Eric Edholm previews NFL Week 1, Commanders vs Eagles & talks NFL team hierarchy for 2026

0:00All of our NFL conversation on the team 980s presented by Xfinity scored the most reliable Wi-Fi, one price five years guaranteed Xfinity. Imagine that. Eric Edholm is with us. I said NFL because he was at NFL Network. Now he's a Yahoo sports. At Eric underscore, Edholm, I had forgotten about your big move, not that long ago. Eric just wrote about both of the new offensive coordinators in Sunday's game in Philadelphia, David Blow and Sean Manion. We'll get to that. We'll get to his thoughts on Washington this year. But I saw that you tweeted out during the game. Fred is first ballot as in Fred Warner is first ballot. It's so interesting because I was having a conversation with a friend of mine last night and he said, how many Hall of Famers are on this San Francisco team and how many of them are first ballots?

1:00So I'll ask you. Wow. Yeah. Fred Williams for sure. Right? After last night, my goodness. I mean, he was looking at his good and never just completely owning mild care whether he's full health or not who knows. But yeah, I mean, you know, look, that was one of those tweets in the moment where you think that, you know, look, it's hard to get people in on the first ballot. We've got some darn good players, some exceptional Hall of Famers who've had to wait a year or more. So a little bit of a reactionary post, but man, he's just one of those players who's always there and always making his impact felt the best linebacker in the game was also a turnover machine. But Christian McCaffrey, I think will be a Hall of Famer. You know, it's possibly a first ballot one. You know, who might forget Mike Evans, you know, obviously probably will go into the bottom of the first ballot. Right. He's first ballot has to be because it's just me. The excellence that sustained excellence for so long. I think it has to be loose side of these things, right? When they've been doing it so well for so long, but yeah, I think he's got to be and I'm sure I'm forgetting

2:04it at least one other guy. The Kittle and Bosa would be kind of the other two that could be in the midst of putting together those kinds of careers. I think we would say that they certainly have the potential. Boses, obviously, his availability has been an issue, but they've got a long way to go. But I'm not sure other than the team they played last night, Eric, that anybody has as many A plus talents on their roster that the Niners do. And when I did my story if we could go or so, where I sort of lumped teams by tears like four different groups, right? Everything from like the true contenders down to the tankers, the teams that most of us in feel have no shot of winning a football versus the team, you know, the group that has the most. I included the Niners in that top group for that reason. I said, look, I understand that they have been cloaked in injury madness the last few years, right? I mean, it's been unbelievable to see how many of their top players have missed significant time. And in some cases, the entire season just a couple years ago, we thought

3:07McCaffrey was playing in the opener and then he was out till week 10. You know, that's the kind of stuff that they've been struck with. So, I mean, that's, you know, if they have some semblance of injury luck, and maybe it's something they're doing, you know, in their preparation that's hurting them, I don't know. I'm not smart enough to say. But if they get something close to the median in terms of injury luck this year, I think they're going to be in it for a long way. And, you know, they want to play off game on the road with a shell crew missing half their, you know, past rush talent and, you know, being thin in the secondary and everything else. So, you know, it's, it's the kind of team that it's easy to overlook. And I think there's some Brock Perty, you know, hatred. And they're not hatred. I shouldn't say that. But, you know, deniability there, where people just say, yeah, he sees a second or third tier guy. He's good, but he's a system guy. That all kind of, you know, when you forget how good they could be at their best and that run game was home in last night and the second half, they're, they're contenders to me.

4:09Yeah, for sure. What, how do you, you know, view last night's game after the fact? Is that a bad game or a bad sign for the Rams? You know, I try not to put every year, I remind myself it's week one. There are some fluke things that happen in week one. Some teams almost treat it like the fourth preseason game. I don't want to suggest they're throwing the games. I'm just saying that they don't, you know, what we see in week one is often very different. I think the Seahawks and Patriots both lost in week one a year ago. Patriots lost to the Raiders, Eric. I put that out. You know, when I talked about week one being a head fake, they lost to the Raiders at home last year. And look terrible. They looked awful. And New England didn't really look right and probably until that first Buffalo game, you know, the Seahawks didn't really hit their stride until about mid season. You know, so again, you never want to put too much into one game, but you know, for people who thought or for some folks, there was some talk about like a 17 or no season for this Rams team.

5:15I never bought into that. Did I pick them to go to the zoo ball? Yes. And can they still get there? Sure. Absolutely. But it was a little concerning how little juice they seem to have on either side of the ball. Whether that was travel related or not, again, I'll leave that up to the travel experts from the people who log as many hours as some do on planes. But man, it just didn't look right. And that's, you know, that's a week one into week two concern right now. Yeah, I mean, like I heard somebody on a post game show last night suggesting, you know, the Rams aren't wrong yet. You know, part of the plan may have been what they look like coming back for the next few weeks versus what the 49ers might look like coming back after spending eight days in Australia. So there may have been a method to the decision, even if it's, you know, been described as madness right now. And it may have had much more to do with what they are in

6:17condition to play after last night. We'll see. Like you, I'm not the science expert. And I've heard, you know, 50 different opinions on this. What was very obvious last night though was San Francisco was a team with energy and the Rams were incredibly sluggish. Yeah. Yeah. I think you can't deny that fact. And, you know, again, some of it was like building on the momentum place, you know, having an interception and then taking it back and, you know, getting the goal line stand. I mean, there were some some big momentum plays in that game that I think kind of shifted the favor. But it's still the remainder of the game. It's not like you felt like the Rams were clearly the better team by no means that I feel that at any point other than maybe a couple of moments early in the first half. So yeah, I mean, I think that the energy level was was certainly noticeable, especially when the 49ers started really leaning into that run game and kind of muscling their way forward. And how good a K-Lon Black look and how many carries. Really? I compared to McCaffrey. Really impressive. You know, so I'm excited to see. Hopefully,

7:23the dribbling injury isn't too bad. You know, he only mixes minimal time. And this could be a nineers team that I think has some some real juice this year. All right. Let's just talk about the NFL in general. And then we'll get to Washington and the matchup on Sunday with Philadelphia between, you know, Washington's two new coordinators in Philadelphia is offensive coordinator who is new. So your tears. Give me the teams that were in tier one, the teams that you have, you know, as separated from whatever that next level is. Yeah. I mean, I think the the Rams and 49ers were definitely in there as well. I gotta sit there and think about my list as we go here. But yeah, it was it was Rams, Seahawks, Bills, Eagles, Ravens. I think the Broncos were in that top group. And I think I think by last team, I had the Niners and then also the Patriots as well. And you know, we'll see obviously things have changed since Monday, where since Wednesday, I mean, with the the AJ Brown injury

8:24and the way it may look and especially the fourth quarter, but throughout the second half, I thought you know, they've got some issues to tackle all of a sudden. And no clear and obvious solutions in terms of who's going to step up at receiver. Offensive line to me seem to wear down as the game went on, not bad early, but more concerning the later we got in the game defensively. I know they kept the score low back up quarterback. Still leaky against the run in some respects. And you know, Christian Gonzalez out there makes a difference, but I just worry if they have that full picture defensively. So I'm, you know, I'm starting to hedge a little bit on them, even though I'm breaking my week one rule. So, but those are the teams that I felt like had the best. I guess the fewest questions are the best paths to success. So the clearest ones, not to say that, you know, had I done this list a year ago, just to use the New England Seattle example. Yeah, of course. They probably would have been in my third tier, right? Washington would have been in my third or

9:27fourth tier two years ago before they got to that up for championship game. It doesn't mean that they can't get there. It just means there's more to accomplish or more to overcome. Yeah, I mean, I point out all the time, like just trying to predict this league is impossible. Last year, seven of the eight division winners were not picked to win the division. And beyond that, like five of those seven weren't even in the conversation, you know, teams like New England, Carolina, Chicago, Seattle, Pittsburgh, Philly was the only team that was predicted to win their division. That one, their division. So we see this obviously every single year, you know, New England was in the low to mid 20s and everybody's preseason power rankings. And Seattle was right around 20. So with that understood, I am always interested with people like you who I really respect in terms of your understanding of the NFL. Do you have a hunch or two on teams that don't have expectations?

10:34But we know six or seven of them are going to be there. Give me the one or two sleepers that you've got in your mind right now. Yeah, I mean, I think the question, are the answer to this question, when it's been asked in various forms the last month or so has traditionally been the saints. I've I'm wondering if maybe some of those injuries aren't going to be a little worrisome, you know, Jordan Tyson and Brian Brisey and a few other guys and whether they have the true defensive firepower, they were also pretty bad on special teams a year ago. That was sort of an underrated quality of how bad they were. But down the stretch with Tyler Shock, I felt like man, they were they were starting to become you could see where this team was going offensively and how they were going to trust him to make throws. You know, he's a young guy. I guess in terms of experience, but he's played a lot of football and I think Kellyn Moore believes in the guy and I'll be speaking on to division that feels like it's up for grabs. So, you know, they were they were definitely a team that that checked some boxes that I think could could could lead to an improvement.

11:37And I picked them to win the South. So, we'll see if that holds up. I mean, Minnesota is a really interesting one too in the sense that, you know, like the saints, they played pretty well down the stretch. It was really the opposite side of the ball, the defense, the chariotum. And just on the aggregate, I mean, I don't know how many teams you would have put below them last year in terms of quarterback play. I just don't think they got much out of the position last year and still ended up nine and eight, still ended up a very competitive team that harassed the Packers down the stretch and had really some some statement victories, even if they were, you know, non-money out of the race. So there's another one that boy, if Kyler Murray is just above average, you know, good. If they can improve that that baseline quarterback play with Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, a good offensive line, a good play, Kyler, who, you know, Kevin O'Connell, I know he's taken some heat in the last year or so, but I still think he's really good at what he does. And defensively, I believe there's there's

12:39a lot to be hopeful about again. Maybe they're the team that does the Chicago bear thing and comes out and nowhere and wins the North. Yeah, I mean, it's such an interesting division. Like if Kyler Murray, if if Kevin O'Connell gets consistent performance from Kyler Murray, no one should ever question Kevin O'Connell again. Right. By the way, speaking of that, I mean, we should never bury anybody because we've got the Geno Smith Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold examples to point to just in recent years. But man, it doesn't look good for JJ McCarthy, does it? Not in Minnesota. I mean, I, you know, I think there's some potential, you know, second homes for him where he can kind of reinvent himself and maybe take a step back like Geno did, right? Where he was a backup for a couple of years before he got that, that starting opportunity. And you're right, this is a league that is, you can find so many examples of that. I think Baker was always sort of

13:40considered a starting quarterback, even if he had to go through that little ram stay for a while where he was thrust into the lineup out of necessity. But yeah, this is, there's a reason why he was taken high. People believe that there was something there. To this point, it hasn't looked good and the injury questions have obviously been really concerning. But, you know, whether it's one of the Harvaz, the Giants actually did a lot of work on him before Harvaw ever got there and they were looking pretty hard at JJ McCarthy. You know, if Jackson Darts concussion issues continue to pile up, is he somebody that they bring in just as a look, a look see thing, right? Possibly. You know, if, if, you know, the, the chargers want to have their, their tree lands replacement essentially, you know, maybe that's the kind of reclamation project that Jim would want to take on. But, you know, I'm sure there are other teams too that would, would take a flyer on him. But as far as career arc goes, he's, he's got some work to do to pull out this, what looks like a,

14:42a nose dive right now in terms of play, in terms of being on the same pages as coaching staff and commitment level, I guess. I don't know how you described it like that. But it's a little worrisome right now. And it's, it's not what we were sold on him being coming out of Michigan. Talking to Eric Edholm from Yahoo Sports. So when I asked you about, you know, kind of hunches on sleeper teams, by the way, I feel the same way about the saints that you do. And I'm concerned about the injuries, but I really love the way they finished up last year. But, did you consider Washington? I did. You know, the thing that's helped me back and, and, you know, again, it's like you're going off preseason reports, you know, you don't get to see a full picture in the, or sorry, in train camp reports, you don't get to see a full picture in the preseason. But it teams that have offensive line questions like they do, it just really makes me slam the brakes a little bit. You know, is it a division where a team can emerge? I think so,

15:43right? I mean, I don't think the giants have yet arrived. I don't know that the Eagles are this unassailable force. I don't know that Dallas is, you know, such a darling team now that everybody has to thrust them forward. There's still questions until proven otherwise. And it's not as if Washington doesn't have a lot of exciting things going for it, right? Jane Dale's still being the biggest one, in my opinion, even after last year. Still a lot of good things to fall back on. And I think they're smart enough to know. And I wrote about that in that piece you mentioned earlier, just in terms of David Blau wanting to make sure that you don't take away Jane's biggest weapon, which is his running ability or, you know, one of his biggest weapons, but also knowing that he has to be preserved. Can that happen? Can an under center play action offense work with a team that is questioning what they have on the offensive line? I don't know. That's the biggest thing that's probably holding me back right now. Because I think that, you know,

16:44defensively you'll see some improvement, but I'm just wondering about that group right now. All right. So you wrote for today in Yahoo on Yahoo Sports commanders David Blau Eagles Sean Manion face off in week one battle of journeyman cubies turned play calling saviors. That's the headline. I know you don't write the headline, but which of the two quarterbacks do you think fits best with his new coordinator? Jalen Hertz with Manion or Jalen Leigh-Neighin with David Blau. Yeah, the thing about Blau is he's been in the building the last two years. You know, it's a little bit different with Manion coming from Green Bay and he'd been the you know, the assistant cubie coach and then elevated a quarterbacks coach and then imported as the Eagles offensive coordinator. Remember that was a long search too. They went through some big names, you know, he was it was not the highest-coded guy on that list. And again, who knows what what that's worth, but with Blau they saw in the building what he could bring.

17:47And I think obviously you kind of tap into that that backup quarterbacks mind. They're always watching the game. They always have to be prepared at a moment's notice, you know, preparing like their starters every single week, even though they know they're probably not going to get a staff. I think that helps create some kind of football mind right there that's that's pretty good. And so knowing what Jaden already does well, having worked with him the past couple years, I think may give him a subtle advantage. I don't know that you know, it's really hard to compare the two guys are at slightly different phase of their careers. Jalen Hertz has drained. He's already got a Sioux Bowl MVP and there's belt, you know, he's been a Sioux Bowl MVP runner up. You know, so he's had some some seasons and some moments where he's been truly elite and some others where the limitations have been have been shown. We don't have this big a body of work on Jaden, but the highs have been pretty darn high. And if you can keep this guy healthy and upright, you know, that kind of quiet assassin thing that he's got going on can be really lethal. I

18:49look back to that Chargers game last year and think, man, if we could have seen 12 games of that, you know, or just the majority of the season of that, it would have been a far different season. So just from a familiarity standpoint, I think that's the most, you know, encouraging element of that relationship. Are the Eagles better off without AJ Brown? I think it kind of forced, I mean, to me, it felt obvious at a certain point last year, this wasn't going to work. So they had plenty of time to sort of craft the idea of like, all right, how do we replace them? It's not going to be a one for one replacement. We're going to have to do it with different body types, different types of players. I think Duntabin Wix can end up being a kind of an underrated guy for this year was a little bit lost in the shuffle in Green Bay. Obviously, I'm sure Manian had a little something to do with that in terms of knowing what he saw behind the scenes. And then obviously McHy Lemon has been a little slow to acclimate. We'll see how how involved he is early, but you know,

19:54they have options there. Devante has obviously been a really good co-number one or, you know, whatever you want to call him. I think he can step up a little bit more and be filled out, helpful that role too. And bringing back Dallas Gotter, you know, and adding a little more, sort of juice to the tight end room with Eli Stowers, you know, just collectively, it may not be able to do it one for one, but as a group, I think they can help elevate the entire offense by not having a guy who as good as he was still kind of demanded high volume targets and everything else. He had to be a big part of the offense to that to be successful, but it wasn't always successful when they threw the ball his way. So, you know, at some point, you just have to realize that this isn't working. He may be a great player for somebody else, but it wasn't going to happen here. Last one. And it's more of sort of a league question. Have we entered a new era, Eric, where defense is back and you can win and you can win it all

20:59with a great defense? Because I do think we went through, I don't know, 15, 20 year period where great offense was trumping great defense. And yet the last two years, the Eagles dominated with defense, obviously, through their playoff run in that super bowl game, especially against the chiefs. And then last year, really, I mean, Seattle, New England got there with its defense in the post season. Seattle got there led by its defense. We saw, you know, Houston was really close to, you know, making it, you know, if they just punted it 10 times instead of letting CJ strut drop back, they probably would have been there. Is it a new kind of, or have we entered a new era here, where defense is ahead of offense? I'm glad you brought up Houston too, because they're the team that I think could help prove this theory, right? Or help push it forward in terms of, hey, maybe, you know, everything is cyclical in the NFL, right? Offices go big, defenses go small, you know, whatever, everything is an adjustment to what the other side of the ball is doing. And there's always these trends that happen, whether they're two-year trends, five-year trends, decade-long,

22:03whatever, but they exist. And they do happen, right? And, you know, we've seen the run game kind of cycle back into the NFL and passing with all the rage that was the bottom NFL. Now, yeah, I mean, that we're getting back to like kind of old school philosophies in some respects. So I don't know that we'll ever have, you know, a full reversion to back to that, but Seattle proved they can win with that formula. I think the Texans, if CJ strut, like you said, can just make that one incremental jump to being more reliable and more of the player we saw as a rookie with that defense and what they have. I don't see how they couldn't be a super bowl contender. So yeah, that would be the, that would prove that theory is very legit. I'm willing to accept that it's possible now, and I think defenses certainly play a big role, but certainly it's bigger than it was a decade ago. I mean, I remember going to that Super Bowl where the Indianapolis were the giants and patriots.

23:05I think both had bottom five defenses. And to get to a Super Bowl, that idea was crazy in years past. Well, Indian New Orleans, it was the same thing, right? Same thing. Yeah, that's the call. Yep. They were all the way. I think they were lied on takeaways. That's that's kind of the, you know, that was the thing back then was like third down red zone takeaways. That's all we need. We don't care about yards, you know, so, but now we see these dominant units and think that maybe some of them are capable of just destroying a really good offense. Always enjoy this with you. Thanks. Thank you. Enjoy week one. We'll talk soon. Thanks, Eric. All right, YouTube. Have a seat. Yep. Eric Edholm. Everybody from Yahoo Sports, all of our, all of our NFL opening week conversation on the team 980 is presented by hands free sketchers slip ins just step in and go. Ben standing next.