2026 Season Preview: Lindsay Rhodes Segment

0:00The NFC lost home field advantage. It's just silliness. And I know my next guest, even though she's down in that area of the world, we'll admit, Lindsey Rhodes of Seamer Sports, you're not gonna come on here and tell me that a two point conversion that was correctly called was the reason that the Rams didn't win the NFC lottery. No, no, no, it's never one, it's never one play. There's lots of other chances in a game to, you know, pull away and not put yourself in that situation. I actually hate, just as a general rule, like if it's a kick, if it's whatever, I hate blaming the one play situation. Like you have so many plays in a game. Don't put yourself in that position where one game flips that way or this way. It's one of my like real pain points is watching a kicker get blamed for a loss. And watching by the way,

1:00and I know this isn't what you're talking about, but like watching football players that are not kickers, actually go down that road. I'm like, oh, don't get me started, you know? I will admit I caught on that. Brian, no, how are you having this conversation about the Rams and it not being about that play, but you're also like, hey, kicker, do your job. Those, that's, you're talking about one play. I'm talking about kickers who make multiple plays. And also it's a little different with kickers because I still have a hard time feeling like that's football. Like it's like this weird thing that's been added to football, but it's like literally those guys don't participate in 90% of practice. They're off on their own field. Like it's weird that long snappers actually have a roster spot make a million dollars a year to do like one thing. I will not participate in that conversation

2:00because JJ Janssen, the long snapper for the Panthers, is one of like, I mean, I obviously work for a company that's like pretty deep in the nerdy data. And if there's one player in the league right now whose name you probably do not know that I would say look out for this person in the future to either be a coach or someone in a front office or someone in the media who is brilliant, it's JJ Janssen. So I will, as somebody who talks back and forth, like his ideas about the league, though he is at the forefront of everything about modern football. And so I will not talk trash about his position. You will not hear me do that. Nope. I love it. I love it. Well, you know what, Lindsey, we have been doing this blowout season preview. And we've had amazing guests on, we had Mike Sando and Dave Bowling and Brian Baldinger and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. And here's the thing. He is the ninth inning. We got a lead. You've been brought in as a closer. Am I gonna like, we win it?

3:01You win it. We win it. No, that's up to you. That is up to you. I think you're off to a very strong start. So I'm encouraged how this is going. But how are you doing? Like the season's about to go and you've been working your tail off at Sumer. It's all about to get going. You guys just launched Sumer, like you had Sumer live, but what's the name of the data platform you just launched? Sumer Pass. Sumer Pass, which you walked me through, very, very cool. But now the game start. What are you most excited about heading into 2020? I am so many things. First and foremost, I'm excited to not talk about theoreticals anymore. Like week one is my favorite week on the NFL calendar. And I know people are like, what? Like the playoffs and there's so many other better weeks of football. This is for someone who does what we do. And we're talking constantly about football and trying to like, you know, connect dots and there's so much evaluation that happens in the off season

4:04trying to figure out how it's gonna look and making projections and stuff. Week one is the week that we get the most information back. Like now we get our answers to the test and we've already drafted our fantasy teams and we've guessed about which Jags wide receiver is actually gonna be the guy, right? Like we're gonna start to get answers about the way that, I mean, just looking at offense, speaking to the fantasy drafts that we've all been doing lately, you're gonna get answers about like, how different wide receiver rooms have actually shaken out. Which rookies actually have roles and are going to be big parts of the offense, at least out of the gate. What a running back rotation actually looks like, you know, or in Seattle. How frequently is it to Dairy and Price and is George Launey on the field? And what does that look like? And how are they using them and is it the same? Is it like, it's just Kenneth Walker and Zach Sharbinay and he's him and he's him and just it's gonna be like, that or is it different? Like there's so much information. The coaches, Mike McDaniel in Los Angeles, how similar or different will his offense look

5:06with Justin Herbert, then the offense that he masterfully tailored around to a tongue of Iloas, strengths and weaknesses in Miami? Like just so many questions that I have and I can't wait to get information. And for that reason actually, week one is like a week worse, a lot of people are like, they'll say like Seahawks Patriots, right, like this is the game I wanna watch and for a lot of reasons that one is a fun game to watch because there are also questions about those two teams that I want answered. But in week one, I'm looking for information. Those are the games I wanna watch. It's not like, I'm not racing to watch the Rams or like these teams where I feel like I know, I kinda know what I'm looking at here. Like I want information. So some of those games that are less exciting for other people because they don't necessarily have the most talented teams, those a lot of times are the ones that I really wanna watch. We're talking to Lindsay Rhodes from Sumer Sports and I gotta ask you, knowing that,

6:08what is your most maybe controversial perspective or take that you're looking to get information to either prove your prior or disprove? Like what are you like? Okay, I believe this and nobody else does and I can't wait to find out if I'm right. This is quite a stretch and I can tell you all the reasons that this might be wrong, right? And that's why I'm excited to actually see how it looks. I don't think the jets are gonna be as bad as people think. I don't think that's a bad take. You don't think or you do. Okay. I agree, I agree. Is it easier to wait for that? The offense is, I think it's just so smartly constructed. Like if you go through that roster piece by piece and you even like take it in like say, okay here's what we were looking at going into the offseason as an offense. And then these are the pieces that they brought in. It all feels so intentional and smart. Like I like the wide receivers that they're looking at right now and who knows if they'll actually produce

7:09but the way that they're constructed in terms of concept makes so much sense to me. So you've got Garrett Wilson as your number one guy who's gonna be your possession receiver or short intermediate inside outside, all over the field. Then you've got AD Mitchell who they brought in last year at the end of the year, who's your stretch the defense 14 yard A dot guy who can clear some space. And then you bring in Omar Cooper Jr. who I really liked McIleman for that pick but the fact that they didn't get him and they went back and they got somebody who's similar in style. So he's that guy who's gonna work it out of the slot but can also move out and give you some flexibility in terms of optionality. And then he's like that rack guy. Like he's that guy in the middle of the field. I love that style of wide receiver right now. And so from a build standpoint, then you've already got Mason Taylor that you drafted in the second round last year. You go back to that well and you get Ken Yon's to deac this year in the first round. So now you can run some 12 personnel. Like I breeze Hall is a good running back

8:11who's numbers have not been as high because he's been in a bad environment and that's always true for running backs. And then I think that you know, they've got a good ol' line. I think that Gino is gonna be much better than people expect him to be because I think that what we saw last year from him and we know he is an environment specific quarterback if he was in the worst environment. I mean, that was a mind bogglingly bad environment there for so many reasons. And I just don't. And he was part of that. And he did not play well, 100%. But we were talking about coaching. Like we were hearing whispers about the offensive lineman coaching themselves because there was stuff going on with the ol' line coach situation. Like it just fell apart in so many ways there that I don't think he stood a chance. He is not a quarterback, similar to Sam Darnold, right? Like where you're seeing him thrive in a good environment last year with Clint Kubiak and like everything is smartly skimmed and the play calling is smart to set him up to succeed when he takes those shots down field.

9:12That is not what happened with Gino Smith. And I think that they are, I don't want it. They're not similar, but they're on a similar tier in terms of like needing environment to be better. You know, they're not like a Patrick Mahomes who's gonna create regardless of what's around him. And there are some of the like a Josh Allen who's gonna pull people along with him. They're not that. So I think God, this is a lot of talk about the jets on a Seahawks, but I just think I think there's a path. Like they're a five and a half win team according to like betting markets. And there a team I would hit the over. Now the asterisk and why I'm interested to see them in week one is Frank Drake. I don't know how he's gonna use them. Like is he gonna put them in motion? Is he gonna move them around the formation? A lot is there optionality in routes? I don't know. So that's my question. I like the build. And I'd love to see how they use them. Them. I will not take too much more time on the jets for the reason you mentioned. As you're the sinners all start logging off. Oh, I, if I cared about that,

10:12I would have done a different show a long time ago. We talk about whatever we want to talk about here. It happens to be a lot of Seahawks, but it was gonna be an unpopular take that I am not someone who believes, I will say I do believe Gino Smith is better than the player that he showed on the field last year. And that I mean, I like Armand Menbu last year. Like I like a lot of what the jets did. Interestingly, at least to me, I thought the raiders before the draft last year, I'm like this pick should be Armand Menbu. If they care about running the ball, the best thing they could do is draft him. Not a running back. And man, do I stand behind that? Always. I mean, always, forever and always. Well, now I realize I'm talking to a team that did take a running back. Circumstances are different. But they've got an offensive line. Circumstances are different. But yeah, there's 100%. If you need anything else on the offense, you cannot afford to take that running back early because they can't get it done by themselves.

11:14So O-Line for sure. And I mean, the raiders like Colton Miller goes out and he has done that a few times in the last few years. If you, I mean, we saw this with Jeremy Tunsell this off season. That commander's offense is going to be very different. The second they lost them, him. Their ceiling came way down. And I mean, like the chargers getting to the playoffs last year in light of what happened with their two offensive tackles, I think was so impressive in ways that people don't give them enough credit for. Like they had to turn Justin Herbert into a different, like he become a scrambling quarterback. You know, like you have to change so many things. And I think that that's what the commanders are about to look for. There's nothing more important than the health of your offensive tackles and having a strong offensive line aside from quarterback obviously. All right. We're going to build on this momentum. I feel, the listeners may not feel it, but I feel it. We're going to talk about some non-seahawks teams for a second, but we're going to tie it back to the sea ox.

12:15I'm going to talk you through the sea ox schedule outside of the NFC West. I'm going to list every team. I want you to not have to talk about every team. But if there's a team or two that you have a thought about that we should know going into the season, I'd like you to hit them. So they play the Patriots week one. They play the commanders. We kind of talked about that a little bit. They play the chargers. They play the Broncos, the chiefs, the Bears, the Raiders, the Cowboys, the Giants, the Eagles. My brain. My brain took none of that in. I need to pull this up. I'm sorry. I need a visual. I'm dumb and cannot process more than three things at one time. So now I'm looking at it. I will put this on the screen. Oh, that's actually a fancy. You're fancy. Look at your ability. I mean, it's not anything. Screen share. Yeah, it's not going to be that fancy. But I will happily do that just for you. So this is the schedule. You also don't have to.

13:15It's complicated because I did find it. No, it's not that complicated. It's just me being an idiot. All right. So here is, we're a little guys down there now. Let's do it this way. Let's do it this way. All right. So that is the schedule for the C-OX of those teams that are outside of the NMC West. Any of them that you stand out, you've got to take on, or you've got some curiosity about that we maybe should learn a little bit about those teams. I think that Giants are an interesting team this year. I think they're a team that like, I think they could go either away. I think that they had the worst injury lock last year. I mean, you lose. Cam, we are dealing with a banged up neighbors. We are, we lose Jackson Dart. Like, there's just so many injury, bad luck things

14:18that happened there that I think if people were to pull up their roster, both on offense and defense, and really go through it, they'd be like, this isn't that bad, you know? I agree. I think. We'll see what happens with Malik neighbors, though. With everybody's health, right? And they don't have a lot of wiggle room. That's the thing about most teams, honestly. And I kind of feel this way a little bit about Seattle, too. That's where my question mark comes in is that there are, like, there are rosters that you're like, okay, we can do this. This is the plan. But then if you take this guy out, like we're kind of screwed, you know, like, like, there are like, I would say that probably the two pieces for the Seahawks that I'd be like, you cannot. And I actually probably shouldn't want to, are you guys, all knock on wood? Like Leonard Williams or Witherspoon, right? Like if either of those two guys go out, I think the plan is becomes way more complicated. And so that's most rosters.

15:19But like if you look at the, you know, the Giants roster and you go, let's say that they have a lot of injury luck and that they just don't, you know, have the thing that happened last year, happened this year. I think that they could be a sneaky team. Not necessarily to like, they're, you know, I'm not even, not to win a Super Bowl or anything like that, but just way, way, way better than people are expecting this year is a five and a half win team. Trying to think who else? Well, let me bring it back to the Seahawks for a second, because I know we only got you for a little while longer. And you brought up some of the players that are kind of full-crowned foundational players. When, I'm going to take it a different direction. I'm not looking for your analysis specifically on the Seahawks, but you're looking at the trends in the league. And when you look at great offenses, because the Seahawks do have a new offensive coordinator, he's coming from San Francisco. And I was talking earlier that one of the things that is different about the Clint Kubiak version of this offense

16:19than the Kyle Shanahan version of this offense. There is more motion in the Kyle Shanahan version. There is more, one of the things, I don't think I've actually shared this yet, have I? I don't know if I did. So one of the other things that's different is the amount of players that Kyle Shanahan puts out into routes. So Kyle Shanahan puts five players out into routes at a much higher percentage than Clint Kubiak is. Clint Kubiak was more likely to keep more players in. So the actual numbers are 76% of the time, Kyle Shanahan sent all five players out to a route. Clint Kubiak only 61% of the time. So I'm curious, you know, with all the data that you look at in the trends, motion, play action, under center,

17:22protection of plans, like, what are things that stand out to you as keys to a successful offense that you've been watching and maybe some trends that you have your eye on to see what happens into the 2026? From an offensive standpoint, you hit right out of the gate with motion. Motion is like, there's a strong correlation between motion and play action and offensive success. So those are two that I think, and I think we can all kind of understand why. Like if you just stop and think about it, like you're stressing the defense, right? Like there is no just static snapshot that they're planning, like they don't know, there's more things to react to and then they have to react. And so there's just more moving parts. I think motion is also a, like a secondary indicator of creativity, like if we're going to add that extra layer and we're moving our piece around the board, then a, that means you have a versatile piece, right?

18:22Like there's nothing bugs me more than a coordinator having a good wide receiver and having him stay along the sideline and go routes. Like there's nothing that bugs me more. And there is also this why like a carnal tape in Tennessee, I'm like, this is something I'm looking for for him in college over 50% of his routes run were goes and curls. And the go component being so high and they're not being as much versatility of route tree scares me because that might have been a college thing, it might have been a usage thing, but if he goes to the wrong offensive coordinator who is not creative and doesn't move them around and doesn't create space for him and good matchups, then there's more pathways to fail, right? So that motion I think gives you more pathways to succeed. And so that is I think just as a stat line, something to look for. Because we know there's a strong correlation. I think this year we're all kind of looking at the tight end,

19:24the heavy tight end stuff. And C-Hawks fans know that more than anybody, how much that was discussed last year, which is so interesting to me too, because I was looking inside Sumer Pass at our team data tables, which have all the like you can filter for personnel grouping and get all of the different stats and also each individual player by personnel group. But look at this. Look at you with your graphics ready to go to support that the thing is discussed. This is Sumer driven. Yeah, absolutely. But what was I talking about personnel? Oh, the C-Hawks, we talked about the 12 personnel and how it was a big part of just strategically what they were doing. And they were like 12th and 12th personnel rate, right? They weren't even like at the top of the NFL, which is so interesting to me, because the Rams and their 13 personnel, number one with a bullet, like no one else is close. It's like 30%, like number two is at 14%, or something like that. Like looking at 12 personnel,

20:24you've got a bunch of teams that actually use two tight ends more frequently than the C-Hawks. What was notable about the C-Hawks and their use of 12 personnel was how they did it and what they did out of it and how they ran a ton to set that up and then through out of 12 personnel, trying to get the defense into a look, to bait them so that they could throw the ball downfield more efficiently. And so I think that there's a lot of, I think that ties to also kind of what I'm looking for on the defensive side of the ball. And that is, do we see a lot more dime this year? Dime is one of the things that I'll be looking for. And by the way, quick plug, but I think it's relevant to this conversation, one, the coolest thing, not one of the coolest thing in Sumer Pass is our live, our Sumer Live. So you'll have a live dashboard for every game that has every advanced charting statistic that you might be interested in, that updates after every play before the next play happens. So you can track how frequently they're in 12 personnel.

21:25You can track how frequently the defense that's going up against them is in dime or for the C-Hawks themselves because dime is, like, I mean, I'm circled like eight times, like how much of the C-Hawks gonna be in dime and how much of the C-Hawks gonna have e-men worry and witherspoon in the apex at the same time. Like the EPA, if we went back and looked at last year, when they had both of them on the field in what we call the apex, and more frequently, it would be called like big nickel or slot. If you get them because you are throwing six dbs on the field with dime, you can put them both in that position. And the EPA on those plays was wild. It was so good. And I think because of the construction of the rest of the defense in general, I think you want that to happen most frequently. And so I'm really interested, like there was so much dime in the Super Bowl. And that's one of the things that, if you go look at the Sumer Live results, like the final from the Super Bowl,

22:26I think that the dime rate was like 50% or something. So 53%. 43% above league average in that game. And I just, I wonder if it has to do with like, getting those two guys in the right spot. But also, everyone is catching up to the fact that, the way you win games is by passing efficiently. Like the run sets up the pass and you want to run well, but as we saw with the Seahawks last year, you don't even have to run efficiently. You just have to run. And then the run sets up the pass. And then that's how you get your explosives, right? And the Seahawks are all about explosives. Like I used the word efficiency when talking to somebody about the Seahawks last year. And it was one of the people in our front office group. We have a ton of people in our football ops department that are former general managers and scouts. And they were like, I'm gonna stop you right there. I've talked to the Seahawks a number of times. The word that they use in that building is explosives.

23:27They don't care about efficiency. They care about explosives. I would argue in reverse that explosives lead to more efficiency. But I wasn't about to argue with this person. So yeah, what were we even talking about? Oh my God, why do I just ramble like this? I'm so excited about all these different things. This was amazing. I'm like, I'm enrapsured with all of it. So I'm gonna ask you one more question. And it's not gonna be data related. This is a vibes based question, Lindsay. And people think now you're at Sumer, you're just all data, but I know better. So I can do vibes. I know you can. So this might be an uncomfortable one though. I'm just gonna prepare you for it. Would you do that to me? The unthinkable happens. If the most talent-laden roster in history with the Rams, with Aaron Donald, with Miles Garrett, with Pukinacua, with Trent McDuffy, with Matt Thurk, with Sean McVeyek Coach, if they don't win the Super Bowl

24:28on their own home field, what happens next year? Nothing. They're fine. I think they're fine. Your audience isn't gonna like this. You don't think anybody leaves? No, well, I mean, why? I mean, Stafford can always leave, right? But I don't think that winning or not winning, I mean, if they win, he could leave, right? Like that could be like a what better way to walk off into the sunset. So I mean, that is always on the table that Stafford could leave. I think that they did a really smart, I know everybody was very confused about the Simpson Pick, but I think that it was smart to start building and have somebody in a room if they liked him, which clearly they did, right? Like, and I know that that analysis was different than what other people thought on the outside, but clearly they did. So the fact that they went out and used that asset a year early, brought him in, while also going out and bringing in Miles Garrett to raise the floor and then Aaron Donald, I mean, like there's so many paths,

25:28again, I talk about past fewer pathways to failure and more pathways to success. All of their offseason moves have done that, but I don't believe in the way we've talked about the Rams for years, which is like when or else, like what people talk about them being all in, I just don't think that that's the way that they're built, and I think that they've continued to prove that they think ahead so that that's not the situation. They flipped that defense, think about it. Like when Aaron Donald left the first time, or when he left, they flipped it so fast. Like they lost several pieces, and they were just like, we're ready for it. Here you go, boom. And the defense was one of the best defenses. So I have faith that they are thinking ahead, and they've got a plan for post-staffered, and then they put that person in. By the way, I think a lot of the defensive moves that they've made are preparing for that. Now you've got Miles Garrett, like let's say that you have to go to Tyson Simpson this year, or next year, because Stafford walks away.

26:31Then we now have a situation where like the Browns, they kept the score down. They just didn't have quarterbacks that could put any points on the board, right? But they could keep them in games. Like the games they won were not because Shadour won the game. He played terribly. They were because the defense kept the score so low that it was possible. And I think that you could look at them having done what they did on defense to make it easier for them to get a quarterback up to speed post-staffered. But like, they like nobody pays a price here if they don't want to superbly. You know who I do think could possibly? And I think there's more pathways to narratively and vibes see that it ending this way is Laflorene the Packers. He's the coach that I have circled as hot seat the most because the expectations are high. If they even make it to the playoffs, but then lose, there will be people that are mad that they lost afterward. Why did you lose? How did you lose? Was it close and is that your fault?

27:33We've seen that all over and over again there, post-packer season, them pointing the finger at Laflore. If they don't make the playoffs, people will be so angry that they didn't make the playoffs and it will be Laflorene's fault. Like, short of winning the Super Bowl, I think it's highly possible. I can see so many pathways to them being mad at the end of the season, regardless of what happens. Absent winning the Super Bowl. So he's the one that I kind of have. That's the situation of like good team that could be in forward at the end of the year this year. Yeah, I agree with that part about the Packers for sure. And what I took away from that whole well thought out response about the Rams was when you said like the Browns. That's what I'm going to take away from that is that there's a pathway where the Rams are going to like the Browns. Don't eat there. I love that that's going to be the clip we give. It's like it's a headline with no context. That's like the Browns last year dot dot dot. And that's it. Yes. Yes. Lindsay Rhodes, it is a pleasure as always.

28:36Tell folks where they can find you and what's coming up on all of Sumer's. Yeah, go to Sumersports.com and check out the Sumer Pass. It is their components of it. Like if you sign up and you just set up an account, you can get into parts of it for free and just sort of look around and see what it looks like and try it out. We're going to make the Sumer Live feature which I swear to you is like it is live data. Like nobody else gets the data turned around that fast. I think it will help you. I mean, you guys are watching this show, right? Like you like like deep in the weeds like Seahawks conversation. And so we'll have every game on a dashboard with rad stuff for you. And the first game of every week will be free. So you'll be able to watch. Your game on Wednesday. So it'll be Seahawks Patriots. All you have to do is sign up but you don't have to buy anything yet. And then I highly suggest you do buy something because you'll be able to watch those games that way for the rest of the season. And then there's like data tables and stuff like that

29:37that you guys have seen elsewhere. But like I said, all of the information if you just want to get lost looking for information about the Seahawks, there will be many pathways for you to do that. And then the sumer sports show will be back very, very shortly. One of the requirements, the prerequisites for being on this show is somebody who just absolutely loves the game. And Lindsay, you're one of the best because not only do you love the game on the field, the players off the field, the coaches and who they are, but you know the numbers behind it. You've got dig into the data. Last time I was on with you, you showed me a geratable by accident. So you're like, you're all over the place. So I really, really appreciate you taking the time. And honestly, the stuff you guys are doing at Sumer is groundbreaking and makes being a fan and an analyst like way more fun. So appreciate everything you guys know about it. Thank you so much for saying that, that's the goal. So and it's always fun to come on here

30:37and talk about with you. So thank you for having me. Love it. Lindsay Rhodes over at Sumer Sports. Make sure you check out her stuff. Thanks Lindsay.