Speaker 1: Be Around the NFL Podcast. It's ready to get hurt
Speaker 1: by the Jets again. That's true money nail and it.
Speaker 1: Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL Podcast.
Speaker 1: My name is Dan Hansince. I come to you from
Speaker 1: a virtual room filled with just one hero, and it's
Speaker 1: Greg Rose. At all. We're gonna Mike and mad dog
Speaker 1: this baby, Greggy. I don't know if phil is the
Speaker 1: right word. I have been doing a few push ups lately,
Speaker 1: so but I'm not sure I quite quite filled the screen.
Speaker 1: And I haven't been hurt by the Jets at all.
Speaker 1: I've pretty much enjoyed the Jets experience, you know, throughout
Speaker 1: the podcast. I know you have, Greg. I mean it's
Speaker 1: like it is funny because you are a respected football
Speaker 1: pundit and um, you're very good at your job. But
Speaker 1: it's so easy to see, like when something bad happens
Speaker 1: to the Jets, a little gleam in your eye you
Speaker 1: can't wait to talk about it. Well, part part of it,
Speaker 1: I you know, I shared this with West two is
Speaker 1: I do want just teams that are watchable, and and
Speaker 1: that was one reason he couldn't wrap his arms around
Speaker 1: the Jets. It's just been a tough watch, Zach Wilson.
Speaker 1: We'll get to them. We're doing some winners and losers later.
Speaker 1: Zach Wilson's gonna change my Jets experience. Of course, I'm
Speaker 1: not going to be a Jets face. But if we'll
Speaker 1: make them watchable, I like. I like what I see
Speaker 1: out of the kid. That's gonna make them a much
Speaker 1: better Sunday experience. The boy who will lead them, I hope. Um,
Speaker 1: but you're right about West, and I couldn't blame less.
Speaker 1: But there is a difference, that's all. It's fine. It's
Speaker 1: just like with the Giants. It's you are at your heart,
Speaker 1: even though you've moved across the country. UM, still a
Speaker 1: New England guy in some ways. And you don't like
Speaker 1: the New York teams. And that's okay. I think that
Speaker 1: keep keeping that part of your fan hard alive. I
Speaker 1: don't think there's anything unhealthy about it, and I don't
Speaker 1: take offense to it. I really don't. Well, I would
Speaker 1: hope not. You threw like a three day celebration on
Speaker 1: the podcast when the Patriots last of the Titans a
Speaker 1: couple of years ago. It's like it was like a funeral,
Speaker 1: except like a celebration the January game where the Jets
Speaker 1: would come to Gillette to play the Pats. We wouldn't
Speaker 1: even buy tickets, but we would go and tailgate in
Speaker 1: the January whether just to watch the Jet fans crying
Speaker 1: when they left Gillette. It's well, you picked the wrong one.
Speaker 1: I wonder why people hate New England sports fans. I
Speaker 1: was gonna say there were There weren't any Jets playoff
Speaker 1: games where they came in and and lost, but there
Speaker 1: was a great one where they came in and took
Speaker 1: care of the Patriots. So so that would have been
Speaker 1: a bad one. Well that was before Eric I ever
Speaker 1: watched a football game. It was two thousand eleven. Yeah,
Speaker 1: all right, listen, Mark's not here. As you've already noticed
Speaker 1: Mark dealing with some unfortunate health issues, and remember he
Speaker 1: had the clotting issue, the blood clots that popped up
Speaker 1: again this weekend. He's doing okay, but he needed to
Speaker 1: get it taken care of and the doctors basically said
Speaker 1: chill out for a day or two. So we hope
Speaker 1: to have Mark back later in the week. But don't worry.
Speaker 1: Mark's okay, but he's not with us for today's show.
Speaker 1: And by the way to do good vibes though sending
Speaker 1: good vibe It's like the safe Ferrists put it on
Speaker 1: the water tower. Save Settler. Um. I hope he's back
Speaker 1: Wednesday because Wednesday is wait for it, the annual around
Speaker 1: the NFL Fantasy Extravaganza. Yes, we do it every year
Speaker 1: end of August because you not should not be drafting
Speaker 1: a team before the end of August. I mean, in
Speaker 1: shame on you if you do, and we're gonna have
Speaker 1: all sorts. I don't know, Greg, do you want to
Speaker 1: keep it close to the vest about who are super
Speaker 1: guests are this year and just roll them out in
Speaker 1: real time? Or do we want to tease it right now?
Speaker 1: It's up to you. You let it. Well, we get
Speaker 1: the big Fish every year. I think that's that's gonna
Speaker 1: bring in the fans. And there's no reason for any
Speaker 1: big Fish fans to know, I mean to worry that
Speaker 1: he won't be there. He'll be here, He'll be Yeah,
Speaker 1: but keep the was a surprise or that's some good
Speaker 1: good Yes, the big Fish, of course. Evan Silva, late
Speaker 1: of Rhodo World, where he watched Greg and West building
Speaker 1: brick by brick, learned like an apprentice, and then he was,
Speaker 1: in fairness to Silva, he was ahead of West on
Speaker 1: the depth chart. He was sort of I wouldn't say
Speaker 1: he was ever West's boss, but he was there first
Speaker 1: and he helped teach him the ropes absolutely. So that's
Speaker 1: set up is perhaps unfair to Evan, but he did.
Speaker 1: I if you look at the brick by Brick Tower
Speaker 1: of Rhodo World, and of course now Evan has moved
Speaker 1: on with Leviton to UH to establish the run that
Speaker 1: great site. But if if Greg basically, if you really
Speaker 1: want to break down what Greg just did there, he said, no,
Speaker 1: West wasn't truly brick by brick. I was brick by brick.
Speaker 1: Ev and Chris and I were. I'm just trying not
Speaker 1: to say that he was. You know that Silvia was
Speaker 1: some coming, you know, come along lately and had to
Speaker 1: learn from West. He was there, he was, he felt it.
Speaker 1: You left the brick by brick place for pro football talk.
Speaker 1: And then Silva built it higher, turned it into one thousand,
Speaker 1: seven hundred and seventy six ft of steel in America.
Speaker 1: That I think that's a good way to look at it.
Speaker 1: And then they changed the name this year to NBC
Speaker 1: Sports Edge. Great, great job. Well, I do not recognize that.
Speaker 1: Even in my Google search is when I'm checking in
Speaker 1: I as I make a point to uh do a
Speaker 1: name plus Rhoda World search, I type in Rhoda World,
Speaker 1: you know, just to let them not rotal World. We
Speaker 1: love your product, all right anyway, Okay, so Fantasy Extravagans
Speaker 1: on Wednesday, Today's show is a good one. We are
Speaker 1: going to have a special guest, the Great Arif Hasan,
Speaker 1: who covers the vikings for the athletic and is plugged
Speaker 1: in on all things NFL related. He's gonna sit in
Speaker 1: when we discuss our winners and losers of training camp,
Speaker 1: which ends the this week. Is this the official end
Speaker 1: of training camp for NFL teams? Yeah, I mean this
Speaker 1: will really the preseason week two. We'll we'll take a
Speaker 1: look back on everything that happened. But you're right, the
Speaker 1: sort of what they call training camp where the practices
Speaker 1: are open, some of them are already closed and the
Speaker 1: rest of them are closing up this week where where
Speaker 1: the you know, players can go, media can go. After
Speaker 1: this week that every team just like shuts it down
Speaker 1: and starts getting secretive. Right, all right, So that's coming up.
Speaker 1: We're gonna do some winners and losers from training camp
Speaker 1: slash preseason week two, but before that, some news starts radio.
Speaker 1: So in this scenario, I guess I'm Francessa, but you're
Speaker 1: not quite a dog. I mean, I'm more mad Dog
Speaker 1: than anyone else that's ever been on this podcast. I'll
Speaker 1: take it. You know, I like tennis a little annoying
Speaker 1: and loud and opinionated. Your whatever you say is not
Speaker 1: gonna bother me. I'll take I'll take take Chris Russo,
Speaker 1: I'll gladly take that, all right. Cool Mark might not
Speaker 1: be happy with that. He might want to be mad Dog.
Speaker 1: I mean, you guys, you guys grew up on it.
Speaker 1: But I um, I had a couple of years driving
Speaker 1: every day up to Rhoda World, you know, to go
Speaker 1: back to the brick building from the city a couple
Speaker 1: of times a week, and I mean I planned around
Speaker 1: Mike and the Mad Dog, so I have in my time.
Speaker 1: And then every Super Bowl week we have Russo on
Speaker 1: the show Mad Dog and the listeners are like, who
Speaker 1: is this guy? I don't know who he is? Why
Speaker 1: do they like him so much? And it's like it's
Speaker 1: not for you, It's for us, and it will happen
Speaker 1: again this January. God willing. All right, let's get into
Speaker 1: the news, starting with a very positive update on the
Speaker 1: Carson Wentz front for the Indianapolis Colts. Uh. The veteran
Speaker 1: quarterback returned to practice on Monday, three weeks to surgery
Speaker 1: to remove a broken bone from his left foot. He
Speaker 1: took all of the first team reps and seven on
Speaker 1: seven work. Said he's optimistic he could return for the
Speaker 1: Colts ahead of their Week one game against the Seahawks.
Speaker 1: Wentz told reporters after the practice, I'm optimistic, but we'll
Speaker 1: see how it responds. As long as there's nothing I
Speaker 1: can do to make it worse. I played through a
Speaker 1: lot worse, uh, Greg. There was also some clips out
Speaker 1: there on Twitter. The guy was moving around like he
Speaker 1: did not have any surgery at all. It feels like now,
Speaker 1: barring a setback, Carson Wentz will be their start or
Speaker 1: week one. Right. What was it? What was this five
Speaker 1: to twelve week prognosis? I guess you don't know. And well,
Speaker 1: the Colts keep pushing back and saying we have to
Speaker 1: keep ramping it up and see how he responds. So
Speaker 1: it's too early to be as optimistic as which is
Speaker 1: fine until you watch that clip today and you see
Speaker 1: the way he's moving and you see that he took
Speaker 1: every rep and it's like it's there. I mean, this
Speaker 1: is great news if you're an indefense and Quentin Nelson,
Speaker 1: they're all pro guard was back at practice who had
Speaker 1: the exact same injury, the exact same s A Dree
Speaker 1: and he's ramping up. It sounds like you were smart
Speaker 1: Dan to uh to avoid the whole Jacobison Ellinger Sam Ellener, Yes,
Speaker 1: because I made a mistake. I was literally in bed
Speaker 1: on Saturday night. Um, you know, it's a it's close
Speaker 1: to bedtime. Amaca is reading and whatnot, and I'm that's
Speaker 1: that's when I put on the old Eastern Ellinger comparison.
Speaker 1: That's on Saturday night, you're in But at that point
Speaker 1: it was normally we might be reading or whatever. But yeah,
Speaker 1: it was it was close to going to bedtime. It
Speaker 1: was the Ellener Eastern Eastern time. And I'll give you
Speaker 1: the short, short version. They both didn't play that well,
Speaker 1: so that that was they both had a chance to
Speaker 1: um to leave an impact. And I think when I
Speaker 1: was pushing back against the idea of getting too invested
Speaker 1: in that quarterback battle. I don't know if it was
Speaker 1: you or Mark, but you rightly. You guys rightly pushed back.
Speaker 1: Well went struggle historically to stay on the field, so
Speaker 1: even if he did make it back, it still matters
Speaker 1: who they're back of quarterback is. But then you could
Speaker 1: push back that and say, listen, if Carson Wentz ends
Speaker 1: up getting seriously hurt again, it's over anyway, unless um
Speaker 1: eleanor turns out to be Aaron Rodgers, like the owners
Speaker 1: said a couple of weeks ago. But the big picture
Speaker 1: here is whence being ahead of schedule. Yeah, the five
Speaker 1: to twelve week thing was funky from the very beginning,
Speaker 1: so I guess we shouldn't be surprised that it ended
Speaker 1: up having a weird turn. Um. But um, I'm excited
Speaker 1: because the NFC South needs all the juice that can
Speaker 1: get uh, and having Carson Wentz there and Quentin Nelson
Speaker 1: there is a huge step forward. And when you look
Speaker 1: at that division and who's the favorite, which I think
Speaker 1: the Titans are, but if the Colts have these players ready, uh,
Speaker 1: it changes things for sure. Yeah, that's why it gets tricky,
Speaker 1: like projecting too far out. I remember doing I did
Speaker 1: a Seattle like radio station thing like the day after
Speaker 1: this first WENTZ news came out, and they're just like,
Speaker 1: we're gonna roll in week one. You know, they were
Speaker 1: already going ahead to week one that the Colts are
Speaker 1: coming to Seattle, and I you know, I would give
Speaker 1: the Sax a good chance in that game no matter what.
Speaker 1: But it's it changes a lot, it'll continue to change.
Speaker 1: We still as as close as the season feels, this
Speaker 1: is always the longest month I think of the NFL calendar,
Speaker 1: We're still we're still three weeks away. I mean yesterday
Speaker 1: would have been three weeks away from the first Sunday
Speaker 1: of the year. That's still a while. So you get
Speaker 1: in your family time, do what you can. The one
Speaker 1: fewer week of preseason games helps for me because it
Speaker 1: always felt just interminable the four weeks and then the
Speaker 1: five if you count the Hall of Fame game. Um,
Speaker 1: I don't want to get sidetracked here. I do have
Speaker 1: an overall preseason takeaway. I guess we could save that
Speaker 1: for this segment though. In other news, Cam Newton, you
Speaker 1: get the Jab the JAB moratorium on JAB Talk. Remember
Speaker 1: we're out on saying we don't say anyway, Cam Newton
Speaker 1: has an issue. He won't be allowed in the past's
Speaker 1: facility until Thursday. After what he deemed a COVID nineteen
Speaker 1: tests misunderstanding. He left the region of New England for
Speaker 1: a medical appointment UM. But because he did not follow
Speaker 1: the correct protocol UM for UM being out of the region,
Speaker 1: he now has to stay away from the team UH
Speaker 1: for the next several days, which is very bad timing
Speaker 1: for Cam. I mentioned the JAB thing because because of UH,
Speaker 1: it tells us that Cam Newton is not vaccinated, because
Speaker 1: he has to follow this different, stricter protocol UH. And
Speaker 1: that's disappointing, UM for the Patriots because they're trying to
Speaker 1: figure out who their quarterback is. And if you're Cam
Speaker 1: Newton and you know you're in a real battle here
Speaker 1: with Mac Jones, and I feel like the preseason and
Speaker 1: you tell me Greg has been pretty neck and neck
Speaker 1: disappearing for most of a week inside three weeks of
Speaker 1: the season. Not great. I mean, if Cam Newton loses
Speaker 1: his starting job because of the COVID protocols, so stupid,
Speaker 1: so annoying. I found it really interesting that Pictures Opportunity though, no, no,
Speaker 1: it's I'm not putting any blame on the protocols. I'm
Speaker 1: just saying, like, are you serious, man um. The Patriots
Speaker 1: put out the statement, they seemed to take the responsibility
Speaker 1: for it, which I found interesting. They really go out
Speaker 1: of their way to always back Cam. Essentially, they they
Speaker 1: they pointed out that they approved he was allowed to leave,
Speaker 1: that he took tests the whole time he was gone,
Speaker 1: and they seemed and it's not like he tested positive
Speaker 1: or anything, they seemed to take responsibility. That's somewhere they
Speaker 1: didn't really understand the protocols or the rules that he
Speaker 1: was required because they were like, we got the test,
Speaker 1: he was taking the test while he was offsite, but
Speaker 1: something happened along the way they messed it up. He's
Speaker 1: already served two of those days. I guess that he
Speaker 1: was away and he'll be back on Thursday. But that's huge.
Speaker 1: Mac Jones was awesome this weekend. Uh yeah, it's neck
Speaker 1: and neck and and Cam had a great quarter. But
Speaker 1: Mac Jones has done everything possible to put as much
Speaker 1: pressure on Cam new and I think want to start
Speaker 1: Cam Newton week one. I think they will start Cam
Speaker 1: Newton week one because he's played well enough to keep
Speaker 1: the job. They want to see what the running game
Speaker 1: is like with Cam Newton. That's definitely an asset. I
Speaker 1: think mac jones knee might be a little bit of
Speaker 1: an issue. Look pretty awkward there during part of that game,
Speaker 1: and that that's another reason to set them. But there
Speaker 1: are these joint practices this week, and I was wondering,
Speaker 1: are they gonna want to play mac Jones with the
Speaker 1: starters because I kind of want to see that they
Speaker 1: haven't really done that they haven't done in practice. It's
Speaker 1: been a little under the radar. I mean, Gardner Minshew's
Speaker 1: gotten way way more first team reps then mac Jones has.
Speaker 1: It's it's pretty much been Cam with the ones, mac
Speaker 1: Jones with the two. So now that changes up in
Speaker 1: a big week leading if you got a warrior on
Speaker 1: your team, you gotta make sure he's getting all those reps.
Speaker 1: I have a conspiracy theory that these NFL COVID rules,
Speaker 1: if you don't have the GB Byzantine, by design, make
Speaker 1: it as hard as possible on these guys and these teams,
Speaker 1: so people have to go get the shot. Just the theory,
Speaker 1: Mac Jones, But for what it's worth, also, you know
Speaker 1: what's not wanting to talk about the vaccine as CAM
Speaker 1: was not weeks ago, so who knows that might be
Speaker 1: a risky quarterbackground. We'll see. Well that's a that's a
Speaker 1: good call. In other COVID news, by the way, Mike Rabel,
Speaker 1: the coach of the Tennessee Titans, he is in UM
Speaker 1: the COVID protocol. I believe he tested positive. He did, yeah,
Speaker 1: of course, because he's required to as a coach. So
Speaker 1: he's away from the team UM and hopefully we'll be
Speaker 1: back after a minimum stay on that designated COVID lest
Speaker 1: So it's just you know, just get ready for it.
Speaker 1: It's gonna happen throughout this season, and you just hope
Speaker 1: it doesn't take away UH superstars off the table. You
Speaker 1: hope people don't get seriously ill. But thankfully, at least
Speaker 1: for the vaccinated UM people in this country and around
Speaker 1: the world, you have a much better chance of avoiding
Speaker 1: a serious illness UM if you are vaccinated, which makes
Speaker 1: you think maybe you should be vaccinated. Did But let
Speaker 1: me just move on. Nice fun report. This is more
Speaker 1: like the type of news item we'd really sink our
Speaker 1: teeth into about a month ago. But Since it's out there,
Speaker 1: we'll talk about it. Khalil Mack one of the biggest
Speaker 1: blockbuster trades in the last decade when the Raiders sent
Speaker 1: the former first round pick to the Bears for a
Speaker 1: buttload of draft picks. Uh He's had a nice run
Speaker 1: with Chicago, but the Raiders defense has never been able
Speaker 1: to really recover without Mac in the middle of their defense.
Speaker 1: And the athletics Victor fur did we say, Taffer, what
Speaker 1: do we decide? On that show I went to? We
Speaker 1: never found the just call him vic Vic reports that
Speaker 1: the Raiders inquired about Khalil Mack's availability this offseason. Uh
Speaker 1: grew unreportedly cried for three days after trading his superstar
Speaker 1: wanted him back to fix the Raiders pass rush, but
Speaker 1: the Bears were not interested in making music. And I
Speaker 1: just in this story hilarious, like the little details you know, Vick.
Speaker 1: Vick has some good Raiders nuggets every once in a while.
Speaker 1: The Athletics, the athletics coverage in general is great with
Speaker 1: the Raiders and the fact that he said Gruden would
Speaker 1: keep this award that he won from the Sloan Analytics
Speaker 1: Conference that they gave to the Raiders for the transaction
Speaker 1: of the year when they traded Khalil Mack was a
Speaker 1: great little It was a great little detailed to me.
Speaker 1: But clearly he doesn't view it as the transaction of
Speaker 1: the year because you look at what they've done since
Speaker 1: they haven't had any pass restords. They spent a ton
Speaker 1: of money, all the draft picks that they got, and
Speaker 1: most of the money that they spent we're on players
Speaker 1: that didn't work out ultimately. Yep, that's kind of the
Speaker 1: whole thing. Sometimes you wonder, if you're Raiders fan at least,
Speaker 1: like has growed and lost the plot? Has he never
Speaker 1: even had a true plot here? And then you see
Speaker 1: a report like that just seems like they're spinning their wheels.
Speaker 1: This was this was pre Mayak, and he really makes
Speaker 1: it sound like Mac you know, didn't want to come
Speaker 1: back and this and that and like, but it was
Speaker 1: an emotion. It'll move. That was a mistake. They gave
Speaker 1: Derek Carr and gave Jackson their money before they gave
Speaker 1: Khalil Mack a contract. They were all in the same
Speaker 1: draft class. Like, the fact that that happened was a
Speaker 1: huge mistake. Ricky, do you have an update on the
Speaker 1: VIC situation? I'm trying to find the text, but it
Speaker 1: was so long ago. But I think you know there
Speaker 1: was some either either way you were saying it was wrong.
Speaker 1: And then he texted me and was like, oh, f y,
Speaker 1: I just so you know, uh, but can't confirm which
Speaker 1: which get back to us if you could figure it out. Uh.
Speaker 1: In other news, Darius Smith, the star linebacker for the Packers,
Speaker 1: could potentially miss Week one. According to Packers coach Matt
Speaker 1: la fleur Um, he has been dealing with a back injury.
Speaker 1: Always tricky back injuries, of course, um, but it seems
Speaker 1: that the Packers are open to the idea of either
Speaker 1: protecting Smith and rapping up more slowly with a long
Speaker 1: season ahead and including hopefully a deep playoff run. Or
Speaker 1: the other way to look at, of course, Greg is
Speaker 1: there might be something wrong here in a more substantial way.
Speaker 1: I guess we'll find out. They need him, you know,
Speaker 1: he came off the non football injury list like a
Speaker 1: week ago, and the fact that then they're saying this
Speaker 1: now publicly indicates something is din't going great. Uh. They
Speaker 1: lost you know, they haven't had Kyle Facral. They're just
Speaker 1: not that deep, I think in terms of their addresser
Speaker 1: Rashawn Gary will be a bigger factor for them this
Speaker 1: year in general. But that's that's significant when two of
Speaker 1: maybe their best five players, Zadarius Smith and David back Dry,
Speaker 1: might miss the start of the season, that that is notable.
Speaker 1: And other injury news the Jets officially, I saw it
Speaker 1: on ESPN dot Com. It's just like, come on, does
Speaker 1: it have to be this way? The headline is injury plague.
Speaker 1: Jets lose another uh starter on defense. This time it's
Speaker 1: linebacker Jared Davis, who signed away from the Lions in
Speaker 1: the off season a one year deal and portant guy
Speaker 1: in a rebuild linebacking group under Robert Sali. Well, he
Speaker 1: suffered an ankle injury. Robert Sali said, it's not a
Speaker 1: high ankle sprain, but it's gonna be treated like a
Speaker 1: high ankle sprain, which is like, I guess it's kind
Speaker 1: of a high ankle sprain. Uh. They hope to have
Speaker 1: him back around the bye week, which is Week six.
Speaker 1: So that is a very thin group and a very
Speaker 1: unproven group, and a lot's being asked of c. J. Moseley,
Speaker 1: who has missed two years to play in the middle
Speaker 1: of that defense. So within twenty four hours or thirty
Speaker 1: six hours, the Jets lost. Uh. Of course, Karl Lawson,
Speaker 1: their star ed dresser, and then Jared Davis, a guy
Speaker 1: that the team is very high on having a bounce
Speaker 1: back after a disappointing run with Detroit. UH. Tough, and
Speaker 1: it's just gonna be such a challenge, uh for slid
Speaker 1: to make this defense okay, because the back end is
Speaker 1: poor or it's it looks poor on paper. You need
Speaker 1: that pressure up front, you need the linebackers to cover,
Speaker 1: and if you're gonna be thin in both those areas,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be extremely difficult to stay competitive. I haven't
Speaker 1: It's made a lot of great offseason moves. Jared Davis
Speaker 1: is one of the most surprising free agent signings. You know,
Speaker 1: he really struggled in Detroit. But you're right, Sale's I
Speaker 1: don't know. He's got a lot of He's got a
Speaker 1: lot on his plate to make them good in the
Speaker 1: front seven, because I think they're county on their defense
Speaker 1: to be solid. I think that was the basis of
Speaker 1: this team. And it's been a very annoying couple of weeks.
Speaker 1: They're really last week. Is this the part where I
Speaker 1: have the gleam in my eye. I mean, you're I
Speaker 1: think because Jared Davis really doesn't get the motor run.
Speaker 1: But I think, um the fact that I kind of
Speaker 1: called it out at the beginning of the show. You're
Speaker 1: trying to have a nice poker face here, but I
Speaker 1: still see it. There's a gleam gentleman and other injury
Speaker 1: news a J. Mccaren towards a C l um and
Speaker 1: the preseason game. Really tough break for mccaren who's obviously
Speaker 1: out for the year, and now Atlanta has nobody at
Speaker 1: all proven behind Matt Ryan, who's been an iron man
Speaker 1: in his career, but he's also entering his or now
Speaker 1: into his mid thirties, so that's an issue for the Falcons.
Speaker 1: And finally, nineteen in a row for the Baltimore Ravens.
Speaker 1: The preseason streak that won't end, it can end? Can
Speaker 1: they be beat? No? Fun way, that's right, twenty three
Speaker 1: over the Panthers, who couldn't even compete. They said, yeah,
Speaker 1: we have a brand new quarterback and Sam Donald trying
Speaker 1: to learn an offense. We're just gonna play him one
Speaker 1: series because why do we even want to be around
Speaker 1: the Ravens right now? This is the biggest story sports story.
Speaker 1: No one's talking about you. You have really taken it
Speaker 1: and made it your own, you know with the trailer,
Speaker 1: I really that last time. And yeah, it puts it
Speaker 1: puts a lot into this week's game, you know, because
Speaker 1: there's no fourth week of the preseason, and because they've
Speaker 1: now tied the all time record with the Green Bay
Speaker 1: Packers nine straight preseason wins, one of the most storied
Speaker 1: records in sports. You know, this is a big deal.
Speaker 1: This is this is exactly what the ENDFL was looking
Speaker 1: for in the preseason, a lot of national attention, and
Speaker 1: I'm glad we're we're able to give it absolutely And
Speaker 1: then you know, that's a perfect segue. That's what's happening
Speaker 1: in the news. To bring on our guest today because
Speaker 1: on his Twitter profile it's his name afsan Comma preseason enthusiast,
Speaker 1: So let's welcome him on the show. First of all,
Speaker 1: what's up, a reef? Welcome? Hey, what's going on around
Speaker 1: the NFL podcast? You have to be humming over this
Speaker 1: Baltimore Raven Street process. Yeah, I mean, you love to
Speaker 1: see it happen. Uh. It kind of reminds me of
Speaker 1: Yukon women's basketball. That streak um just I honestly, I'm
Speaker 1: tearing up a little bit just thinking about the day
Speaker 1: that the titan and fall. You know, it's it's gonna
Speaker 1: be tough. But in order for the streak to have meaning,
Speaker 1: it has to end at some point of the wise,
Speaker 1: you know historically what you know, what does it mean? Right?
Speaker 1: True that we could get a lot of buzz though
Speaker 1: throughout the whole season. If they can get to twenty,
Speaker 1: that's a nice round number the whole year, build up
Speaker 1: until next and there I just checked their playing there.
Speaker 1: You know, local rivals, the Washington football team and some
Speaker 1: teams I would say even maybe most teams this preseason
Speaker 1: not taking it too seriously. You know, one of the
Speaker 1: teams that do put out their starters for a nice
Speaker 1: chunk of time might have Ryan Fitzpatrick playing that whole
Speaker 1: first half. There is nothing that Ron Rivera would love
Speaker 1: to do more than to take down his UH rivals
Speaker 1: that matters. Yeah. Well, you say that the streak has
Speaker 1: to end for to truly matter, and I like that
Speaker 1: from like a philosophical standpoint, But then you think about
Speaker 1: head coaches in the NFL and the egos on these guys, um,
Speaker 1: John Harbaugh. The way you look at this is, oh,
Speaker 1: it's a reflection on the organization and the coaching and
Speaker 1: the attention to detail and why everything matters. It's really
Speaker 1: the shine is on the coach more than the players.
Speaker 1: So you think that Harbor wants to maybe do this
Speaker 1: until he retires. I mean this could go next level
Speaker 1: and I'm really excited to see what happens. Yeah, for sure,
Speaker 1: for sure, And I mean it makes the most sense
Speaker 1: in the world that the person that holds this streak
Speaker 1: is also a former special teams coordinator, right, who best
Speaker 1: to connect with the depth players that you know populate
Speaker 1: the preseason. Um? Alright, so a reef, thank you for
Speaker 1: joining us, and we're nice talking to you. All right,
Speaker 1: there goes No, we want to talk some training camp
Speaker 1: slash preseason winners and losers, and how about this. You're
Speaker 1: our guests or if do you want? You can go
Speaker 1: any direction you want. We know you cover the vikings
Speaker 1: beautifully for the athletic If you want to start with them,
Speaker 1: you can do that. If you want to go somewhere else.
Speaker 1: What is something that's kind of caught your eye as
Speaker 1: training camp kind of wraps up here? In August. Sure, Well,
Speaker 1: the stuff that's like kind of interesting to me to
Speaker 1: the Vikings probably just doesn't like matter leaguewide. So I'll
Speaker 1: talk about some of the stuff we're in the league
Speaker 1: that is catching my eye. I think the first round
Speaker 1: offensive lineman um have had a really rough go of
Speaker 1: it this preseason, right Obviously. I mean there's been a
Speaker 1: lot of discussion about Pina Swell, right, and you know,
Speaker 1: there's all the reasons in the world that it wouldn't
Speaker 1: make sense for him to you know, come out of
Speaker 1: the gate with with you know, all the cylinders running,
Speaker 1: but you know, right tackle, he is having a lot
Speaker 1: of trouble. There's spent a years since he's played you
Speaker 1: know football, but you know, neither Elijah Bara Tuck or
Speaker 1: Christian Deary saw have seen the field yet, right, So
Speaker 1: that's that's a pretty big concern um. I guess maybe
Speaker 1: the best one so far has been Alex Leatherwood, which
Speaker 1: is funny kind of considering the draft conversations with him
Speaker 1: and the Raiders pick of him and then Slater he's
Speaker 1: got like some back issues or something, but he he
Speaker 1: didn't participate in Week two. Uh, and so it's just
Speaker 1: like maybe we're spoiled, right because last year's first round
Speaker 1: offensive lineman, we're fantastic even in the preseason, right. I
Speaker 1: don't think we got a bunch of Mickey back to
Speaker 1: the Firember correctly in the preseason, but you know, we
Speaker 1: saw a bunch of really great Christian works. Isn't nicky
Speaker 1: but maybe it is now you We don't know. I
Speaker 1: feel like Butki sounds cooler, though. I gotta we got
Speaker 1: started doing that. Un tell him correctly, check on that now.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I mean last year, I mean they were
Speaker 1: Jedrick Wills was doing well in the preseason, took a
Speaker 1: little bit of time to get going in the regular season,
Speaker 1: but had a really strong going. It's really only Andrew Thomas,
Speaker 1: right that we were worried about early on. Um, So
Speaker 1: it's just first round offensive lineman haven't indicated that they're
Speaker 1: worthy investment yet. Maybe maybe all of them will be,
Speaker 1: maybe none of them will be. I don't know, but
Speaker 1: you know, this is what preseason takes are for worried
Speaker 1: about first round offensive lineman. So that stood that. But
Speaker 1: those are some of the most important rookies on any teams,
Speaker 1: because yeah, they were all drafted with the ideas like, oh,
Speaker 1: that problem solved, Like, don't need Charles Leno anymore. You
Speaker 1: know you didn't Davin Jenkins, but you know he's out.
Speaker 1: We talked about him a lot last week. We haven't
Speaker 1: talked about Penay Seul on this show. And uh, you
Speaker 1: know our our enemy, Daniel Jeremiah, who I think it's
Speaker 1: going to get into podcasting this year, so keep a
Speaker 1: lookout on that. He noticed job Sewel. Sewel just does
Speaker 1: not look comfortable. And you don't need to be like
Speaker 1: a former scout like Jeremiah to see that, and it
Speaker 1: does get you thinking, like you draft this guy number
Speaker 1: seven overall, he's such an important part, and then you
Speaker 1: just change his positions like he's never played right tackle
Speaker 1: right tackle because you have um Taylor Decker at left tackle.
Speaker 1: But that that always worries me. I know what kind
Speaker 1: of work It worked for Jedrick Wills, but it's not
Speaker 1: gonna work for everyone. And you're right. Of all those guys,
Speaker 1: I think Slater is the one that that the Chargers
Speaker 1: aren't worried about. They seem to think he looks great
Speaker 1: and they're just keeping anyone that possibly matters out of
Speaker 1: the preseason. But for the rest of those teams like
Speaker 1: that is that is huge? Alright? You like the Bengals
Speaker 1: couldn't have made the right choice there, right because Jamar
Speaker 1: Chase isn't looking good? All right? Well let me jump
Speaker 1: in then, because I you know, I didn't want to
Speaker 1: dwell on this because we have hit this a couple
Speaker 1: of times on the show. What's going on with jam
Speaker 1: R Chase who is struggling in his first camp with
Speaker 1: the Cincinnati Bengals. Well, actually hit pause here because I
Speaker 1: want to I want to say something positive about the
Speaker 1: Bengals first, Okay, because it's been it's been relentlessly negative
Speaker 1: on the show. Has just been a lot of bad news. Uh.
Speaker 1: This from your your colleague, UM, Paul Denner, junior at
Speaker 1: the Athletic has kicker Evan McPherson enjoyed the best camp
Speaker 1: in preseason by a rookie kicker since Lou Groza in
Speaker 1: n I don't know, and I don't know if Groza
Speaker 1: even kicked the training camp the year after World War
Speaker 1: Two ended, But I can't imagine anybody being better than
Speaker 1: McPherson over the last month. The only kick he has
Speaker 1: missed that the media has been able to see was
Speaker 1: a sixty yarder in the fan fest event. That's it.
Speaker 1: He's destroying the ball accurately, little little kick corner in
Speaker 1: the game. Austin Siebert has been good too, but not good.
Speaker 1: I'm glad to year one one miss because as a
Speaker 1: as someone who follows the Vikings, I know how dangerous
Speaker 1: it is to be perfect for an entire session. Oh no, no,
Speaker 1: Gary Anderson references on the show. People aren't prepared for
Speaker 1: it at your Vikings fan anyway. So there's the good
Speaker 1: news they have. They have a positive kicking competition, UM
Speaker 1: and special teams. But the Jamar chasing. So not only
Speaker 1: does he struggle Chase throughout the lead up to this weekend,
Speaker 1: then in the preseason game, he drops three targets in
Speaker 1: the in the game against Washington on Friday, Then on Sunday,
Speaker 1: UM he's in practice and Burrows just putting it on
Speaker 1: him and he has a couple more drops, and he's
Speaker 1: doing the thing where he's got the towel over his
Speaker 1: head and there's just a lot of mental stuff going on.
Speaker 1: And then uh, there's a report again from Dinner that
Speaker 1: Jamaar Chase could lose some regular season snaps to Audent
Speaker 1: take uh the in house receiver they have there. So
Speaker 1: I'm not ringing the alarm bell because he did miss
Speaker 1: all of the last season when he opted out, and
Speaker 1: he could be rusty, but you just you were hoping
Speaker 1: at some point he's going to turn the corner here,
Speaker 1: and now it's becoming more and more of a story.
Speaker 1: And uh, if we're talking winners and losers, Uh not
Speaker 1: that March is a loser, but this is a losing
Speaker 1: scenario right now for Cincinnati. Yeah, it's tough. I don't
Speaker 1: wanna because like so for his teammate at L s U,
Speaker 1: Justin Jefferson, right, Um, you know he outproduced Justin Jefferson
Speaker 1: at L s U. You think, well one to one,
Speaker 1: maybe maybe he'll you know, continue to do well. But
Speaker 1: also for Robber, Jefferson didn't win the starting job coming
Speaker 1: out of camp as a Viking. You know, he didn't
Speaker 1: start the first two games. And I don't think it's
Speaker 1: like a case of Mike Zimmer being like stubborn. He
Speaker 1: did not look that spectacular camp, didn't look as like
Speaker 1: I guess as bad as Chase is currently looking, but
Speaker 1: did not look um like he clearly won the starting
Speaker 1: job from BC Johnson, who right now is like fifth
Speaker 1: or six of the Vikings receiver death chart, and so
Speaker 1: coming out of camp like it, it was like kind
Speaker 1: of a story like are we going to get anything
Speaker 1: out of him you know this year? Um? Or are
Speaker 1: we gonna have to wait? So I keep that in mind.
Speaker 1: You know, the kind of the preseason stuff, the early stuff.
Speaker 1: You know, it matters, but maybe not as much as
Speaker 1: as we like to pretend. Even for me a preseason enthusiast,
Speaker 1: you know, I have to I have to remember that
Speaker 1: when when people go to games, they pay to go
Speaker 1: to that. Uh. You know, these things don't always translate,
Speaker 1: but it sounds like cardan full price for these games.
Speaker 1: They're charging full price to watch Nathan Peterman versus uh,
Speaker 1: who was Bryce Hopkins? What is like? If that drives
Speaker 1: me crazy? The fans? Well, this is all right. Let
Speaker 1: me just before we go to you, Greg for your
Speaker 1: first winner and loser, I just want to say the
Speaker 1: preseason I don't know, man, I think we're in a
Speaker 1: dicey time right now. They've cut it from four to
Speaker 1: three and more and more teams arresting the starters, and
Speaker 1: then you have and I'll use it as an example,
Speaker 1: um as I often do, I'll use the jet Zack
Speaker 1: Wilson performed very well, uh this weekend, but he wasn't
Speaker 1: going against any Packers starters. So it's like, I don't
Speaker 1: know what's really take out of that. He he's getting
Speaker 1: reps on the field and live action, but is he
Speaker 1: really getting a true experience ahead of Week one against starters?
Speaker 1: And then you see what happens to a J mccarroen
Speaker 1: who blows out his knee, and then you look you
Speaker 1: think about Sean McVeigh was like, as long as I'm
Speaker 1: ever a coach here, no one's ever gonna be playing
Speaker 1: in the preseason starters. And if this is going to
Speaker 1: continue to just devolve into these are just the backups
Speaker 1: and uh there's no structure to it. Ay, they need
Speaker 1: to revisit how much fans are getting charged for these
Speaker 1: games and be you just wonder if it's eventually five
Speaker 1: years from now, it's just gonna be all uh scrimmages
Speaker 1: and uh, you know, inter squad practices, and if that's
Speaker 1: what this is gonna turn into, because I feel like
Speaker 1: we're in this like ray area in a way that
Speaker 1: is even more extreme than it used to be. Well people, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think thought, okay, well we cut it down one
Speaker 1: that solves that question. But no, like you know, Goodell
Speaker 1: said for years how it's such a bad product. They
Speaker 1: changing it from four to three hasn't changed that. And
Speaker 1: to your point, you're right, Dan, if you think about
Speaker 1: who are the coaches that are playing guys and says
Speaker 1: where I don't think there's a right answer, like it's
Speaker 1: Andy Reid and Bill Belichick. It's like the two of
Speaker 1: the greatest coaches of all time. They think that playing
Speaker 1: football helps you to play football. You know that it
Speaker 1: helps you get better at playing football, that you know,
Speaker 1: playing some football helps. So that was that was really good.
Speaker 1: Not to say that at one side is corrected the
Speaker 1: other one. But let me use this phrase. That makes
Speaker 1: it very clear what the oldest coaches in the league.
Speaker 1: So it might be a generational thing. There has to
Speaker 1: be value in it, but there obviously is value in
Speaker 1: the other side and that you can get the work,
Speaker 1: uh in the practices. I I don't know if eventually
Speaker 1: the entire league is going to be like that, but
Speaker 1: you're right, it's it's a tough go. It's a tough
Speaker 1: go to to to draw anything. Well, let's bring up
Speaker 1: Zach Wilsons and if I'll throw out him as a
Speaker 1: winner though, because I don't know, especially the way camp
Speaker 1: started with him, you know, you you the practice reports
Speaker 1: were up and down, the scrimmage reports were up and down,
Speaker 1: and he just looks comfortable. I didn't know what to
Speaker 1: draw of his first game, not that there was anything
Speaker 1: bad to it, but it was just really basic. And and
Speaker 1: and some defenses stay really basic in the precess and
Speaker 1: some are not. Some are running all sorts of complicated.
Speaker 1: Blitz is like the whole time, because that's like their
Speaker 1: base defense and that's just what they want to do.
Speaker 1: And Zach Wilson hasn't played a defense like that or
Speaker 1: played starters. But I think the way he moves in
Speaker 1: the pocket and the way he's going through progressions, in
Speaker 1: the way that he just looks comfortable back there. He
Speaker 1: certainly passes the eye tests, and I think that is
Speaker 1: what preseason can be good for that it's given him
Speaker 1: and the coaching staff more confidence in how he is
Speaker 1: going to enter the season. I am excited to watch
Speaker 1: the New York Jets, and it's been it's been a
Speaker 1: while at least just as an entertaining because I'm into
Speaker 1: quarterbacks and Zack Wilson. So far, I think, is that
Speaker 1: a really positive preseason? Good offensive line, good receivers, interesting quarterback,
Speaker 1: good interior defensive line. Honestly, I mean that's that's an
Speaker 1: interesting team to follow. Um. Wilson the thing that jumps
Speaker 1: out to me. And by the way, I'm in now,
Speaker 1: or if you should know, I'm a Jets fan, Um
Speaker 1: I am. I was. I was trying to sit out
Speaker 1: the Zach Wilson hype period because I was hurt by
Speaker 1: Sam Donald and Browning Nagle and everyone in between. Um,
Speaker 1: but now I'm all in because he just looks so
Speaker 1: free and easy and confident, and I just like the
Speaker 1: way he I don't know, man, I'm starting to feel
Speaker 1: like maybe they hit on something here. But again, going
Speaker 1: back to my point, who knows. Maybe he's just going
Speaker 1: against a bunch of few future ups, drivers and bouncers
Speaker 1: and this isn't anything to get excited about. But he
Speaker 1: has looked very good. All right Back to you, are
Speaker 1: we um? He kind of took the Zach Wilson went
Speaker 1: away from me. Honestly, Well, do you have to add?
Speaker 1: I certainly won't stop you? Well, no, I I think
Speaker 1: that point about the defense is good because you can
Speaker 1: contrast Zack Wilson with say Justin Fields or Trey Lance,
Speaker 1: who have had some really fantastic moments in the preseason
Speaker 1: thus far, some really great moments that can get you
Speaker 1: excited about them with moments where you're like, well they
Speaker 1: aren't playing a more complicated defense and man Fields look blinkered.
Speaker 1: Uh kind of figure out kind of what that blitz
Speaker 1: situation was as others. A healthy debate on Twitter about
Speaker 1: who that was on. But I mean, at the end
Speaker 1: of the day, um, unblocked defender is coming for you.
Speaker 1: You have to do something about it. You have to
Speaker 1: see it. Right. He cracked in that game, absolutely in
Speaker 1: the moment that had to freak out Bears fans. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: I have to imagine for sure. Um, and you know
Speaker 1: he's like famously a fairly tough player coming out of college,
Speaker 1: so you know, I imagine that you know he'll just
Speaker 1: kind of use this to to learn and move on.
Speaker 1: But it kind of looks like he's not ready. Trey Lance, Um,
Speaker 1: you know, his high highs are really great, They're really fun.
Speaker 1: Some of his best moments he's got, like there's not
Speaker 1: even a defender within eight yards, much less three yards
Speaker 1: of him, and he's just firing off a deep on
Speaker 1: into a wide open which is what Shanahan's great at right,
Speaker 1: a wide open tight end down the field or something. Um.
Speaker 1: But then there are other moments where like, well he's
Speaker 1: kind of slow, he's not kind of getting kind of
Speaker 1: what he needs, especially beginning this this this week two
Speaker 1: game that he had. UM. So you contrast that with
Speaker 1: Zack Wilson, who's maybe not facing the same challenges defensively
Speaker 1: as his other two were, but you at least get
Speaker 1: to see kind of what that floor might be for him.
Speaker 1: That's really exciting to see. Um. Yeah, I mean that's
Speaker 1: that's what I get to add on too. And I
Speaker 1: also got to throw in that discussion about about fields
Speaker 1: and uh and Lansing there two. So I guess I
Speaker 1: guess to cut my peace and well, let's I want
Speaker 1: to say though that Jimmy g would be one of
Speaker 1: my fathers in a strange way, which is that it
Speaker 1: really feels like Kyle Shanahan wants Trey Lance to win
Speaker 1: this job eek one, which is which is what I
Speaker 1: kind of felt coming into camp. We've talked about it.
Speaker 1: I agree with you, a reef. I think the second
Speaker 1: Tray Lance game, but it's pretty similar to the first,
Speaker 1: had a lot of things to be a little concerned about,
Speaker 1: you know, holding the ball um, just not being able
Speaker 1: to read things, seeing seeming a little tight for most
Speaker 1: of that performance until he gets into the two minute drill.
Speaker 1: But then you look at like the drives that he's played.
Speaker 1: He's played fourteen drives in the last two weeks, and
Speaker 1: it really feels like Shanahan's trying to set him up
Speaker 1: to win the job. And then after the game he
Speaker 1: refuses to say is the week one starter? So I
Speaker 1: don't know who's a winner and loser here, like clarity,
Speaker 1: I guess is the loser. But it feels like if
Speaker 1: it cost a lot more to trade for someone who
Speaker 1: might start than somebody right, if he wants to Trey
Speaker 1: Lance to win the job, then it's then Trey Lance
Speaker 1: is gonna win the job. Maybe it won't be weak one,
Speaker 1: but I don't know, Like I don't think Trey Lance
Speaker 1: has shown enough that you just give it to him,
Speaker 1: But it looks like that's what Kyle Stan wants to happen.
Speaker 1: Let me move to the defending a f C champions Um.
Speaker 1: You know, I feel I have this feeling, and it's
Speaker 1: not bold or brave on any level that Patrick Mahomes
Speaker 1: is gonna drop a major season for the Ages this year, UM,
Speaker 1: just for a better line and still has these superstars
Speaker 1: around him. And then just how talented he is, like
Speaker 1: mastervice Craft type season coming up, fifty touchdown type season
Speaker 1: if he stays healthy. Now the other side of the
Speaker 1: ball is the only thing that's gonna stop him. And
Speaker 1: I just think you keep on reading about Chris Jones
Speaker 1: UH and how good he books, and the shape he's in,
Speaker 1: and how he's been completely dominant UH in practices in
Speaker 1: preseasons and preseason. I'm I'm just wondering, like, how good
Speaker 1: can the Chief's defense be because it's one of those
Speaker 1: situations where it just needs to be okay, Right, So
Speaker 1: if you have somebody like Jones delivering a monster season
Speaker 1: that can carry you to okay almost single handedly. Feels
Speaker 1: like he feels like a great Defensive Player of the
Speaker 1: Year pick for what. I don't know what the odds are,
Speaker 1: but whatever it is, he feels like he would be
Speaker 1: a nice one because I'm sure he's not one of
Speaker 1: the few favorites, but yeah, him playing at defensive end
Speaker 1: and everything you hear, you're absolutely right. Yeah, And I
Speaker 1: think I've got like some really interesting pieces that I mean,
Speaker 1: like Lujarius Sneed had a really great rookie year last season,
Speaker 1: didn't get to play the full season, but had a
Speaker 1: really great rookiear last Season's looked pretty good in the preseason,
Speaker 1: So they've got some pieces on defense that that will
Speaker 1: allow them to kind of, I guess, make it impossible
Speaker 1: for other offenses to keep pace. I guess it's the
Speaker 1: goal here for for the Chiefs defense. So yeah, pretty
Speaker 1: excited about that. I had the Chiefs written down as
Speaker 1: one of the winners to or something related to the Chiefs,
Speaker 1: which was the Chiefs running game. The Chiefs do give
Speaker 1: us something. They do give the preseason enthusiasts something they
Speaker 1: show a lot in the preseason and they're running game.
Speaker 1: This preseason has been very diverse, like mixing in a
Speaker 1: lot of extra stuff. I like what I've seen out
Speaker 1: of Jeric McKinnon. I'm kind of a sucker for him.
Speaker 1: He did not look ever healthy in San Francisco last year,
Speaker 1: but supposedly from everyone who's watched practice every day, he
Speaker 1: showed up there and has been a difference Baker, and
Speaker 1: he looks good on the field, and so I think
Speaker 1: the Chiefs running game, they keep saying in practice, it's
Speaker 1: all about these long, slow drives because that's what defenses
Speaker 1: are going to give to Patrick Mahomes, and so I
Speaker 1: think the running game could be could be better this year.
Speaker 1: Give them a winner. Do you are you curious at
Speaker 1: all the actual odds for Defensive Player of the Year. Yeah,
Speaker 1: all right, I don't even know where this is coming from,
Speaker 1: and it doesn't really matter. I don't even know if
Speaker 1: for a lot to talk about this um, but all
Speaker 1: the usual suspects, Aaron Donald, Miles, Garrett T. J Watt,
Speaker 1: Nick bos A, Joey Us, back to back, that's Proud,
Speaker 1: Chase Young, Khalil Max. So that's the top eight, and
Speaker 1: then man Derwin James. I like that. That's that's pie
Speaker 1: in the sky, but I guess I could see it.
Speaker 1: That's fun. And then rounding out the top ten is
Speaker 1: Minka Fitzpatrick. I don't even see Chris Jones on this list,
Speaker 1: so maybe a nice long long Chris Jones dial hunter.
Speaker 1: There's some pretty good values to have on the field,
Speaker 1: right that's that's interesting. Do you have another one? Uh? Yeah, sure,
Speaker 1: let's I mean a couple of defensive players. I wanted
Speaker 1: to talk about. Malik McDowell had a really good game
Speaker 1: this past week. And you know he's been he's had
Speaker 1: so much trouble, you know, since the Seats acquired him.
Speaker 1: I mean, uh, he had an a TV accident that
Speaker 1: put him on the on the reserve list. Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: he's just been such a rough go for him. Um,
Speaker 1: he was picked in the second round. He was super talented,
Speaker 1: probably could have been picked in the first round honestly, Um,
Speaker 1: but injuries from the actor hasn't prevented him from from
Speaker 1: ever kind of seeing the field with the Seahawks. Um
Speaker 1: ended up with Like he had a couple of alcohol
Speaker 1: struggles too. It's it's really tough. I ended up getting
Speaker 1: arrested for buying stolen property, just like a brutal, brutal
Speaker 1: a couple of years for him. Had a great preseason
Speaker 1: with the Browns, who really need some sort of pass
Speaker 1: rushing interior help to go along with with Myles Garrett. So, uh,
Speaker 1: that game was really good for him. Uh, it would
Speaker 1: be fun for him to make the roster it's so
Speaker 1: easy to cheer for stories like that for somebody who's
Speaker 1: who's been down on their luck. Uh and and to
Speaker 1: find you know, hopefully that you know that's that's gonna
Speaker 1: be a great organization for for him to find support
Speaker 1: with him because he looked really great and I kind
Speaker 1: of hope that trans round for him. So I'm gonna
Speaker 1: call him a preseason winner. Look at that going deep.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna I'm gonna go um on the Cowboys linebackers.
Speaker 1: They do want to get this and that I'm gonna
Speaker 1: go followers. I don't the losers harsh, but it is wild.
Speaker 1: You're the one that said we should do the segment
Speaker 1: and said, yeah, here's the here's the here's the losers.
Speaker 1: It's it's Jalen Smith and Layton vander Esh like this
Speaker 1: is this has been my corner since since the draft.
Speaker 1: But I can't believe it happened so quickly. They are backups.
Speaker 1: They are backups. Jalen Smith is one of the highest
Speaker 1: paid linebackers in the league. Laton Vanderesh was a first
Speaker 1: round pick who had one of the better rookie linebacker
Speaker 1: seasons of the last decade. Has not been the same
Speaker 1: since they are backups to Michael Parsons and Kian O'Neil.
Speaker 1: Like that the switch has already happened. It's apparently it's
Speaker 1: happened for two straight weeks. Michael Parsons is starting at
Speaker 1: middle linebacker over Vanderesh, and Keyan O'Neil, who came with
Speaker 1: Dan Quinn from Atlanta, is starting over Jalen Smith. I'm
Speaker 1: at the point where I kind of expect Jalen Smith
Speaker 1: to be traded or cut, maybe because that feels like
Speaker 1: a problem. He's one of the biggest vocal leaders on
Speaker 1: that team. I don't I don't think that will happen
Speaker 1: with Banderesh, But I'm just kind of amazed and happy
Speaker 1: that they're like the Cowboys just made the move. They're
Speaker 1: not They are not messing around. These are I mean,
Speaker 1: that's depth for you. Now you have Cowboys could be winners.
Speaker 1: I mean, they're great at that position. They have other
Speaker 1: positions they've maybe could have used to upgrade. But Michael
Speaker 1: Parsons looked so good. No one is gonna is gonna
Speaker 1: say that was a bad pick. That's for sure. That's
Speaker 1: a good one. I like that because Mark's not here.
Speaker 1: Let me bring up. Jake Funk, the rookie seventh round
Speaker 1: pick of the Rams. Yeah, on seven carries uh this weekend,
Speaker 1: So he's making progress. Xavier Jones also in the mix.
Speaker 1: Remember it's Darrell Henderson who's the starter for the Rams
Speaker 1: at running back after the season ending achilles tear for
Speaker 1: cam Akers. But maybe Funk is bringing the funk to
Speaker 1: that running back room. That's for you, Mark Sessler, or
Speaker 1: if you got one more before we say goodbye. Yeah,
Speaker 1: how about the Buffalo pass rush? I think that was
Speaker 1: an area where they could have used a lot of
Speaker 1: help last year. I mean, I mean it was a
Speaker 1: really good team offense and defense, but you know they
Speaker 1: relied on a lot of blitz is from like a j.
Speaker 1: Klein to in order to finally get the pressure uh.
Speaker 1: And you know Jerry uses up there in age and
Speaker 1: and so you know they've they've gotten a couple of
Speaker 1: pass rushers in the past two drafts and a JP
Speaker 1: and Ess and great group so both of whom have
Speaker 1: looked really good rushing off the edge. This preseason. You know,
Speaker 1: we talked about how rough it was for Penny so well,
Speaker 1: one of the players he's up against was great Great
Speaker 1: Rousseau who ended up having a really good game, So
Speaker 1: if both and honestly, I didn't really like either of
Speaker 1: these picks by the Bills. I thought Rosa was overrated.
Speaker 1: I thought Evanessa was overrated. Happy to eat my words
Speaker 1: because they both, at least so far, look really really good.
Speaker 1: Bills are scary. I had written that downe to like
Speaker 1: that was the biggest concern I think of the entire
Speaker 1: team coming into training camp, and now they have these
Speaker 1: two young guys. That's another like preseason can have value.
Speaker 1: People think it doesn't have any value, Like I am
Speaker 1: much higher on their pass rush now because Greg Russo
Speaker 1: looks like a great pick and Epanessa, who was not
Speaker 1: good last year didn't play much, looks like he's kind
Speaker 1: of taking a second year leap, like the Colts pass rushes. Similarly,
Speaker 1: a group I'm a little higher on now than I
Speaker 1: was going in into camp. Quitti Pace supposed their rookies
Speaker 1: supposedly had a really good camp. Ben bonnagu a second
Speaker 1: round like done nothing in his career, looks like he's
Speaker 1: flashing and they needed those guys to step up. They
Speaker 1: decided to kind of get rid of a bunch of
Speaker 1: veterans and have the young guys step up and draft pay.
Speaker 1: So far, it looks like it's working. So it's like
Speaker 1: you can, you can, you can learn things as a
Speaker 1: preseason enthusiast. Well, how about this, I mean preseason matters
Speaker 1: to Mitch Drabinski, events goes against his old team, torches
Speaker 1: him four straight touchdown drives to start the game, twenty
Speaker 1: in the touch in the first half. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I still don't know how bron Brian Dable didn't get
Speaker 1: a job, But if he turns Mitch Drabinski into a
Speaker 1: functional NFL player at least a really good backup uh
Speaker 1: this season. I mean, the Bills are just so well
Speaker 1: set up um at every level, especially if they make
Speaker 1: that jump the best. I think this has a chance
Speaker 1: to be the best a FC East since since I've
Speaker 1: been on the job, like the last decade and a half.
Speaker 1: What's the last chance? Maybe, well, maybe we'll be wrong,
Speaker 1: but it's been a bad so maybe I'll tell you
Speaker 1: when's the last time the a f C East was
Speaker 1: truly competitive across the board, like all the way around,
Speaker 1: like across the board, like late nineties when you had
Speaker 1: the Bills the Jets with parcels the Patriots with Bled
Speaker 1: so uh, and the Dolphins at all at that time.
Speaker 1: It was kind of like everyone was in the mix
Speaker 1: at the same time. Nobody was in a down period.
Speaker 1: It's pretty much we all know the Patriots dominated for
Speaker 1: two decades, but there's been some really bad teams in
Speaker 1: that division during that stretch. Maybe this is the year Greg,
Speaker 1: especially at the Patriots. You would think, like the natural
Speaker 1: cycle of things, a team loses their franchise, legendary quarterback,
Speaker 1: they go into a down cycle for ten years. But
Speaker 1: that doesn't really feel like that's where the Patriots are,
Speaker 1: while the Dolphins, Jets rising in the Bills are awesome.
Speaker 1: So the Dolphins and Jets and Patriots are above average teams.
Speaker 1: The Bills are a jugg or not, and the Jets
Speaker 1: are definitely better, gonna be watchable Like that's that's maybe
Speaker 1: a year away. Maybe the Jets are there. Speaking of
Speaker 1: rises and followers, I mean, to a teck of Love,
Speaker 1: it looked fantastic, yea, so good. This has been a
Speaker 1: very positive month for ta Alright, reef, you listen. We
Speaker 1: have a dossier that we keep for guests. Uh. I
Speaker 1: don't know why we don't keep this information in the
Speaker 1: house and just share it freely that some people we
Speaker 1: have back. Some people we call hit it and quit it,
Speaker 1: they don't come back. We'd love to have you back.
Speaker 1: I don't even care for that sounds great. You don't
Speaker 1: know what it's like when we tell someone that they've
Speaker 1: made the hit it in quitit list at the end
Speaker 1: of their first appearance and that they'll never be back.
Speaker 1: Just the looks on their face, it's like, you know,
Speaker 1: you didn't You didn't pay me for this. I am
Speaker 1: not I should not be subjected to this additional It's
Speaker 1: a very bad podcast, but thank you for making it better.
Speaker 1: A Reef and h follow Reef on Twitter and if
Speaker 1: you're a Vikings fan, that is the place to go.
Speaker 1: Uh the athletic Thank you buddy. Yeah, thanks for having
Speaker 1: me on there, he goes, good one. Good guests right there, Ricky,
Speaker 1: how's the dos say coming? Because you would think after
Speaker 1: it kind of puts you on the spot a little
Speaker 1: bit last week and you gave us the dog ate
Speaker 1: my homework that maybe the file would drop into our
Speaker 1: text email like later that day, but still haven't seen
Speaker 1: it yet. She oh did, Yeah, I had like two
Speaker 1: names could not have taken too long to put together.
Speaker 1: She did send it my my deepest apologies. Well Greg
Speaker 1: did that too. Actually this morning he sent me some
Speaker 1: Where's that. I was like, where's the link? The night
Speaker 1: Greg asked me, He's like, can we get the links
Speaker 1: way earlier just so I can have it? And I'm like,
Speaker 1: of course, I'm not just things, and you produced the
Speaker 1: show and you often send the link like well after this,
Speaker 1: So I sent it at seven pm, okay, And then
Speaker 1: Greg says at ten thirty this morning. Those early links
Speaker 1: for pods lasted about three weeks, and I said, sent
Speaker 1: it last night, and I said, scroll up three messages
Speaker 1: and watch your tone. I stand by my statement because
Speaker 1: last because they were coming late last week. So you
Speaker 1: can't be a producer on this show if you if
Speaker 1: you can't stick up for yourself and Erica, you certainly
Speaker 1: do that. Greg trying to bully you. Come on, Greg,
Speaker 1: But I think, yeah, I didn't know if that was
Speaker 1: a nickname. I thought he was like, I don't know.
Speaker 1: I didn't know if a reef somehow had some sort
Speaker 1: of insider like knowledge, but probably not. All right, did
Speaker 1: you have anything in your notebook there? Greg? Did you
Speaker 1: have a one more you wanted to throw out there,
Speaker 1: Um no, we didn't mention. We didn't mention. I think
Speaker 1: we hit all the big ones. But Teddy played perfect.
Speaker 1: Uh this week, I really got the sense, if you
Speaker 1: read between the lines, they were gearing up to name
Speaker 1: your Lock the starter. I think they wanted to um
Speaker 1: going into the game, if you kind of read between
Speaker 1: the line of some of the reporting of people we trust,
Speaker 1: like a James Palmer, just felt like they were gearing
Speaker 1: up to do to name Lock the starter. But they
Speaker 1: had said, well, Teddy's gonna start the second game, and
Speaker 1: then all what happens. Teddy has like two perfect drives
Speaker 1: where he makes some great plays. After the game, Fongio
Speaker 1: they compared him to Tom Brady and said he was
Speaker 1: doing some like elite next level stuff, and uh, I
Speaker 1: was like, I've never heard Fonio talk that positively about
Speaker 1: any offensive player. If you look at like the PFF grades,
Speaker 1: like Teddy has like an eighty three and Lock has
Speaker 1: a sixty four. Lock kind of struggled in the relief appearance,
Speaker 1: and now it feels like they don't know what to do.
Speaker 1: So I don't know, I don't know if that's a
Speaker 1: winner a loser, But I think they wanted to go
Speaker 1: lock and now they shouldn't allow a couple of drives
Speaker 1: in the preseason to change you mind. How can they
Speaker 1: not know? I think you should base it on the
Speaker 1: body of work, and they know these players and that
Speaker 1: Ted's the better choice personally. But like it's they shouldn't
Speaker 1: base it on a driver too. But it felt like
Speaker 1: he made a significant dent into that race. I don't
Speaker 1: know what they're gonna do that Bridgewater led as Gregg noted,
Speaker 1: calling it perfect. There's always that little extra flare with
Speaker 1: Greg and Bridgewater talk. It's not that it was a
Speaker 1: really good performance. It was perfect. Uh two touchdown drives
Speaker 1: and two position possessions, which I guess it is perfect
Speaker 1: if if that's the what the barometer is for being
Speaker 1: a quarterback nine of eleven passing for a hundred and
Speaker 1: five yards and a touchdown and Founggio when asked about
Speaker 1: that QB decision, I mean, you could be listening to
Speaker 1: this now and he might have already announced it because
Speaker 1: he said it won't be Sunday, and it wasn't the
Speaker 1: earliest it could be would be early next week. So
Speaker 1: we'll see, we'll see. I bet they start lock and
Speaker 1: they bench them like week three. That's my prediction. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I hope I'm wrong because I want to just ride
Speaker 1: this Teddy Broncos train to the playoffs. There usually is
Speaker 1: a team every year on this podcast. I guess it's
Speaker 1: kind of Team b tli um that it was West,
Speaker 1: but like you and Mark will get aligned on a
Speaker 1: team and get super on fire about him and I
Speaker 1: feel like the Broncos. But I kind of feel like
Speaker 1: that's what it was last August two. Yeah, well West
Speaker 1: West has kind of been on the Fonsio Broncos. Uh,
Speaker 1: he was on him early. I think there. I think
Speaker 1: they've been setting up and building a lot of town.
Speaker 1: They had a lot of bad luck last year with
Speaker 1: with injuries and in their quarterbacks, but now they have
Speaker 1: Teddy to see it. Right. Well, the quarterback wasn't a
Speaker 1: bad luck. It was just bad quarterback back. All right.
Speaker 1: We'll be back Wednesday again. Yes, the annual Fantasy Extravaganza,
Speaker 1: shock full of guests, including that big old Fish, the
Speaker 1: large Fish, the large Tuna, Evan silva Um. So make
Speaker 1: sure you're there for that. And I guess we're keeping
Speaker 1: a little open ended this week if if because We're
Speaker 1: gonna keep it fantasy focused on Wednesday, and maybe if
Speaker 1: we need another podcast later in the week, maybe it drops,
Speaker 1: you'll see um. But either way, we'll have the NFL
Speaker 1: Network program as well, returning. I believe that's on Thursday
Speaker 1: this week, right, Okay, so uh Fantasy Extravaganns on Wednesday,
Speaker 1: NFL Network around, the NFL broadcast on Thursday, and we'll
Speaker 1: be on call otherwise for any other huge news that
Speaker 1: may develop in our league. Anything else. No, we might.
Speaker 1: We might uh finish this one in double digits. I do.
Speaker 1: I feel bad for Mark. He's had a tough weekend,
Speaker 1: and then the one show he's missing is the one
Speaker 1: that's sub one hour, which is all not even that tight.
Speaker 1: We're at fifty six. Remember back in the day, we
Speaker 1: we used to really debate, you know, go back and forth.
Speaker 1: I would try to keep it under fifty. That was
Speaker 1: like my magical if we could get a lot of
Speaker 1: the lot of people, you get a lot of buzz
Speaker 1: on Twitter, A lot of people are excited that our
Speaker 1: show is generally about a half hour, not the ninety
Speaker 1: minute you know, Journeys of the Ear that some of
Speaker 1: these other football podcasts are that was from two thousand
Speaker 1: and thirteen, that clip, and we were doing some digging
Speaker 1: on the West as a story. Erica came across that
Speaker 1: just just bloviating and bragging about how our show is
Speaker 1: thirty minutes and all these other jabronies are sixty to
Speaker 1: ninety minutes. It's just like a bunch of guys just
Speaker 1: full of themselves, can't you know, don't get sick of
Speaker 1: hearing their own voice? No, now, what have we? What
Speaker 1: have we become? It's important to defeat the monster that
Speaker 1: you do, not become the monster the fans. You know,
Speaker 1: you were always on the corner of the fans. Fans
Speaker 1: never complained when it's longer, you know, never never the
Speaker 1: only person that's ever complained or some management figures um
Speaker 1: have complained about the length of the show. But the
Speaker 1: listeners look at Dan trying to stretch it over an hour. Now,
Speaker 1: I got all of those listeners. Now, let's name all
Speaker 1: the countries that listen to this show. Algeria. I'm just
Speaker 1: going down that scroll when you have when you're building
Speaker 1: in some document online and you're looking for the United States,
Speaker 1: and always starts in Algeria because like the embassy Arab
Speaker 1: Emirates Arab Emirates. All right, that's it. No, this is a
Speaker 1: a sub hour. We did it because there is signing.
Speaker 1: I'm really disappointed, signing off for the old Boss and
Speaker 1: Ricky Hollywood. Thank you to our read until Wednesday, the extravaganza.
Speaker 1: He's the call s