2026 Season Preview: Brian Baldinger Segment

0:00It's offense in a way that they didn't really do as much last year. But I digress. Let's bring in the best in the biz. He is here for our season preview Brian Baldinger. It is so great to see you, my friend. How are you doing? I'm good. I'm not actually here in San Francisco. Funny you're talking. I just got off the radio here with Terrell Owens, who was pitching like a pickable tournament. He's playing. But we were talking about the offense. You talk about Brian Flurry, you know, and coming from San Francisco and adopting some of Kyle's things. I think all those things that you were just talking about are real. And I think something that's Seattle just watching in the preseason, watching them set up certain plays or play action and a little bit more of the run action in the play action more than just wide zone boat. That kind of thing. I think you're going to see a little bit more of that. I think that's that's true. And that's you would expect that Brian only spent six years here in San Francisco. He's sent a lot of those, a lot of those meetings, install meetings and

1:01probably picked up a lot of good ideas. Are there other things that you're anticipating? Well, like when you're looking at a new offensive coordinator who's never called plays, you know, you don't have a history to look back on. Are there any things you're kind of anticipating from him that he'll bring to Seattle? Well, you know, some of this is, you know, how much can Sam do with the line of scrimmage? How much is basically program to Sam during the week about a particular look if we're running it strong week, if we're going to run it at all, if we're going to get out of that run, what we're going to, you know, audible to. So a lot of it is just programmed during the week. And then basically the look determines where you go with the ball. A lot of these situations. So so much just done with the line of scrimmage and Sam, who was in San Francisco went to quarterback rehab here with Kyle Shanahan. Certainly, I think for the first time in his career, really got a little taste of that. Got some of it with Kevin O'Connell, Minnesota.

2:01And then, you know, with with Clint last year, it really took it to another level. So I think there's another level for Sam to go to. And it could be designed. It could be things that he really likes this year. It could be the addition of, you know, certain receivers, you know, right now, Tory Horton being healthy, you know, just what they did with Shaheed. Once he got here in the middle of the season, like, I think there's going to be some nuances that we might not know until week two or week three. So one of the things that I've been kind of going over some less understood parts of the 2025 C.O.C. Super Bowl team. And one of the things I haven't mentioned yet that I want to bring up with you in particular is it's an NFL that's obsessed with offenses and NFL that's obsessed with the passing game. And on the flip side, it's obsessed with the pass rush to stop the passing game, right? One of the places where the C.O.C. stood out last year is their run defense was

3:03if you look at DVOA, which is one of the the advanced metrics, the difference between the C.O.C. defensive run defense DVOA and the second best DVOA was the largest difference between two defenses in the league since 1991 with the Philadelphia Eagles and that redgy white defense. One of the best defenses in history. So talk for a second about what people maybe don't understand about how valuable a good run defense can be in the modern NFL. Every quarterback that is, Mike the Parsons just talked about it yesterday in Green Bay. Like if you want to be a great offense, you have to be a great running offense. You have to be able to run the ball. Well, Kyle Shanahan's team didn't run the ball well last year. Couldn't score touchdown against Mike McDonald's defense in a playoff game. You need. So what is the reason why they just gave, you know, Leonard Williams a big fat extension, you know, because he's so paramount. And we saw Byron Murphy just explode last year in that part of it.

4:07What's your on read? Like those three interior players and Pele and, you know, in the depth that they have. Like that's the foundation to everything that Mike McDonald is doing from their matchup zones to their disguises to a lot of the things that we see. That really bother Drake made a Super Bowl game. Like if that's the foundation to the whole thing was they, they got them into passing situations very quickly. It's one thing to be second and sixth and you can do both. But if you're second and nine, you know, or if you're second and 11, it's very difficult to dial up another run. Most coordinators are just going to go away from it. So you mentioned some, some of the names I wanted to ask you about there as well, obviously, and I think for valid reasons, a lot of attention being paid to the adding of Miles Garrett, the adding of Aaron Donald in LA. Like those are huge, huge names, some of the best to ever do it. I feel like one of the stories that hasn't been talked about as much is Byron Murphy at 23 taking the step he did and still being young enough that he looks

5:12like he's ready to take a new step. The addition of Riley Mills, who had a big sack in the Super Bowl and the continued evolution of Derek Hall and what's going on there. I'm curious, you know, how, when you watch Byron Murphy play, first of all, is there someone that he reminds you of? I will always say, Gino Atkins is the, the comp in my mind, but is there someone he reminds you of? And what do you think he can become? Well, I would, I would like point to a guy like Russell Maryland, you know, back in the days and now I played against Russell. So, yeah, you know, just a guy that literally is about as low as anybody on the field, like just leverage wise, like you can't get underneath Byron Murphy. And then just the enormous power that he has, like, you know, he, he, he's not the Dexter Lawrence or some of these bigger defense attackers, but his power and leverage and literally lateral movement is second to none of this business. And he, there is another step for him to take. Like when, when he came out of Texas, you know, they had, they had sweat was there.

6:16He was that bigger version that some teams are looking for. But the thing about Byron is he can, he could play a high percentage of snaps. He doesn't, he's not playing 50% or 48%. He's playing a higher percentage. So, and he has past rush. So, he's really a three down defensive tackle. Leonard Williams has always had that. He's always had conditioning. He always could play a high percentage of snaps. And, you know, fortunately, he's been largely healthy as whole career. So, but that's what you get is you don't have to rotate these guys as often as some of these other players in his league right now because of the endurance, his size and his leverage of what he plays with. So, when you think about this Seahawks defense and you think about a guy like Byron Murphy, one of the things that I think people don't necessarily understand is that he played a significant number of his snaps in the A gap as a nose attack double P and.

7:17And he's still, if you count the Super Bowl ended up with nine, nine and a half sacks, whatever it was, they, I can tell you, Baldi, that they are moving him around the line. He's playing some on the five tech. I've seen him out against tackles. What do you think it does for an offense when you've got guys like Thunder Williams that can move all along the line? You've got a guy like Byron Murphy that might start moving all along the line. And then you bring in guys like Dante Fowler who, you know, speed rush or some of these things. What does that do to an offense when you can move big guys to different spots in the line? Well, it's impossible to be predictable when you're moving guys around as much as they do. And then you, you can add in the disguises that they line up behind like they did in Super Bowl and going and covers the arrow and blitzing off the edge like they did. But, you know, when you can just as an offensive guard or center where I was. And you see a different guy line up in front of you from play to play.

8:18And one, you know, he's shifting from a five technique to a one technique on a defensive line, you know, movement. And pre snap movement like those things are difficult when you're just trying to get your assignments right. And so, you know, when you stem and you change and you do those and you have those guys that can that can play the different positions. And you can stimulate it really throws a real wrench into some of the blocking schemes that you want to execute. Because you're not sure. Is this the guy we're double teaming right here? Are we fanning to this guy? Like it keeps you guessing up until the snap sometimes. Well, given the fact that you're in San Francisco, you're just talking to 49ers folks. I obviously tons of attention to the Rams. And I think that makes sense. Why that's been the case. I find the 49ers one of the hardest teams to figure out going into this season because on one hand. They won 12 games last year was with win one game, one win from being number one in the NFC.

9:20At least from the seating perspective. And then obviously got blown out in the playoffs didn't come close really to beat and Seattle either those two games. And now you get back Fred Warner and you get back Nick Boas. So you add Mike Evans. You add Osa who I think is one of the most underrated additions. But this is one of the oldest offenses in the league. I don't know what to make of the 49ers. Are they going to be the team that is so great that nobody would have expected? Or are they just past their prime and this is a team that's. That's literally the million dollar question. Because if they all stay healthy and that's the big F at these ages, Christian McCaffery, juice, you know, Kettle like this. There's one thing that they always said the thing about experiences by time you get enough of it. You're too old to enjoy it. And the 49ers might be there. They don't know if Mike Evans is going to stay healthy. How Kettle is going to come back? Is Nick Boas going to look like Nick Boas.

10:20You know, is he going to look like defensive player of the year? Nick Boas is he going to be an average player that is struggling to beat big A or beat Charles Cross. Like we don't know what he's going to look like. And you know, McCaffery has got a lot of snaps under his belt. And they've had a hard time finding anybody to back them up. You can't take them off the field because he was the best receiver last year and he's the best runner. So now you're getting them another 400 plus touches. And he's already been beat up enough where he's missed pre seasons. And you know, he's had a couple, you know, 2024 was not a great year. He bounced back last year. But like, can Kale and Black be that change of pace guy? They need their young players, Brian, this year. Stribbling, Black, Grayson, Hulton. They need their young players to look like what Seattle's done with their young players. They need them to step in like, whether spoon did an M and War he did. You know, they need their young players to step up and really contribute right away right now.

11:20I don't think you can just make the playoffs right now relying on some of the 10 plus year veterans that they have on this roster. Yeah, it's it is one of the most bizarre off seasons because the football things that they did for the most part, I think we're pretty good. I think also one of the most slept on additions. I think Stribbling is going to be great. I like Grayson, Hulton. I think he's an interesting addition as well for like they need move interior defensive tackles to get after the pass. They have these big guys and Collins and and CJ West that I don't know are ever going to be pass rushers. But I also man their off season off the field was. Was why. So I look at look. They were major stories, but honestly players. They know what they they're paying attention. They know, but it doesn't affect it really never affects them. They're down there, you know, Australian rules football game in Melbourne last night.

12:23And honestly, they're enjoying themselves and get the trip out of them. We'll see how this thing plays out one team going a week before another team going the day off. Two different philosophies right there, but honestly, when George Kittle gets on the field and both to get some on the field, they're not thinking about their owner or their head coach or what some extra receiver has said about the team. Like they need to go. Or their stripes again and look. Debo coming back. He was not good. The second half of the season was in Washington. He wasn't good the last year in San Francisco. They let him walk like what's the boy got left like they're more worried about their old guys taking care of themselves getting healthy. Staying on the field right now than anything that's happened on the field. Well, we're going to welcome in another guest here in just a minute. Have a little fun here, but, but. I do have to ask you when you look at this NFC West, I'm going to assume that you think this is the best division in the NFL.

13:23Is that fair? How do you think what do you think is the one key thing for each team? Like each of the three teams that are realistically contending what has to go right for the sea hawks to win this division? What has to go right for the Rams to win this division? What has to go right for the 49ers? For the Rams. I mean, obviously Matt Stafford is the MVP of the league. He was he had his best year at age 37. Like can he continue this? Because you like, you look, if they have to go to Stetson Bennett or they have to go to Thai Simpson, it's not going to be the same. They're not he's not going to make those guys aren't making the throws over the middle of the Pukin, Nukuah in tight coverage, which you really love blasting, you know, Nukuah at the point that the ball is arriving. Like that they're not going to make those throws that you can't expect them to make those throws. So that's key, but the other part is like it's one thing when you go get Trent McDuffie and Aaron Donald comes back and Miles Gertz, the one question I would have is I don't think this can happen, but it can happen where you just feel like we're the most talented team we could just show up.

14:33Like I don't believe that's the DNA. That's not how Sean McVeigh is, but there's a part of you that goes like they've already been predicted to go 17 and 0. Like do do like all takes is one fourth quarter come back by a team. It might be the 49ers next week where they get beat and then they're like, maybe we're not that good. Maybe we're not just paper lines. Maybe we do have to like this. That's the caution I have with the Rams. They're so good on paper right now. It doesn't mean that they're going to play as a group like that. You can still make mistakes. You can still make penalties. You can still have miscues. You can still not be 100% ready just because everywhere you look there's basically an all-star player. Like that would be the caution there for Seattle. Like Jackson Smith and Jigmo was so good last year. Like if anything happens to him, who does become that go to he was so good in so many big games and took games over.

15:33If anything happens to him, like where Sam going with the ball, do they rely on the tight ends more, do they check it down to you know today, you know, to you know to Jadairian right now. Like what are they going to do in that if that should happen to that team? All good stuff. Let's welcome on before we let you go. Mr. Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who's joining us from his compound out east. He was so excited, Baldi, to be honest with you that he joined. He joined at 6.30 a.m. Jeffrey Dean, I could be very nice to meet you, Baldi. Yeah, thank you. Yeah, I got I got on. I thought you were getting up really early on the on the West Coast. I'm like, I did. I was 30. San Francisco radio at 6.00 a.m. this morning. Well see you were up. Well see actually Brian was up as well. You should have been on with. You should have been on with him. So Jeffrey before we let Baldi go. I know he's got to get the airport. He's got left. He's got to live.

16:38Any questions you've got for the best in the man. I just like listen to Baldi. I don't need to hear about the Niners and the Rams as much as I've heard the last. Yeah, but I'm a big fan and very much respect every word that comes out of his mouth. He knows the game. So I don't have anything to ask. I've been listening to. The one thing I would say to you to both you guys is I work at an NFL films in New Jersey. All those guys have been in Seattle doing hard knocks. It's been a phenomenal program. Yeah, like because I think people really got to see Mike McDonald. I agree. Is there a magic elixir that he has? Obviously defense is especially but his connection to his players. I feel like that connection with this play. How he talks to his players. Yeah, like it feel like it permeates to the whole team. There's just a unity that exists. Now maybe it starts with John Schneider because John's like that himself. But there's a unity within that team that it's almost hard to explain you because it's not like that everywhere coaches don't communicate.

17:45And you can tell he's not doing it. It's just because the cameras are rolling. You know that's just as authentic as it gets. And I'm kind of glad that Seattle just opened it up and let people get to see Mike McDonald at work because he's not a screamer. He's not a yell or he doesn't like but his teaching and the way that it's still a game of teachers. That's who these guys are. If they work coaches, they be gym teachers, history teachers. It's like what homegrown was. It's what Andy Reed is. Like we need great teachers in this game. And when you get that, you get great students. I love that you bring that up. And it's another great example of why I always appreciate your analysis because that's not just about the ex-NOS. That is about understanding how people work and what makes them tick. And that was probably the most precious commodity this team had last year. Very talented. But the culture there is super unique. You touched on how Mike leads. But there's also the alignment between John Schneider and Mike McDonald that as you know is not the case between every GM and coach. And those two together have gone in and basically filtered out the kinds of men that they want as coaches in that organization, the types of men that they want as players.

19:07And that has helped contribute to this. So like how rare do you feel like that is to have all of those things in one place. It's really rare. I mean, look, I mean, they got rid of a Hall of Fame coach. You know, they moved on. And you know, and maybe people has passed upon who knows. But like they found a better replacement. It's not easy. They've had 10 head coach changes this year. And it's not like dozens of coordinator changes. They're all looking for somebody. And it's not what you're talking about here, Brian. It's not ex-NOS. It's teachers connection. And I mentioned this to you last year before the playoffs began. But I was around the team week 17 when they went to Carolina. And the entire team was on the field warming up before the game. And some of the guys I didn't know AJ Barner. I didn't really know big game. But they all came up to me. I was talking to, you know, to to Zabel. That camaraderie out there on the field before that game was different than you feel almost anywhere else. It was so unique. The whole team was on the field offense defense.

20:14And he's teaching him to come in with that big smile of his. Like you could feel like this is way more than Sam Darnold playing good. This is this is the way it's supposed to be. And it rarely is like that. Amazing, amazing stuff from Brian Baldinger. I'm going to let you go because I know you got a jet. It was great having you. We'll see you more. Donut, Seattle. I'm doing your week three game. I'm doing week three in Washington. And then the following week up in Seattle. I'll talk to your journals week. Fry. Sounds good, dude. Brian Baldinger, check him out all over the NFL network.