and find out what's happening in practice, because I know if you have normal jobs, you don't have time for this. So we're going to hit all 16 teams in the AFC. We'll hit the NFC on our next show with Jordan Rodriegue. And yeah, I'm excited. Let's start off with the Bills and the AFC East. I'll lead the way here. A lot going on with the Bills. The thing that probably sticks out to me the most is the receiver group. And I think we're at the point where we can trust Khalil Shaqir. He's not a wide receiver one in the traditional sense, but he, to me, is going to be the guy who's on the field the most for them.

Then a little bit of a surprise maybe early in camp is that Marquez Valdes-Scantling might be out of their top four receiver rotation. There's an undrafted guy from a year ago, Tyrell Shavers, who's maybe ahead of him, and other guys, Chase Claypool, KJ Hamler. And yeah, you think about this team was going to play two tight ends a lot, and they have their four receivers who are going to be Shaq here and Coleman and Samuel and Mac Collins, your guy. And yeah, it looks like MVS might be the guy on the way out.

Yeah, I'm not surprised by this, though. I mean, if we saw what his trajectory was like in Kansas City last year, then this is a team here that threw a bunch of spaghetti at the wall and are hoping something stick in the absence of Stefan Diggs. They drafted Kean Coleman to hopefully replace him, but not expect as much. They're going to do a committee type approach at this receiving core. And for MVS to not be in that group, I I mean, if we looked at what he did last year and where he was going, not a huge surprise, especially if they like somebody who's cheaper, who's undrafted, that thing.

Right. A couple of position battles I find interesting. Demar Hamlin right now, I mentioned a couple of weeks ago getting starter snaps, and the other two guys he's competing with, Mike Edwards and Cole Bishop, who's a second-round safety or rookie, are both hurt in their week to week. So that might have been Bishop's job, but it's interesting. Demar Hamlin might actually be an NFL starter this year. And then I've kept an eye on just the returning returning veterans that were hurt last year. It seems like so far, so good for Matt Milano and Von Miller. Of course, they're going to say that at this time of year, but we also heard them saying it wasn't going so well. Milano off the ACL, Miller off just a disastrous season. That's one other thing that stuck out. Then Ray Davis looks like their backup running back just for the fantasy heads out there making some plays.

Yeah, and that's going to be interesting, too, because I think that's actually a sneaky pick. Not that James Cook isn't going to be the lead guy because he is. But my issue with the Bills in previous years was that they didn't run the ball traditionally well. Once we had the change in offensive coordinator last year and Joe braided took over, it became apparent that they could run the ball that way. And James Cook value increased late in the year. So if you have a backup who's going to get a decent amount of carries, then, hey, keep an eye on them. I'm not much of a fantasy head myself. At least my friends would tell you that, but they're going to run the ball better in a traditional sense that they did in the past.

Yeah, we're going to do a mock draft on the show later this week with Clay Bon and the fantasy guys at the NFL, Marcus Grant and Mike Florian. I'm looking forward to that. All right, let's go to the Patriots. I was about to say my Patriots. I'm not there yet. Man, they have a lot of questions. Let's start negative with them. I mean, they're rotating Chuck Socorafor Kind of a guy who struggled with the stealers, Caden Wallace and Verderian Lowe as their three tackles. And none of them are playing well. None of them are healthy, and they don't really have any other option. Calvin Anderson is another journeyman who's also hurt there. And I think it's going to make it hard to evaluate this offense. That position alone makes me drop the expectation level for this team a couple of wins.

Anytime I have to hear Verderian Lowe's name mentioned in a sentence, I get a little nervous if that's taken as a serious opportunity for him. Not because he's not a decent player, but that was a guy that when I saw him in the combine, I was like, Okay, potential there. And then he flew under the radar and was not notable for a reason. I mean, it's hard to play offensive line at a high level in the NFL. And if you yourself in a position where you're considering somebody like that, I get nervous. I get nervous because you're supposed to be blocking for a rookie quarterback, at least eventually, maybe not right away, but eventually. If you have any weakness there, that's going to hurt his development as well. It just makes me feel a little bit uneasy about the entire offense in the direction that they're going.

It makes me think it's going to be Jacobi Briceet, although I'm someone who I track every camp report. And for the most part, it sounds like May started picking it up towards the end of the week, that the offense in general has been picking it up towards the end of the So I think it was a rough first week for me. Not a shocker, but it's getting better. The other thing I wanted to hit was the receiver's there. I don't think Juju Smith-Schuster is making this team. I don't care how much guaranteed money he has. And Javon Baker, who a lot of people love coming out of the draft, is living up to that hype, making a lot of plays at camp. And it really seems like their top four are going to be two rookies, Javon Baker and Jalen Polk, and then Demario Douglas, who popped last year. That's his nickname, too. And then KJ Osborne has been solid for them. And That's probably their top four. That means Juju gets cut. Weird team.

Yeah, but they're in that transition phase right now where we don't know what to expect from them with the new head coach, and they've got a young quarterback, and they're going to have a veteran probably start in his place. You have a bunch of different names in the receiving core that you look back and think, Well, there's no clear number one, but there's some potential there. Jalen Polk is with potential. And Jalen Baker, if you saw him at UCF, he could just done it.

People watching camp are like, this guy has the most juice. You don't want to get too carried away, But he has transitioned it into padded practice. He's getting open. He's a part of their first team. So Juju is not. Taekwan Thornton, I don't think, will be either. And that's fun. If you're going to be bad, at least be bad with rookies. Let's go to the Jets. First-team offense struggled quite a bit early in camp. Their center has been struggling, can't snap the ball, and Rodgers is getting all over them all the time. It sounds like it got a little better the last few days before we're recording this. And And the thing that stuck out to me the most is that their offensive line was finally together on the field late in the week. And that's the first time that Jets have had an offensive line that's been healthy in, I don't know, the Robert Salah era. So cross your fingers, but on paper, it's a good offensive line. They could be six deep. They have a good swing tackle. And for now, a bunch of guys coming off big injuries like Vera Tucker, it's like, Okay, Tyron Smith, they're getting back on the field, and for now, they're healthy.

So that, to me, is everything.

Well, I mean, AVT, when he's healthy, is a very solid guard. When he went down last year, it was one of the big losses that you looked at and you went, Oh, no, they're not going to recover from that. The Tyron Smith acquisition on paper makes a ton of sense because you're thinking that's good value for a veteran. He's a stud, but he doesn't stay healthy. To back him up with Olufushanu from Penn State is a big move, in my opinion, because you have to pretty much prepare to lose Tyran Smith at some point. That's the beauty of what they did in the offseason. They knew. A lot of teams do this in the offseason. They look at it and go, We're fine. Starting five is fine. In case of emergency, we'll figure it out. The Jets have been burned enough that they now understand that they have to prepare for that emergency. Not saying that that's like that across the board, but they're still in a better spot than they were last year. So you do have to feel encouraged about that. You just hope that Aaron Rodgers stays healthy.

Yeah. Mike Williams has in practice, and that's not like a shock. He's coming off a torn ACL, but we're getting closer to the season. Malakai Corley is a bit of a mystery box. I think some days they think he looks pretty good. He's a rookie who's maybe pretty unrefined. And then you have Alan Lazard is maybe in a big role if those guys aren't there. So I think the offense has been a little up and down. They lost one of their starting corners, Michael Carter, for a couple of weeks, but it sounds like he'll be ready for the season. Tarek Cohen retired. It was sad to see that he was back and retired. This has happened a lot. So that was sad. And then one thing I noted was Will McDonald was their first-round pick a year ago, and he went into the offseason wanting to add weight, and he couldn't get on the field last year. And he's still a backup, even though they got rid of Bryce off. And even though Hassan Reddick is holding out, he's still behind Chris Clemens, and he didn't add any weight. He's 235 pounds. So that might be a first-round pick that has taken a little while to get going.

Yeah, he's not a Vernon Goldston necessarily, but when you spend a first-round pick on a guy like that, and it makes you think, did you add to an area that you didn't need to add? Was it a best player available situation? You hope that he puts it together, but would be a bummer if they don't end up getting any production that they would expect from a first-round pick.

Yeah, right now, not getting a lot of time. All right, let's talk Dolphins. Tyree Kehl got paid since we last talked. That was something I thought could be simmering, and it wasn't at all. I give credit to the Dolphins who are paying their top guys a lot of money. I think they now lead the NFL in terms of the amount of money they pay their five highest paid players. So they're a very top-heavy team, and that includes some defensive players like Bradley Chubb, at least, is in there. But he got paid. They just pushed a lot of guaranteed money from the back end of his contract into the next two years. So that's the perfect way. They're not paying him huge guaranteed money until he's 34, but he is the number one player in the NFL, according to the players out there. How about it? I don't know if you watch that video, but that meant a lot to him, and I get it. He was into it.

Yeah, I can't argue with them. The player-voted thing tends to have some pretty big discrepancies from year to year. Guys who get hurt, fall out of consciousness among players. You saw Joe Burrow fall into the '30s. But Tyreek, it's hard to argue with him. Guys had over 1,700 receiving yards in each of the last two seasons. It's a guy you pay. And good on the Dolphins for not tacking on more years and instead finding a way to make him happy while staying within the realm of possibility.

Yeah, I thought this to a Tyreek thing had a chance to be a distraction and a problem, and I was wrong. Going into camp, I should always remember, contracts, for the most part, are overrated to talk about.

And the salary cap is a myth. Let's not forget the salary cap is a bit of a myth.

It's not totally a myth, but if you want to keep them, you can. A couple other things from camp, Chopp Robinson, reportedly in the one-on-one is just unblockable. Who knows if he'll be good on running downs? But unlike Will McDonald, for instance, I think Chopp Robinson is going to have a roll right off the bat. And notice, OBJ is still not practicing. That's a thing that we've gotten used to. So everyone's penciling him into a third receiver roll, and he should be that. And Braxton Berrios might not It's not even be a lock to make this team. But, man, is he ever going to be healthy? And then I noticed Mike McDaniel talked about with Johnny Smith there in a couple of their additions and a rookie. I think they want to feature the tight end a little more, too. So that could be something just to keep an eye on with the Dolph.

It's interesting personnel-wise, though, because they did make some changes in the position last year, and you move on from a handful of different tight ends and just cycle through, and you rely so much on the receiver that if you could actually add that element, that would make that offense that much more dangerous. And now that Tua got paid, we don't talk about that anymore, but we still have to evaluate who he is because he didn't get paid quite as much as some of the other quarterbacks. And that's a sign that we'll see where he is.

Mcdaniel said it was all about what you emphasize, and they're emphasizing in practice, according to the practice reports, throwing to tight ends more, and they're deep as hell as running back. Jalen Wright is popping off long runs, and he might be their third or fourth running back. They're a fascinating team. I feel like they have one of the highest ceilings, but also a shaky floor if things go wrong. All right, AFC North, why don't you kick us off?

All right, let's start with the Cincinnati bangles. Joe Burrow is back in camp, and he's looking good. The offense is looking good, and he's hooking up with guys not named Tee Higgins or Jamar Chase. He found Trent Nordwin for a breakdown at the end of a long 11-11 period in practice this weekend. Overall, this team, if you look at the offensive line, that's what's going to matter most because you got to keep Burrow healthy. On that offensive line is a guy who's very familiar to you, coming from New England and been in some other stops, Trent Brown. And he just was recently cleared to practice. He has not fully participated with them yet, but that's going to be a key part of this offense because you know you have Orlando Brown on the opposite side. You get both Browns with both tackles. If they're healthy, that's going to do a huge job to help Burrow, who's not going to be the same immobile quarterback that he was at this time last year. But again, this offense starts and finishes with the bangles. Frankly, you look at their numbers last year, they were pretty solid without them.

They went 4-3 without them and 5-5 with as a starter, but they lacked the juice down the stretch to get over the pump. Jake Browning did a bang-up job much better than anybody anticipated, including myself. But again, this starts and finishes with Burrow. So being able to protect him is huge. And on the defensive side of the ball, you're relying potentially on some young corners because they invested in DJ Turner a couple of years ago, and now he's going to slide into a prominent role. But you also got guys like Dijon Anthony. He's a youngster. He could end up playing the nickel. He's been seeing a good amount of snaps in camp so far. Some of the people there have said he's looked pretty good, especially in subpackages, dime packages, where you have more defensive backs on the field. If you can find strength in the secondary, that's going to go a long way toward making this team a legitimate contender because we know what you have in Burrow. But if the defense can actually make some plays and create some turnovers, then suddenly We're looking at a real beast in the AFC North.

Yeah, quietly, Sam Hubbard and Trey Hendrickson, their two best defensive linemen and two of their best defensive players, are out. It's like a week to week injuries where they don't think There's no risk that they're going to miss a season, I mean, miss anything into the regular season, but they're out right now. In Trent Brown, that always worries me. This is a guy, and who knows? Maybe he's a veteran who is ramping up slowly to the season, but you just never know if he's going to be on the field or not. But the positive there is, I've read a lot and heard a lot that Marius Mims, so far, it doesn't seem like he's having that long adjustment to the pros, that he is blocking out the sun and he's blocking out. Now, they're backup pass rushers because the starters aren't in there, but supposedly, he's looked really good. My guess is he's just going to start week one over Trent Brown, potentially, unless they're worried about Trent Brown being upset with Trent Brown. Tends to do. I do want to say before we move on from the bangles, though, Andre Yosefas. This is a camp story I'm buying.

I think he's their wide receiver three. Paul Dayner, the athletic, said he's been the best receiver in camp, including including Tee Higgins. Joe Burrow even said it, Andre is going to have a big year. So this is what camp is all about to me, is you thought, okay, that's Jermaine Burton, who's a rookie. That's going to be his role. But this is a physically talented guy who's in his second year, and it seems now like it'd be a shock if he is not the third receiver in a real part of the offense.

This was a guy that I loved in Indianapolis before the draft a couple of years ago. When they snagged him, I thought, Oh, that's a good long term play because he's got the physical tools and he's obviously got the brain. He's an Ivy Leaker. You just need some time to get your feet underneath him. Why does he get ahead of Jermaine Burton going to this camp? Because he has that first year under his belt. Granted, he didn't play a ton of snaps, but he did get some live bullets and had some experience. Then you get into year two and you start to settle in, you get comfortable. The rookie wall is no longer an issue. I would love to see him become a legitimate contributor for them.

Yeah, I think he's going to. All right, let's hear your next team.

All right, we're going to go over to the Browns, and I'm going to express some concern about this team. And the reason is, look, I know it's early in camp, but anytime you get a number of guys to start on PUP, I get nervous. I get real nervous. Right now, the Browns, both their starting tackles are on PUP. Jed Wills and Jack Conklin. We obviously know what Jack Conklin went through in a season-ending injury last year. You got Dawan Jones there, so you shouldn't be that nervous. But I also think about the long-term plan. Does Jed Wills stick around after this year? They just resigned Conklin to an extension, so you think maybe Dawan ends up taking the left side, but that's not where he's experienced. But if we're thinking this season, all right, well, both guys are on PUP right now. Let's hope that they get off of that before long. You don't have to start week one with Hakeem Adeneji at left tackle because we know how that went for the bangles in a right tackle in the past. It's not pretty. Then you go down the list, nick Chubb, who's getting closer, but he's still on PUP as well.

I get a little worried about that. Then Dalvin Tomlinson, another guy on the defensive side of the ball in the interior, a guy who really played well for them last year, and they do have some depth there. They added Quentin Jefferson. They have Mohers. They drafted Mike Hall. But anytime I see a number of guys with that PUP next to their name at this point in the season, I get a little worried. It's not even anything to do with Deshawn Watson, who apparently has been showing off the arm's strength, but we already know that this is a big year for him and that we can't necessarily be confident in where he is health-wise until he proves it. So big question marks on the health side early in camp for the Browns as they return from their stay at the Greenbriar.

Right. They're back in Cleveland as of Sunday. Their starting corner, Greg Newsom, is also out for a number of weeks. There was some news on the Chubb front that Mary Kay Cabbit of the Akron Beacon Journal now, I think, or the Cleveland Plane Dealer.

It's hard to keep this from. Cleveland. Com.

That he could be activated during camp, which is interesting because I thought he'd be a PUP guy into the season. That'd be good to have him.

The question, though, is this. If you activate him in camp, does that mean he's actually ready or is that just the next step in the acclamation. I fully don't expect him to be good for the first few weeks. Well, you can't put him...

You can't put him in the injury head. Now, I guess you could move him to IR, so it's not that huge of a deal. You lose the PUP status that you could have for the season. There's a certain amount of IR spots. I would say this, they would only activate him if they thought he has a chance to help them in the first three weeks of the season or so. So that's a positive sign if it happens. They did get Jerry Judy back at Team Drills Sunday. They did get Miles Garrett back at Team Drills, both of them for the first time all camp. Yeah, they've had a lot of injuries. I have a hard time. Browns fans think I hate this team because I hated the Deshawn Watson acquisition. Yeah, That's a problem. I do think if you're a Browns fan, there's a lot... This is a really good roster. And on the Watson front, I think this offseason's gone as planned. He had a scheduled day off, but he's basically doing almost everything at camp. And it's just the injuries. Other than that, all they need is average quarterback play. We saw it last year.

That's all they need. And I think so far, so good for for everything. It's just they got to get everyone around them healthy. Let's hear about the Steelers.

All right, the Steelers. The big headline is one that's been dominating the Beatriders' focus for most of the last week, which is that Russell Wilson, a little bit of a lower body issue. Listed as Calf, limiting him a little bit in practice going into this week, and of course, turned all the attention to how many snaps does Justin Fields get versus Russell Wilson. Mike Tomlin was pretty adamant that no matter how hard Wilson wants to be or how bad he wants to be out there, that He's not going to just let him force his way out there, which is great. That's the structure that somebody like Russell Wilson probably needs at this point in his career to really be his own safeguard. But I do sit back and think a guy that's been mobile for a lot of his career was good at extending plays, any lower body issue. I get a little concerned, and it just makes me wonder, how do we see Justin Fields get worked in this offense? Because at some point it's going to happen. And if this is the way, it's unfortunate, but it does open the door.

Yeah. Wilson hasn't been taking first-team reps, but he has taken seven on sevens, and he was ramping up his individuals. And when they asked Tomlin about it Sunday, it did sound like... I think the team drills are coming maybe after the break. I think they have Monday off, and then maybe he's coming on Tuesday. But they got a proof of concept. And supposedly, as the week and a half went on, Fields was more and more comfortable and had some really big days where the offense dominated. There was one red zone session where they said he had six straight touch downs. Then Russell Wilson steps in for one snap where he hands it off. And you know that's killing Russ when they're scoring six touch downs without him. And then it really struck me. Tomlin talked about the running back, just how impressed he is right now that Jalen Warren and Najee Harris are the leaders, the tough guys of this team. And they're playing a lot of two, three tight ends, and they want to run the ball. And it's Arthur freaking Smith. And they're saying read option. They're saying pistol. And which quarterback would you rather have run that offense?

Justin Fields. It's It's Justin Field. I think this is a story. This is something. All right, let's wrap up the AFC with the Ravens.

Looks like the defense is balling in Baltimore so far with the Ravens. A number of defenders are really standing out. Odafe Owe, a guy who had a really good year a couple of years ago, has been pretty disruptive in camp. I'm really excited to see if they can actually get that turned up because look, they lost Mike McDonald, the defensive coordinator. They lost a lot of defensive coaches this offseason. It was a bit of an exodus, not because the Ravens were bad, but because they were so good, other teams wanted them. How can they sustain that momentum going into this season? That's going to be key, and especially on the back end. You got veterans back there in that secondary now. You got Marcus Williams. You got Eddie Jackson back there as well. Those are guys who have a lot of experience making plays in the back end. If the front four and the back-end can work together, then we're not even going to be thinking about Roquan Smith or the loss of Patrick Queen. Who cares if both sides are doing that well? A lot of good signs from the Ravens defensively in practice so far.

Trenton Simpson, that's another guy who's going to get a bigger role this season. Curious to see how he takes advantage of this camp so far, so good on their end. That's going to be the key because your offense can put up points. We can sit here and talk about year two with Todd Monken all day. You know you have Lamar at quarterback, and he's going to be electric. But it's all about complementary football. If that defense could be nearly as good as the offense, then they're going to be just as good, if not better than they were last year, and they're going to be a tough out.

Yeah, I look at them, and they've got three offensive line positions up for grabs, which is a little crazy. It It looks like it's Andrew Vorey is at left guard. So far, this mountain of a man, Daniel Falele is at right guard, but that's open. It's going to be my brother, Roger Rosengarden or Macari at right tackle. But I'm not worried. They always figure that stuff out. You're right. I actually think... I think it's fair to expect the offense to take a little step back because they were just so good last year. But I do think the defense can make up for it, even without Mike McDonald. Their cornerback, Nate Wiggins, their first round pick, is, to me, one of the key guys in the division. There was a stat that they tracked him as the fastest player they've ever tracked during practice earlier this week. And so he's just pure speed. Can he hit? We'll see. They usually coach that up a lot. But I'm into the Rashaad Bateman summer. Rashaad Bateman, January, March, OTAs, everything. It keeps happening. He's supposedly having a good camp, and he's healthy, so it's all happening. And then one last note on the Ravens, and we'll take a break after this is John Harba said on Justice Hill.

I see him as a starter. I think he's going to play a lot. And obviously, he's not going to play as much as Derek Henry, but just something to put in your pocket there that they think that highly. And Derek Henry, not always the best on passing down. So Justice Hill might be in the mix quite a bit. We're going to stay in the mix. We're going to go through the entire AFC South and the AFC West after the break. Back on NFL Daily. We're cranking. We're speeding through. Did you do track? You looked like a guy that would have done the hammer throw or something like that.

No, I was never fast enough and wasn't quite powerful enough.

Spring sport? What was your spring sport? Did you have a spring sport?

I was a pitcher and a corner infielder until I tore my shoulder playing football, and then it was all over.

I was going to say that surprises me as someone who was on your softball team. No, I'm just kidding. You could hit it a long way. No, Shook and I actually played similar roles, I think, on the team. We were very solid role players. We weren't the best players on the team, but we were rock solid starters that you could depend on to get on base, to make smart plays in the field. And that's what being a team is all about, nick.

Yeah. We stepped up. We did our job. We sprayed the ball around the field. We drove in runs.

I'm messing with you. I did want to hit before we hit the division just very quickly. They had the Hall of Fame ceremony on Saturday. Our good friend, Coleen Wolf, was there, of course. And that's why if you're missing Colleen on the show, she is going to be a big part of the show every week. But like a lot of the reporters, like Steve Weish, they're traveling all over the country right now. So looking forward to when they all get back. But after a rain delay, they had the ceremony. Julius Peppers in. Very satisfying to me to see how his career arc worked as someone who was there at the beginning of his career already covering football. I remember you chumps who were saying Oh, this guy's overrated, or he doesn't try hard enough. And it's just a reminder of how toxic the media can be because that dude busted his ass and had an incredible career. So many offensive linemen say he was the toughest person they've ever had to block. And so it was very cool seeing him in the Hall of Fame. Dwight Frini, Andre Johnson, who was just all class and a total awesome first Houston Texan to make the Hall of Fame.

He'll always really have a special place in those fans' being the first. Patrick Willis, who I'm glad got in because I'd rather have a really high peak rather than the compilers. And he had such a high peak before injuries took him out. And then Devon Hester, Randy Gradescher, and Steve McMichael getting in from the Veterans Committee. So congratulations to all them and their families. I love that Canton weekend. Let's move on to the AFC West. I'm going to lead off. Let's talk Chiefs, okay? To me, there's some similar Other stories here that I remember from last camp. Dineric Prince, he was a buzzy guy last camp, and then he didn't do anything in the season. He was like, Oh, is this guy the Rb2? Who is this random dude? He is explaining exclusively what the first team, him and Pacheco. But it's a clear drop off to whoever's behind them, like Clyde Edwards-Alaire. So this guy's going to make the team. He's probably going to be the backup. And then Justin Ross. Every year, we get to this point in the season, and Chiefs fans love Justin Ross. You don't need Justin Ross anymore because you got big time plays going down the field.

But it's almost like this team is too set up. You're just looking at the margins for new stuff.

Yeah, because they're so good. But the thing about Justin Ross is he ends up not being the most important Justin in this receiving corps by the time the season actually arrives. That ends up being Justin Watson, not Justin Ross. I would love it if he was, but he just hasn't gotten the volume of targets that he would need. But it is interesting when you talk about the runningbacks because this is a team that has thrived on being able to rotate guys in and out and find roles for them going back to 2019 when they came back to beat the 49ers in the Super Bowl. So to see a new name included in there, and it's not just Isiah Pacheco's show, that's good. It does disappoint me, though, that Clive Edwards-Halair has fated into the background because of where he was drafted and how much people liked him when he first came in.

Well, they resigned him. He'll probably make the team as their third back. He had some moments in the Super Bowl. It's just, yeah, they're going to go younger and really look like Prince. So that's a guy that's now going to get drafted in fantasy league. The other deep ball narrative that's been there, I mean, it's day after day after day. I read these great reports from Pete Sweeney of Arrowhead Pride. Every single day, Mahomes is bombing to Mark East Brown and Xavier worthy. And some days they hit three or four, or two or three, and some days They don't hit as many. But the fact that it's what you emphasize, that is coming with the regular season. And John Gruden in Chief's Gear at practice yesterday, or Sunday, rather. I don't know if he's part of the team, if he's officially part of the team, but he's wearing Chief's gear and he was there. So that's just something to watch. They obviously used to coach together, Andy Reid and John Gruden. He might be back in the league. All right, let's go to the Raiders. Antonio pierce has been saying that the running back position is wide open, which is surprising to me.

I thought it was Zamir White. They have an undrafted free agent, Dylan Laube, someone to watch a little bit in the preseason. And then the quarterback battle. Supposedly, it's just been mostly bad Minchou and Aiden O'Neill. I'm pulling for O'Neill. The reports were Saturday, which was one of those practices with fans. And the owners, Mark Davis is there, that Minchou had a much better day, and maybe he edged ahead for the first time, but we still got a little ways to go there.

It's weird because if you looked at it on paper going to the season, most people probably thought, Yeah, this is Minchou's job to lose, even if it's still Garner Minchou. And yet we're not seeing much of separation so far, which I'm not surprised about because Minchu, to me, is a plus who's going to do everything he can to avoid ruining games for you, but he's not going to go out there and win games for you. O'kunal has probably more of a higher yet unknown ceiling and has the experience of playing with them in the backside of last year. So it's an intriguing battle. It's not an exciting battle because the outcome, there's no high peak there. There's nobody you're pulling for who you're like, Yeah, he's going to win us a Super Bowl. I'm concerned, but I wouldn't be surprised if we see a little bit of back and forth in that position this year.

Yeah. Decorian Bennett, second-year player. It looks like he's emerged as the starter opposite Jack Jones. I think the tight ends have been as advertised, and they're going to play a lot. Supposedly, the third receiver who I liked last year, Trey Tucker, has been pretty rough. And Tyree Wilson, a top 10 pick who did nothing as a rookie. Very quiet camp again. This is according to Victor Four and to Sean Reed of the Athletic that I just don't know if it's happening for Tyree Wilson. And Raiders fan, I'll tell you what I see. I'm going down there on Tuesday. We're not doing a ton of content, but I will have at least one interview and talk about what I saw at practice. So I'm looking forward to that. I'm actually high on this roster. Check out Mina Kimes' AFC West preview. I did it with her, and we did 15 minutes. This roster is pretty good except for the quarterbacks. Go ahead. Sorry.

That's just the disappointing part about it is if you look around, you're like, this could be a team that could contend for the division. On the defensive side of the ball, you see some studs. Well, because the Chiefs exist in the division, but you know what I'm saying? They could make it at least interesting. And then you come back to quarterback and you just think, This is going to be the thing that holds them back.

Right. The chargers, the opposite. The quarterback is going to be lifting everyone up, at least when Justin Herbert gets back. I hit that injury that Herbert had at the beginning of our last show, and nothing new on that front. Easton Stick, no surprise, has reportedly struggled against the starting defense a couple of days, although maybe it's more about the defense because the Rams had a joint practice with the Chargers on Sunday and supposedly couldn't get anything done, like turned the ball over every other snap and couldn't block anyone. Now, they have a lot of injuries up front, but the pass rush for the Chargers, playing well, they go pretty deep in terms of their pass rush. But I think offensively, it's going to be tough getting anything productive done with Easton Stick as your quarterback and Quentin Johnston is hurt again. Might be minor. Lad McConkey has been in and out of the practice because of injuries the last few days. So this is a team, I think, that's happy. We're still, what is it? We're five Sundays away. From starting the season. They need that time.

Yeah. And I wouldn't be too concerned necessarily at receiver when it comes to Lad McConkey because I think you just need to get him healthy. And if he's healthy and he's out there, he's going to find a way to make it.

It's nothing major. He's been in and out. But then he came and played one snap, and then he was out again. So It's never a great time.

So get him healthy. You have time to get him acclimated and get him healthy. Quentin Johnson, on the other hand, the pressure has to already be on because he did not have a notable rookie season at all. He was known more for failing to come through in the clutch than actually producing. To know that he's hit another bump in the road is not exciting for them. But defensively, man, you talked about the Rams couldn't do much against him. Well, look at the defensive coordinator. I mean, that's the guy who was the mastermind behind Michigan's defense, who went to win the college football playoff national title, Jesse Menter. If that could be the strength of their team this year, I'm cool with that. Then you let Justin Herbert make the plays that he makes in hopes that the receiver's on the other end of the pass is catch the ball. But if the defense is the strength, that's actually really exciting because that's not something that we're necessarily used to with the chart.

No, they need it. I mean, they need to just get closer to average. I think they're getting a really good camp out of Christian Fulton, who starting and supposedly had a good day. Our RAMS correspondent, Jordan Rodrieg, said he shut down Cooper Cup throughout the day on Sunday. Let's go to the Broncos. Bo Nix has taken first-team reps in four out of the last five practices. Sean Payton compared his ability to avoid Sacks to Drew Brees on Sunday.

There it is. You knew it was coming.

I think we know which way that's going here. I thought Stitt him had a chance. Maybe he still has a little bit of a chance, but I don't think he has much of a chance.

The Nix deSant is here. This is going to be the way it was going to go the whole time. The first time was Zack Wilson falling out of the rotation. Now you're hearing Sean Payton.

Okay, here's the thing, though. He could have just stunk. There is a world where everyone watching practice is like, Man, Nix is not ready. And that doesn't seem to be the case. Credit to him for doing that. You know what I mean? Zack Wilson's first camp, no one would have said, Oh, this is going the way we thought it was going to go. You know what I mean?

Yeah. I think a lot of that has to do with what Bo Nix has between the ears. He's got a ton of college experience. Physically, that was the big question. Is like, Could he get the job done? I think he fits into what Sean Payton does. I'm not at all surprised to hear him start making breeze comparisons because you know that's going to be his guy.

Yeah. A couple of other just little notes there. Audric Estime. Is it Esteban? Or is that how he pronounced it?

It is Estime. It is Estime. Yeah.

A lot of love. And Javante Williams, Payton says, is a totally different player. So he's either gassing up Williams to try to trade him, or maybe that's your one-two punch. I think Esteban is going to do something this year.

That's your Thunder and Lightning, and Esteban is the Thunder. That's a big back, and he runs hard. He's not the fastest, he's not the most explosive, but he'll run guys over. It's the perfect A compliment to Jivante Williams. He could make a nice little backfield there.

Okay. Yeah. Listening to Payton's press conferences, I don't think he's a Greg Dulsich guy, not his guy. They always want the guys they brought in. It makes sense. That's why they brought him in for a reason. And then Levi Wallace, who's competing, was probably the favorite to start at cornerback, is going to miss a couple of weeks, and that's a thin position for them. We'll wrap up the AFC West. We already did. I didn't even notice. Let's go to the AFC South.

All right, we're going to start with the Jacksonville Jaguars, where cornerback Christian Brazwell is having a good camp. He's standing out, but he also had a rough time against Christian Kirk, which points This is what I really want to talk about, which is this revamped receiving core with the Jaguars. They added a ton of talent in the offseason. They let some talent go as well. But Brian Thomas has been turning heads, and they're going to depend on him a lot, I think, this season. You get a top three of Kirk, Thomas, and Gabe Davis, and suddenly Trevor Lawrence has multiple options to go to. You add in Devon Douverne, who's got experience from Baltimore, who can be a bit of a field stretcher at times. I love this group. Now, beyond those first four, you get a little concerned. You don't want to be relying on Parker Washington that much, even when he did step up occasionally last season. But I like this top four. It's a big year. Trevor Lawrence just got paid, but it's still a big year. Because of the way they finished last year, they cannot afford to struggle out of the gate again.

So getting these new additions in there and acclimated is going to serve them really well. Then, of course, like I said, on the defensive side of the field, Brazwell, a 2023 6th-round pick. If he's standing out in camp, that's going to go a long way toward helping their depth. You already know what you have in Mr. Joshua Heinz-Allen, a guy who we've already highlighted because of his name change. I'm feeling excited about this group. I think that there are some question marks. There's some holes that they've passed with veterans. You got Ronald Darby back there as well, and I don't feel necessarily great about that. But Tyson Campbell got paid recently. You got Andre Cisco back there. That's still a group that I like. If you get some depth contributions from guys that you didn't expect, then you're looking better going into a pivotal season for Doug I hate that.

I'm saying this about the AFC South, but there's just a couple of teams here. I don't know what to say at camp because I went through the camp notes and it happens. They haven't had devastating injuries, although their offensive line right now is banged up, but it doesn't seem like they're long term injuries. Tank Bigsby, better. According to SI's John Shippley. Having a good camp, that's good to know. Their rookie kicker is killing it, Kam Little. And otherwise, I see like, Gabe Davis has a couple of good days. Brian Thomas has a couple of good days, but then a couple of quiet days. The offense definitely got better after I talked about how they were really struggling early in camp, and that's fine. It's push and pull. They don't have a lot of huge headlines. They don't have a lot of big position battles. They're looking for a third edge rusher. But quiet is sometimes okay in camp. So I'm not looking any differently that it's been a quiet camp. And definitely, arrow up, it sounds like for the offense over the last week.

Yeah, they need it. You're right, though. That's very true about a lot of this division, which is why I'm going to go to a notable news item coming from Tennessee, where the Titans lost DeAndre Hopkins to an issue. He's going to miss multiple weeks. That would be concerning on the surface. But those who know the Titans fairly well understand that Trayland Birks has not produced at the level that they expected. This could open the door for him to either prove it or lose it. Because look, if DeAndre Hopkins isn't out there, you were drafted to replace A. J. Brown, and you were so unproductive, they went and got DeAndre Hopkins last year. So now they've spent some money elsewhere. They've added other talent in the offseason. So now we need you, Trayland Burks, to step up. And so far, we don't really have conclusive results, but we did hear them talk a lot about it yesterday about how the fact that it's going to give him a chance to prove himself. It's just, look, we've got five Sundays till the regular season. They didn't pick up a fifth-year option already. They know that he's got to prove it right now.

So this is going to be an important month for him and whether he can actually carve out a role with this team or not.

Never was a big Birks guy coming out of college. I did think as a rookie, though, he did more than I expected. Very disappointing second year. I think if you could carve out the right role for him, he can be valuable. Calvin Ridley has reportedly looked really good. I think they're going to use a lot of two tight-end sets. Again, I can say that about a lot of teams. Josh Wiley, I believe it is, making some noise. Him and Chiga Konkwo, that's a bit of a battle. You don't need Trelen Burks to be You just need him to be a contributor. But he was wide receiver four before this injury, which says a lot to me. One last name I'll say in Tennessee is Devandre Sweat, who was a very polarizing draft pick, and immediately with the starters, and by all accounts, immediately making a lot of noise at camp. And so that was a guy that felt like as boom or bust as anyone in this draft. And so far, I think they're really happy with what they've seen. I think he's going to start day one.

I think we've I have fallen out of the era of the classic gap-plugging nose tackle. They still exist, but not in the same way that they used to. This guy fits that mold. I was just blown away by the picture that was posted of him next to Jeffrey Simmons making Jeffrey Simmons look small, and Jeffrey Simmons is massive.

Oh, I didn't see that. That is wild.

Yeah, this dude is a unit. So if they could actually plug gaps consistently with him, and if he's actually living up to the notes so far that he's with the starters and he's making plays, it's going to be a huge boon for them on that defensive side.

Yeah. And I think with Levis, it seems like more good than bad. There hasn't been a lot of hot takes from people there, just as expected, making some plays, making some bone-headed plays. That's what love us. All right, let's go Texans.

All right, we'll go Texans. I was going to go Colts, but we'll go Texans next. Look, we know the story of this team right now. It's C. J. Stroud in this entire offense. But what I'm thinking about is what they did on the defensive side of the ball because we can spend all day talking about, well, they got Stefan Diggs in the offseason. They look great offensively. They gave Nico Collins money. Tinkdale is coming back from injury. That's all cool. But I need to know how your defense is going to play in key situations. And Ezeiz Al-Shire is a guy that I thought was a super sneaky addition in the offseason. And so far, he's proven his worth in camp. I mean, he's been very solid, especially in the red zone. He's stuffed the run. He's done pretty much everything you would ask him to. He's a guy that came from San Francisco, spent last year in Nashville. Somebody that wasn't really appreciated that much, I don't think, and maybe it was because of the situation in Nashville last year. But now with the Houston Texans, I think he's got an opportunity. Not necessarily to become a pro-buller and all-pro and pop like that, but make some key contributions at the second level where they thought they were their weakest, and now he'll play alongside Chr.

Harris and maybe serve a big role because we'll pay a lot of attention talking about Will Anderson and about Daneel Hunter. But I think this second level is going to be the make or break part of this defense and really what's going to make Dameco Ryan's unit into something good or not?

Yeah, and I have so much faith in Ryan's ability to coach up that group. That was his position, and he's done it. He did it last year with lesser talent. I'm with you. I think Kamari Lasseter has been one of the big stories in camp. If I could pick two camp Hype Bunny that I featured on this show that I believe is for real, it would be Yoshavas with the Bengals and Lasseter with the Texans, just because the people I trust that are there that are really smart football people are seeing it day after day. And they're saying he is matching up against this great receiver trio, and he is really holding his own. And of course, they didn't play him in the Hall of Fame game. He's a locked-in starter as a rookie corner. You're going to have ups and downs as a rookie corner, but so many rookie corners come in and they get barbecued in camp. And the fact that he's come out and everyone's really impressed with how he's looked, to me, that's a really encouraging story out of Texan's camp.

Yeah, he's ahead of Jeff O'Cuda on the depth chart right now. Oh, yeah, for sure. That's a good move. That looks really good, and that fills out that secondary.

And a good sign, Damian Pierce's revival. Didn't play in the Hall of Fame game. I I think they like what they're seeing right now at that, Damian.

I'm going to make one note on the Hall of Fame game since I was sitting in the press box and sat through that storm and got drenched on the way out. I also ran into Coleen, so that was fun. We got to talk for a minute in the press box. But the Bobby Sloak offense looks just as good as it did last year. I know it doesn't show on the scoreboard, but when Davis Mills was in there early, I was like, Oh, baby. He looks comfortable. They're moving him around in the pocket. He is not a statue. He's designed rollouts. He's navigating. He's breaking away. He's delivering the ball. He didn't play very long, but I just sat back and thought, Man, they are picking up right where they left off, and they don't even have Stroud out there. I love the idea of this offense this year with Slilik. He's going to be getting head coaching looks before long, and especially if they produce this year. So it was a good sign.

Hot take. They have the best quarterback room in the NFL. Oh. C. J. Stroud, Davis Mills, and Kees Keenum. I mean, if you have to go one through three and you're not overly weighting, one is... Obviously, one is by far the most important, but you got a top 10 quarterback, at least, at one. And then Mills at two, Keenum At three, that's pretty strong. I'm just saying not many go three deep like that. That's all I'm saying.

Hey, you know what? Let's not forget camp arm Tim Boyle, who I have to tell this story. The head official at the game on Thursday night, I actually left his mic hot for a little bit, and I caught a part of a conversation he was having with Tim Boyle. Let's just say it was hilarious, and it was not what you would expect from an onfield conversation.

Okay. We'll have to keep that a secret. All right, let's wrap this thing up. Colts, we're done. Nick Shook, one more team.

All right. So a lot of My expectation for the Indianapolis Colts and Anthony Richardson, and so far not exactly as great as you'd think. At one point during a recent practice, he went two for five on 11 period. We talked about this. He had moments of inaccuracy as a rookie, and it's more about His ability to make plays with his legs and his feet. But I am a little concerned about that. It could be a sign for the defense. It could say, The defense is playing well. But I know it really comes down to Richardson. We'll keep an eye on that. And so far, that's got to be my biggest point just because I think that the whole season hees and hinges on him. You don't want to have to turn to Joe Flacko. You don't want to have to unless you absolutely need to. So it's all going to come down to him and whether he can establish a rapport with AD Mitchell. So far, AD Mitchell has looked good in practice, and I expect nothing less. I know he slid in the draft, and maybe people were concerned about the way he presented himself as maybe that was why he slid, but I'm not worried about that.

Kids are baller. He was a baller in college. I would love to see him in the draft.

I'm a little worried, Shook, at least in terms of fantasy, because supposedly, he's been a little quiet And Piers, Reggie Wayne is gassing up Piers. This is the first time he's had to compete. And for now, it seems like that's Piers' job. They'll need them both. But I think to me, from what I'm hearing, Downs is the clear two. They're playing them outside, they're playing them inside. It's going to be Pitman one, Downs two, and the other two guys get in the mix, and the tight ends get in the mix, and that's fine. Mitchell is a rookie receiver. But I guess I've gotten a little more pierce hype than I expected this to be.

That's fair. I just wonder, evaluating Alex Piers so far in this career, he's had a lot of change of quarterback, and I think that hasn't done in any favors. I just wonder, is that the reason why I'm not fully sold on him yet?

No, he's never open.

The opportunities he got, they weren't good. So maybe if they become good, then he'll prove himself.

No. And we hit the Samson-Ebecom injury. I think they're deep enough to withstand that. They've moved at practice. They have a couple of holes on the defense, especially at safety. Julian Blackman, who's good. They moved him recently to free safety. And when they asked about possibly adding someone, Shane Steiken more or less was like, Yeah, that might be something we do. So there's a couple of big name safety SAFCs, relatively big name experience SAFCs out there, starting with Justin Simmons. I think they might be the number one Justin Simmons team. So that's just something to put in your pocket.

That void, that makes sense. Keep an eye on that. I like that.

All right, we did it. We hit all 16 AFC teams. That was fun. We're going to do the same on Tuesday's show. I'll do it with Jordan Rodriegue talking about the NFC. In the meantime, you can watch the Olympics a little. Watch some Inside Training Camp Live, though. We're on all day on NFL Network.

Hey, come watch the Tulane Greenwave on Twitch. We just got a big win over Oklahoma last night.

Yeah, you got to check out Shook on Twitch playing with the Tulane Greenwave. That was a lot of fun. We will be back again on Tuesday, the NFC, all 16 teams with Jordan Rodrieg. So for nick Shook and for Nabil, helping us out producing this show on a Sunday evening. We'll see you next time.