Clyde Edwards-Helaire to NFI — What does that mean for the RB room?

oh we're going the offseason's over the pre-season's over it's game week let's go thanks for listening to KC Sports Network proudly presented by Emprise Bank if you're thinking about starting a business or know someone who is check out Emprise bank's SBA Loans it's always good to know your options and they can be your partner impossible welcome into a live game week edition of the casc laboratory presented by Emprise Bank our partners impossible here at KC Sports Network member FDIC I'm Kent Swanson I am beyond thrilled to be hanging out with Matthew Lane tonight Matthew Happy game week how we doing listen I'm good for multiple reasons one game week Chiefs play later Two Chiefs are about to go one and0 this week three Patrick Mahomes takes the field four college football is in full swing and five I am now distracted from watching dju absolutely just poop himself all over a football field against Boston College so this is a great time to be on here here doing this lab I am so beyond excited for today for this week you know um I think maybe just because of everything that this team has done for us you know in the last couple years and and you know what like I'm not going to say we take it for granted but I think emotionally it's a little bit more challenging to navigate and and not you know I think I'm still excited but it took a little bit it took a little longer to get the juices flowing a little bit to get a little bit you know really excited for the you know the first game of the season where normally it's like you know butterflies in the stomach all the time you know for a couple weeks leading up and just like itching for the you know the preseason to be over kind of snuck up on me a little bit differently this time around I think it's just because this team's done so much winning but uh now that it's officially game week we've got you know reports on who's playing who's in who's out we've got you know quotes from uh rocan Smith we've got all kinds of stuff I it's back I'm back in full swing I'm I'm uh I'm all there now and I can't wait so I'm really looking forward to this uh Maddy how was your Labor Day weekend though before we get into this anything good I mean it was a great weekend full of college football watching and cleaning the house and trying to prepare food because I'm about to leave my wife with three children for next weekend to go watch the Chiefs play with my good pals back in Kansas City and you know to be around I don't know let's call it the uh the golf tournament that we like to put on K oh that's right yeah the kcsn golf tournament is uh on Saturday there are still a few spots available if you would like to get a last second team entry into this incredible tournament that we put on here uh if we do say so ourselves Mission Taco is going to be out there giving you know handing out you know tacos holiday distiller will have several tents uh on the golf course we have uh brisket from batch Elder farms uh being donated and will be smoked and will be out there for some delicious brisket sandwiches that's going to be out there it's going to be a great time so um there are uh there's a link in the description of this show if you want to try to sign a team up there are still some spots available you do not want to miss out on this opportunity on Saturday September 7th out at sunflower Hills Golf Course um we're also doing a pre-t turny benefit raffle five tickets for 20 15 tickets for 40 40 tickets for 100 and what are you potentially winning well a Patrick Mahomes signed mini helmet also a uh potential that you'll get two tickets to any Chiefs home game of your choosing and one night at the Weston in Kansas City so we have all kinds of great prizes out there and you don't have to be present to win so please consider donating uh trying to be part of that that that raffle as well because we got a lot of great uh great prizes out there for you um yeah and uh by the way Maddie and I will be doing the kcsn postgame show from the uh kcsn studio um after the Chiefs beat the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday Tucker Franklin will also be there uh tuck are we allowed to announce who else is going to be on I think so uh we're really excited to have Jeff Schwarz on us uh on with us on uh on Thursday as well so he will be participating uh in the postgame show uh I believe he'll be on for multiple post games this year we're looking forward to that so I am uh I'm really excited to get Jeff's perspective immediately after the game so uh looking forward to have Jeff Schwarz on the kcsn postgame show with us all right let's get into the show Matthew uh we got a lot of stuff to talk about today yeah you know uh there's a there's a few things getting on here big news of the day Clyde Edwards Air has been placed on the NFI list the nonf football injury list this is stemming from him you know dealing with uh the you know some some post-traumatic stress uh from some pretty traumatic stuff that he's been through in his short life I mean you you know he you know he was part of uh attempted robbery that resulted in the death of the uh you know the the person trying to rob him and a friend um also he went through you know he he has this he went through the shooting uh you know you know with uh with the Super Bowl Parade which escapes me sometimes here or there as well um he's been through some stuff here in the last uh you know the last uh last few years of his life and uh he will not be available for the first four weeks of the Season yeah and if we go back and kind of first of all like we hope hope everything is going well for Clyde you know you hope that he is getting you know the help he needs getting into the mental physical space that he needs to be outside of football before we even you know start to talk about or contemplate like what that means for the Chiefs on the field or anything like that so like that goes first and foremost without really saying too much about but on the field and stuff like you got the sense when Andy Reed talked about Clyde when Brett vich talked about Clyde this offseason they just not that they didn't know what was going on but were very Unsure how the season was going to play out with him and it got to the point where I know a lot of people were wondering if he was going to be cut because he wasn't able to play was he going to go on the IR before the season started like there's all these different things and I think there was just some uncertainty among the people that are making all these roster decisions and stuff like that of what he's going to be able to bring to the team this year so that's why you see this team going out there and making sure they keep an undrafted free agent like Carson Steel on the roster while you see this team going out and signing samama j p r when he is waved from the Denver Broncos that's why you see them trying to keep some running backs on their practice squad because I don't think they have a stable timeline or realistic expectations or real expectations that they believe in For What and when to expect Cloud zir to be back on the football field that's completely okay because he's got a lot of his own stuff going on that should come before football but I don't I don't think there's much of a surprise I think we've been trending this way for a while I do too I I I'm not surprised that this move was made I was kind of fascinated honestly I was I think I was kind of wondering you know when it was going to happen kind of seemed like there was some stuff trending in that direction and I think it's in the best interest of Clyde it was delayer for that to happen too you know it's been a month or so since you know the news kind of came out that he was struggling with this and man like I I can't even imagine you know some of the stuff that he's been through you know you hear about it and you you know I the the idea of living through that is is you know a lot to a lot to take in so the best absolute best of luck for Clyde Edwards aair um I hope he um can find peace with some of the stuff he's struggling with and dealing with and um you know I think I I'm I'm glad the Chiefs have taken the approach that they have you know they are going to continue to support him sounds like you know some players on the NFI list do have the option to you know the team has some flexibility with how they are or what they're allowed to pay or not allowed to pay those players so they can you know if they did if they wanted to they they couldn't pay clatt Edwards salary the Chiefs are going to continue to support him by paying that which is a really um which is a really good good move by them so um I'm glad the Chiefs are supporting him in a way that he needs to be supported and uh I hope he finds the help he needs and finds the peace he needs uh to continue his NFL career if he wants to so um yeah a lot of love to cly Edwards aair I think when um you know so he's roster spot's now open um we can talk about that here in a little bit but um yeah he does go on the NFI list for uh for now kind of uh stemming from that I think think becomes the football conversation right and I think that's where you know we want to talk a little bit about this is you know the Chiefs now have three uh R running backs on their active roster Isaiah Pacho Carson steel and I know he gets labeled as a fullback by he's a running back guys he's a running back he's not just a fullback I I don't like that you know I don't I don't like that we're calling him a fullback he's a running back uh and then we we get samaj per in the mix as well uh so you've got three running backs on the roster and uh it's got to be fasting to see how these kind of roles play out right Isaiah Peko I think you know obviously he's going to be the lead back how much do you think that the other two players kind of eat into his role in 2024 though okay uh peo is still going to be the lead back I think it's going to be pretty clear that he is still this team's running back one I do think however that when I think fantasy football Twitter fantasy people that are deep into fantasy football have kind of been talking about this since the samaj perine news has kind of come down since that signing has been done there has been some panic I think in fantasy circles about what that means for Isaiah Peko going forward and ultimately like by the end of the year I can definitely see there being a substantial loss of workload or just usage from poo because you have to consider assuming everyone stays healthy perine is probably kind of set to get the majority of the third down reps right and the way the Chiefs operate in the Red Zone a lot of a lot of plays kind of become more of your third down package from the Red Zone it's not always you don't treat every first down in the red Z the Chiefs don't as its first and 10 they get into some different you know Personnel packages and stuff they really like to use Jerick McKinnon as a receiving weapon in the Red Zone it's easier to send some heavy pressure because you don't have to have two safeties playing so far back off the ball when the condensed spaces so I could definitely see an Avenue to where as the gear goes along those third down reps some of those Red Zone reps not like inside the five or anything but some of just inside the 20 those things start to slant a little bit more towards per and he actually kind of eats away at a little bit of uh P's workload that we thought coming into the season yeah I I agree I think you know Sam per like I think Andy Reed's kind of talked a little bit about him as a player and it's like he's a third down back but he has a little bit more juice than just being a third down player and like I love Jerick McKinnon like I'm a huge Jerick McKinnon fan I've always have been like I think he should be here just for The Vibes a little bit even just like I think he's a I think some of the coaches have even made comments that Jerick McKinnon's gonna be a great coach someday if he wants to do that um but you know this team really you know they they didn't use Jerick McKinnon all that much they didn't use uh clad all that much down the stretch you know in the Run game in the pass game either right like those were two guys that really didn't get to see a ton of run and I think this definitely is an opportunity to help keep Isaiah pachos you know fresh for the stretch of the year because they leaned on him heavily during the postseason but also gives them some you know some more diversity of of options at their disposal right and I think both Carson steel and samj perine are both guys that have the ability to to be outstanding pass protectors um I think Clyde I think sorry Carson steel could be a guy that you you give the ball a little bit to in a goal line situation or a fourth in one type situation so like I do think there are some scenarios and some specific you know opportunities that these two running backs can eat into what what you get out of Isaiah Pacho and that's something I'm gon to be paying attention to I will say something that's really cool for this Carson steel getting to learn from Sam per 2 I think could be for him as well right just because these are both bigger bodied backs um you know Carson Steels kind of wantan to hang his hat on some of the things that samj PN has done well in his NFL career you know samj PN wants to be a guy that's gonna you know contribute in any way he can it's the same kind of you know thing for Carson steel these are both two guys that are kind of playing that role um so I think that could be a good value for them as well yeah and I I think there's a definitely like a uh a leadership a I can pass some of this stuff on down to another guy aspect to it and I want to be very clear too I think Isaiah Peko is still like clearly this team's top running back he's going to get I think he's going to get a lot of work and from what we've seen of him this preseason it's you know I don't want to jump the gun here but he looks a little lighter he does look thinner I know that report came out and I think he looks quicker now maybe he's just worked on not running like an angry emu so much like he seems to be stomping the ground a little bit less aggressively now he seems a a little lighter on his feet and maybe that's just the loss of weight maybe he's worked on his running gate and I think that'll that'll probably help him get the top speed a little faster because he is a guy that does need to be at top speed to really break some tackles if not he kind of goes down on First Contact a little easier so if some of these things improve if he is a little bit quicker gets through the holes gets through his like his reads and stuff faster he could actually still have a more productive a more efficient year than he has at any point in time in his career I just think that you were looking at this roster when it was CER zir and daic Prince and car Steel fighting for that running back two spot you felt really good about Isaiah Pacho being just like this Bellow he's going to get a million touches in this offense and like in this offense that's going to be productive now I think there's definitely going to be a split with samaj P having a very clear role and then the Carson Steel part that's what's up in the air I think you're probably looking at him as more of a fullback this year because of the other pieces they have maybe a short yardage back a guy that comes in and just maybe only eats a few snaps where guys need rest so I don't know if he's going to play a major role this year except for in like short yardage maybe not even goal line just short yardage situations but still it's worth noting that that like that's it that's the only three guys they have with the Carson steel not playing a lot that's still a lot of poo snaps yeah I think I think uh Carson steel gets a little bit more time to develop right and I think that's what it you know when you were looking at uh the roster construction where it was generic Prince and Carson steel was better than generic Prince very obviously because he's still here and generic Prince is not but I think you're looking at that group going okay you've got a young rookie that has flashed tremendously in the preseason but unproven and now what you've done is you've stabilized that room with a veteran with Sam Maj per so now you've got you know two guys that know how to do this that have done it in high leverage situations that your running back spot and also gives takes a little pressure off of Carson steel that being said he's gonna be active on game day I think Carson steel is going to be active on game day he might even be a guy that gets you know some looks in the return game in the kick return game uh some people you know that Dave Tob I believe bringing it up uh that that Carson seal will be you know a candidate to be involved in the kick return game and when you're looking at some of the new rules and stuff and how this you know this shakes out having a bigger body guy and look good in The Limited opportunities that we saw him returning kicks uh in uh in the preseason as well so I think special teams will be a more valuable role for him or a more impactful role for for what Carson Steel's gonna get an opportunity to do and uh it could it could extend beyond just you know blocking tackling it could be you know it could be some it could be some uh some returns too so I'm I'm glad uh Carson Steel's here I'm glad he's on the roster and I think he's a guy that can contribute down the road uh but I think he might be a little bit wedged out of these opportunities that could happen with this within this offense and I think that's okay for both sides for for Carson Steels development and for the Chiefs yeah no 100% uh I think they'll all be active they'll all get some usage in what they do is just I do think later in the year like samama pery is going to have a very substantial role for this team and if you are looking at it from a just a fantasy perspective and I know that's not exactly what we're doing now I think that he is going to definitely impact what what Isaiah P's overall value or impact can be for a fantasy team now on the actual field I like the two as a one-w punch I think you get pcho out of having to do the stuff that he has struggled with the most in the NFL he's been one of the least efficient pass protecting running backs in the NFL right and so you take him out of that role you give it to somebody else this is a this is a good step forward for the team overall and that way they don't have to rush Carson seal right out there yeah and hopefully you know hopefully he continues to develop and cuz I'm excited about this kid and I don't don't squelch the uh enthusiasm at all I'm definitely all in on this kid I just think it's always good to be able to take a little bit more pressure off of of a rookie like this still 21y old rookie so we'll see what kind of what kind of role that Carson steel has uh ultimately I think that's kind of how these things shake up in the running back room when we uh when we see this team at full strength I don't know I Mr interesting to see what samj P Ryan's week one role is it kind of feels like they're going to be able to throw him out there he said he's getting a little bit more comfortable every single day um and you know this is a guy that's been around the block a few times so I think you can kind of tell him screen concept even if he doesn't know the entirety of the play call and be able to execute it he's got a pretty good understanding of of uh of uh of protections for sure too do you think the training wheels are entirely off for for San pan you think he's just kind of in a the the full reveal of the role or do you think Carson still get some more run this week just because of that um I think it's the perine thing uh I think I saw a tweet and I don't have it pulled up now so I'm probably going to butcher it but the gist of it for Mitchell Schwarz was the way the Chiefs do their pass protection rules make it not easy but will make it for where a smart player who's like you know used to pass protection rules and understanding them should be able to come in and understand it pretty quickly so he was thinking perine would be okay from that perspective and then he said you know and this is true this is what we have seen worst case scenario mom just tells him who to block every play and he can go do it and we've seen that like Patrick Mahomes gets up there he's calling defensive fronts we've seen him tell running backs tight ends whoever who to chip who to block like that is something that is 100% within the mental capacity of Mahomes to do so I would expect the Chiefs to put the guy they think is the best pass protector out there you would rather have to tell samj perine to go block a Mike linebacker than tell Carson steel to have to go block him and see you know how those like inter encounters go so I think you're going to get a good dose of per R in these down reps with clly Edwards Air uh going on the NFI list that does open up another roster spot on the 53 man roster spot uh for the Kansas City Chiefs there's been a lot of shuffling in and out of that final spot there right like we've seen uh we've seen a few different players in there Nick Jones Eric Scott most recently before samj perine was added to the 53 man roster so now we sit here with an open roster spot what do you think the chese do with that matth Matthew oh man um I haven't given too much thought to what they are going to put in this roster spot I think it seems right now um we're prob going to get an activate or somebody's going to be called up from the practice squad the next day or two but they don't have to put them on the roster the way the practice squad rules work they could probably just start elevating they might even just roll I guess with this for this first week I think if I'm looking through this roster I think defensive line is probably where they are going to add help they would add another body I don't think what I'm looking through just like where the depth is on this team you could add another defensive lineman who could be active for the game could eat some snaps and like actually play a role I think corner is another position that you see as like concerning but it's going to be hard to get another cornerback dressed active and then get them on the field to have an impact whereas defensive line you could probably pull somebody from the practice squad or off the street get them suited up and at the very least they can go out there and give you five to 10 snaps if they need to On Any Given game one name that I am kind of paying attention to here that got signed to the practice squad recently after a wave of moves with Neil phell going off of the 53-man roster as well as Matt Dickerson Marlin Tu aotu uh previously with uh with with the Philadelphia Eagles he's played a pretty good amount of football actually in his career he's appeared in 28 games he play appeared in 14 games last year for uh the Philadelphia Eagles two sacks 22 tackles I mean this guy played a decent amount of snaps last year so this is probably one of the most uh roster one of the most um productive practice squad players that this team currently has too I I wouldn't be stunned if if he's a guy that winds up getting the call there no and that makes a ton of sense because like what we you're saying like you could go suit that guy up and have him go out there this Thursday if you're the Chiefs and like you if you suffer if somebody gets injured you know in the next day or two or whatever at the defensive tackle spot and you have to bring him up and throw him out there at defensive line is a position where you can put him out there and yeah he's not going to know everything and there's going to be some ups and downs but he can go out there and eat snaps even if no one gets hurt you can pull him up to the 53 man roster if he's an active player there's going to be a situation where you might use that guy and you can just throw him out there because you do rotate defensive lineman a lot so he makes a ton of senses like the first guy to look at maybe they're waiting to see if somebody else out there they have an idea might be getting cut or waved soon it seems like most NFL teams are pretty set though so I would expect it to be a practice Squad Edition it's just a little interesting that no that they don't have them up already and you don't technically have to since you're allowed to call up practice squad players kind of found it a little interesting that the Chiefs didn't put Clyde on the NFI list when samaj peran got called up too like that was kind of a fascinating one there too right like that I mean listen the Chiefs did some weird stuff with the roster things nothing bad like I don't think if you look at the cuts that were made and the RO and the what the roster is now you're not going to be like oh anything was bad however the way they went about it with so many guys being waved to the practice squad and then cut from the practice squad then resigned and then like just they did a lot of musical chair work and so yes I'm very surprised that Clyde took a while to go to the NFI list and not just doing it immediately but also they've kind of just been playing weird with the roster this year they've been cutting and waving guys and signing guys a lot yeah maybe they were just kind of try to feel this week out and see how things went with Clyde and just kind of give you know figure that out a little bit I don't know I giving him time you was is not a bad thing either I don't know it just it it's interesting to me Eric Scott I don't believe has been picked up at this point either so if the Chiefs want to bring Eric Scott back onto the 53 man roster they could probably do that here today tomorrow if they really wanted to as well if they're really content intent on getting him back there so I don't know something worth paying attention to I found that uh found that to be a little bit interesting but we'll see where this team goes with that we're going to take a break and we'll be back right after this shop Chiefs tickets and more with no fees plus save big with code kcsn at ticketsforless.com the official ticket provider of KC Sports Network with big Wireless providers what you see is never what you get somewhere between the store and your first month's build the price you thought you were paying magically skyrockets with mmobile you'll never have to worry about gotas ever again when mmobile says $15 a month when you purchase a 3-month plan they mean it to get this new customer offer in your new 3month premium Wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month go to m mobile.com kcsn laab that's mintmobile.com kcsn laab cut your wireless bill to 15 bucks a month at mintmobile.com kcsn laab $45 upfront payment required equivalent to $15 a month new customers on first thre Monon plan only speed slower above 40 GB on Unlimited Plan additional taxes fees and restrictions apply see M mobile for details thanks everybody that is hanging out with us we appreciate you we love you um we are uh really excited for this game that's coming up here it's going to be a great day on or a great week here on KC Sports network uh we're kicking it off here but you're also going to have only weird games you're gonna have that football show we'll be back on Wednesday with Matt Hamilton to preview this game and then get you ready for Thursday it's GNA be a lot of fun uh and you know what things are kind of starting to you know the new cycle starting to change towards you know broad NFL perspectives that you get for the entirety of the offseason and now it's starting to get into a week to week kind of Rhythm right um you know some of the getting some conversation about the Brazil game for the Eagles but we're also getting some sound bites for uh for uh this game here roquan Smith talking a little bit about how to stop Patrick momes how to uh you know try to slow him down a little bit the question was what's the key to slowing down Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs and roquan Smith says first and foremost just eliminating the Run making the guys one-dimensional just like any other game and once you make a team onedimensional you know exactly what they'll do in a given situation it gives us a chance as a defense to really pin our beers ears back and do exactly what we like to do I don't know man what do you feel about that Matthew um I mean okay let's start off the top I don't a linebacker says they want to stop the run and force a team to be one dimensional so that they can better stop them yeah okay tracks Mak sense that's every linebacker ever is probably going to say that and that's their thoughts and that's what they are trained through years of media training and what they're supposed to say so you don't piss off anybody on the other team that said there's probably like one team out there where like if that's even an inkling of an idea that your team is going into the game with that's even like an inkling of your mindset you probably don't want to believe it and that's the Kansas City Chiefs um it if I'm not mistaken like since 2018 Patrick Mahomes has like doubled the EPA like the cumulative EPA of any other quarterback that has played football over that time and expected past situations right so like yeah when he has to throw he's been a lot better than anybody else I don't know if making the Chiefs onedimensional accomplishes anything no I don't think it does at all I don't think there's really no like true rhy or Reason the same way like I don't think the Chiefs are overly predictable in dropback situ situations either like I don't think they're like unless you're calling some of the jet sweeps in the screen game as part of the Run game too like the chief do such a great job with their with their with their play structure and you know the diversification and sometimes just getting Playmakers plays out on the edge like I don't understand why you're going to this as a you know as a concept I don't get it I I it doesn't make sense to me I he's you know like good luck I mean please by all means I would love to watch Patrick Mahomes just drop the ball back you know drop back and just throw a bajillion passes because he's going to do what he's done historically for the entirety of his career I don't get it yeah I it did it makes absolutely no it makes no sense if this is realistically what they want to do I I am trying really hard not to just like wet blanket this and say it's a linebacker just giving linebacker speak because I think that's probably the majority of it but at the same time like to even go up there and say that that's at least got to be something remotely in your mind you go back and at how that conference Championship game went last year and the Ravens were more or less allow like they made the Chiefs onedimensional and it didn't work and so maybe in their minds that is the recipe for Success it wasn't about the Chiefs passing game was bad because their personnel didn't work because they were out of sync and because they were not coasting but like they were not having to go out of their way to score points the way the chief's defense was playing and so maybe in their mind that is a little bit of what can work they saw that work last year they saw this as a recipe to success based on that playoff game last year so maybe that's something they really think and like by golly please please try that please try to take the Run game away like if they go out of their way to stop the Chiefs Run game the Chiefs are going to put up a lot of points on this team if it's just them talking and they're just like yeah in the perfect world we stop the run without having to dedicate extra stuff to it we still play the pass and the Run gets stopped and like so be it that's fine that's normal and what you would expect I I think one thing is going to be really interesting with this game and we don't have to get in that too and too much because we'll talk a lot about this next week but I think if the Ravens want to rest on their Laurels and rest on what they did last year I think that's going to be a problem for them and I think that's if they want to treat this year's Chiefs like last year's Chiefs I think that's going to be a problem for them too you know you're looking at you know a team that has bolstered their their pass catchers and obviously it'd be nice to have Hollywood Brown in this game but they've they've added a legitimate vertical threaten to this offense so I don't think you can you know drive and sit on you know a lot of the short to intermediate stuff the same way that they were able to last year I don't think you can sell out to stop the run the same way that you were able to this time last time and yeah great credit to them for holding Isaiah Pacho to 24 carries for 68 yards good on you congratulations good job but like to your point like the play calling for the Chiefs was a game management type of scenario and by the way Patrick mahes was 30 of 39 for 20 41 yards still he was still very efficient throwing the ball so you weren't doing a great job of you know stopping those 39 predictable opportunities that you had great congratulations n0 completions but yeah I just I don't know I I good luck good luck if that's your game plan but I don't think you can rest on what you did last year what you did last year is not going to matter this game in my opinion no it's not and like I said like we go a few years back and Telvin Smith for the Jags you know started chirping and stuff like that before a Chiefs game and the Chiefs kind of played them off the field and Telvin Smith was like never the same as a as a football player on the football field ever again after that I don't think rocon Smith was doing the same thing he wasn't like trash talking I think it was just very normal like football speak and I really do think it was just the media training coming through but I think it is noteworthy that like it's just the first thing that pops in their mind to stopping Mahomes isn't containing him isn't keeping a top on the defense isn't eliminating the big play isn't keeping him in the pocket it was stopping the run and there's a good chance that again it's just the media training but there's also a chance that they're sitting there thinking well last year they couldn't really throw the ball and get anywhere against us they had two drives that mustered anything after that they did nothing if we stop their run game again that'll keep Patrick Mahomes in check just like we did last year so there's a CH there is a a sliver of a chance that they actually do think something similar to that going in now no team is going to look at Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes and be like we're selling out to stop the run I don't care what they ever say no team is going to do that but if they are spending not even excess but extra time time or if that is one of their key ideas going into this game to stop Isaiah Pacho and samama perine from running all over them that's going to be tough um it really is and so last week I did go on to a uh the uh ra Baltimore film study with uh Ken mckisic and we talked about it and he did tell me like the Ravens this year have been in practice and stuff they really love their Corners they've been playing a lot of to High stuff this year we're going to get deeper into this you know later NE later on this week when we got Matt Hamilton around and we really preview this game but he kind of told me that they are playing a little bit more of a shell defense this year because they trust their corner so much that doesn't lean into stopping the Run idea very much but we will have to see what that how that plays out in this actual game because if they start slipping down into single high like they did last year I that's gonna be something Xavier worthy season I like it I like it uh before we get out of here we wanted to talk about a few props that uh that we thought might be of interest to you guys so we have some props sitting out there um Tucker do you want do you want read some off for us buddy yeah I'll read some some props for you here because there's a lot of interesting ones especially when you come and you look at uh just the statistic ones you could got a little bit of time to still get these in obviously these prop bets will start obviously when the season starts but first I want to start with two of them that are really interesting to me and these kind of go hand inand it's with the wide receiver room now we're not going to see one of these guys on Thursday but it's Hollywood Brown Xavier worthy they have the exact same over under in yards 750 A2 the exact same total also for touchdowns as well I believe that's at 4 and a half as well on those two lines identical Vegas thinks those two guys will have identical lines so I uh before before the Hollywood injury I think I was more in on the 750 than I am now but like I think it's just a reminder of the vola volatility that we've seen with Hollywood Brown a little bit with some of his injury history over the course of his career Xavier Worthy is the one I'm tempted by though I like the over on 750 I am buying I've been buying Xavier worthy stock for the last couple months here and I really do think that 750 is a very attainable number for him um I think there's a lot of explosive plays out there I think his his best AV ability is availability I think he's going to get put in situations where he may not be as injury-prone I think you know like I think he's going to be doing a lot of the work in the Deep areas of the field which leads to a lot of explosive plays and it keeps him from you know some of the situations that might lead him to you know put you know to Falling weird on a football like in the middle of the field like Hollywood Brown is I really like Xavier worthy over 750 and if I'm gonna take over 750 I think I got to take over four and a four and a half touchdowns on Xavier worthy too so yeah I'm more intrigued by the Xavier worthy over than I am the Hollywood Brown over right now and it's simply because I think Holly I had a feeling that Hollywood Brown was gonna be very uh underrated for the Chiefs offense this year I think he's going to have a very clear role that is this like short to intermediate Zone beating weapon that kind of gets over the top of where Rashid rice and Travis Kelce went but still isn't necessarily a vertical threat and I thought there was a good chance the Chiefs could really weaponize him there and I think that's still true the problem comes in though when he's already missing time he has struggled to stay healthy for a whole year I would really if I were to bet a Hollywood Brown going over on 750 yards while he's injured I would be really upset with myself if he gets injured again in week eight and we just have no shot at ever getting it because this the um it's like right there on the wall right the ridings on the wall for you so I would be more tempted by Xavier worthy the touchdowns at four and a half I think is a little bit trickier like yeah I see how the two go hand inand but I think there's also a chance that Worley just catches a few really long passes maybe they don't always go for touchdowns and he doesn't get a ton of the Red Zone work but I mean I would I would take the worthy over on yards for sure I'd be tempted by the touchdowns because at some point if you're beating guys deep you're probably if get over 750 yards on essentially all deep passes and some Yak creation from the at the line of scrimmage you're probably scoring a few touchdowns along the way that's kind of the line of thinking right I do think that this is even if this is a souped up slash better version of mcole hardman's rookie year like I think yeah I mean mccole Hardman had over 500 yards receiving in his uh in his rookie year so like I think he was 56 538 his rookie year and six touchdowns by the way for uh targets for micle Harman so yeah not a lot of targets no was 26 oh yeah 41 Target sorry yes yes you're right my apologies yep so yeah I like I like Xavier worthy overs there a little bit more nervous about the Hollywoods all right mat uh Tucker what else you got for us interesting I kind of want to go off of this Xavier worthy tangent that you guys were on looked him up he's at plus 220 no 2200 that's how you say that number plus 2200 to win the offensive rookie of the year right now behind Caleb Williams Jaylen Daniels Marvin Harrison Jr oix Malik neighbors Drake May so all and two wide receivers but he is uh could have some good value there if you want to try to sneak offensive the year what's see I think your path your path to that would simply be Hollywood Browns stays really injured all year and Xavier worthy just teams aren't ready for the vertical speed that he possesses and the Chiefs weaponize him in the right way the problem is I think teams are aware on once they get threatened Enough by Worthy downfield they will go back to the Tyreek Hill defense where they just put this giant umbrella over the top so like I think it would be really hard for worthy in the wide receiver that I think he's going to be as a rookie to have a Jamar Chase like production level his rookie year I think it'll just it going be a hard Avenue for him to get there because teams will have in their back pocket that defensive playbook from 2019 on how to defend it I think you're setting money on fire if you bet on Xavier worthy to win Rookie of the Year not because I don't think he's talented but because pukaa had 1486 yards receiving last year and didn't win it so there's a lot of quarterbacks that could go full CJ strad very easily and I just I have a hard time feeling all of them are GNA fall in their face but like puka had 100 he set NFL rookies for rookie records for receptions yards uh receptions in a game uh yeah 181 yards in a playoff game he didn't win it so I don't know man I I don't know he could if if he has that year though I'll be all right I'll be good let's keep on the receiving side of things we're going to go to Travis Kelce look he has one season where he doesn't have a thousand yards and now Vegas thinks he's not going to get there again they set the over under at 900 a half a full 100 yards under the a, yard mark he was very close last year to reaching are you taking the over or under on Travis Kelce receiving yards I am I'm taking the over because knock on wood I don't think Travis Kel is going to have an injury that slows down slash hampers his uh the start of the Season like he just started really slow he struggled to kind of be back to his full self but you kind of saw him coming along late as the season went on they simplified they kind of used him and involved him a lot more I think he's going to go and have a Fant fantastic season this year like I think people are going to like think because of how he started last year maybe there's a perception about him I think he's going to have a fantastic here give me the over on 900 yards I am going to take the under for Travis Kelce and 9 a half yards because I think the Chiefs are going to try to save him as much as possible for the playoffs um I think you're going to see him play a lot less first downs you're going to see his overall snap percentage decrease we've been saying this for a while and it hasn't really happened but if you look at last year and how they utilized him once he got back they really weren't feeding Travis Kelce except for in the games they deemed big leading up to the playoffs and I think that will be the goal again this year I think they will have other guys that they kind of utilize as the Workhorse and I don't think they wanted to feed him a ton last year I just think they had nobody else that could really play football at the wide receiver position or a receiver position and they had to so I think I might lean under here and this led me to like I think my biggest hot take this year I think this is going to be the first time since I think it's 2015 that Travis Kelce does not lead the Chiefs in receptions receiving yards or receiving touchdowns I I think there's a good chance that Rashi rice takes all of those but if not like maybe maybe Xavier worthy does have a great year and sneaks and gets the yards or something just I would be a little worried that the team isn't going to feature Travis Kelce enough when they have all these other options that are a little bit younger until the playoffs come around sheesh I mean I see the path for it I see the path for it don't get me wrong so uh like you're going to create a bunch of space and then you're going to tell somebody to go get eight targets over the middle of the field do you want that to be Travis Kelsey it's going to work if it's Travis Kelce but do you want it to be him or would you rather give six of those targets to Rashid rice throughout the entire season and let him get hit and let him go create after the catch because he's explosive I just my only do you think my only push back on that would be sure that would involve Patrick momes cons I conscious conscientiously there you go uhhuh thanks pushing the ball somewhere other than Travis Kelce and I just have a hard time believing that Travis wants that pck wants that and Andy's gonna let that happen and so it's gonna require Travis Kel's snap count to go down tremendously I think to protect him will so that's if you I I think it it it simply boils down to that for me personally because I think that chemistry with Patrick and Travis and I just don't see anybody saying let's try to not throw you the ball buddy right and I don't think it's necessarily saying not throw him the ball but I also think that theoretically if we're saying zav if we're both going over on 750 yards for Xavier worthy and we're saying that like he has the potential to do more and Hollywood Brown when healthy is like flirting with they Pace to do that that's G to be a lot of space created it's not gonna like it's not going to be ugly Patrick Mahomes isn't going to have to find Travis Kelce on a broken play 13 times a game Travis Kelce isn't going to have have to add lib you know double digit routes to get open because other guys aren't able to get open because they're because of all this extra space so I just wonder if the offense can run a little bit more on time and a little bit more structured you won't have the need to always go to Kelsey I think he'll still be huge on third Downs I didn't say anything about not leading the team on those stats on third downs but first and second down I could see a snap count drop and I think if those outside wide receivers can really open up more space I I don't know I just I have feeling we in for a big Rashi rice like usage and a lot of volume and stuff and like I the way he and Mahomes were on the same page and that preseason game and it sounds like they're kind of clicking a little bit I I just feel a little hesitant about the Travis Kelce overs what else do you got for us te leading into that Patrick Mahomes uh didn't have the statistically best year last year uh Vegas is kind of adjusting to that they have Mahomes at 4,350 A5 yards on the over under K you've taken the over on both h on both Xavier worthy and Kelce we're going to pretty darn close in terms of yards just with those two uh what are your thoughts on this one give me the over uh yeah I'm take I think this is a scorched Earth offense this year for the Kansas City Chiefs I think this is an Uber efficient I think this is explosive I think they get back to the vertical passing game um I think it's back and I think that opens everything else for everybody else up I think teams are going to be playing scared to not give up the explosives they're still going to give up the explosiv but they're going to have to play offense off they're going to give up a lot of yards every single game and hope that they can force the Chiefs to kick field goals rather than touchdowns and so I I just I think that's the I think there's a lot of yards being put up by Patrick Mahomes and a lot of yards being put up by this offense I think this is an incredibly easy over um I don't really see a path in which again knocking on wood that Patrick Mahomes doesn't get hurt and doesn't hit this number there's been twice in his career that he hasn't gone over last year when the offense was in absolute shambles and we're still I mean like what 200 yards away for making it over this and then back in 2019 where he missed two games but he was actually pacing to again go over that amount of number and that would have been only 16 games instead of 17 so yeah I think that I think that this is one of the easiest overs I think the offense is going to be substantially better than it was last year if not one of the better offenses under Patrick Mahomes and yards is something that I don't foresee them getting by bunches on the ground you know we're going to do I think maybe do touchdowns here in a second and like you could spin an argument that they're better at running the ball in the red zone so maybe that steals some touchdowns because Mahomes does have a billion one yard touchdown passes but yardage you got to get there somehow and I mean Patrick Mahomes at 4 4,300 a half no that's easy money man nuclear offense and under on Travis Kelce receiving yards is just a what world are we in rice and Xavier worthy buddy okay fun fact watch Patrick Mahomes has hit this over on this line four out of six years he's been a starting quarterback pretty good pretty good probably the lowest that's been since his rookie year right this is gonna be the lowest that's been since I guess 2018 like any other it is it is fairly low and I do think that they kind of uh they as in Vegas had kind of over adjusted for this now getting back to momes touchdowns 34 and a half is that line last year he had 27 touchdown passes uh he had 41 in 2022 37 in 2021 38 in 2020 2019 he had 26 and in 2018 he obviously had 50 uh thoughts on Patrick Mahomes passing touchdowns 34 and a half over Zer over taking the over man I'm is hammering all the overs I just I I think this I got some props for him it's going to be oh no did you make I got an extra prop oh yeah I've got oh yeah I got my own in my head just random numbers is the best one he does this he does this sometimes like no joke he actually does this it's awful um they're the worst lines um I yeah I just again like I don't know man I I think we're on the verge especially when Hollywood Browns back for a special offense that's never seen the kind of depth of skill players that this team's had so when they've got the 11 personnel with Kelsey rice Brown worthy Pacho that's a terrifying group I just there's no weakness there and I'm looking forward to that so I just I think there's gonna be a lot of points scored for this team so yeah give me the over man yeah and this thing I said like I you could speak up a scenario in which this offense is great Mahomes easily goes over 4,300 yards and he still only hits 30 30 touchdowns 32 touchdowns or whatever because the running game gets going in the Red Zone this offensive line all of a sudden gets a lot of push we say a year back like I said in 2019 yeah he missed some games but he only finished with 26 touchdowns but the offense like wasn't bad in 2019 by any stretch it's just they had more they were more efficient getting into the End Zone on the ground so like you could spin it to where the offense is still great and you go under this numbers like this one isn't a slam dunk lock like I think the yardage is but still I feel like 34 and a half isn't high enough for how good I think the offense is going to be it's not high enough giving respect enough to Mahomes for what he has done anytime the offense has been functional around him um I've taken the over there as well all right what you got Tuck well uh little fun fact here I was just looking at the pro ref pro football reference page for Patrick Mahomes the year he threw in 2018 where he had 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns he did not lead the league in passing do you know who did 2018 he had 5,097 yards it's not Drew Brees need to not lead the league in passing it's not it's it's not Jared Goff is it not Jared GF cuz like he did go nuclear that year bad this [Music] um it is a mix of eras like because 2018 is kind of like the oh Aon no it was not I I I legitimately I didn't know this one so like I saw this I didn't I didn't either um so I looked it up because I had the the page already pulled up like close enough to it that I had to look it up at this point so we didn't just keep guessing over and over again um Good Luck y'all good luck I'll give I'll give you the answer Blake Bortles no close it's Ben rothberger it was the Ghost of Paul bunan he he did Maddie do you have the number in front of you it was like close to 5200 like he he like yeah it wasn't he just just terrible the next year he threw like over 600 attempts too like 650 maybe 700 675 pass attempts that's when they just didn't have a run game they just played empty and they just let that big dude Lumber around there in the back like he looked like you taking a three-step drop tug like justb then I've seen you take a three-step drop that's all I've seen you do it like just you know I mean they had a n they had almost a thousand yard rusher James Conor had 970 yards apparently that offense was just this Elite and like nobody talked about it golly I felt kind of gross knowing that fact that I needed to share it with you guys that is that is disgusting even better their third leading receiver is Vance McDonald no but Juju Smith Shuster led the team with 1,400 receiving yards and Antonio Brown had 1300 but he had no rings until he came to Kansas City anyways what else you got for us any you got any Bailey zappy props uh I have I just saw this one pop up uh DJ unang gele minus 800,000 to join the [Laughter] bloodline oh I mean he's G he's got he's got a career in something other in sports coming DJ you gotta be kidding me you know if you know yeah is it my yeah uh okay fine fine Maddie Trent McDuffy over under three and a half forced fumbles under he gets three coward had five last year that was a lot yeah I think it's three I said what I said you know when to expand you give like Tucker these eight big long elaborate answers and you just give me that I don't trust your lines at all I don't trust the Integrity of the sport I go what do you mean I think he's got 15 in them this year okay Felix and UD uzama under two and a half snaps thund long I was going to go two and a half sacks would which would be two more than he had uh as a rookie uh I think he show growth two and a half he's getting two and a half to push so two 2.25 what about 2.25 so you say over two and a half two and a half okay okay okay yeah what else you got Maddie what other figments of your imagination have you made up wouldn't hold up in a sports book trp McDuffy or Justin Reed lead the team in tackles to lead the team tackles or who has more tackles no no to lead the team in tackles he's saying will you take will you take Trent McDuffy or Justin no I did I meant to say Justin Watson no neither will lead the team in tackles neither okay so they won't do what they did last year it'll be Nick Bolton Okay taking the field that's fair I'm just asking the questions can't calm down you didn't give a line for it like yeah I just want to know if you're like those two are the field I understood what yeah like I these are just questions now right I'm just I'm just trying to keep you here for an hour that's all I'm really trying to do with this that's not happen Watson over under 275 and a half yards under over he's un that's an under it's a hard under couldn't be a harder under yards off of corner routes 100 and a half Noah gray over under two and a half touchdowns um great line that's actually the best line you've made today uh congrats on that perfect that line might hold up in a sports book everything else is just ridiculous um feel like Felix's sack total is pretty spot on that's pretty good too uh uh over three it's a great line okay can I you guys some game props too while absolutely as long as they're not super into the game because we do have to do an entire game preview episode here no they're not okay yeah throw them at us yeah I started to talk and I realized I didn't have any Jaan Taylor over under 12 and a half penalties on the season no in one game under under it's going to be a good year it's going to be a good year for uh for Jawan Taylor oh well this is a little teaser this can be a little appea teaser for people listening here for for uh to for Prime to Prime them up for Wednesday's episode over under passing over under passing yards for Patrick Mahomes is at 20 263 and a half what is happening good old appetizers over because I'm not a coward I'm going to bck moms what is happening what is happening don't worry about it champ that's gonna do it for the casy laboratory thank you all so much for listening watching we love you we appreciate you we'll catch you later nobody tell kit what happened ever please what happened