Albert Breer on if Both L.A. Teams are Super Bowl Contenders, 49ers Injuries, Bo Nix

There just isn't a lot to pick at with the Rams.

All right.

Welcome in.

It's the Brew Report for Wednesday, August 5th.

I'm officially at the turn of my big training camp swing.

I'm gonna probably do around 2025 camps , but my first swing um includes 18 camps and I am now 9 down, 9 to go.

I'm with the Texans today.

I have been with the Seahawks, the Cardinals, the Niners, the Cowboys, the Chargers, the Rams, the Raiders, the Broncos.

And the Chiefs thus far.

So I wanna highlight a couple of things I've I've seen and the first thing that I want to talk about is what I saw in Los Angeles with the two teams there.

And I think both have a legitimate Super Bowl shot.

Now, I, I don't think it's, it's, it surprised anybody to hear me say that the Rams are gonna be right in the mix.

Um, and what you saw with the Rams is a roster that really doesn't have very many questions.

And going back to last year, they lose by 4 points in the NFC championship game to the Seahawks.

Matthew Stafford played at an MVP level in that game.

I think that was one of the best quarterback games we've seen.

Um, over the last couple of years, um, based on how the Seahawks defense was playing, um, Matthew Stafford was off the charts, just didn't have quite enough, um, to get it done.

And in that game, of course, the issue was the defensive backs.

And so, they go and address that by bringing in Trent McDuffie and Jalen Watson from the Chiefs.

They believe that Trent McDuffie might be, might wind up, might might wind up being the best defensive.

Back in all of football this year.

And then on top of that, they go and add Miles Garrett.

Uh, early in camp, Matthew Stafford has been nails.

Uh, you know, you see, I think the, the, the, the, the , the overall balance of the team and the physicality of the team, the identity of the team.

There aren't very many boxes this Rams team doesn't check, and so, it's hard to see a scenario where that isn't a 13 or 14 win team, and that's even though they've got a very difficult schedule and they play in a very difficult division.

Um, there just isn't a lot to pick at with the Rams.

Health permitting, and I think that goes for every team in the NFL.

They should be very, at the very top of the heap.

They should be back in the NFC championship game, and then I think once you're in the Final Four, we're talking about the elite of the elite, and we'll see from there.

And I'm not sure that enough people talked about what the team across town did last year.

Now, I know they lost in the wild card round.

The identity of that roster was built through the offensive line, through the tackles they invested so heavily in and Joe, Joe Walt and Rashaan Slater.

And they not only didn't have those guys for most of the year, those two played a combined 6 games.

At one point, they were down to their 5th, or 6th, or 7th tackles.

So you're talking about the identity of the team being stripped away and they were still able to win 11 games.

So now they have Alton Slater back, they bring in Tyler Biaish to play center.

They've got young receivers that they think are.

They're gonna take another step, and Quentin Johnson and Ladd McConkie and Trey Harris, a couple of younger guys that they've added that mix and Ke'Andre Lambert Smith and Brendan Thompson, the rookie from Mississippi State.

Omarion Hampton is back, the tight end room has improved with, uh, with David Njoku and Charlie Kar coming over.

And defensively, they don't overwhelm you in any one spot.

Derwin James is probably the one elite player they have on that side of the ball.

But they have a lot of balance.

And I think the biggest question is about, it's gonna relate to the guy pressing the buttons there.

Chris O'Leary comes in as the new defensive coordinator coming back from Western Michigan.

Jesse Minter was so good at that job, and Jesse Minter was, was calling the defense at such a high level.

Like that's the one question, can Chris O'Leary replicate what Jesse Minter was able to do, but I think that that team is in very, very good shape.

Um, our second topic for today, the San Francisco 49ers, obviously one of the consistent winners of the last decade, and I've said for a few months now that the age of the team concerns me.

And it's, you got Trent, the, the, the, the very best players in the team.

You got Trent Williams, you've got George Kittle, you've got Christian McCaffrey, you got Mike Evans, you've got Nick Bosa, who's still young but going into year 8 coming off an ACL.

You've got Fred Warner going in year 9 coming off an injury.

It's just a lot of that core of that team is older and so, how they perform, I, I think, and to a large A large degree was always going to ride on their ability to stay healthy and their ability to develop the young talent.

And now they're already getting nicked up.

Ricky Pearsall out for the year.

Mike Evans got banged up the other day.

Um, they're already working through some of these injury issues.

And I think it's fair to ask now, where this leaves them.

And the onus is going to be on the Niners to develop some of the young guys in the roster.

So some of the guys you wanna watch, what does Jordan James look coming, Jordan James look like behind Christian McCaffrey when he comes back from the rib?

Dean scribbling, can he contribute right away?

Some of the younger receivers that were in the pipeline, Jordan Watkins, Jacob Cowing, on the defensive line, Michelle Williams is gonna be coming back from injury.

Alfred Collins is gonna be coming back from injury.

Can they get some guys to go with Bosa and Odeizua upfront?

Um, you know, the young linebackers, um, Tatum Bethune is a guy who played a lot last year.

What does he look like, um, and how does he fit into the mix with Fred Warner?

And, and, uh, and, and Drake Greenlaw, you have Bernardo Green, a corner, they have high hopes for him, um, Upton stout.

So they've got some young guys in the roster and they're gonna need those young guys to come along because again, when an older team.

And gets the injury bug, that usually isn't a coincidence.

Usually the age is a part of that.

So, how the, how the Niners are able to navigate all of that, I think is going to be a really, really big piece of, of where they go.

And I think the, the, the development of the young players is gonna determine whether or not this is a team that backslides, and it's like a 9 or 1010 win borderline playoff team or a team that's competing at the level that they've been able to compete at for most of the last decade.

Finally, Uh, the 3rd topic today, the Denver Broncos.

I was with them on Monday.

It is another one of these teams, deep balanced.

Again, they don't overwhelm you in any one spot.

The one elite player they have is probably Patrick Certan.

Jaylen Waddle looks like he's gonna be able to make an impact.

But I, I think there is an open question on where Bo Nix fits.

I, I can tell you this just talking to people there internally, there aren't the questions on Bo Nix that maybe there are externally.

But I do think that it's fair to ask where Bo Nix is taking things next .

Coming off the broken ankle, he's been able to move around really well, um, and he's had a really good start to camp.

And I think one thing that's interesting, I I think there's, there's, there's, there's uh a leadership component to it, and there's a physical component to it.

And physically, they feel like he's come back and he's throwing the ball harder, he's got more velocity on it, he's got more zip down the field on it.

Uh, they feel like he's got a stronger arm now than he did his first two years in the league.

And part of that can just be physical development.

But what they're seeing is he's got an ability to throw from bad body positions a little bit, a little bit more so than he had over his 1st 2 years.

And so, the increased arm strength, in addition to maybe a little bit of an elevated leadership position.

Now he's been a captain there, of course, but he's really gotten to a point now where he feels comfortable making the team his own.

Um, they feel like Bo Nix is ready to take another step, and I think it's interesting cause a lot of people aren't expecting that.

I think a lot of people look at Bo Nix and think because he isn't overwhelmingly physically, overwhelming physically like some of his draft classmates like Drake May or Jaden Daniels or Caleb Williams, that he sort of is what he is.

But the Broncos really believe that there is another step there for him.

And having Waddle as part of the mix will certainly help, you know, I think if you look at the Broncos' skill position group.

And you go down the line and you look at, you know, your, your, your, your Cortland Sutton, you know, your Pat Bryant coming back for year two, your Marvin Mimms, who's had a really good summer, um, Evan Ingraham and the guys in the backfield, Dobbins, and the rookie Coleman, and of course, RJ Harvey, there's a lot of complimentary weapons there.

So having somebody in that huddle, where when you break the huddle, the defense has to look and say, that we gotta get that.

Guy, we gotta follow that guy.

We gotta figure out where that guy is.

I think it should help all of those guys slide into roles that are probably a little more suitable for who they are.

Appreciate you guys coming out as always.

Um, you can comment down below here on the YouTube page.

You can also get to me on my social media at Albert Breer on Twitter, at Albert Aubrey on Facebook, at Albert_Breer on Instagram.

Appreciate you guys coming out.

We'll see you tomorrow with a mailbag edition of the Breer Report.