NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah Talks Cowboys, Broncos, 49ers & More with Rich

Daniel Jeremiah watches more tape than almost anyone in the business, and after a month of football, his conclusions are blunt. The Cowboys' defense isn't getting out-schemed, it's getting out-worked. Bo Nix's problem isn't who's calling the plays. And the most intriguing quarterback in next year's draft might be a former walk-on.

The NFL Network analyst and host of the Move the Sticks podcast joined The Rich Eisen Show on Week 5 Friday and covered the whole board.

**"It's going to be a war"**

Start with the Niners and Seahawks. Jeremiah had seen Seattle up close the week before against the Chargers, and while it wasn't pretty, the defense left an impression.

"I think it's going to be a war, which is usually what happens when these teams play each other," Jeremiah said. "It wasn't their cleanest game. It was a zillion penalties. They'll have to clean that stuff up, but that defense still absolutely flies around."

He pointed to Byron Murphy taking his game to the next level up front, along with Leonard Williams and a host of others. On the other side, Brock Purdy hasn't been taking sacks and keeps making the right decision. "It's the efficiency of San Francisco versus the explosive defense in Seattle," Jeremiah said. "That's the matchup within the game I can't wait for."

Rich asked whether Jeremiah belongs in the growing camp that says Purdy is playing the position better than anyone right now. He does, and he credited both the quarterback and Kyle Shanahan for being completely on the same page. Jeremiah said he and Dan Orlovsky have gone back and forth on what makes Purdy so effective right now: "His mind is working so fast, but the rest of his body is calmed down and slow." Everything is quiet with his lower half, he's on balance, and the ball comes out "super accurate."

Seattle, meanwhile, is feeling the absence of Kenneth Walker. "Hopefully they get Price back healthy and they'll feel better about it," Jeremiah said. "But as of right now, yeah, they miss him in a big way." He also admitted, with a laugh, that his video crowning another back as the league's best came out before Bijan Robinson played his next game. "Maybe I should have held off on that one."

**What's wrong with the Cowboys**

Jeremiah had a full notebook on Dallas and had just cut a video on it. His diagnosis came straight out of a training camp script.

Every coach at every level preaches block destruction. "That is not happening with the Dallas Cowboys," Jeremiah said. "It is very finesse. They are accepting. They are stuck. They're not getting off blocks."

He ran through the rest of the camp phrases one by one. Hats to the ball, running to the football with maniacal effort: not seeing it. Winning one-on-ones in the pass rush: "Not a whole lot going on there." Staying off the ground: they can't keep their feet, which shows up in explosive pass plays and missed tackles. And finishing, the effort rushes that produce cleanup sacks after the first move stalls: "They rush down the middle, they can't get off of a block, and they just kind of quit. Just stall and quit. It's bizarre to watch, man."

Rich asked whether it's a scheme issue, guys thinking instead of playing free. Jeremiah didn't buy it. He saw positives from Kenny Clark, who showed penetration and quickness, and from rookie Malachi Lawrence, who "played a little more violent than the rest of those guys." But he was direct about the others.

"Quinnen Williams has got to play better, Rich. You've seen him at his best, and that's not the way he's playing right now," he said. Rashan Gary "has just not been impactful at all," and DaRon Bland on the back end "can't keep his feet."

"I don't think anything they're doing is very complicated," Jeremiah said. "A lot of that game they're just lining up and rushing four. I just don't think individually they're playing all that great."

The one scheme critique he did offer: there are no layups. On one snap Dallas brought six against a Buccaneers line that had allowed a league-high 16 sacks, and Tampa picked it up with all day to throw.

**Bo Nix doesn't need new plays, he needs to let it rip**

The burning offseason question of how long Sean Payton could stand on the sideline without calling plays got its answer: four games. Payton stepped to the podium and said, "I'm calling the plays."

Jeremiah, who calls Chargers games locally on the radio and will see the change firsthand against Denver, doesn't think play design was ever the issue.

"It's almost more of a mentality thing with the quarterback, getting Bo Nix to play a little bit more free, a little more aggressive," he said. He credited Davis Webb with scheming guys open to a decent degree. "You can watch the tape and you're like, there's guys there. He's not throwing the football. That's not the play design. It's not the play call. It's not the timing. It's just he's got to be aggressive."

Maybe Payton's voice in Nix's ear all week is what lands the plane. Jeremiah pulled out a phrase he coined years ago watching tape: "He just needs to trust his eyes and trust his guys." Then he went full cheerleader and spelled out "be aggressive" for the radio audience.

**The Texans surprise**

Houston made its own change, with DeMeco Ryans taking over defensive play calling for the 0-4 Texans. That defense is the biggest surprise of the season for Jeremiah, who thought it was the best unit in the league last year and expected it to be even better. Will Anderson is still elite, but "on the back end, man, they have been getting torched," with Lassiter targeted a bunch and Blankenship giving up plays downfield.

Four games is enough of a sample to say this isn't good enough, he said, and the timing works: "What a great time to make a change when the Tennessee Titans are coming in."

Asked which unit has the best shot to turn it around (Eagles offense, Broncos offense, Cowboys defense, Texans defense), Jeremiah stuck with the team he picked to win the Super Bowl. "There's just too much talent there," he said of Houston. He sees the Cowboys and Broncos as similar, with more talent than production, and he expects Dallas's offense to be fine after a fluky run of drops. The Eagles worry him most. "It's not a good watch," he said, noting the injuries and the Lane Johnson situation. "That might be the one that I'm least confident in."

**Don't trade off Jeremiah Smith**

Rich had spent much of the week on a draft puzzle. Three of the teams in the current top five already have their guys, with Baker Mayfield just signed, Justin Herbert with the Chargers and CJ Stroud in Houston, so they don't need a quarterback in a quarterback-heavy class with Jeremiah Smith on the board. Do they take a ransom, or stick and pick?

Jeremiah had watched Rich's segment, at 2.0 speed, which led to a detour about Rich's kids watching at 4.0 speed and the revelation that Rich is apparently paying for premium. "I'm sniffing stuff out," Rich said. "Thank you for that evaluation."

On the actual question, Jeremiah added a wrinkle: there's also a Notre Dame corner he called one of the best to enter the league in the last five to 10 years. If you slide back, you want to stay in range for him. But he hasn't seen a quarterback worth "the Godfather offer" yet, and as someone calling Chargers games every week, he'd keep Smith. "It's a need. It's a premium position, and it's an elite player. When you check those three boxes, it'd be hard to trade off that."

**The dart throw: Drew Mestemaker**

Rich closed with a dart throw: who's the first quarterback off the board in Washington next spring? Jeremiah went with Drew Mestemaker.

He noted Dante Moore is hurt after a horrendous hit and hasn't played his best, and that when the two shared a field, Mestemaker was "so much more intriguing" from an NFL standpoint because of his athleticism. Darian Mensah has been outstanding with decision-making and accuracy, "but I think Mestemaker is a little more toolsy than him, and when we get to draft time, that usually is what takes the cake."

Rich loved the story. The show talked to Mestemaker back at North Texas, a walk-on who was throwing up into a trash can during the First Responder Bowl. Going from that to first overall "would be unbelievable."

Jeremiah also made sure to plant his flag on Trinidad Chambliss. "He's my favorite one to watch of all these guys," he said. "If you said who of all these quarterbacks has got to come in and win game one, he's the guy who's most equipped."

And if the Mestemaker pick misses? Jeremiah had a plan for that, too. "Just delete it from the internet."