Speaker 1: They Around the NFL podcast, the Alternative Rock of Football podcast.
Speaker 1: Welcome to another edition of Around the NFL. My name
Speaker 1: is Dan Hans. This I am coming to you from
Speaker 1: a virtual room filled with one hero. It's another two
Speaker 1: hand or with GREGGI. Rosenthal. What's up, Buddy?
Speaker 2: I like being the Alternative Rock of Football podcast.
Speaker 1: What do you think that means? How do you like
Speaker 1: describe that or break that down?
Speaker 2: Well, you know, it's like there's mainstream and we're like
Speaker 2: a little left of center. Maybe we rock hard world
Speaker 2: enough that we were around when alternative rock radio stations
Speaker 2: were invented, Like they did not exist when we were children,
Speaker 2: and then they popped up around nineteen ninety three.
Speaker 1: Right, I kind of see us maybe as if we're
Speaker 1: going to extend this the Smashing Pumpkins like but maybe
Speaker 1: before like Gish Era or Siamese Dream, but before Melancholin,
Speaker 1: Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness put us in that slot,
Speaker 1: certainly before Ava Door.
Speaker 2: I mean, as long as you're Billy Corgan and I'm
Speaker 2: James Iha.
Speaker 1: Who makes Who's Darcy?
Speaker 3: Then?
Speaker 1: Speaking of music, it's definitely Mark. Mark is in parts
Speaker 1: unknown today. Speaking of music, I am at my parents'
Speaker 1: beach house in Jersey for one more week before we
Speaker 1: batten down the hatches back in La For us would
Speaker 1: be a fun exercise. My dad, Keith has roughly two
Speaker 1: hundred old LP's down in the basement that have survived
Speaker 1: through fifty years now. So I'm going to share you
Speaker 1: just five that I pulled at random. This one, Connor
Speaker 1: Or would like this one. This is the best of
Speaker 1: the Grateful Dead. How about that? Don't you miss LPs?
Speaker 1: Well we kind of missed him entirely, Greg, But the
Speaker 1: the cover art and everything is very nice art work there.
Speaker 2: I can just imagine your dad, you know, rolling joints
Speaker 2: on top of that, you really can't, I'm joking, I
Speaker 2: kind of can't imagine that.
Speaker 1: Well, you were on the right track. He used the
Speaker 1: parlance of the time, blown a bone while listening to
Speaker 1: The Grateful Dead. Then the eighties came along, and look
Speaker 1: here we go. Here's Huey Lewis Sports, which is seminal
Speaker 1: in eighties pop rock. Somehow, George Carlin check out the
Speaker 1: YouTube show to see these covers. George Carlin Toledo Window
Speaker 1: Box a stand up special of some kind. I don't
Speaker 1: know if this is Pete Carlin or not Gregy, but
Speaker 1: seems to be close. Of course, here we go everyone
Speaker 1: had in the seventies Fleetwood mac rumors.
Speaker 2: Does he have a working record player that you can
Speaker 2: play these on?
Speaker 1: Yes? And my goodness, look at Stevie Nicks in the
Speaker 1: back of that, GREGI modern now beautiful woman. And finally,
Speaker 1: and I'm going to ask Keith about this one because
Speaker 1: I think some of my mom stuff sneaks in. But
Speaker 1: here's the self titled album by Chare nineteen seventy one.
Speaker 2: All right, I think I think young men were share fans.
Speaker 2: My dad had all those records, maybe not the Share one,
Speaker 2: but there was definitely some Linda Ronstats, some Share and
Speaker 2: I think that was appropriate for the young men at
Speaker 2: the time.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Ronstad had that Laurel Canyon cred back in the seventies.
Speaker 1: It is, so there you go, nice little detour there,
Speaker 1: and maybe I'll share a couple more on Thursday show.
Speaker 1: Today is Monday, July seventeenth, GREGI, for those who are
Speaker 1: hazy on the details training camp, when is it kicking off? Bud?
Speaker 2: Okay, I'm glad you asked. I found this out today.
Speaker 2: I didn't know the Jets are the first team to
Speaker 2: show up. They're doing that thing that I said teams
Speaker 2: should want to get in the Hall of Fame game
Speaker 2: because then they get to show up for practice actually weekly,
Speaker 2: and then they get all the coverage for a week.
Speaker 2: So the Jets are showing up Wednesday, the Browns taking
Speaker 2: their time also in that game, showing up two or
Speaker 2: three days later, and then the rest of the team
Speaker 2: start showing up a week from when we're recording this,
Speaker 2: which is Monday, so they start showing up next week.
Speaker 2: So this is also our last week where we're in
Speaker 2: parts unknown. We'll be all back together for the rest
Speaker 2: of time, essentially till a Super Bowl championhis ground.
Speaker 1: That is that is interesting that the Browns have opted
Speaker 1: to take those few extra days off, just some of
Speaker 1: the track as we spin forward into the new season,
Speaker 1: and yes, with training camp on the horizon for all
Speaker 1: of the thirty two teams, we're gonna a little bit
Speaker 1: of a pre training camp primer, you know, storylines to
Speaker 1: watch out for, storylines, Gregy that matter. As teams report
Speaker 1: for another season of NFL football, the eleventh season of
Speaker 1: the Around the NFL Podcast, Can you believe it?
Speaker 2: If we were like an NFL player, who would we be.
Speaker 2: I think Brandon Cooks might be entering his eleventh year,
Speaker 2: tenth year. I don't know. At some point we're gonna
Speaker 2: if we're lucky enough, we're gonna outlast every NFL.
Speaker 1: I'll tell you why Cooks doesn't work, because you got
Speaker 1: to pick somebody that's spent their entire career with one team.
Speaker 2: Let's think DeAndre Hopkins.
Speaker 1: Yes, DeAndre Hopkins, a great wide receiver joining a new team.
Speaker 1: Let's get before we get to the free agency primer,
Speaker 1: Let's get to the news.
Speaker 4: Fourteen seconds to go thirty one thirty one. Bat dodge
Speaker 4: the punt, get the highs laft gets it away. It's
Speaker 4: a Ducklow tracks, packs it at the thirty five, picks
Speaker 4: it up, looks the running rod.
Speaker 1: He's at the courting. He's at the thirty time whatshop berth.
Speaker 2: He comes dodge, he's.
Speaker 1: Running around, but he's heavy. Tone.
Speaker 2: He his bell toon heavy Eagles Man Diagles went business
Speaker 2: belcour the.
Speaker 1: Battle arts no birth too.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 1: One of the craziest games of the last twenty years.
Speaker 1: The Eagles Giants twenty ten. That's the Michael vickiear down
Speaker 1: thirty one ten midway through the fourth quarter, crazy comeback
Speaker 1: to get it to even and then Matt Dodge, Poor
Speaker 1: Matt Dodge, the rookie Giants punter kicks a line drive
Speaker 1: middle of the field to the most dangerous man in
Speaker 1: the world to shun Jackson, who takes it to the
Speaker 1: house for one of the great comeback wins in modern
Speaker 1: NFL history. I'll never forget Gregi Tom Coughlin being so
Speaker 1: angry at his punter that that's the only thing on
Speaker 1: his mind. Immediately after the play, he ran confronted Dodge
Speaker 1: and said, what the hell were you doing? He was
Speaker 1: supposed to kick it out of bounds. You don't kick
Speaker 1: it to d jacks who you know. The reason I
Speaker 1: had Eric Roberts pull that gregy is because it appeared
Speaker 1: this morning that Deshaun Jackson was ready to end his career.
Speaker 1: He posted on Instagram a photo of breaking a tackle
Speaker 1: as a raven he's bounced around a lot in recent years,
Speaker 1: with the accompanying text did it my way, fifteen years strong,
Speaker 1: Never another one like it. And then when it started
Speaker 1: to float out there that he was retiring, he said
Speaker 1: to follow up a message, y'all will know when the
Speaker 1: boy boy capitalized and it's spelled BOI retire And I
Speaker 1: like that. Greg Actually, first of all the fact that
Speaker 1: Deshaun maybe does have another year in him, but a
Speaker 1: smart veteran move letting the people out there by getting
Speaker 1: himself of a news cycle, letting him know that Hey,
Speaker 1: I'm here and I want to play, And that was
Speaker 1: I thought a deaf the use of social media.
Speaker 2: I mean, I don't know if it was totally intentional
Speaker 2: of the first time around, but yeah, Ram's legend Deshaun Jackson,
Speaker 2: I meant, yeah, the last few years, he still looks
Speaker 2: faster than everyone else. He is one of the rare
Speaker 2: NFL players that always looks faster than anyone else as
Speaker 2: an age that way, but he never stays on the field.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so we'll see if d Jacks shows up again.
Speaker 1: Somebody who definitely will be on the field is DeAndre Hopkins,
Speaker 1: whose long odyssey in free agent free agency came to
Speaker 1: an end when he agreed to a deal with the
Speaker 1: Tennessee Titans. So he returned to the AFC South, of course,
Speaker 1: started his career and became a superstar with the Text
Speaker 1: and spent the last few years with the Cardinals. Rap
Speaker 1: Sheet reported on Sunday that the three time All Pro
Speaker 1: wideout has agreed to a two year, twenty six million
Speaker 1: dollar contract base value of twelve million for year one,
Speaker 1: with a chance to get it up to fifteen million,
Speaker 1: and the deal could be worth up to thirty two
Speaker 1: million if he nails every incentive. You know that rarely,
Speaker 1: if ever happens, but he ends up Greg getting the
Speaker 1: bag DeAndre Hopkins or something close to it. Maybe he
Speaker 1: didn't get the Odell money he was looking for, but
Speaker 1: that's pretty good money for a veteran wide receiver who's
Speaker 1: been sitting on the market for a month or two. However,
Speaker 1: you know, it's the Titans, and there's gonna be questions
Speaker 1: about whether he ended up making the right decision for
Speaker 1: his career beyond his bank account.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I saw some Patriots fans like unhappy that they
Speaker 2: didn't get him. It sounds like it probably came down
Speaker 2: to the Patriots or the Titans of the There was
Speaker 2: a clue that Mike Reese said the Patriots were maybe
Speaker 2: around ten million a year, whereas the Titans were I
Speaker 2: guess thirteen million dollars a year. So he's gonna take
Speaker 2: the money. Patriots fan, Oh it was like, Oh, you're
Speaker 2: taking the money over a better chance to win. It's like,
Speaker 2: I don't know. I think the Titans signed DeAndre Hopkins
Speaker 2: because they think they're gonna win. Not that I think
Speaker 2: they're they're gonna go win a Super Bowl this year
Speaker 2: or anything like that, but I think it's a sign
Speaker 2: Dan that Mike Rabel is in with this whole rebuilding idea.
Speaker 2: He still got Ryan Tannehill, he's got a defense that
Speaker 2: has a lot of veterans, most of the same group
Speaker 2: that was the one seed two years ago, and he's
Speaker 2: trying to go scrape out ten wins and win like
Speaker 2: an ugly division again. And DeAndre Hopkins is going to
Speaker 2: help him do that.
Speaker 1: And in his mind, yeah, exactly. And I think we
Speaker 1: all waited for the Titans to dismantle their roster this
Speaker 1: offseason because it just felt like that this current iteration
Speaker 1: of the organization where roster had reached its ceiling and
Speaker 1: was coming down a bit after the AJ Brown trade
Speaker 1: last offseason. Then a very disappointing year and Derek Henry
Speaker 1: is another year older, as is Ryan Tannehill. Teler Luwan retires,
Speaker 1: it just felt like the end of an era instead
Speaker 1: Mike Frable says, I think we could squeeze another year
Speaker 1: out of this. So Tannehill's back, Derek Henry's back, and
Speaker 1: now they go and find, hypothetically the replacement for aj
Speaker 1: Brown Treylon Trayvon Burks, who was the first round pick
Speaker 1: last year, who was supposed to step in and fill
Speaker 1: that void for Brown a year ago, now gets bumped down.
Speaker 1: But you have a compelling one to punch there. And
Speaker 1: you know, I thought it was interesting that. I'll look
Speaker 1: at ESPN, for example, a headline Hopkins defends choice of
Speaker 1: new team and then on on Twitters, which is never
Speaker 1: you know how you want your big signing to be
Speaker 1: spun in the national media. He wrote, I always loved
Speaker 1: having haters and doubters, but I appreciate it even more now.
Speaker 3: Titan.
Speaker 1: So if you're a Titans fan, Greg, you're pumped up
Speaker 1: because you feel like the team has a chance in
Speaker 1: a division that's frankly even with the Jaguars rise. I
Speaker 1: think wide open.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've thought people have been digging dirt on the
Speaker 2: Titans too early, even before this move, Like, yes, it
Speaker 2: was the worst or close to the worst wide receiver
Speaker 2: group in the league before the Hopkins move. But now
Speaker 2: you got Burks, who I wasn't big on coming out
Speaker 2: of college but actually thought showed some things in the
Speaker 2: time that he was healthy as a rookie. Him and
Speaker 2: Hopkins are a reasonable one.
Speaker 1: Two.
Speaker 2: You have Acnquo at tight end who we love. You
Speaker 2: have Derrick Henry we'll see, but mostly you have a
Speaker 2: loaded defense. The question is, like, is Hopkins truly like
Speaker 2: an X receiver still where he can get open and
Speaker 2: win enough contested catches. I don't know. I think trailing
Speaker 2: Burks might be the guy that they might use that's
Speaker 2: moving around a lot more, and they hope Hopkins is
Speaker 2: on the other side of the formation and just winning
Speaker 2: those jump balls, almost like Obj was when he was
Speaker 2: with the Rams. I don't think he's that guy anymore.
Speaker 2: He's not getting paid like that guy. Twelve or thirteen
Speaker 2: million dollars is is like number three receiver money in
Speaker 2: today's NFL, and it's the best that Hopkins could do.
Speaker 2: But that's it kind of shows where he's at. He
Speaker 2: said he'll retire if he doesn't gain a thousand yards,
Speaker 2: Like he's going to retire the day that he doesn't
Speaker 2: gain a thousand yards. So that's a lot, a lot
Speaker 2: on his plate this year, as.
Speaker 1: I think it's it's something like fifty two yards a game.
Speaker 1: If you play every week, we'll get you to a
Speaker 1: thousand now.
Speaker 2: Right, And he pointed out his pace like technically he
Speaker 2: wasn't a thousand yard receiver last year or the last
Speaker 2: couple of years, and tech you know, his pace was
Speaker 2: way over a thousand. So he was saying that, I
Speaker 2: don't know, like this Titans team has a chance. I
Speaker 2: don't think they're gonna be that bad. They always find
Speaker 2: a way, even last year, Like I think it's easy
Speaker 2: to forget what was the record. At one point there
Speaker 2: were seven and three and then they lost seven straight.
Speaker 1: I mean, if I'm Gravedigger, our former producer, I'm excited
Speaker 1: today because it does feel like if you looked at
Speaker 1: where the team was, let's say at the start of
Speaker 1: free agency, when there was so much uncertainty, it felt
Speaker 1: like this team might be going into a total rebuild,
Speaker 1: and now you could, yeah, talk yourself into them playing
Speaker 1: relevant January football. I think I definitely think they can.
Speaker 1: And I've been vocal about this.
Speaker 6: Greg.
Speaker 1: I think it's a bad job by the Patriots who
Speaker 1: seemed to be organizationally and maybe I'll come up a
Speaker 1: little later, but kind of caught in the middle of
Speaker 1: what they're trying to do. And Jeremy Fowler or VESPN
Speaker 1: reported that they did stay in contact, as you mentioned
Speaker 1: it earlier, but they weren't even quote in the same
Speaker 1: ballpark as the Titans in terms of a negotiation and money.
Speaker 1: So I thought he would have been a perfect fit
Speaker 1: for them, not necessarily like what you're talking about, like, oh,
Speaker 1: Nuke's in a much better spot now, but for the Patriots,
Speaker 1: I feel like that would have been a nice cherry
Speaker 1: on top where you had a lot of good vibes
Speaker 1: going into the season with a restart on offense. It's
Speaker 1: now still a lot of question marks there, and I
Speaker 1: understand that. I'm sure Greg, if you go on like
Speaker 1: a Patriots subreddit, there's a lot of upset fans that
Speaker 1: thought they should have finished that.
Speaker 2: Yes, my Twitter, what I've seen on it, it seems
Speaker 2: like people are unhappy. I got to think though they did.
Speaker 2: They were a little ambivalent about them though, I mean,
Speaker 2: why wouldn't they extend three or four million dollars more?
Speaker 2: They were really trying to bring them in at a
Speaker 2: total bargain basement price unless Robert Kraft is cutting them checks,
Speaker 2: which Bill Belichick kind of hit it at in terms
Speaker 2: of their cap spending a few weeks ago. But I
Speaker 2: really don't think that's it. I don't think they want
Speaker 2: them that much. And I can't really keep my thoughts
Speaker 2: straight because it's three am right now in Tokyo and
Speaker 2: I feel like I'm podcasting while underwater.
Speaker 1: Oh my goodness, that's right, you are back in LA
Speaker 1: You had the frame flight.
Speaker 2: Talking like this is making me realize I'm more out
Speaker 2: of it than I realized.
Speaker 3: You do.
Speaker 1: I mean, and I mean this in the nicest way.
Speaker 1: You look a little nuts right now now that I
Speaker 1: kind of give you now that you said that, and
Speaker 1: I'm kind of looking at you in a different way.
Speaker 1: We're gonna get through this. But hey, I love Evan Ingram.
Speaker 1: By the way. I'm a I'm an Ingram guy. I
Speaker 1: thought when Trevor Lawrence got a real chance last year
Speaker 1: and made that big leap in year two with the
Speaker 1: Jaguars that Ingram really reached his came into his own,
Speaker 1: and I think I could be just the start for
Speaker 1: that pairing as long as Ingram could stay healthy, which
Speaker 1: obviously struggled with the Giants. But anyway, the Jaguars are
Speaker 1: on the same thinking as the old Zeusser because Ingram
Speaker 1: and the Jags agreed on terms of a new three year,
Speaker 1: forty one zero point twenty five million dollar contract ahead
Speaker 1: of Monday's deadline that's today for franchise tag players to
Speaker 1: work out an extension. The contract includes twenty four million
Speaker 1: fully guaranteed, so he was going to be on the tag.
Speaker 1: They decide twenty eight years old, it is time, and
Speaker 1: he was a pro bowler. I kind of forgot about that.
Speaker 1: He had a Pro Bowl season in the pandemic year
Speaker 1: with the Giants, so he had flashed with them. But
Speaker 1: he was a very kind of maddening player with drops
Speaker 1: and inconsistency. But the Jags think he's a long term piece,
Speaker 1: and I agree. I think this was a smart move.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I love seeing a player like this who was
Speaker 2: disappointing but showed talent kind of find the right home.
Speaker 2: Doug Peterson knows how to use him. I'm impressed they
Speaker 2: were so willing to commit that. It's essentially the franchise
Speaker 2: tag for two years of what this year's tag would be,
Speaker 2: and then if they had kept him, next year's tag
Speaker 2: would have been So that's a franchise tag I think
Speaker 2: actually working out for the player because now he gets
Speaker 2: two years, they sort of have an option of a
Speaker 2: third if he's playing really well at what will be
Speaker 2: a relatively team friendly price. And the Jags are a
Speaker 2: good example of like, you don't need to have some
Speaker 2: crazy number one receiver. I think they hope Calvin Ridley
Speaker 2: becomes a dude for them, but the big trend in
Speaker 2: today's NFL is like you just need three or four
Speaker 2: or five actual receivers, and Ingram's absolutely going to be
Speaker 2: one of those guys for a couple of years.
Speaker 1: In other contract news, unless we should we hit on
Speaker 1: the quickly on the franchise tech deadline, we don't need
Speaker 1: to dwell on it because it's still got a couple
Speaker 1: hours from now is when it goes official. And hopefully
Speaker 1: we don't get burned on this podcast. But Tony Pollard
Speaker 1: with the Cowboys, Josh Jacobs with the Raiders, Saquon Barkley
Speaker 1: with the Giants, pay attention. They're all running backs, all
Speaker 1: trying to get deals done, but nothing as of press time.
Speaker 1: Anything you want to add.
Speaker 2: There, Gregor sounds like Pollard definitely not getting in the contract.
Speaker 2: Jacob's almost certainly not getting it. Barkley. You know this
Speaker 2: will be out of date, but I wouldn't expect it it.
Speaker 2: Jacobs is the one in Barkley potentially that we're going
Speaker 2: to be stuck talking about a lot because I think
Speaker 2: they're going to go into training camp kind of annoying,
Speaker 2: just like yeah, because you know how it's gonna end.
Speaker 2: They're not gonna miss any regular season time, but it'll
Speaker 2: be it'll be a topic because they'll skip the first
Speaker 2: few weeks of training camp and who wouldn't like to
Speaker 2: do that?
Speaker 1: And it should just a quick reminder that if you
Speaker 1: look at the last five ten years of the NFL,
Speaker 1: the franchise tag has gone up like considerably for every
Speaker 1: position but down at running backs. So that is a
Speaker 1: It's been like one of the big off season storylines
Speaker 1: greg has been this running back situation and how teams
Speaker 1: view them, and you're seeing it again as we hit
Speaker 1: this deadline for long term deal.
Speaker 2: You know, there hasn't been much going around in the
Speaker 2: NFL news when like every different website in television show
Speaker 2: is doing their version of like the how come the
Speaker 2: running backs, you know, like that's all we got.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 2: Normally it'd be like some controversial arrest or something else.
Speaker 2: So I think that's a good sign that we're in
Speaker 2: a good place.
Speaker 1: I don't think it changed. I don't think it's changed either.
Speaker 1: I think this is the new normal. These teams are
Speaker 1: signing up for five years of these backs, and unless
Speaker 1: you are a super duper star, that's just the nature
Speaker 1: of the beast play different position. Kids get out.
Speaker 2: People talking like it's so unfair, and like, I get
Speaker 2: all that, Like you're right, it is unfair to running backs,
Speaker 2: but it just feels like a hill that. I mean,
Speaker 2: I'm okay with it that they're making ten million dollars.
Speaker 1: And oh look at you. If it's not like Greggie
Speaker 1: the old these guys a millionaires with the big cigar
Speaker 1: on the mount, they shouldn't complain about nothing.
Speaker 2: I'm just saying I'd not say that. I just mean, like, okay,
Speaker 2: they're underpaid compared to other like kickers and punters and
Speaker 2: interior eye offensive linemen didn't used to get paid. I'm
Speaker 2: not saying kickers and punchers should get paid, but it's
Speaker 2: just like that they're all doing fine. It's okay, all right.
Speaker 1: In other running back news, Joe Mixon is gonna come
Speaker 1: back to the Cincinnati Bengals, looks like for a seventh season.
Speaker 1: The two sides finalized a restructured contract for twenty twenty three,
Speaker 1: is reported by on Friday by Tom Pellisero the pell
Speaker 1: Raiser originally and Mix it had been due ten one
Speaker 1: point one million this season with a cap number close
Speaker 1: to thirteen. The rework deal, according to rap Sheet, includes
Speaker 1: a base of five and a half million for twenty three.
Speaker 1: He can hit up to seven and a half with incentives.
Speaker 1: So he took a haircut, Gregie, and the way it
Speaker 1: sets up, maybe he can be around next year as
Speaker 1: well on this contract if he plays well enough. But
Speaker 1: now that becomes the focal point. What's left? Or does
Speaker 1: Joe Mixon have more big years in the tank?
Speaker 2: Yeah, he just didn't have that juice last year, Like
Speaker 2: just he had that great explosiveness that you can just see,
Speaker 2: like his zero to second foot was as good as
Speaker 2: anyone in the league his first few years, and so
Speaker 2: maybe that comes back. He's still not that old. It
Speaker 2: was drafted in twenty seventeen. It's pretty rare to see
Speaker 2: someone take like a five million dollar pay cut. That's
Speaker 2: a sign of the running back market too, because he
Speaker 2: knew if he got cut he was not going to
Speaker 2: make five million dollars a year. He probably would have
Speaker 2: made if I the guess three to four or three,
Speaker 2: and so he can go try to win a super Bowl.
Speaker 2: He likes the situation there and he was willing to
Speaker 2: take a five million dollar haircut.
Speaker 1: It is funny to me the is it cam Akers
Speaker 1: the guy that came out the only guy that didn't
Speaker 1: get was going on, and he wanted the Rams to
Speaker 1: give him a new contract this offseason. Everybody else is
Speaker 1: kind of like, okay, we see what's happening here, including
Speaker 1: Joe Mixon. As you see by what he was willing
Speaker 1: to agree to. Acres is like give me that bag.
Speaker 1: I deserve it and I need it.
Speaker 2: Come on, but they kind of need Mixon to be great.
Speaker 2: By the way, their backup running back is either fifth
Speaker 2: round pick Chase Brown or Travion Williams. Like if Mixon
Speaker 2: actually got back to being Mixon as good as that
Speaker 2: offense was a year ago, Like, it'd be be even
Speaker 2: better because I think the offensive line is better.
Speaker 1: And isn't there a certain former Pro Bowl running back
Speaker 1: with the Vikings, who's still out there? Like that is
Speaker 1: that's still a thing?
Speaker 3: Huh?
Speaker 1: Like I was going to say, maybe the writing was
Speaker 1: on the wall in retrospect with Sinnati looking to stay
Speaker 1: in business when they didn't make a aggressive draft pick
Speaker 1: of a running back. But man, they maybe could have
Speaker 1: done business and gotten with Cook, but they decided to
Speaker 1: stay with Mixing.
Speaker 2: I'd rather have Cook. I do wonder Pollard is coming
Speaker 2: off of a broken ankle and leg, and we'll see
Speaker 2: if he's ready for week one. I think that's the expectation.
Speaker 2: But they're thin in the backfield. The Cowboys to me
Speaker 2: behind him and like you're gonna ask him to have
Speaker 2: his biggest workload ever coming off of a huge injury.
Speaker 2: They would be an interesting team. I think that no
Speaker 2: one has really talked about for Cook or for Kareem Hunt,
Speaker 2: who is out there as well.
Speaker 1: This is kind of cheating because you could say this
Speaker 1: like about any player, just something about the Cowboys. But
Speaker 1: I could picture Dalvin Cook in a Cowboys uniform. It
Speaker 1: kind of makes sense to me. Let's finish up with
Speaker 1: a couple of fun items here, GREGI, speaking of running backs,
Speaker 1: Miles Sanders, former Eagles running back now with the Panthers.
Speaker 1: He's excited to play with number one overall pick, Bryce Young.
Speaker 1: But Bryce Young has another quarter back in the room
Speaker 1: with him. It is Andy Dalton and Miles Sanders. Greg.
Speaker 1: Did you see this? Greg? Miles Sanders was on Sports
Speaker 1: Radio ninety two to seven w fn Z speaking about
Speaker 1: Andy Dalton, our friend, the man, the myth, the legend,
Speaker 1: the Dalton line himself. And this is what Sanders had
Speaker 1: to say.
Speaker 6: And that's the main thing I've noticed in OTAs. We
Speaker 6: got a very very good young quarterback. That's it's being
Speaker 6: meant to buy a very very very good quarterback fer
Speaker 6: Andy Dalton, that I have a lot of respect for it.
Speaker 1: Give it up for Miles Sanders. And yeah, it's a
Speaker 1: little strong to call Andy Dalton a future Hall of Famer.
Speaker 1: Maybe a touch, maybe a touch, But you know what else,
Speaker 1: I respect you, Miles Sanders for giving Dalton the pop,
Speaker 1: the glowing ginger man, three time Pro Bowl selection, he
Speaker 1: is top thirty all time in passing yards and us
Speaker 1: he's an incredible human being obviously, and eyebrows to die
Speaker 1: for Hall of Famer to me, So maybe that makes
Speaker 1: two of us.
Speaker 2: I mean, I think two of those Pro Bowls were
Speaker 2: like as the number six, you know, replacement on the AFC.
Speaker 2: But I guess they don't. They don't put those asteriks upt.
Speaker 2: I I would like. I do feel like it's the
Speaker 2: natural evolution of future Hall of Famer. At some point
Speaker 2: the term just becomes meaningless, kind of like goat like
Speaker 2: and that's fine. Now everyone accepts if you say goat,
Speaker 2: it just means you're a good player. Right now, future
Speaker 2: Hall of Famer can just be like anyone who is
Speaker 2: pretty good.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I hope that doesn't happen. The Hall of Fame enshrine.
Speaker 1: It's coming up is that next weekend.
Speaker 2: This week we got it's Hall of Fame weekend when
Speaker 2: the Jets and Browns play, right, Actually that they play
Speaker 2: on Thursday, And yeah, the Hall of Fame ceremonies a
Speaker 2: couple of days later. They announced the order of that today. Dan,
Speaker 2: that's how slow the news is. That was a hot
Speaker 2: news item. Damn great Joe Thomas, I think is the
Speaker 2: last guy speaking that night.
Speaker 1: Twenty fourth most Oh, he's gonna be good. Twenty fourth
Speaker 1: most yardage yards in league history. Greg.
Speaker 2: Wow, Now I'm with it. If only because true Hall
Speaker 2: of famers do it in multiple places, and his twenty
Speaker 2: twenty two season will always be remembered by me as
Speaker 2: like a sneaky, underrated yea, you love.
Speaker 1: His twenty twenty two season. Yeah, two hundred and forty
Speaker 1: four passing touchdown, twenty seventh Top thirty kind of guy.
Speaker 1: Finally in the news. Congratulations are in order and some
Speaker 1: privacy for Tyler Lockett, who, once upon a time. Greg
Speaker 1: a few years back discussed his h's he was a
Speaker 1: chaste man. Is that a way to put it? Sure?
Speaker 3: He was.
Speaker 1: He was waiting, He was patient, He separated, He separated
Speaker 1: the carnal side of relationships from the love side of
Speaker 1: it and the ring side of it. He waited, he
Speaker 1: was waiting for marriage. He was a virgin.
Speaker 2: Okay, you made me say it, Greg, I mean I
Speaker 2: had nothing to be afraid to say. He was saying it.
Speaker 2: He was a thirty year old virgin by the time
Speaker 2: I think he got married. Here he'd been with his
Speaker 2: beautiful bride girlfriend for four years, made her wait, and
Speaker 2: so congratulations are in order, and he brought together You know,
Speaker 2: I saw the pictures from the wedding you got Russell
Speaker 2: Wilson there, you got Geno there, he's he's bringing people together.
Speaker 1: I wish I had the and yes not to question
Speaker 1: anyone's faith based choices. So if you're out there and
Speaker 1: you followed a similar path, that are currently following similar path,
Speaker 1: go for it. I have a lot of respect, quite frankly,
Speaker 1: for the willpower that must take. And I don't know
Speaker 1: how it works, Greggie, but that is outrageous to be
Speaker 1: able to wait four years.
Speaker 3: You said they dated.
Speaker 2: That's what that's what they are un that's me is like.
Speaker 1: The greatest achievement in the history of mankind, more or
Speaker 1: less from my perspective.
Speaker 2: Well, and that I respect anyone that can do something
Speaker 2: so out of step with the rest of society and
Speaker 2: the rest of like an NFL locker room. It takes
Speaker 2: some hutzpa, some cajones to put that out publicly, that
Speaker 2: this is how I'm gonna lead. You try to make
Speaker 2: fun of me, you try to and just I'm not.
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna act like you act right and.
Speaker 1: He and he also to put out a poetry book too.
Speaker 1: I mean, this guy was just operating on levels that
Speaker 1: I can't help but admire it.
Speaker 2: Yes, it owns a real estate company, I believe, so
Speaker 2: he's he's a renaissance man.
Speaker 1: M Meanwhile, Greg had, like, you know, one girlfriend after another,
Speaker 1: and in high school and you know, I don't I
Speaker 1: don't imagine you were a man of faith or much
Speaker 1: class back then. You were just rolling through western Massachusetts back.
Speaker 2: Then minutchag Regional High School. I mean not exactly that.
Speaker 2: That's exaggerating it. But there was a little sweet spot
Speaker 2: before before I realized short guys aren't supposed to get
Speaker 2: all the girls.
Speaker 1: You know what is you came to that realization. No,
Speaker 1: I'm just that awareness and that it slowed down.
Speaker 2: No, I don't know, maybe a little bit or or
Speaker 2: the girls started caring in high school. They'll just take
Speaker 2: anyone with a little confidence.
Speaker 1: High school was tough for me. Yeah, that was I
Speaker 1: was on the Tyler Lockett path to enlightenment, but not
Speaker 1: by choice because it again, I sometimes I forgot Greg.
Speaker 1: We have a lot of younger listeners. If you're a
Speaker 1: younger listener and you're kind of not doing so hot
Speaker 1: initially with the your opposite sex or your choice of
Speaker 1: sex and a partner hanging there, it is about confidence.
Speaker 1: It's all about confidence. If you don't think you're worthy
Speaker 1: of having girl and stuff like that, You're not gonna
Speaker 1: get one. I don't know when I gained that enlightenment, Greg,
Speaker 1: but it took into my early twenties to really get that.
Speaker 1: Put a bow on the conversation.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's and it can go up and down.
Speaker 2: You know, you could have the confidence. You can lose
Speaker 2: it for a little while, you can get it back.
Speaker 2: So if you lose it, don't worry, it's coming back.
Speaker 1: I think this is the plot of the second Austin
Speaker 1: Powers movie. Basically, watch that, kids, and you'll understand everything
Speaker 1: that I'm trying to express. Let's take a break and
Speaker 1: we will be back with some training camp talk. Now, right,
Speaker 1: we are back, Greg, before we get to a primer
Speaker 1: of training camp things to watch for, things that matter.
Speaker 1: One last thing that I saw this morning I wanted
Speaker 1: to share with you. Somebody over on the NFL subreddit
Speaker 1: put together a chart. Let's fly that up there, Eric
Speaker 1: of one score game flips in the NFL in two
Speaker 1: thousand twenty two. I find it interesting, Greg, when the difference,
Speaker 1: you know, how how many games just come down to
Speaker 1: one or two plays, and how different things would be,
Speaker 1: and when you talk about teams that will come back
Speaker 1: to the pack or maybe go in a different direction.
Speaker 1: Look at how the previous season ended, and maybe you
Speaker 1: maybe you get some what do they call that positive regression.
Speaker 1: So teams that one score games, if you flip them,
Speaker 1: For instance, the Eagles had five one score games. If
Speaker 1: you flip those wins to losses, they would have finished
Speaker 1: nine and eight. The Raiders and Broncos both if you
Speaker 1: flip their one score losses to one score wins, they
Speaker 1: would have been eleven and six and ten and seven, respectively.
Speaker 1: The Chiefs, the defending champions, were a negative. If they
Speaker 1: went negative four ten and seven, they would have been which,
Speaker 1: by the way, good teams and well coached teams win
Speaker 1: close games, so you're gonna see that as a theme
Speaker 1: as well well.
Speaker 2: Surprising though to see the Raiders suddenly ahead of the Chiefs.
Speaker 1: Or right, a lot of heartbreakers for the Chiefs. A
Speaker 1: very strange AFC West season last year. And then if
Speaker 1: you the NFC North, I'll just I'll take a look
Speaker 1: at the If the Chiefs lost three games on one score,
Speaker 1: they could have been eleven and six. In a different world,
Speaker 1: Bears could have been the Lions, Excuse me, could have
Speaker 1: been eleven and six in a different world. The Bears,
Speaker 1: if you flip five losses by one score, they would
Speaker 1: have been eight and nine, and they still ended up
Speaker 1: with you know, top pick and a reconfigured roster, and
Speaker 1: then the Vikings. Again. Such a strange season, Greg, in
Speaker 1: so many ways, we all know it. This exercise is
Speaker 1: very interesting. They had nine wins by one score, a historic.
Speaker 1: If you would have flipped that, they would have finished
Speaker 1: four and thirteen.
Speaker 2: Weird, weird, weird, Well, not just nine wins, but like
Speaker 2: plus nine. You know, they didn't have any close losses
Speaker 2: or maybe I think they might add ten close or
Speaker 2: eleven close wins and two close losses something like that.
Speaker 2: It is very weird, and I think that's why a
Speaker 2: lot of people are picking the against the maybe actually
Speaker 2: come in last instead of just coming in last.
Speaker 1: In this and two outliers Greg, the Ravens and the
Speaker 1: Patriots their delta, which is an interesting way to put it.
Speaker 1: Zero one score games last year.
Speaker 2: Is that possible?
Speaker 3: I guess it is?
Speaker 2: Well, it's no, it's that they were at five hundred
Speaker 2: in terms of one score games.
Speaker 1: Is oh, I see, now I get it.
Speaker 2: Okay, Like they went one in one, got it, got it?
Speaker 1: Got it makes more sense? All right? Interesting kind of
Speaker 1: All right, let's get to it now, Greg, Training camp
Speaker 1: is ready. We are about to have a new season
Speaker 1: of NFL football. Tons of storylines are going to start
Speaker 1: flying at football fans. We are going to call out
Speaker 1: some impending storylines or situations to watch across the league
Speaker 1: that we think matter more than the avalanche of content
Speaker 1: you're gonna get. So we're cherry picking here, stuff that
Speaker 1: we think really matters. Why don't you get it going?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've learned over the years, like I love camp
Speaker 2: because it gets you ready and it gets you thinking
Speaker 2: about all the things. But so much of it is
Speaker 2: just waiting for Week one to start because you don't
Speaker 2: really learn that much about veterans, but you do learn
Speaker 2: a lot about rookies. And the one rookie quarterback that
Speaker 2: I think it really matters to watch is Anthony Richardson.
Speaker 2: Because I'm just assuming Bryce Young and c. J. Stroud
Speaker 2: start in Week one. I don't really I know Young
Speaker 2: is and I'm pretty sure Stroud is. But Richardson and
Speaker 2: how he develops throughout the month and then especially how
Speaker 2: he plays in the preseason, to me, you know, impacts
Speaker 2: big time, whether the Colts are going to be interesting
Speaker 2: to watch week one or not, or if it's going
Speaker 2: to be Gardner Minshew and his development, to me is
Speaker 2: one of the most fascinating stories to watch.
Speaker 1: That was my number one story to watch also, and
Speaker 1: it's because of multiple reasons, starting first and foremost with
Speaker 1: like how much hype is around Richardson. Now is this
Speaker 1: unbelievable athlete and potential playmaker at a elite level? But
Speaker 1: also what happened last year with the Colts and management
Speaker 1: and this feeling that what is that ship being run
Speaker 1: in the right way? Is quite frankly, Jim Mersey patient
Speaker 1: enough to handle a prospect is Raws Richardson who started
Speaker 1: just thirteen college games. He becomes the number four overall pick.
Speaker 1: You have a very suitable, passable, competent backup in Gardner
Speaker 1: Minshew if you want to play the game, and you know,
Speaker 1: coming from a fan of a team that rushed a
Speaker 1: green quarterback into the lineup like the what Jets. The
Speaker 1: Jets did was Zach Wilson. I'm not saying that would
Speaker 1: have changed Wilson's career necessarily or even Sam Donald before that,
Speaker 1: but when you do that and the guy's not ready
Speaker 1: or the team around him is not ready, you could
Speaker 1: irreparably harm the player. So I hope the best the
Speaker 1: best case for this, for the for the Colts, and
Speaker 1: for Richardson is that he is locked in. He's progressing quickly,
Speaker 1: he has some nice moments in the preseason, and there's
Speaker 1: a lot of positivity around him heading into Week one.
Speaker 1: But the reports out of the rookie mini camp OTA's
Speaker 1: veteran mini camp. This is from James Boyd to the
Speaker 1: Athletic he quote rarely had the best day. Overall, the
Speaker 1: rookie must become more knowledgeable of the playbook and sharpens
Speaker 1: throwing mechanics. If Indie plans on handling the keys and
Speaker 1: its opener, he's a raw player, greg and they have
Speaker 1: to be careful not to because they want it so
Speaker 1: much just to put him in week one. I know
Speaker 1: the way we do it now in the league is
Speaker 1: you just put the kid in almost always, but that
Speaker 1: doesn't mean you have to do it. And I just
Speaker 1: hope they are monitoring this the right way rather than
Speaker 1: just he's playing and that's it and it's gonna work
Speaker 1: out right.
Speaker 2: And I think that's where having a good like beat
Speaker 2: reporter crew covering the team. In this case, they do
Speaker 2: have a good one. We got our friend Zach Kiefer.
Speaker 2: They get Stephen Holden, like they'll they'll be giving us
Speaker 2: the real deal of how he looks, and the first
Speaker 2: week less important. It's a couple weeks in once you
Speaker 2: put the pads on, once you get a couple of
Speaker 2: weeks of data, and the preseasonal matter for him. Russell Wilson,
Speaker 2: to me, is the number one example of a guy
Speaker 2: who almost immediately was kind of winning the practice reports
Speaker 2: and then won the preseason two and you're like, wow,
Speaker 2: this is a third round pick that is going to
Speaker 2: be better than everyone expects and is going to start
Speaker 2: week one. But it's not always like that.
Speaker 1: Yes, I agree.
Speaker 2: By the way Ersay you mentioned, I know you're on
Speaker 2: the East Coast. Did you happen to make it over
Speaker 2: to Boston this weekend to the TD Garden for where
Speaker 2: the Jim Ersay collection was there traveling museum in a
Speaker 2: one of a kind of free event where the Jim
Speaker 2: Arsay Band played to a relatively packed TD Garden. Again
Speaker 2: it was free, including a band member's Mike Mills, founding
Speaker 2: member of Ram and Kenny Arnnoff, who's played with Paul
Speaker 2: McCartney in the row Stones. How about that.
Speaker 1: It's about a ten hour round trip from far the
Speaker 1: Jersey Shore right here, so I did miss it. It
Speaker 1: does remind me like rim is one of my favorite
Speaker 1: bands of all time. And at the Giants Patriots to
Speaker 1: super Bowl in Indianapolis, Mike Mills was at the Marriotte
Speaker 1: Bar at the same time as me and I had
Speaker 1: had a couple of tito's and I decided to go
Speaker 1: up to Mike Mills, who I think he was obviously
Speaker 1: connect the Dots, was at an event with Jim Irsey
Speaker 1: that weekend for the Super Bowl, and I told Mike
Speaker 1: Mills that I believed him to be, after shaking his hand,
Speaker 1: the greatest backing harmony vocalist in the history of rock.
Speaker 1: And he looked at me like, that's a weird thing
Speaker 1: to dive into immediately after an introduction, But thank you
Speaker 1: very much, And that was the end of the interaction.
Speaker 2: Well, I think it's important you had him ranked that high.
Speaker 2: He had to know. But yeah, where do you go?
Speaker 2: Where do you go from that? In a conversation? I
Speaker 2: want to do the kids? Do kids listen to RAM.
Speaker 2: You know, I would like to know if you, if
Speaker 2: you listen to this podcast, has RIM had any carryover
Speaker 2: with the younger generation. I don't feel like it they
Speaker 2: have as much as you would think.
Speaker 1: It's funny you should say that because, as you know,
Speaker 1: my buddy Bob, we do the Throwback podcast and we've
Speaker 1: been building up to do an episode called Appreciate RM
Speaker 1: because I feel like they don't have that kind of
Speaker 1: next generation understanding of how important they were and how
Speaker 1: great they were. Maybe that moment comes in time, but
Speaker 1: I'm with you, they've kind of fallen through the cracks
Speaker 1: in terms of having a tail. If you will, you
Speaker 1: know who's fallen through the cracks, the Rams this time
Speaker 1: last year, the defending Super Bowl champion. It is crazy
Speaker 1: what's going. I know you had Jordan Rodrigue on the show,
Speaker 1: who does awesome coverage of the Rams, last week, and man,
Speaker 1: i'ma be curious to check in with her during the
Speaker 1: summer because this is crazy what they're attempting to do.
Speaker 1: Where they're keeping Matthew Stafford and Cooper Cup and Aaron
Speaker 1: Donald and you know, I know they traded Jalen Ramsey
Speaker 1: and Von Miller. Is not there anymore. But this is
Speaker 1: still a team with veterans and the idea that you know,
Speaker 1: different situation. But we were talking about it with the Titans,
Speaker 1: a team that's maybe hoping to squeeze out ten wins
Speaker 1: and be in the mix and then see what happens.
Speaker 1: This team is going to have forty forty four zero
Speaker 1: rookies on their roster at the start of training camp.
Speaker 1: That is expansion team stuff, Greg, That is teams that
Speaker 1: are just completely starting over. I think everybody's kind of
Speaker 1: been scratching their heads trying to figure out what the
Speaker 1: Rams are trying to do right now, where they're at,
Speaker 1: what kind of needle they're trying to thread here. But
Speaker 1: to have these well known, established stars and in some
Speaker 1: cases superstars with Cup and a Legend and Aaron Donald,
Speaker 1: and then to surround them with a roster fully almost
Speaker 1: fully loaded with people with no experience. I mean, this
Speaker 1: could go really poorly if just a couple of things
Speaker 1: go wrong, which is what happened last year, but maybe
Speaker 1: even worse than last year, if things go sideways.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a camp where there's a ton of jobs available.
Speaker 2: You know, their offense actually looks like a totally normal
Speaker 2: offense and potentially a good offense. They think it'll be good.
Speaker 2: It's really all about the defense especially, And there are
Speaker 2: a lot of rookies, like undrafted rookies on the offense
Speaker 2: and stuff, but they're not going to be playing major roles.
Speaker 2: I don't think where's the defense. If you look at
Speaker 2: their hour Lads page where they put red players in
Speaker 2: rookies in red, like it's all red, and there's five
Speaker 2: or six or seven starting jobs open and the rookies
Speaker 2: are competing for a lot of those. And so that's
Speaker 2: a camp where it's going to matter. The preseason games
Speaker 2: will matter. Our friend Mina Chimes who does their preseason
Speaker 2: games with the Andrews silly and like, those games are
Speaker 2: actually going to mean a lot for a lot of
Speaker 2: these players because you can get starting jobs from them.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I would say that I would be very
Speaker 1: surprised if the Rams come out of the gate playing
Speaker 1: at a high level. And I do believe in the
Speaker 1: coaching staff and Sean mcvay's abilities, and you know, if
Speaker 1: Stafford can stay healthy, he'll kind of stabilize everything, as
Speaker 1: will Donald. He'll help obviously immeasurably. On the other side
Speaker 1: of the ball. Maybe you can get out of September
Speaker 1: two and two or whatever, and then you start to
Speaker 1: find an identity and the young players get get their
Speaker 1: feet wet. But I think that's going to be you know,
Speaker 1: how did they look in training camp? The reports. Keep
Speaker 1: an eye on what Jordan and the other Beat reporters
Speaker 1: are saying about how these practices are going, how these
Speaker 1: preseason games look. Because this is a very green team. Certainly,
Speaker 1: I would imagine for teams that are recent Super Bowl winners,
Speaker 1: it's almost unprecedented that this is the roster.
Speaker 6: Now.
Speaker 1: Look at as a comparison point, look at the Bucks,
Speaker 1: who are kind of still running back the same team
Speaker 1: from a couple of years earlier that won a Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: The Rams are going in a different direction for the
Speaker 1: most part. We'll see how it goes.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think the thought is, if you have forty rookies,
Speaker 2: can you find seven like that? There's nothing more valuable
Speaker 2: than a starter or a significant player on a rookie
Speaker 2: contract by just throwing huge numbers of it. I wonder
Speaker 2: what the analytic like idea was behind to all this that, like,
Speaker 2: all right, if we can just somehow find five to
Speaker 2: seven contributors from this rookie class, like that'd be a
Speaker 2: great class and maybe just don't bother with the mid
Speaker 2: level veterans for now. Actually, I'm going to go for
Speaker 2: a former Ram as my next one. OBJ is just
Speaker 2: someone I want to watch in camp. You could extend
Speaker 2: this to the whole the Ravens wide receiver group, because
Speaker 2: I don't know what's up with Rashad Bateman right now.
Speaker 2: He hasn't been healthy. The whole group was hurt, but
Speaker 2: OBJ particularly, I just am curious and want to be
Speaker 2: watching the camp reports and see what is going on.
Speaker 2: It's been a while since we've seen him, and we
Speaker 2: don't know what kind of OBJ he is. I don't
Speaker 2: think he's gonna be playing in the preseason, but even
Speaker 2: the camp reports and whether he's practicing day one and
Speaker 2: all that sort of stuff matters to me.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean, they paid him a lot, a lot
Speaker 1: more than a lot of people expected, and the Ravens
Speaker 1: are expecting him to be the guy, the guy that
Speaker 1: he was with the Rams in the playoffs and that
Speaker 1: Super Bowl before he went down with the injury. You know,
Speaker 1: thirty something wide receivers coming off to knee reconstructions are
Speaker 1: typically a step slow. Compared to their heyday, but they
Speaker 1: kind of need him to be better than that. I
Speaker 1: don't think they're looking for, you know, late period Derek
Speaker 1: Mason here or something. They're looking for a game changer
Speaker 1: and a guy that kind of stretches the field and
Speaker 1: drives defenses crazy like Pete obj But yeah, like if
Speaker 1: if the camp or ports aren't glowing, yeah, I would
Speaker 1: be very nervous. If I was a Ravens fan.
Speaker 2: He could have great chemistry with Lamar Jackson, fro we know,
Speaker 2: could be could be like Randy Moss in New England.
Speaker 2: I doubt that, But I do think he's someone just
Speaker 2: health wise, and that's what I look for a lot
Speaker 2: in camp that I want to see that he's actually
Speaker 2: out there every day.
Speaker 1: All right, let's go to New England. We touch on
Speaker 1: the Patriots earlier about finishing Peers second in the DeAndre
Speaker 1: Hopkins sweepstakes, although they kind of opted out of it,
Speaker 1: it sounded like we talked about mac Jones and what's
Speaker 1: going on there. This is good, this is interesting. Ben
Speaker 1: Volin of the Boston Globe reported that the question of
Speaker 1: how third year QB mac Jones is viewed inside the
Speaker 1: Patriots quotes depends on who you ask. I'll continue to
Speaker 1: read from Volan's reporting, It's clear Patrio, It's president Jonathan
Speaker 1: Kraft passionately defends and protects Jones. The Crafts are invested
Speaker 1: in Jones succeeding. Belichick meanwhile, barely wants to say his
Speaker 1: name in public. The Patriots hired the new offensive coordinator,
Speaker 1: but it's not. As we enter training camp, I think
Speaker 1: the expectation, obviously is that Mac Jones is going to
Speaker 1: be the starter. But you know, Belichick has got Baily
Speaker 1: Zappy there and seemingly a chip on his shoulder potentially
Speaker 1: with the quarterback. Does this get a little weird in
Speaker 1: training camp? How are rep split? Do you have any
Speaker 1: Do you have any inkling that Belichick could do one
Speaker 1: of those things where he surprises people and maybe there's
Speaker 1: a storyline about how reps are being split or any
Speaker 1: type of buzz in that direction.
Speaker 2: It wouldn't be totally shocking because he does seem to
Speaker 2: like Bailey Zappy and he does seem to have something.
Speaker 2: But I think he got over it. And I think
Speaker 2: if Mac Jones is just better than Bailey Zappy, which
Speaker 2: I believe he will be, then he'll he'll go with him.
Speaker 2: I don't think it's quite a Tom Brady Drew Bledsoe
Speaker 2: two thousand and one situation where he just clearly loved
Speaker 2: Brady and thought Bledsoe is on the way out. I
Speaker 2: think there was a point this offseason where they could
Speaker 2: have gotten rid of mac Jones. That point didn't happen,
Speaker 2: and now I expect it to be mac Jones. But
Speaker 2: you're you're right. As a Patriot hater, you could, you
Speaker 2: could root for some chickinery.
Speaker 1: I mean, listen, I was a Patriot hater. Those those
Speaker 1: days are over, Greg, Please, They're over. I got bigger fish.
Speaker 2: We'll see how you feel.
Speaker 1: Weak.
Speaker 2: When did they play? Is it Week two that they play?
Speaker 2: We'll see how you feel because they got to end
Speaker 2: that losing streak. I mean, the Patriots, they have one
Speaker 2: thing left from their dynasty days. It's ownership of the Jet.
Speaker 2: Well they have left.
Speaker 1: That is true. And yeah, I would think that if
Speaker 1: Belichick is smart, and he is very smart man, he's
Speaker 1: a brilliant man. In fact, especially in matters of professional football,
Speaker 1: he will throw his support behind mac Jones at this point,
Speaker 1: and you know, speak speak about him in some level
Speaker 1: of high regard and throughout the training camp and make
Speaker 1: this story completely disappear and everybody goes into together. But
Speaker 1: maybe this is even though the men didn't see eye
Speaker 1: to eye, GREGI maybe this is a little the Parcels
Speaker 1: in Belichick, Like how Parcels was with Phil Simms as
Speaker 1: an example, He's just gonna be hard on him, and
Speaker 1: until you prove it to me, I'm gonna kind of
Speaker 1: look at you a little side eyed until I could
Speaker 1: truly trust you. I think there is are trust issues
Speaker 1: in that building. We'll see if it manifests into anything
Speaker 1: that gets the beat popping off during the summer. I
Speaker 1: would probably not. But also I've been surprised by some
Speaker 1: of the leaks out of Patriot Way this offseason, so
Speaker 1: you never know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, everything seems a little messier. It's Week three, by
Speaker 2: the way. It's a one o'clock game in the Meadowlands.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 2: The Patriots start with the Eagles and the Dolphins. The
Speaker 2: Jets start with the Bills and the Cowboys. I'm just
Speaker 2: hoping that's not too zher and two teams there none
Speaker 2: of those those games, sou easy.
Speaker 1: I can't stress this enough to what you're saying. The
Speaker 1: Jets cannot cannot lose to the Patriots at home with
Speaker 1: a healthy Aaron Rodgers given everything here. Okay, that needs
Speaker 1: to be a w regardless of how the first two
Speaker 1: games go, or it's gonna feel like the same old,
Speaker 1: same old.
Speaker 2: All right, you're up, all right, I'm gonna just go
Speaker 2: with the main quarterback battle that matters, which is the
Speaker 2: forty nine Ers. You could throw the bucks in there, like,
Speaker 2: are we sure Baker Mayfield this week one? Starter is
Speaker 2: it could try out Kyle Trust get a chance. I mean,
Speaker 2: that'll keep an eye on. But the forty nine Ers quarterbacks,
Speaker 2: I mean, we don't need to go too long on it.
Speaker 2: We're gonna be talking about, but that legitimately is up
Speaker 2: in the air. I think it's Perty's job if he's healthy.
Speaker 2: But I don't think Kyle Shanahan is totally locked in
Speaker 2: on that either. I think his mind is open to
Speaker 2: Trey Lance, and his mind is probably open to Sam Darnold.
Speaker 2: And it could be a situation where their preseason games
Speaker 2: are like auditions for Week three, even if let's say
Speaker 2: it's pretty week one, or let's say he's not healthy
Speaker 2: and it's Lance week one, Like Sam Donald playing really
Speaker 2: well in August in the preseason could earn him like
Speaker 2: a week four job and a quick hook for whoever
Speaker 2: is the starter.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I'm I'm incredibly invested in this storyline because
Speaker 1: I do want to see Sam Donald to get a
Speaker 1: shot here. I feel like if he gets even a
Speaker 1: couple of weeks in the starting job, it might be
Speaker 1: hard to get him out of the lineup if he's
Speaker 1: able to play with this offense. There's He was on
Speaker 1: the part of My Take podcast and he said.
Speaker 2: Talking ghost talking about the ghosts because we did hit
Speaker 2: that last show that was right up Mark Sessler's alley.
Speaker 2: I don't know if you've heard about that.
Speaker 1: No, what would happen?
Speaker 3: Oh?
Speaker 2: He said that there was some sort of paranormal activity
Speaker 2: in George Kill's guests house when he was staying there.
Speaker 4: Oh.
Speaker 2: Really, you're hitting a different part of this what I.
Speaker 1: Mean, what a varied interview by Big Cat and PFT commenter.
Speaker 1: But here is the line. Guys are open. I mean,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of guys open on dang near every play.
Speaker 1: It just seems like there's a ton of answers. So
Speaker 1: for a guy that hasn't had a lot of answers
Speaker 1: on the field in his time. It would be interesting
Speaker 1: to see how he performed with an offense like this.
Speaker 1: And then there's yeah, the Trey Lance of it all
Speaker 1: is something the track to like, how is how many
Speaker 1: reps is he getting? Is he getting a real look,
Speaker 1: a real chance at this or is he the past
Speaker 1: in that organization already?
Speaker 2: He'll play a lot. I know you're not a fan
Speaker 2: of the preseason, you know. I yeah, it has its use,
Speaker 2: but I get sick of it too after the first
Speaker 2: couple of weeks. But Trey Lance will play a lot
Speaker 2: in the preseason. I would assume Darnald will too, and
Speaker 2: so those are be one of the most, if not
Speaker 2: the most interesting team to watch in the preseason.
Speaker 1: Regarding the Jets, there's a lot to be excited about.
Speaker 1: By the way, they finally announced Hard Knocks officially today.
Speaker 1: It's just crazy because it's July seventeenth. And then they
Speaker 1: talked to Rogers at some golf event. He's like, yeah, well,
Speaker 1: they're sticking it down our throats, so we just got
Speaker 1: to make the most of It's a very different vibe
Speaker 1: than past Hard Knocks announcements, I'll say that. And while
Speaker 1: there's a lot of optimism around the team as there
Speaker 1: should be. I am nervous about the offensive line because
Speaker 1: it is a forty year old quarterback coming off a
Speaker 1: down season by his standards, and the offensive line was
Speaker 1: a major issue last year in New York, and they
Speaker 1: didn't make a lot of changes. They made some attempts
Speaker 1: at changes, some moves. They said they weren't trying to
Speaker 1: draft a tackle at the first round. You could believe
Speaker 1: that or not. But they're ending up with more or
Speaker 1: less the same line. They did draft a rookie and
Speaker 1: Joe Tipman, so he's gonna it's gonna be a camp
Speaker 1: battle with Connor McGovern. They're in the pivot, Greg, that's
Speaker 1: what they call it.
Speaker 2: I always like that. It's like the pivot, like using
Speaker 2: the word signal caller for quarterback, just to not repeat
Speaker 2: the same word exactly.
Speaker 1: So you're gonna have left Dwayne Brown's gonna play left
Speaker 1: tackle again. You're gonna hope Elijavarah Tecker stays healthy. Makai
Speaker 1: Becton is in the picture in some capacity, but he
Speaker 1: also tweeted recently that he's a left tackle and that
Speaker 1: just doesn't seem to have any interest in playing him
Speaker 1: at left tackle, So it's going to be right tackle.
Speaker 1: If he even wins a job, that is a question
Speaker 1: mark on their roster with this quarterback. And I want
Speaker 1: to see as a Jets van, you want to see
Speaker 1: the camp reports that the line is gelling, that Becton,
Speaker 1: who's down apparently sixty pounds from last year, is healthy
Speaker 1: and on the field that they're missing basically two straight years,
Speaker 1: and he finds a role in the starting lineup. It
Speaker 1: is something to watch because if they don't get a
Speaker 1: good offensive line play, you could get Rogers hurt and
Speaker 1: then all of a sudden, guess who the number two
Speaker 1: quarterback is on that team, Zach Wilson, which is another
Speaker 1: questionable decision they made, which is keeping Wilson as the
Speaker 1: number two. And just imagine, for instance, Greg that Week
Speaker 1: three game against the Patriots, if it's Zach Wilson back
Speaker 1: on the field. I don't even want to speak this
Speaker 1: into existence, but there's some vulnerabilities here if the offensive
Speaker 1: line can't play the guitar.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean Joe Douglas, that's his baby, the offensive line.
Speaker 2: He's put so many resources Vera. Tucko's a first round pick.
Speaker 2: Beckton's a first round pick. Tipman's a second round pick.
Speaker 2: Tomlinson is one of the higher paid guards in the league.
Speaker 2: They kind of remind me of the Packers, where I
Speaker 2: think the Packers probably their baselines a little hard higher,
Speaker 2: but like they could either be a bit of a
Speaker 2: disaster if things go wrong on the offensive line, or
Speaker 2: they could be really good. I feel like there's a
Speaker 2: high variance with the Jets and the Packers.
Speaker 3: For that matter.
Speaker 1: All right, you want to throw it out, all right?
Speaker 1: Last one more?
Speaker 2: Yeah, Well this is kind of a catch off. I'll
Speaker 2: include your guy Bryce all in it. And I think
Speaker 2: it's probably the most important thing in campus, just the
Speaker 2: guys coming off of injuries, their progress. Bryce Hall is
Speaker 2: a key one. Like this is the time of year
Speaker 2: where it's a lot of like I expect to start
Speaker 2: week one, Like we heard that about Tredevius White as
Speaker 2: an example at this time last year. Tredevius White ended
Speaker 2: up not starting until about mid season and wasn't really
Speaker 2: himself until about week ten. And that happens fairly often
Speaker 2: with guys that you hear are coming back week one.
Speaker 2: So we find out the truth on a lot of
Speaker 2: these guys. Bryce Hall is a key one. Von Miller
Speaker 2: is a key one. Tony Pollard's one I mentioned earlier,
Speaker 2: Javonte Williams, the running back for the Broncos. Jonathan Taylor's
Speaker 2: coming off the ankle injury. Sounds like he's gonna be okay.
Speaker 2: Darius Leonard, on the other hand, I don't know what's
Speaker 2: up with him and his back injury. Isaiah Pacheco, you
Speaker 2: know who finished off that Super Bowl. He's coming off
Speaker 2: a shoulder surgery. Might not be ready. Jimmy g We're
Speaker 2: not sure what's up with him.
Speaker 1: J C.
Speaker 2: Jackson, you remember, got that huge contract and had a
Speaker 2: terrible injury. So those are some of the biggest names
Speaker 2: coming off like major injuries that there's optimism until then
Speaker 2: camp starts and then we'll see if there's still optimism.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and maybe if you're a DeAndre Hopkins agent, there
Speaker 1: was maybe a little bit of pause. Do you sign
Speaker 1: this contract now or do you wait to see how
Speaker 1: some of these things shake out in camp with injuries.
Speaker 1: Maybe that's what Dalvin Cook's representation is thinking. Right now,
Speaker 1: maybe an opportunity presents itself that doesn't seem like it's
Speaker 1: there right now. But yeah, you're absolutely right, because you
Speaker 1: can't trust. You cannot trust any off season reporting for
Speaker 1: the most part. Maybe you could trust it more when
Speaker 1: you hear it in a negative way about a guy's
Speaker 1: not practicing, a guy is a little behind schedule, but
Speaker 1: you usually don't hear that. You always hear his way
Speaker 1: ahead of schedule, or the trope alert sounds and the
Speaker 1: guy says, I've never felt better, or a matter of
Speaker 1: my knees actually better after the catastrophic injury I suffered
Speaker 1: last October. Training camp has a habit of, you know,
Speaker 1: separating all that junk because guys are supposed to be
Speaker 1: out there and practicing, and reporters get their eyes on
Speaker 1: these guys. So yes, GC Greg as we say, and
Speaker 1: my last one was going to be von Miller, so
Speaker 1: it ties together. Von Miller is one of the most
Speaker 1: important players I think of the start of the season
Speaker 1: in the AFC, because the Bills really were getting a
Speaker 1: lot out of him before he went down on Thanksgiving.
Speaker 1: He didn't play another snap and they need that extra
Speaker 1: juice that von Miller brings. And is he still von
Speaker 1: Miller when he comes back? He's another year older.
Speaker 2: He's thirty four, Yeah, eighty four.
Speaker 1: You want to see which version of von Miller shows up.
Speaker 1: If he shows up at all this summer, we shall see.
Speaker 2: By the way, this is going way back to the
Speaker 2: beginning of the show. I was trying to think of,
Speaker 2: like what NFL player we'd be. We'd be Lane Johnson
Speaker 2: from that twenty twelve class with the Eagles the whole time,
Speaker 2: goes about his business like that. A lot of sauce
Speaker 2: to him, you know when it pops up, and a
Speaker 2: future Hall of Famer.
Speaker 1: Okay, all right, Greg, yeah, baby, I like that one
Speaker 1: future Hall of Famer. I think we're going to the hall.
Speaker 1: You think we're in a hall trajectory right now.
Speaker 2: I'm putting us in the in the look in the hall,
Speaker 2: we can ask our next You know what, though.
Speaker 1: You know what I got to say, Yeah, oh, that
Speaker 1: is a great way say because you know what they
Speaker 1: say as we welcome in our guest. You don't make
Speaker 1: the Hall of Fame in your in your first ten years.
Speaker 1: You make him in those last three or four, you know,
Speaker 1: or that that second decade. Uh. And with that said
Speaker 1: a man that already is a Hall of Famer for
Speaker 1: the work that he's done both on our on our
Speaker 1: shore and now back in his native England.
Speaker 3: He is.
Speaker 1: A former executive content man for NFL Digital, now Vice
Speaker 1: President of UK and Surrounding Territories. Henry Hodgson, what's up, buddy.
Speaker 3: I am doing great. It's good to see you, guys.
Speaker 1: Good to hear you, guys.
Speaker 5: I do have an issue though already, and I hate
Speaker 5: to do this to you. In the background here we're
Speaker 5: saving the Queen. You may not have heard, but but
Speaker 5: I think that that ship sailed.
Speaker 1: You guys. Oh you changed the lyrics.
Speaker 3: That's right, we changed the lyrics.
Speaker 1: It's like the it's like the God save the Wind Elton.
Speaker 5: Elton was able to quickly pivot from from Maryland to Diana.
Speaker 2: The tune is the same, though, I mean same tune, same.
Speaker 1: Melody, is the same lyrically. There's an important change in the.
Speaker 3: Very important change. Let's get that fixed for next time.
Speaker 1: Apologies, because that's right.
Speaker 5: It's okay, it's it's fine. You get one shot, though
Speaker 5: next time it would be disrespect.
Speaker 1: And and I'll throw you. I'll throw you a bone
Speaker 1: here and say I watched Wimbledon yesterday. I didn't.
Speaker 5: I didn't, but I hope you had a great time.
Speaker 5: I wish I had done. I just I found myself
Speaker 5: not watching it.
Speaker 1: Do you think that, let's start with the most important thing.
Speaker 1: Do you think that our podcast is on a Hall
Speaker 1: of Fame trajectory? Do you think even here's my take
Speaker 1: based on Greg's comment, even that being uttered is a
Speaker 1: sign that this is this is rome at the end
Speaker 1: where it's just like wow that they're talking about that
Speaker 1: that no Hall of Fame podcast would ever even have
Speaker 1: that conversation. Or do you admire the pluck of the show.
Speaker 5: No, I mean, listen, I would liken it to nineteen
Speaker 5: eighty four Dawn Marino, right second year in the NFL,
Speaker 5: goes out and breaks every single record, And it's clear
Speaker 5: at that point, like.
Speaker 3: There's from here, you're on that that was the Stitcher world.
Speaker 3: You're on that trajectory, and really, you know, even.
Speaker 5: If you don't make a Super Bowl, you're probably going
Speaker 5: to you're probably going to the Hall of Fame. And
Speaker 5: that's what I've always seen you guys, as is eighty
Speaker 5: four Marino and you know the incredible career he had, So.
Speaker 1: You see us like this basically ultimately.
Speaker 3: No, not not go there with Marino.
Speaker 5: Not a loser, you know, a giant amongst amongst NFL players,
Speaker 5: as I was trying to compliment you guys, you decided
Speaker 5: to take a shot at one of the greatest players
Speaker 5: of all time.
Speaker 2: You know, it's like gaudy numbers, but not that well
Speaker 2: liked in the locker room, and doesn't.
Speaker 3: Marino was beloved in the locker room.
Speaker 5: He he What he did was demand greatness from his
Speaker 5: from his other players and bind them to his level.
Speaker 5: So in a way, you've done that in the podcasting
Speaker 5: industry as well. Before, before the Around the NFL podcast existed,
Speaker 5: what other shows were out there? Now look now, look
Speaker 5: at all the talent around that. After your last show, Gregor,
Speaker 5: I tuned into Jordan's amazing show, The play Callers.
Speaker 3: I've just listened to two episodes of that.
Speaker 5: On the back of that, and you guys, you know,
Speaker 5: without you sort of setting the tone, that doesn't happen.
Speaker 1: That's very nice to be. And let me say that
Speaker 1: I I much rather you refer to us as the
Speaker 1: Dan Marino of podcasts rather than the Ken O'Brien. But
Speaker 1: I also I want to say that Dan Reno was
Speaker 1: very frightening and uh, just imagine being like a fourth
Speaker 1: round pick tight end and Reno throws one of those
Speaker 1: missiles between the eight and the four and it hits
Speaker 1: the turf and Marino ripping off that helmet and that
Speaker 1: red face just screaming at you. What a monster.
Speaker 3: But that's what I mean.
Speaker 5: He's demanding excellence, and I feel like that's what you've
Speaker 5: done to the NFL podcasting industry.
Speaker 1: I've had some red foot face moments behind the scenes
Speaker 1: with this program, so I understand that. All right, So
Speaker 1: let's get to what you're here for though, Henry. And
Speaker 1: by the way, if you want to get any plugs in,
Speaker 1: you are Vice president of UK, you make a tremendous salary,
Speaker 1: you have a beautiful office.
Speaker 3: What why do we go there?
Speaker 1: I mean, yeah, spot the lie, Greg, Spot the lie.
Speaker 2: I was just surprised.
Speaker 3: It's a weird place to go.
Speaker 2: You are taping from a beautiful countryside. It appears in England,
Speaker 2: that is true.
Speaker 3: Where is Dan today?
Speaker 1: I'm in my parents' bedroom in Spring Lake, New Jersey.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Greg, where are you?
Speaker 2: Just so we've got everything in I'm in hot, hot
Speaker 2: garage that I got back to.
Speaker 3: Okay, you're back in La Yes, welcome home.
Speaker 1: Maybe when I get back to La Greg, I'll come
Speaker 1: over and I'll help you maybe install an air conditioner.
Speaker 1: You got a window in there.
Speaker 2: We do, so it's possible.
Speaker 1: Okay, let's work. I actually have a spare if we
Speaker 1: let's talk. Let's talk off air. Hank, you are and
Speaker 1: this is I think of all the great things, and
Speaker 1: I view you as not only a dear colleague, but
Speaker 1: a great friend. But I think the thing that I've
Speaker 1: always appreciated the most about you is your tremendous passion
Speaker 1: for the NFL supplemental Draft.
Speaker 5: And I know that's the thing that rubbed off the
Speaker 5: most over a long time together, that that's the.
Speaker 2: Thing that you remember that that's the thing that stands
Speaker 2: out there. It's why your relationship has taking a tip
Speaker 2: over the last four years because there hasn't been a
Speaker 2: supplemental draft.
Speaker 1: So we're a little late on this, but this is
Speaker 1: more like tya bow on the situation. The NFL Supplemental
Speaker 1: Draft return Tuesday, excuse me, not this past Tuesday, last Tuesday,
Speaker 1: but there were no players selected. Two eligible players for
Speaker 1: the draft, which Henry will tell you about them in
Speaker 1: a moment. But this was the first year and three
Speaker 1: years the NFL conducted the draft, but nobody was taken.
Speaker 1: If you want to just give the audience a little
Speaker 1: bit of a perspective on what the event is. Why
Speaker 1: hold it without making a selection? What's the future of
Speaker 1: the supplemental Draft? Please have that at the floor as yours.
Speaker 5: Henry, Sure well, I mean, look, the supplemental Draft is
Speaker 5: everyone is probably awab but just for those that don't
Speaker 5: is kind of the jewel of the NFL's offseason. You know,
Speaker 5: there are these other events that will take place, the combine,
Speaker 5: free agency, the draft, and to some extent, you look
Speaker 5: at those things and they're kind of one dimensional, right,
Speaker 5: There's there's an opportunity and an outcome, if you like.
Speaker 5: In the draft, it's the New York Jets turn to pick.
Speaker 5: The New York Jets make their pick. What is turns
Speaker 5: the supplemental Draft from that one dimensional event into a
Speaker 5: three dimensional event, is there's another.
Speaker 3: Opportunity in there.
Speaker 5: And you saw a couple of years ago the Minnesota
Speaker 5: Vikings try to bring this to the draft. But really
Speaker 5: what it is is sometimes you don't make a pick,
Speaker 5: and you know, as you guys know, some of the
Speaker 5: best choices you make in life are not making choices,
Speaker 5: and so in a way, that makes this year's draft
Speaker 5: where there were two players eligible, thirty two teams, seven rounds,
Speaker 5: seven times, thirty two as Dan noses whatever it is
Speaker 5: and even and at the end of it, everyone didn't
Speaker 5: make a pick seven times. And so that really is
Speaker 5: what made this year's drafts, you know, so exceptional and
Speaker 5: such a such a one for the books because we
Speaker 5: actually had an event, but in the event, in the end,
Speaker 5: the event wasn't an event that happened. And that's what
Speaker 5: you know, it's chess checkers thing compared to the NFL draft.
Speaker 5: And look, every team out there, you know you want,
Speaker 5: you know, you want to find the next Bobby Humphrey.
Speaker 5: You want to find the next Bernie Cozar, the next
Speaker 5: Chris Carter, and that's hard to do. And this year,
Speaker 5: the two guys that were out there Jackson state wide
Speaker 5: receiver you remember him from from last year, Malachi Wideman
Speaker 5: who had I think five hundred and forty yards and
Speaker 5: twelve touchdowns in twenty twenty one with the Tigers, and
Speaker 5: then Purdue's Milton Wright, also a wide receiver. Milton didn't
Speaker 5: play last year, so I don't have his stats.
Speaker 3: Exactly.
Speaker 5: Every team looked at them, and every team made an
Speaker 5: assessment and in the end, every team passed seven times. Well,
Speaker 5: I think, and that's that's really the supplemental Draft. Now, look,
Speaker 5: I mean there have been some great names that have
Speaker 5: come through the program, and again mentioned some of them.
Speaker 5: Bernie Cozar, Brian Bosworth you'll remember, came came through the
Speaker 5: supplemental Draft. And there is some you know, there have
Speaker 5: been some guys that haven't worked out as as well.
Speaker 5: And you know, we we you're, as I say, you're
Speaker 5: looking for the good guys, but you could end up
Speaker 5: with a Harvey Younger or a Milford Brown or a
Speaker 5: John Davis.
Speaker 2: So howoud Steve Walsh.
Speaker 5: Steve Walsh came through there, Steve Walsh, you know that,
Speaker 5: and that really was where my passion. It's interesting you
Speaker 5: mentioned that, Greg, because that's where my passion for the
Speaker 5: supplemental Draft actually came about. So that year, the Dallas Cowboys,
Speaker 5: with the very first pick in the draft, Jimmy Johnson
Speaker 5: came on board and said, I'm bringing in Troy Aikman.
Speaker 3: Troy Oatman's my guy.
Speaker 5: Then doubled down in the Supplemental Draft and went and
Speaker 5: got a guy that he coached in college, Steve Walsh.
Speaker 5: Now Steve Walsh University of Miami quarterback obviously one of
Speaker 5: the other University of Miami quarterbacks who came out of
Speaker 5: this this program and performed so well, Bernie Kozos, I
Speaker 5: was looking for gold in the same place, but didn't
Speaker 5: necessarily find it.
Speaker 1: And if I may just to put a bow on
Speaker 1: this and talking about the importance of the sublemental draft,
Speaker 1: as Henry stated, thirty two teams decided not to make
Speaker 1: a pick, so their pick was to not make a pick.
Speaker 1: That was thirty two teams decided that only thirty one
Speaker 1: teams made a selection in the first year player draft
Speaker 1: because of Miami's issues.
Speaker 3: Thirty two first round.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, thirty two is higher than thirty one. So,
Speaker 1: like just from a pure like math standpoint, when you
Speaker 1: talk about like what's more important, that's what's important.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, I think I've outlined all the reasons
Speaker 5: that it's it's it's, as I say, the gem of
Speaker 5: the NFL off season.
Speaker 2: Right, I mean, beyond the existential delight that is, does
Speaker 2: this event even exist or not if someone doesn't get taken,
Speaker 2: I mean that it's sort of it's mind blowing. Frankly,
Speaker 2: there's no other event like it. There's also a way
Speaker 2: that you take the most exciting part of working in
Speaker 2: the twenty second or twenty first century, that is and
Speaker 2: it will be the next century, which is a massive
Speaker 2: group email, which is essentially what the supplemental draft is.
Speaker 2: And it's two hundred and twenty four straight group emails
Speaker 2: just saying pass yep, I mean again and you're waiting
Speaker 2: to find out, Oh, it's round four, how Texans are up.
Speaker 2: I'm on the edge of my seat. Pick one thirty four. Nope,
Speaker 2: it's pass again.
Speaker 3: Well, and there were trades.
Speaker 5: You know, you can trade and you can still pass
Speaker 5: on the trade, and that's you know, that's it's all
Speaker 5: must practice.
Speaker 3: For deputy general managers.
Speaker 5: You know, like go out there really, you know, work
Speaker 5: a trade, work the phones, and then when you work
Speaker 5: the phones and you've traded up or trade it down,
Speaker 5: pass well.
Speaker 2: You famously did the supplemental mock draft year after year
Speaker 2: on NFL dot com, and it would it would always
Speaker 2: include a lot of trades. That always that always made
Speaker 2: me laugh.
Speaker 1: That ended with pass Henry before we say goodbye. In
Speaker 1: addition to your duties with the NFL UK and surrounding territories,
Speaker 1: you're also huge.
Speaker 3: You're really you're really like on the fence on that one.
Speaker 3: You just don't know where to go, do you?
Speaker 1: You're also incredibly connected, uh in a champion of the
Speaker 1: International Pathway Program. We just did a we just did
Speaker 1: a training camp, primer. I was curious if there are
Speaker 1: any I p P players that maybe we should keep
Speaker 1: an eye on that have a chance to make some
Speaker 1: noise across our league this summer.
Speaker 3: Boy, you really put me on the spot.
Speaker 5: I think there were a couple of guys last year
Speaker 5: who were often you know, it takes maybe a year
Speaker 5: for the guys you know, not like Jordan my latter
Speaker 5: are and the guys that get drafted. But then the
Speaker 5: guys that are in the program, what it is is
Speaker 5: you got you go on the on the practice squad
Speaker 5: for for two or three years, you can you can
Speaker 5: be around them. So I think it's normally the guys
Speaker 5: who've had a year's experience that probably get the best shot. So,
Speaker 5: off the top of my head, the Indianapolis Colts had
Speaker 5: a defensive back named Mussel Dabo d A b O
Speaker 5: who who was super athletic, you know, could easily played
Speaker 5: played in Germany, could easily get a shot, you.
Speaker 3: Know, depending on How Camp Goes.
Speaker 5: There's a handful of really immensely talented players from Nigeria
Speaker 5: that Ocum and Europe found and you know they're they're
Speaker 5: playing a lot of bunch of them across the NFC
Speaker 5: North this year. So I mean, we'll look out for names,
Speaker 5: but I'm sure one or two of them will pop
Speaker 5: up and at least in the in the preseason, make
Speaker 5: some noise and then we'll see where they go. Actually,
Speaker 5: the other guy to look out for it. Do you
Speaker 5: remember in Hard Knocks? I'm very excited for you down
Speaker 5: about Jets and Hard Knocks. Remember Hard Knocks? When the
Speaker 5: Cowboys were in Hard Knocks, there was a Mexican offensive
Speaker 5: tackle who was Isaac Alacon who was a big part
Speaker 5: of the of the the show.
Speaker 3: He's actually.
Speaker 5: There's a British coach, Adam Dirty, who I think I've
Speaker 5: talked about on this show before, who's on dan quinn
Speaker 5: staff there, and he has converted Isaac from offensive line
Speaker 5: to defensive line and they are raving about how.
Speaker 3: Isaac is super strong is performing as a defensive lineman.
Speaker 3: So another one to look out.
Speaker 1: For, beautiful, and you had met Marceau Dabo, So.
Speaker 3: I am Marcel Dabo, Okay, you're in.
Speaker 5: Have we Greg keeps dropping notes or hints rather about
Speaker 5: going to Germany because I don't know if you've heard,
Speaker 5: it's it's the country that his father's from a little
Speaker 5: bit like I don't know if you've heard, but Mark
Speaker 5: grew up in the UK, so I like, you.
Speaker 1: Know, you know, isn't it funny? Henry? I catch a
Speaker 1: lot of He's like, oh, Dan doesn't want to go anywhere,
Speaker 1: and Dan loves America's like these guys won't shut up
Speaker 1: about this other stuff, and it's just like, how about
Speaker 1: looking at it from that perspective?
Speaker 3: I like, I love it.
Speaker 5: I mean, I actually I wish that you weren't so
Speaker 5: steeped in the white and blue and we can help it.
Speaker 1: I know, these colors don't run anywhere. They just stay
Speaker 1: right there.
Speaker 3: They just stay right there.
Speaker 5: But I hope that you know, you guys will We'll
Speaker 5: be in London or Frankfurt at some point this season.
Speaker 3: We've got some fantastic games.
Speaker 1: We're gonna have fun. If it happens, we'd love to
Speaker 1: be there, and we love having you on the show. Hank,
Speaker 1: Thank you very much.
Speaker 3: It's always great to see you. Guys, take care, love you.
Speaker 1: We're gonna updatesk save the Queen. That was a bad
Speaker 1: That was a bad one. We just got to be
Speaker 1: better than that, Gregie.
Speaker 2: What about uh, you know Princess Kate. You know she
Speaker 2: was there at Wimbledon.
Speaker 1: Wimbledon.
Speaker 2: Should be saving her.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's true, we should have. Yeah, we're going to
Speaker 1: clean that up. Apologies to our British listeners. We're gonna
Speaker 1: get that right. I think that's that's important. Good show,
Speaker 1: good app We're back Thursday. Like we said, we're gonna
Speaker 1: be all back together next week, so we got one
Speaker 1: more show. Remotely, I'm working on getting maybe Connie on
Speaker 1: with us, maybe maybe another special guest that we haven't
Speaker 1: had on the show in a while, which would be
Speaker 1: very nice. We're working on some things, Greggy. But any
Speaker 1: final thoughts.
Speaker 2: No, I think I need to go get some sleep.
Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, you do that, and then we'll talk air
Speaker 1: conditioner as well.
Speaker 2: It is quite warm, it's all right, warm, all.
Speaker 1: Right, everybody, thanks again for listening until Thursday. You know
Speaker 1: what you gotta do, he duck all