Go Long

The 2024 season is officially underway with the NFL Combine. General managers and coaches and scouts and agents all convened in Indianapolis to negotiate contracts and study college prospects.

As always, the quarterbacks take center stage.

This year, nearly a third of the NFL has to make a decision at the most important position in sports.

Everything starts with a familiar name: Kirk Cousins. Will the veteran quarterback choose familiarity in Minnesota or earn every dollar he can elsewhere? We discuss on the podcast. He has chosen the business decision before. Dan Wiederer filled us in on the shaky trade market for Justin Fields earlier in the week. Co-host Jim Monos offers his thoughts this episode.

We also shift our focus to the draft. You know Caleb Williams is this year’s odds-on No. 1 overall pick. Who’s the next best quarterback? Monos, the former Eagles/Saints/Bills personel man, has been studying the tape and loves the NFL readiness of Oregon’s Bo Nix.

Finally, we hit on the wide receiver class and why this is the year the Buffalo Bills should double up at the position.

You can listen to the Go Long Show right here at GoLongTD.com, as well as Apple, Spotify, YouTube and everywhere you pod.

Go Long is your home for longform journalism in pro football. Our aim is to cover the sport through a longform lens.

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ICYMI…

Caleb Williams: 'I tend to create history and rewrite history'

Time is now for the New York Giants to make their QB move

The Chicago Bears are at a historic crossroads

Brian Gutekunst, Sean Payton and the intense pursuit of a quarterback

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One of the league’s perennially tormented franchises sees a glimmer of light.

The Chicago Bears own the No. 1 overall pick and can build around any collegiate quarterback their collective hearts desire. USC’s Caleb Williams is widely considered the gem of this 2024 NFL Draft.

But as always in the Windy City, this is… complicated.

To make sense of this moment in time for the Bears, Go Long sits down with Dan Wiederer. You can read all of Wiederer’s excellent enterprising reporting at the Chicago Tribune.

Live from the Indianapolis Convention Center, we discuss all angles:

* Why the market for Justin Fields isn’t as hot as you’d think. Ironing out a trade isn’t easy. GM Ryan Poles is doing quite a balancing act in Indy.

* Strengths of Fields. He’s got thick skin. He can handle adversity.

* Emotional maturity of Caleb Williams. The top prospect will be scrutinized, and for good reason.

* The USC QB is special. After passing on special before (see: Mahomes, Patrick), the Bears should probably think big.

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The Chicago Bears have been in this position before. Many times.

Another franchise-defining decision awaits at quarterback.

With the NFL Combine set to begin next week — coaches, execs and scouts all descending upon Indianapolis — we forecast all QB movement. Will the Bears move Justin Fields to make way for USC’s Caleb Williams? If so, where does Fields land? What are teams getting in the mobile quarterback? Co-host Jim Monos has studied Fields closely since his Ohio State days.

Kirk Cousins will undoubtedly have a strong market. The Minnesota Vikings will set their price in Indy.

Perhaps the Atlanta Falcons make Cousins an offer he cannot refuse. We discuss.

Meanwhile, the Buffalo Bills need to get creative with contracts. Both of us expect GM Brandon Beane to push money down the road to win now. The state of affairs may be murky with Stefon Diggs right now. He was cryptic on Radio Row. In the end, we agree both sides are still best together.

You can listen to the Go Long Show right here at Go Long and everywhere you get podcasts, including Apple, Spotify and YouTube. Video is below.

Thanks, all.

Our Mailbag series is also ongoing — here is Part I and Part II, icymi. Part III is coming soon. Subscribers can always access everything we have to offer at Go Long.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.golongtd.com/subscribe

As the country shifts into full-fledged Draft Mode, the name “Chase Griffin” may not ring a bell. You won’t see the UCLA quarterback’s name appear in mock drafts. Griffin still has one year of eligibility and the former Gatorade Player of the Year in Texas hasn’t seen the field a ton.

However, his impact off the field has been substantial. The two-time “NIL Athlete of the Year” has shown all college athletes how to navigate this new wild west. Griffin is the first active college athlete to testify in front of Congress on NIL (Name, Image and Likeness), launched The Athlete’s Bureau on Substack and has arguably been the most public voice on the subject. (You can follow Griffin on X and IG.)

This is all strange new terrain for college sports with 19- and 20-year-olds jumping in and out of the transfer portral.

What does the future hold? Griffin helps us make sense of it all.

You can listen to the audio above or inside the Go Long Podcast feeds on Apple, Spotify and YouTube. Video is below.

Also, for more, check out this piece on Griffin at Dave Campbell’s Texas Football, written by Carter Yates.

Thanks, all.

Miss Part I of our Mailbag this week?

We discuss Brandon Beane’s drafts, the Tom Clements Effect, the 1950 Browns, potential NFL rule changes and what other NFL teams will take from Super Bowl LVIII.

Right here for Go Long subscribers.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.golongtd.com/subscribe

Remember the days of Super Bowl blowouts? Me neither. Nine of the last 10 Super Bowls have been competitive games into the fourth quarter and that’s a win for all.

Kansas City’s 25-22 overtime victory over San Francisco wasn’t always pretty but it’ll be remembered right there with many of the best.

Patrick Mahomes asserted himself as an all-timer again. This is his NFL and he’s not close to finished.

But the team’s Super Bowl MVP quarterback is not the only storyline.

Steve Spagnuolo’s timely pressures. Chris Jones’ dominance. More Super Bowl gaffes from Kyle Shanahan. Travis Kelce nearly hockey-checking his 65-year-old head coach into the turf. There is much to discuss. We wrap up Super Bowl LVIII on the podcast with co-host Jim Monos.

You can listen right here or at Apple, Spotify and everywhere you pod.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.golongtd.com/subscribe

The Super Bowl is now two days away. As the nation gathers around their television sets, there will be many football coaches and scouts who watch Brock Purdy slingshot completions and wonder, “What did I miss?” But not Dave Boller.

To get the inside story on Purdy’s rise, the “Go Long Show” welcomes on the longtime football scout who most certainly was a believer from Day 1.

Boller knew the Purdy family as an Arizona guy himself and he tried to tell schools that the kid had it. Now, the lightning-fast processor has the San Francisco 49ers on the doorstep of Ring No. 6.

Our personnel man, co-host Jim Monos, worked with Boller on the Philadelphia Eagles personnel staff. Boller is a well-traveled man. He spent two decades in the NFL, scouting for the Buccaneers (1995- ‘98), Eagles (1998- ‘04) and Rams (2004- ‘07), before working as the Lions’ assistant pro director (2007- ‘09), consulting NFC teams (2010- ‘12) and joining the Jets as an area scout (2012- ‘14). From there, he headed to the college ranks. Boller spent the 2015 and 2016 seasons in Louisville. First as director of on-campus recruiting, then as director of high school relations. He had a front-row seat to Lamar Jackson’s ascent.

Then, it was off to Syracuse where Boller was the director of player personnel 2007- ‘22.

Boller is the head of personnel for the St. Louis Battlehawks of the UFL today.

He tried to convince Dino Babers to give Purdy a shot, but the Syracuse coach didn’t believe. (Babers wasn’t alone, either.)

The revisionist history on Purdy gives Boller a chuckle.

We get into everything and I swear that ‘Cuse crew you see on camera was at the top of the pile, a total coincidence.

Boller, an open book, details why he had such conviction on Purdy, shares Jackson stories from Louisville — what did colleges miss here, too? — and takes you all the way back to the Philadelphia Eagles’ draft meetings ahead of selecting Donovan McNabb over Ricky Williams in 1999. They knew they’d be crucified by fans, and warned McNabb accordingly.

You can access the Go Long Show right here at GoLongTD.com and inside the Apple, Spotify and YouTube feeds.

Thank you for listening, sharing and subscribing.

ICYMI:

* A Super Bowl conversation with Brett Favre

* Dallas Clark on the “walk-on mentality”

* 'The Wild Side:' How George Kittle and Travis Kelce harness the animal within

* Our 2023- ‘24 Awards are in

* Go Long Show: First look at Chiefs vs. 49ers

* 'The 49er Way:' Revisiting a conversation with GM John Lynch

* The playoff dominance of Patrick Mahomes

* Don’t ask Dan Campbell to change

* Ty & Bob Pod: A special season in Detroit... with a bright future ahead

* Go Long Show: Championship Sunday Recap

Still to come:

* The Magic of Mahomes

* Super Bowl Predictions

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.golongtd.com/subscribe

To this day, Dallas Clark struggles to understand how he made it. Out of all tight ends profiled in “Blood and Guts,” his rise is most mystifying from a football sense.

The kid from tiny Livermore, Iowa walked onto the Hawkeyes football team fresh off losing Mom in his arms. A traumatic ordeal. He was lost on the depth chart. His appendix nearly burst. He had collarbone surgery. He was a modern “Rudy,” mowing the field at Kinnick Stadium. But that’s the funny thing about the tight end position. In nearly all cases, Tight End chooses you. Not the other way around.

The drive inside Clark always made him a natural fit. We published part of his chapter here at Go Long.

How Clark rose to two Super Bowls, winning one in ‘06, speaks to the human condition more than anything. We can all take a little something from this rise.

This week, we caught up again for a podcast conversation. I have a good feeling he’ll be back, too.

Discussed…

* Walk-on life at Iowa, from tearing up the siding at Kinnick Stadium on the mower to surviving on Grands! biscuits to equipment guys giving him a strange look for wanting socks with no holes.

* Why he was able to hit it off with Peyton Manning.

* What made him different than George Kittle (and many tight ends) off the field.

* His (very) strong opinion on Taylor Swift.

* Tight End U and the evolution of the position.

* The similarity between these 2023 Chiefs and his 2006 Colts. Both were smacked in the jaw late in the season, and responded the right way.

* Beauty of football. Clark articulates exactly what makes this sport different than anything else — and the secret sauce that builds a winner.

Thank you for listening, watching, sharing.

Go Long is completely powered by our readers.

We aim to cover pro football through a longform lens.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.golongtd.com/subscribe

This final podcast episode with Brett Favre, the Hall of Fame quarterback relives the euphoric highs (Super Bowl XXXI) and crushing lows (Super Bowl XXXII) of the greatest game in sports. He experienced both emotions.

Favre details everything that led to this iconic touchdown pass to Andre Rison in Green Bay’s 35-21 title win over New England. Defensive coordinator Bill Belichick rolled the dice, and lost. Of course, the memory of Terrell Davis running wild is fresh, too. Those Packers were so close to going back-to-back.

Much of this episode is spent on this year’s big game in Las Vegas. He brings a unique perspective.

Favre worked closely with Andy Reid. The Kansas City Chiefs head coach who’s quickly asserting himself as an all-time great was his quarterbacks coach in Green Bay during the 1997 and 1998 seasons. Favre has spoken to the Chiefs’ entire team ahead of the Super Bowl before and shares his message. What makes Reid special? There’s beauty to the coach’s schematic simplicity.

While he does see a lot of himself in Patrick Mahomes, Favre knows Reid is a major driving force. He doesn’t know where he’d be without Mike Holmgren, and isn’t sure where Mahomes’ career goes without Reid. It’s true we don’t discuss the marriage of coach and quarterback nearly enough.

How good is Brock Purdy? “Dr. Purdy,” as he calls him, is more surgical. And a winner. There’s a lot to like in San Francisco’s unassuming quarterback.

Audio and video are here at Go Long. You can also check out past episodes linked below.

A quick note. The former quarterback’s Mississippi case was back in the news this week obviously. As he has said, there’s much Favre would like to discuss on this all. Due to a gag order, he cannot. When he’s able, we will check back in.

Ahead at Go Long, I’ll be posting a conversation with Indianapolis Colts tight end Dallas Clark later today. He did not disappoint. Icymi, we’ve got a feature live on George Kittle, Travis Kelce and why the best of the best at the tight end position have a wild side. On Friday AM, be on the lookout for a deep dive on Mahomes. I spent the last two weeks chatting with everyone who knows him best to figure out where all this magic comes from.

The Super Bowl’s closing in. We’ll host another Gameday Chat for the festivities.

Thanks to all for reading and listening all season long.

Past episodes of “FAVRE:”

* Ep 1: Reliving an unforgettable moment in NFL history

* Ep 2: Bar fights, throat-slashes and the car crash that could've killed him

* Ep 3: The unique attrition of football

* Ep 4: Time for Jordan Love to make ‘chicken salad’ out of ‘chicken s**t’

* Ep 5: Football will always need 'Rocky Balboa'

* Ep 6: 'They hit a home run:' Brett Favre is all in on Jordan Love

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.golongtd.com/subscribe

Super Bowl Week is here.

Chiefs. 49ers. Mahomes. Purdy. The entire country will be dissecting the matchup — nonstop — right into Sunday. We’ll try to bring you a fresh perspective in words and pods here at Go Long with plenty planned.

New around here? You can always join our community to access everything.

That being said, the only Taylor Swift take to share here is that I wish the world-renowned singer/songwriter was dating Justin Vernon of Bon Iver. That way, we’d get a full album of duets like this.

You can listen to the latest Go Long Show episode above with video embedded below. With co-host Jim Monos, much is discussed:

* Why is San Francisco favored with so many people betting on the Chiefs?

* Inside the 49ers offensive machine, starting with Brock Purdy.

* Kyle Shanahan’s “slot-machine” QB odyssey.

* The Mahomes Factor. (He’s special.)

* Why isn’t Bill Belichick coaching in 2024? Monos believes the coach is being choosy.

Episodes are also available within the Apple, Spotify and YouTube feeds.

Thanks, all.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.golongtd.com/subscribe

The emotion written across the head coach’s face told the tale. This 34-31 loss in Santa Clara will stick with Dan Campbell and all members of the 2023 Detroit Lions forever. Without a doubt, these Lions were talented enough to win it all.

Campbell rolled the dice and one drop, one ball bouncing off a facemask, one fumble, one dropped touchdown later, the Lions were eliminated.

Here on the Ty & Bob Pod with Hall of Famer Bob McGinn, we look at both the macro and micro. McGinn relives all of the highs and lows from the NFC Championship Game and explains why the Lions should be excited about the future.

We cannot thank everyone enough for listening to this podcast all season long.

For those who love consuming McGinn’s content, rest assured. He’s already diving into the Senior Bowl film. His 40th annual draft series will again be published here at Go Long for paid subscribers.

Ben Johnson is now a hot commodity. Why? Players explained, icymi.

Also, here is our column on Campbell’s go-for-broke coaching:

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.golongtd.com/subscribe