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Speaker 1: The Action Network Podcast.

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Speaker 2: I'm just about that action all.

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Speaker 1: Right.

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Speaker 2: Here we go throwing out spect We're saying it's a

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Speaker 2: cash touchdown.

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Speaker 3: That's all we see.

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Speaker 1: Most gamble is when they go to gamble, they go

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Speaker 1: to win.

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Speaker 3: That's incredible. Big bank, small banks. I like to make money.

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Speaker 3: All right, this is the ultimate combine and you want

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Speaker 3: to and we are way.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to the Action Network Podcast. I'm Jill Glant. I'm

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Speaker 2: joined by NFL betting expert and futures analyst Brandon Anderson

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Speaker 2: and its rankings week here at the Action Network. And

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Speaker 2: today we're going to do the offensive Lines. Now, Brandon,

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Speaker 2: as always, we need to quantify some of these rankings.

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Speaker 2: I need to know a little bit more about the criteria,

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Speaker 2: what kind of things you're looking in. Can you just

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Speaker 2: explain to us how you compile your rankings and what

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Speaker 2: is the most important factors for offensive line ranks.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, so let's start with this at the top. Don't

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Speaker 3: turn the podcast off. Offensive lines matter. I've been wanting

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Speaker 3: to do this podcast for years. To me, offensive lines

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Speaker 3: and knowing who's good, who's not, who's rising and falling.

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Speaker 3: This for me is one of my biggest edges on

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Speaker 3: the market, especially with futures. So this is the podcast

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Speaker 3: you want to listen to. This is the area we

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Speaker 3: don't know as much about. We already know Christian McCaffrey

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Speaker 3: is good. We already know Josh Allen is good. We

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Speaker 3: don't know as much about these offensive lines, so I'll

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Speaker 3: still learn today what matters for me on offensive line.

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Speaker 3: These aren't necessarily in order, but here are some things

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Speaker 3: that matter. Continuity matters. How many starters are you returning.

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Speaker 3: Offensive line is a group activity. It's five guys working together.

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Speaker 3: It's knowing how the quarterback plays, how the coach and

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Speaker 3: the scheme work. If you are returning four or all

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Speaker 3: five starters, that's a huge boost, especially at the start

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Speaker 3: of the year. Injuries and depth they kind of go together, right.

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Speaker 3: We'll talk about some of the key injuries going in.

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Speaker 3: One huge injury to a star can really drop a team.

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Speaker 3: But frankly, it's the NFL. These are big boys, like

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Speaker 3: three hundred pound linemen. They're gonna pick up some injuries

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Speaker 3: during the year. So depth matters too. Do you have

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Speaker 3: a little bit you have a swing tackle that can

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Speaker 3: fill in. Do you have some guys, some young guys

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Speaker 3: on the line can come and that too. Veterans versus youth.

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Speaker 3: Do we have a little bit of a mix there.

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Speaker 3: If it's an older line, that's a bit of a

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Speaker 3: problem because the injuries might come a little bit earlier.

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Speaker 3: If it's a young line too young, that could also

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Speaker 3: be a problem. We want to have some experience, maybe

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Speaker 3: get the right mix there. Obviously, what changed from last year.

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Speaker 3: Who's back, who's back from injury, What free agents came in,

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Speaker 3: who'd you draft, who'd you bring in by free agency?

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Speaker 3: All that sort of thing. Coaching, coaching and scheme matters

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Speaker 3: more too. That's the thing I'm still adjusting in my rankings.

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Speaker 3: And this kind of fits with run blocking versus pass blocking.

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Speaker 3: Run blocking is easier run blocking. I'm on the attack.

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Speaker 3: I get to just push forward and I know where

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Speaker 3: I'm going, I know where you're going, and out need

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Speaker 3: eyes in the back of my head. That's floor raising.

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Speaker 3: If you're not a great offense, investing in a run

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Speaker 3: and run first attack and then play action schemes and

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Speaker 3: run type of schemes, that is a way to raise

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Speaker 3: your floor. Pass Blocking, I think is more valuable. Pass

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Speaker 3: blocking is harder to come by. Pass blocking is stealing raising,

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Speaker 3: So That makes a big difference too. And similar to

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Speaker 3: how I describe NBA defense in basketball, this is a

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Speaker 3: week link game. You don't necessarily want one star and

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Speaker 3: four dudes. You'd rather have five pretty solid dudes that

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Speaker 3: can all kind of work together and not have that

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Speaker 3: one week link one week link and Patrick Mahomes on

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Speaker 3: his butt and you lost the Super Bowl. Now, So

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Speaker 3: that's the sort of stuff we're looking at here as always,

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Speaker 3: just saying, Okay, we got one year, let's win a

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Speaker 3: super Bowl. Which offensive line do we want? Right now?

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Speaker 3: We'rer inking tiers as always, that's the drill. All right,

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Speaker 3: that's a great summary.

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Speaker 2: So let's get into some offensive lines in the NFL,

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Speaker 2: And as you said, you do have broken it down

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Speaker 2: in tiers. Will start at the top tier one. You've

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Speaker 2: called this the unanimous number one, not really a surprise

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Speaker 2: you have the Philadelphia Eagles at the top spot. Before

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Speaker 2: we talk about the second tier, just quickly, how much

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Speaker 2: far ahead are the Eagles compared to say number two,

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Speaker 2: And how much is Landon Dickerson's injury going to impact

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Speaker 2: these rankings?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I think those questions sort of go together because

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Speaker 3: when the Dickerson injury news came out. He's the left guard.

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Speaker 3: He's not the star on the team. That's the tackles right,

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Speaker 3: joined by a lot and Lane Johnson. I've seen different

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Speaker 3: analysts I trust argue either one of those two as

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Speaker 3: the best offensive lineman in the league. They get both

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Speaker 3: of them, so that's hardly fair. Dickerson's probably next in line.

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Speaker 3: After that, it looked like his injury was a bigger

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Speaker 3: deal at first. It looks like now probably he's more

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Speaker 3: week to week, may likely be ready for Week one.

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Speaker 3: So meniscus injury they did, I think the trim version

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Speaker 3: where it's a little bit more dangerous long term for

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Speaker 3: the team or long term for him and for the team,

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Speaker 3: but should be okay short term. So I was asking myself, okay,

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Speaker 3: before that, what if he's out, do the Eagles tumble

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Speaker 3: down the rankings? And they don't have a definitive answer,

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Speaker 3: but I think they have still been pretty easily in

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Speaker 3: the top five, and that sort of helps us know

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Speaker 3: just how good this offensive line is that even losing

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Speaker 3: a guy like that for a while would have still

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Speaker 3: with these tackles kept them up that high. They did

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Speaker 3: lose McKay Beckton from last year, McKay. Beckton was a

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Speaker 3: question mark last year. We didn't know if he was

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Speaker 3: gonna be good. Anyway, Tyler Stein looks like the new replacement.

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Speaker 3: He's also a little bit banged up, So both guards

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Speaker 3: week to week not great, but i'd rather you be

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Speaker 3: week to week in August. That's all right, take some time,

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Speaker 3: get some ice on those knees. Let's see in September

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Speaker 3: when it actually matters. The Eagles on. I do a

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Speaker 3: lot of kind of not group think, but you know,

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Speaker 3: I'm not a number one offensive line expert. I'm looking

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Speaker 3: at Brandon Thorne, I'm looking at the PFF grades, I'm

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Speaker 3: looking at all the other rankings. I look at five

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Speaker 3: main different places for rankings. PFF established the run FPN.

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Speaker 3: Everyone has the Eagles and number one everyone. I did

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Speaker 3: not see the Eagles not number one anywhere. They're the

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Speaker 3: top and they're in their own tier. I don't think

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Speaker 3: you can make a real case for anyone else.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think they have been consensus across the board

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Speaker 2: at least any of the rankings. I'm also checking as well.

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Speaker 2: But let's move to tier two, because you've called this

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Speaker 2: the upper echelon. But again, there is clearly a divide

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Speaker 2: between the Eagles and the next four teams in your rankings.

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Speaker 2: So there are four teams in this tier. At number

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Speaker 2: two you have the Denver Broncos, number three, Minnesota Vikings,

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Speaker 2: number four Chicago Bears, and number five the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Now,

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Speaker 2: for anybody who looks at these rankings year over year

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Speaker 2: from a Brandon big turnover in this tier from these

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Speaker 2: four teams. Basically all four of these teams he had

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Speaker 2: at thirteen or higher, meaning either middle of the pack

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Speaker 2: or worse. Now they're all in your top I guess

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Speaker 2: what I'm wondering is when you do this year over year,

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Speaker 2: is it really common to see that much turnover or turmoil?

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Speaker 2: I guess at the top five.

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Speaker 3: Like that, it really isn't. This caught me off guard,

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Speaker 3: and it's not necessarily complete turmoil because we're looking at

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Speaker 3: my rankings from this time last year. Well, a lot

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Speaker 3: changes during the year. So some of these, like the Broncos,

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Speaker 3: for example, had a really strong season. If you're doing

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Speaker 3: like a monthly offensive line ranks, they're gonna have slowly

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Speaker 3: moved up since then. So there's a little bit of that.

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Speaker 3: There's a lot of change here to a lot of

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Speaker 3: projection and a lot of the usual mainstays that year

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Speaker 3: after year. I'm like, okay, well, let's see the first

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Speaker 3: seven teams are pretty easy. We know the Eagles are good.

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Speaker 3: We got the Lions, we got the Chiefs, we had

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Speaker 3: the Browns. Well, we're gonna get to those three teams

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Speaker 3: a little bit later than usual this year, among some others.

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Speaker 3: So it is interesting that these teams have moved around

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Speaker 3: a lot, and it's not always easy to stake your

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Speaker 3: claim on. Let's take an average offensive line and put

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Speaker 3: them right into the top five. I did that with

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Speaker 3: the Jets last year. That was a big part of

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Speaker 3: the reason I liked that team did not go well

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Speaker 3: for me. Now, granted, lots of injuries there, but that's

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Speaker 3: how offensive lines work. So it is that's part of

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Speaker 3: the reason for me the Eagles are number one by

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Speaker 3: so much, because it's tough when you're grouping these teams

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Speaker 3: that are leaping from middle of a pack to top five.

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Speaker 3: That is a pretty big swing, and it's really strange

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Speaker 3: to have four of the five making that leap. Well.

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Speaker 2: The Denver Broncos I find is a curious case here

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Speaker 2: because for anybody who's been listening. In the skill position

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Speaker 2: rankings and for the quarterback rankings, you had the Denver

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Speaker 2: Broncos rank bottom five in both of those categories. Now

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Speaker 2: we're seeing them here at two. Are you expecting that

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Speaker 2: offensive line to kind of float the boat for the

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Speaker 2: entire team? And maybe also second part, do you think

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Speaker 2: they have a shot at being number one over the Eagles?

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Speaker 3: Yeah? I do not think that they have a shot

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Speaker 3: at number one, just for the reasons we talked about.

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Speaker 3: To me, they are a pretty consensus number two and

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Speaker 3: a lot of the rankings out there, but I feel

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Speaker 3: like that becomes remember the quarterback we had a four

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Speaker 3: guys at the top, and then we're like, who's number five?

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Speaker 3: To me, this is number five among quarterbacks, this is

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Speaker 3: number two. On offensive line, It's like, okay, but there

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Speaker 3: was a big gap. We had to put somebody number two.

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Speaker 3: I guess it's Denver. Denver's guards I think are probably

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Speaker 3: the best guard combo in the league. It's certainly a

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Speaker 3: really good offensive line. They've played really well last year.

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Speaker 3: I'm a bit skeptical overall, just because bo Nix is

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Speaker 3: getting the ball out so fast that I think that's

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Speaker 3: making this offensive line look really good. Their pass blocking

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Speaker 3: rankings are number one at PFF last year. Well that's

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Speaker 3: really helpful when your quarterback seing the ball in like

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Speaker 3: two and a half seconds every time. But guess what,

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Speaker 3: same quarterback in same scheme this year. And you know

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Speaker 3: we talk about trying to kind of remove context in

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Speaker 3: a lot of these rankings, and well, who would you

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Speaker 3: just give me Bejon Robinson and Drake London? Now how

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Speaker 3: do I look on this team? You can't really remove

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Speaker 3: context from the coach and the scheme and all that

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Speaker 3: stuff on these because they're married together. I don't know

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Speaker 3: if you put Denver's five dudes and their backups in

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Speaker 3: a different team, I don't know how that would go.

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Speaker 3: But we're not getting that this year. We're getting the

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Speaker 3: version with NIXT with Sean Payton. I think they are

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Speaker 3: a safe bet for the top five. Garrett Bowles star

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Speaker 3: tackle on the left side, you get those guards. I

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Speaker 3: don't know that they are a superstar offensive line. For me,

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Speaker 3: that's gonna like wow, I have to invest in this team.

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Speaker 3: But if Denver's offense does hang in there despite the

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Speaker 3: foibles you talked about, I think it's because the line

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Speaker 3: is raising the floor that much for them. Well, the

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Speaker 3: other thing too, is three of these four teams they

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Speaker 3: made the playoffs last year, and you know you've got

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Speaker 3: the Bears in there now. They did grab Joe Toney

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Speaker 3: in the offseason. Is it like, I don't know what

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Speaker 3: to say? Is this an overreaction?

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Speaker 2: But I just what I'm wondering is can you talk

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Speaker 2: to me a little bit more about the Bears because

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Speaker 2: now you have them at fourth and last year coming

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Speaker 2: into the season, you had them at eighteenth.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, so this is definitely an aggressive projection for the Bears.

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Speaker 3: But I'm I'm very I guess I'm very bullish on

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Speaker 3: the Bears. Is that how this works? Yeah, it's not

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Speaker 3: just Joe Tuning. Joe Tuney is awesome, is maybe the

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Speaker 3: best pass protector in the league, certainly among interior alignmen.

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Speaker 3: But they rework the entire interior line. They brought in

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Speaker 3: Drew Dolman from Atlanta. I think he's a top five center.

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Speaker 3: He's an excellent run blocker. So now you had some

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Speaker 3: run blocking, you had some pass blocking. Jonah Jackson at

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Speaker 3: right guard, he's more of a question mark. He had

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Speaker 3: a terrible season last year for the Rams, so he's

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Speaker 3: hurt a lot of the year. But you bring all

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Speaker 3: three of those guys in and veterans who should be

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Speaker 3: able to kind of fit in pretty quickly. You have

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Speaker 3: two good tackles on the outside. Darnell right in particular,

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Speaker 3: I think is ready to kind of take a step forward.

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Speaker 3: And again, this is a group activity. Two tackles that

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Speaker 3: were kind of good with a bad interior line and

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Speaker 3: a quarterback Killed Williams who's inviting pressure, holding the ball

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Speaker 3: bringing the guys back. Now, those tackles are going to

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Speaker 3: look bad. Bringing three good veterans on the inside who

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Speaker 3: are going to raise the floor, tackles can look a

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Speaker 3: lot better. And this is also a bet on Ben Johnson.

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Speaker 3: I'm doing a lot of betting on Ben Johnson this year.

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Speaker 3: So if this goes badly, blame Ben, but Ben Johnson's scheme.

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Speaker 3: There's no coincidence that the Lions had such a strong

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Speaker 3: offensive line so many years with Ben Johnson. Just the

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Speaker 3: way that they are scheming things up helps out the

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Speaker 3: offensive line. I think there's a chance here this could

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Speaker 3: be a top three offensive line. They do get a

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Speaker 3: slight penalty for Caleb Williams. If I'm gonna give Ben

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Speaker 3: Johnson some credit. I still have to count.

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Speaker 1: Well.

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Speaker 3: Caleb's gonna hold the ball a long time, so let's

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Speaker 3: see how that goes. Maybe we can find some compromise

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Speaker 3: there all right now, the Minnesota Vikings. For anybody who

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Speaker 3: can't see listening to the podcast, he is wearing a

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Speaker 3: Minnesota Vikings jersey today. Brandon is so talk to me

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Speaker 3: about your Vikings because they're gonna be in front of

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Speaker 3: a rookie quarterback and a strong offensive line is something

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Speaker 3: that is usually essential in that development. Yeah, similar story

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Speaker 3: to the Bears here in that we're again totally restarting

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Speaker 3: the interior offensive line. Minnesota made no question about what

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Speaker 3: are we doing. They watched their last two games of

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Speaker 3: the season like all of us did as fans, and said,

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Speaker 3: oh no, Sam Donald can't even get the ball out

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Speaker 3: right now because the interior line was just getting demolished

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Speaker 3: that final game against the Lions, the playoff game, and

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Speaker 3: that's it. The interior the line cost them the season,

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Speaker 3: Sam Donald did. But that all works together as well.

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Speaker 3: So they went out and they brought in two veterans,

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Speaker 3: both from the Colts, which you like that because they

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Speaker 3: know how to play together. Ryan Kelly and Will Fryes.

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Speaker 3: Will Fryes was already breaking out last year, so I

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Speaker 3: think he's a strong signing. Ryan Kelly, I love a

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Speaker 3: veteran center for a new quarterback. Just give me somebody

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Speaker 3: that knows the protections that can help out that way,

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Speaker 3: give me clean snaps. We need Ryan Kelly to stay healthy.

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Speaker 3: There's a lot of question marks injury wise on this team.

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Speaker 3: Christian Garrisa missed a lot of last season. He is

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Speaker 3: coming back from torn ACL and mcl looks fine so far.

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Speaker 3: Knee injuries. Less less movement of course for offensive Lignman

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Speaker 3: compared to like a receiver or something. But we do

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Speaker 3: need this team to stay healthy. It looks like possibly

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Speaker 3: a really really good run blocking team, a little less

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Speaker 3: so on pass blocking. But to me, we talked about

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Speaker 3: how far ahead the Eagles are as number one, this

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Speaker 3: is the one team that I think, legitimately, if it

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Speaker 3: all comes together and stays healthy, I think this could

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Speaker 3: be actually the number one team offensive line for this season.

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Speaker 3: That's how much talent there is on this roster. Bias.

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Speaker 2: Okay, all right, the next question, let's wrap up the

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Speaker 2: top five Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I think it just starts

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Speaker 2: and stops. With Tristan Wurf's here injured right now, how

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Speaker 2: worried are you about that injury and how much did

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Speaker 2: you take that into account for the ranking of the.

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Speaker 3: Bucks at five. I'm very worried about the injury, to

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Speaker 3: be honest, there's no bigger worry among offensive lines. Tristan

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Speaker 3: Worfs is a superstar. He's as good as any offensive lineman.

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Speaker 3: And we have seen with other superstar alignment like Williams

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Speaker 3: and the Niners, Tron Armstead with the Dolphins more recently

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Speaker 3: Saints before that, Tron Smith. I don't need to tell

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Speaker 3: you about that. When you get that stud lineman goes

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Speaker 3: out for your team, that can just take your entire

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Speaker 3: offense out like everything is different. And I'm not overselling

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Speaker 3: at Tristan Wurf's. Until he plays, I can't really get

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Speaker 3: excited about investing in Bucks' futures or even week to week.

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Speaker 3: It's that big of a difference. But we don't know.

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Speaker 3: We don't know if he's going on the pup list

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Speaker 3: that he'd missed three four games that way, we don't

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Speaker 3: know if it'll be long term. There's not a lot

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Speaker 3: of information there, and if he's healthy once he is,

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Speaker 3: we expect him to play soon enough this season. This

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Speaker 3: is a very easy top five pick, and frankly could

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Speaker 3: have been number two on the list if Warfs was healthy.

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Speaker 3: So they've invested a lot. My guy, Cody Mouch from

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Speaker 3: North Dakota broke out at right guard last year. He's

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Speaker 3: looking really good, so I think they have a lot

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Speaker 3: of balance here. But it has to be worse. Everything

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Speaker 3: gets worse without him. All right, let's move to Tier three.

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Speaker 2: You've called this good, not great, and you have five

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Speaker 2: teams in this tier. At number six you have the

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Speaker 2: Buffalo Bills, number seven, the Baltimore Ravens, number eight, the

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Speaker 2: Detroit Lions, number nine, the Atlanta Falcons, and number ten

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Speaker 2: the Green Bay Packers. I think we have to start

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Speaker 2: with the Lions here because looking at last year's rankings

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Speaker 2: from you, you had them number one and not just

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Speaker 2: buy them like very strongly at number one. Talk to

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Speaker 2: me about the Lions and what happened here from having

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Speaker 2: this fall from one to eight year over year.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, everybody's heard of pens Suwel. He's fantastic on the

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Speaker 3: right tackle spot there. He's gonna do a great job

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Speaker 3: at everything. Frank Regnow the center. He's retired now bit

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Speaker 3: of a surprise for them. I think that is a

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Speaker 3: massive loss for them. Night Tice, who's a guy that

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Speaker 3: certainly knows offensive lines. He's talked about He's got some stats.

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Speaker 3: So since twenty twenty two, when Ragnow has been on

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Speaker 3: the field for the Lions minus garbage time, the Lions

340
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Speaker 3: ranked number one in EPA per play, number three in

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Speaker 3: success rate. When he goes off the field, Listen how

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Speaker 3: that drops twelfth in EPA per play in twenty third

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Speaker 3: in success rate, bottom ten success rate from top three.

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Speaker 3: That's how big of a difference right now is Ben

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Speaker 3: And again, I hate to keep coming back to this.

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Speaker 3: Ben Johnson is not on the lines anymore. So if

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Speaker 3: that scheme that really helps has moved towards Chicago. We

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Speaker 3: still have Hank Freyley a really good coach. So it's

349
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Speaker 3: not like they're starting over. But you lost your center.

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Speaker 3: You're now basically having three new interior offensive linemen because

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Speaker 3: Graham Glasgow moves over to center. That's new. That's not

352
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Speaker 3: a returning starter. Now that's a new spot, and you

353
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Speaker 3: have two brand new guards. I don't know that we

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Speaker 3: need to be out on Detroit but eighth from first

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Speaker 3: is a pretty big drop. I think we should be

356
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Speaker 3: very cautious with them where that has been a mainstay

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Speaker 3: strength for them and there are some question marks. Now, well, Buffalo,

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Speaker 3: let's talk about the Bills now, because continuity was one

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Speaker 3: thing that you had brought up that is very strong

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Speaker 3: in what you take into account your rankings. And I

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Speaker 3: don't think where you ranked them at at six is

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Speaker 3: egregious by any stretch. But I guess what I'm wondering

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Speaker 3: is did what happened why they weren't in Tier two?

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Speaker 3: That's kind of what I'm wondering here because a lot

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Speaker 3: of the rankings that I see, they are probably around

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Speaker 3: the top five range. And I guess what I'm wondering

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Speaker 3: is what happened where you would downgrade them to Tier

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Speaker 3: three instead of having them in Tier two with the

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Speaker 3: other teams. Yeah, it's just a small thing for me.

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Speaker 3: I have seen them in a lot of like second

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Speaker 3: and third in rankings. I just can't quite to me.

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Speaker 3: Second and third means you have the ability to be elite,

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Speaker 3: and I don't see this as an elite offensive line,

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Speaker 3: and see this is a good offensive line, So I'm

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Speaker 3: putting them in my good six to ten range. I

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Speaker 3: think they're a very strong bet to finish top ten.

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Speaker 3: I just don't think that they're quite at the top

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Speaker 3: of the list that they are. This is a bet

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Speaker 3: on for Buffalo continuity, which is something they've bet on

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Speaker 3: for years. But they've also had incredible injury a lot

381
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Speaker 3: the last two seasons combined. They've kept continuity in part

382
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Speaker 3: because they've lost one injury game to their offensive line.

383
00:19:03,280 --> 00:19:06,800
Speaker 3: That's ten offensive linemen over two years. One game is

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Speaker 3: insane luck. But I think everyone basically agrees this is

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Speaker 3: not the most talented unit. It's working because they know

386
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Speaker 3: each other and they're healthy, and they're playing together and

387
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Speaker 3: they know how to play with Josh Allen. That really matters.

388
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Speaker 3: But also Josh Allen is fantastic eluding against pressure. That's

389
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Speaker 3: gonna make your line look a lot better. To me,

390
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Speaker 3: just I'm not really skeptical. I think it's a good line,

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Speaker 3: But in recent years I've ranked Buffalo fourteenth. Last year

392
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Speaker 3: I had them seventeenth a few years ago. I think

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Speaker 3: it's like a middle of the pack sort of line

394
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Speaker 3: that's stuck together and slowly moved up the ranks. I

395
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Speaker 3: just can't get there to like third or something. I

396
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Speaker 3: think they're a good line.

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Speaker 2: Okay, let's before we move on from this year. I

398
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Speaker 2: just want to talk about the Ravens, Falcons and Packers

399
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Speaker 2: because I think this is typically around the range that

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Speaker 2: they usually finish by the end of the year. I

401
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Speaker 2: guess what I'm wondering is was this just kind of

402
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Speaker 2: more rollover or or is this something? Is there another

403
00:20:00,520 --> 00:20:02,920
Speaker 2: reason why we have to have them in the top ten.

404
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Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, we talked about with the two to five,

405
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Speaker 3: like do we have a lot of turnover usually and

406
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Speaker 3: we don't normally. We normally have a lot of top

407
00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:12,439
Speaker 3: ten teams kind of stay top ten. This is that

408
00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:15,560
Speaker 3: I think these are not necessarily elite offensive lines. But

409
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Speaker 3: I was very skeptical in the Ravens last year. I

410
00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:20,840
Speaker 3: had them twenty seventh in this rankings. They did great.

411
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Speaker 3: They had turned over their three new starters, they found

412
00:20:23,240 --> 00:20:25,879
Speaker 3: their way, helped a lot that Ronnie Stanley was healthy.

413
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Speaker 3: But they look really good again. Falcons have been in

414
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Speaker 3: this mix a long time. They're much better run blocking

415
00:20:31,240 --> 00:20:34,320
Speaker 3: than pass So that's great for your Jon Robinson stock,

416
00:20:34,760 --> 00:20:36,879
Speaker 3: maybe not so much for Michael Pennox's kind of a

417
00:20:36,920 --> 00:20:39,000
Speaker 3: statue back there, so we'll see how that works out.

418
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Speaker 3: Did not go great with Kirk Cousins for much of

419
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Speaker 3: last year and the Packers, you know we talked about

420
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Speaker 3: with the weapons group, they were like right in this

421
00:20:47,359 --> 00:20:49,600
Speaker 3: ten to twelve range right and had a lot of depth,

422
00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:52,280
Speaker 3: but no stars. That's kind of what the offensive line

423
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Speaker 3: is like too. Like lots of names. I'd really like

424
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Speaker 3: you to pick a few names at some point, Like

425
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Speaker 3: I like having options, but maybe choose here. There's a

426
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Speaker 3: lot more maybe variability and variance on the Packers than

427
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Speaker 3: I thought going to these exercises. I have the Packers

428
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Speaker 3: as a pretty clear Super Bowl contender in the NFC,

429
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Speaker 3: but things could go a lot of directions. The line

430
00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:16,119
Speaker 3: could be better or a lot worse. Their receivers, the

431
00:21:16,119 --> 00:21:19,240
Speaker 3: tight ends. There's a lot of like, well, you got

432
00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:20,720
Speaker 3: a lot of ways for us to go well, but

433
00:21:20,800 --> 00:21:22,920
Speaker 3: that means that it's maybe not quite as great as

434
00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:23,600
Speaker 3: we want it to be.

435
00:21:24,160 --> 00:21:26,560
Speaker 2: Football season is here, folks, and we've got some huge

436
00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:30,359
Speaker 2: improvements and updates coming on the award winning Action Network app.

437
00:21:30,600 --> 00:21:32,840
Speaker 2: We're very excited to discuss in the weeks ahead. But

438
00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:34,600
Speaker 2: to get the most out of the app, you'll still

439
00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:37,400
Speaker 2: need to be an Action Pro subscriber, and it's only

440
00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:39,720
Speaker 2: with Action Pro you get real time pick alerts from

441
00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:43,480
Speaker 2: Action Network experts. Plus you can access pro projections powered

442
00:21:43,840 --> 00:21:47,160
Speaker 2: by Sean Kerner and the Predictive Analytics Team. And right now,

443
00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:50,119
Speaker 2: Action Network podcast listeners can save twenty dollars off the

444
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445
00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:56,720
Speaker 2: dot com Slash pro and use code Pod twenty. That's

446
00:21:56,800 --> 00:22:00,960
Speaker 2: Actionnetwork dot Com Slash Pro and use code Pod twenty

447
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Speaker 2: for twenty dollars off the annual price of Action Pro.

448
00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:08,080
Speaker 2: We are ranking the NFL offensive lines for the twenty

449
00:22:08,119 --> 00:22:11,520
Speaker 2: twenty five season, and Brandon is on Tier four, and

450
00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:14,720
Speaker 2: of course leave it to Brandon to put tiers within tiers.

451
00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:17,560
Speaker 2: He has called this the wildcard, so there are two

452
00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:22,159
Speaker 2: tiers in. This is basically encompassing eight NFL teams. These

453
00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:25,399
Speaker 2: are wildcard teams that he believes in and wildcard teams

454
00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:27,760
Speaker 2: that he is dubious of. So let's start on a

455
00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:30,000
Speaker 2: positive note. Let's look at the ones that he does

456
00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:33,120
Speaker 2: believe in. Starting at number eleven, we have the Jets.

457
00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:36,320
Speaker 2: At number twelve, we have the Tennessee Titans. Number thirteen,

458
00:22:36,359 --> 00:22:40,280
Speaker 2: the Carolina Panthers and number fourteen, the Kansas City Chiefs.

459
00:22:40,359 --> 00:22:43,679
Speaker 2: I want to start with the Chiefs because obviously, I

460
00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:46,239
Speaker 2: think this is going to be a conversation point all

461
00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:48,560
Speaker 2: year about this Chiefs team. Because when you think of

462
00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:51,480
Speaker 2: the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes and the two biggest losses

463
00:22:51,520 --> 00:22:53,440
Speaker 2: that he has suffered in his career, both the Super

464
00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:56,359
Speaker 2: Bowl against Tampa Bay Buccaneers and against the Eagles this

465
00:22:56,400 --> 00:22:58,879
Speaker 2: past year, the number one thing I think most people

466
00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:00,760
Speaker 2: can point to was the offense of wine play was

467
00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:03,000
Speaker 2: atrocious in both of those games, and we're not protecting

468
00:23:03,080 --> 00:23:05,720
Speaker 2: him at all. How worried should we be coming into

469
00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:07,720
Speaker 2: the season about this Chiefs offensive line?

470
00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:11,159
Speaker 3: I think we should be concerned. Certainly, the long time

471
00:23:11,359 --> 00:23:14,520
Speaker 3: strength has been the interior offensive line, and that strength

472
00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:17,760
Speaker 3: is not gone. We still have Creed Humphrey, probably the

473
00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:20,600
Speaker 3: best center in football, and we still have you know,

474
00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:23,679
Speaker 3: Tray Smith at reit guard. That's an elite combo. But

475
00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:28,440
Speaker 3: Joe Tooney, Joe Toney is gone. The stronghold has been broken,

476
00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:32,720
Speaker 3: and so we now have a new left guard, Kingsley Sumataia,

477
00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:35,240
Speaker 3: who was the failed left tackle last year. That was

478
00:23:35,280 --> 00:23:38,359
Speaker 3: the draft pick that did not go well. Now moving

479
00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:41,800
Speaker 3: failed tackles into play guard has worked out for teams

480
00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:44,399
Speaker 3: in the past, but as a huge swing Joe Tooney

481
00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:47,520
Speaker 3: remember played tackle for this team down the stretch. That's

482
00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:50,520
Speaker 3: how valuable he was for them. So the key name

483
00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:54,480
Speaker 3: here is the new first round pick, Josh Simmons. And

484
00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:57,720
Speaker 3: if you were skeptical on Josh Simmons or haven't really

485
00:23:57,720 --> 00:23:59,960
Speaker 3: been watching in training camp, you can make a case

486
00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:02,200
Speaker 3: the chief should be much lower here, maybe like twentieth

487
00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:05,439
Speaker 3: or something. I'm in on Josh Simmons. Josh Shimmens has

488
00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:08,400
Speaker 3: looked awesome now. He had a pretty big knee injury

489
00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:10,919
Speaker 3: in his last year in college, so that's why he

490
00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:14,600
Speaker 3: slipped down to the Chiefs. Brandon Thorn, who to me

491
00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:18,240
Speaker 3: is probably the pre eminent offensive line expert, he said

492
00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:22,400
Speaker 3: Simmons was his number one talent offensive line in the draft,

493
00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:24,600
Speaker 3: ahead of the guys you know that they're going, like

494
00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:26,879
Speaker 3: Will Campbell to the Patriots up near the top of

495
00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:29,919
Speaker 3: the draft. Simmons is that talented? Is just that the

496
00:24:29,920 --> 00:24:32,440
Speaker 3: injury question mark was so big. Well, we don't know

497
00:24:32,480 --> 00:24:34,399
Speaker 3: about the injuries. We don't know how he'll stay healthy.

498
00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:36,679
Speaker 3: But right now it looks like the Chiefs got a

499
00:24:36,800 --> 00:24:40,600
Speaker 3: huge steal and might have finally found that franchise left tackle, Like,

500
00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:43,840
Speaker 3: can we please get some tackles for Patrick Mahomes. It's

501
00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:45,960
Speaker 3: the one thing that they have not had all these

502
00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:48,800
Speaker 3: years there, So the left side of the line now

503
00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:52,520
Speaker 3: looks like a rookie left tackle and a sophomore left guard.

504
00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:56,240
Speaker 3: It's new and unknown. I like Simmons a lot. I

505
00:24:56,240 --> 00:24:59,480
Speaker 3: think there's a chance that Simmons is the answer. And

506
00:24:59,520 --> 00:25:02,280
Speaker 3: this quickly goes back into the top ten. Mahomes is

507
00:25:02,320 --> 00:25:04,640
Speaker 3: gonna help them look good. Andy Hack, the line coach,

508
00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:06,640
Speaker 3: is gonna help them look good. But this has been

509
00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:09,480
Speaker 3: a top five line year after year, and this has

510
00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:13,680
Speaker 3: been the reason capital r when the Chiefs lose. So

511
00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:16,280
Speaker 3: we're gonna be talking about it from week one, and

512
00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:18,440
Speaker 3: it's the Chiefs. You know, we're gonna be talking about it.

513
00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:20,639
Speaker 3: It'll be on the New Heights podcast. We're gonna be

514
00:25:20,640 --> 00:25:23,239
Speaker 3: getting Chiefs every angle. So get used to the name

515
00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:26,080
Speaker 3: Josh Simmons. That's a really big swing player in the

516
00:25:26,119 --> 00:25:26,800
Speaker 3: league this year.

517
00:25:27,240 --> 00:25:29,040
Speaker 2: All Right, you're gonna have to get me on board

518
00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:32,239
Speaker 2: with the New York Jets because last year you went

519
00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:34,040
Speaker 2: out on a limb not quite a limb, but you

520
00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:36,080
Speaker 2: were pretty high on this offensive line. You had them

521
00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:40,200
Speaker 2: around six and now you have them at eleven this year.

522
00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:42,440
Speaker 2: And if you had asked me before the podcast, would

523
00:25:42,480 --> 00:25:45,680
Speaker 2: I have them in the skeptical range or the ones

524
00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:48,119
Speaker 2: you believe in range? I definitely would have on the

525
00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:50,960
Speaker 2: skepticism side. So please, why are you back in on

526
00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:51,879
Speaker 2: the Jets this season?

527
00:25:52,560 --> 00:25:55,359
Speaker 3: Yeah? I thought that it was much worse at the

528
00:25:55,440 --> 00:25:58,800
Speaker 3: time then I think it looks back now. So the

529
00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:02,520
Speaker 3: injuries really were the biggest problem last year. Now we're

530
00:26:02,560 --> 00:26:05,600
Speaker 3: kind of restarting, so Tyron Smith has gone, Morgan Moses

531
00:26:05,600 --> 00:26:07,600
Speaker 3: has gone. Those were the big additions last year. Book

532
00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:11,440
Speaker 3: Ending the tackles. Now the Jets have invested two straight

533
00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:14,680
Speaker 3: years in the first round tackle. So left tackle Olafashanu

534
00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:17,560
Speaker 3: didn't play a lot last year. Now he's the left tackle.

535
00:26:17,840 --> 00:26:20,560
Speaker 3: Now this year's first round pick Membu he's the right tackle.

536
00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:23,040
Speaker 3: So those are the book ends. Could take some time.

537
00:26:23,080 --> 00:26:25,520
Speaker 3: You got rookies on each end, or rookie in a sophomore,

538
00:26:25,560 --> 00:26:28,320
Speaker 3: but mostly rookies. The guards have been pretty good though

539
00:26:28,359 --> 00:26:31,240
Speaker 3: the added John Simpson last year. It's just like a

540
00:26:31,320 --> 00:26:36,040
Speaker 3: fine top twelve ish guard. Last year. Elijahvira Tucker is

541
00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:39,240
Speaker 3: a really good player. He actually stayed healthy. Joe Tipman

542
00:26:39,280 --> 00:26:41,720
Speaker 3: had a good season at center. I think that there's

543
00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:44,360
Speaker 3: a lot of potential on this line. And the thing

544
00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:48,200
Speaker 3: I like is Tanner Engstrat He's the new offensive coordinator.

545
00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:51,080
Speaker 3: And I know I'm saying this name a lot. Guess

546
00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:54,399
Speaker 3: what coaching trees from. It's the Ben Johnson tree. So

547
00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:58,720
Speaker 3: I think actually the run blocking and scheme can add

548
00:26:58,760 --> 00:27:02,200
Speaker 3: a lot here. Now, first I was skeptical because Aaron

549
00:27:02,280 --> 00:27:05,520
Speaker 3: Rodgers has long made offensive lines look good. He gets

550
00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:07,880
Speaker 3: the ball out quickly and manages the pocket pretty well,

551
00:27:08,119 --> 00:27:10,679
Speaker 3: maybe not as well now as he did in his prime,

552
00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:14,160
Speaker 3: But guess who doesn't do that Justin Fields at all.

553
00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:17,720
Speaker 3: But Justin Fields is a good runner and probably portends

554
00:27:17,760 --> 00:27:21,400
Speaker 3: a more run centric offense. That's what Tanner Engstrad would

555
00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:23,600
Speaker 3: look like as well. So I think there's a chance

556
00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:25,520
Speaker 3: if they lean into the run, which is what you

557
00:27:25,560 --> 00:27:27,760
Speaker 3: should do if you have Justin Fields a running back

558
00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:30,840
Speaker 3: playing quarterback, that this could actually be a pretty good

559
00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:34,240
Speaker 3: running team, especially with two good options in Breese Hall

560
00:27:34,320 --> 00:27:35,160
Speaker 3: and Braylan Allen.

561
00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:39,680
Speaker 2: Okay, Panthers and Titans here because Panthers, just like the Jets,

562
00:27:39,800 --> 00:27:43,760
Speaker 2: have invested some resources into that line. Are we on

563
00:27:43,800 --> 00:27:46,240
Speaker 2: the path of ascension here with the Panthers?

564
00:27:46,760 --> 00:27:49,080
Speaker 3: Yeah? I really like the ascension on both these teams,

565
00:27:49,119 --> 00:27:52,000
Speaker 3: But the Panthers has just been a slow ascend. They've

566
00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:54,040
Speaker 3: invested a lot on the line. They gave put a

567
00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:57,240
Speaker 3: lot of money into the two big, big guards last year.

568
00:27:57,560 --> 00:28:00,959
Speaker 3: It's a very strong run blocking team, and they are

569
00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:04,040
Speaker 3: putting big boys in front of Bryce Young up the middle,

570
00:28:04,080 --> 00:28:06,240
Speaker 3: which I think worked pretty well for them last year.

571
00:28:06,320 --> 00:28:08,480
Speaker 3: So it's kind of a slowest send for them. With

572
00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:11,600
Speaker 3: the Titans, it's a much bigger jump and it's maybe

573
00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:14,960
Speaker 3: one of my riskier projections. Maybe the Titans are my

574
00:28:15,080 --> 00:28:16,719
Speaker 3: Jets in the rankings this year. I don't know if

575
00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:19,880
Speaker 3: that's a compliment or not, but they're a team them

576
00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:22,520
Speaker 3: projecting to take a big step forward. So they go

577
00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:25,720
Speaker 3: out and they get Dan Moore left tackle, Kevin Zeitler

578
00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:29,040
Speaker 3: right guard. That's from the Zeigler Kamo from the Lions.

579
00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:34,080
Speaker 3: Those are quality, above average starters. They bring back Cushion Berry,

580
00:28:34,119 --> 00:28:36,800
Speaker 3: the center who's been hurt with achilles. He just got

581
00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:39,200
Speaker 3: activated off of the pop list. He looks ready to

582
00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:41,440
Speaker 3: go for the season. And then the other two guys

583
00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:44,600
Speaker 3: Skeronski and Latham, those are first round picks. So these

584
00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:48,880
Speaker 3: are five now very talented linemen. This is clearly a

585
00:28:49,520 --> 00:28:52,960
Speaker 3: team goal. We are going to get this offensive line set.

586
00:28:53,040 --> 00:28:55,040
Speaker 3: We're going to focus on the trench, and we're going

587
00:28:55,120 --> 00:28:57,920
Speaker 3: to get that ready for our rookie quarterback. Now we've

588
00:28:57,920 --> 00:28:59,760
Speaker 3: got a rookie quarterback probably not going to make the

589
00:28:59,760 --> 00:29:01,720
Speaker 3: line look that good, and we have a lot of

590
00:29:01,760 --> 00:29:04,440
Speaker 3: new starters, so I think it will take some time

591
00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:07,240
Speaker 3: by the Titans offensive line, a line that I had

592
00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:10,320
Speaker 3: dead last in these rankings two years ago, I think

593
00:29:10,360 --> 00:29:13,520
Speaker 3: they have a legitimate top ten potential. Maybe I'm a

594
00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:17,000
Speaker 3: year early, maybe I'm half a year early, but I

595
00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:19,040
Speaker 3: think the Titans can really improve a lot on the

596
00:29:19,080 --> 00:29:20,640
Speaker 3: line this year as much as anyone.

597
00:29:20,960 --> 00:29:23,240
Speaker 2: All right, now, we've talked about the good side of

598
00:29:23,280 --> 00:29:26,400
Speaker 2: the wild cards. Let's turn into Negatron's here. Let's talk

599
00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:28,960
Speaker 2: about the ones that were skeptical of. And at number

600
00:29:28,960 --> 00:29:32,280
Speaker 2: fifteen you have the San Francisco forty nine Ers, number

601
00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:36,240
Speaker 2: sixteen the Indianapolis Colts, at seventeen the Washington Commanders, and

602
00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:39,880
Speaker 2: at eighteen the Los Angeles Rams. The Colts is one

603
00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:42,720
Speaker 2: that I'm let's talk about it a little bit more

604
00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:46,720
Speaker 2: because I think they're closer to top ten. But and

605
00:29:46,720 --> 00:29:48,640
Speaker 2: I feel like when you have a guard like Quenton Nelson,

606
00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:50,720
Speaker 2: like they're always near the mix, near the top every season.

607
00:29:50,720 --> 00:29:53,520
Speaker 2: But why did we downgrade them? Like last year you

608
00:29:53,560 --> 00:29:56,480
Speaker 2: had them at third coming into the twenty twenty four season,

609
00:29:56,520 --> 00:29:59,560
Speaker 2: now you have them down to sixteenth. So it's very

610
00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:00,760
Speaker 2: simply explain yourself.

611
00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:04,520
Speaker 3: Well, okay, so I still have Ryan Kelly and Will

612
00:30:04,600 --> 00:30:07,560
Speaker 3: Fryes at third, They're just wearing purple this season instead

613
00:30:07,560 --> 00:30:10,160
Speaker 3: of So that is part of the problem here, is

614
00:30:10,200 --> 00:30:13,320
Speaker 3: you lose two of your quality offensive linemen, I'm gonna

615
00:30:13,360 --> 00:30:15,480
Speaker 3: have to downgrade you a little bit now. They still kept.

616
00:30:15,720 --> 00:30:17,560
Speaker 3: The other three are pretty good. They have a very

617
00:30:17,920 --> 00:30:23,240
Speaker 3: underrated solid tackle combination. Obviously, Quenton Nelson is a name

618
00:30:23,280 --> 00:30:25,120
Speaker 3: we know, like we don't know a lot of offensive

619
00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:28,640
Speaker 3: line names, if we're being honest with ourselves. Quentin Nelson

620
00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:30,640
Speaker 3: looked like a Hall of Famer out of the gates

621
00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:32,360
Speaker 3: for a couple of years and then sort of fell off.

622
00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:34,960
Speaker 3: He was good last year, but his best season since

623
00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:37,240
Speaker 3: like twenty twenty. So it's not necessarily a lock that

624
00:30:37,280 --> 00:30:39,920
Speaker 3: he's just this amazing guard out there. And then we

625
00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:42,320
Speaker 3: just have some new names, you know, in the interior

626
00:30:42,400 --> 00:30:45,920
Speaker 3: offensive line, so a little bit of unknown there. The

627
00:30:46,040 --> 00:30:50,040
Speaker 3: tackles can't quite stay healthy. Braden Smith has missed twelve

628
00:30:50,080 --> 00:30:52,680
Speaker 3: games on the last two years. He's the right tackle.

629
00:30:53,040 --> 00:30:56,280
Speaker 3: So just I don't know, I have some question marks.

630
00:30:56,320 --> 00:30:59,360
Speaker 3: I have them basically league average here. I think they

631
00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:02,480
Speaker 3: probably end up somewhere in like the ten to sixteen arrange,

632
00:31:02,520 --> 00:31:04,040
Speaker 3: so maybe they're a little bit low to sort of

633
00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:07,400
Speaker 3: fit into the tier grouping here. I just feel a

634
00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:09,840
Speaker 3: little more skeptical on a group that would typically be

635
00:31:09,960 --> 00:31:11,480
Speaker 3: a pretty top ten mainstay.

636
00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:14,080
Speaker 2: Well, the Commanders talk about a team that you had

637
00:31:14,080 --> 00:31:16,200
Speaker 2: skepticism last year coming into the season, you.

638
00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:17,240
Speaker 3: Had them dead last.

639
00:31:17,640 --> 00:31:20,720
Speaker 2: Now you have them middle of the pack sixteen seventeenth range,

640
00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:24,480
Speaker 2: and then they now just added Laramie tunsl So why

641
00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:27,880
Speaker 2: are we still having some skepticism about this offensive line.

642
00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:30,480
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's a lot of variance and at

643
00:31:30,560 --> 00:31:33,160
Speaker 3: least a reason to be early caution on the team.

644
00:31:33,280 --> 00:31:35,160
Speaker 3: So Sam Cosmey is the name that you need to

645
00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:38,240
Speaker 3: talk about with Washington. Of course, Tunsal Tunsl's and the

646
00:31:38,240 --> 00:31:40,920
Speaker 3: elite pass protector had a really bad year for the

647
00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:44,600
Speaker 3: Texans last year, but typically he can be on island.

648
00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:46,080
Speaker 3: He can take care of things. You get a left

649
00:31:46,080 --> 00:31:50,240
Speaker 3: tackle like that, especially with a creative quarterback like Jane Daniels,

650
00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:52,320
Speaker 3: and that is they need got on the same page.

651
00:31:52,560 --> 00:31:55,240
Speaker 3: But that can be a huge boon for them. Sam

652
00:31:55,320 --> 00:31:58,200
Speaker 3: Cosmy and tell the addition of Tunsall was the guy

653
00:31:58,280 --> 00:32:00,480
Speaker 3: on this team. He was the right guard, but the

654
00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:04,040
Speaker 3: best offensive lineman. He tore his ACL in the playoff

655
00:32:04,040 --> 00:32:07,200
Speaker 3: game that we saw, so that's this calendar year, so

656
00:32:07,280 --> 00:32:09,840
Speaker 3: that is not necessarily ready to go to start the season.

657
00:32:09,840 --> 00:32:12,360
Speaker 3: There's some unknowns with him. How soon will he be

658
00:32:12,440 --> 00:32:15,760
Speaker 3: ready to play? So here we have probably no Sam

659
00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:18,440
Speaker 3: Cosmi to start the year. We've got tons Al on

660
00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:20,880
Speaker 3: the left, but a new addition. We got a new

661
00:32:21,080 --> 00:32:23,560
Speaker 3: right guard as kind of filling in. They did add

662
00:32:23,560 --> 00:32:27,280
Speaker 3: some depth Ali Gretti Andrew Wiley. They were going to

663
00:32:27,320 --> 00:32:31,080
Speaker 3: have a new probably rookie right tackle, Josh Connerly is

664
00:32:31,080 --> 00:32:34,360
Speaker 3: at least pushing for that job. So there's just a

665
00:32:34,400 --> 00:32:37,600
Speaker 3: lot of moving pieces here. And I think last year

666
00:32:37,640 --> 00:32:40,600
Speaker 3: what happened was everybody was out they were near the

667
00:32:40,600 --> 00:32:43,040
Speaker 3: bottom of all the rankings, and then they were really

668
00:32:43,080 --> 00:32:45,520
Speaker 3: good and suddenly, like mid season, they're like, oh wow,

669
00:32:45,680 --> 00:32:48,560
Speaker 3: Washington top ten. And then there were some injuries, but

670
00:32:48,600 --> 00:32:50,320
Speaker 3: things sort of fell off a little bit. And if

671
00:32:50,360 --> 00:32:53,800
Speaker 3: I'm being honest here, Cliff Kingsbury helped the team a

672
00:32:53,800 --> 00:32:57,560
Speaker 3: lot to overperform early that they maybe hit the cliff,

673
00:32:57,600 --> 00:33:00,120
Speaker 3: you know, the cliff cliff later in the year. We

674
00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:03,080
Speaker 3: missed our old friend, but maybe he's back. The line

675
00:33:03,160 --> 00:33:05,120
Speaker 3: fell off a lot toward the end of the season,

676
00:33:05,720 --> 00:33:10,240
Speaker 3: so I'm being cautious. I think maybe somewhere in the middle.

677
00:33:10,600 --> 00:33:14,040
Speaker 3: But I do think this particular team, this is one

678
00:33:14,120 --> 00:33:18,000
Speaker 3: where like fast forward to mid season push them up

679
00:33:18,160 --> 00:33:20,520
Speaker 3: or down six spots. I don't think they're in the middle.

680
00:33:20,720 --> 00:33:23,440
Speaker 3: I think they are a real wild card team.

681
00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:26,560
Speaker 2: The Rams bit of a hype train right now, even

682
00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:30,920
Speaker 2: with the Matthew Stafford injury. But I will say for

683
00:33:30,960 --> 00:33:34,360
Speaker 2: an eighteenth rank, a bit lower on the consensus than

684
00:33:34,440 --> 00:33:37,120
Speaker 2: others from what I've seen where the Rams are ranking

685
00:33:37,160 --> 00:33:39,560
Speaker 2: for their offensive line, what's the concern.

686
00:33:40,280 --> 00:33:42,400
Speaker 3: Yeah, they're real concern For me here, it's surprised me,

687
00:33:42,440 --> 00:33:44,959
Speaker 3: honestly how low they ended up but left tackle Aleric

688
00:33:45,040 --> 00:33:47,320
Speaker 3: Jackson is dealing with blood closs in his leg, and

689
00:33:47,360 --> 00:33:49,560
Speaker 3: it's the second time he's done that, and we know

690
00:33:49,640 --> 00:33:52,160
Speaker 3: with athletes that going to be something that ends your season.

691
00:33:52,320 --> 00:33:53,959
Speaker 3: You just kind of have to wait it out. So

692
00:33:54,080 --> 00:33:57,600
Speaker 3: they've signed DJ Humphries, a ten year veteran. He looks

693
00:33:57,640 --> 00:34:00,719
Speaker 3: like the left tackle right now. DJ Humphrey was supposed

694
00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:02,360
Speaker 3: to be a left tackle for the Chiefs last year.

695
00:34:02,360 --> 00:34:04,400
Speaker 3: If that helps you figure out just how good he's been,

696
00:34:04,640 --> 00:34:07,280
Speaker 3: there's a reason he was available, so he never really

697
00:34:07,320 --> 00:34:10,160
Speaker 3: recovered from an ACL tear he had. That's a big

698
00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:13,000
Speaker 3: gap on the left side. And the Rams have been

699
00:34:13,280 --> 00:34:15,920
Speaker 3: an offensive line that had a ton of injuries. Last year,

700
00:34:15,920 --> 00:34:18,600
Speaker 3: they had twelve guys play fifty or more snaps on

701
00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:19,759
Speaker 3: the line. I don't know if you know this, but

702
00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:22,480
Speaker 3: you only play five line minute at a time, so twelve

703
00:34:22,480 --> 00:34:25,280
Speaker 3: guys is not a formula for success. So we're getting

704
00:34:25,320 --> 00:34:28,520
Speaker 3: just kind of a reworked continuity here. We don't know

705
00:34:28,520 --> 00:34:31,600
Speaker 3: if Jackson's gonna be able to play, and obviously Stafford's

706
00:34:31,640 --> 00:34:34,600
Speaker 3: got a lot of injury history and injury present, and

707
00:34:34,640 --> 00:34:37,239
Speaker 3: so they need to have some protection there. I think

708
00:34:37,280 --> 00:34:39,799
Speaker 3: the run blocking sets up pretty well Sean McVay. That's

709
00:34:39,840 --> 00:34:41,879
Speaker 3: kind of what his preference is. So I think they'll

710
00:34:41,880 --> 00:34:44,719
Speaker 3: be able to run, but just some weird variants and

711
00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:46,920
Speaker 3: some real reasons for caution going into the year.

712
00:34:47,560 --> 00:34:50,200
Speaker 2: So before we wrap up the wildcards, the forty nine

713
00:34:50,280 --> 00:34:53,360
Speaker 2: ers just quickly. Is it just as simple as just

714
00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:55,640
Speaker 2: having Trent Williams to have them at middle of the pack.

715
00:34:56,320 --> 00:34:58,360
Speaker 3: I think so. I think if Trent Williams is healthy,

716
00:34:58,440 --> 00:35:00,279
Speaker 3: I think their middle of the pack are better. Trent

717
00:35:00,280 --> 00:35:03,000
Speaker 3: Williams is thirty seven and had probably his worst season

718
00:35:03,040 --> 00:35:06,919
Speaker 3: at least in a while last year. Brock Purdy last

719
00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:09,719
Speaker 3: year with Trent Williams five and five, without him one

720
00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:12,600
Speaker 3: and four. Here's for his career Trent Williams on the

721
00:35:12,600 --> 00:35:16,480
Speaker 3: field with Brock Purdy thirty seven and nine, Trent Williams

722
00:35:16,480 --> 00:35:18,960
Speaker 3: off two and six. If that doesn't tell you how

723
00:35:18,960 --> 00:35:21,040
Speaker 3: important this dude is, I don't know what else can.

724
00:35:21,120 --> 00:35:24,120
Speaker 3: They did get a stud breakout from Ray Guard Dominic

725
00:35:24,160 --> 00:35:26,560
Speaker 3: Pooney last year, so I think they have now two

726
00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:29,920
Speaker 3: elite linemen. But it's telling that when you read the

727
00:35:29,920 --> 00:35:32,720
Speaker 3: blurbs that others talk about it, then nobody mentions anybody

728
00:35:32,760 --> 00:35:35,120
Speaker 3: else on the line that's not great. We don't love

729
00:35:35,160 --> 00:35:37,920
Speaker 3: two guys and nobody else when one guy is thirty

730
00:35:37,960 --> 00:35:40,360
Speaker 3: seven and doesn't stay healthy. So I think what you

731
00:35:40,400 --> 00:35:43,479
Speaker 3: get with the Niners is like twelve games of Trent

732
00:35:43,520 --> 00:35:46,439
Speaker 3: Williams where they're the seventh best line, and then five

733
00:35:46,480 --> 00:35:49,040
Speaker 3: games of Trent Williams where they're like, cover your eyes,

734
00:35:49,200 --> 00:35:51,680
Speaker 3: not great at all, and it maybe averages out somewhere

735
00:35:51,680 --> 00:35:52,160
Speaker 3: in the middle.

736
00:35:52,920 --> 00:35:56,000
Speaker 2: The Ultimate twenty twenty five Fantasy Football Draft Kit is here.

737
00:35:56,080 --> 00:35:59,279
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738
00:35:59,320 --> 00:36:02,600
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739
00:36:02,640 --> 00:36:05,800
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740
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741
00:36:09,600 --> 00:36:13,720
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742
00:36:14,080 --> 00:36:18,160
Speaker 2: at Fantasy labs dot com slash flex. Also our Fantasy

743
00:36:18,160 --> 00:36:21,120
Speaker 2: Flex podcast Croup. They're having a live event later this month.

744
00:36:21,280 --> 00:36:23,000
Speaker 2: Here's Chris Raybon with some details.

745
00:36:23,200 --> 00:36:26,440
Speaker 1: Chris Raybon here, Sean Kern of The Odds Maker, and

746
00:36:26,480 --> 00:36:30,120
Speaker 1: I will be in Chicago on August twenty third for

747
00:36:30,280 --> 00:36:34,160
Speaker 1: a live Fantasy Flex event presented by Yahoo Fantasy, and

748
00:36:34,200 --> 00:36:36,480
Speaker 1: we're gonna have a few special guests there as well.

749
00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:37,920
Speaker 3: It's gonna be tons of fun.

750
00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:39,960
Speaker 1: It's gonna be We've done a few of these already,

751
00:36:40,440 --> 00:36:44,000
Speaker 1: So if you are at or near the Chicago area

752
00:36:44,080 --> 00:36:45,680
Speaker 1: and you want to come through and hang with us

753
00:36:46,120 --> 00:36:50,760
Speaker 1: August twenty third, mark your calendar right now. At ris VP,

754
00:36:51,160 --> 00:36:53,479
Speaker 1: we're gonna do a live Fantasy draft, We're gonna watch

755
00:36:53,480 --> 00:36:57,640
Speaker 1: some preseason games together and more, and it's totally free

756
00:36:57,680 --> 00:37:00,880
Speaker 1: to attend. All you need to do RSV, there's a

757
00:37:00,960 --> 00:37:04,279
Speaker 1: link in the episode description where you can find all

758
00:37:04,320 --> 00:37:08,640
Speaker 1: the details, So go to that link RSVP savest spot

759
00:37:08,920 --> 00:37:09,439
Speaker 1: come through.

760
00:37:09,800 --> 00:37:10,840
Speaker 3: We will see you.

761
00:37:10,719 --> 00:37:15,520
Speaker 1: At Joe's Bar, all E Street, Saturday, August twenty third

762
00:37:16,040 --> 00:37:19,839
Speaker 1: in the Shy for a Fantasy Flex live event presented

763
00:37:20,200 --> 00:37:21,280
Speaker 1: by Yahoo Fantasy.

764
00:37:21,600 --> 00:37:24,279
Speaker 2: All right, now, let's move to Tier five. Brandon, you

765
00:37:24,360 --> 00:37:26,800
Speaker 2: have labeled this tier as not great but.

766
00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:27,920
Speaker 3: Could be a lot worse.

767
00:37:27,960 --> 00:37:31,920
Speaker 2: And at nineteen you have the Pittsburgh Steelers, followed by

768
00:37:31,960 --> 00:37:35,279
Speaker 2: the Dallas Cowboys at twenty, the Las Vegas Raiders at

769
00:37:35,320 --> 00:37:38,680
Speaker 2: twenty one, Arizona Cardinals at twenty two, and the Cleveland

770
00:37:38,719 --> 00:37:42,480
Speaker 2: Browns down to twenty three. I'm not really shocked that

771
00:37:42,520 --> 00:37:44,600
Speaker 2: any of these are here, but like, what team stands

772
00:37:44,640 --> 00:37:46,120
Speaker 2: out for here? What team do you want to talk

773
00:37:46,120 --> 00:37:47,120
Speaker 2: about of these five?

774
00:37:47,640 --> 00:37:50,279
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm kind of into the Steelers. I could have

775
00:37:50,400 --> 00:37:53,279
Speaker 3: talked myself into the Steelers being like a positive high

776
00:37:53,320 --> 00:37:55,359
Speaker 3: Varians team. I think that they are, but I can't

777
00:37:55,400 --> 00:37:57,600
Speaker 3: quite get them up into that like fifteen range heer,

778
00:37:57,680 --> 00:38:00,560
Speaker 3: so they end up this range. Zach Frasier, the center

779
00:38:00,680 --> 00:38:03,080
Speaker 3: last year as a rookie, really looked great. He could

780
00:38:03,120 --> 00:38:06,399
Speaker 3: be a star All Pro center. And I'm just this

781
00:38:06,440 --> 00:38:08,560
Speaker 3: is a bet on They've invested a lot. There are

782
00:38:08,560 --> 00:38:10,160
Speaker 3: a lot of young guys. We need to see how

783
00:38:10,200 --> 00:38:13,359
Speaker 3: things shake out. But Aaron Rodgers typically is a good

784
00:38:13,360 --> 00:38:15,200
Speaker 3: thing for your offensive line the way you can manage

785
00:38:15,200 --> 00:38:17,879
Speaker 3: the pocket. And Arthur Smith is also a good thing

786
00:38:17,880 --> 00:38:19,560
Speaker 3: for the line the way that he schemes up the

787
00:38:19,640 --> 00:38:22,480
Speaker 3: run game. So if Arthur Smith, who kind of built

788
00:38:22,680 --> 00:38:24,880
Speaker 3: what the Falcons line that's been top ten year after

789
00:38:25,000 --> 00:38:27,319
Speaker 3: year after year, if he kind of turned them into that,

790
00:38:27,719 --> 00:38:29,600
Speaker 3: what can he do with these young guys here in

791
00:38:29,640 --> 00:38:32,200
Speaker 3: a run game? And can Aaron Rodgers? Can he get

792
00:38:32,239 --> 00:38:35,239
Speaker 3: the pass game going. I just feel like there's a

793
00:38:35,440 --> 00:38:39,120
Speaker 3: ceiling there that hasn't been tapped into yet. So I

794
00:38:39,239 --> 00:38:42,640
Speaker 3: like the Steelers. Nobody cares about the Browns. But the

795
00:38:42,680 --> 00:38:45,640
Speaker 3: Browns have this really old offensive line. They were in

796
00:38:45,680 --> 00:38:48,920
Speaker 3: my rankings. I'm looking back in my rankings here they're

797
00:38:49,040 --> 00:38:52,120
Speaker 3: twenty third. Right now, here's the rankings the last four

798
00:38:52,120 --> 00:38:55,080
Speaker 3: times I did this, So four years, fourth, second, fourth,

799
00:38:55,080 --> 00:38:58,719
Speaker 3: and first. Nobody has fallen further than the Browns. Most

800
00:38:58,840 --> 00:39:02,279
Speaker 3: rankings have the Browns fall even below this. I think

801
00:39:02,280 --> 00:39:05,239
Speaker 3: they're not quite that bad yet, but we'll see. They

802
00:39:05,239 --> 00:39:07,120
Speaker 3: have a lot of quarterbacks that can certainly make them

803
00:39:07,120 --> 00:39:09,600
Speaker 3: look bad. They added some depth, so this is kind

804
00:39:09,600 --> 00:39:12,359
Speaker 3: of a bet on. There's some decent depth pieces. And

805
00:39:12,600 --> 00:39:15,600
Speaker 3: Joel Batonia and Wyatt Teller, their guards have long been

806
00:39:15,719 --> 00:39:18,600
Speaker 3: like the guard combo. They were terrible last year they

807
00:39:18,640 --> 00:39:21,880
Speaker 3: both ranked fortieth or lover in PFF. I don't think

808
00:39:21,920 --> 00:39:23,319
Speaker 3: they're that bad. I think they get a little bit

809
00:39:23,360 --> 00:39:27,040
Speaker 3: of bounce back there. Actually bumped your Cowboys one spot

810
00:39:27,120 --> 00:39:30,439
Speaker 3: up the rankings. Here. One thing with two teams here,

811
00:39:30,440 --> 00:39:33,200
Speaker 3: just a last thing. I'll mention a guy named Clayton Adams.

812
00:39:33,280 --> 00:39:35,200
Speaker 3: I think he's a guy You're gonna be appreciating a

813
00:39:35,239 --> 00:39:37,640
Speaker 3: lot as a fan this year as a Cowboys, and

814
00:39:37,680 --> 00:39:40,560
Speaker 3: that the Cardinals may miss Cardinals maybe a little lower

815
00:39:40,600 --> 00:39:43,239
Speaker 3: here than it might expected. So Clayton Adams was the

816
00:39:43,280 --> 00:39:46,839
Speaker 3: offensive line and run coach for the Cardinals. We saw

817
00:39:46,840 --> 00:39:49,840
Speaker 3: a lot of good, creative fun stuff from the Cardinals

818
00:39:49,960 --> 00:39:52,880
Speaker 3: run game in the last years. We saw Jim's Connor breakout.

819
00:39:53,360 --> 00:39:57,680
Speaker 3: That guy is now in Dallas. So I'm penalizing Arizona

820
00:39:57,800 --> 00:40:01,440
Speaker 3: for losing Clayton Adams and I'm giving some credit to Dallas.

821
00:40:01,440 --> 00:40:04,160
Speaker 3: We talked about how Dallas is my last running back

822
00:40:04,239 --> 00:40:07,759
Speaker 3: ranked team. Okay, well, what can Clayton Adams do? How

823
00:40:07,760 --> 00:40:10,480
Speaker 3: can he take some of this young talent Tyler Guidon

824
00:40:10,520 --> 00:40:12,799
Speaker 3: on the left side. He was a liability, but we

825
00:40:12,880 --> 00:40:15,399
Speaker 3: knew that we use a project as a rookie. How

826
00:40:15,440 --> 00:40:18,760
Speaker 3: can he kind of mold some of these new pieces together. Obviously,

827
00:40:18,760 --> 00:40:21,440
Speaker 3: as Dallas has slipped an offensive line ranks for the years,

828
00:40:21,840 --> 00:40:24,840
Speaker 3: I don't personally love that this is a better looking

829
00:40:24,920 --> 00:40:27,839
Speaker 3: run blocking team. If I'm Dallas and I got Dak

830
00:40:27,880 --> 00:40:30,680
Speaker 3: and Cidion Pickens, I'd rather just pass block and be like, Okay,

831
00:40:30,680 --> 00:40:33,560
Speaker 3: fine is not run the football ups pass, that's not

832
00:40:33,600 --> 00:40:35,480
Speaker 3: really how you win football in the end. Maybe Clayton

833
00:40:35,480 --> 00:40:38,000
Speaker 3: Adams can be a secret weapon and find some answers

834
00:40:38,040 --> 00:40:39,120
Speaker 3: there for the Cowboys.

835
00:40:39,360 --> 00:40:41,400
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it'll be interesting to see how that plays

836
00:40:41,400 --> 00:40:43,600
Speaker 2: out because they have invested it. At least of the

837
00:40:43,640 --> 00:40:45,759
Speaker 2: teams in that group, I would say they've invested the

838
00:40:45,760 --> 00:40:47,839
Speaker 2: most in their offensive line over the last three years,

839
00:40:47,920 --> 00:40:51,640
Speaker 2: especially having first round picks in three or four years

840
00:40:51,680 --> 00:40:54,720
Speaker 2: on an offensive lineman. So we'll see if Tyler Smith,

841
00:40:54,760 --> 00:40:57,760
Speaker 2: Tyler the Tyler's essentially on Tyler Booker who was drafted

842
00:40:57,760 --> 00:41:00,239
Speaker 2: this year, if they can emerge. But I would going

843
00:41:00,280 --> 00:41:01,960
Speaker 2: to say, if you didn't bring up Clayton Adams, I

844
00:41:02,000 --> 00:41:03,839
Speaker 2: was going to be mad because he had done such

845
00:41:03,880 --> 00:41:06,000
Speaker 2: a great job with Arizona over the last few years

846
00:41:06,040 --> 00:41:08,080
Speaker 2: that now him being the offensive coordinator.

847
00:41:08,080 --> 00:41:09,040
Speaker 3: I do think that there is.

848
00:41:09,080 --> 00:41:11,600
Speaker 2: Upside for this Cowboys team to move up in the

849
00:41:11,680 --> 00:41:13,239
Speaker 2: rankings by the time we get to the end of

850
00:41:13,640 --> 00:41:16,000
Speaker 2: the twenty twenty five season. All right, let's now move

851
00:41:16,040 --> 00:41:19,640
Speaker 2: to Tier six and you have titled this tier where

852
00:41:19,719 --> 00:41:22,520
Speaker 2: if they met league average, it would still be a surprise.

853
00:41:22,719 --> 00:41:25,920
Speaker 2: And at twenty four you have the new England Patriots

854
00:41:25,920 --> 00:41:28,359
Speaker 2: at number twenty five, the New Orleans Saints, number twenty six,

855
00:41:28,440 --> 00:41:30,640
Speaker 2: the Los Angeles Chargers. I want to talk more about

856
00:41:30,680 --> 00:41:34,120
Speaker 2: that team, twenty seven the Jacksonville Jaguars, and twenty eighth

857
00:41:34,400 --> 00:41:37,600
Speaker 2: the Miami Dolphins. I think we have to start and

858
00:41:37,640 --> 00:41:41,560
Speaker 2: stop with the Chargers here because prior to the Rayhon

859
00:41:41,640 --> 00:41:43,360
Speaker 2: Slater injury, I don't think this is out of the

860
00:41:43,400 --> 00:41:46,480
Speaker 2: question to say they were consensus top ten offensive line

861
00:41:46,560 --> 00:41:50,080
Speaker 2: in the week. Basically, can you just quantify the loss

862
00:41:50,080 --> 00:41:52,319
Speaker 2: of Rayhon Slater and how much that changes, because I

863
00:41:52,320 --> 00:41:54,120
Speaker 2: imagine you had them in the top ten and now

864
00:41:54,120 --> 00:41:56,040
Speaker 2: they have dropped all the way to twenty six.

865
00:41:56,400 --> 00:41:59,000
Speaker 3: Yeah, top ten to bottom ten from one. Dude, it

866
00:41:59,040 --> 00:42:01,839
Speaker 3: seems like a're pretty hue. Yeah, it is that big

867
00:42:01,880 --> 00:42:04,560
Speaker 3: of a swing. Most rankings had them around seven to ten.

868
00:42:04,880 --> 00:42:06,600
Speaker 3: I think that's about right. They were kind of in

869
00:42:06,640 --> 00:42:09,680
Speaker 3: that good not great stage, but I think with potential

870
00:42:09,719 --> 00:42:12,600
Speaker 3: to be great. Here we had what was probably the

871
00:42:12,719 --> 00:42:14,839
Speaker 3: number one tackle duo in the league. Because it's not

872
00:42:14,920 --> 00:42:17,680
Speaker 3: just Slater, last year's first round pick Joe alt on

873
00:42:17,680 --> 00:42:20,319
Speaker 3: the right side. He looked awesome as a rookie, and

874
00:42:20,360 --> 00:42:22,440
Speaker 3: now you get year two. You get to jump from him.

875
00:42:22,480 --> 00:42:24,880
Speaker 3: You got Slater healthy on the left side. You bringing

876
00:42:24,960 --> 00:42:27,279
Speaker 3: McKay Beckton from the Super Bowl champs. He adds in

877
00:42:27,320 --> 00:42:30,040
Speaker 3: a little bit on the interior. Everything's looking pretty good.

878
00:42:30,880 --> 00:42:34,759
Speaker 3: Now let's repaint the picture. Slater's gone. That's your top guy.

879
00:42:35,280 --> 00:42:38,440
Speaker 3: Joe Alt has to move to left tackle, So how

880
00:42:38,480 --> 00:42:40,560
Speaker 3: does that go for him? Now it's a new position.

881
00:42:40,600 --> 00:42:43,240
Speaker 3: It's a little bit different on that side. Now Joealt

882
00:42:43,280 --> 00:42:45,120
Speaker 3: is not playing next to Becton on the right side.

883
00:42:45,120 --> 00:42:47,439
Speaker 3: How does that go for Becton over there playing next

884
00:42:47,480 --> 00:42:50,440
Speaker 3: to a right tackle. That among the options there are

885
00:42:50,480 --> 00:42:53,280
Speaker 3: all the guys they've been trying like hell to replace

886
00:42:53,360 --> 00:42:55,719
Speaker 3: the last few years. Now they have to start one

887
00:42:55,760 --> 00:42:58,520
Speaker 3: of them. They got to start Zion Johnson at his

888
00:42:58,600 --> 00:43:01,680
Speaker 3: third new position. They have him at center now, so

889
00:43:01,719 --> 00:43:04,480
Speaker 3: they kind of after reshuffle the guards. Look, don't forget

890
00:43:05,160 --> 00:43:07,239
Speaker 3: this team lost Corey Linsley a year ago. He was

891
00:43:07,280 --> 00:43:09,399
Speaker 3: one of the best centers in the league. So now

892
00:43:09,400 --> 00:43:13,200
Speaker 3: you're down Linsley and you're down Slater. It's a huge

893
00:43:13,239 --> 00:43:15,759
Speaker 3: drop off. I think it's a big problem. You're going

894
00:43:15,840 --> 00:43:18,560
Speaker 3: to have a real cascading effect on these offensive lines

895
00:43:18,560 --> 00:43:22,160
Speaker 3: where you lose one star and everything starts shuffling around.

896
00:43:22,480 --> 00:43:24,560
Speaker 3: And if you're doing that already in mid August and

897
00:43:24,600 --> 00:43:27,000
Speaker 3: we haven't started playing football yet, it could be a

898
00:43:27,040 --> 00:43:30,600
Speaker 3: long season for Justin Herbert back. There, so real concerns

899
00:43:30,640 --> 00:43:33,120
Speaker 3: for a Chargers. A team that had my top twelve

900
00:43:33,120 --> 00:43:35,560
Speaker 3: offensive line ranks each of the last four years would

901
00:43:35,560 --> 00:43:38,040
Speaker 3: have had them there. Again, you're there at twenty six.

902
00:43:38,120 --> 00:43:38,359
Speaker 1: Now.

903
00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:42,880
Speaker 2: The Patriots invested a lot in their offensive line. If

904
00:43:42,880 --> 00:43:45,200
Speaker 2: we're being real, I mean they took Will Campbell near

905
00:43:45,239 --> 00:43:48,319
Speaker 2: the top of the draft. They're going to be getting

906
00:43:48,360 --> 00:43:50,839
Speaker 2: some guys back, like Cole Strange is expected back. They

907
00:43:50,880 --> 00:43:54,720
Speaker 2: signed Gear Bradberry, who you're familiar with with the Minnesota Vikings.

908
00:43:55,040 --> 00:43:57,760
Speaker 2: I guess what I'm wondering is is they were thirty

909
00:43:57,760 --> 00:44:00,720
Speaker 2: first last year. For you now with the overhaul only

910
00:44:00,840 --> 00:44:04,520
Speaker 2: up to twenty four, I guess, how are you feeling

911
00:44:04,600 --> 00:44:06,239
Speaker 2: on the changes? I guess by the ranking, you're not

912
00:44:06,239 --> 00:44:07,280
Speaker 2: feeling pretty good.

913
00:44:07,760 --> 00:44:09,880
Speaker 3: You know. I wanted to be more excited about the Patriots.

914
00:44:09,920 --> 00:44:11,560
Speaker 3: I wanted to kind of put them into that like

915
00:44:11,640 --> 00:44:15,200
Speaker 3: Titans Jets, sort of grouping of let me plant a flag.

916
00:44:15,239 --> 00:44:17,560
Speaker 3: Here's a big leap here. And I think that's will

917
00:44:17,560 --> 00:44:19,840
Speaker 3: reminder that like, you can be improved but still not

918
00:44:20,040 --> 00:44:23,640
Speaker 3: necessarily good. Garrett Bradbury, there's a reason the Vikings moved

919
00:44:23,680 --> 00:44:26,400
Speaker 3: on from him. Morgan Moses he was on the Jets.

920
00:44:26,440 --> 00:44:28,400
Speaker 3: There's a reason they moved on from him. He's thirty

921
00:44:28,440 --> 00:44:31,200
Speaker 3: four years old. He was not a top fifty tackle

922
00:44:31,320 --> 00:44:35,840
Speaker 3: last year. So we added some floor raisers here. That matters.

923
00:44:36,040 --> 00:44:37,959
Speaker 3: This was the worst line in the league a year ago.

924
00:44:38,200 --> 00:44:40,280
Speaker 3: If you go from worse than the league to twenty fourth,

925
00:44:40,480 --> 00:44:43,239
Speaker 3: that's real. That's a real movement. That's not nothing just

926
00:44:43,280 --> 00:44:46,000
Speaker 3: like oh well you're still bottom ten. No, thirty second

927
00:44:46,040 --> 00:44:49,240
Speaker 3: can be like really thirty second, and Drake May he'll

928
00:44:49,239 --> 00:44:51,920
Speaker 3: tell you about that. So I do think this is

929
00:44:52,000 --> 00:44:54,719
Speaker 3: a much higher floor. And I will say, if you

930
00:44:54,760 --> 00:44:57,840
Speaker 3: want some optimism, this reminds me a lot of the

931
00:44:57,880 --> 00:45:00,640
Speaker 3: Commanders from a year ago where they went out and

932
00:45:00,640 --> 00:45:02,920
Speaker 3: added just a bunch of guys, a bunch of veterans

933
00:45:02,920 --> 00:45:05,719
Speaker 3: that we're like, yeah, well the floor is a little better,

934
00:45:05,800 --> 00:45:08,600
Speaker 3: but there's still not really great options here. And then

935
00:45:08,600 --> 00:45:11,319
Speaker 3: they kind of combined those options and some coaching advantages

936
00:45:11,360 --> 00:45:14,040
Speaker 3: and suddenly found some really good line play. So I

937
00:45:14,080 --> 00:45:18,120
Speaker 3: think that's the upside, but we're still lacking some talent. Obviously,

938
00:45:18,120 --> 00:45:21,120
Speaker 3: Will Campbell is the big star at left tackle. He's

939
00:45:21,120 --> 00:45:23,520
Speaker 3: a rookie. We're gonna need some time. And now it

940
00:45:23,560 --> 00:45:25,960
Speaker 3: looks like Jared Wilson is probably gonna be a rookie

941
00:45:26,040 --> 00:45:27,520
Speaker 3: left guard, so we're gonna have two rookies on the

942
00:45:27,600 --> 00:45:31,440
Speaker 3: left side. Some veterans like four new starters out of

943
00:45:31,440 --> 00:45:34,040
Speaker 3: the five. I like where this is going. I like

944
00:45:34,120 --> 00:45:35,880
Speaker 3: what they did, but I think we have to temper

945
00:45:35,920 --> 00:45:37,080
Speaker 3: expectations a little bit.

946
00:45:37,520 --> 00:45:39,840
Speaker 2: All right, let's start scraping the bottom of the barrel,

947
00:45:39,880 --> 00:45:41,839
Speaker 2: which I love that you called that. That's what this

948
00:45:41,920 --> 00:45:45,200
Speaker 2: next year is, that we're scraping the bottom of the ugly,

949
00:45:45,360 --> 00:45:48,160
Speaker 2: ugly whiskey barrel here. And at twenty nine you have

950
00:45:48,280 --> 00:45:51,280
Speaker 2: the New York Giants, at number thirty the Cincinnati Bengals,

951
00:45:51,320 --> 00:45:55,719
Speaker 2: and number thirty one the Seattle Seahawks. Are we looking

952
00:45:55,800 --> 00:45:58,480
Speaker 2: at the consensus like those three teams seem to show

953
00:45:58,560 --> 00:46:01,600
Speaker 2: up in the bottom five almost every offensive line ranking

954
00:46:02,520 --> 00:46:05,200
Speaker 2: that I've seen so far during this process. So how

955
00:46:05,200 --> 00:46:06,799
Speaker 2: confident are we that they're going to remain in the

956
00:46:06,800 --> 00:46:07,399
Speaker 2: bottom five?

957
00:46:08,239 --> 00:46:11,399
Speaker 3: I think, unfortunately, pretty confident really, if I'm being fair,

958
00:46:11,920 --> 00:46:14,759
Speaker 3: I'm pushing the Giants into what I think it was

959
00:46:14,760 --> 00:46:17,520
Speaker 3: a pretty consensus bottom three. There's one more team we'll

960
00:46:17,520 --> 00:46:20,040
Speaker 3: get to in a second. The Bengals and the Seahawks

961
00:46:20,040 --> 00:46:22,720
Speaker 3: have been in everybody's bottom three pretty much everywhere you look.

962
00:46:23,200 --> 00:46:25,760
Speaker 3: I don't know why the Giants aren't. Frankly, Andrew Thomas

963
00:46:25,880 --> 00:46:29,040
Speaker 3: is awesome, but Andrew Thomas almost never stays healthy. So

964
00:46:29,120 --> 00:46:31,680
Speaker 3: if you take Andrew Thomas away, the Giants dropped a

965
00:46:31,760 --> 00:46:34,319
Speaker 3: number thirty two in a hurry, similar to how we

966
00:46:34,360 --> 00:46:37,080
Speaker 3: did with the skill players. They need Molik Neighbors healthy,

967
00:46:37,120 --> 00:46:40,000
Speaker 3: they need Andrew Thomas healthy. But there's not a lot there.

968
00:46:40,040 --> 00:46:42,160
Speaker 3: The rest of the line looks pretty bad. I do

969
00:46:42,320 --> 00:46:46,040
Speaker 3: like Marcus Embau the rookies that I think he could

970
00:46:46,040 --> 00:46:48,399
Speaker 3: be a steal at guard for them, but they're long

971
00:46:48,440 --> 00:46:51,919
Speaker 3: ways away. The Bengals and Seahawks obviously matter a little

972
00:46:51,920 --> 00:46:54,600
Speaker 3: bit more. The Bengals drop all the way to thirty.

973
00:46:54,600 --> 00:46:56,960
Speaker 3: They've been kind of my middle of the pack range.

974
00:46:57,320 --> 00:46:59,000
Speaker 3: It's time to give up the ghost on the middle

975
00:46:59,000 --> 00:47:00,640
Speaker 3: of the pack. This is just not a good Lion.

976
00:47:00,680 --> 00:47:04,320
Speaker 3: It's never been a good line with Joe Burrow they're trying.

977
00:47:04,480 --> 00:47:07,880
Speaker 3: They're trying and investing here. Amarius Mims, the right tackle.

978
00:47:08,440 --> 00:47:11,040
Speaker 3: I think that he probably has a better year this year,

979
00:47:11,040 --> 00:47:14,000
Speaker 3: but wasn't great last season. We have two new guards

980
00:47:14,000 --> 00:47:18,279
Speaker 3: on this Team's just a lot of uncertainty, just not

981
00:47:18,440 --> 00:47:20,960
Speaker 3: a lot that we like right now. And frankly, Joe

982
00:47:20,960 --> 00:47:23,600
Speaker 3: Burrow isn't necessarily helping the equation either. It gets the

983
00:47:23,640 --> 00:47:26,279
Speaker 3: ball out quickly when he throws, but he's holding the

984
00:47:26,280 --> 00:47:28,799
Speaker 3: ball inviting some of that pressure. So that's you know,

985
00:47:28,960 --> 00:47:31,920
Speaker 3: one clear ding on him as a top quarterback. And

986
00:47:31,920 --> 00:47:35,000
Speaker 3: then Seattle. You know, we lived on Seattle Island last

987
00:47:35,040 --> 00:47:36,759
Speaker 3: year and I went down with a ship. And this

988
00:47:36,920 --> 00:47:40,120
Speaker 3: offensive line was a big part of the reason they do.

989
00:47:40,320 --> 00:47:43,080
Speaker 3: Clint Kubiak now the you know, offensive coordinator, so I

990
00:47:43,080 --> 00:47:46,040
Speaker 3: think that can help helped with the Saints last year

991
00:47:46,080 --> 00:47:48,640
Speaker 3: and in some kind of play action helping out. They

992
00:47:48,680 --> 00:47:51,040
Speaker 3: got my guy Gray's Abel from North Dakota State in

993
00:47:51,120 --> 00:47:53,520
Speaker 3: the first round this year, so they're trying out here.

994
00:47:53,960 --> 00:47:57,280
Speaker 3: But those left tackle or those tackle combo Charles Cross

995
00:47:57,280 --> 00:48:00,600
Speaker 3: and Abe Lucas look like they kind of solved problems

996
00:48:00,640 --> 00:48:02,759
Speaker 3: for this team a few years ago. But it's been

997
00:48:02,800 --> 00:48:05,160
Speaker 3: a bad line for years, and those guys have regressed,

998
00:48:05,239 --> 00:48:09,400
Speaker 3: especially Lucas just can't stay healthy. Seahawks and the Bengals

999
00:48:09,640 --> 00:48:13,720
Speaker 3: pretty universal bottom three four teams, and frankly, Sam Darnold's

1000
00:48:13,719 --> 00:48:15,200
Speaker 3: going to make seat to look even worse than they

1001
00:48:15,239 --> 00:48:15,839
Speaker 3: actually are.

1002
00:48:16,320 --> 00:48:19,040
Speaker 2: All Right, So if you've gotten this far into the podcast,

1003
00:48:19,080 --> 00:48:22,360
Speaker 2: you'll realize we have one team left and they're in

1004
00:48:22,400 --> 00:48:23,160
Speaker 2: their own tier.

1005
00:48:23,239 --> 00:48:26,520
Speaker 3: That's how bad they are. It is the Houston Texans.

1006
00:48:26,960 --> 00:48:30,520
Speaker 2: They are dead last in your offensive line rankings. And

1007
00:48:31,320 --> 00:48:33,319
Speaker 2: I guess what, I just really, is it really that

1008
00:48:33,520 --> 00:48:35,640
Speaker 2: much of a difference between say, number thirty one the

1009
00:48:35,680 --> 00:48:38,160
Speaker 2: Seahawks and number thirty two the Texans where they deserve

1010
00:48:38,239 --> 00:48:39,040
Speaker 2: their own tier?

1011
00:48:40,080 --> 00:48:43,200
Speaker 3: I decided yes, because I initially had just the bottom

1012
00:48:43,239 --> 00:48:46,840
Speaker 3: of three of those teams. I'm talking about the Texans, Seahawks, Bengals.

1013
00:48:46,880 --> 00:48:49,960
Speaker 3: That was my initial bottom tier. Now, if I'm being honest,

1014
00:48:50,000 --> 00:48:51,960
Speaker 3: I want to have a Houston we have a problem

1015
00:48:52,040 --> 00:48:54,719
Speaker 3: tier that's just sitting there for me, so it may

1016
00:48:54,800 --> 00:48:57,439
Speaker 3: as well do that. But the Texans last year were

1017
00:48:57,440 --> 00:49:01,280
Speaker 3: already a terrible offensive line that really two good veterans

1018
00:49:01,280 --> 00:49:03,400
Speaker 3: on the team, and they got rid of them. Laramie

1019
00:49:03,440 --> 00:49:06,719
Speaker 3: Tunsel is gone now Shack Mason is gone. If you

1020
00:49:06,840 --> 00:49:09,160
Speaker 3: really get in the weeds on this stuff, some of

1021
00:49:09,200 --> 00:49:11,279
Speaker 3: the places you read are like, man, they got rid

1022
00:49:11,320 --> 00:49:13,879
Speaker 3: of their only two good guys. Other places you read

1023
00:49:13,920 --> 00:49:17,040
Speaker 3: are like man, there were some locker room issues. There

1024
00:49:17,160 --> 00:49:19,840
Speaker 3: was not a lot of happiness with Tunsil and with

1025
00:49:19,920 --> 00:49:23,319
Speaker 3: Shaq Mason. Those guys are unhappy. They're doing their own thing.

1026
00:49:23,400 --> 00:49:26,680
Speaker 3: There's no continuity, there's no communication. It looks to me

1027
00:49:27,320 --> 00:49:30,200
Speaker 3: like Houston is saying, get them out of here, let's

1028
00:49:30,200 --> 00:49:33,319
Speaker 3: start over. They got like ten dudes, so they just

1029
00:49:33,600 --> 00:49:36,840
Speaker 3: throwing paint at the wall hoping something sticks. It sounds

1030
00:49:36,920 --> 00:49:40,200
Speaker 3: like a training camp. They're trying like every combination. They're

1031
00:49:40,239 --> 00:49:42,680
Speaker 3: moving dudes around from one position to the next. They're

1032
00:49:42,680 --> 00:49:47,440
Speaker 3: trying different combos. I like that you're trying, but I

1033
00:49:47,480 --> 00:49:49,919
Speaker 3: don't know, like not to me, Like if the old

1034
00:49:49,920 --> 00:49:51,839
Speaker 3: adage in college football, you get the teams with like

1035
00:49:51,840 --> 00:49:53,719
Speaker 3: the two quarterback system, right, and if you have two

1036
00:49:53,800 --> 00:49:56,720
Speaker 3: quarterbacks you have none. If you have ten offensive linemen,

1037
00:49:56,760 --> 00:49:58,600
Speaker 3: you might have none. Like, I don't think this is

1038
00:49:58,640 --> 00:50:00,799
Speaker 3: going to go very well. I should be a real

1039
00:50:00,880 --> 00:50:06,120
Speaker 3: concern that this is everybody's bottom, Like everybody agrees on

1040
00:50:06,200 --> 00:50:08,840
Speaker 3: Houston just as much as they agree on Philadelphia at

1041
00:50:08,880 --> 00:50:11,359
Speaker 3: the top. That's the disaster that this looks like. So

1042
00:50:11,719 --> 00:50:14,279
Speaker 3: you should be very concerned about your Texans futures until

1043
00:50:14,280 --> 00:50:15,080
Speaker 3: we see otherwise.

1044
00:50:15,800 --> 00:50:18,719
Speaker 2: Well, I think just to add to a phrase that

1045
00:50:18,760 --> 00:50:22,080
Speaker 2: you say, trying doesn't mean improving, and improving doesn't mean good.

1046
00:50:22,200 --> 00:50:23,919
Speaker 2: So I think that's the one thing we'll take away

1047
00:50:23,920 --> 00:50:26,279
Speaker 2: from that before the Texans, I guess, get fired into

1048
00:50:26,320 --> 00:50:29,839
Speaker 2: space with that offensive line. Let's recap the top ten

1049
00:50:29,880 --> 00:50:31,680
Speaker 2: and then let's see if there's some betting takeaways that

1050
00:50:31,719 --> 00:50:32,600
Speaker 2: we could take away from this.

1051
00:50:32,640 --> 00:50:34,040
Speaker 3: So start at the top.

1052
00:50:34,080 --> 00:50:36,080
Speaker 2: You have the Eagles at number one, all alone in

1053
00:50:36,120 --> 00:50:38,120
Speaker 2: their own tier, and the second tier you have the

1054
00:50:38,120 --> 00:50:42,560
Speaker 2: Denver Broncos, Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

1055
00:50:42,560 --> 00:50:44,960
Speaker 2: That rounds out the top five. Then at number six

1056
00:50:45,000 --> 00:50:49,160
Speaker 2: you have the Buffalo Bills, Baltimore Ravens, Detroit Lions, Atlanta Falcons,

1057
00:50:49,160 --> 00:50:53,080
Speaker 2: and Green Bay Packers. Let's look at that group between

1058
00:50:53,080 --> 00:50:57,319
Speaker 2: two and five, Broncos, Vikings, Bears, Bucks. What's the big

1059
00:50:57,360 --> 00:50:59,400
Speaker 2: takeaway here, especially from a betting standpoint.

1060
00:51:00,040 --> 00:51:02,040
Speaker 3: Yeah, so we talked of this already, but those four

1061
00:51:02,080 --> 00:51:05,040
Speaker 3: teams all in my top five, all from basically league

1062
00:51:05,080 --> 00:51:07,360
Speaker 3: average a year ago. So that's the big leap, and

1063
00:51:07,800 --> 00:51:10,399
Speaker 3: three of those teams are coming out of playoff board.

1064
00:51:10,480 --> 00:51:13,120
Speaker 3: That's no coincidence. We already saw the line play improved,

1065
00:51:13,200 --> 00:51:16,439
Speaker 3: especially for Denver and Tampa last year. So we've talked

1066
00:51:16,440 --> 00:51:18,720
Speaker 3: about skepticism. I think there's a reason to be skeptical

1067
00:51:18,719 --> 00:51:21,319
Speaker 3: about all three of those teams running it back. If

1068
00:51:21,400 --> 00:51:24,080
Speaker 3: you believe, you need to believe in the offensive line,

1069
00:51:24,239 --> 00:51:26,040
Speaker 3: especially I think for Denver We've talked a lot about

1070
00:51:26,080 --> 00:51:28,840
Speaker 3: them on these rankings. I've been crapping on Denver in

1071
00:51:28,880 --> 00:51:31,040
Speaker 3: the last couple of podcasts. If you believe in Denver,

1072
00:51:31,080 --> 00:51:33,600
Speaker 3: it's not just the defense. The offense has to do something,

1073
00:51:33,960 --> 00:51:36,040
Speaker 3: and it's got to be the offensive line. With the Bucks,

1074
00:51:36,280 --> 00:51:38,719
Speaker 3: you need Tristan words, you need that offensive line. And

1075
00:51:38,719 --> 00:51:41,080
Speaker 3: then the one team that did make the playoffs, maybe

1076
00:51:41,120 --> 00:51:43,799
Speaker 3: it's finally time for the Bears, the Kings of the offseason.

1077
00:51:44,400 --> 00:51:47,080
Speaker 3: I think this maybe is the real offseason win for

1078
00:51:47,120 --> 00:51:49,759
Speaker 3: the Bears if that line can really take a leap,

1079
00:51:50,040 --> 00:51:52,080
Speaker 3: and it kind of paired with that a second takeaway

1080
00:51:52,760 --> 00:51:56,480
Speaker 3: real orange flags at least maybe red flags for two

1081
00:51:56,560 --> 00:52:00,440
Speaker 3: teams that are annual Super Bowl contenders right now, annual

1082
00:52:00,520 --> 00:52:03,279
Speaker 3: top of the offensive line ranks. It's the Lions and

1083
00:52:03,280 --> 00:52:05,600
Speaker 3: it's the Chiefs. We talked about the Browns. The Browns

1084
00:52:05,600 --> 00:52:07,560
Speaker 3: are the biggest fall in the ranks, but the Browns

1085
00:52:07,560 --> 00:52:11,040
Speaker 3: are irrelevant this season. The Lions and the Chiefs matter.

1086
00:52:11,360 --> 00:52:14,239
Speaker 3: They're top five and all the Super Bowl odds everywhere.

1087
00:52:14,640 --> 00:52:17,399
Speaker 3: The Lions drop from number one with a bullet down

1088
00:52:17,400 --> 00:52:19,759
Speaker 3: to eighth in the rankings, and the Chiefs drop from

1089
00:52:19,840 --> 00:52:22,960
Speaker 3: perennial top five all the way down to basically league gaverage.

1090
00:52:22,960 --> 00:52:25,000
Speaker 3: Remember I'm being a little bit optimistic putting them at

1091
00:52:25,080 --> 00:52:28,600
Speaker 3: league gaverage. So how does Josh Simmons one more time?

1092
00:52:28,960 --> 00:52:31,320
Speaker 3: How does he come out and play for the Chiefs?

1093
00:52:31,320 --> 00:52:33,800
Speaker 3: How does that look on the left side? Can Patrick

1094
00:52:33,840 --> 00:52:36,839
Speaker 3: Mahomes actually have some time? Could that turn good? Could

1095
00:52:36,840 --> 00:52:40,000
Speaker 3: Mahomes finally have a blind side protector enough to chuck

1096
00:52:40,000 --> 00:52:41,640
Speaker 3: it down the field to Zavi? You're worthy in some

1097
00:52:41,680 --> 00:52:43,960
Speaker 3: of those deep ball targets. It could go that way

1098
00:52:44,000 --> 00:52:46,000
Speaker 3: as well. That's scary for the rest of the league.

1099
00:52:46,400 --> 00:52:50,000
Speaker 3: And how far back do the Lions drop without? Right now,

1100
00:52:50,040 --> 00:52:52,799
Speaker 3: without Ben Johnson, we know they're going to drop off

1101
00:52:52,880 --> 00:52:55,480
Speaker 3: some how much will they come? What do you think

1102
00:52:55,480 --> 00:52:58,440
Speaker 3: about Lions are Chiefs? Who would you feel a little

1103
00:52:58,520 --> 00:53:01,120
Speaker 3: more skeptical of in this going into the season.

1104
00:53:01,680 --> 00:53:05,680
Speaker 2: Probably the Lions just because of the offensive coordinator position

1105
00:53:05,800 --> 00:53:09,200
Speaker 2: and then the center. We talk about Jared Goff as

1106
00:53:09,200 --> 00:53:11,840
Speaker 2: well from a quarterback standpoint of just where you almost

1107
00:53:11,880 --> 00:53:14,440
Speaker 2: need everything to go right for him to look elite,

1108
00:53:14,440 --> 00:53:16,960
Speaker 2: whereas Patrick Mahomes is able to patch stuff together and

1109
00:53:16,960 --> 00:53:19,120
Speaker 2: make it work. So I think it will affect the

1110
00:53:19,160 --> 00:53:22,360
Speaker 2: Detroit Lions more than the Chiefs, but it remains to

1111
00:53:22,360 --> 00:53:24,240
Speaker 2: be seen. I want to actually look at the bottom

1112
00:53:24,280 --> 00:53:28,280
Speaker 2: of your rankings because the Cincinnati Bengals and Houston Texans,

1113
00:53:28,600 --> 00:53:30,560
Speaker 2: they're both going to be pretty popular teams to either

1114
00:53:30,600 --> 00:53:33,360
Speaker 2: make the playoffs, to bet or to win their division,

1115
00:53:33,680 --> 00:53:35,560
Speaker 2: and yet you have them ranked bottom three for their

1116
00:53:35,560 --> 00:53:36,400
Speaker 2: offensive lines.

1117
00:53:37,239 --> 00:53:39,200
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I think those are the two teams

1118
00:53:39,280 --> 00:53:42,000
Speaker 3: and maybe the Chargers too, depending on how that line

1119
00:53:42,000 --> 00:53:44,760
Speaker 3: that looks up. Those are three teams that are among

1120
00:53:44,800 --> 00:53:46,880
Speaker 3: the playoff favorites in the AFC. I think a lot

1121
00:53:46,920 --> 00:53:48,839
Speaker 3: of people would put all three of those teams into

1122
00:53:48,880 --> 00:53:51,440
Speaker 3: their playoffs. So I don't know that we need to

1123
00:53:51,440 --> 00:53:53,839
Speaker 3: put them all out of the playoffs. We've seen Joe

1124
00:53:53,920 --> 00:53:57,439
Speaker 3: Burrow produce throughout his career without really much offensive line help,

1125
00:53:57,800 --> 00:54:00,279
Speaker 3: but we need to be cautious. I think it. Compare that,

1126
00:54:00,440 --> 00:54:03,600
Speaker 3: for example, to the Bills and to the Ravens. We've

1127
00:54:03,640 --> 00:54:06,719
Speaker 3: now done three of these ranking podcasts. The Bills air

1128
00:54:06,960 --> 00:54:09,879
Speaker 3: the Ravens have been top seven at quarterback and at

1129
00:54:09,880 --> 00:54:12,840
Speaker 3: skill position and now at offensive line. Bills not at

1130
00:54:12,880 --> 00:54:16,360
Speaker 3: skill position, but top seven again quarterback and offensive line.

1131
00:54:16,560 --> 00:54:20,239
Speaker 3: So here you have good quarterback, bad offensive line, not

1132
00:54:20,360 --> 00:54:23,200
Speaker 3: the combination that you want. So I think we need

1133
00:54:23,239 --> 00:54:25,439
Speaker 3: to be skeptical at least, and you need to think

1134
00:54:25,520 --> 00:54:28,840
Speaker 3: long and hard about it. And can they win the division?

1135
00:54:29,200 --> 00:54:31,920
Speaker 3: Well that's one thing. What about in the playoffs? Can

1136
00:54:31,960 --> 00:54:34,400
Speaker 3: I win four games now coming out of my division?

1137
00:54:34,719 --> 00:54:36,560
Speaker 3: That's a little bit harder thing. We've seen it, even

1138
00:54:36,600 --> 00:54:39,440
Speaker 3: with Patrick Mahomes. If that line is not there, you

1139
00:54:39,480 --> 00:54:41,680
Speaker 3: can't necessarily get all the way to the finish line.

1140
00:54:41,920 --> 00:54:43,840
Speaker 3: And I think on the flip side, who are the

1141
00:54:43,880 --> 00:54:46,680
Speaker 3: teams that were at the bottom that maybe move uf

1142
00:54:46,840 --> 00:54:49,000
Speaker 3: in the ranks. Who are the sleepers this year? And

1143
00:54:49,120 --> 00:54:52,160
Speaker 3: we talked about them. I think it's the Jets, the Titans,

1144
00:54:52,160 --> 00:54:54,080
Speaker 3: and the Panthers. If you're looking at who are my

1145
00:54:54,239 --> 00:54:58,839
Speaker 3: offensive line sleepers, those are teams that could crack top

1146
00:54:58,880 --> 00:55:01,759
Speaker 3: ten offensive lines d in the season. That sort of

1147
00:55:01,800 --> 00:55:04,200
Speaker 3: thing can set you up for a big and kind

1148
00:55:04,200 --> 00:55:07,600
Speaker 3: of sneaky leap if you're looking at futures, these are

1149
00:55:07,719 --> 00:55:11,040
Speaker 3: all teams that could be possible like worse to first candidates.

1150
00:55:11,080 --> 00:55:12,680
Speaker 3: We know, we love that. We'll come back to that

1151
00:55:12,719 --> 00:55:16,359
Speaker 3: again later. Again. I don't know that the Patriots are

1152
00:55:16,400 --> 00:55:19,120
Speaker 3: quite necessarily in this group. There's a lot of Patriots

1153
00:55:19,160 --> 00:55:21,719
Speaker 3: type this year, so I think be careful there and

1154
00:55:21,800 --> 00:55:24,400
Speaker 3: one now with the Jets and Titans in particular, lots

1155
00:55:24,400 --> 00:55:28,239
Speaker 3: of new pieces, so we're rotating in left tackle or

1156
00:55:28,280 --> 00:55:30,320
Speaker 3: right tackle. For the Jets that are just young guys.

1157
00:55:30,640 --> 00:55:32,840
Speaker 3: The Titans are just kind of starting over at the line.

1158
00:55:33,000 --> 00:55:36,080
Speaker 3: I didn't even mention I think somehow Bill Callahan's I

1159
00:55:36,080 --> 00:55:38,640
Speaker 3: didn't mention a lot of coaches names on here. Bill

1160
00:55:38,680 --> 00:55:41,680
Speaker 3: Callahan is the gold standard coach, and with the Titans

1161
00:55:42,000 --> 00:55:44,480
Speaker 3: year two there, that's a big reason to believe in

1162
00:55:44,480 --> 00:55:47,520
Speaker 3: their leap. But that stuff takes time, So I think

1163
00:55:48,000 --> 00:55:52,319
Speaker 3: be intrigued by these teams Jets, Titans, Panthers. But it

1164
00:55:52,320 --> 00:55:54,480
Speaker 3: could take a little time as well if you had

1165
00:55:54,520 --> 00:55:58,319
Speaker 3: to kind of stake an early possible sleeper look on

1166
00:55:58,320 --> 00:56:00,799
Speaker 3: one of these three. Jets, Titans, are paying Anthers. Who

1167
00:56:00,920 --> 00:56:02,160
Speaker 3: sounds most intriguing to you?

1168
00:56:02,760 --> 00:56:06,799
Speaker 4: Well, and I told you already that I wasn't really

1169
00:56:06,800 --> 00:56:10,279
Speaker 4: too high on the Jets. I think I think I

1170
00:56:10,320 --> 00:56:13,160
Speaker 4: would take the Patriots, because again, I'm looking when it

1171
00:56:13,200 --> 00:56:14,839
Speaker 4: comes down to this, when I'm splitting hairs, I start

1172
00:56:14,880 --> 00:56:15,319
Speaker 4: to look at.

1173
00:56:15,200 --> 00:56:16,160
Speaker 3: The outside parts.

1174
00:56:16,160 --> 00:56:17,879
Speaker 2: I start to look at charging and start to look

1175
00:56:17,880 --> 00:56:20,320
Speaker 2: at the skill position players or even just a quarterback

1176
00:56:20,360 --> 00:56:21,959
Speaker 2: who can get the ball out, who will make those

1177
00:56:22,000 --> 00:56:23,920
Speaker 2: passbocking grades look even better.

1178
00:56:24,160 --> 00:56:24,600
Speaker 3: Kind of thing.

1179
00:56:24,680 --> 00:56:26,959
Speaker 2: So I think, because of the three that I still

1180
00:56:27,000 --> 00:56:29,120
Speaker 2: believe that Drake may is the best quarterback of the three.

1181
00:56:29,160 --> 00:56:31,520
Speaker 2: I think Mike Brable was the best coach of the three.

1182
00:56:31,760 --> 00:56:33,680
Speaker 2: I think that's kind of where I stand right now.

1183
00:56:33,680 --> 00:56:36,880
Speaker 2: But it's not a strong leg to stand on Brandon.

1184
00:56:36,880 --> 00:56:38,399
Speaker 2: Before we get out of here. Is there anything else

1185
00:56:38,440 --> 00:56:39,839
Speaker 2: that we should look at before we go?

1186
00:56:40,320 --> 00:56:42,279
Speaker 3: Yeah, one last thing just to kind of keep in

1187
00:56:42,280 --> 00:56:44,759
Speaker 3: mind here with these offensive lines, obviously we're ranking for

1188
00:56:44,800 --> 00:56:47,520
Speaker 3: the whole season here. But there has been a lot

1189
00:56:47,560 --> 00:56:49,879
Speaker 3: of change. We talked about that throughout this podcast, lots

1190
00:56:49,880 --> 00:56:52,600
Speaker 3: of change in the rankings, lots more movement I think

1191
00:56:52,640 --> 00:56:57,160
Speaker 3: than usual. So with that variability, remember how valuable it

1192
00:56:57,200 --> 00:57:01,000
Speaker 3: is to have continuity early on Denver. Some of those teams,

1193
00:57:01,000 --> 00:57:03,680
Speaker 3: I said, ah, not necessarily as high in the long run,

1194
00:57:03,719 --> 00:57:06,480
Speaker 3: but we should be counting on those early. But I

1195
00:57:06,480 --> 00:57:08,840
Speaker 3: want to point out five teams for you here to

1196
00:57:08,880 --> 00:57:11,400
Speaker 3: maybe be a little bit careful about investing into early

1197
00:57:11,480 --> 00:57:14,839
Speaker 3: because we have some new pieces, get some early question marks.

1198
00:57:14,840 --> 00:57:16,240
Speaker 3: They're going to take a little bit of time. Now

1199
00:57:16,520 --> 00:57:19,360
Speaker 3: we've talked about one of them, the Lions. The Lions

1200
00:57:19,400 --> 00:57:22,920
Speaker 3: have three new interier offensive linemen, two brand new guards

1201
00:57:22,920 --> 00:57:25,800
Speaker 3: that they're breaking in center that's moving over from guards.

1202
00:57:25,840 --> 00:57:27,560
Speaker 3: So give them a little bit of time, and then

1203
00:57:27,640 --> 00:57:30,440
Speaker 3: let's stay in the division because the Bears and the

1204
00:57:30,520 --> 00:57:33,560
Speaker 3: Vikings along with the Lions, all three of those teams

1205
00:57:33,560 --> 00:57:36,480
Speaker 3: in the NFC North are starting three entire new in

1206
00:57:36,560 --> 00:57:39,160
Speaker 3: tier offensive linemen. With the Vikings that includes a rookie

1207
00:57:39,240 --> 00:57:42,080
Speaker 3: as well. So it's going to take a little time

1208
00:57:42,440 --> 00:57:44,480
Speaker 3: and we get some division games early on, I think

1209
00:57:44,520 --> 00:57:46,600
Speaker 3: as well. So it should be going to see how

1210
00:57:46,640 --> 00:57:49,479
Speaker 3: that stuff plays out. And of course one more time

1211
00:57:49,600 --> 00:57:52,400
Speaker 3: the Ben Johnson effect from Lions to the Bears, how

1212
00:57:52,400 --> 00:57:55,080
Speaker 3: does that impact things as well. So that's those three teams,

1213
00:57:55,560 --> 00:57:58,120
Speaker 3: and then one more time with the Chiefs left side

1214
00:57:58,120 --> 00:58:01,000
Speaker 3: of the line. You got a rookie left tackle Josh Simmons,

1215
00:58:01,240 --> 00:58:05,120
Speaker 3: you got a sophomore left guard that whole left side.

1216
00:58:05,360 --> 00:58:08,520
Speaker 3: If that's just like a floodgates coming at Patrick Mahomes,

1217
00:58:08,560 --> 00:58:10,960
Speaker 3: we could be worried about the Chiefs early and adding

1218
00:58:11,000 --> 00:58:13,680
Speaker 3: the big on until we find out Tristan Worfs is playing.

1219
00:58:14,000 --> 00:58:16,560
Speaker 3: You got to have everything about the Bucks ranked a

1220
00:58:16,560 --> 00:58:19,840
Speaker 3: little lower. I cannot buy any futurist ticket on the

1221
00:58:19,840 --> 00:58:22,480
Speaker 3: bus because I have to believe that they're going to

1222
00:58:22,560 --> 00:58:25,360
Speaker 3: get worse and look worse and become better odds for

1223
00:58:25,400 --> 00:58:27,320
Speaker 3: me to invest. And I'm not out on them for

1224
00:58:27,360 --> 00:58:30,360
Speaker 3: this season, but I'm not buying any Buck stock right

1225
00:58:30,440 --> 00:58:33,320
Speaker 3: now or even week to week games until I see

1226
00:58:33,320 --> 00:58:35,920
Speaker 3: Tristan Worfs out there, and then that might be a

1227
00:58:36,040 --> 00:58:37,960
Speaker 3: chance to invest later on. So keep an eye on

1228
00:58:38,000 --> 00:58:40,040
Speaker 3: that name. Keep an eye on some of these teams

1229
00:58:40,080 --> 00:58:42,040
Speaker 3: early on, as they can a round in the form

1230
00:58:42,160 --> 00:58:42,960
Speaker 3: later in the season.

1231
00:58:43,440 --> 00:58:46,080
Speaker 2: Okay, well that'll do it. For today's episode of the

1232
00:58:46,120 --> 00:58:48,680
Speaker 2: Action Network Podcast, I want to thank you for tuning

1233
00:58:48,720 --> 00:58:50,760
Speaker 2: in and you'll hear more from us. Of course, over

1234
00:58:50,800 --> 00:58:53,440
Speaker 2: the next couple of weeks, as Brandon continues his NFL rankings,

1235
00:58:53,480 --> 00:58:56,680
Speaker 2: we're going to look at coaching staffs offense defense, So

1236
00:58:56,760 --> 00:58:58,920
Speaker 2: don't forget to leave us a five star rating and review.

1237
00:58:58,960 --> 00:59:02,200
Speaker 2: Wherever you listen to the podcast, download the free award

1238
00:59:02,240 --> 00:59:05,000
Speaker 2: winning Action Network app. You could save twenty dollars on

1239
00:59:05,040 --> 00:59:08,560
Speaker 2: an annual pro account by using codepod twenty at actionnetwork

1240
00:59:08,600 --> 00:59:12,000
Speaker 2: dot com slash pro. Also Action Network Discord. You got

1241
00:59:12,000 --> 00:59:13,960
Speaker 2: to check that out. There's a link in the episode

1242
00:59:14,000 --> 00:59:18,320
Speaker 2: description of this podcast for Brandon Anderson. I'm Joe Galant.

1243
00:59:18,320 --> 00:59:20,680
Speaker 2: Thank you again for listening to the Action Network podcast

1244
00:59:20,920 --> 00:59:21,680
Speaker 2: and boat Humps.

1245
00:59:37,240 --> 00:59:41,800
Speaker 1: Action Network reminds you please gamble responsibly. If you or

1246
00:59:41,800 --> 00:59:44,600
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1247
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