- 3 minutes ago
Mark Schlereth joins Willard and Dibs to discuss the state of the NFC and where the 49ers stand, to break down the moves the NFC contenders have made ahead of the trade deadline, and more.
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00:00Let's do this. Let's bring Stink in. Let's talk a little football.
00:03The trade deadline is a week from today.
00:06And the thought is, is that the Niners may still be active.
00:10There's some names percolating.
00:12Niners off the bye. Raiders on the way into town.
00:15The Seahawks and Rams are both four and four.
00:18But are you starting to think about the Bears?
00:20So, we go out to the River Islands guest line.
00:23We're joined by our buddy Mark Schlereth.
00:25This NFL Insider Call is presented by Nationwide for your insurance and financial needs.
00:31Nationwide is on your side.
00:33Hey, Stink, what's going on?
00:35Yeah, who should the Niners be most concerned with in the entire NFC?
00:39Oh, I think, I definitely think the Bears.
00:43You look at, just over the last three weeks, Caleb Williams has been as good,
00:50maybe the best quarterback in the National Football League.
00:52A completion percentage, playing in structure.
00:56And, you know, I have a tendency to piss a lot of people off.
01:00But, you know, I said going into the season, you know, Caleb Williams,
01:04like his off-schedule ability is as good, if not the best, in the National Football League.
01:10And he's not even good yet.
01:11Like, he's not even a good drop-back guy yet.
01:14And what he has done, especially here in the last three weeks,
01:19the way he has played in structure of the offense, delivering the football on time, on target,
01:26completing over 70% of his passes the last three weeks.
01:28He's been as good as any quarterback in football.
01:31And then you have the mentality of, I mean, think about this.
01:35And this is very Kyle Shanahan, Mike Shanahan, the way they operate.
01:41Last night, Swift had 27 carries.
01:46And he averaged 2.6 yards per carry.
01:49Now, most coaches are just going to go like, man, we can't run it.
01:53Screw it.
01:53Let's throw the ball.
01:54But he knew going into an environment in Seattle, hey, man, this is a tough,
01:59incredibly tough place to play.
02:01I'm not going to put my quarterback in harm's way.
02:03We're going to keep our play action alive.
02:0627 carries.
02:07He had three touchdowns, but he averaged 2.6 yards per carry.
02:12That's unheard of.
02:13But that's Ben Johnson.
02:15That's what they do.
02:16And then you guys mentioned Jeffrey Simmons.
02:18And he's a guy that, you know, the rest of the NFL,
02:22everybody was excited just to leave him in Tennessee,
02:24where nobody really knew Jeffrey Simmons existed.
02:28And then you put him on a platform like that,
02:30the dude is a freak show athlete.
02:33He is big, strong, one of the best,
02:36if not the best three technique in all of football.
02:39And he showed that exactly last night.
02:42Six tackles, three solo, three assisted tackles,
02:45a sack, and a myriad of pressures.
02:48The Chicago Bears basically said, hey, man, like,
02:51we are so good right now that we're willing to go out
02:55and give two first-rounders up for this guy
02:57because we think we're in a Super Bowl window
03:00and we think he pushes us over the top.
03:02And last night, going in what honestly is the toughest place in football to play,
03:07they dominated.
03:09They were unbelievable last night.
03:11Yeah, they completely shoved, and Seattle had no answer.
03:13And I wonder, Stink, if you look at Chicago now
03:16as maybe the most balanced of the NFC teams.
03:19I know the Niners have a good defense and a good offense.
03:21Are the Bears right there with them in terms of complementary football?
03:25Yeah, I don't think there's any question.
03:27They are right there.
03:29And then, obviously, you know, the Niners have to get healthy.
03:32They've got to get healthy at the wide receiver position.
03:34And I know a lot of people have been, you know,
03:36talking about the potential of going out in the trade market
03:39and grabbing a wide receiver or whatever the case may be.
03:42But I know that you're going to get those guys back.
03:43They're going to get healthy.
03:44But, yeah, those are two of the most balanced teams in football.
03:48And I tell you what, they're both fun to watch.
03:53They're both really good teams.
03:55And they're setting themselves up for a collision course
03:59at some point during the course of,
04:00I don't think they play in the regular season,
04:03but in the playoffs for sure.
04:04Yeah, Stink, I mean, on that wide receiver,
04:06I mean, just reading your body language and your tone,
04:09and it sounds like you're not terribly big on the Niners going big
04:13at wide receiver at the trade deadline, I tend to agree with you.
04:16But I do wonder, what do you think they still need,
04:20even though they already got Buckner?
04:23Yeah, I mean, you know, obviously depth is like a defensive line depth.
04:28They've had injuries there.
04:30You got to look at Bosa.
04:32And I know he's supposed to come back,
04:34but I just don't know when he's been injury prone.
04:37Is, you know, is there somebody out there?
04:40I mean, Max Crosby would be worth kicking the tires on.
04:44That dude is just a freak show.
04:47He can ruin a game without compiling one statistic.
04:50So, you know, I would always look at kind of at that D-line rotation there,
04:58but they're a damn good football team whether they make a move
05:02or whether they stay pat.
05:04And you look at a situation like this with the Niners in the bye week
05:08and they got DeForest Buckner and I know that Seattle got Quentin Nelson
05:11and then Chicago was able to load up on Simmons.
05:14Is it a thing where you want to be reactionary
05:16and you want to go out there and be more aggressive
05:18because your rivals have also made additions?
05:21Yeah, I think that's a, I mean, that's a way a lot of teams think.
05:24But again, I think you have to look at yourself right now.
05:29If you're the Niners and you say, hey man, if we're healthy,
05:31can we be the best team in football?
05:34Yes, like without question.
05:37So you look at your health.
05:39The other thing is, do I want to make a big splash on a receiver
05:43that maybe doesn't fit the culture of what we do?
05:46You know, like George Pickens is a guy people talk about.
05:49That would be a hell no for me.
05:51You know, regardless, I don't want a guy who only plays hard
05:57when his number's called.
05:58Like, and that doesn't fit the culture of the San Francisco 49ers.
06:02You need to be involved in blocking.
06:04You need to be involved in the entirety of the game.
06:07So, you know, I don't know if there's another guy out there
06:10that fits that mold.
06:11But I'd be very careful, especially at that position,
06:15of going out and finding guys that maybe don't fit what we do.
06:2049ers have a winning hand over the Rams and Seahawks already
06:24and a three-game lead, essentially three-and-a-half-game lead
06:27on both of them in the division.
06:29To what level do you still see those two teams as threats?
06:34And add into the conversation, everyone's talking Jeffrey Simmons.
06:37They forget Seattle went out and got Quentin Nelson.
06:40And their offensive line did not really look any better.
06:44Yeah, well, they were missing cross.
06:47And, of course, they took their starting left guard
06:49and they moved them to right guard for Quentin Nelson.
06:53So he struggled against Simmons over there.
06:55And that's a hard transition to make.
06:58So, like, that's going to take a little bit of time.
07:01Like I said, like, cross did not play at the left tackle position.
07:06So that's a little bit.
07:07But that's not even what I'm worried about.
07:09What really concerns me more than anything for Seattle
07:12is the regression of Sam Darnold in this new offense
07:16and new offensive coordinator.
07:17They haven't been very good.
07:20And Sam Darnold is one of those guys that, you know,
07:23looking at what happened here in Denver,
07:25late rotation, late disguise.
07:29He's thrown an interception, I believe,
07:31in every game that he's played since he returned from his injury.
07:34So that's a concern, the way they're playing
07:37on the offensive side of the ball.
07:38Still outstanding on defense.
07:40But, you know, you can't ask your defense to go out there
07:43and play the entirety of the game without any offensive production
07:46and think that you're going to be able to hold up
07:48the entirety of the game.
07:49So that's, you know, that's a big issue there.
07:53I think in that division,
07:55the one team that would give me a little bit of pause
07:58more than Seattle is what the Rams are doing right now.
08:02And I said it on the Stinking Truth podcast two weeks ago
08:04when they lost Devontae Adams,
08:06maybe the best thing that happened to the Rams.
08:08And, you know, people looked at me like, are you crazy?
08:10And I go, no, no, no.
08:11Now, what this is going to do is going to get them back
08:13into doing what they do the best,
08:15which is line up in 12 and 13 personnel
08:18and just bludgeon people.
08:21And the last two weeks, man, they've gone from a team
08:24that was almost 50%, 11 personnel as, you know,
08:28three wide receiver sets to where right now
08:31they're at 48% in three tight end formations.
08:35And then two tight end formations
08:37is their second most popular formation.
08:40And so they are basically lining up
08:42and just tenderizing people with a run game.
08:45And they've done that two weeks in a row.
08:47And I've always, I always said, you know,
08:50the thing that San Francisco had over the Rams
08:53in all those years between Kyle Shannon and Sean McVay
08:58is the 49ers just were a more physical football team.
09:02They just beat them up.
09:04And this version of the Rams,
09:07this is what they do the best.
09:09And they have been really good the last couple of weeks
09:12of truly controlling line of scrimmage
09:15and winning games that way.
09:16So that gives me, they'll get, you know,
09:19they opened up the window for Miles Garrett
09:22to start practicing again.
09:23So that's the one team in that division
09:25that would give me a little bit of pause
09:27if I was San Francisco.
09:28Well, and they've got the Commanders,
09:30then the Cardinals, and then two more games,
09:32then they take on the 49ers.
09:33So when you think about that 13 personnel
09:36with the three tight ends
09:37versus what the 49ers try to do
09:39against the run in, you know, with their front,
09:42is that something that the 49ers
09:43still need to adjust to and to take on the Rams?
09:47Well, yeah, I think, I think the thing
09:49that makes the Rams really interesting,
09:50I have them this weekend against the Commanders.
09:53The thing that makes them really interesting
09:55is you watch how many different styles,
09:59and this goes back to Kyle Shanahan,
10:01Mike Shanahan, you know, Sean McVay,
10:04how many different ways they'll line up
10:07in the same formation with that 13 personnel
10:10and how many different ways they block it.
10:12The other thing that they end up doing
10:15is Pukinokua is a real chess piece
10:18for them in the run game.
10:19And I know he gets 12 targets a game,
10:21but one of the things he'll do is
10:23he'll like motion across
10:25and be a lead blocker on insert.
10:28So you'll take 13 personnel
10:30and you'll make it like 23 personnel.
10:32And you'll take 12 personnel
10:34and you'll make it like 13 personnel
10:36because Pukinokua will block the edge,
10:38you'll block a defensive end,
10:40he'll block a linebacker,
10:41he'll block a safety.
10:43And so you don't like,
10:45you don't necessarily practice against,
10:47hey man, out of 13,
10:50they run this
10:52and then all of a sudden
10:52you get, you know,
10:53you get Pukinokua in there
10:54and you're like,
10:55well, they're not going to run that.
10:56Well, they'll run it with him
10:57because he's like an extra tight end in there
11:00the way he blocks.
11:02So it's just a unique,
11:04it's a unique,
11:06it's just a unique kind of way
11:08that they run their offense
11:09because he's such a good blocker.
11:11Talking to Mark Slareth here
11:12on Willard and Tibbs,
11:13Nationwide is so much more
11:14than a great insurance company
11:16that one of America's largest
11:17financial services companies
11:19too, Nationwide is on your side.
11:21Okay, they're four and four
11:22the team the Niners are playing this week.
11:24What is your impression so far
11:26of the up and down Raiders?
11:30Listen, they don't have weapons
11:33on the outside.
11:35So they don't have receivers
11:37that truly threaten anybody.
11:39They've got a couple of tight ends
11:41that are really good.
11:43Mayer is a good player
11:45and Bowers is ridiculous when healthy.
11:48So that's really where the majority
11:50of their passing game comes from.
11:53They haven't really run it very well at all
11:56to the point where Ashton Gentry
11:58was usurped last week by,
12:00what was it, Mike Washington?
12:03But they haven't really,
12:04they haven't really run it
12:06for a lot of yards per carry.
12:07I think Gentry is good
12:09out of the backfield catching the ball,
12:11but they're limited weapons wise.
12:14Kirk is playing pretty good football.
12:17Defensively, you know,
12:18the Rams just ran it down their throat
12:20to the tune of about 200 yards rushing.
12:22So they've had some issues there.
12:26But let me tell you,
12:27if you let them hang around
12:28and you let them eat the middle of the field
12:30with those tight ends,
12:32they'll give you a run for your money.
12:33No question about it.
12:34And you look at Kirk Cousins
12:35and he was really good early
12:37and now he's kind of come
12:38a little bit back to earth.
12:39Do you think we've reached the time
12:40where it might be time
12:41to turn it over to Mendoza?
12:44I think for them right now,
12:46sitting at four and four,
12:48they're not going to go that route.
12:49Now maybe, you know,
12:51check with me,
12:52check back with me in four weeks
12:53if they're, you know, four and eight.
12:56And then I think they'll probably make that,
12:58they'll make that move.
13:00But right now they're still in games
13:03and, you know,
13:04in a couple of the games they lost,
13:05they barely lost to the Chiefs.
13:07They barely lost to the Bills by a field goal.
13:10They've been in these games.
13:12So I think they feel pretty good
13:14about kind of what they're doing.
13:16I think the other thing,
13:17just talking to, you know,
13:19Clint Kubiak and talking to Kirk,
13:22and obviously Kirk, you know,
13:23has a dog in the fight.
13:24It's Kirk.
13:25Kirk, he wants to play, right?
13:27You know what I mean?
13:28So understand that.
13:30But I think there is a,
13:32there's a belief there in that organization
13:35that the best thing they can do
13:37is not clean house
13:40and start a rookie quarterback.
13:42The best thing they can do
13:44is create a culture of,
13:46hey man, we're going to compete,
13:47we're going to fight,
13:48and we're going to learn how to win games.
13:50And I think they look at this
13:52as a long haul deal,
13:54not just a short term,
13:56let's appease the fans
13:57and start our rookie quarterback.
13:59They see the value in competition.
14:02They see the value in growing.
14:04And what that's going to do for them
14:06as a football team,
14:07not this year necessarily,
14:09but the next several years
14:10when Mendoza does take over
14:12as a starting quarterback.
14:12I always look at a rookie quarterback
14:14in the landing spot
14:16and the situation you're putting him in.
14:18Like the Raiders this year,
14:19their four wins are against
14:20the Dolphins, Chargers, Saints, and Jets.
14:22Their four losses are against
14:24the Chiefs, the Patriots,
14:25the Bills, and the Rams.
14:26You can see what the,
14:27you can see how it goes.
14:28They're going to,
14:29they got a shot again.
14:30So their next three games,
14:33Niners, Seahawks, Broncos.
14:35I'm not putting Fernando Mendoza
14:37in a situation to go up
14:38against one of those defenses.
14:40Right after that,
14:41they go to Cleveland,
14:42then they've got the bye week,
14:43and then they play the Chargers.
14:45I think you just said it, Stink.
14:46Like, four more games for Cousins.
14:49If they don't win at least two of them,
14:51it's probably Fernando time.
14:53Yeah, and you do it after the bye week,
14:55and you do it against the Chargers,
14:57because Cleveland, you know,
14:59offensively, they're a bit challenged,
15:00but defensively, they can play.
15:02Yeah, they're good.
15:02And they'll line up
15:03in straight man-to-man coverage,
15:05and they'll just try to beat you down.
15:07So, yeah, I mean,
15:08that makes the most sense to me.
15:09So let's see where we are
15:11after that stretch of games,
15:13after our bye week,
15:14and then we can make a decision.
15:15As you look at other teams
15:17around the league,
15:18and I'm just struck by Minnesota
15:19who finally lost,
15:21but they've given up 93 points
15:22in seven weeks.
15:23Is this a team, think,
15:25that you think is actually
15:26going to be good enough
15:27and balanced enough
15:28to be legit come January?
15:31No.
15:31I don't think offensively they are.
15:34I just don't.
15:35Defensively, they're incredible.
15:38And, you know,
15:39Detroit had a touchdown callback.
15:41They gave up three sacks
15:43right off the bat.
15:44But once they settled down,
15:46they rushed for 230 yards
15:48against Minnesota.
15:49The thing about a defense
15:52that's going to put themselves
15:52in that kind of position,
15:54that are going to blitz all the time,
15:56going to give you
15:56a bunch of quirky looks,
15:57play a bunch of different
15:59quirky coverages
16:01that are really hard,
16:02that's really hard
16:03to get a handle
16:04on what they're doing.
16:05If you start to pick those things up
16:08and you can run the football,
16:10there are big plays
16:12and gash,
16:13kind of gash plays
16:14to be made
16:14against a team
16:16that's going to bring
16:16that much pressure
16:17on a consistent basis.
16:19And, you know,
16:20I watched a bunch of that game.
16:21I looked at a bunch of the,
16:22I looked at a bunch of the
16:24coaches tape on that game
16:25and I thought Detroit
16:27probably could have scored
16:2830 on them.
16:29And it's just a matter of time
16:31with an offense
16:33that just really can't produce
16:35before that defense
16:36will start to leak oil.
16:38So, I think the second half
16:39of the season,
16:41and the defense is really good,
16:43don't get me wrong,
16:44but I think the second half
16:45of the season
16:45with as much as heavy lifting
16:47as they have to do
16:48for that offense,
16:50you'll start to see them
16:52make some mistakes
16:53and give up some big plays.
16:55Stink, just great stuff.
16:57We appreciate you
16:58every single Tuesday.
16:59We look forward
17:00to next week already.
17:01All right, man.
17:02Good stuff, guys.
17:03I'll talk to you soon.
17:04Okay, appreciate you.
17:05That's Mark Schlereth
17:06with us right here
17:07on Willard & Dibbs.
17:08This NFL Insider Call
17:09is presented by Nationwide
17:10for your insurance
17:11and financial needs.
17:12Nationwide is on your side.