welcome back everybody to another episode of sports talk with Hawk and that is me and we are ready to rock and roll on this wonderful Wednesday evening welcome in and thank you for listening let's Dive Right In training camp has started the Hall of Fame game and all the festivities that take place with it have now commenced on this um I'm sorry this is Wednesday I'm recording this Tuesday night so this will be release Wednesday so all the Hall of Fame stuff is the next night it'll be out before the next podcast which comes out on August 2nd but all the excitement is in the air the QB battles are heating up and as the opening segment we're going to talk about the looming issues injuries mcls ACLs can we just I mean at what point do we really need to start looking at how the training is being done how the playing is being done I sincerely and seriously do not remember a time or a span of years that have had so many ACL MCL knee tears involved within a season non contact injuries where you pull an ACL just by running I am not a rocket scientist but I will say this something seems off something seems off I don't know what it is I have no clue what it is but something seems off there's a there's almost a hold your breath and prey type of effect that happens now anytime you walk it just something seems off and I really don't like it when NFL seasons are marred by injuries especially injuries of of of that simple of a caliber non- contct like there's no just hyper EXT bending your knee and then playing 10 plays later there's no just rolling your ankle anymore it's gotten ridiculous it really has and I guess my hope in I mean what every fan wants I don't want the season to only be known by injuries that's it as simple as I can put it all right let's dive in today we're going to start the NFC North so the NFC North will be the two that we get done uh here at the end of this week so the Wednesday night podcast and the Friday night podcast we're going to do the Lions and the Vikings on this one and we're going to do the Packers and the Bears on Friday so the Lions who I think are the clear-cut favorites to win this division uh truthfully a team that's got the excitement of Youth and then veteran leadership where you need it I really like how the Detroit Lions are built so let's rock and roll here here we go we got Jared Goff henden hooker Nate sudfeld those are your three starting quarterbacks for the Detroit Lions we then have David Montgomery jir Gibbs Craig Reynolds and sonone vaki the rookie as the four running backs currently your receivers amen Ross St Brown Jameson Williams khif Raymond which uh I think is going to have an even bigger year this year with the departure of Josh Reynolds uh Donovan peop Jones Antonio uh yeah Antoine green tcoin Smith are those backups right there uh Darice Fountain Maurice Alexander and Tom Kennedy are the three basic irrelevant or kick return options for the Detroit Lions there receiver then our tight end Sam leaport Brock Wright James Mitchell those are your three tight ends right there your offensive line beautiful offensive line absolutely beautiful offensive line we have Tyler Decker or sorry Taylor Decker left tackle backup Giovani Manu Conor Galvin backing them up Graham glasow then we have key giod AAS aasa try try not to butcher it tooo much and then we got uh Ike bottinger as the backup left guard as well Frank ragno the longtime Center Duke Clemens backs him up Kevin Zeller the former Cleveland Brown uh guard is the right guard for the Lions backup is co uh Colby scond and then we have right tackle pan Su backing him up is Dan Skipper offensively I don't see many issues the number one offensive line we got pieces everywhere we got two running backs that can take over games uh offensively I don't see an issue defensively is where they struggled last year and this is where they tried to improve they did try to improve they tried to get better it's a base 43 it's a defense that runs very much straight up so Aiden Hutchinson Mitchell a goodday Matthew BS those are the three defensive ends on the left side Al uh Al M uh Allan Michael or sorry mcneel Ali mcneel Levi o Kyle PCO are the three defensive tackles DJ reader rodri Martin McKai Wingo they are the other three defensive tackles then your right end Marcus Davenport John kamsky and Josh Pascal are your three right ends your linebackers Jack Campbell Alex uh an zalone and then Derek Barnes I like the linebackers not that they're great skill-wise it's not about skill but I like how they play Jaylen Reeves maban is a backup Malcolm Rodriguez Ben Newman James HST donon Gilbert Malik Jefferson those are all your backup linebackers and then we get to where they really had issues the secondary was not great well here we go Carlton Davis they gotten the trade with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers I really like this trade I really do I really think it'll help him Emanuel Mosley is the backup there uh and then then they've got let me see here then they've got Stephen Gilmore Steph Gilmore not Stefan Gilmore Stephen Gilmore there is the backup Brian branch and Kirby Joseph are your safeties uh L uh Lauren Strickland and CJ Moore are your backups terion Arnold the rookie is the current projected right corner with aiek Robinson being the slot Corner kall VOR as a backup and khil dorsy as a backup Corner as well the place kicker right now is potentially Jake Bates with bad Michael Badgley being on IR right now and Jack Fox is the punter all in all the Detroit Lions to me look really good they kept their team together they've got a plan and an identity you're not questioning what they are who they are how this is going to work how that's going to work you're not questioning anything which to me is very important all right let's jump to the Minnesota Vikings whom I think really should have done a lot more than they did this off seon a lot of people said it wasn't bad dude come on come on I guess we'll find out all right here we go so quarterback you got Sam darnold JJ McCarthy Nick Mullen jiren Hall you have four quarterbacks right now then your running back is Aaron Jones Ty Chandler miles Gaskin your receiver Justin Jefferson Jordan Addison Jaylen Naylor backing up is Brandon Powell Trent uh sherfield senior lucky Jackson reality is they don't have depth at receiver they really don't tight end TJ hackinson backup Josh Oliver Robert tanion is also there now their offensive line this is going to be where it gets interesting uh let's see Christian daraw Dalton Ryner Garrett Brad Bradberry Ed Ingram and Brian O'Neal those are your starting five on the front now who do you have backing them up injuries happened this has to be there Walter ruse Blake brindle Dan feny Tyrese Robinson and then David queenberry so as far as experience in in the game the backups are okay so there is a shot that even if they're a starter goes out the backup is going to be very solid very good and it may not be a huge drop off offensive line wise to me Justin Jefferson makes or breaks the year's success if he's healthy they could win seven games and be the most dangerous seven- win team if he's got injuries they could be they could be 4 and 12 I know I hear the groans I hear the moans I'm going with what I see I Aaron Jones is really good the offensive line may be able to give darnold McCarthy whoever it is the time needed but let's just be honest it's not the the team needs another year they need another recuperation year before I can truly say they can take the next step and they got to keep everybody so their defense is a 34 their defense is a 34 they're going to really rely on blitzing and more than likely the Zone coverage with it so you got Jerry Tillery Jonah Williams and Levi Drake Rodriguez as your three left ends your nose tackle is Harrison Phillips Taki um tiami and jcn Roy or sorry jacn Roy and then your right end see this is where it gets interesting Your Right End is not who you would think it would be it's Jonathan Bullard JN Ward backing him up and then James Lynch now your weak side backer is Jonathan Greener which came over from the Texans Andre Carter II backs him up but Bo RoR is the third string then you got Ivan Pace Jr with kamu gringer Hill and Brian asamoa the second Blake Cashman is your second middle linebacker with Abraham and Dallas Gart then you've got Andrew vanle Dallas Turner Dallas Turner is sitting in the second string right now why I don't have a flipping clue Dallas Turner should be able to thrive in a 34 I still think it would have been better if Atlanta drafted him but this defense is Young however it's got to give him time greenard should be on the defensive line Jonathan greenard should be on the defensive line that's what I believe that's the reality of where everything is right now he should be on the defensive line now since he's not they got backup pass rushers and then you go to your secondary Byron Murphy Jr Fabian Morrow backing him Andrew boo Jr as the third string safeties Harrison Smith Jay Ward backing him up uh Byrum with Theo Jackson backing him up then you got Shaquille Griffin as the other corner with Evans backing him up then you got let's see the backup is AJ Green II yes you heard that correctly AJ Green II and then you have Josh matelis as your Nickelback your kicker right now is Will rard and your punter is Ryan right that defense is Young that def defense is Young now that's just the depth charts I don't think it's going to change a ton injuries will make it change the injuries will make it change so that I'm not going to belittle that fact but the reality with this is that with so many free agents still out there so many teams still needing things all these teams are playing the cat and mouse game of waiting to the last second who's going to be the first one to jump that's really what it comes down to who's going to be the first one to jump once the first one jumps the rest are going to jump too and people will start coming off the market like hot cakes closing out closing out their secondary knowing exactly what they need to do to be in contention I think there's a misconception right now that because defense is still uh is so hard don't worry about the defense I'm sorry did you not watch the playoffs if you watch the playoffs everything that you know about football is true when it comes down to it defense can win the game when it comes down to it the play that you don't make is the play you will lose on perfect example the Super Bowl the 49ers were in control and this is a lot like the Chicago Cubs versus Marlin's game with the Steve Bartman incident okay here's what I'm talking about a punt gets muffed off of the return players's foot the punter Shanks it it drops early hits the player's foot Chiefs recover they score I called that they were going to score right afterwards momentum and adrenaline like that too close to the end zone to be a Bend but don't break you don't have any wiggle room I didn't feel like that really played into San Francisco's strength I thought the chiefs were going to score and they did but that didn't put them down on the scoreboard see that's where the issue is you weren't losing you looked to be in control the deficit dropped but you weren't losing but yet you started acting like you were losing your defense played one heck of a game that 49er defense in the Super Bowl needs to be given a ton of credit for how they played and Brock pie needs to understand that if he wants to get paid he better take the pressure off the defense in the NFC championship in the Super Bowl again because if the defense has to be under pressure you're not a quarterback worthwhile it's one thing to lose but the Chiefs weren't beating you the Chiefs weren't beating you in anything one thing happened it matters defense matters the way you play matters simple as you can put it so as a final thought defensively you're going to see a lot of free agents picked up week number two and three of training camp I believe I do believe you'll see another mini spurt at basically Thanksgiving trade deadline time because of how all these contracts are and because of how weak many Scouts believe that the 2025 draft is look for teams to be able to trade look for teams that are going to be drafting late in the first round to be able to trade the trade deadline I think will have five trades that we talk about not the the cash considerations you know not the not the stuff like that okay none of that but legitimate moves somebody's going to need a running back somebody's going to need a quarterback Sam darnold and Gino Smith I think need to have a really good start out I don't think the Vikings are going to win but if he can have a really good start out it makes him look good for the trade deadline I really think that's what he's playing for an opportunity to really showcase himself I think that's where it is it'll be exciting to watch I am really excited for it the buzz is starting to get louder as we opened up with injuries can put a downer on it my only hope is that the injuries wait to happen till during the season when we're actually playing and not just walking around and remember that defense still matters you still got to play it it may be harder than ever to play defense but you got to play defense it will help you win a championship all right guys that is all that I got today the Lions and the Vikings dep chart simple easy and straightforward I appreciate you guys stopping by and listening as always hit that subscribe button please hit the like button as it helps the Channel's analytics ring the notification Bell so that every time I release a video or a podcast you are notified makes it easier for you to watch but excuse me but besides that have a fantastic rest of your evening sure now at the end of the podcast is where I'm going to actually start coughing hang on we got to do sign offs right hold on there we go need to take a drink of water so we could actually do a sign off correctly all right now now that I'm not worried about coughing and hacking out a lung thank you guys so much for watching thank you guys so much for listening for sports talk with Hawk I'm Hawk and I'm out