00:00Burt, last night, the Patriots in a very meaningful game against the Giants.
00:04Ben Woolridge, I believe.
00:05That's correct.
00:06Listen, his mom has been to every game.
00:08It's really exciting.
00:10All right, so first of all, let's ask about the other team.
00:13Jackson Dart, what are you hearing about him?
00:15He's checked every box.
00:17I think what everybody's seen in the preseason reflects what they've seen in camp.
00:22And they felt like when they drafted him, they were on him from the beginning.
00:25I may have said it to you guys before the draft,
00:28but I felt like all along just talking to people there that they were much hotter on him than they were on Shadour
00:34because they had been connected to Shadour a lot.
00:37You know, I think it's not going to change the dynamic in the quarterback room for right now.
00:44Russell Wilson is going to be the starter.
00:45But I think that leash has gotten considerably shorter.
00:49And I think it's because Jackson Dart's more ready for the pros than people thought.
00:54And to the Giants' credit, they pulled on their own connections.
00:58Their internal connections to get the information they needed on Dart.
01:04You know, his offensive coordinator at Ole Miss is Charlie Weiss, Jr.
01:09Brian Dayball's mentor is Charlie Weiss, Sr.
01:12And then Joe Judge is there, too, as the quarterback's coach.
01:16So that's where he wound up.
01:18Yeah, so Joe Judge.
01:19But Joe Judge obviously still has a lot of relationships in the Giants organization,
01:22having been the head coach there.
01:23So they're really optimistic about where he is.
01:26I'm impressed, too.
01:27I mean, I think, again, the stuff that they talked about was, like, the toughness, the feel,
01:33you know, what you heard constantly.
01:34I think I said this with you guys, too.
01:36Like, the difference between Jackson Dart and Shadour Sanders when you watch them play,
01:40one distinct difference was when they get in trouble, Shadour bails out of the back of the pocket.
01:48Jackson moves up in the pocket.
01:50And it was sort of a way for, you know, a scout that I was talking to about this before the draft
01:56to illustrate the difference between the two.
01:58Like, Jackson Dart is playing quarterback out there.
02:01He is more refined as a quarterback despite coming from a spread offense.
02:07So they're really happy with him.
02:09And, again, like, I think if the Giants start 6-1, it's probably a moot point.
02:15But if you look at their schedule, that seems unlikely.
02:17It seems more likely that they could stumble.
02:19And if they stumble, I feel like they've got a viable answer there in Jackson Dart.
02:23I know that there were, you know, there's always people clamoring for, you know, that guy to get the start.
02:29Yeah, everybody always wants the future.
02:31Yeah, yeah.
02:32But, you know, even watching his quote-unquote success last night, the touchdown throw, you know,
02:39in a game against starters, that ball that's thrown a little bit behind the receiver,
02:44that's either, you know, deflected or picked.
02:47It's like you take everything you see in these games with a grain of salt.
02:51And his decision to keep the ball and run and not slide, I'm like, I mean, you can't do that.
02:56That comes with time, though.
02:58Yeah, I think that that's one of those things.
03:00Like, I mean, Josh Allen used to take kill shot after kill shot after kill shot.
03:06And he's gotten way more.
03:07He's the exception, though.
03:09But even him.
03:10I'm not saying, like, that Jackson Dart can take the damage that Josh Allen, who's a tank, can.
03:16What I am saying is that even Josh Allen has become more judicious about the way.
03:20There's a learning curve.
03:21Right.
03:22Like, where it's like you're getting hit by a 21-year-old who's still a freak athlete, but he's 21,
03:28versus getting hit by a 26- or a 27-year-old.
03:31There's only so many times you can do that until you pay a heavy price for it.
03:34So that's something that I think comes with time.
03:37And, you know, obviously, like, I don't think anybody would question, anybody in Washington College
03:42would question Jackson Dart's toughness.
03:44It's just you have to learn how to balance that with what's smart.
03:47Vrabel said last night, Zoe asked him, when he wasn't being taken to task for his, you
03:53know, fictitious reporting, Vrabel's words.
03:57Well, he didn't get the ā he only ā I think he only got one syllable of fictitious out.
04:01Yeah, yeah.
04:02He needs to workshop that joke.
04:04What's the problem?
04:06Zoe asked him last night, how many roster spots really up for grabs tonight?
04:10Three, four?
04:10And Vrabel laughed it off.
04:12He said, no, way more.
04:13He said, it's our first year here.
04:15And you also saw how the backups played last night.
04:17I would say, what, 10 roster spots are in play?
04:20If anyone gets hurt of the starters, I'm looking at those backups.
04:24Yeah, the question, like, how many do you think were up for grabs last night for the Patriots?
04:28I don't think Vrabel's being misleading there.
04:31I think that they feel like they've got, like, a depth issue.
04:35You know, and they still have a lot of work to do.
04:37And I don't know, I was there earlier this week.
04:39Like, I think there is some level of break tapping.
04:41Like, this is going to take some time, you know?
04:43And I, as it should, by the way.
04:46Just the sense I get, like, I don't, I don't, like, I didn't really get from anybody that, like, oh, we've arrived.
04:52You know, like, this is, I think the guys who came in feel like this is a multi-offseason rebuild.
05:01And I know I've said that before.
05:02I said that in 23 and before Bills last year.
05:05I said that in 24 when Gerard took over.
05:09And now I'm saying it again.
05:10But the reality of it is I'm saying that over and over again because they've kept missing on draft picks.
05:17Like, look at the 24 offseason.
05:20I told you before the 24 offseason.
05:21Look at the 24 draft out of the Drake May.
05:23And even, like, even the contracts they did.
05:26They did the contract for Duggar.
05:27Duggar, who played well into the second half last night.
05:30Yeah, fourth quarter.
05:31They re-signed Jennings, I believe, in the 24 offseason, right?
05:34Like, so if I was telling you before the 24 offseason that this is a multi-offseason rebuild.
05:42And then you've got basically nothing except Drake May out of that offseason.
05:47Wouldn't it remain a multi-season rebuild?
05:49So, but now you have different people theoretically in charge.
05:53But this idea that you can come in and, and Fred, I know you're wholeheartedly, like, with me on this.
05:59Like, this idea that you can come in and fix everything through free agency is asinine.
06:04It doesn't work that way.
06:05The guys who are available during free agency, by definition, are not core players.
06:10They are, you supplement your roster.
06:12You don't build your roster with free agents.
06:14And so, it's going to take a couple of draft classes for them to get to where they need to be.
06:21And, you know, this is the price you pay for the 20 draft, the 21 draft, the 22 draft.
06:30How long did they chase the miss on Isaiah Wynn?
06:33How long did they chase the miss on Nikhil Harry?
06:35Left tackle and receiver are still questions.
06:38Six and seven years after they took those positions in the first round.
06:41So, I hear Belichick, what he said to Volan about how it got too big in New England and now it's nice and small in North Carolina.
06:50I mentioned you when I read it yesterday.
06:52Yeah.
06:53Because that's the opposite.
06:54It was not big enough, correct?
06:55Right.
06:56Yeah.
06:57And then I went, maybe you could have used more help to draft and develop.
07:01There's a lot of, like, reframing of history.
07:04Yeah.
07:04It's just insane.
07:05With all the pettiness that's gone with it, too.
07:07Right.
07:07Which is also very important.
07:08It was all Jonathan Kraft's fault.
07:09He made him draft all those crappy players.
07:11That was great.
07:11He said, no owner, no owner's son.
07:13That was good tossing that right in there.
07:14You know Kraft wanted Cole Strange.
07:16That Kraft came in and he was like, you know what?
07:19We need a guard.
07:20We need a guard from Tennessee Chattanooga.
07:21From Tennessee Chattanooga, right?
07:24Yeah.
07:24Yeah.
07:24Like, Bill was completely.
07:27Hurry up.
07:27There were too many voices in his ear.
07:29They were like, yeah.
07:30Cole Strange was playing center in the fourth quarter last night.
07:32The funniest story I heard.
07:33Cole Strange probably might not make this team.
07:36No, I think that was evident last night.
07:38The funniest story I heard about that draft was everybody in the NFL was convinced they
07:43were taking Trent McDuffie.
07:45Like, oh my God, that guy is such a good fit for what Bill wants to do.
07:49Like, from a personality standpoint, he is Devin McCourty.
07:53And he is versatile.
07:54He can do a million different things.
07:56And so the Chiefs were convinced that they had to get in front of the Patriots at 21 to draft
08:03Trent McDuffie, convinced.
08:05They called the team at 16, at 17, at 18, at 19, trying to find a way to jump the Patriots
08:12for him.
08:12And they couldn't find a deal.
08:14And then the Patriots get on the clock.
08:18And all of a sudden, the Patriots are with McDuffie there.
08:21And they were stunned.
08:22They'd talked to the Patriots before, of course.
08:24They were stunned that the Patriots were willing to move the pick with McDuffie there.
08:29So I remember talking to a couple people who were there.
08:31And I said, like, so it did seem like McDuffie was a good fit for you guys.
08:35And, you know, some of those guys were like, oh, yeah, we all thought he was a great fit.
08:40We all.
08:40He's like, but Bill's response was, well, who the hell did he cover in the Pac-12?
08:47And then we dropped the guard from Chattanooga.
08:50Amazing.
08:52Incredible.
