Welcome into any time on the A to Z sports network. It is damn near 730. So it qualifies
tonight not as prime time, but as any time because we took our sweet ass time getting
the show on the road tonight. But that's because we've got so much to talk about. We've got
training camp practice. I have a notebook full of notes. I'm excited. I know the back
The backdrop situation is not allowing you to see my notes, but there are notes
There are many, many notes from practice today because we had practice, actual practice, practice of consequence
Not OTAs, not voluntary stuff, not like did this player show up or did that player show up
No. Cam Ward, Calvin Ridley, Jeff Simmons, all the good stuff. We are going to recap it here with you tonight on A to Z Sports primetime currently
Anytime we are going to get into Cam Ward in particular this evening because Cam Ward did speak
and a couple of different takeaways from his press conference. We're going to hone in on one specific thing from his press conference here tonight, though
and then we will do a little rising and falling, one related to, or I guess, Titans adjacent
Actually, one related to the Titans, the other Titans adjacent. But anyway, we have much to talk about
Seth Perrigan says, Buck, it must be a breath of fresh air to have football to talk about
Yes, yes, yes, football. God, it feels so good. Listen, we have a good time doing the show, this show, the radio show
What other shows are we doing? The Cosell show, like we're doing Cosell tomorrow morning
Oh, God, I forgot I'm doing that at 7.30 tomorrow because of training camp. But we have a great time doing all the different things that we do, right
No matter what time of year it is, the fact that anybody pays us as much money as they're paying us to do this stupid shit, we're happy to do it
But God, football, it feels so good to have things that you guys actually care about and that I can actually care about because they're in front of me
I can watch them. I can see them. I can criticize them. I can love them
I can have emotions about real things in front of me and all this bullshit that we spend basically time doing infomercials to get you from one football season to another
But it's fine. We are going to enjoy our time together. Ann Herndon says the Fancy Fox show, which sounds like a podcast hosted by a woman named Fancy Fox
But yeah, we're also doing Fox Sports Radio nationally. But, you know, there, there, honestly, it's helped me a lot this offseason
We don't have to get into all the logistics of that, but just be able to talk about something different. Like we did two hours of Cowboys on what was that the last time I hosted Fox Thursday afternoon for Covino and Rich
And by the way, Saturday is in the fall. It's going to be me and Jason Fitz on a weekly basis
So we're going to enjoy that together. But with all the different things that we have to discuss
we actually have things with the Titans to talk about that will not
that will not be tangential. They'll be real. They'll be solid. You can feel them
You can watch them. You can see them. You can damn near touch. I mean, I could if I wanted to, but we don't got to get into that
Anyway, good stuff. We're looking forward to tonight. So Dustin Reeves asking questions
Listen, we're going to talk about camp specifically tonight, but there are going to be other things from the practice day that do come up
But the biggest thing, the biggest takeaway that I had from training camp was camp
Well, let me start the show. Welcome at A to Z Sports Prime Time. I'm your host, Buck Rice
Happy football season. Welcome in. We love to see you. Share, share it out of public
Do all the things as more of you guys trickle in. Text the link to a friend if you've got somebody who actually wants to talk about football
It's been kind of checked out. Like, you know what, just just talk to me when we actually get to the real thing
Talk to me when we actually have players in pads in the middle of July heat and felt just oppressive out there
Real feel 108 is what my weather channel app said today, which is crazy that they are conducting football practice outdoors and that
But we had it. So if you have friends who have been checked out during the offseason, but want to get back into it
text the link to them and make sure that they come hang out with us on the primetime show
B French says, yeah, don't piss Jeff off this year. But, well, let Jeff not swing at anybody on the first day of practice
Jeff needs to comport himself a certain way, and then I will comport myself a certain way
Jeff and I have that mutual understanding, which is fine. So, welcome to A to Z Sports Primetime
We're talking about Cam Ward tonight. Doesn't that feel good? Cam Ward is going to, oh, made possible by Two Rivers Ford, the South's most trusted Ford dealer
and True Mad Fitness in the Gulch. You'll hear more about them later, of course. cam ward is going to be the thing that's most scrutinized now ironically enough i don't know
what you guys talked about with easton last night i assume legerius need was probably the bulk of
the conversation given that that was the biggest headline the thing going on with his knee the knee
cleanup rather not the thigh contusion the thigh injury the mysterious nebulous thigh injury that
no longer seems to be a problem which is a good thing i'm sure um i'm sure you guys got into that
at some length last night if you were viewing primetime last night
But it was interesting because the training camp kickoff press conference, I don't know how many questions were asked about Cam Ward
of Mike Morgonza, GM, and Chad Brinker, president of football ops, because it wasn't really a story with them in particular
On the eve of training camp, though, that's rare, with Cam Ward being the number one overall pick, a quarterback, of course
We spent more time talking about Levis because of the shoulder thing. We spent more time talking about Snead because of the knee cleanup
We spent time talking about Lorenzo Carter, who retired unexpectedly. And now what the hell
I mean, not that Lorenzo Carter was going to make or break their pass rush this year
but they just need more bodies because they were probably going to be a bad edge group to begin with
And now they're down a man. So they can be bad and still have rotational pieces to make life easier on Femi and Arden and Jalen Harrell
and everybody else that's going to be taking reps there. But now they just need a body to make sure that those guys can get through
the bulk of the season without the wear and tear that's going to happen anyway
But you can just try and do these things by degrees. Cam barely came up in the welcome to training camp report day press conference
And then, of course, we get out there today, and it's all that anybody's focused on
I spent a lot of time watching defense in particular, and in particular front seven
because we had Femi Oladejo on the radio show today. And one, I wanted to watch Femi see what was going
Two, he had a great day. Punched out a ball on a botched exchange
They tried a reverse play, a trick play. I guess it's not a trick play, but they tried a reverse play with Chimre Dike
I want to say the back was Kalel Mullings or Julius Chestnut. I can't remember the back specifically
But either way, the exchange was botched. And Femi was there to punch the ball out, trying to make a recovery for the defense
He almost got his hands on one in coverage because he's a former off-ball linebacker and he can do that
So I spent a lot of time watching front seven players, in particular the edge guys, because I knew I was going to talk to Femi one on one on the radio show
It a good interview You should check it out on the podcast Chester thank you Somebody says in the comment section So and then you know by extension Arden Draymond Jones Jalen Harrell Desmond Evans
like guys, Titus Leo, guys you probably have never heard of, but are currently constructing
your outside linebacker group. And then, you know, I also happen to be over there in the same part of the practice facility
or practice field as defensive lines. I watched a little bit of Jeff Sweat, Sebastian Joseph Day, those guys
then the offensive line then I made my way over to the seven on seven where cam uh and the offense
and then eventually they went from seven on seven to team and that's when the radio show started me
and Lucas were standing up watching uh practice from I mean Lucas isn't taller than most of you
but I'm taller than most of you so I can see over the top of you um and we're able to watch the bulk
of 11 on 11 and offense specifically that way so with all these different things that went down
today, I thought it was a pretty solid practice. I thought it was a pretty solid practice and
thought that things went well. I thought that the offense was for day one with a rookie
quarterback. I thought they were fine. And I came away from today's practice prior to going to speak
to Cam Ward feeling good about what they had accomplished on day one, but it wasn't good
enough for Cam Ward, which is something that I really appreciate about this man. And it's going
to be the main thesis of the show tonight. Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Twitch is where
you can get involved. Your Two Rivers Ford take. Where can Cam Ward, I wrote this down, and this is
a general question because I think we could, let's keep it to just training camp right now. So training
camp and preseason. Where can Cam Ward improve the Titans the most in this lead up to the regular
season? Regular season, we don't have the answer to that yet. We'll see. There's a lot of different
things that we're going to have to take in. There's a lot of different stuff that Cam Ward
is going to have to adjust to. It's going to be a much more serious thing by the time we get to
the regular season. And some of this offseason stuff, most of this offseason stuff will be put
to the test. The thing for him, though, in the preseason as a rookie quarterback, training camp
his first, and in the preseason in particular, you guys are cracking up about Cam, this team
win a Super Bowl. So damn funny. For that, Mike Borgonzi's face just deadpan in the middle of that
Chad Brinker starting to laugh, looking over at Borgonzi, seeing Borgonzi not laugh, and then
you know, having to take the question seriously or not react, rather than be like, what are you
talking about? As an NFL football executive, that's not, it was a natural reaction. Nobody
blames Chad Brinker for the way that he reacted. Damn, that was funny. Because of course, nobody
He thinks the Titans seriously are going to win the Super Bowl this year
But Borgonzi, you know what, to his credit, he handled it so, so well. He looked Joe Newman dead in the eye and he said, you know
that's the expectation every year. And that's all that he needs to say. Move on. Get away from that question as fast as humanly possible
Don't sell us a bag, a bill of goods the way that the construct last year did
Ran Carthon, Burt Nihil, Callahan just got there, so I hold him less at fault
but the people selling the product last year is, oh, this is going to be better than you think it's going to be
And it was the worst thing you've ever seen, basically, since 2014
It's the last time that they've lost that many games. But anyway, where can Cam Ward improve this team
in the preseason and training camp right now? Let me know in the comment section
It's your Two Rivers Ford take. As always, it's presented by Two Rivers Ford
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The best in business is Two Rivers Ford. Where can Cam elevate this team right now
Not in the regular season. Let's keep it to right now, the next month and a half. Got a month and a half under his belt, a month and a half in his first training camp practice
So the off-season program, rookie minicamp, mandatory minicamp, OTAs, all of it
off-season workouts or like summer break workouts that he's organizing with his skill group that he
was able to do and I asked him about that today we'll probably save that for later in the week
well I guess we only have one more prime time show in his practice tomorrow but you understand what
I'm saying um Matt Bailey says media was horrible on that presser talking about um so negative it
was draining to have to listen to the questions fans have hope every year yeah brother but your
football team has asked their run like shit in the last couple of years and they keep firing people
like what do you want us to do we're supposed to sit there and be like oh how nice is it to get a
fresh start this year and let's not talk about all the things that you've done wrong in the past that
have put you in this shitty situation to have the number one overall pick let's talk about the fact
that you don't have a pass rusher the pass rusher just retired let's talk about the fact that the
two of you Brinker and Borgonzi were responsible for that Snead trade Brinker on the side of the
Titans, Borgonzi on the side of the Chiefs. Now Borgonzi's still having to deal with it
I'm sure, you know, I would love to catch him in an honest moment about that, a truth
serum type situation. But like, meaning it was horrible because we asked questions that you didn't like and
you wouldn't have hope? Get over it. Be better. Then we won't ask questions that are tough
Show that you belong or that you are above questioning because you're so good at what
you do. The Titans are anything but above questioning. You need to, you know, have, again, I got no problem with fans having hope
What I have a problem with is fans simping for bad football, for bad organizations, for bad companies, right, in anything
Don't defend things that should not be defensible. Question them. Push them
Hold them to a higher standard. Don't be like, oh, the media was so mean to them that day
Get out of here with that shit. Anyway, Cam Ward. Cam Ward is a part of raising that standard, right, holding people to a higher standard
Cam Ward's tougher than that common. Just was. Because Cam Ward, I came away thinking they had a good practice
I'm a pretty tough critic most days. Cam Ward turned around and said, yeah, the practice was mid
This is Cam Ward at the podium earlier. Really excited. Especially transitioning from one level to the next level
Just decided to, you know, get a new atmosphere around. New teammates, new coaching staff. Then finally, you know, be able to put the pass on again next week
And then just doing things full speed like we were in minicamp. How was your scoreboard out there when you know wins or losses
How do you measure progress here in our training camp? Everything is always measured off a win or a loss
Practice is 80 plays a day. That's a whole game. We were mid in practice today offensively
But you know it the first day you get better every day You know we just got to try and just repeat and not stay the same Just try to get better Obviously you been back for a couple of days and you been working out with guys in the offseason How much did that help make you today A bit more serious
Real good, just from understanding how they're going to run their routes, to them understanding, you know, my ball plays and where it needs to be
allow them to make plays at the field. But we've got a talented group of receivers, tight ends as well, and running backs who can, you know, make plays in the check down game and in the run game
So, you know, just the pieces that we have, you know, I think we're one of the top, you know, we're capable of being one of the top offensive league
So he starts off being a tough critic, but then he's, you know, I don't think he's disingenuous
I don't think he's just saying shit for the sake of saying shit
Like, I think he believes that they are capable of being one of the top offenses in the league
I believe that he went 12 of 17. Jimmy had a Jimmy Wyatt had him as 12 of 17
Between 7 on 7, 7 on 7, and 11 on 11 team drills today
And what, you know, what would be a solid day? Didn't make any egregious errors
He didn't hit every throw. He had some balls that I'm, he had some passes that I'm sure he would like to have back
And I think he was a bit disappointed that Traylon Burks didn't win a one-on-one jump ball with Jarvis Brownlee
Traylon Burks is considerably bigger with, but he was also complimentary of Traylon Burks today
saying that, you know, we don't have another wide receiver that's built like that on our roster
I'm looking forward to throwing to Traylon Burks. And that, you know, that could be said by someone who only doesn't have experience here, right
But that fresh perspective, that standard that he's holding to, a good practice for any other Titans quarterback, Cam Ward is calling mid and saying
yeah, I mean, it was day one. Where the rest of us are looking around saying he didn't make any egregious mistakes
almost to the point where you would rather, like you would like him to make more mistakes
especially early you want him to make not as many mistakes as humanly possible you don't want him to
be a disaster out there but you want him to make mistakes where he's trying stuff because he thinks
that he's capable of doing it or the speed of the game is not something that he's quite cut up caught
up to yet as far as what he can and cannot get away with at the NFL level that he might have
been able to do as a college player, but he didn't make any egregious errors today
And so, you know, the fact that he's still hypercritical of himself that way is what
you're looking for. Because there's been too much, you know, that dipshit comment that I read earlier
And it's not just because he was saying that the media was so bad in that press conference
and I'm a media guy, so I'm obviously going to, you know, look at that a little more critically
but Cam Ward is the opposite of what that comment is. You know, that comment is whiny and it's, it's, it's, it's
you're just simping in that situation. Cam Ward is not going to settle or whine or complain or think things are too
tough. He's going to go out there and try and kick somebody's ass. He's a football player. That's
that's why I am coming as I get to know him more as I cover him more
and obviously were very, very early in his NFL career. There's a ton of this stuff that's followed Cam Ward and every stop that he's made
This was the background. This was the background on Cam Ward. So we knew this coming in, even though for me personally
it is my first firsthand experience seeing the things that Mario Cristobal
the Miami head coach, talked about. or his time at Wazoo and how he was regarded by players that he played against and played
with on the same team and his coaching staff. Cam Ward has this track record. It's just now
arriving at the NFL level for a new audience, a new audience and you in for the most part
beyond like who the player is. Like you've seen Cam Ward play. I've seen Cam Ward play
but we don't know too much about Cam Ward. This is our first time truly getting to know him
so as i spend more time with him and hearing him speak and watching him work you earn the same way
everybody else does you are you are getting a level of you are giving him a level of respect
that he earns because he earns everything out there he's not being given or he's not content
to be given anything he wants to earn it he wants to beat you he wants to beat everybody he's he was
asked today about will levis and the comment came off a bit mechanical and maybe you know maybe a bit
cold because levis is you know you have human emotions about all this but he was asked about
his reaction to will levis uh having season-ending shoulder surgery he's like i didn't have a reaction
at all i'm focused on cam warp which is the it's the right answer but it gives you a look inside of
who that person is he is focused on one singular thing and that is football his football how to win
in football and to elevate, to help the players around him who can help him win football games
That's Cam Ward's singular focus. That's all you want. That's the kind of thing that you say that
when I've mentioned this quote before, I've used it, I'm sure overused it at this point in time
but when Rand Carthon at the combine was talking about Tajay Spears, he said
in in uh you know among many other things he said yeah he taught you just made of the right shit
cam Ward's made of the right shit competitive makeup can he physically do all the things in
the NFL that he's going to need to do and and uh have to do to overcome some things some
deficiencies around him and and some deficiencies that he himself will have in his game of course he
is that's that's a part of the learning curve every year in the NFL doesn't go away after your
rookie season it continues but I he he raises the standard of the organization and for too long
or at least in the absence of people like Derrick Henry and Ryan Tannehill and Jarrell Casey and
Delaney Walker and you know even Mike Malarkey and Mike Vrabel had had some of this right there
was a standard a standard to be met when all of those things went away so suddenly the Titans
who were the Tennessee Titans last year? They were nobody. They were not a team
They were just a bunch of players and pieces and parts that people spent a bunch of money on
threw together in a locker room, and hoped it would become a team. But it never matched, right? Oil and water type of situation
They are, they've learned, we think, from their mistakes. And we'll see what the corrections look like
and how much better they can get as a result of the corrections. I think they can be a significantly better football team
than they were last year. but he is the antithesis of what they were
He and that attitude, that mentality, is what he, his mental makeup is what they lack
or they lacked last year. Now they have him. And that bleeds through
The place that he can help them the most, and obviously playing quarterback, cutting down on turnovers
getting rid of the ball taking less sacks just being playing the quarterback position more
efficiently first and foremost he has to produce right he has to produce on the field to maintain
that respect beyond just what his attitude is but assuming that he produces and that he not the nightmare that was the 2024 season he is good for morale
He raises the standard of an organization that didn't have a standard last
year, didn't have an identity last year, didn't have shit. They were a mess
They were, they were, they lacked direction. They lacked an identity. I don't know if lacking focus is a fair criticism because I wouldn't know how
to quantify that, but they just, they lacked. And so now this person, this person, Cam Ward
he's coming in here to raise the stakes for everybody, to raise the standard for everybody
offense, defense, coaching staff, special teams, everybody better operate or better learn to
operate the way that this man does. Because it's a proven, he is battle tested. That's one of the
the biggest benefits of the college transfer situation is it can work
You know, there are always going to be multiple scenarios, multiple variables to factor in
It's not going to work for everybody. But in preparation for the turnover and the tumult that is the NFL
that transfer rule, that year-over-year transfer rule, and the way that guys move around
the way that that guy moved around across his college career can prepare you for this
They can show you how to step right into a room that you're unfamiliar with, with players that you're unfamiliar with
with the coaching staff that you may or may not know very well, and say, yeah, this is how we're going to do things now
because this is how I know they get done. He is battle-tested that way
So while we await the football skill and how that might raise the floor of the team
skill, not just talent, because he's talented, but talent only gets you so far
his work ethic and his approach, his mental makeup, is going to get him far further
carry him far further than his talent would be able to do alone
And so that today was emblematic to me. And it was just one sample size, right
But it's something that he's going to bring to the table each and every day. And that's the book that you hear on him or that's out on him in his college career
And that's exactly among other things, what the Titans are hoping and needing to add to the mix
It is, it's, it's where you need to be. And hopefully they don't screw him up, right
Physically, mentally, emotionally, hopefully they don't break him of that because they haven't
And this is, you know, this is just how I view things anyway
And you can criticize me for being overly skeptical, but like I pointed out to that person who thought that the press conference
was too negative or something like that. Like, They don't deserve, as an organization, Cam Ward can have all the benefit of the doubt he wants
The organization does not get the benefit of the doubt. They have screwed up players like Cam Ward before
And they're not the only NFL organization to ever do something like that. We know this. It's rampant league-wide
But I trust him way, way more. Having known the man for a month and a half and not really knowing him yet
knowing what this person is, what he brings to the table, who he's been the entirety of his career
is not something that you can rely on far more than the Titans being consistent
in the approach and the success that they're able to bring through a consistent approach in play
which is why you always have that bit of skepticism, or at least you should in the back of your mind
I think you should, whether you want to or not, whether you just want to bury your head in the sand and be like
oh, it's all going to be better now because they drafted the quarterback. Well, they still need to support him and keep pace with him
at every step of the way. Anyway, that was very long-winded by me
I'm just so happy. I actually have shit to talk about. I just made 26 minutes worth of talking
out of a 30-second quote. That's how happy I am to have football back
If you guys think I'm rambling, let me know. But I could talk about this shit all night
It's really good. Anyway, rising and falling. Who stock rose? Who stock fell this week in sports
Let me know on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and on Twitch in the comment section
My two, I've got one stock up, one stock down, one rising, one falling. And they're both Titans
Well, one is directly Titans related. The other is Titans adjacent, we'll say. You don't have to stick to Titans if you don't want to
There's somebody in sports who had a good week that you think deserves props. Bring them up if you think somebody had a shitty week and you want to mention it or pile on
You can do that too. rising or falling, whose stock rose and whose stock fell. We'll get to these here in just a
second, right after I remind you that the primetime program, well, actually I got a cough
excuse me, and remind you that the primetime program is presented by TrueMap Fitness in the
Gulch, where your first workout is free as a Middle Tennessee resident. They've got me training
camp ready because I was able to get in a good fitness routine with TrueMap to help me understand
with my schedule, the variances in my schedule. They help me manage it so that I don't miss getting my activity in to make sure that I
can maintain and not yo-yo during football season the way that I used to
True Mad Fitness is going to come up with a plan that makes sense for you, not just for me
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All right. Whose stock rose? Whose stock fell? Jeffrey Mullins. Stock up Jarvis Brownlee Jr
Stock down Will Levis. Well, Will, I mean, yeah, Will Levis is no longer a part of the equation
which I honestly think is good for him. I honestly think the shoulder surgery, it gives him, it makes him
it makes him have to chill the hell out. Like just put him on ice for a little bit and get him away from the media
and he doesn't have to do press conferences while he's on injured reserve
They did that today, put him on IR today. I think it can be good for him, even if, you know
to be knocked out of a whole football season is not ideal, but still. Just give him a chance to catch his breath and maybe reset
and go have success in the next phase of his career, whatever that looks like
And maybe it doesn't work and whatever, but I kind of think that
I kind of think that it's a stock up situation more. I think it benefits just about everybody
I think it benefits him. I think it benefits us. I don't want to talk about Will Levis anymore
Respectfully, it's nothing personal against Will. It's just like there's no reason to
And they're also, they are also a team that, you know, would probably like to not be made a meme of on a regular basis
Like, I think it can be good for everybody to just have a break from the Will Levis experience, including Will Levis
So I can go the opposite there. I'd say stock up in that situation
So stock up Brownlee Jr. Is that because he played well today or practiced well today
Or is that because LeJarrius Sneed is still not healthy? And Brownlee Jr. stepped up and played solid football
You're hoping he can get better, if not be quality depth, potentially be a starting player if he needs to be this year
Again, the Sneed thing. I think the Sneed thing is good. I think that the Sneed thing is at least a
in the right direction because at least we are not having to talk about a prolonged situation
from the quad injury. The knee thing we know. The knee thing they know, theoretically, they know
how to manage. He knows how to manage it, right? The quad just completely threw everything off
kilter and made a bad situation seem infinitely worse. Tightman9000 says, is Ann Herndon
is that a shirtless buck in your icon oh is it she have me is a shirtless oh that is me god that's
a lot of chest hair i don't look shirtless because i've got so much chest hair uh and says stock up
six-year-old my six-year-old who tried to break her clavicle last week and this week found out
she needs eye muscle surgery stock down my wallet oh god i'm sorry i uh another reason that i have
children they they light your money on fire even when they don't mean to even when they do it on
accident. I like my money too much. I think I'm very selfish that way. Good for you for
for having children and raising the youth of America and keeping, uh, keeping forward progress
and investing in, uh, in the future. But you do that. You seem more responsible than me
So all that to say, stock up for me, Alec Iaman. I think he's a starting wide receiver for this
team. Now, you don't have to be a good, I mean, let me put that in context. I think that he is the
best starting option opposite Calvin Ridley that is currently on the Titans roster. And that's not
just because of one training camp practice. He is raw, but he's toolsy and he looks like a
professional player out there. Now, they could get up against Tampa Bay and Atlanta, enjoy training
camp practices and and all that optimism be sunk down the drain and have to reevaluate because oh
my god this is much harder than I thought it was going to be and no longer am I running routes
against third and fourth string quarters on the worst team in football I'm out there against
legitimate NFL uh talent that knows more about how to stop me than I know how to beat them
but right now I look I'm in or I think is the second best thing that you have in that room
and I would be shocked if, you know, provided that he's healthy and you always preface everything with that
that you can say that about any position. I am anor is someone who is going to factor into this team if he is healthy
I think that that is something that, you know, is probably a popular opinion
I don't think I'm the first one to stumble upon that revelation. I felt, but honestly, I felt that way coming out of OTAs
And maybe it's just because they're, there's so little to work with in their wide receiver
There are a lot more faces, new faces, but I don't know
It's still suspect. I think he can make it slightly less suspect
And even if it's a couple of years down the road and he turns into a nice player in his rookie year, maybe he doesn't, he doesn't
If he gets 500 yards receiving as a rookie what is he a fourth round rookie at a Stanford I feel pretty good about that 500 yards and a couple of touchdowns
I'd feel good about that. And with signs of growth and progress to build upon, right
All of these things are going to have to work on a grading curve of, all right, this is for the future
It's not for right now. Major Key says, but compare I am Anders rookie camp to AJ's rookie camp
well yeah that's not comparable I mean AJ Brown is he was the best player I mean he was one of the
best players on the field immediately he I mean Derrick Henry was obviously out there
Jeff was not out there in AJ's rookie campus because Jeff was still recovering from the ACL
there weren't many players football players on the field veteran rookie UDFA free agent ad whatever
Like, A.J. was clearly one of the best players on the roster as a rookie second-round pick
Iron Manor, it's not to take anything away from Iron Manor, but he's not that
I mean, he's not anywhere close. A.J. Brown is the most talented wide receiver this franchise has ever drafted
Not like the most productive. He wasn't here long enough. But, I mean, you could make the argument
I know Jamar Chase has a pretty damn good argument, but you could make the argument. A.J. Brown is as good, if not better, at some things than Jamar Chase's
I think he's, for my money, because he plays with a lesser quarterback
I think A.J., if A.J. had Joe Burrow, I think he could put up Jamar Chase's numbers. I don't think there'd be any problem with that, even though he's a little older
I would make the argument for A.J. being the best wide receiver in the league
So, and I know that's now, not rookie camp, but, like, you could tell
Like, Arthur Juan Brown was different than just about every player on that football field as a rookie
Iow Manor is not that, but it doesn't mean that he can't help you, right
So, let's not go to extremes. And, oh, you didn't go to extremes there
You just asked me for a comparison. But, yeah, I don't think they're comparable
It's the first day of training camp. Let me not, I'm Aner could completely surprise me and make this clip look foolish in a couple of
in a couple of weeks or months or whatever the case may be. But I, no, right
Let's not go there just yet. All right, stock down. So stock up, Alec I'm Aner
I think he's going to factor in in a big way this year. Stock down radio show callers
I don't know how many of y'all listen to the radio show or watch the radio show
or I don't know if any of y'all who watch primetime or hang out with us on A to Z
have ever called the radio show. I have no idea. But, I mean, if you do, one, I need y'all to step your game up
The callers to the radio show have been ass ass hot ass for quite some time And I don know if it what we doing if we not providing good enough prompts or if better callers just don call the radio show
I don't know if it's an us problem or if it's a caller problem. But like, we had one of the worst phone calls today
that I think we've ever had in the history of the show
It was ghastly. This is courtesy of the radio show. Is it not there
Where is it, Robert? I don't see it. Did I lose it
I don't know if there's something that you're saying that I'm not. I don't want to hit something or go to something that we don't have
I thought we had it. Did you forget? We do have it. Hold on. Did you forget
I'm stalling. I'm trying to stall. You're sitting in a dark room staring at me, not giving me any feedback whatsoever
I sent it to you. I put it in here. Did you? Because I don't see it
Oh, you're right. Oh, you're right. It's my fault. It's all my fault
Okay. Well, I can have another stock down. Are you ready? No, it's okay. It's coming
You're just going to have to wait maybe a couple more seconds. Maybe you say something nice about me in the meantime
That's as... No, I can't even do that. Come on, man. Instead, I'll just play a stock down moment
No, it's coming. How do you feel about how the guys came back
I mean, whether you were in a coma when I answered Tom's question
or typing on your phone or tweeting, I don't know, but I spent five minutes answering that question
And I could go back through it, but I'd rather not. Ross, who's up first
We will go to Drew up first. Drew, remember to stay on hold after you give your call
for the opportunity to win those tickets. What you got? So, yeah, from Tuscaloosa, first and foremost, that's going to be a little
Anyway, my dung is. Yeah, I'm here. I'm here. I know. Speak
What you got? Oh, no, sorry. No, I'm door dashing right now, so I have a
I don't care. Give us your dung. Next one. Next one. Gosh almighty
Get out of here. Are you kidding me? Holy hell. Hold on
Let me drop this off real quick. What, are you going to take us to the door with you
I have a dumbest thing in sports. Oh, my God. Kirby has a submission
He should be vacuuming the carpet. I don't care. He should be directing traffic, vacuuming carpet, or doing anything else when you're trying to call him a radio show
That's fantastic. Who is next, Ross? Please pick better. All right, hopefully Peyton can do better
Holy hell. All right, hopefully Peyton can do better. old Paul Bunyan giant
BFG ass sounding dude what the hell Robert I got so mad
watching that clip again like reliving that from a third party perspective like removed seeing my my my mind leave my body in that moment when i i literally you see me reach out in frustration i reaching out to
choke that person like i want to just choke them like force choke them force choke the life
out of that person or grab them by the shoulders and just shake them
You're sitting here, what's wrong with you? He goes, no, my dungus thing in sports
My dungus. Well, I knew if I started yelling at him, it wasn't going to help
but I couldn't stop myself. Well, first off, I'm from Tuscaloosa, so that's going to be a problem
Here's my dungus thing in sports. I am mad all over again
Kirby makes that clip, though. It's so good. God, Stockdown, that guy
Don't ever call. If you're here tonight, if you're watching the button, don't ever call that radio show again
Don't ever call me again. Your privilege is revoked. He's going to be my DoorDash delivery guy and spit my food next time
I don't care. I don't care. Be better. Stockdown, Radio Call. If you call the show, just get
I really do love the way. You guys, listen to me. All right
the way you support support prime time the way that you support the co-sale pod the radio show
numbers are crazy apparently it's taboo for radio people to talk about ratings i don't we don't have
to get into specific numbers all i know is that there you we have no biz we as a show we have no
business doing as well as you guys do for us okay uh digitally fm terrestrial wise like it's insane
We are blown away by it. We are incredibly grateful. But so help me, God, if one of you calls the radio show with that kind of weak-ass shit
I'm going to tear your head off just like I did that, guys. I'm going to reach out and try and force choke you
Oh! Love you, though. That's going to do it for us tonight
Radio show is back out of camp tomorrow. Speaking of stock up Alec Ayaman, he's going to be on the radio show
Femi was great today. You can rewatch that interview. You can go listen to it via the podcast
We do training camp interviews, training camp interview series every day that we're out there
We're out there tomorrow. And then I'll obviously we won't be doing the show from the stadium practice because it's a Saturday
But I'll be out there and I'll probably do an individual interview. I haven't I'm not sure who I'm going to try to
For Saturday after the practice, but we are enjoying these. We love being back out there
We love doing this stuff for you all. We love the way that you all hang out with us
During the football season, we're just happy to get back to it, get back into the swing of things
That doesn't mean have shitty radio show calls. I will talk to you tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. on 104.5 The Zone