Speaker 1: The Around the NFL podcast survived the swift E takeover
Speaker 1: from the Chris Westling podcast studio.
Speaker 2: It's Around the NFL. I am Dan Hans's heroes here.
Speaker 2: Greg Rosenthal, Mark Sessler. Yes, she did six shows and
Speaker 2: seven nights here at Sofi Stadium, and now it is over.
Speaker 2: No more cars in the parking lot, no more maniacal fans,
Speaker 2: no more screaming.
Speaker 3: It's well, I mean we were here typically in the
Speaker 3: morning to early afternoon hours. I didn't even notice it.
Speaker 3: I mean I drive in and out. Did you what did?
Speaker 3: Was there something happening?
Speaker 1: Some extra grinding from daddy.
Speaker 2: Daddy was at the Hard Knocks stuff on Tuesday, which
Speaker 2: took us right into another Swifty explosion.
Speaker 4: Right, you are the daddy in this case, Well.
Speaker 1: Obviously are daddy. I could if you want. We got
Speaker 1: that conversation.
Speaker 4: I don't know you are young.
Speaker 2: I'm already a daddy to two sons. I don't the
Speaker 2: whole dynamic would make me. I'm not looking for you
Speaker 2: to be my father, Greg request.
Speaker 3: No, I'm not either.
Speaker 4: It's just confusing because technically we are all father right,
Speaker 4: two children?
Speaker 2: Well, yes, you know, yes, true? You know one other
Speaker 2: note that I didn't mention about that concert. The second
Speaker 2: song is the song that's a huge fan favorite called
Speaker 2: Cruel Summer. And now I know what it was like
Speaker 2: to see the Beatles. Seventy five thousand people in that
Speaker 2: building every and many women and girls, as I told
Speaker 2: you yesterday, screaming at the top of their lungs, either
Speaker 2: the lyrics of the song or just screaming out of
Speaker 2: control screaming.
Speaker 1: Couldn't hear Taylor Swift.
Speaker 2: I could see her, you could hear the bass stumping,
Speaker 2: but you actually couldn't hear her because the crowd was
Speaker 2: going that ballistic.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I saw lots of video of like girls crazy,
Speaker 3: breaking down, crying like literally melty, it's nuts to tears.
Speaker 4: You should have tried to buy them down. You're like
Speaker 4: trying to listen.
Speaker 2: By Doddie's trying to enjoy the show.
Speaker 1: That's weird too.
Speaker 4: You know who I saw in the huddle yesterday. It's
Speaker 4: kind of reminded me of old NFL times where you
Speaker 4: just see random athletes in the huddle. Chris Johnson, the
Speaker 4: Great Titans Russia, and I told him he was once
Speaker 4: on the because he was walking around with their friend
Speaker 4: David Singer, and we were talking and told me he
Speaker 4: was once on the cover of a magazine I produced,
Speaker 4: the old fantasy magazine. And it reminded me the roador World.
Speaker 4: Now you told him that I did.
Speaker 3: What was his react? Was it a Taylor Swift typer?
Speaker 4: We were talking fantasy just how like how crazy people were.
Speaker 2: I mean, he was like a superstar in the NFL. Yeah,
Speaker 2: that's a wild thing. Like, hey, do you know you
Speaker 2: were on the cover of a magazine once?
Speaker 4: I was just like, it reminded me, how you know
Speaker 4: we're here in the Chris Westling podcast studio that Chris
Speaker 4: Wesseling at least partly made his name on Roadorworld dot com.
Speaker 4: I would say a solid brick in the foundation of
Speaker 4: Roadorworld dot Com was on Chris Wesseling's Chris Johnson take
Speaker 4: that he that. I think it was his rookie and
Speaker 4: it reminded me with this training camp coming up, it
Speaker 4: was his rookie training camp that Chris planted a flag
Speaker 4: as hard as you could possibly plant a flag that
Speaker 4: not only will Chris Johnson like be a factor, but
Speaker 4: he will win you your fantasy league and as he's gonna
Speaker 4: be like one of the fantasy stories and he couldn't
Speaker 4: have been more aggressive about it. And it's like putting
Speaker 4: him like aggressively atop the rankings and everyone's like, okay, wow,
Speaker 4: Chris weistle, and then it came so true. I feel
Speaker 4: like even for years he was living off the fumes
Speaker 4: of his Great.
Speaker 3: Christmas and his personal website had some incredible Chris Johnson
Speaker 3: write ups, and I think in general, like around this
Speaker 3: time when the game, these preseason games would get started
Speaker 3: and you could argue to their relative meaninglessness compared to
Speaker 3: what comes next, but he would always have one or
Speaker 3: two running backs, especially at that position, that say, I'm
Speaker 3: watching them, I see how fit they are, they look
Speaker 3: different than ever before. They're going to explode. And then
Speaker 3: you're in week three, week four, and he's completely right.
Speaker 4: Like you with Toby Gerhart a few years back.
Speaker 3: Well that was like, you know, to making the lead
Speaker 3: articles on Toby Gearhart didn't push him over the finish line.
Speaker 2: Two thousand and nine Chris Johnson two thousand and six yards,
Speaker 2: fourteen touchdowns, rushing sixteen total, averaging one hundred and twenty
Speaker 2: five yards per game. He won Offensive Player of the Year.
Speaker 4: For twenty five hundred yards from scrimmage is that the
Speaker 4: most Ever.
Speaker 2: It's if it's not the most, it's it's it's close,
Speaker 2: I you know, And it's cautionary tale of course, because
Speaker 2: he had let's see fifty catch it. Yeah, yeah, four
Speaker 2: hundred touches, had one Pro Bowl the next year, and
Speaker 2: then was never a Pro bowler again or an All Pro.
Speaker 4: It is by the way that I mean, that's kind
Speaker 4: of an underrated record as record's going, gaining the most
Speaker 4: amount of yards of anyone in the history of the
Speaker 4: sports record.
Speaker 1: Marshall Fulk, Marshall Fox, Christian McCaffrey's number three.
Speaker 2: Interesting, Yeah, and I early in our tenure, Mark he
Speaker 2: was kind of like the first running back to fail
Speaker 2: in his attempt to get paid. Remember that totally ponderous
Speaker 2: holdout that became a major storyline throughout the twenty eleven
Speaker 2: off season or twenty ten offseason. Going into twenty eleven.
Speaker 2: He wanted quarterback money. Think about that and how much
Speaker 2: the league has changed. He wanted quarterback superstar money coming
Speaker 2: two years off his I mean, he was their quarterback
Speaker 2: for half right, coming off his two thousand yard season,
Speaker 2: and he had to settle for a nice deal, but
Speaker 2: nowhere near quarterback money.
Speaker 1: Now these guys are just trying to get like safety money.
Speaker 1: So yeah, it's gone south. It's going in the wrong direction.
Speaker 4: Six straight years of fourteen hundred yards from scrimmage. I mean,
Speaker 4: I guess he's not even getting considered at all for
Speaker 4: Hall of Fame stuff.
Speaker 2: But that's pretty good. That's better than he peaked early.
Speaker 2: I mean, that would be the only thing anyway. Good
Speaker 2: Chris Johnson talk. What did he say when you said
Speaker 2: you were on a magazine?
Speaker 4: Yeah, the way I put it, either way I put it.
Speaker 4: I was just like, I don't even know how we
Speaker 4: were talking for a few minutes, Like it was taken
Speaker 4: a while for that sandwich to come to the point
Speaker 4: where I was like, I think we all were ready
Speaker 4: to move on in our lives. But he was very cool.
Speaker 4: We were having good talk.
Speaker 2: I don't remember, do you think, Mark, do you think
Speaker 2: he remembers the conversation ed with Greg.
Speaker 3: I think it's probably you know, if he sort of
Speaker 3: scans this entire trip to the West Coast, it's got
Speaker 3: to be in the top two or three things that
Speaker 3: occurred to him and.
Speaker 4: A bunch of squares at that NFL network. That little
Speaker 4: guy that was pretty cool in the lunch room that
Speaker 4: one dude.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so that's it. That's uh, the Chris Johnson tail.
Speaker 2: We have some fun stuff to get to. We have
Speaker 2: Eric Edholm coming up to talk power rankings.
Speaker 1: How about that.
Speaker 2: We'll get to that in a second. We also have
Speaker 2: football games kind of starting this weekend, starting tonight in
Speaker 2: fact Thursday, a couple of games tonight and then games
Speaker 2: through Sunday, the first full week of preseason action, and
Speaker 2: we're going to kind of spin through the schedule of
Speaker 2: games and share some things that we're looking forward to.
Speaker 2: Some of us are looking forward to.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well we don't have We don't have the same
Speaker 3: take on the preseason. And I'm surprised that I'm the
Speaker 3: guy not even the most cynical preseason observe in this room.
Speaker 2: Like if I could like the bit you did where
Speaker 2: you just got up and left the room during our
Speaker 2: quarterback conversation, it's.
Speaker 4: Not a bit, then why are we doing this segment?
Speaker 1: Because I am not a monster, and I know how
Speaker 1: much you guys.
Speaker 3: I think you might have suggested it.
Speaker 1: No, I was like, yeah, yesterday it was like you did,
Speaker 1: should we do so?
Speaker 2: Hit the preseason is like part of the show tomorrow
Speaker 2: and everybody's like, yeah, good. And then we got on
Speaker 2: the phone and I was like, Mark's like, I have
Speaker 2: seven hundred takes to share it for the preseason.
Speaker 3: I would argue this because I think normally, I think
Speaker 3: the preseason starts and you're like, oh, wait a minute,
Speaker 3: this is terrible.
Speaker 1: But and it is right.
Speaker 3: But this time around, I think that you got a
Speaker 3: lot of rookie heat at wide receiver, at quarterback, and
Speaker 3: it's a little bit different. You got some teams. Save
Speaker 3: it a little bit different.
Speaker 1: Save it.
Speaker 3: That's all. Save it. Not only do we have that
Speaker 3: this is our product, pedal. I appreciate the product. I
Speaker 3: actually have a gift.
Speaker 1: That's what I mean.
Speaker 2: It's a little out of character for you to fall
Speaker 2: the line with the corporate machine, and I like it.
Speaker 1: We need more of it.
Speaker 3: This is not on I think if you go and
Speaker 3: look at every the hours leading up to the first
Speaker 3: week of preseason, I'm jazzed up. But I do admit
Speaker 3: that about ten minutes into you know, Patriots Texans at
Speaker 3: four ten pm on the West Coast and be like,
Speaker 3: this is not a real product.
Speaker 2: That's what kills me getry. I've done it before. I
Speaker 2: try to get in excited about the preseason, right, and
Speaker 2: trust me what we're going to talk about. And that's
Speaker 2: why I wasn't a jerk about it yesterday. I was
Speaker 2: even like, yeah, let's do it. I like the idea
Speaker 2: of the stories and who's gonna win this job and
Speaker 2: that job. But then the games start and I'm like,
Speaker 2: oh boy, I shouldn't say too much. Actually, all right,
Speaker 2: we'll be back monday. Yes that the games are still
Speaker 2: better than nothing.
Speaker 3: I mean, are our boss? Are they?
Speaker 4: Who was also in the huddle yesterday, Roger Goodell was
Speaker 4: there to not get a chance to speak with him,
Speaker 4: tell him that he's been on a magazine and he
Speaker 4: was walking around talking to some interns.
Speaker 3: So I had I had a near Goodell running. But
Speaker 3: as Patrick Claibone was coming up the stairs from our yes,
Speaker 3: the book the basement level makeup area, and he said
Speaker 3: Goodell's down there, and so I had a like a
Speaker 3: hobo's paper bag of clothing that you know now I.
Speaker 1: Noticed that bag, well yesterday it looked a little you.
Speaker 3: Put it in the bag. And then it was said like,
Speaker 3: so I'm walking down the corridor, there's a gaggle of
Speaker 3: like high high looking officials, and I was not allowed
Speaker 3: into the men's locker room because apparently Goodell was in
Speaker 3: there changing. So I was told by someone that I'm
Speaker 3: not going to say it was, was like, please come
Speaker 3: back later, not for you right now, of course. So
Speaker 3: my sad little paper bag, and I turned around.
Speaker 2: Picturing you with like the the hobo stick, with the bandana,
Speaker 2: with the stuff far from it walking down the highway.
Speaker 3: Like if I had not had the bag, they would
Speaker 3: have let me in the room.
Speaker 4: I brought him up and we didn't get a chance
Speaker 4: to talk. Unfortunately. I've actually never really spoken with Roger
Speaker 4: Goodell in my life.
Speaker 1: So we have multiple comers, but good ones good one. Yeah.
Speaker 4: Really, but he tried. He tried to squash another week
Speaker 4: out of the preseason.
Speaker 3: I remember.
Speaker 4: I mean he was moving hard and he got so
Speaker 4: much pushback, so I mean he kind of shared your view.
Speaker 3: He was trying to get it down there.
Speaker 1: Do we have a preseason promo? Read later?
Speaker 3: We do?
Speaker 2: Okay, I want the Shadowy League figures to know that
Speaker 2: I'm going all the way in. I'm going hard on
Speaker 2: that read.
Speaker 1: Because I like it.
Speaker 2: Here, right before we get to Eric at Home, let's
Speaker 2: hit one bit of news. Not a bunch going on,
Speaker 2: considering we just did a show yesterday. But you know,
Speaker 2: the defending world champion Chiefs are a team that need
Speaker 2: Chris Jones in the building, and he's not because Chris
Speaker 2: Jones is a holdout. He wants to be paid at
Speaker 2: the highest levels in terms of defenders in the NFL. However,
Speaker 2: Red Veach, who you mocked famously a few years back,
Speaker 2: but then walk that back and apologize.
Speaker 4: And the whole thing was I just liked I just
Speaker 4: made a funny voice and pretended.
Speaker 1: To be Yeah, it was a little.
Speaker 4: Less about him personally, and just you know, he just
Speaker 4: got caught in the comedy cross fire.
Speaker 2: Sometimes when it's pure comic genius, like I guess, sometimes
Speaker 2: you just catch.
Speaker 3: Astray and you know, it's all in the game, no surrender.
Speaker 1: It's all the game.
Speaker 2: GM Red Beach told The Athletic on Wednesday, do not
Speaker 2: expect Chris Jones to be sent out of town. They
Speaker 2: have no intention Here's the quote. We have no intentions
Speaker 2: of trading Chris since the start of the offseason. Chris
Speaker 2: has been right at the top of our priorities. Every year,
Speaker 2: it's a different scenario and a different dynamic. One of
Speaker 2: the dynamics this year was the fact that some of
Speaker 2: the players in that position group didn't get done until
Speaker 2: late so there was a natural holding pattern. He's entering
Speaker 2: the final year, Chris Jones, of his four year, eighty
Speaker 2: million dollar contract. He wants a big time extension.
Speaker 1: The highest paid.
Speaker 2: Player, by the way, at his position is Aaron Donald,
Speaker 2: who got three for ninety five last summer. Quentin Williams
Speaker 2: most recently got the bag four for ninety six. So
Speaker 2: you could figure out again different angle than Greg. You've
Speaker 2: been on the agents recently. I'm more like, why we
Speaker 2: it's all just all the contracts now are built out. Yeah,
Speaker 2: so you're if you're the if you're Chris Jones, be like,
Speaker 2: excuse me, management, I'm good. And I go back to
Speaker 2: the chiefs and I say, Quinn Williams four for ninety six,
Speaker 2: I would like four.
Speaker 1: For one oh four.
Speaker 3: That's all you do. A total snooze fest of a situation,
Speaker 3: because of course he's gonna get paid.
Speaker 2: And he keep the commission right, it's a bonkers financial strategy.
Speaker 3: He's gonna get paid. We're just just we'll just check
Speaker 3: back in a fortnite here. I believe. I believe so.
Speaker 4: I think I want to just give a round of
Speaker 4: a pause to us the football coknas SENTI ah that
Speaker 4: how little attention this has gotten. Nick Bosa is a holdout,
Speaker 4: Chris Jones is a holdout. These are two of the
Speaker 4: best players in the league that certainly would be the
Speaker 4: best two free agents in the league next year if
Speaker 4: they were free, if they got to free agency, and
Speaker 4: yet there's almost been no attention. I mean, back in
Speaker 4: the day we were writing daily stories about Javon Walker.
Speaker 4: I don't know why the Javon Walker hold out is
Speaker 4: the one that really scarred me. It's probably because they
Speaker 4: don't play quarterback, and people ultimately just don't care about
Speaker 4: non quarterbacks. But like Nick Bosa, Chris Jones, and then
Speaker 4: I would throw Josh Jake in there, holding out has
Speaker 4: gotten almost no attention.
Speaker 3: I remember back in the day writing roughly like four
Speaker 3: hundred and twelve like meaningless updates about Matt Fourte trying
Speaker 3: to get paid with the Bears was just like gun
Speaker 3: to head, toughy, and then it just happened. It's like
Speaker 3: just now I think we are learning just stay silent,
Speaker 3: put head to ground and it will happen at some point.
Speaker 4: There's like an outside chance. I feel like, you know,
Speaker 4: these could go into like the week before week one
Speaker 4: and be a little surprising. If he would miss time,
Speaker 4: maybe Josh Jacobs would be the one dead.
Speaker 3: That one feels a little angry enough.
Speaker 1: The only thing that.
Speaker 2: As a chiefs and I wouldn't be concerned, the only
Speaker 2: thing that would concern me slightly. Of course, he's an
Speaker 2: elite athlete whose production tells you he busts asked to
Speaker 2: be who he is. But if he's out of camp
Speaker 2: and doing his own thing and then he comes back
Speaker 2: in a week before the game start, is he gonna
Speaker 2: be kind of ready to go? Is he susceptible to injury?
Speaker 2: You want your guys in the bill and you want
Speaker 2: to feel like, yeah, that.
Speaker 4: Part's and he's older. Yeah, this is his third contract.
Speaker 4: This is not as he's already gotten one big contract.
Speaker 4: And I think that probably is what's complicating it a
Speaker 4: little bit, because he's the best at what he does,
Speaker 4: basically at his particular I know he's a different player
Speaker 4: than Donald. He might get paid like it, but he's
Speaker 4: got to be thirty two to thirty three by the
Speaker 4: end of this contract.
Speaker 1: Okay, there's a little news item. Anything else. It's the
Speaker 1: last time we had one news item. Well, you had
Speaker 1: one you wanted to add, No.
Speaker 3: I was would mention that the Browns added Shelby Harris.
Speaker 1: So you would mention that, wouldn't you.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, I think they've done a nice job this offseason.
Speaker 3: That was a huge weakness all last year. You could
Speaker 3: run right through them like an open barn door, and
Speaker 3: they've shored that up.
Speaker 4: You think they've done enough. How are you feeling about
Speaker 4: the Browns offense? I was pretty stunned off side that defense.
Speaker 4: Rather that the Football Outsiders have their ninth in defense.
Speaker 3: I thought that was high too, because for me, it's
Speaker 3: always like, let's see it first. But I think they've
Speaker 3: got a pretty elite group of cornerbacks. They've got some
Speaker 3: young safeties. You've you've put someone across from Miles Garrett,
Speaker 3: and the interior defensive line has been patched up. So
Speaker 3: they did about as much as you could do. And
Speaker 3: you get these August signings and like Shelby Harris like
Speaker 3: has been a really consistent player.
Speaker 4: I think so right, all their draft picks haven't worked.
Speaker 4: I guess they just drafted someone siaki Ika, so he
Speaker 4: can play there. But you're right, it's kind of like
Speaker 4: the old the old big guy group, Dalvin Thomas and
Speaker 4: Shelby Harris, da Darius Smith. Probably they all they all
Speaker 4: won't work out. But defense to me is a little
Speaker 4: less about talent a little more just about like coaching
Speaker 4: and attitude. Are they playing hard?
Speaker 3: You know?
Speaker 4: So if Schwartz can get him to do that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, the coordinator was a big problem the last two years.
Speaker 1: You're bad. Don't just do your job. Do your job
Speaker 1: and more right, that's where football is.
Speaker 3: That slogan on Tuesday after seeing that on Hard Knocks
Speaker 3: from the.
Speaker 4: I can't wait to, you know, see Belichick shake Jeff
Speaker 4: Ulbrick's hand after the eleventh graate Patriots victory over the Jets.
Speaker 1: And be like, little.
Speaker 4: I knew more about football before you were even born.
Speaker 1: Good stuff, all right, Transition, I remember you was a.
Speaker 3: Player on the forty nine ers.
Speaker 1: You were a jack transition, you know.
Speaker 2: I one, it's not a criticism of Hard Knocks, and
Speaker 2: I'm not going to go dungee here, by the way,
Speaker 2: but the Jets are the hard knocks team and my
Speaker 2: son Jack is really starting to get into football. In fact,
Speaker 2: it's his birthday this weekend, and he asked his grandmother
Speaker 2: for an Aaron Rodgers jersey and that's arriving on Saturday.
Speaker 2: And he previously out of Sam Darneld jersey and a
Speaker 2: Zach Wilson jersey. So there are times to charm. How
Speaker 2: do you watch that with the eight year old? When
Speaker 2: jeth Oldbrick is going off with f bombs? How do
Speaker 2: I do it? What's the what's the play?
Speaker 4: So I brought that up because Walker wanted to watch
Speaker 4: it and he's watched Quarterback, and I said, well, there's
Speaker 4: there's a lot of bad words there, and he's very
Speaker 4: Whenever I say a bad word something that's not even
Speaker 4: a bad word, like dumb, he'll be like, that's a
Speaker 4: bad word.
Speaker 3: I'm like, that's not it.
Speaker 4: That's not really a bad word, not in the array
Speaker 4: of bad words anyways. So I said that, I said,
Speaker 4: there's a lot of, you know, bad words on that show.
Speaker 4: He's like, I already know all the bad words, So
Speaker 4: what's the difference.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't think that's a big deal. I was like,
Speaker 3: that's a.
Speaker 1: Strong bombs are pretty heavy though, No.
Speaker 4: But my he's like, I know the worst ones I
Speaker 4: was like, I know, I nobody.
Speaker 3: My kids know them all. There doesn't seem to be
Speaker 3: a compulsion to say them out loud in our house.
Speaker 1: They're a little older, but yeah, they're a little older.
Speaker 3: But I watched like the first half hour of Saving
Speaker 3: Private Ryan with him yesterday, which I know is intense.
Speaker 3: Wait wait, well no, because like they're really into World
Speaker 3: War two and stuff, and I was like, well, I think.
Speaker 1: You got a ring. That one of the most savage depictions.
Speaker 3: It's insane, it's insane, but they handled the beautifully and
Speaker 3: like we're going to continue to watch it. Like it's
Speaker 3: like I think you ripped a band aid off at
Speaker 3: some point and start showing real things. I tried. There
Speaker 3: is a man that carries his own arm at one point,
Speaker 3: but like there's a lot of other things that happen.
Speaker 3: It's not that's nothing.
Speaker 2: They not judging your parenting. I just think that movie
Speaker 2: I think of the opening scene being as horrifying as
Speaker 2: any depiction of it.
Speaker 3: It is ever it is, But like they weren't, they were,
Speaker 3: they were in app attention.
Speaker 1: Now I don't feel so guilty about Yeah, I.
Speaker 3: Think he can handle It's like he's gonna you know
Speaker 3: it's a guy in a chair saying a bad word.
Speaker 1: Jack got into his first fight last week at a camp.
Speaker 2: Differing differing items of reporting on this, but Jack said
Speaker 2: the kid in front of him his hat fell off,
Speaker 2: and Jack said he stepped on it, but accidentally m.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: The boy then turned around, gave it to Jack and
Speaker 2: said I thought you were my friend.
Speaker 1: Why'd you do that?
Speaker 2: And then kicked him and on the playground it was
Speaker 2: like kicking him and calling him the B word, and
Speaker 2: then Jack called him the B word back, and then
Speaker 2: the counselor say the B word.
Speaker 3: I don't think you need to worry about the jet Steve, Yeah, exactly,
Speaker 3: he's already well, this is my point.
Speaker 2: And I actually didn't even come down too hard on
Speaker 2: him about getting busted by the counselor because he's now
Speaker 2: at that age where you're gonna have dust ups with
Speaker 2: kids sometimes. I had it when I was I remember
Speaker 2: Saint Margaret's in the Layup line with Tommy O'Hara, him
Speaker 2: going back and forth with him, that that was right
Speaker 2: around that age, and the language starts to ramp up
Speaker 2: around his age. I was just like, maybe, again, I
Speaker 2: don't want to dongify this, but maybe.
Speaker 1: There's a it's HBO Max.
Speaker 2: You can do anything on that streaming platform. You could
Speaker 2: put the belief version and the uncensored version.
Speaker 3: You could also fast forward through that part too. Great
Speaker 3: part you the parent Well, I know, but then's and
Speaker 3: that's not just that.
Speaker 1: Part obviously, you know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, let's let's get to a very important matter here,
Speaker 2: vitally important.
Speaker 1: For the past.
Speaker 2: And I think I have to address this because I
Speaker 2: was getting some stuff on social that seemed to there
Speaker 2: are people that were curious if this was.
Speaker 1: Went down a different way.
Speaker 2: We've had some let's face it, we've had some unnecessary
Speaker 2: drama involving turnover connected to this podcast in this offseason
Speaker 2: and the transfer of duties. I will no longer be
Speaker 2: doing power rankings NFL dot com this year. This was
Speaker 2: my idea, It was our idea collectively, because we are
Speaker 2: really excited to do some more stuff connected to this show,
Speaker 2: specifically with NFL Plus. We're gonna have to kind of
Speaker 2: announce our plans to the audience soon on that, but
Speaker 2: we're working on like multiple new shows connected to the
Speaker 2: universe of A ten. So it was time to get
Speaker 2: Power Rings up the plate and it's so important.
Speaker 1: I think in any.
Speaker 2: Kind of group or organization for a nation, what have
Speaker 2: you a peaceful transfer of power, right because without that
Speaker 2: you have chaos.
Speaker 3: Like when one president's chanding it off to another president.
Speaker 1: We need that peaceful transfer of power.
Speaker 2: And with that set, I want to welcome on a
Speaker 2: highly qualified individual who has taken the scepter of not
Speaker 2: just the Power Rankings. This is what Eric and I
Speaker 2: spoke last week, the Power Rankings. Eric at Holme Writer
Speaker 2: NFL dot com. The Power Rankings got.
Speaker 5: Your handwritten note in the top desk drawer, you know
Speaker 5: in the presidential office.
Speaker 6: Thank you for that. Was a nice touch.
Speaker 1: But and I do sorry about all the F bombs
Speaker 1: in it. You know that. You know I've been watching.
Speaker 5: This is such a parenting show. I didn't know that
Speaker 5: that was such a big topic. But I'm I'm going
Speaker 5: to tune into every format you guys have going forward
Speaker 5: to make sure I'm.
Speaker 6: Knowing when to screen Shindler's List for my kids. You
Speaker 6: know that sort of thing.
Speaker 3: That's what happens when you have one news item.
Speaker 2: So yes, right, right, right, yeah, that was Dad in June, right, Yes, Eric,
Speaker 2: who is a lead draft writer for US here at
Speaker 2: NFL dot Com does awesome work there, and and yeah,
Speaker 2: after four years of Power Rankings, it was time for
Speaker 2: me to graduate do something else. And and who's more
Speaker 2: qualified than at home? Who's done it in the past,
Speaker 2: different in different places, And the first one.
Speaker 1: Was a banger in fact.
Speaker 2: And I point everyone over to his Power rankings because
Speaker 2: one thing, for example, Eric's he's streets ahead of me
Speaker 2: in terms of this time of year, especially because he
Speaker 2: can tell you, all right, here's my rankings, and the
Speaker 2: ranking especially this time of year, arbitrary of course, however,
Speaker 2: the rookie classes and how they're going to look and
Speaker 2: what we're going to be looking for in these upcoming
Speaker 2: preseason games. Eric does a great job in the first
Speaker 2: Power Rankings diving into that side of these teams, which
Speaker 2: is so vital.
Speaker 1: So good job, Eric, And terrible job putting the Chiefs
Speaker 1: number one. I just don't see it.
Speaker 2: It's time to get after some people on Power rankings.
Speaker 2: But yeah, good stuff, Bud, a great start.
Speaker 6: Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 5: It's funny that one of the last Twitter replies I
Speaker 5: just got was somebody imploring me to be different, to
Speaker 5: be bold, to be creative, to think outside of the
Speaker 5: box and not.
Speaker 6: Just put two last year's two Super Bowls to top
Speaker 6: the list. But I didn't want to break the news
Speaker 6: to him.
Speaker 5: If I if I did that, I would have you know,
Speaker 5: I would have had Bengals Cowboys at the top. I
Speaker 5: would have gotten more you know, garbage from that too.
Speaker 5: So I have been indoctrinated into the the fan response thing.
Speaker 5: The last two days have given me a kind of
Speaker 5: a tiny snapshot of what you've gone through for four years.
Speaker 5: So it's gonna be a ride. It's gonna be a ride.
Speaker 5: I'll say that it'll be fun.
Speaker 3: I'd ask you this because I know that Dan took
Speaker 3: a lot of heat. No matter what you do, you
Speaker 3: got big groups of people coming after you, and like,
Speaker 3: what is your confrontational style? Are you someone that's just
Speaker 3: gonna absorb it and like it, you know, go water
Speaker 3: off a ducks back, or do you get on Twitter
Speaker 3: and start telling people you sit down? I'm the writer.
Speaker 5: Yeah, the old at home would would have would have
Speaker 5: fired back and thrown haymakers as best I could.
Speaker 6: I think I've melted a little bit.
Speaker 5: I don't know if if that's a having kids saying
Speaker 5: or getting married there, I don't know.
Speaker 6: Just being in the business for for a while thing.
Speaker 5: But I do save up some little, quick, pithy responses
Speaker 5: whenever I have them in my back pocket. But these days,
Speaker 5: I mean, you can look. I think I've responded about
Speaker 5: five or six people. The other two hundred and thirty
Speaker 5: six are gonna have to wait.
Speaker 4: I'm trying to guess, and you can tell me if
Speaker 4: I can guess right, because it's I'm trying to guess
Speaker 4: who has already been going after you the most that
Speaker 4: weren't happy with these rankings.
Speaker 3: I'll throw the Seahawks out there.
Speaker 4: I don't know, they're like a nicer fan base in general.
Speaker 4: They're smart, but they might not be happy with being fourteenth.
Speaker 4: I mean, I was trying to think other than that,
Speaker 4: I don't see anything popping too too much.
Speaker 5: Yeah, in fact, a lot of right above them, the
Speaker 5: Browns mark. You can weigh in on this if you
Speaker 5: have a strong feeling. I was gonna put the Browns
Speaker 5: a little higher than thirteenth. I had Seattle fourteenth, Cleveland.
Speaker 5: I know, I know, and I said to myself, I
Speaker 5: don't think I can do it. In fact, I had
Speaker 5: just read Greg your little tantalizing nugget about what Collinsworth
Speaker 5: was saying about Deshaun Watson.
Speaker 6: I hadn't seen it yet.
Speaker 5: I hadn't I hadn't watched the TV broadcast. Was that
Speaker 5: for the face all Greg could probably set it up
Speaker 5: better than I can, but basically kind of questioning whether
Speaker 5: Watson was a fit in this offense.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that was Thursday night and we didn't really ever
Speaker 4: hit it on the podcast, but it was interesting reading
Speaker 4: between the lines. It sounded like Collinsworth had talked to
Speaker 4: the coaching staff and to Watson and there was a
Speaker 4: little bit of a disagreement of the direction of the offense.
Speaker 4: That you know, Stefanski does one thing and Watson wants
Speaker 4: to freestyle and do a little more spread and a
Speaker 4: little more running, and that maybe the Browns weren't going
Speaker 4: to change their offense as much as Deshaun Watson was hoping.
Speaker 4: And the way he said it was couched, but it
Speaker 4: knowing how these things work, I don't think it was
Speaker 4: out of nowhere. And that was just like a little
Speaker 4: a little something to file away where if they're four
Speaker 4: and you know, seven and they fire Stefanski, I'll remember
Speaker 4: that was you know, Watson's gonna be there next I.
Speaker 2: Was going to say, there's one guy that has a
Speaker 2: two hundred and thirty million dollars guaranteed contract and one
Speaker 2: guy entering his fourth year who hasn't made the playoffs
Speaker 2: in two and there're one playoff when he was on
Speaker 2: the couch on his in his basement.
Speaker 3: Isn't that why it's totally fair to have Cleveland at thirteen.
Speaker 3: I love it because I.
Speaker 2: Shared number thirteen real quick, just setting you up this
Speaker 2: way mark that to me, and we didn't talk about this.
Speaker 1: Eric. Thirteen was always my twilight zone.
Speaker 2: That spot thirteen was where I couldn't quite figure out,
Speaker 2: and it was always natural fit.
Speaker 1: So I think it works for the way you kind
Speaker 1: of came up with it too.
Speaker 2: When I couldn't quite buy in on a team, but
Speaker 2: I also couldn't I couldn't think I can't bury them
Speaker 2: fifteen sixteen, seventeen. Thirteen was like this is my I'm
Speaker 2: gonna park him here because I don't know what to do.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and you can't be offended if you're a fan
Speaker 3: of a team sitting at thirteen. I think Cleveland just
Speaker 3: has this variance because we don't know what's going to
Speaker 3: happen with the most important position. They're talented, you can
Speaker 3: see it on paper. But that's been true for a
Speaker 3: number of years and the wins haven't come. So I
Speaker 3: have no issue with them being where they are.
Speaker 5: I that twelve through probably let me look at my
Speaker 5: list here.
Speaker 6: Eighteen, seventeen eighteen. I would say I had the Giants
Speaker 6: at eighteen. That got some people gathered up.
Speaker 5: Steelers at nineteen got was really yeah.
Speaker 6: That one set people off, and I understand it, right.
Speaker 5: I just think the division's brutal, and the same could
Speaker 5: be said for the NFC.
Speaker 2: So that's where has the Steelers a pin for nineteen
Speaker 2: wins this year?
Speaker 3: I set up a double digit wins, But I don't think, well, yeah, well,
Speaker 3: I would ask you a question because I so I
Speaker 3: did QB index Greg Greg has done in a number
Speaker 3: of times. I always felt like when I'm writing that
Speaker 3: thing and you get from like twenty two to twenty
Speaker 3: eight and like I'm staring at quarterbacks that I'm not
Speaker 3: even sure she should be in the league based on injuries.
Speaker 3: It's like, you, what sort of substances do you and
Speaker 3: buy at that point just to get through that lurky
Speaker 3: area that's just like undefinable.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's usually cold coffee by that point because I'm
Speaker 5: so dialed in. You know, this is a piece, and
Speaker 5: I've sort of realized quickly that you know, you can
Speaker 5: do in small chunks, or you can just try to
Speaker 5: sit down for a three hour chunk and knock.
Speaker 6: Out as much as you can.
Speaker 5: That's what I did, and I didn't refill my cups,
Speaker 5: So it was it was the cold coffee taste in
Speaker 5: my mouth that I was like, We're getting to the
Speaker 5: point where I'm going to make some people mad, and
Speaker 5: I don't really know what I'm doing here, because like
Speaker 5: you said, there's so many unknown, so many variables.
Speaker 6: It's a lot of dark throwing. Some of these picks
Speaker 6: are gonna look ridiculous in a couple.
Speaker 2: I think that based on my time writing, especially last
Speaker 2: season and the way Justin Fields broke out in some
Speaker 2: ways last year, and then the very busy offseason for
Speaker 2: the Bears, the Chicago fans coming after you, a little
Speaker 2: bit of having them at twenty five.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it was funny because I think I had him.
Speaker 5: I did some shuffling and I think I started him
Speaker 5: at twenty three and then just kept kind of saying, well,
Speaker 5: I'm gonna put right commanders ahead of Yeah, I mean
Speaker 5: the defense of the commanders, Mike Rabel for the Titans.
Speaker 5: You know, Green Bay could surprise people whatever. I kept
Speaker 5: sliding people ahead of them. So yeah, I got a
Speaker 5: little heat from my hometown folks. And you know, I'm
Speaker 5: just trying to be realistic about it where I think, Look,
Speaker 5: they still have a ton of issues to figure out.
Speaker 6: Am I optimistic? Is the arrow point in the right way?
Speaker 6: I think so?
Speaker 5: But there were still enough kind of reports about fields
Speaker 5: and having some some up and down practices that it
Speaker 5: made me think I can't really graduate these guys up
Speaker 5: to contender status just because Aaron Rodgers in the AFC
Speaker 5: East Right now.
Speaker 1: I should say, bad host job.
Speaker 2: Here's the top ten Chiefs, Eagles, Niners, Bengals, Bills. You
Speaker 2: could move maybe the back end of the top five
Speaker 2: round you want, if you want, But I think that's fine.
Speaker 2: Cowboys six, Ravens seven, Jets eight. See I'm a little
Speaker 2: bit relieved I don't have to get killed for being
Speaker 2: a Homer. Sure, but I would have the Jets right
Speaker 2: in that zone as well, Dolphins nine, Jags ten, and
Speaker 2: then right on the outside looking in Lions and Chargers
Speaker 2: eleven twelve.
Speaker 3: I have no issue with that, except I think the
Speaker 3: Ravens are coming in a little higher than I would
Speaker 3: have thought.
Speaker 5: Yes, I think that's another team that I had some
Speaker 5: regret on and probably would have put a little bit higher.
Speaker 2: But yeah, I mean, look, it happens, Greg, it happens,
Speaker 2: and you send it in or you know, you have regrets,
Speaker 2: no weight.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean I think it's strange though, that we've
Speaker 5: gotten some some some real frustration out of Ravens camp
Speaker 5: about the offense.
Speaker 6: Not strange, I shouldn't say that. You know, these things happen, right,
Speaker 6: I mean, but I.
Speaker 5: Really was expecting there to be a little bit more
Speaker 5: of a smoother runway, that they would kind of get
Speaker 5: this thing rolling and then kind of branch it out offensively.
Speaker 5: I mean, you know, it's it's not as if he
Speaker 5: hasn't been an offensive coordinator before, but it's a different thing.
Speaker 5: So it seems like there's been a little bit of
Speaker 5: frustration from Lamar and the receivers aren't quite fitting in yet.
Speaker 6: But yeah, I might have gone a tiny bit higher
Speaker 6: if I had a redo.
Speaker 4: Right below kind of the six. I feel like there's
Speaker 4: six teams this year Chiefs, Eagles, forty nine, Ers, Bengals, Bills, Cowboys,
Speaker 4: where if like they don't make the playoffs, right, it's
Speaker 4: a catastrophe, And I do think there's sort of a
Speaker 4: cut after that.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 3: I'm sure Ravens fans or Jets fans.
Speaker 4: Will feel like it's a catastrophe if they don't make
Speaker 4: the playoffs too, But it's like, not everyone can make
Speaker 4: the playoffs. But those first six I suspect are kind
Speaker 4: of a consensus for six though, But looking at the
Speaker 4: power in general, like, I feel like the bottom of
Speaker 4: the league isn't as bad as it's been in some years.
Speaker 4: The Cardinals, yes, and and some other teams will pop
Speaker 4: in there. Maybe it's the Colt so you have a
Speaker 4: little higher than expected twenty six. But like, looking at
Speaker 4: teams like the Raiders and the Bucks, I can't kill
Speaker 4: you for making them twenty ninth and thirtieth. But it's
Speaker 4: like those teams have a lot of players for the
Speaker 4: twenty ninth and thirtieth team. And that's why the NFL
Speaker 4: is the greatest sports league in the world.
Speaker 1: Here comes a one hundred dollars Just stuff.
Speaker 3: Where's my MVP coin? Are we still giving you?
Speaker 6: Get free usage of the locker room.
Speaker 3: It is crazy.
Speaker 4: Well, it's like the Raiders, I get I get it.
Speaker 4: They're at twenty nine. It's like, man, the Raiders have
Speaker 4: a lot of players for twenty nine.
Speaker 2: Same with the Buck It's an optimistic time of year
Speaker 2: obviously for almost every team except for the Cardinals. And
Speaker 2: that's when this is so hard, because it's like somebody's
Speaker 2: got to be thirty twenty thirty one, twenty nine, twenty seven,
Speaker 2: and you know, then the games start, and Eric, that's
Speaker 2: when it gets really fun and really busy and really contentious.
Speaker 1: But I think you're the right man for the job.
Speaker 2: I appreciate that the scepter has been passed for and
Speaker 2: the one thing I would say, if you can continue
Speaker 2: to carry on the legacy of just unearned confidence and
Speaker 2: letting people know that there are many power rankings, but
Speaker 2: there is only one that truly matters, and it's the
Speaker 2: one that comes from the NFL itself, and now it
Speaker 2: is you in control.
Speaker 1: Good luck, sir.
Speaker 5: I'm a little nervous all of a sudden, the way
Speaker 5: you painted it that way, but yeah, all right, I'm
Speaker 5: in I hope you guys willow me back on to
Speaker 5: talk power rankings sometime and yeah, I appreciate everything you've done.
Speaker 1: Remember what RG three said, the grind is the fine.
Speaker 4: Dan every every Tuesday before he pressed published would actually
Speaker 4: bow to this shrine of of Vic Carriucci, the first
Speaker 4: person to George Washington of power ranking.
Speaker 1: True.
Speaker 5: That's sure, get his mug behind me as a tribute.
Speaker 2: Going after it turned the rev. All right, Eric, thank
Speaker 2: you very much, buddy, good luck, will be in touch.
Speaker 6: Thanks Eric, all right, boys, thank you.
Speaker 2: See Eric, of all the great things connected with power
Speaker 2: rank is the most annoying thing that the only thing
Speaker 2: that really got me pissed is if, like I don't
Speaker 2: do as much, but if I posted on Instagram, like
Speaker 2: a shot of me and my sons or something, and
Speaker 2: then some bonehead would do that, Yeah, yo, Rams at
Speaker 2: twenty four, you suck. You should be fired. It's like bruh.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I think the greatest insult I ever got was underneath
Speaker 3: one of an article you're dumb and your kids are dumb.
Speaker 1: And I only had one child at the time, like.
Speaker 2: Well you have the daughter too, maybe reference maybe that
Speaker 2: was stepfather and perhaps because you were compared to the
Speaker 2: absentee until she was eighteen, I mean it stuck with
Speaker 2: me a time. All right, let's take a break and
Speaker 2: then we'll get into preseason Week one promo time. Welcome back,
Speaker 2: and this is an important one. My employment hinges on
Speaker 2: how much I put into this week free two one.
Speaker 2: Football is back and NFL Network has every preseason game,
Speaker 2: including twenty three live. That's my favorite number in this
Speaker 2: social the year, big names putting new cities on their backs,
Speaker 2: a new class putting their names on the map. Your team,
Speaker 2: your team, mark who's your team?
Speaker 1: NFL Network?
Speaker 2: Okay, is back in action. It's time for football. The
Speaker 2: NFL preseason August tenth through the twenty sixth on NFL
Speaker 2: Network and stream on NFL Plus.
Speaker 1: Ty is August tenth. Football is tonight.
Speaker 3: Football is back.
Speaker 2: Kind of Minnesota Vikings at Seattle Seahawks, Houston, Texans at
Speaker 2: New England Patriots will see j Stroud. Vikings at Seahawks,
Speaker 2: Is that? Yeah? Texans at New England at Patriots winch me.
Speaker 1: All right, let's get into why don't we do it
Speaker 1: like this?
Speaker 3: You killed that read by the way, genuine zeal was
Speaker 3: kind of pouring out of you.
Speaker 4: Okay, it's a big, big mom. I mean, Walker has
Speaker 4: been counting down. He's he's into the preseason. I think
Speaker 4: it's he's a boy. Yeah, he don't know anything. Well,
Speaker 4: the adults are the adults are too thin. I mean,
Speaker 4: I don't think what adults talking out of school. I
Speaker 4: mean the Hall of Fame game got higher ratings than
Speaker 4: like like NBA.
Speaker 3: Playoff games, MLB playoff game.
Speaker 4: It's our it's our biggest couple of weeks of the
Speaker 4: year on NFL network because we're just preseason all the
Speaker 4: time and tons of people watch it.
Speaker 3: You're right, but Greg, you're suggesting that Dan and I
Speaker 3: aren't totally we're bought in, we're involved.
Speaker 2: Yes, the the popularity of say, the Hall of Fame game,
Speaker 2: which is outrageous, that game from a competitive stamp point
Speaker 2: competition standpoint, just shows you how the juggernaut the NFL
Speaker 2: is that that we have and we're you know, very
Speaker 2: lucky to cover this sport that could that could garner
Speaker 2: numbers like that for a game in which virtually no
Speaker 2: starters are even on the field. We're going to see
Speaker 2: starters on the field, not not everybody.
Speaker 1: You know, a lot of big names.
Speaker 2: Very rare that you see big names, especially a quarterback
Speaker 2: position playing, but We're going to see a lot of
Speaker 2: players that are going to matter. And let's start with
Speaker 2: the let's just go and Ond Vikings at Seahawks, Mark, you.
Speaker 1: Got a whole list of stuff. What are you looking
Speaker 1: for in this game?
Speaker 3: Well, I wouldn't say when game by game. This way,
Speaker 3: I've got them sprinkled throughout. Vikings, I think they sort
Speaker 3: of said no one's going to play, but Jordan Addison,
Speaker 3: the rookie wide out, is someone i'd point to. And
Speaker 3: Jackson Smith and Jigbuff for the Seahawks. I mean, these
Speaker 3: guys are going to be counted on right away from
Speaker 3: from week one, and especially I just think that Seattle
Speaker 3: like wide receiver group is insane, and I think that
Speaker 3: you're gonna get like Jackson's gonna I just had this
Speaker 3: feeling the way he looked to me on tape that
Speaker 3: he's just gonna step right in and fit with them.
Speaker 3: And so if you get a little bit of them
Speaker 3: literally hours from now, I would be excited to see
Speaker 3: what they look like.
Speaker 4: He's too good to play in the preseason, I'm a
Speaker 4: little disappointed, and some teams do play their starters more.
Speaker 1: And because Pete Carroll has historically done a lot of.
Speaker 3: That right he has.
Speaker 4: It's when Russell Wilson won his job. Yep, was really
Speaker 4: in the preseason. I'm a little disappointed Devin Witherspoon's had
Speaker 4: a second a hamstring injury. He's their top five pick
Speaker 4: at cornerback, who they picked over Jalen Carter, and so
Speaker 4: he's had one of those camps where he started a
Speaker 4: little late because of the contract, then the hamstring, and
Speaker 4: he actually wasn't taking starter snaps for the most part.
Speaker 4: And that's maybe it's Pete Carroll making him earn it,
Speaker 4: but he's playing inside. It just one of those things
Speaker 4: that could already fast forward to next year and here
Speaker 4: deb had some Devin Witherspoon puffy saying like I never
Speaker 4: really fully caught. So I'd like, because I'm really excited
Speaker 4: about him. I'm excited about that secondary, excited about that
Speaker 4: that defense. But I don't know if we'll see much
Speaker 4: of him in the preseason.
Speaker 2: Yeah, DJ Dallas, you would think is going to get
Speaker 2: a good run here potentially with all the injury Seattle
Speaker 2: has in. Yeah, Smith and Jigba hits the ground running,
Speaker 2: and Lockett has been as underrated as any receiver the
Speaker 2: last ten years. And of course metcalf Is I think
Speaker 2: is a superstar. As long as Gino doesn't create here,
Speaker 2: they're gonna score points.
Speaker 1: They're gonna do very well. Their turnaround to like less
Speaker 1: than a year.
Speaker 4: Stroud is the is the headliner for the Thursday night
Speaker 4: games that we get to see Stroud because it according
Speaker 4: to xens at pats right the reporters there, he started
Speaker 4: camp a little slower like like most rookies do, and
Speaker 4: has really come on and trading camp, I mean preseasons
Speaker 4: for rookies, and so him in Tank Dell. Tank Dell
Speaker 4: is the third round pick. Kind of that shifty slot
Speaker 4: receiver Mold getting wide open like that.
Speaker 3: That should be fun to watch.
Speaker 2: On the Patriots side of things, what are we seeing
Speaker 2: mac Jones today?
Speaker 4: I don't think so he is. They never say ahead
Speaker 4: of time all the you.
Speaker 1: Know, we didn't dwell on it too much.
Speaker 2: But any speculation through the spring and into early summer
Speaker 2: about the Bailly Zapi Mac Jones QB battle, there is
Speaker 2: no battle.
Speaker 1: Mac Jones is the guy. He's getting the first team reps.
Speaker 2: I would say, if Jones isn't playing a lot, Zappi
Speaker 2: is gonna get some playing time. It is an opportunity
Speaker 2: to put a bug in Belichick's ear, you know, if
Speaker 2: he lights up a bunch of practice squad guys and
Speaker 2: future FedEx stra ZAPPI, Yeah, Zapi.
Speaker 3: I think Belichick Gordy has a bit of a Zappi fascinating, right,
Speaker 3: So yeah.
Speaker 2: This is an opportunity for him to further dig into
Speaker 2: that infatuation.
Speaker 3: I mean I would I would play Mac Jones. I
Speaker 3: mean it's series or two because like they used to,
Speaker 3: Tom Brady would roll out during the preseason more than
Speaker 3: you'd think, right, I fould have said, I have no
Speaker 3: idea if he's played right, we'll see if this is
Speaker 3: a new offense. In theory, it's been corrected a lot.
Speaker 3: But like the reports out of New England, especially at
Speaker 3: like that very thin, unelegant UH wide RECEI position, have
Speaker 3: been kind of disastrous. So it's like, what are we
Speaker 3: holding Mac Jones back for? Like it's like that it
Speaker 3: doesn't get hurt well, sure, but like at some point,
Speaker 3: I mean, I would just they gotta get this thing
Speaker 3: going with Ben Deminton, who's healthy on the line, I
Speaker 3: think I think they'd say play two quarters. I think
Speaker 3: they've they've seen their offense kind of come to life
Speaker 3: two over the last week.
Speaker 4: That's the thing. You get so fixated. It's crazy to
Speaker 4: take much away from those non padded practices. To Mario Douglas,
Speaker 4: is that how you say his name, an undrafted rookie
Speaker 4: smells like a patriotsy guy that he might be their
Speaker 4: starting slot receiver. They might have an undrafted guy playing
Speaker 4: a lot of snaps, so he is someone where the
Speaker 4: preseason matters for him. They had a second rounder last year,
Speaker 4: Taekwon Thornton they got all excited about, and he might
Speaker 4: already be passed by this undrafted kid.
Speaker 2: Douglas, You're right about Belichick and the Patriots being unpredictable.
Speaker 1: I kind of remember vaguely, like year fifteen for Brady
Speaker 1: or around there, him playing with the first team off
Speaker 1: out until like the second half. Oh yeah, yeah, just
Speaker 1: letting it rip.
Speaker 4: And it's now with the three weeks, so it's also
Speaker 4: unpredictable which weeks starters will play because there's less and
Speaker 4: I feel like a lot of teams aren't using that
Speaker 4: third week that actually some might use the first and
Speaker 4: second week almost as what used to be the second
Speaker 4: and third week, Like those are the kind of the
Speaker 4: two main weeks. So every team approaches it a little differently,
Speaker 4: depends if you had the joint practices, like, for instance,
Speaker 4: the Jets Panthers second joint practice got rained out, and
Speaker 4: it's like, Okay, you wonder if they might play a
Speaker 4: little more starters.
Speaker 3: I doubt Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 4: Is playing, but maybe Bryce Young plays a little more
Speaker 4: because they didn't get that second joint.
Speaker 3: They seem to like those practices so much more because
Speaker 3: you can work with the other coach to set up
Speaker 3: what you actually want to do.
Speaker 1: We're in a game, like you a little more control.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you may not get to the red zone in
Speaker 3: a game with the people you want to have there.
Speaker 2: Let's move to Friday Jummon at Detroit lines from Ford Field,
Speaker 2: I would say from the Giant side of things, we
Speaker 2: all know Darren Waller is going to be they hope
Speaker 2: will be the focal point kind of their passing attack
Speaker 2: and their red zone offense. They have a bunch we've
Speaker 2: talked about on the show, just a bunch of guys,
Speaker 2: A wide receiver and if I'm a Giants fan, you
Speaker 2: know we're looking at Isaiah Hodgkins, Darius Slayton, Paris Campbell,
Speaker 2: Jalen Hyatt a rookie, Sterling Shepherd's there, Wandell Robinson even
Speaker 2: though he's on the pup list right now. You want
Speaker 2: some of these guys to kind of establish a role
Speaker 2: or find themselves and be able to put together an offense.
Speaker 4: We just saw Connie Fox outside. I waived her to
Speaker 4: come in, so we'll see if that happens. So sometimes
Speaker 4: it's like about who does and doesn't play in the preseason,
Speaker 4: but the reports in camp.
Speaker 3: I think Hodgens is a starter.
Speaker 4: I think Jalen Hyatt, their third round rookies, had a
Speaker 4: nice game, and I think Paris Campbell might have wormed
Speaker 4: his way into playing time there. So basically, all the
Speaker 4: guys who have been around, like Sterling Shepherd and Wanda
Speaker 4: like they might be getting left.
Speaker 1: But I want to see Jamison Crowders in that camp.
Speaker 1: Is that true?
Speaker 3: He is there as well.
Speaker 4: Cole Beasley's there, Like they're not gonna need those guys
Speaker 4: if the Paris Campbell's and the Jalen Hyatts end up performing.
Speaker 1: Eric, can you give your head said to Connie, say hello, yeah.
Speaker 3: I'm one that like waved her forward. Yes, Greg, yes,
Speaker 3: the job. I'm just saying it. You did a great job.
Speaker 3: It seems like, uh, she didn't want to come.
Speaker 7: This is not great for the hair. Right now, it's.
Speaker 1: Okay, Hey, how are you, Colleen?
Speaker 7: I'm great?
Speaker 1: Are you?
Speaker 7: I just got back from Seattle last night.
Speaker 1: You loved it there.
Speaker 3: You suggested you might not leave.
Speaker 7: I love Seattle.
Speaker 1: They put you on Puget Sound.
Speaker 7: Over there Lake Washington that looks tranquil.
Speaker 1: Is that a real lake? Because you say George Washington
Speaker 1: might not be real? What about Lake Washington?
Speaker 3: I mean it depends what mental state and where Connie
Speaker 3: was and what she was doing.
Speaker 8: Well, I was working, so I was in a very
Speaker 8: straight lace state. But it was still superla what reality
Speaker 8: got it got it?
Speaker 7: Miss you guys. Great to see you.
Speaker 1: Great to see you. What do you got going on
Speaker 1: right now?
Speaker 7: I'm here to just do the double header today?
Speaker 1: Oh beautiful?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 1: You got any any take?
Speaker 2: We just hit on the two games and he takes.
Speaker 7: I can't prepare. We went home at ten o'clock last night.
Speaker 3: We were thorough for five weeks.
Speaker 4: Did you did you have a I saw you gave
Speaker 4: Pete Carroll like a pair of you know, air Carrols
Speaker 4: or whatever air monarchs.
Speaker 8: So Pete Carroll gave us Bucky and I Bucky got
Speaker 8: some monarchs because Pee Carroll gave the whole team monarchs,
Speaker 8: but they didn't have monarchs in my size, so they
Speaker 8: gave me some air maxes.
Speaker 3: What is your shoes?
Speaker 7: I'm a six and a half in women, so I
Speaker 7: can fit in a five youth Like, what is.
Speaker 2: That in the range of women's shaking your head in
Speaker 2: smaller stun disbelief that a foo could be that small.
Speaker 7: Yeah, but it's great.
Speaker 8: I can I can buy boys shoes, so they're cheaper,
Speaker 8: so jays are and like more availability.
Speaker 1: To Yeah, that's good. That's good.
Speaker 7: It's great, so good times.
Speaker 1: Right, Okay, well, Connie, thank you for this one.
Speaker 7: I've said it all.
Speaker 1: You've said it all, and it's good.
Speaker 2: Your your my Hard Knocks co host and we're gonna
Speaker 2: be together in studio on Tuesday. We got to get
Speaker 2: and if we can get you in on ATM next week.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I'm available. There you go, Okay, bye?
Speaker 3: All right for well to check.
Speaker 4: Her out on the NFL network. I mean we did
Speaker 4: extra promo.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know what, I definitely in the clear.
Speaker 3: We had a corporate meeting that started two minutes ago,
Speaker 3: and we're just sticking it to the corporals because we're
Speaker 3: still here at doing this bang.
Speaker 4: I had two corporate meetings at the exact same time scheduled.
Speaker 1: All right, here we go.
Speaker 2: So we talked about the Giants, anything, guys on the
Speaker 2: Detroit side that you're looking.
Speaker 3: For, Sam Laporta, who has been like the rave reviews
Speaker 3: all camp. I don't know how much we'll see of them, but.
Speaker 2: Pittsburgh at Tampa Bay, this is the most uninspiring quarterback
Speaker 2: competition since.
Speaker 1: What's the Chief's hard knock season? You remember those guys Brody.
Speaker 4: Coyle and yeah that's Tyler? Think Ben was that?
Speaker 1: Iggy?
Speaker 3: Was that one? Or was Castle in there? There's Matt
Speaker 3: Castle and Brady Quinn one year but you both you
Speaker 3: knew it was over for both.
Speaker 4: It's a tough one when you sign Baker to a
Speaker 4: one year, three million dollar contract, which is like less
Speaker 4: than good backups make. But then he's your favorite to
Speaker 4: start Week one. Problematic, I feel like he has a chance.
Speaker 4: I also I actually feel like if John Walford had
Speaker 4: a huge preseason, like it will increase the chances that
Speaker 4: we see John Walford playing NFL football.
Speaker 1: This inch me, uh, let's move on to Green Bay.
Speaker 2: At Cincinnati, well, I don't know what we'll how much
Speaker 2: we'll see of Jordan Love, but I mean that's these playing.
Speaker 3: There's that. I mean, there's the Bengals are just probably
Speaker 3: they've been practicing against each other the past couple of
Speaker 3: days and they've been intense practices where a couple guys
Speaker 3: got kicked out of practice for fighting. And you know,
Speaker 3: Jordan Love reports in general that he's been sort of
Speaker 3: up and down, that he's like in those scrimmages there
Speaker 3: was a lot of sort of conservative play and checkdowns
Speaker 3: and stuff. So I want to see how they use him.
Speaker 4: He's playing, I mean, and I think he'll play at
Speaker 4: least the first two weeks of preseason, maybe all three.
Speaker 4: They have so many rookies that matter on a team
Speaker 4: that I think actually will matter this year, that they
Speaker 4: are one of the teams to watch I think in
Speaker 4: the preseason. Like Jaden Reid it sounds like is going
Speaker 4: to be their slot receiver.
Speaker 3: He's a rookie.
Speaker 4: Why am I spacing on the guy that I'm not
Speaker 4: totally must crave Their tight end, rookie tight end has
Speaker 4: had a big training camp, so they those guys will
Speaker 4: be out there, and like the Bengals, I do wonder
Speaker 4: if their backup quarterbacks continue to play like you would
Speaker 4: expect Jake Browning and Trevor Simons play. It's like, what
Speaker 4: are we doing here? You're trying to win a super Bowl?
Speaker 4: You're really gonna be one heartbeat away from Jake Brownie
Speaker 4: and Trevor Simeon. Like I think if they struggle in
Speaker 4: the preseason, they might start kicking the cans on who's
Speaker 4: out the same. It's like a famous or a Carson.
Speaker 1: Hey, you on a second.
Speaker 2: I know what you're saying, but if Joe, if something
Speaker 2: happened to Joe, Bro's over any But I'm saying, like,
Speaker 2: doesn't matter who you get off the it does.
Speaker 4: Because if you misses two or three weeks and the
Speaker 4: difference between Jameis Winston and Carson Wentz and freaking Jake Browning,
Speaker 4: it's like you got no chance with Jake brown You
Speaker 4: throw Wentz or Winston or someone like that.
Speaker 2: On a I thought you meant more like a long
Speaker 2: term affair. You call it, Matt Ryan, But you're right,
Speaker 2: you should have something. We'll get to Winston because that
Speaker 2: jumped out to me. And doing some reading this morning.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 2: The Packers thing, by the way, just the theory, because
Speaker 2: I've seen a lot of positive buzz around love and
Speaker 2: I wonder how much of that is Packers fans trying
Speaker 2: to kind of will this into a happy outcome for
Speaker 2: the team at a time when Aaron Rodgers is on
Speaker 2: this wild honeymoon romp with the Jets that features no
Speaker 2: absolutely zero carnal boundaries.
Speaker 4: It is a crazy Arnold boundary. Yeah, I see what
Speaker 4: he's saying. It's it's like the best honeymoon period ever.
Speaker 2: Like they're not leaving the room, the Jets and Aaron
Speaker 2: Rodgers right now, and it's like, well the Packers, like
Speaker 2: I love you so much, Jordan love We're not going
Speaker 2: anywhere either.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: But there was a there was to get a report
Speaker 3: that like finally Aaron Rodgers got agitated at his at
Speaker 3: his teammates and some of them, wow, well you know
Speaker 3: he's been really kind and patient with but it's you know,
Speaker 3: can turn a little bit. So maybe they one of
Speaker 3: them did leave the room.
Speaker 2: It gives me a Rogers on TV is a lot
Speaker 2: there you go, So they could cross that off the list.
Speaker 3: Oh okay, it gives me t O and Philly vibes.
Speaker 4: When to arrived in Philly, it was like the greatest
Speaker 4: honeymoon period ever and it and it remained that way
Speaker 4: for an entire year. That's kind of It's kind of
Speaker 4: what I expected.
Speaker 2: Uh, Atlanta at Miami. How much were we going to
Speaker 2: see a be John Robinson Miami? That's what everyone's excited about.
Speaker 2: I think this is this is like the Falcons. There's
Speaker 2: something about them right now that's exciting.
Speaker 4: I think Ritter might might play some I'm curious Dave
Speaker 4: Devon a chain the running back, rookie running back for
Speaker 4: the Dolphins, because as we mentioned kind of with Wes
Speaker 4: at the top of the show, I feel like rookie
Speaker 4: running backs you can't see it. Practice reports on running
Speaker 4: backs just don't matter. But this is where like those
Speaker 4: mid round guys, and there's a there's a few in
Speaker 4: this class, uh that I want to see this weekend.
Speaker 2: You know, I like the Falcons better this year than
Speaker 2: the last two years, right, but I did. I was
Speaker 2: at the barbershop on Saturday and I looked up and
Speaker 2: the TV had Desmond Ridder practice reel and then underneath
Speaker 2: it his his numbers in the final four four starts
Speaker 2: of the season, he threw for seven hundred and fifty
Speaker 2: yards and two touchdowns and four starts. I thought he
Speaker 2: got better during those four I know that's such a
Speaker 2: small sample sizing two random stats, but I mean, wasn't
Speaker 2: exactly a light in the world on fire.
Speaker 1: And now he's the unquestioned Q.
Speaker 4: I went back and watched those you know how many
Speaker 4: interceptions he had zero.
Speaker 3: Zero, and they talked about very accurate during this campus.
Speaker 3: I don't know seem to love him. I mean, I know,
Speaker 3: I just wonder if there's some convincing going on in
Speaker 3: that building as well. That's all they also could runs
Speaker 3: think it's like we're not going to learn too much quarterbacks.
Speaker 4: It's fun to watch, but that's where I think the
Speaker 4: preseason can get a little fake. Sometimes like Bordos pops.
Speaker 4: Sometimes some pretty great rookie quarterbacks have struggled in preseason.
Speaker 2: Washington, do you have anything else from Miami side of things?
Speaker 2: Washington at Cleveland, we're gonna see you'd like to see
Speaker 2: if you're the commander, especially after that story slash non
Speaker 2: story around you know, Eric the enemy is too mean.
Speaker 2: You'd like to see Sam Howe go out there and
Speaker 2: lead a scoring driver too, just to get some good
Speaker 2: vibes in that building about what their quarterback situation is
Speaker 2: right now. And you know, I don't I would imagine
Speaker 2: that in general, very few established qbs are gonna play
Speaker 2: snap in these silly games. But like Deshaun Watson, it
Speaker 2: would make sense for him to get as many reps
Speaker 2: as possible.
Speaker 3: There was some reporting that he'd play a little bit.
Speaker 2: He's one guy that I would think it makes a
Speaker 2: lot of sense based on his underwhelming clothes last season he.
Speaker 3: Played last preseason. I mean, I think you got to
Speaker 3: like this again. This is another one of these teams
Speaker 3: where if it's if you're like, you know, Russell Wilson,
Speaker 3: like get out there and play, like take some of this.
Speaker 1: A kind of fun.
Speaker 2: He had just signed that huge contract. Why did he
Speaker 2: even play in the preseason last year? If he was
Speaker 2: going to disappear for twelve weeks? Like, what was the
Speaker 2: point of that other than risking a blown ACL It's
Speaker 2: their centerpiece.
Speaker 1: That's what I mean.
Speaker 2: I don't know, are they making good decisions the.
Speaker 1: Well? Was it? Yeah?
Speaker 2: Denver at Arizona, go ahead, I got I got a
Speaker 2: take on the Broncos in this one.
Speaker 1: This one matters to me.
Speaker 4: Well, this game matters to me because it's it's time
Speaker 4: for the Clayton Tune Express to start cranking it up.
Speaker 4: I mean, we got a chance to have a fifth
Speaker 4: round rookie possibly start Week one. That's outrageous. I gotta
Speaker 4: think it's Colt McCoy, but maybe it's Clayton Tune. And
Speaker 4: this reminds me. I actually brought in a gift today
Speaker 4: was that the Last Bookstore Downtown. Los Angeles are a
Speaker 4: city home to one.
Speaker 3: Of the world's great bookstores.
Speaker 1: Last bookstore.
Speaker 4: Really good classic and I saw in the sports section
Speaker 4: the nineteen Actually I don't know when this was released,
Speaker 4: the twenty eleven classic Growing Up Cult by Colt McCoy
Speaker 4: and Brad McCoy with Mike Yorkley, a father, a son,
Speaker 4: a life in football. Just think of the wisdom you
Speaker 4: can get from well, twelve years ago.
Speaker 3: I assume you're not gonnit. This is from Mark so
Speaker 3: number one. That's really nice. Appreciate that about like in
Speaker 3: twenty or twelve or so.
Speaker 2: Look at his open Look at his I'm a good
Speaker 2: old boy with my damn shirt.
Speaker 1: No book wrote it with his dad.
Speaker 3: I've actually read this book.
Speaker 1: Is that a John already read it.
Speaker 3: I read it when it came out, and so I wait,
Speaker 3: this is this is an incredible get to white like
Speaker 3: the Five. It's one of the It's one of the
Speaker 3: reasons that I named my son Colt, because it's really
Speaker 3: actually a good book if you're a dad. But secondly,
Speaker 3: I was at a Browns bar once, had the book
Speaker 3: with me and gave it to a Browns fan who
Speaker 3: I thought i'd see the next week, and he never
Speaker 3: showed up again. So I've not had the book for
Speaker 3: a decade, and now you that's really nice.
Speaker 4: I got to take it back that you had already
Speaker 4: read it.
Speaker 3: No, no, no, no no, I'm gonna put on my bookshelf.
Speaker 2: I got a feeling and I'm passing no judgment, but
Speaker 2: just just the vibe.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of Jesus stuff in that one.
Speaker 3: It's they are a religious family. There's no doubt.
Speaker 1: I love football, I love family.
Speaker 2: I love my John Deere truck that I put on
Speaker 2: the cover of my book on Jesus Christ.
Speaker 3: But they kind of raised him to be kind of
Speaker 3: a you know, a tough kid out of the gate and.
Speaker 1: Stuff I want growing up. Colt Sessler. I want that one.
Speaker 3: That's gonna be a while. That's that novel comes out
Speaker 3: about fourteen years from now, and there could be some
Speaker 3: there could be.
Speaker 4: I mean, he's about the same age as Colt McCoy
Speaker 4: was when this book came out. There is always something
Speaker 4: funny to me about, like biography as of a twenty
Speaker 4: one year old.
Speaker 1: Yeah, calm down about that. Uh.
Speaker 2: The the Jared Stidham of it all matters me, just
Speaker 2: because Sean Payton obviously likes him, and maybe Stidham can
Speaker 2: light up these FedEx drivers and turn a curiosity into
Speaker 2: an obsession for a head coach who's you know, egomaniacal
Speaker 2: and wants to put his stamp on his new team,
Speaker 2: and that would start with the quarterback that I brought
Speaker 2: in when I got here. My take is, I don't
Speaker 2: think we're gonna see Russell Wilson much but or at
Speaker 2: all today or this weekend. But like, I don't know
Speaker 2: if Russ even realized how much danger he's in. I
Speaker 2: think Russ has to be closer to great than good
Speaker 2: to stay in this lineup because I think Peyton might
Speaker 2: be in a rush to kind of really start his.
Speaker 3: He's got to be the old Russell Wilson this season.
Speaker 3: I think the experiment my Week six or seven.
Speaker 2: And my thoughts on the Cardinals. Clayton Tune, I don't care.
Speaker 2: Jeff driscoll, I don't care. David Blouse, I don't care well.
Speaker 4: The second two David Blau I understand, although we do
Speaker 4: have a co host, uh writing a newsletter about him,
Speaker 4: so that's kind of rude. I don't think there'll be
Speaker 4: factors in the battle. But uh, Clayton Tune, they drafted him,
Speaker 4: he's their guy.
Speaker 1: Tennessee at Chicago.
Speaker 4: You know Chicago, they have a rookie running back Roshan
Speaker 4: Johnson justin Fields is going to play in this game.
Speaker 4: I think he's going to play potentially in all three
Speaker 4: preseason games.
Speaker 1: So good.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 4: Ros Johnson is one of those guys that, like the
Speaker 4: draftnicks get super excited about and the fantasy heads are like,
Speaker 4: no one else is really there. It's Khalil err but
Speaker 4: they just like pencil him in as a potential starter
Speaker 4: and then you hear like, actually he's not past protecting
Speaker 4: that well in camp and like so that he's one
Speaker 4: of those guys that's like needs to get playing time
Speaker 4: in the preseas.
Speaker 3: I think Tennessee, I want to see will Levis, I mean,
Speaker 3: any of these rookie quarterbacks. It's like, let's watch the
Speaker 3: entire play for what it's worth.
Speaker 4: They're still listing Malik Willis as the backup on those
Speaker 4: depth starts, but those depth stats don't mean much.
Speaker 2: Nice move by the way, Mike Frable naming DL the
Speaker 2: defensive line coach Trell Williams the acting head coach for
Speaker 2: this game. That does tell you a little bit about
Speaker 2: how much this game means.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but they should do that.
Speaker 2: But also a great job by a guy who's trying to,
Speaker 2: you know, pump up one of his dudes that he
Speaker 2: believes deserves.
Speaker 4: It's funny plot for him because I hear you in
Speaker 4: terms of what it means in the wins and losses,
Speaker 4: and that's right obviously. But whenever, whenever they on hard knocks,
Speaker 4: like are wired, and this is true all throughout the
Speaker 4: preass like they care so much they get like Aaron
Speaker 4: Roddy was going absolutely nuts just because they're competitors and
Speaker 4: they're playing football and people that they know are literally
Speaker 4: fighting for their livelihoods. Like that, they get super fired
Speaker 4: up for even though in the end. They also know
Speaker 4: that the result sorda doesn't matter. It's like it's a
Speaker 4: fascinating thing.
Speaker 1: True Indy at Buffalo Anthony Richardson not a surprise, barring injury.
Speaker 2: I don't think there is any scenario in which Jim
Speaker 2: or excuse me, Shane steich In doesn't go with the
Speaker 2: first round rookie.
Speaker 1: In week one.
Speaker 3: We're starting this game too. I mean, I think they're.
Speaker 2: You're right, how do you keep What would he have
Speaker 2: to do, like, honestly, would Anthony Richardson it be through
Speaker 2: an interception in every one of these games and didn't
Speaker 2: move the ball.
Speaker 1: I still think he's starting week one.
Speaker 3: He'd have to go like a wall for ten days
Speaker 3: and no one knows where he is, and it's like,
Speaker 3: we're not sure we can count this guy. But he's
Speaker 3: not gonna do that.
Speaker 4: Minshe's reportedly, you know, played really well practice. I actually
Speaker 4: think if he was really struggling in practice, if he
Speaker 4: was Zack Wilson as a rookie in practice, I actually
Speaker 4: do think they would be more hesitant. But there hasn't
Speaker 4: been that feel. It sounds like everything is on track
Speaker 4: enough and yeah, he's starting this game.
Speaker 3: That kind of stays and you talked about the Bengals
Speaker 3: backup QB scenario. But like these reports out of Buffalo
Speaker 3: that Kyle Allen and this is not a big surprise
Speaker 3: if you watched much Kyle Allen, like they have a
Speaker 3: serious issue at backup quarterback in Buffalo. That like if
Speaker 3: and you know Josh Allen, the same thing. If Josh
Speaker 3: Allen goes down, check you later. But they could be
Speaker 3: looking around.
Speaker 4: Didn't we see Kyle Allen uh win a football game overseas?
Speaker 4: Only so many quarterbacks have done that. Did they win
Speaker 4: that game? I can't even remember anymore. Jamis through like
Speaker 4: five interceptions in the Panthers.
Speaker 1: Yeah, those bad performance, Mark Jonathan Taylor. A wall just
Speaker 1: clears the runway. Because it's Jake funk season.
Speaker 3: Baby exciting.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's.
Speaker 4: This is fun.
Speaker 1: That's good, that is fun.
Speaker 3: This is your time, baby, I mean to speak over
Speaker 3: this music is a tough, tough ad. But I know
Speaker 3: Jake Funky note flamed out with the Rams. Surprisingly, I
Speaker 3: think everyone was surprised that he didn't thrive there and
Speaker 3: everyone everyone, But now I think he's got a whole
Speaker 3: new opportunity. And look at like your star running back
Speaker 3: is obviously a little bit cowed by the idea of
Speaker 3: going up against Jake Vanished practice.
Speaker 1: Eleven funk seasons. Love those what running back?
Speaker 3: That is not what's happening here in a mondable.
Speaker 4: It's funny with all the budget cuts we could just
Speaker 4: afford such a quality session player back there.
Speaker 2: Just that's actually Eric Light got a keyboard and from
Speaker 2: He's like a guy that went viral on TikTok. He's
Speaker 2: a New York City guy and he's in his uh
Speaker 2: like his tidy whities in a bathroom rebel a love
Speaker 2: that guy.
Speaker 4: I will give credit to Randy though, He's the one
Speaker 4: he dug for that big.
Speaker 1: Spot.
Speaker 2: For me, not surprising that Randy would be the guy
Speaker 2: that found the.
Speaker 1: Funk that guy. That guy is funk.
Speaker 2: Jets at Carolina Panthers, Bryce Young, Rice Young, and you
Speaker 2: know he'll be up against the Jets defensive line is
Speaker 2: pretty wild. They they're deep, they got a lot of
Speaker 2: rotational rushers. I'm excited to see some of these guys,
Speaker 2: including their first round a pick Will McDonald and you
Speaker 2: look good last week too. Tremaine Johnson flashed is the
Speaker 2: first round of last year. He was like the other
Speaker 2: first rounder that was kind of forgotten, but he made
Speaker 2: an impact for them, and he's gonna have a bigger
Speaker 2: role this year. So those guys, I'm excited to kind
Speaker 2: of see them on the field getting after Young whose
Speaker 2: mobility is part of his game.
Speaker 3: How long do you like play Bryce Young? I think
Speaker 3: that's interesting because like the it's not the old school preseason,
Speaker 3: it's like the holes season. Your whole franchise pivots around
Speaker 3: this guy. Do you not treat him more?
Speaker 1: Like?
Speaker 2: I want to see him too, because the whole yeah
Speaker 2: thing about his size and everything. Now we're gonna see
Speaker 2: him in an NFL game kind of with giant offensive
Speaker 2: linemen and huge front seven coming at him, like is
Speaker 2: it is it going to be jarring? Is he gonna
Speaker 2: Is it gonna be one of those things like with
Speaker 2: Kyler for instance, or it was like, whoa, this guy's
Speaker 2: small as hell.
Speaker 3: Except his head. Yeah, it'd be like except jes will
Speaker 3: be like that.
Speaker 4: Like Jonathan Mingo was listed as a starter, one of
Speaker 4: my favorite rookie receivers, so they're not wasting any time
Speaker 4: with him.
Speaker 2: Jacksonville at Dallas, we didn't see a lot of Dallas
Speaker 2: receivers making plays with Ceedee Lamb out of practice on Monday.
Speaker 2: The guy really I want to see is Michael Gallop,
Speaker 2: but I just don't know what their plan is for him, but.
Speaker 1: Would be interesting to see if he flashes.
Speaker 4: East Vaughn feels very much like a preseason since I
Speaker 4: can see that happening, Tank bi Bigsby. What a name?
Speaker 4: Tank Bigsby h and could it be a sneaky fantasy
Speaker 4: factor this year? He's almost certainly their backup running back
Speaker 4: in possibly their red zone. Guys had a nice camp
Speaker 4: and I feel like you need someone with Etn. I
Speaker 4: don't want to give Etn three hundred touches, so he's
Speaker 4: someone you don't like that much. I like him fine,
Speaker 4: but I don't think you want to give him three
Speaker 4: hundred touches. I feel like he'd be nice in a
Speaker 4: in a chair.
Speaker 1: Tank Bigsby's real name Cartavius Bigsby.
Speaker 4: That's pretty good, though you should have just kept cartables.
Speaker 3: Tank is not a bad name too. You're so right
Speaker 3: a red zone hammer.
Speaker 2: Duce Vaughn is so the favorite to be preseason MVP
Speaker 2: because he plays for the Cowboys. They're trying to figure
Speaker 2: out things. His size leads to all that Deuce porn
Speaker 2: as we heard on Monday, he's gonna run for like
Speaker 2: seven hundred yards and that.
Speaker 3: You know, like you get to like to go to
Speaker 3: these practices in person, like you did mention the Bryce
Speaker 3: Young thing, like Douce Vaughan the human being compared to
Speaker 3: everyone else on the field, Like it's a reason to
Speaker 3: watch a Cowboys game alone.
Speaker 1: You don't see this very Just don't.
Speaker 2: Ask him to pick up a blitz with Dak Prescott
Speaker 2: behind center.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's all. That doesn't go so well with Eagles
Speaker 3: at Baltimore Ravens. How about the Ravens. Uh, you know
Speaker 3: the way they treat the preseason and they're incredible. Oh streak,
Speaker 3: great call, Yeah, the dynasty.
Speaker 1: What is the streak? What are we up to?
Speaker 2: Let's see Ravens winning three. This is kind of what
Speaker 2: they're known for at this point in their franchise.
Speaker 1: Twenty three straight. Think about this.
Speaker 2: This is I think unbreakable records in pro sports, Like,
Speaker 2: you know, you throw them.
Speaker 1: Out there, you know, I don't know.
Speaker 2: Joe Diamagia fifty six game hitting streak, twenty three straight
Speaker 2: exhibition games, winning across what five or six years when
Speaker 2: you're not playing your starters, and and there's all sorts
Speaker 2: of things that can happen that that really don't matter
Speaker 2: and would end a game.
Speaker 1: Imagine how many of these games have gone down.
Speaker 2: Greg to the last couple of plays, because that's just
Speaker 2: how a lot of these preseason games go because nobody ties,
Speaker 2: so you just start doing crazy stuff and they've won
Speaker 2: them all.
Speaker 4: The streak is so long I would I would have
Speaker 4: to fact check, but I'm pretty sure Robert Griffin the
Speaker 4: third is like a big part of this streak as
Speaker 4: the Ravens.
Speaker 3: I like how they bring up Dustin Tucker to win
Speaker 3: the close ones. That is wild.
Speaker 4: The Eagles quietly signed a couple veteran linebackers this week,
Speaker 4: Myles Jack and Zach Cunningham. They clearly weren't happy with
Speaker 4: what they were seeing at linebacker. And I've seen some
Speaker 4: reports that Nolan Smith has really had a nice camp
Speaker 4: the rookie and if they've actually played him at off
Speaker 4: ball linebacker a little bit, which is kind of shocking
Speaker 4: because he's such a fast pass rusher, kind of like
Speaker 4: a Hassan Reddick guy. So he's some he's someone to
Speaker 4: watch because he could play a little more than maybe
Speaker 4: he was expected on a on a deep Eagles defense,
Speaker 4: but they're they're searching a little bit at linebacker.
Speaker 3: I would maybe, I mean, with with these reports that
Speaker 3: you know, Lamar is a little the fuddled in the offense,
Speaker 3: isn't looking that sharp, Like, I don't know, do you not?
Speaker 3: Do you just wait till week one to see how
Speaker 3: things go with him?
Speaker 1: We just keep Odell and shrink wrap until September.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I would do that, but I mean, there's something
Speaker 4: about this favorite group. I mean, Rashad Bateman just came
Speaker 4: off pop. I'm afraid Dave Flowers has supposedly been as advertised.
Speaker 2: Raven's just a little more context on this the streak
Speaker 2: the last loss September third, twenty fifteen.
Speaker 4: On that day, twenty fifteen.
Speaker 2: On that day, Ravens star quarterback. This is from Fox Sports.
Speaker 2: Lamar Jackson made his debut for the Louisville Cardinals two
Speaker 2: days after that twenty to nineteen defeat to the Falcons
Speaker 2: to finish the twenty fifteen preseason on A three.
Speaker 1: This game is huge.
Speaker 2: They're laying wood six points to the Eagles, so they're
Speaker 2: they're a pretty heavy favorite.
Speaker 4: And it'd be funny if he continues because they I
Speaker 4: think they play Washington every year. It's just like, you
Speaker 4: know local, why not Belt? It'd be funny if Attle
Speaker 4: at the Belt with RIVERA just was like, I'm sick
Speaker 4: of this freaking streak. I'm sick of and just like
Speaker 4: played all of his starters.
Speaker 2: Sam Just like Sam Howe, you're giving me four quarters
Speaker 2: and forty pass to day, I'm gonna win this game.
Speaker 4: They lose, right, I guess the quarterback wouldn't be great either,
Speaker 4: But like you play your entire awesome defensive line for
Speaker 4: three quarters, you're calling trick plays.
Speaker 1: Someone should do that. It's time for somebody. It cannot
Speaker 1: extend through this year.
Speaker 2: In fact, I might go the other way and route
Speaker 2: against the streak, just for the drama of it. At
Speaker 2: this point, the second longest winning streak, by the way,
Speaker 2: is the Buffalo Bills, who.
Speaker 1: Have won ninth straight. That's a lot too.
Speaker 3: Is that tells you how tough this this Shore would.
Speaker 1: Be a battle.
Speaker 2: That's so far Chargers at Rams think about in terms
Speaker 2: of energy and electricity. Six Taylor Swift shows in seven nights,
Speaker 2: and then you go straight to the battle for Los
Speaker 2: Angeles Chargers Rams preseason.
Speaker 3: It just gets more I'm going to this game, so
Speaker 3: I can't wait game getting paid for that. No, I'm
Speaker 3: gonna go. As for myself, it's rude. You're going with
Speaker 3: your kids, right, I'm.
Speaker 1: Taking them to a different Rams game.
Speaker 3: This one. I am going in a different, different situation.
Speaker 3: But I just want to go see what it's like.
Speaker 4: I've been to I believe I've been to three Rams
Speaker 4: Chargers games since so far is open. Maybe it's only two.
Speaker 4: You know that these are two teams. I don't play
Speaker 4: a lot of starters. Unfortunately, Kyrin Williams is maybe someone
Speaker 4: who watch the back up running back. The Rams are
Speaker 4: gonna have to play more guys that are going to
Speaker 4: be starters because they don't know who their starters are.
Speaker 3: Well, they're kind of if you're a Rams fan, it's
Speaker 3: like it's not it's sort of depressing time a little bit,
Speaker 3: but like you're kind of relearning an entire roster.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I remember so many guys.
Speaker 4: Josh Palmer had a big game in this in this
Speaker 4: Battle of l A last year, and you know what
Speaker 4: he ended up having it.
Speaker 1: I'll sell this one.
Speaker 2: I don't think there's any team in the league that
Speaker 2: fashions itself competitive and potentially a playoff team where the
Speaker 2: preseason is more important than it is for Sean McVeigh
Speaker 2: and the Rams to find some bodies on that defense
Speaker 2: and establish some type of cohesively.
Speaker 3: I wonderful get to see people walking around in the
Speaker 3: sh it's with the and and the ambersons like the
Speaker 3: slogan trick if you're on the side.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and let's see if they've Let's see if they've
Speaker 4: upgraded the concession situation, because this is the nicest stadium
Speaker 4: in the league. It's beautiful. Can the food's terrible?
Speaker 3: What about the the lady with the axe? Is she
Speaker 3: going to be there?
Speaker 1: Is it that's a RAMS thing or a Chargers thing?
Speaker 2: Well, it's Rams and it's a game, then you got
Speaker 2: you should have her unless she's on tour.
Speaker 1: She's very successful.
Speaker 3: I don't know if she does preseason though, but she
Speaker 3: would have to start to practice and.
Speaker 2: Get and I would say, Mark, if you're if you're,
Speaker 2: if you're going to the game, which you are, bring
Speaker 2: your shoulder pads. You might like they might be like,
Speaker 2: I need I need a body to get out there,
Speaker 2: and I need a safety.
Speaker 1: I need a free safety.
Speaker 3: Oh if they'd let me in with that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1: I'll bring them in uh chiefs at Saints.
Speaker 2: How about this the Derek Carr goes to New Orleans
Speaker 2: and there he is right right back to playing uh
Speaker 2: Andy Reid in Kansas City and showdown.
Speaker 4: I don't know if we'll see him on Sunday.
Speaker 3: We'll see.
Speaker 4: We'll probably see some Jamis.
Speaker 3: They might.
Speaker 4: I think they might be trying to advert ties Janey.
Speaker 4: If they like Jake Hayner enough their rookie quarterback, and
Speaker 4: if he plays well in the preseason, I feel like
Speaker 4: Winston could be had for a song if anyone is
Speaker 4: out there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, speaking of that surprised me, but I read Eric
Speaker 2: at Holm, who we just had in the show, did
Speaker 2: a nice kind of ramp up to preseason week one
Speaker 2: on NFL dot Com Check it out, and he noted that,
Speaker 2: you know, there's a real battle here for QB two
Speaker 2: and if Winston goes from starting quarterback to can't even
Speaker 2: be the backup. Yeah, it makes a lot of sense
Speaker 2: for a bunch of teams who are looking for a
Speaker 2: guy that has experience in some level of skill.
Speaker 3: It just seemed like this between him and Dennis Allen,
Speaker 3: like last year, things just seem a little weird behind
Speaker 3: the scenes. I'm almost surprised he's even I still there.
Speaker 4: I am very surprised he's still there. Chiefs actually have
Speaker 4: like a decent amount of interesting position battles. We mentioned
Speaker 4: generic Prince Rishie Rice, Rookies justin.
Speaker 2: Ross first, Jake at quarterback since Locker Plumber Locker was
Speaker 2: after Plumber Dell home, Jake alone, Brisket, Cha Kobe, but yeah,
Speaker 2: he's Jake Brisket.
Speaker 1: Yeah it's us anyway.
Speaker 2: Finally San Francisco at Las Vegas. Yeah, there you got Sam.
Speaker 2: This is it, Bud Trey Lance versus Sam Donald. Is
Speaker 2: how I see this? Who's gonna be the backup slash
Speaker 2: waiting in the wings if Rock Party struggles or isn't
Speaker 2: physically right and then hold on tight if you got
Speaker 2: a chance to play in a game that matters.
Speaker 1: I'm excited.
Speaker 2: And the Trey Lance of it all is remains to
Speaker 2: me intriguing because of his pedigree.
Speaker 3: And I'm not like I've become almost convinced that Shanahan
Speaker 3: prefers Sam Donald at this point that like I you know,
Speaker 3: not unlike Jameis Winston, is the whole endgame here to
Speaker 3: maybe move Trey Lance because you know, other teams know
Speaker 3: nothing about him, but there's all this potential and like,
Speaker 3: if they're gonna one of them, it could be him.
Speaker 3: But uh, won't see brock Purty. But I'm actually really
Speaker 3: interested to see Sam Darnold after you know, his head
Speaker 3: coach called him a Steve Young look alike in the offense.
Speaker 3: Is that just hyperbole to try to stir up Trey
Speaker 3: Lance or what know?
Speaker 2: You guys would get mad at me when I ever
Speaker 2: even brought him up in recent years. But Kyle Shanahan
Speaker 2: starts talking him up, and now it's like, yeah, but
Speaker 2: we got to see this guy.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but when you pair him with Shanahan, you've.
Speaker 2: Gotten Gregg's out here saying that Sam Donald is the
Speaker 2: biggest bust in the history of the quarterback position in
Speaker 2: the NFL.
Speaker 3: A couple of good movies that.
Speaker 4: I said he was on the list.
Speaker 1: I never was on the list, but you said he
Speaker 1: was on the list.
Speaker 3: He still is.
Speaker 4: The numbers say it. The numbers say he's been one
Speaker 4: of the very worst quarterbacks in the league since the
Speaker 4: minute he got drafted. And he was a top five pick.
Speaker 4: So what more do you need?
Speaker 2: Because it's not very at some point beyond the just
Speaker 2: the statistics, it's the where he was.
Speaker 4: Well, you think, like Jimmy Clausen and all these other
Speaker 4: guys that are thought of his huge bus were like
Speaker 4: in great situations.
Speaker 2: Now, well, I'm just saying in nuance that he actually
Speaker 2: can play. I think he can if he gets the opportunity.
Speaker 2: I don't think Laston could play no matter where you play.
Speaker 2: I think consistent, but you can see it.
Speaker 4: I think he had a five He had a five
Speaker 4: game stretch last year that was easily better than any
Speaker 4: five game stretch of his career where he looked like
Speaker 4: a decent backup.
Speaker 1: Well, I hope he gets a job and I hope
Speaker 1: he sticks it.
Speaker 4: Well, his numbers will be great. Nick Mullins, you know,
Speaker 4: has has like a higher yards per attempt to start
Speaker 4: his career than any quarterback in NFL history. It's like
Speaker 4: you walk out of the get out of bed with
Speaker 4: the eight yards per attempt in this offense.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was kind of I'd mentioned that last week.
Speaker 2: I don't know whoever is the quarterback this offense is
Speaker 2: going to be good, but Steve Young that throws righty,
Speaker 2: so it's like, maybe go with him.
Speaker 4: Sam Donald, I always said was why couldn't he be
Speaker 4: another Steve Young, which is like, yeah, why couldn't have
Speaker 4: already four or five years into his career. It was
Speaker 4: a little like people didn't think of Steve.
Speaker 2: You know, given how easy it is quarterback to thrive
Speaker 2: in this offense, makes Sam Donald throw lefty, really make
Speaker 2: him Steve Ye?
Speaker 1: Sure?
Speaker 3: Well, Steve Young was also kicking butt in the USFL.
Speaker 3: It wasn't like he had right.
Speaker 4: In the and the forty nine ers actually gave up
Speaker 4: I believe a lot for Steve Young, whereas Sam Darnold
Speaker 4: was freely available for low price.
Speaker 1: I'll give you something freely available, all right. That's it.
Speaker 2: So we'll be back on Monday with kind of a
Speaker 2: look back at all all of these games and uh.
Speaker 1: And you know, we'll see what we could take from them.
Speaker 4: We're gonna step into the competition cauldron on Monday. I'm
Speaker 4: excited for exactly.
Speaker 2: Also, big week, Big week coming up. Why Fantasy Extravaganza
Speaker 2: coming up next week?
Speaker 1: Right?
Speaker 4: I don't think so.
Speaker 1: I thought we moved it up to Wednesday. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: missed that.
Speaker 3: A lot of guests, a lot of guests, bigger summar.
Speaker 1: Reason.
Speaker 4: I thought it was the following week.
Speaker 2: Well originally was, and then we kind of said, maybe,
Speaker 2: will set it up to make sure we give as
Speaker 2: many people the chance to listen to it before the draft.
Speaker 2: So we we we have that show coming up with
Speaker 2: a bevy of high end, top tier guest.
Speaker 1: Greg.
Speaker 2: You you helped build Rotal World, brick by brick. We're
Speaker 2: gonna have to reach out to some heavy, heavy hitters.
Speaker 2: We got some big dogs in house with NFL media.
Speaker 2: That's coming up on Wednesday.
Speaker 4: Uh, Andy, I should call my buddy Chris, Chris Johnson
Speaker 4: see if he's available.
Speaker 1: He was on a magazine cover Best Friends, that Greg guy.
Speaker 1: He was different.
Speaker 3: I like that trip balladated.
Speaker 1: He the call