In the League: Special guest host, NCHSAA alums lead Jets past Browns, strong defensive performances Subject:* A friend wanted you to see this item from High School OT: https://wr.al/1Jbix Kyle Morton and Joel Bryant are joined by a special guest host to talk about another big performance by NCHSAA alumni on the Jets and a huge number of big defensive performances by NCHSAA alumni on other teams. Show Transcript Hello, everybody. Welcome to high school OT in the league. This is the weekly show we do here at high school OT, where we recap the most recent week of NFL action, specifically breaking down the performances of the players who played their high school football right here in North Carolina. As always, I'm Kyle Morton joined by Joel Brian Joel. Did you have a good holiday break? Weekend, week, so to speak. I did. I miss the Saturday Games. I went to see Wonder Woman 1984 which was a mistake. It was not good, but yeah, I mean, on Sunday we had some big stuff happened for Messi players. Kyle, we did, and it was a big week for for the league as a whole. And it was it was kind of cool to see some of the guys we've been talking about all year figure into these. You know, these playoff races, that air coming right down to the wire. There's one play in particular. I'm excited to discuss, uh, coming out of the A f. C. So a little a little teaser there for you, But we are going to start in the A F C with a little bit of a surprise. Not too big of a surprise, given the circumstances. But our New York Jets the hottest team in the league? Uh, no. In the last two weeks, they defeat the Cleveland Browns, 23 to 16. Cleveland's dream season kind of put on ice a little bit here. The Browns started 10 and four, now in grave danger of missing the playoffs. One of these teams that is sitting at 10 and five in the A F C is gonna miss could be them. We'll see. We'll see how this week goes. I think they got a break with a certain announcement today. We'll talk about that later in the pics. Jamison Crowder out of Monroe and Duke. He's been great all year, and he showed off his athleticism and what exactly he can do in this 177 receptions for 92 yards and a touchdown, and he threw a touchdown to on a trick play. Ah, 43 yard touchdown pass to none other than Leesville Road alum Braxton barriers. So it was awesome to see two of the guys we've been talking about this a wild Jordan having is joining a surprise guest. Surprise guest Jordan. We were just talking about the Jets and their surprise victory over the Browns. Didn't see that crowded Barrios trick play there. Yeah, I mean, they put on for their home state right there. Jamison Crowder. I mean, I saw Duke football tweeted out that he threw a left handed touchdown back in college, and then this was with his right hand. Um, and then Braxton Barrios. I mean, on the other end, able to finish that play. That's pretty exciting, but it's good to be back. This is so eerie Feeling. Yeah, Jordan's first appearance on in the league in here and heading into Week 17. So better late than never. I supposed Barrios. In addition to that one touchdown, I'm gonna get through the stats from this game real quick. Barrios three catches for 60 yards on the score. Mathias fairly out of Charlotte Christian. What a performance. He's been a guy we've talked about more lately than we did early in the season. He was huge for the Jets defense. Just getting in. Baker, Mayfield face all game five tackles, two pass breakups, and, uh, he kind of gotten Baker's had a little bit because one of his past breakup came right before that strip sack. That kind of ended the game for the Jets. Larry Ogunjobi out of Ragsdale for the Browns. Another strong performance. He had four tackles. Um, Joel. So I mean, you know, the wide receivers for the Browns, obviously, in quarantine. I think they had one guy from the roster and a couple of practice squad guys end up going. So no Jarvis Landry, No Donovan, People's Jones and, uh, no Higgins, either. It's Ah, it's a tough break for the Browns, but they couldn't do it. They couldn't pull off the comeback. Yeah, but they're not the only team that's dealt with something like this, right? We had Kendall hidden play quarterback for the Broncos. I don't really see it as much, um, excuse for the Browns because they're playing the Jets, who, until we could go, do not have a single win of the season, and the Browns like they have good tight ends. And then they have Kendall Lamb, the backup offensive tackle from Butler High School who had that touchdown. You sing out there right, so there's not not any excuse for the Browns, I want to say the Crowder stat line. He's the first player in NFL history to have 90 plus, receiving a 40 yard, 40 plus yard touchdown pass in the 10 plus yard rush in one game. That's not surprising because, you know, stuff like that doesn't happen often. I think you know, I think you make a good point grounds Air pretty uniquely positioned to survive no wide receivers because they have Austin Hooper. They have David and joking when they have Kareem Hunt, who they can split out wide as a as a really good pass catching running back. So, um, if it had to be one team, I think, you know, maybe the Colts with 19 Heinz could have put him out wide. But I think the Browns were in a good spot toe win anyway, and and they're not able to get it done. The Jets defense with inspired performance George and even take on the brown swatter, see your situation. I mean, I fully expected the Browns to win that game because their running game has been was carried them all year. I mean, when you look at the two at the attack of Urban Hunt. You can argue that's the best rushing attack with that tandem in the league s. So I was expecting them to kind of just lean on that. And like you said, they have. They actually have three really strong tight ends and uber Joko and Harrison Bryant s O. I was fully expecting them just to really line up and kind of play hard nose old school football with multiple tight ends. Um, but when you fall behind, it makes it tough to come back. So I like. Like I said, I was expecting Kareem Hunt lineup when he wasn't in the backfield at wide receiver. Really used his past catching ability. But, um, this late in the season, um, loss. Could you come back to hurt him playing the Steelers this week? But I expect the Browns kind of handle business and make that playoff appearance for the first time in a long time. Yeah, the Browns will not be facing Ben Roethlisberger this week. Is the Steelers announced they'd be turning the Mason Rudolph for weeks? 17 today? Jordan, you've joined us just in time. Uh, Joel said he he could not watch the games on Saturday. I watched this game. It was it was pretty boring for me. I'm sure it was miserable for you. Yeah, the Tampa Buccaneers show out in a 47 to 7 win over Chase Daniel in the Detroit Lions. Is Matthew Stafford left after the first drive with an injury? Of course, the special teams Bradley, Opinion and Ryan suck up huge for the Buccaneers. Once again, even though this was not suck ups. Best game, he did put some points on the board opinion. Had a really nice point in the lion's inside the 20 Romeo Okwara continued his strong season for the Lions. Hey, had two tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. Kind of, Ah, alone. Bright spot for the Lions. I do kind of want your take. Jordan, Um, what do the Lions do from here? Because it seems like they're kind of at a crossroads with Matthew Stafford and and where he factors into the future of the franchise and they're gonna have a high pick and a good quarterback draft. Yeah, that's gonna be a tough question. The Lions franchise right now is in a very interesting situation. Um, they're gonna be looking for a new head coach, But first I gotta find a new GM. I think that I mean, our owner, she looked forward. Hampton, Um, that's already came out and said that she's gonna leave that up to the coaching staff with Matthew Stafford. But I think you give Stafford. We've seen a lot of success. I think you might take a quarterback early, depending on where you fall, because there's four or five guys that I mean teams might fall in love with. And I think you haven't said behind Staffer for a year, learn kind of how to play in the NFL, how a quarterback of that magnitude could prepare. And we've seen a lot of success with first round picks sitting for a year sitting for the first X amount of games. I mean, look at my home looking for Mark Jackson. Those guys have been went MVPs very early on in their career, but they didn't start right off the back, so I think that's stage that not only the lines, maybe the Falcons are also in. I was about to say You just keep that quarterback for another year, allow him to kind of go on a, um, ending tour and then you re evaluate the situation after that. But I do think the lines are gonna be in the market for a young quarterback to learn from that effort. And chase Daniels. Well, yeah, yeah, the Falcons. You mentioned it. I was about to say they're in the same situation with Matt Ryan, the Panthers. They're gonna be looking for a quarterback, and they also have a veteran Teddy Bridgewater under contract. I think, you know, obviously the Jaguars and the Jets need quarterbacks, but there's some teams who have veterans who I think. I think you don't want to end up in the situation. The Steelers find themselves in where you stick with your veteran too long, and you don't know what's gonna happen next year because Roethlisberger's declining pretty quickly and Mason Rudolph is not the answer, and they have drafted it. So I think teams want to do what the Chiefs and the Ravens did and draft their guy before the veteran is too far gone and kind of have that learning relationship. I think that's a smart move, and we'll see a few teams do that. Joel do you have thoughts on? Well, I wanted to mention that Romeo Cora has his ninth sack now. That sack was the season which he's already passed his career high, but now he's just adding to it. But also, this is important. His brother Julian Akora, who was a third round pick this year. This is his first game of his career. He's been injured all season, but they got in here, uh, he had, let's see two tackles, including one for a loss. So, you know, first career game, Uh, big spot against Buccaneers, nationally televised game? Yeah, Pretty decent job. Are you saying about the two brothers there? I'm actually really Romeo shown flashes the past few years for the line. I mean, being that kind of third down guy coming in pass rushing. But this year he kind of became a co two guy. Trey Flowers has been out to Sean hands been in and out of the lineup. Danny showing in the inside is missed. Numerous games are only record has been the one steady presence on the front floor, and I mean, he's been a beast. He's been tough to handle and being the main guy the offensive lines are scheming for. He's been able to get after the quarterback getting a career high nine sacks. Who knows? Maybe we'll get to double digits with another one this week, and that'll be a pretty cool milestone for Romeo. We're talking about young quarterbacks in the league, kind of figuring out the future of that position. The Giants need to figure out their future at quarterback. They fall to the Baltimore Ravens, 27 to 13. Not a surprising outcome, but all the Ravens were starting to look like they did last year. I think these last few weeks and the Giants offense obviously pretty anemic. Another decent game for Daniel Jones out of Charlotte Latin. Coming back from his injury, they kind of rushed him back, I think, uh, before Hey was pretty clearly playing hurt better this week, 24 41 252 yards a touchdown. No turnovers, Which is impressive against that Ravens defense with Marlon Humphrey a corner and that pretty vicious pass rush the Ravens throw at you? Um, some other bright spots for the Giants. Dexter Lawrence out of Clemson and Wake Forest. He had five tackles against the Ravens is he kind of helped shut down J. K. Dobbins and that rushing attack a little bit. Hey, is a Pff grade of 78. This year. We've talked about how seventies is kind of where you want to be to be really strong. Lawrence's above that. He's proving to be a really good not only prospect, but already a good player for the Giants. Um, Joel, this is a big blow for the Giants playoff hopes. They can still get in with the win and some help this week. Um, but I think, you know, we kind of both saw this one coming with the Ravens moment. Yeah, the Ravens were looking good. I'm not. I'm not so sure about the Giants playoff chances because it requires them to be the Cowboys and then the Eagles to be Washington. So I'm not so sure about about that. Their chances there, but stranger things have happened. It is true. A lot of people have mentioned that Lawrence was drafted pretty pretty closely after Dwayne Haskins, who was just released by Washington. So, uh, it z crazy to see the kind of disparity that you can have in the middle of the first round like that, where one player is just a complete bust, no doubt about it than 11 guy just gets better and better drives career like Lawrence. Um, there's still some skeptics out there, but I think we all know that his talent is, uh, is Supremes, where I think he kind of transcends that normal type cast of a big kind of run stuffer. Defensive tackle wrapping up the stats here. B J Hill out of NC State in West Stanley. He's been another bright spot on that young defense for the Giants. Three tackles and then Anthony Levine out of Tennessee State and R. J. Reynolds had a tackle for the Ravens, Another guy contributing a little bit in the game that we haven't really talked about too much this year. Um, Jordan, do you have thoughts on this one? Um, piggyback death Lawrence is doing, I think what everybody in this area expected him to dio e mean he's This has been a dude that's been one of the best defensive lineman at every level of high school. I mean, five star recruit goes to Clemson. I mean, comes out of the first round pick and now then has his time with the Giants, is progressing. He's slowly developing and becoming another top two defensive lineman. I mean, that's what Lawrence is gonna be a good player in this league for a long time. And then Daniel Jones, you mentioned it, rushed him back a little bit too early. You could tell he was a little injured, but that no turnovers against a stingy Ravens defense. That's if they if they are gonna make a playoff push. Um, next week, he's gonna have to replicate that performance. Um, and protect the ball. Absolutely. The Pittsburgh Steelers had looked awful four weeks in a row. They nearly lost to the Ravens practice squad pretty much, and then they lost three games in a row on they were looking like they were gonna make it four in a row before a dramatic comeback. The Colts, up 24 to 7, can't hang on to that lead. Steelers come all the way back when, 28 to 24. I do want to skip ahead. Alex Highsmith made the play of the game in the fourth quarter. I will not. Maybe not the play of the game but decisive play. He rushed Philip Rivers into a bad throw on on, I think, fourth and seven from, like the 25 where if the Colts converted, they were gonna have a pretty good chance to score a touchdown and win. Hey made the big play one. The Steelers. The game. He's been thrown into a really tough spot as a rookie with all the injuries on that defense, Um, the Steelers didn't have a first round pick, and then they walked away with Claypool in Highsmith with their first two picks of the draft. I think that's a really impressive Paul. Danica Autry, out of album moral, had three tackles for the Colts. Um, just I mean, we have a lot of guys on the Colts ITT's. It's a really tough loss for them. They're still in decent shape to make the playoffs. I think at the end of the day, because they have the Jaguars this week. But man up 17 on Pittsburgh, a team that had no momentum, you want to see them finish that? Yeah, my mind's also had 13 touches for 64 yards. I forgot to put in the notes for some reason, but he also did well, Um, it's just This is probably the most surprising outcome of the week for me, especially when you factor in the lead that they had. It was really hard to think the Steelers coming into this game just because they seemed like they were in a total tailspin on the culture playing well, it's just This is a very surprising outcome to me. Um, do we talk about Ebron? No. Eric Ebron catches five passes for 47 yards and a touchdown. That touchdown came in the fourth quarter. It was huge. I mean, this game just looked exactly like we expected it to look, I think early on and then the Steelers just found it. I mean, Roethlisberger played a lot better than he has, and those receivers didn't really drop any passes. DeOnte Johnson and Juju Smith Schuster catch touchdowns and then Brown adds one. You called for Jaylen Samuels to get more touches last week, and he started this game but didn't touch the ball. Only three snaps after the initial half of the game. Uh, I mean James Conner, I think, scored a touchdown on this one. Well, I'm mostly tired of seeing Benny still. Well, I'm tired of being Connor. I'm the Steelers. Need to figure something out of running back. I don't think I don't think Connor smell or difference makers at all. Um, Samuels with his versatility. I mean, he doesn't have the speed to be an elite back in the NFL, but his versatility in his strength and in receiving ability, I think make him a useful asset, especially in that short distance passing game like we talked about last week. Um, yeah. I mean, a big win for the Steelers. They build some momentum heading into the playoffs. They're probably not feeling too bad about themselves the way they were before this one. Um, I still don't think they're really a contender in the A F. C, but you never know. It looks like Jordan is in the rock bottom part of SpongeBob. Kyle and I are like, at the top of the George is at the bottom in the dark. I'm not in the best lighting situation. I would turn on my overhead light, but then I think everybody would get a headache from that, but we kind of piggyback off. Alex Highsmith. The Steelers have been brutalized by injuries at the linebacker position, but three Devin Busch explain. I mean, this kid's had to step up, and I mean doing a great job as a rookie, to be able to come in and make an impact like that. And then, like you, said the Steelers running back situation. I mean, that's that's very concerning the Steelers in my going back Thio, Coward and even with Tom and it zoning the football. But I did like how the Steelers were able to pass the ball downfield. That's something we haven't seen since that look. Yeah, I mean, ever since you know we're off this burger had the elbow injury last year, we haven't really seen the ability to push the ball down the field. He hit juju deep and deonte Johnson deep for those touchdowns. Stuff encouraging for Steelers fans. I know we have a lot of Pittsburgh transplants in the North Carolina area, so I'm sure there's a lot of excited Steelers fans, uh that, you know, send the kids to these high schools or attend these high schools. So yeah, I'll be interesting to see what Steelers dio uh, speaking of the favorites in the A F C. The Kansas City Chiefs survived the Atlanta Falcons in a truly bizarre game. Uh, Patrick Mahomes and company never really got rolling, UM 17 to 14 win for the Chiefs. The Falcons had a 39 yard rushed field goal attempt to tie it. Yang Wei Qiu, who has been outstanding this year, didn't hit it. Um, I mean, this was really surprising to me because the Chiefs did have something to play for the Falcons, didn't I expected the Chiefs to kind of put their stamp on the season this week and then rest everyone next week? But it seems like even though they pla