Speaker 1: Welcome to NFL Daily, where the twelves can send their
Speaker 1: complaints to Nick Shook, the author of the Power Rankings.
Speaker 2: Not me, I'm the host.
Speaker 1: I'm Greg Rosenthal, host of this show, NFL Daily. But
Speaker 1: Nick Shook is going to be one of the hosts
Speaker 1: of the Power Rankings show, and he's going to be
Speaker 1: on the NFL channel. That doesn't start till the regular season,
Speaker 1: but the first Power Rankings are out with the author
Speaker 1: Nick Shook. He's taking over the franchise for the NFL
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty six. A lot of responsibility there, And yes, Shook,
Speaker 1: you came out swinging by putting the defending champs at
Speaker 1: number three on your first Power rankings.
Speaker 2: How dare you? Frank?
Speaker 3: Well, you know what, It's the inverse of what Uncle
Speaker 3: Ben once told Peter Parker. Instead of with great power
Speaker 3: comes great responsibilities, with great responsibility comes great power rankings.
Speaker 3: Right in this first one right here, I'm taking swings.
Speaker 3: I'm not trying to upset people, but I'm follow in
Speaker 3: my heart, I'm laying the table, setting it for how
Speaker 3: I think this might play out before we even get
Speaker 3: done with preseason.
Speaker 1: And look, if you don't want to be on the
Speaker 1: other side of a Nick Shook swing.
Speaker 2: This is a powerful man.
Speaker 1: So I'm happy, at least for now to be across
Speaker 1: the country from you and poke you on these power rankings.
Speaker 1: So these are already out on NFL dot com. Everyone
Speaker 1: check them out, but everyone who likes to digest these
Speaker 1: things audibly or on video. Thank you for checking in
Speaker 1: on YouTube, and you can also join us if you're listening.
Speaker 2: On Thursday.
Speaker 1: Thursday evening, Nick and I will be joining you live
Speaker 1: at seven pm Pacific, ten pm Eastern to go over
Speaker 1: all the preseason Week one games and update you on
Speaker 1: the news. This show is all about the rankings, and
Speaker 1: let's just start with the top three because I wanted
Speaker 1: to get into the Seahawks discussion right away. The Rams
Speaker 1: are number one, the Broncos are number two, the Seahawks
Speaker 1: are number three. I'm starting at three because to me,
Speaker 1: that is extreme spicy to put a team that is
Speaker 1: essentially bringing back almost everyone that matters.
Speaker 2: I know Kobe.
Speaker 1: Bryant was a good safety, and you know that you
Speaker 1: lose Kenneth Walker, but this is a young, balanced team,
Speaker 1: as deep a defense as we've ever seen, one of
Speaker 1: the best Super Bowl champions at least according to the numbers.
Speaker 1: It like DVOA and whatnot of the last you know,
Speaker 1: ten twenty years. I get putting the Rams over them,
Speaker 1: but putting them at three is bold enough that you
Speaker 1: have to explain yourself shuck.
Speaker 3: Well, it's either that or I go chalk. And I'm
Speaker 3: not going chalk here because I actually have some seven
Speaker 3: times Chock is right. Yeah, sometimes Chock is right. Yeah,
Speaker 3: But it wasn't. It wasn't just to be a contrarian either.
Speaker 3: I have some semi legitimate concerns about how this backfield's
Speaker 3: going to shake out. That's a lot of responsibility, responsibility
Speaker 3: to put on Jerry and Price as a rookie right
Speaker 3: out of the gate. You don't know when you're gonna
Speaker 3: get Sharpenny back. You lost Walker in free agency. It
Speaker 3: just feels like a thinner group than I would like
Speaker 3: to see for this team. And otherwise, yeah, everything else
Speaker 3: is pretty much pretty good for this group. Yeah, but
Speaker 3: Sam Darnald, can he continue to find the success he
Speaker 3: did last year. Let's not forget that they did lose
Speaker 3: their offensive coordinator do a head coaching job with the
Speaker 3: Raiders and Clint Kubiak. Let's not overlook that and yes,
Speaker 3: Kobe Bryant left, boy A Mafe left, Rik wooland left,
Speaker 3: so there were a few guys that you have to replace.
Speaker 3: Maybe you're not quite as deep as you were before.
Speaker 3: I understand they're the rgning champs and they wear the
Speaker 3: crown that they earned, and they definitely earned it, that
Speaker 3: is unquestioned. But I do believe going to this season
Speaker 3: that the Rams have something to say about it, and
Speaker 3: the team in front of them, the Denver Broncos, also
Speaker 3: have something to say about it.
Speaker 1: So this brings up a philosophical question I'll hit you with.
Speaker 1: First week, you're doing the power rankings. This season obviously
Speaker 1: hasn't started. What's the difference between like predictions for the
Speaker 1: season and like just ranking where they're at now, because
Speaker 1: you know clearly you're high on the Broncos in general.
Speaker 1: But I guess the issue I had with it was
Speaker 1: man on paper, it's hard for me to question much
Speaker 1: about the Seahox, And you're right about the backfield Jendarian Price.
Speaker 1: By the way, he's been out of practice three or
Speaker 1: four days. He's never carried a full workload. Suddenly you're
Speaker 1: down to like George Hallani, you know, potentially starting there
Speaker 1: are potentially holes in this team.
Speaker 2: And yet have you been watching Hard Knocks shook? I
Speaker 2: have not spent a lot.
Speaker 3: You know why, because I've been spending some time in
Speaker 3: this and some other things that'll be just described later,
Speaker 3: explained later life things.
Speaker 1: Yes, And frankly, it's shook week on the podcast, it
Speaker 1: shook year on the podcast and throughout NFL media. But
Speaker 1: you've been very busy. Look, that show is making me
Speaker 1: even more of a believer. Something about Mike McDonald, the
Speaker 1: way this team is practicing as one, as hard as
Speaker 1: they play, all those veterans. Just seeing DeMarcus Lawrence and
Speaker 1: Byron Murphy and Derek Hall and you know, Leonard Williams
Speaker 1: altogether just gets me fired up. And I just think,
Speaker 1: like I think it's strengthly a little disrespectful, because I
Speaker 1: really do believe that them in the Rams are are
Speaker 1: far and away the best two teams going into this season.
Speaker 1: I know that's how last season ended, but I do
Speaker 1: believe that it's a huge gap. And then it's opinion
Speaker 1: after that.
Speaker 3: Okay, Okay, So what I'm hearing right now is that
Speaker 3: you are taking the bit of propaganda bait that comes
Speaker 3: before every season with a Hard Knocks team, this is
Speaker 3: the defending champion.
Speaker 2: We don't get to see that on Hard Knocks traditionally.
Speaker 2: And you know what, I'm okay with that. And I
Speaker 2: agree with you with Mike McDonald because I saw a clip.
Speaker 3: On social media today this morning of him getting after
Speaker 3: Derek Hall for getting too close to Sam Donald and
Speaker 3: tossing him out, not completely out of practice, but getting him.
Speaker 2: Off the field, and I was like, Oh, I like that.
Speaker 2: That's an intensity that I like about the spin.
Speaker 1: Watch that clip the spin on Sam Donald's passes. I
Speaker 1: do appreciate this show for making me enjoy the Donald experience.
Speaker 1: And if you are looking rose colored glasses, you think, man,
Speaker 1: he takes some of that confidence and free wiggling play
Speaker 1: and he establishes a better baseline. But it's totally fair
Speaker 1: the controvert thing. And I don't think we need to
Speaker 1: get go too long about the rams at one. This
Speaker 1: is a loaded roster. Also, are you just anticipating Donald
Speaker 1: is on the roster when putting in one?
Speaker 2: Did they? Did he even need to be on the
Speaker 2: roster to put in one? It was just all part
Speaker 2: of the expectation.
Speaker 3: I included it in the little blurb underneath, And did
Speaker 3: he need to be on the roster. No, because I
Speaker 3: don't think that they need like Aaron Donald of what
Speaker 3: we knew before. He can be rotational slash guy who
Speaker 3: is thirty five years old and comes in and makes
Speaker 3: a few big splash plays and it still makes them better.
Speaker 3: But I fully anticipate that he's gonna be on the.
Speaker 1: Roster make the case for the Broncos at two. And
Speaker 1: this is where I start to struggle, and it'll it'll
Speaker 1: get to a larger point I have about the power rankings.
Speaker 1: That's very difficult before the season, like this is a
Speaker 1: tough division. They're going to have to go win in general.
Speaker 1: But if you had him three, I wouldn't have blinked, deny,
Speaker 1: But what is your reasoning and your belief that they
Speaker 1: are at this level kind of the inner circle Super
Speaker 1: Bowl contenders?
Speaker 3: You know, the thing with power rankings is it always
Speaker 3: involves a little bit of projection, And so I'm projecting
Speaker 3: a few things that we did not see happen last year,
Speaker 3: which is that one bo Nicks is healthy for the
Speaker 3: absolute final game of the year. Because they didn't have
Speaker 3: him the ANFC Championship game, they very well could have
Speaker 3: been in the Super Bowl last year. He's back healthy.
Speaker 3: I think he picks up right where he left off.
Speaker 3: They hit their stride offensively in the second half of
Speaker 3: the season, which is a big reason why he didn't
Speaker 3: climb higher in the QB Index for most of the year,
Speaker 3: because they were just so lackluster until they really needed
Speaker 3: it for a lot of the season. And I think
Speaker 3: that the offense and the way that he performed in
Speaker 3: the back half in the playoffs is what I expect
Speaker 3: them to be throughout this season.
Speaker 2: Also, the return of JK.
Speaker 3: Dobbins, who promised to everybody in Denver that he's going
Speaker 3: to play a full season. I'll have to see it
Speaker 3: before I believe it, but if he can actually play
Speaker 3: a substantial portion of the season, that makes their running
Speaker 3: back room a lot better than it looks on paper
Speaker 3: right now. So that's two big reasons, because the rest
Speaker 3: of this offense continuity is there. Oh and by the way,
Speaker 3: they went and got Jalen Waddle and added him to
Speaker 3: the receiving corps, which makes this offense better as well.
Speaker 3: It's already one of the most complete defenses in the NFL.
Speaker 3: I don't really have any questions about them as long
Speaker 3: as they can stay healthy. So on paper, they look
Speaker 3: like one of the most complete teams in football, and
Speaker 3: they just have to answer or fill in those little
Speaker 3: gaps that were created last year.
Speaker 2: So that's why they end up at number two.
Speaker 1: I think offensive line, defensive line, continuity and talent is
Speaker 1: top and so they deserve to be this high. Four
Speaker 1: through six. I'm going to group together because to me,
Speaker 1: you kind of gave the Eagles at four, the Bills
Speaker 1: at five, and the Ravens at six a totally understandable
Speaker 1: bump of If I'm saying, like the best teams of
Speaker 1: this decade, if I'm making a list, I would say
Speaker 1: these are three of the four Eagles, Bills, Ravens, Chiefs
Speaker 1: are obviously number one on that list. We will get
Speaker 1: to the forty nine ers in a little while, who
Speaker 1: maybe would be there close in the top five. So
Speaker 1: you're kind of trusting the consistency and the expectations are
Speaker 1: absolutely high. And when it comes to the Bills and
Speaker 1: the Ravens specifically, you're betting on quarterbacks.
Speaker 2: But what kind of separated.
Speaker 1: These three teams for you from the rest of the pack,
Speaker 1: Because I tell you, man, it's crazy. After these top three.
Speaker 1: You could have shaken up four through fifteen. I really
Speaker 1: believe you could have shaken up four through fifteen in
Speaker 1: a different order, and you can make the case for it.
Speaker 1: So what is it about these teams just to group
Speaker 1: it in a certain way that got them this high.
Speaker 3: It's so funny because I did not do this entire
Speaker 3: thing in sequential order. I got done with the first three,
Speaker 3: I got to four, five, and six, and I went,
Speaker 3: you know what, I'm gonna start from the bottom, and
Speaker 3: I went and took care of thirty two through twenty
Speaker 3: eight because I was I had such a hard time
Speaker 3: figuring out exactly who I wanted at four or five, six,
Speaker 3: And I kind of knew I went in Jacksonville at seven, right,
Speaker 3: which that's a preview of what's to come later in
Speaker 3: the show, of course. But I was conflicted about the
Speaker 3: Eagles at four, and I think the consistency that they've
Speaker 3: demonstrated in this last decade is exactly why they ended
Speaker 3: up this high. It's it's kind of a battle between Okay,
Speaker 3: do I believe in the Bills. Yes, they went and
Speaker 3: got DJ Moore, But I've had enough reason to think, Okay,
Speaker 3: you know, every year's high expectations, Are you actually going
Speaker 3: to deliver? Do I believe in them enough to put
Speaker 3: them at four? I don't think so. Even though they
Speaker 3: have Josh Allen, they got James Cook, you add more
Speaker 3: into that mix. I love their two tight ends. Everything
Speaker 3: else right. And then I was like, do I believe
Speaker 3: in the Eagles? And I thought, well, the vibes and
Speaker 3: then I wrote this right around the start of training camp,
Speaker 3: or at least started working on this around the start
Speaker 3: of training camp. Throughout this last week, I thought, Man,
Speaker 3: the vibes in Philly are unusually high. Like the energy
Speaker 3: there is very, very positive, which usually isn't the case
Speaker 3: with this team. And it seems like moving on from
Speaker 3: aj Brown kind of put them in a new position
Speaker 3: where they can you know, the skies have opened, the
Speaker 3: cloud is gone, and everything's great here in Philly. I
Speaker 3: am concerned about Jonathan Grenard and the extended absence that he,
Speaker 3: you know, continues to be enduring, I guess, because I
Speaker 3: think it does hurt some of their defensive potential. But
Speaker 3: they still have Vic fangieb you know, coordinating that defense
Speaker 3: and roster wise otherwise, like you know, you get Lane
Speaker 3: Johnson back and he's if he can be healthy throughout,
Speaker 3: you know, most of the season.
Speaker 2: You got to one of the best tackle tandems in
Speaker 2: the NFL. LANDA.
Speaker 3: Dickerson said, he feels a lot better than he did
Speaker 3: last year. I was a little disappointed not here McKay
Speaker 3: lemon making more of a difference in camp at this point,
Speaker 3: but he is a.
Speaker 2: Rookie, so I'll give him a little bit of grace.
Speaker 3: And I'm thinking, okay, new offense Sean Mannion, and the
Speaker 3: talk out of there is that it looks a lot
Speaker 3: better than it did last year. If you can take
Speaker 3: this team, which for half the season looked like one
Speaker 3: of the best teams in the NFL before they kind
Speaker 3: of fell apart as they do in odd numbered years,
Speaker 3: and figure out the offense to get out of the
Speaker 3: dysfunctional offensive place they were in last year, then they're
Speaker 3: going to be a top five team. And I still
Speaker 3: believe in that and the demonstrated success and ability to
Speaker 3: get over the hump over the last five six years.
Speaker 2: Then I do the Bills.
Speaker 3: So that's why they end up at four, and the
Speaker 3: Bills go to five, where there's questions with them with
Speaker 3: Joe Brady coming in as the new head coach. But
Speaker 3: you're keeping the offensive, continuity, the familiarity, it's all there.
Speaker 3: You add DJ More to give yourself another option. It's
Speaker 3: not like you went and got aj Brown, but you
Speaker 3: still gave yourself another option you didn't have last year.
Speaker 3: I still have questions about their defense. I still need
Speaker 3: to see them deliver because they didn't really do it
Speaker 3: at a level that I wanted them to under Sean
Speaker 3: McDermott over the last couple of years. And then you
Speaker 3: end up with Baltimore's Ken Lamar stay healthy, as simple
Speaker 3: as that, honestly, because if he's healthy, they're a much
Speaker 3: different team than they were prior. They also have a
Speaker 3: new coach, they got a new offense. Those are some
Speaker 3: things that they have to work out, which is also
Speaker 3: why they land behind the Eagles. But overall, this is
Speaker 3: still a very strong three that I have a lot
Speaker 3: of confidence in.
Speaker 1: Okay, So I like what you did because ultimately it's
Speaker 1: saying last year was a little bit of an anomaly
Speaker 1: for the Ravens. Certainly, you know, the way it ended
Speaker 1: for the Bills was familiar. That Eagles have been this
Speaker 1: up and down team. But the crazy thing about the
Speaker 1: NFL this decade is that it's actually been rather consistent
Speaker 1: at the top that the best six or eight teams
Speaker 1: have kind of been there. And there's a reason why
Speaker 1: Howie Roseman finished his number one on all those GM lists.
Speaker 1: To me, these power rankings are very much just about
Speaker 1: who's got the players, and on defense, the only teams
Speaker 1: that can even challenge the Eagles would be the Houston
Speaker 1: Texans and maybe the Broncos, although Frankly, just in terms
Speaker 1: of pure talent, Jalen Carter, Jordan Jay looks on Zach
Speaker 1: Bond Quinnon, and Cooper Dejine in the back end, and
Speaker 1: then all the depth they have, I actually would even
Speaker 1: take them pure talent over the Broncos. So it's hard
Speaker 1: to beat them. And then you have a future Hall
Speaker 1: of Famer at Lane Johnson, you know, still on the
Speaker 1: offensive line, you still have Saquon like a potential future
Speaker 1: Hall of Famer. You have a good one in DeVante,
Speaker 1: Like the players are all there. I like trusting in them,
Speaker 1: and I like trusting Frankly and Lamar and Josh Allen
Speaker 1: with enough around them as tiebreakers kind of in a
Speaker 1: pretty wide open grouping. So that all makes sense to me.
Speaker 1: Four through six your next group and will go you know,
Speaker 1: seven through nine. I think, or maybe among the most
Speaker 1: controversial things you put on this list. The Jags there
Speaker 1: at seven, the Bengals at eight, and then the Texans
Speaker 1: at nine. The Bears are round out the top ten.
Speaker 1: We'll get them in a second because I kind of
Speaker 1: put them in a different group, But those three are
Speaker 1: very interesting to me.
Speaker 2: The Jags going at seven.
Speaker 1: Did did you just get intimidated by Liam Cohen saying
Speaker 1: NFL dot Com specifically doesn't give enough love to the Jags?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 3: I did feel like I was catching astray from Liam there,
Speaker 3: but that did not motivate my decision, although I did
Speaker 3: right that I hear him and I wanted to know
Speaker 3: that I respect and believe in his team very much. Look,
Speaker 3: I am a cynic by nature, but optimism season has
Speaker 3: an effect on me as well, and I cannot overlook
Speaker 3: the team that they became in the back half of
Speaker 3: last year. Yes, they lost in heartbreaking fashion in the postseason,
Speaker 3: but they did things with that offense. I mean, they
Speaker 3: turned Parker Washington into a name people actually recognize now.
Speaker 3: First off, they got Trevor Lawrence to a place that
Speaker 3: he's never been before, which is somebody who actually looks
Speaker 3: like he is the franchise quarterback they've always wanted him
Speaker 3: to be. A lot of that was because he started
Speaker 3: using his legs more. They just became a unit that
Speaker 3: was so explosive and so fun to watch that I'm like, Oh,
Speaker 3: they've hit their groove. If they can keep most of
Speaker 3: this together, stay healthy, and then into the next season,
Speaker 3: they're going to be hitting the ground running and continue
Speaker 3: to as explosive as they were last year, especially if
Speaker 3: Brian Thomas can actually figure it out, which you know
Speaker 3: he had struggles doing that last year, especially in the
Speaker 3: first half of the year. So I'm thinking, all right,
Speaker 3: that's cool. My only concern with them is that this
Speaker 3: is a team that did probably the least of any
Speaker 3: franchise in the NFL in the offseason in terms of
Speaker 3: roster changes. Sometimes that's a good thing. Sometimes I worry
Speaker 3: if that's you're resting on your laurels, or if you
Speaker 3: just like the continuity and the familiarity and you're going
Speaker 3: to ride it going forward. There's also the whole question
Speaker 3: of the backfield. You know, baseil toot and we've talked
Speaker 3: about this before, how it's going to be a committee
Speaker 3: group that with guys, you know, filling different roles. I
Speaker 3: firmly though, I am a believer in what Jacksonville has
Speaker 3: put together in a division that's going to be more
Speaker 3: competitive than people realize. But they came out on top
Speaker 3: last year for a reason because they figured it out
Speaker 3: and they didn't change much. So that's why they end
Speaker 3: up at seven. I'm also I'm drinking the Bengals kool
Speaker 3: aid because.
Speaker 2: Okay, I'm going to stop you there, because the.
Speaker 1: Jaguars I actually get, and you're almost correcting a weird
Speaker 1: wrong in terms of perception. They are the type of
Speaker 1: team that normally would have a lot of people predicting
Speaker 1: them to make the Super Bowl, a team that's very
Speaker 1: offense heavy, that really emerged last year, that finished strong.
Speaker 1: It was a bad luck playoff loss, but that doesn't
Speaker 1: bother me. Like they're a thirteen win team ascending a
Speaker 1: lot of young players that make sense. You want to
Speaker 1: pick them over the Texans, fine to me. The Texans
Speaker 1: have been in the final eight teams for three straight years,
Speaker 1: have one of the most reliable units in the league
Speaker 1: on either side of the ball in the defense, and
Speaker 1: so I would have them much higher. I would have
Speaker 1: them in my top five certainly, but it's not too crazy.
Speaker 1: The Bengals is the one that sticks out like a
Speaker 1: thorst a sore thumb here because it's all just projection.
Speaker 1: This team has been mediocre for three straight seasons. They
Speaker 1: get Dexter Lawrence and get a good couple like offseason articles,
Speaker 1: and suddenly you're putting the Bengals in the same group
Speaker 1: as these two teams that actually did it last year.
Speaker 2: But you're also.
Speaker 1: Putting them, you know, well ahead of the Patriots tour
Speaker 1: in the Super Bowl, the Packers, who are at least
Speaker 1: in the playoffs every year and have a better organization,
Speaker 1: I think, the Lions, the Chiefs suffording all these teams
Speaker 1: you're putting the Bengals way ahead of And to me, yeah,
Speaker 1: this is this is projection.
Speaker 2: This is prediction.
Speaker 1: This is in power rankings because they're not that powerful
Speaker 1: until I see it.
Speaker 3: That's fair, But I think power rankings before the start
Speaker 3: of the preseason is nothing but projection.
Speaker 2: Fair.
Speaker 3: Sometimes it's evidence based, sometimes it's projecting. Right, let's identify
Speaker 3: a few things real quickly with this team that have
Speaker 3: been pretty consistent.
Speaker 2: Themes over the last few years one.
Speaker 3: Joe Burrow has struggled to stay healthy and if throughout
Speaker 3: a full season over the last few and their defense
Speaker 3: hasn't been able to stop a nosebleed for the last
Speaker 3: three Their offensive line has been meh, and it's gotten
Speaker 3: more credit than I think it deserves. And we've known
Speaker 3: what they've had at receiver, and that's basically been their
Speaker 3: story to the point where we thought maybe Zach Tarrell,
Speaker 3: Zach Taylor might get fired.
Speaker 2: Well, no, he didn't.
Speaker 3: He's the only coach that survived this past offseason the
Speaker 3: NFC North. And there's a reason for that because if
Speaker 3: he has his quarterback, then he has a much better
Speaker 3: chance of success if he can also get some you know,
Speaker 3: solid performance from his defense. And I you know, when
Speaker 3: you heard Joe Burrow earlier this offseason say, this is
Speaker 3: the most talented roster I've been on since I was
Speaker 3: at LSU.
Speaker 2: You know, in terms of just comparing me.
Speaker 1: You started pressing plus one plus one, move him up
Speaker 1: a spot.
Speaker 2: Joey b is happy, happy around the horn. This is
Speaker 2: around the horn.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but then the passage of time can produce some
Speaker 3: interesting results. And the more I thought about it, the
Speaker 3: more I consider the fact that I love their secondary.
Speaker 3: I think DJ Turner had an incredible second half last year,
Speaker 3: and he's one of the most underrated guys in the
Speaker 3: NFL right now that everybody's going to start to know
Speaker 3: about this year if they pay attention. I don't think
Speaker 3: they're going to have to pay that much attention to
Speaker 3: get to know him. Dexter Lawrence is a huge upgrade
Speaker 3: on the interior. They also added Jonathan Allen, a veteran
Speaker 3: with plenty of experience, maybe not top you know, he's
Speaker 3: not a top tier player anymore, but I mean that's
Speaker 3: a good pairing right there. Mafe comes in as an
Speaker 3: edge rusher, cash Is Hall making some noise in camps
Speaker 3: as a specialized pass rusher. I look at this and
Speaker 3: I think, Okay, I could start to see it. They
Speaker 3: got athletes at the second level of the defense. Do
Speaker 3: I like the fact that Orin Burk's slotted as a
Speaker 3: potential starter at this point, No, but because he's been
Speaker 3: a veteran deaf guy in his last three stops. But overall,
Speaker 3: I can see the vision with this group, and again,
Speaker 3: I think knows how to put up points if they
Speaker 3: can get solid play from their defense. They're going to
Speaker 3: be right there. They're going to be right there in
Speaker 3: the AFC North Race and beyond. And that's why they're
Speaker 3: behind the Ravens. But they're still up here in the
Speaker 3: top eight. Ahead of the Texans. Is outread because I
Speaker 3: don't have any and let me explain that real quick.
Speaker 3: I need to see it from that offense. This is
Speaker 3: not a CJ. Stroud thing. This is the offense. Losingico
Speaker 3: Collins late hurt that they've.
Speaker 1: Had those They've had that bad offense and still been
Speaker 1: winning a lot of games.
Speaker 2: They get to the divisional round with the defense. So
Speaker 2: if I'm going to put them ahead of a team
Speaker 2: that might be more balanced in Jacksonville or Cincinnati, I'm
Speaker 2: going to need to see it proven by this offense.
Speaker 2: I think the addition of David Montgomery is going to
Speaker 2: be a big pickup, and Nico Collins coming back healthy
Speaker 2: is going to be good. But as of now, this
Speaker 2: is where they stand.
Speaker 1: You know, who was a lot more balanced than the
Speaker 1: Bengals the last three years, the Texans. You know, as
Speaker 1: bad as that offense was, it was better than the
Speaker 1: Bengals defense, that's for sure.
Speaker 2: But I get it.
Speaker 1: See it's all interpretation power rankings to me before the
Speaker 1: season is tricky because you're right, we're just projecting things differently.
Speaker 1: I would have the Bengals lower until they proved it
Speaker 1: for this exercise. To me, they've been the AFC Cowboys
Speaker 1: who are in our next grouping. I just like the
Speaker 1: Bears Cowboys there at ten and eleven the NFL.
Speaker 2: The NFL is.
Speaker 1: Good that you know, it's got the Bears and the
Speaker 1: Cowboys kind of on the comeback trail here. They're similar
Speaker 1: to me. We need the Raiders back in the mix
Speaker 1: too because they're similar to me too. But just the
Speaker 1: expectations are high for both of these teams. I love
Speaker 1: the Dan POMPEII column about Ben Johnson that came out
Speaker 1: on Wednesday, and it has a quote from Ben Johnson.
Speaker 1: He's a total maniac, but he said, you've got thirty
Speaker 1: one other teams coming to training camp saying our goal
Speaker 1: is to win the Super Bowl.
Speaker 2: I want more than that.
Speaker 1: I want to have the highest scoring offense ever, which
Speaker 1: happens to be the twenty thirteen Denver Broncos. I know
Speaker 1: how many points per game they scored, thirty seven point nine,
Speaker 1: and I want to surpass them.
Speaker 2: I want shutouts. I want blowouts.
Speaker 1: Then he went and asked the author, what's the longest
Speaker 1: winning streak in the history of the NFL? And it
Speaker 1: was the Patriots who did it over two seasons. What
Speaker 1: was it twenty one game?
Speaker 2: He's like, I want to do that.
Speaker 1: The whole thing is insane, but it got me fired up,
Speaker 1: and it got me to make a point here that
Speaker 1: I haven't much on the show yet, which is that
Speaker 1: Caleb Williams, by all accounts, despite all the injuries around him,
Speaker 1: has looked incredible at camp and there is a world
Speaker 1: where he goes up another level. And Ben Johnson's insanity
Speaker 1: is something that gets me going, even if if it's
Speaker 1: like borderline unhealthy. If you read the article, very John
Speaker 1: Gruden by the way, yeah, young John Gruden, Look, you
Speaker 1: got to.
Speaker 2: Be a little crazy to find success as a coach
Speaker 2: in the NFL. You just do.
Speaker 3: You have to be a little bit delusional to really
Speaker 3: get to that mountaintop. And I firmly believe that Caleb
Speaker 3: will take that next step because of the progress that
Speaker 3: he made last year just over the course of the season.
Speaker 3: Their biggest flaw is that oftentimes they needed him to
Speaker 3: be his absolute best just to win football games, and
Speaker 3: I'm concerned and a lot of this power ranking is
Speaker 3: related to what's happened in training.
Speaker 2: Camp so far.
Speaker 3: They have suffered multiple losses in the secondary, and this
Speaker 3: was filed before we found out that Kobe Bryant's going
Speaker 3: to miss most of the season. They've been in crisis
Speaker 3: mode in that secondary for the last week or so
Speaker 3: and it's a weakness that I'm worried about now. Offensively,
Speaker 3: I think that they'll be strong. I do think that
Speaker 3: they're going to miss Dj Moore a little bit because
Speaker 3: they're putting a lot on the shoulders of Luther Burden,
Speaker 3: which I believe that he has the talent to live
Speaker 3: up to that, but it's about delivering on your talent,
Speaker 3: which we know oftentimes those two things don't align. I
Speaker 3: fully believe in Caleb and Ben Johnson and what they
Speaker 3: can produce, but when it comes to this team overall,
Speaker 3: I'm not putting them as a regression candidate necessarily because
Speaker 3: this is still the top NFC North team I have
Speaker 3: on this list. It's just that they don't land inside
Speaker 3: the top nine because of what's happened so far this
Speaker 3: season during training camp.
Speaker 1: I mean, where would they have been even to finish
Speaker 1: like last regular season right around that, so you're not,
Speaker 1: you know, painting them with a big regression brush. You
Speaker 1: have the Cowboys improving, but not like, you know, an
Speaker 1: insane amount. I think a healthy amount there at eleven,
Speaker 1: so some optimism that they're a playoff type of team.
Speaker 1: Do you like the fact that after the Rams joint practice,
Speaker 1: and yes, we do have our joint practice winners coming
Speaker 1: up at the very end of the show very quickly.
Speaker 1: Do you like that as the Rams were filing off
Speaker 1: the field in blistering hot Thousand Oaks, they're back at
Speaker 1: their team facility, which is far away from the oceanic
Speaker 1: training camp spot they had before, which has a nice breeze,
Speaker 1: and it's like you know, in the seventies. Now they're
Speaker 1: a ninety five degree weather. The Rams are all leaving,
Speaker 1: and the Cowboys players on their own decided, we're going
Speaker 1: to do the conditioning that we've been doing at the
Speaker 1: end of every practice, even without our coaches asking, We're
Speaker 1: going to be doing like twenty yards suicides with Dak Prescott,
Speaker 1: Debarvion Overstone leading the way. And you almost see some
Speaker 1: Rams players walking by and muttering under their breath, Like,
Speaker 1: is this try hard trading camp nonsense or does this
Speaker 1: show that they got the fire in them?
Speaker 2: And Brian Schottenheimer is that dude?
Speaker 3: Usually I'll call it tryhard stuff, but not with this team,
Speaker 3: because this is exactly what this team needs. This team
Speaker 3: needs some motivation and some clear intent and the idea
Speaker 3: of having Dak leading that makes me excited. It makes
Speaker 3: me excited because I think they believe the changes that
Speaker 3: they made this offseason and put them in a position
Speaker 3: to contend.
Speaker 2: It's what I think is going to happen with them
Speaker 2: this year.
Speaker 3: I think they're gonna be one of the teams that,
Speaker 3: despite being the Dallas Cowboys, are going to improve pretty
Speaker 3: significantly on their finish last year. And I don't know
Speaker 3: if I want to say surprise, because they were the
Speaker 3: star on their helmet, they're always in the conversation.
Speaker 2: But I think they're going to surprise some people. Yeah
Speaker 2: again a lot of us.
Speaker 3: Yeah, as long as everything the defensive side comes together,
Speaker 3: which so far, so good, I think this is could
Speaker 3: be one of the very good team in the NFL
Speaker 3: and a fun team to watch this year.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think they're gonna get a lot of pop
Speaker 1: coming into the season third of in terms of predictions,
Speaker 1: but you have them right around where I would expect
Speaker 1: them to be slotted. I think George Pickens is a
Speaker 1: huge X factor. But I have to admit I am
Speaker 1: encouraged by the fact that multiple Cowboys beat writers in
Speaker 1: podcasts have been listening to say that he's been the
Speaker 1: best player in camp, and so that gives me confidence.
Speaker 1: That he's been an up and down player throughout his career,
Speaker 1: but he found something here and maybe what he found
Speaker 1: was Dak Prescott as his quarterback instead of like Mason Rudolph.
Speaker 1: But he knows how important this year is for his future.
Speaker 1: And so far, so good, because to me, he's the
Speaker 1: biggest X factor. My next group to two more teams
Speaker 1: that are outside your top ten, but inside I guess
Speaker 1: what would be a roughly playoff team Patriots at twelve.
Speaker 1: I think that's fair. Even coming off the Super Bowl
Speaker 1: in thirteen. I think there's there's holes in this team,
Speaker 1: and if they made the playoffs again, I think that
Speaker 1: that's a good season for them.
Speaker 2: I just wanted to ask.
Speaker 1: You something we were kicking around at Chargers practice on Tuesday.
Speaker 2: Jordan Love or Justin Herbert I knew this is gonna
Speaker 2: be the talk you did. How did you know that?
Speaker 3: I because I've been hearing this a lot lately. This
Speaker 3: is they're getting they're getting paired a lot in preseason talks.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so who. It was really hard for me, and
Speaker 1: I have to admit, I know who. I stuck with
Speaker 1: Herbert because it's like sunk cost fallacy, maybe that I'm
Speaker 1: so in and nothing has taken me out of you know,
Speaker 1: the playoff games haven't been great, but it's not enough
Speaker 1: that I'm going to back out of it. But man,
Speaker 1: as it was so hard for me to make that
Speaker 1: choice that you know, I don't know.
Speaker 3: I also lean Herbert, but it's by a hair There's
Speaker 3: something in me that just had I have this faith
Speaker 3: in him that, like when the chips are down and
Speaker 3: that he's got.
Speaker 2: To go make a play, he's gonna do it. It's
Speaker 2: not that Jordan Love can't do it.
Speaker 3: It's just that I don't have that same high level
Speaker 3: of confidence in him. Yet otherwise, the town's there, the
Speaker 3: arms there, the athleticism, you know, the improvisation, the arm strength,
Speaker 3: and just the beauty of the way the ball comes
Speaker 3: out of both of their hands.
Speaker 2: It's all there.
Speaker 3: It's just a matter of like in crunch time, if
Speaker 3: I had to choose between the two, I'm taking Herbert
Speaker 3: as of right now. Of course, you think about situation
Speaker 3: around the two, and I think Love has benefited from
Speaker 3: a better offensive line situation, not significantly better, but better
Speaker 3: then the disaster Herbert's been playing behind for the last
Speaker 3: couple of years. But otherwise, I mean, they're both very close,
Speaker 3: but I'm still leaning Herbert.
Speaker 1: Okay, how about them or Drake May for both this
Speaker 1: year and long term? M I would assume most people
Speaker 1: would take May long term, but that not everyone. I
Speaker 1: would certainly, but for this year, I think it's an
Speaker 1: interesting question. Can can May year three already like kind
Speaker 1: of stabilize and be at or above that level. Ultimately,
Speaker 1: I'm going to believe in my guy, and my guy
Speaker 1: is Drake May. But I think it's a fair question.
Speaker 3: So I think what's going to happen is right now
Speaker 3: it goes Herbert love May, and by November it's May
Speaker 3: Herbert Love and that's how much AJ Brown's going to
Speaker 3: mean to him. I think that they're going to put
Speaker 3: up some serious fireworks together and it's going to improve
Speaker 3: his already sparkling reputation very quickly, and that'll carry on
Speaker 3: through the long term as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the reports from that joint practice, you know, just
Speaker 1: they're just spamming aj Brown. Both the connection with him
Speaker 1: and Dobbs have gotten better. But I think the Packers
Speaker 1: and the Patriots were a canny like a perfect pairing
Speaker 1: together because to me, the quarterbacks you love, the offensive
Speaker 1: system you really like, and I'm really optimistic about this year,
Speaker 1: but there's a lot of just peeking under the hood
Speaker 1: questions about lots of different parts of the team, the
Speaker 1: secondary for each, the offensive lines for each, and injuries
Speaker 1: and depth at defensive edge position. So I think they're
Speaker 1: very similar. Let's go to your next group, which fascinates
Speaker 1: me fourteen through sixteen Lions, Chiefs, Niners, and my big question,
Speaker 1: and you've got to make some choices, but why are
Speaker 1: the Niners so far back? Because I mentioned teams of
Speaker 1: the decades earlier, they've earned some sort of respect. If
Speaker 1: I just go through the rosters and talk about how
Speaker 1: good the forty nine ers are at the very top level,
Speaker 1: they're right, you know, they're close to that Eagles team
Speaker 1: in terms of top end talent, and I also struggle
Speaker 1: to see the Lions this low too, because you know
Speaker 1: they've got such great continuity of great great players in
Speaker 1: terms of aman Rah and Gibbs and Jamison and Piney
Speaker 1: Sewell and Hutchet like those are real deal guys. I
Speaker 1: know there's questions of depth in this category. Is where
Speaker 1: my point from earlier really stands out. Because if you
Speaker 1: gave me the Lions, the Chiefs, and the forty nine
Speaker 1: Ers shook okay, and you get your four or five
Speaker 1: six team Eagles, Bill's Ravens, I think I got a
Speaker 1: fighting chance here to beat you and overall wins this
Speaker 1: year with fourteen through sixteen, I don't think.
Speaker 2: I don't think that's crazy at all.
Speaker 1: Lions, Chiefs and forty nine Ers going better than Ravens
Speaker 1: Bill's Eagles. I probably would take your four five six,
Speaker 1: but I think it's I think it's close, okay.
Speaker 3: So that's you showing respect to the coaching staffs that
Speaker 3: exist with the latter three as opposed to the new
Speaker 3: ones with the former three, the ones that are ranked
Speaker 3: higher at this point.
Speaker 2: And I respect that, and I understand that.
Speaker 3: Have you ever done a spring cleaning in like your
Speaker 3: you know, with like a closet and you, let's say,
Speaker 3: instead of just like picking and purging, you kind of
Speaker 3: like just take full stock of everything and you lay
Speaker 3: everything out right, and then you start to reorganize and
Speaker 3: you put some things in a pile to donate to
Speaker 3: goodwill or whatever, and you feel good, and then you
Speaker 3: look over and you're like, oh, no, I still have
Speaker 3: this pile of stuff, and and suddenly I don't I
Speaker 3: don't know where to put it. That's how I felt
Speaker 3: with this group, because I'm like, wait a minute, you're
Speaker 3: telling me right now that I got the Lions at fourteen,
Speaker 3: I got the Niners at sixteen. Chiefs, I can understand
Speaker 3: being at fifteen, how do they end up this low?
Speaker 3: I am going to catch some flak for this, but
Speaker 3: in the order of all of it, I also can't
Speaker 3: justify moving them ahead of many of these teams. I
Speaker 3: was just kind of stuck with this group of three,
Speaker 3: and it really comes down to some questions with all three.
Speaker 2: Also, what's happened in training camp.
Speaker 3: We know that the Niners are already dealing with a
Speaker 3: number of injuries both at receiver and beyond, and I
Speaker 3: hate that that's just a consistent theme with this team.
Speaker 3: It also shouldn't be the biggest red flag for them
Speaker 3: because they've overcome it in the past, But do you
Speaker 3: really want to make that journey that difficult in yourselves?
Speaker 2: That's why I kind of put them down a little
Speaker 2: bit lower.
Speaker 3: I don't think I'm you know, just in self examination
Speaker 3: and self critique here, I don't think that I'm putting
Speaker 3: enough respect on the name of Brock Purdy and this group.
Speaker 3: But I also am getting George Kittle off of an injury.
Speaker 3: I'm getting I've already lost Ricky pier Sall, Christian Kirk
Speaker 3: coming off of some sort of injury, you know situation.
Speaker 3: Even the young guys Stribble, a guy who's turned a
Speaker 3: lot of heads dealing with injuries that sort of thing
Speaker 3: throughout this camp, and it just makes me think, like, God,
Speaker 3: is this going to be another year in which they're
Speaker 3: going to have to overcome so much of this injury
Speaker 3: related stuff that it's going to kind of hurt their
Speaker 3: overall value. So that's how they stand right now, but
Speaker 3: that could be very different very quickly. Whereas with the Lions,
Speaker 3: I still think about this whole group and what happened
Speaker 3: last year with them and how they've had to reshuffle
Speaker 3: their offensive line and losing Caid Mays to a risk
Speaker 3: injury because I had written in there that adding him
Speaker 3: was going to be a big boost for this offensive
Speaker 3: line and getting back to the strong unit that they
Speaker 3: were a few years ago, which is very key to
Speaker 3: their offensive success, which then ends up being very key
Speaker 3: to their overall success. That takes a hit that drops
Speaker 3: them down a little bit makes me a little more
Speaker 3: concerned about their trajectory. We've kind of broken down their
Speaker 3: roster in the past already, but I still have some
Speaker 3: questions about what they look like defensively, especially opposite Aden Hutchinson.
Speaker 3: I know, I like dj Wantam, I like Derek Moore
Speaker 3: and what they've got there, but I just feel a
Speaker 3: little bit concerned about their front and then the Chiefs.
Speaker 3: It's like, when I first did this, they were a
Speaker 3: little bit higher, and then I took a step back
Speaker 3: and I think thought, well, Mahomes is coming off the ACL.
Speaker 3: We don't really know exactly if he's going to be
Speaker 3: the same Mahomes right away.
Speaker 2: And it's not like it's easy.
Speaker 3: When they faced the Broncos to start the season, and
Speaker 3: they still have some questions. There's some there's a lot
Speaker 3: of uncertainty with the fact that they basically revamp their
Speaker 3: secondary both because they wanted to and they needed to.
Speaker 3: They had departures, you know, Jalen Watson leaves, they trade
Speaker 3: away Trent McDuffie. They're putting a lot on mansword Delaine
Speaker 3: to come in and play, you know, a key spot
Speaker 3: at corner opposite Lagerius Snead. I like the idea of
Speaker 3: adding Cater Kohu, but I just feel a little weird
Speaker 3: about this defense. Steve Snagnelo deserves a lot of credit
Speaker 3: for what he can do with the defense, but that's
Speaker 3: a group that I need to see prove that they
Speaker 3: can be effective before I just blindly believe they're going
Speaker 3: to and receiver for them.
Speaker 2: I'll blindly believe that they're the Chiefs.
Speaker 3: Like everyone wanted to kill the problem that we have
Speaker 3: with this group, because let's look at what they did
Speaker 3: last year.
Speaker 2: They never became a jib. They're going to figure last year.
Speaker 1: Like last year going into it, everyone's like one score regression. Uh,
Speaker 1: they're gonna take a step back because they were so
Speaker 1: lucky winning by one score. They were the most unlucky
Speaker 1: team in the NFL last year they had the worst
Speaker 1: one score record of all time.
Speaker 2: I just think with Mahomes, you're right.
Speaker 1: I thought when you were making the analogy earlier about
Speaker 1: putting everything to the side and you're like, dang, what
Speaker 1: do I have left here?
Speaker 2: What am I doing with this stuff?
Speaker 1: I thought you were just going to be talking about
Speaker 1: the Chiefs roster, because when you look at it, it's
Speaker 1: just like, oh, what is really here?
Speaker 2: But ultimately I.
Speaker 1: Just kind of Mahomes read washes most of it away.
Speaker 1: But I also don't want to do the thing that
Speaker 1: we do around Hall of Fame time or All Pro time,
Speaker 1: where we're like he should be first team, like, okay,
Speaker 1: but who are you going to move down? Or he
Speaker 1: should be in the Hall of Fame? Okay, who you
Speaker 1: taking out? And so like, who are you moving down?
Speaker 1: If you're moving these teams up, I might move down
Speaker 1: like the Cowboys, the Bengals, maybe the Bears a little
Speaker 1: bit under some of these teams.
Speaker 2: But reasonable minds can disagree.
Speaker 1: And it really points out it's a season where there's
Speaker 1: going to be some really disappointed fan bases out there
Speaker 1: because we've already hit at least two three teams that
Speaker 1: aren't going to make the playoffs, and there's high expectations
Speaker 1: for all these teams. You mentioned all the forty nine
Speaker 1: ers injuries. I did want to note Nick Bosa has
Speaker 1: been out for a week. He had he didn't even
Speaker 1: get to a normal practice. He didn't even get to
Speaker 1: seven on sevens. He was just doing individuals on the side.
Speaker 1: And then he had a setback that they're not calling
Speaker 1: a setback that they're calling soreness coming off a touring
Speaker 1: ACL that they said is actually the ACL that he
Speaker 1: toured high school and not the one he toured last year.
Speaker 1: It's like, that doesn't make me feel better if they
Speaker 1: don't have Nick Bosa. And at this point, I guess
Speaker 1: I'll believe it when I see it for a little while,
Speaker 1: like that, that's a that's a big time loss. And
Speaker 1: yet you know Shanahan plus insert quarterback here, Yeah, being
Speaker 1: about the second best quarterback.
Speaker 2: In the league's behind Mahomes. It's great and.
Speaker 3: Last year they found a way to get it done
Speaker 3: without Nick Bosa and Fred Warner, So like, you know,
Speaker 3: you got to get respect in that area. But it
Speaker 3: just there's a little bit too much dysfunction or just
Speaker 3: a collection of bad luck at this stage. Before we
Speaker 3: even start preseason games this week for me to be like, yeah,
Speaker 3: I'm just gonna trust the process since they they've been
Speaker 3: there so many times before.
Speaker 1: I agree with that, and they have overcome injuries, even
Speaker 1: the year that they made the NFC Championship and the
Speaker 1: Rams beat them like they were banged up that year.
Speaker 1: They also had some pretty down years under Kyle Shannon,
Speaker 1: and now that had to do with quarterback injuries. And
Speaker 1: one thing I've loved to hear is that Purdy has
Speaker 1: been very good in camp. He's been healthy, and so
Speaker 1: I think Mike Evans is returning soon. Stribbling is already back.
Speaker 1: There are positives to talk about with the forty nine ers,
Speaker 1: but man, it just shows what a deep NFL it
Speaker 1: is that we put the forty nine ers at sixteen,
Speaker 1: the Lions in Chiefs, like those teams were the best
Speaker 1: teams in the league just a couple of years ago,
Speaker 1: and we haven't.
Speaker 2: Even gotten to the team that we visited.
Speaker 1: We'll find out where they're at, and I'm talking about
Speaker 1: the Charges. Of course, after the break, let's get the
Speaker 1: second half of the NFL and Shook's debut power rankings
Speaker 1: in it.
Speaker 2: Back on NFL daily.
Speaker 1: Four teams coming up in the power rankings where their
Speaker 1: fan bases they're not going to be happy because on paper,
Speaker 1: the Chargers, Vikings, Colts, and Steelers seventeen eighteen, nineteen twenty
Speaker 1: all feel like playoff contenders, above average teams, teams with real, define,
Speaker 1: high level strengths. And yet I think, because the bottom
Speaker 1: of the NFL feels so bad this season, that like,
Speaker 1: actually average is pretty tough to get to, and you have.
Speaker 2: Them all as below average.
Speaker 1: Man that year three of Jim Harbough, He's won a
Speaker 1: lot of games, shook, He's pretty good up front on
Speaker 1: both lines. Why was it hard for you to not
Speaker 1: put them higher?
Speaker 2: This was the last team that I was like.
Speaker 3: When I got to the Chargers at seventeen, I thought, man,
Speaker 3: I really hate that they're at seventeen because I have
Speaker 3: high hopes for them this year. But when I think
Speaker 3: about the teams I put in front of them, I
Speaker 3: couldn't really justify moving the Chargers ahead of any of them.
Speaker 2: Them.
Speaker 3: Now that can change quickly, because if Mike McDaniel can
Speaker 3: come in and really establish an effective ground game, which
Speaker 3: I think he's going to with a very diverse backfield,
Speaker 3: they're gonna be a much better offense than they were
Speaker 3: in previous years. They're also gonna if they have a
Speaker 3: stronger offensive line, which means, you know, guys don't get hurt,
Speaker 3: then they're going to be a much better offense than
Speaker 3: they were in previous years. And we already kind of
Speaker 3: know what they have. Defensively, they've established their identity and
Speaker 3: they've established most of their contributors on that side. So
Speaker 3: I'm thinking, okay, like overall, all right, I can see it.
Speaker 3: I can definitely see them climbing, but as of now,
Speaker 3: it's more about you got to prove it to me
Speaker 3: than I can just you know, ride with Okay, Well,
Speaker 3: they managed to win x amount of games and make
Speaker 3: the playoffs and then wash out of the wildcard round.
Speaker 3: I really really like offensively their tight end room. It's
Speaker 3: very diverse. They're running back room. I'm Ario Hampton, community
Speaker 3: of it all, Keaton Mitchell, all different types of backs
Speaker 3: that I think can do a lot of different things
Speaker 3: for you. You just gotta stay healthy upfront and they'll
Speaker 3: be a very productive group. And and look, I mean defensively,
Speaker 3: it's kind of the same usual suspects. It's Khalil Mack
Speaker 3: it's Diane Henley, it's Tully Tulupilo too, It's it's you
Speaker 3: know those types of guys. It's Derwin James in the back.
Speaker 3: Like it's just all your usual guys that are going
Speaker 3: to contribute. I just kind of needed all to come
Speaker 3: together at a level that we've seen glimpses of it
Speaker 3: coming together in past years.
Speaker 2: It just hasn't sustained.
Speaker 1: They were similar to the forty nine ers last year.
Speaker 1: I think that they had so many injuries and they
Speaker 1: still won eleven games. So that's a good sign if
Speaker 1: they can stay healthy. And I really believe in the
Speaker 1: coaching staff, and we were there at camp and they've
Speaker 1: got a couple undrafted rookies in the secondary that I
Speaker 1: kind of expect to make the team. They have a
Speaker 1: rookie safety Day three in Genesis Smith who they're pretty
Speaker 1: excited about. And they they've been able to like coach
Speaker 1: up guys to produce. So I'd have them a little
Speaker 1: higher because of the coaching stuff, But you're right, it's
Speaker 1: just a deep NFL. The Vikings are an interesting team
Speaker 1: because if we're just ranking rosters, I think the Vikings
Speaker 1: and Steelers are similar here where you know I like
Speaker 1: a lot about both their lines. Christ and Darra saw
Speaker 1: healthy again for the Vikings. And then the upside of
Speaker 1: the steel there's offensive line, certainly their defensive line. There's
Speaker 1: quarterback questions, but these are I think they're pretty well
Speaker 1: set up rosters. I put the Colts to the side
Speaker 1: a little bit in this group, and I like the Colts,
Speaker 1: but they're a veteran team as well, just with more
Speaker 1: like variants and upside.
Speaker 2: But like.
Speaker 1: I look at what the front offices have done overall
Speaker 1: in Minnesota and in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 2: I don't hate it. I don't hate it. Yeah, I
Speaker 2: would agree.
Speaker 3: It seems to me, like I mean, when we talk
Speaker 3: about the or the Vikings last year, the one thing
Speaker 3: that we always come back to, at least if you're
Speaker 3: a Vikings fan especially, is well, they won nine games
Speaker 3: last year with no quarterback, no quarterback stability whatsoever. They
Speaker 3: had nine games that they were able to win because
Speaker 3: their defense is good and Brian Flores gets all this
Speaker 3: money in the defensive quarter because he's very good at producing,
Speaker 3: you know, an exotic scheme that really maximizes the town
Speaker 3: that he has on that side of the ball. And
Speaker 3: this receiving core with the Vikings, I think is one
Speaker 3: of the stronger ones under the radar that we see
Speaker 3: in the NFL with Jefferson Addison and Juwan Jennings. It's
Speaker 3: just a matter of what are you going to get
Speaker 3: from your quarterback play. Kyler Murray been named the starter,
Speaker 3: we all expected it. Now he's got to go out
Speaker 3: and produce and prove that he was just stuck in
Speaker 3: a bad situation in Arizona, that he's actually a better
Speaker 3: quarterback than that.
Speaker 2: I kind of think that he'll make some.
Speaker 3: Progress in that area and that they'll be a better team,
Speaker 3: but as of now, they sit here because they have
Speaker 3: yet to do it. I have a lot of faith
Speaker 3: in this staff, and I have a lot of faith
Speaker 3: in their potential, but you should never fall in love
Speaker 3: with potential, right right.
Speaker 1: And my biggest concern from a broad perspective is just
Speaker 1: that the defense, which has been so scheme dependent and
Speaker 1: people forget, was a little erratic last year. The first
Speaker 1: three months of the season when they were playing their
Speaker 1: meaningful games, they had some stinker performances, and they got
Speaker 1: super hot down the stretch after they were out of it,
Speaker 1: basically and carried them to a great defensive ranking and
Speaker 1: ultimately yeah, winning record, which which.
Speaker 2: Was crazy, but they are.
Speaker 1: If they suddenly go from like the second or third
Speaker 1: best defense in the league to the eleventh, then I
Speaker 1: don't know if the offense can make up for it.
Speaker 2: But I like the roster.
Speaker 1: I like the Colts roster overall, and the Steelers like
Speaker 1: there are going to be so many disappointed teams in
Speaker 1: the NFL because we are twenty teams deep and we
Speaker 1: have not gotten to a city yet where the fan
Speaker 1: base does not expect playoffs, and I think the Colts
Speaker 1: maybe our fans are a little more realistic, but they'll
Speaker 1: be wanting Chris Ballard's head on a pike if they
Speaker 1: don't make the playoffs, and I think they absolutely could.
Speaker 1: Let's go to our next group. You're kind of cheating.
Speaker 1: I'll group the entire NFC South together. You did the
Speaker 1: Jordan thing she had said on our preview of the
Speaker 1: division that the floor for each team was eight and
Speaker 1: nine and the ceiling was nine and eight. Is a
Speaker 1: good bit, a good podcast bit. I respect it. Here's
Speaker 1: what I would have recommended you do on the Power ringings.
Speaker 1: You put Saints twenty one, Bucks twenty two Panthers twenty three.
Speaker 1: Here's the stinker. You put the Titans pretty high. For
Speaker 1: the Titans twenty four and then the Falcons twenty five.
Speaker 1: Let's put the Titans to the side. If you're gonna
Speaker 1: do this and almost just throw your hands up shook
Speaker 1: about the NFC South, Just put them all in order.
Speaker 1: Why you even throw the Titans in the middle. You
Speaker 1: had a good bit going and you kind of ruined
Speaker 1: the bit.
Speaker 2: Now that's the problem. It was an accidental bit. It
Speaker 2: wasn't intentional.
Speaker 3: The one thing I wanted to do was put the
Speaker 3: Saints in front of the rest of the division because
Speaker 3: I believe in their potential right and I believe in
Speaker 3: that in year two Tyler shuck Kellen Moore and what
Speaker 3: can happen with this offense Jordan Tyson had to do
Speaker 3: a group with Chris Olave.
Speaker 2: I love that potential, and I also have.
Speaker 3: Some concerns about some of their defense, But overall, I
Speaker 3: think that this is a team.
Speaker 2: I think you said it on one of our recent shows.
Speaker 2: They could look a lot better and still only win
Speaker 2: like one or two more games than they did last year.
Speaker 3: That's still a success to me. But that's about this
Speaker 3: range that you land in every other team this division.
Speaker 3: I have legitimate concerns about the Buccaneers. Vibes were bad
Speaker 3: to start camp. Baker Mayfield's in a contract year, which
Speaker 3: should be good, except I feel like this is a
Speaker 3: team that they've been an offensive team for the last
Speaker 3: couple of years. I don't know if they're going to
Speaker 3: be as effective offensive. This is the first year in
Speaker 3: which their offensive coordinator wasn't hired away to a job.
Speaker 3: Instead they just had to replace him, and they replaced
Speaker 3: him with Zach Robinson. I don't know if you remember
Speaker 3: what happened. Happened with the Falcons then offense, Zach Robinson,
Speaker 3: the controls. It was not good. So I have a
Speaker 3: hard time believing in this team. Panthers injuries. I mean,
Speaker 3: they've just been crushed by injuries to start training camp.
Speaker 3: It's been the most unfortunate camp I think of any
Speaker 3: team in the NFL. And they won the division last
Speaker 3: year with an eight and nine record, so it's not
Speaker 3: like they're really that great to begin with. Not to
Speaker 3: say that I don't believe in Bryce Young, but they
Speaker 3: lost Chris Browsley, lost Nick Gordon. Their tackle situation is
Speaker 3: not encouraging. Even though they tried to hedge against it
Speaker 3: with their offseason moves of them in Roe Freeling and
Speaker 3: Rashid Walker to kind of make sure right, well, at
Speaker 3: least we have depth there, But I just don't feel
Speaker 3: super confident about that by this time. And the reason
Speaker 3: that the Falcons don't make it here is because I'm
Speaker 3: a believer in the Titans.
Speaker 1: I know you said put yeah, let's do that separate.
Speaker 1: I mean, you're not that much of a yeah. You're
Speaker 1: not putting the Falcons too far down. In fact, them
Speaker 1: and the Its are the first two teams on this
Speaker 1: list that I just think it would be shocking if
Speaker 1: they made the playoffs. For instance, I don't think they
Speaker 1: should have realistic chances, And if you had put them
Speaker 1: in the bottom four or five, I wouldn't have been
Speaker 1: surprised bottom three, like I could see a case for
Speaker 1: either of them.
Speaker 2: There.
Speaker 1: One thing I'll just mention with the Panthers is they
Speaker 1: had a lot of injuries right away and it's like
Speaker 1: they were the only team in camp, and so there's
Speaker 1: a lot of focus on that.
Speaker 2: That's all true.
Speaker 1: It is all true, and you can only base these
Speaker 1: rankings off the information we have. There will be more injuries, unfortunately,
Speaker 1: and a lot more once the regular season starts. So
Speaker 1: sometimes we tend to not overreact to what happened in
Speaker 1: training camp. But just this is what we know so far,
Speaker 1: and if they can just stabilize they haven't had anything
Speaker 1: devastating across your fingers in like ten days or so,
Speaker 1: then maybe they end up being just in a normal
Speaker 1: range of injuries. My last thing on this division. We
Speaker 1: previewed this division this week, check it out with Trevor Sikoma,
Speaker 1: so we don't need to repeat all these teams is
Speaker 1: just I strongly disagree about the Bucks. I would have
Speaker 1: put them ahead of almost the entire last group. I
Speaker 1: think you can make the case they could be top
Speaker 1: you know, fifteen, very easily top twelve if we're just
Speaker 1: talking players, Nick and lineman Tristan Wurfs, maybe the best
Speaker 1: in the league. Luke Getticky like a guy who's earned
Speaker 1: a long term contract. A good young interior group, and
Speaker 1: Graham Barton and Cody Mock. That's your offensive line. Plenty
Speaker 1: of depth that wide receiver, a quarterback you've won with,
Speaker 1: plenty of depth at running backs, A really tough defensive
Speaker 1: line we talked about this week. I think a deep
Speaker 1: defensive backfield with varied talents in a nice safety tandem.
Speaker 1: In terms of Antoine Winfield and Tyke Smith, I just
Speaker 1: think they got players. I'm not like in love love
Speaker 1: with quarterbacks slash vibes, slash coaching overall. And that's why
Speaker 1: to me, they are probably knocked down from like ten
Speaker 1: or twelve to fifteen or sixteen. But to me, I
Speaker 1: think people are sleeping on how clearly ahead of the
Speaker 1: rest of the division they are in talent, that's my.
Speaker 3: Opinion, right, and they largely were last year too, and
Speaker 3: what happened. Yeah, and this is just completely illustrates my
Speaker 3: lack of faith in his coaching staff. We've seen talented
Speaker 3: teams under delivered with bad coaching staffs. I think that
Speaker 3: this is one of those examples. I could be wrong,
Speaker 3: because you're right, this is a very strong roster in
Speaker 3: a number of different areas.
Speaker 2: But I could be wrong. The Titans, Now, let's make
Speaker 2: your case twenty four do right.
Speaker 3: So let's think about projection trajectory where a team goes
Speaker 3: from year one to year two with the number one
Speaker 3: overall pick a quarterback, a guy that a lot of
Speaker 3: us I think really kind of almost fell in love
Speaker 3: with as a rookie. He was definitely good for throw
Speaker 3: of the Week or Throw of the Year candidates almost
Speaker 3: every week. And let's think about the situation he was
Speaker 3: in last year. He was playing with a largely rookie
Speaker 3: receiving group. This is a team that was devoid of
Speaker 3: talent in a number of different areas. And what did
Speaker 3: they do in the off season. They went and got
Speaker 3: a new coaching staff. They went and got the ideal
Speaker 3: offensive coordinator for Camboord's development in Brian Dable. They went
Speaker 3: and drafted Carnell Tait number four overall in the draft.
Speaker 3: They went and got Wandale Robinson coming off a career
Speaker 3: year with the Giants. They paid Peter Skoronski.
Speaker 2: Everything.
Speaker 3: Offensively, I'm just very excited about because it's going to
Speaker 3: be better than it was last year. Then defensively, who's
Speaker 3: your head coach? Robert Solid known, effective defensive coordinator, defensive mind.
Speaker 3: He goes and gets a bunch of his types of
Speaker 3: guys to fill out that defense. I just believe that
Speaker 3: where they came from last year and where they could go,
Speaker 3: especially with an offensive blossoming potentially on the table, they
Speaker 3: could climb up into this range where it's not too
Speaker 3: crazy to put them where I have them, which is
Speaker 3: at twenty four. You're still not in the playoffs, but
Speaker 3: you're one of the fun teams to watch that misses
Speaker 3: the playoffs.
Speaker 1: I like that take, kind of them as the best
Speaker 1: of the worst. Yeah, it's a good take, and they
Speaker 1: could be like a twenty twenty five Saints type of
Speaker 1: team where you finished strong. What did the Saints win
Speaker 1: last year in the end seven games, but you feel
Speaker 1: good about how it ends and that you're headed in
Speaker 1: the right direction.
Speaker 2: It's a good take. You've made me rethink.
Speaker 1: It, and I like where you put them, and I
Speaker 1: like them ahead of the Falcons as well. Next group
Speaker 1: is twenty six through twenty nine. Cardinals are at twenty six,
Speaker 1: Giants are at twenty seven, Browns at twenty eight, Commanders
Speaker 1: at twenty nine.
Speaker 2: We'll get to the Commanders in a second.
Speaker 1: You sent me your potential power rankings ahead of time,
Speaker 1: asking for my opinion. I respect, and I'm glad. I
Speaker 1: think it made a better show today that you pretty
Speaker 1: much ignored. I think most of my take on my responses,
Speaker 1: I made some changes I didn't I don't see them
Speaker 1: except for I think I pushed for the Cardinals. You
Speaker 1: might have had them thirty or thirty one. I was like,
Speaker 1: that's the one thing you listened to me about. Potentially,
Speaker 1: Did I have an impact? Did I change history by
Speaker 1: getting the Cardinals up to twenty six, because I just
Speaker 1: think they're stuck in the wrong division, But man, they
Speaker 1: got some playmakers.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah you did.
Speaker 3: Look, I value your opinion greatly, and I also value
Speaker 3: somebody cross checking me on things, because you never want
Speaker 3: to operate in an echo chamber. So I was like, yeah,
Speaker 3: I got to see what Greg thinks about these, because
Speaker 3: I'm feeling good about some of this and not so
Speaker 3: much in some other ones. In Arizona was one of
Speaker 3: those ones where when I put him down there, I thought, God,
Speaker 3: that's probably me undervaluing them just because their quarterback situation
Speaker 3: isn't super promising, but they have so many playmakers around
Speaker 3: their quarterback situation that they have to produce at some
Speaker 3: sort of right. I mean, Jeremiah Love, you went and
Speaker 3: redid your almost your entire running back room.
Speaker 2: You have two power backs, and.
Speaker 3: Tyler Algier and James Connor, guys that can really grind
Speaker 3: it out. Marvin Harrison junior, he's got to take a
Speaker 3: step and I think that this is the offense that
Speaker 3: can finally help him take a step forward. Train McBride
Speaker 3: nine to nine overall tight end in Madden arguably the
Speaker 3: best tight end in the NFL right now. Huge target
Speaker 3: vacuum got to be a big part of this offense. Again,
Speaker 3: I don't know. Some people regard their offensive line a
Speaker 3: little more highly than I do, and you know what,
Speaker 3: maybe that'll bear out over the course of the season.
Speaker 3: That's probably my one concerned on that side. Defensively, they
Speaker 3: have some guys that I really like, but I also
Speaker 3: think that they're a year or two away from putting
Speaker 3: together a complete defense. I'm really hoping that Walter Nolan
Speaker 3: makes it through the season healthy because I think he'll
Speaker 3: be a big difference maker for them. But overall, like
Speaker 3: I need Will Johnson to become the prospect that he
Speaker 3: wasn't Michigan before he got hurt entering his pro career.
Speaker 3: Mac Wilson has found a role there overall, But like,
Speaker 3: this is a group that's still a few pieces a
Speaker 3: way for me, So I look at it as a
Speaker 3: team that could probably be very fun to watch and
Speaker 3: not end up with a lot of wins and be
Speaker 3: right in the thick of going after a quarterback that
Speaker 3: they might want next year's draft if Carson Beck doesn't
Speaker 3: end up on the field and you know changes that course.
Speaker 1: Look, a lot of these teams could make an argument
Speaker 1: for what you did with the Titans kind of the
Speaker 1: best of the worst.
Speaker 2: The Giants could things go right.
Speaker 1: Their offense has had an up and down camp, but
Speaker 1: like the pass rushers adding Arvel Reese like there is
Speaker 1: a ceiling there. The Browns have a good young nucleus.
Speaker 1: We don't need to repeat our quarterback conversation with the
Speaker 1: bread but they're good young nucleus. Could lift the floor
Speaker 1: in a way that kind of the Cardinals lift the
Speaker 1: floor for whatever their quarterback situation is. Although if I
Speaker 1: was a Browns fan, I would take Jacobe Brissett in
Speaker 1: a heartbeat over over day.
Speaker 2: They would do they would do to.
Speaker 1: The Commanders are the team that really stands out here
Speaker 1: at twenty nine. I mean they were in the NFC
Speaker 1: Championship game two years ago. They've made some big time changes.
Speaker 1: That is the fan base I would expect to hear
Speaker 1: a lot from maybe you already have, because yeah, they're
Speaker 1: the only team here that's got a potential top ten
Speaker 1: quarterback because he was one two years ago. And I've
Speaker 1: been relatively down on them, but I would not have
Speaker 1: been nearly this down on them. You know, I am
Speaker 1: trying to be a man of my word. Who would
Speaker 1: I put them ahead of? I would put them ahead
Speaker 1: of the Panthers, the Titans, the Falcons, the Cardinals, the Browns,
Speaker 1: the Giants, certainly maybe the Saints. So I would have
Speaker 1: them around twenty one or so, it would be I
Speaker 1: would have them.
Speaker 2: Okay, So a couple things here.
Speaker 3: I am actually banking on John Harbaugh getting something out
Speaker 3: of these high draft picks that the Giants have spent
Speaker 3: on defense over the last few years, which they just
Speaker 3: haven't gotten the production that they need to out of them,
Speaker 3: and that maybe raises their floor a little bit.
Speaker 2: And that's why they're ahead of Washington. And I also
Speaker 2: want to say this.
Speaker 3: You know, I grew up a Browns fan, and I
Speaker 3: spent so many off seasons wearing my brown and orange
Speaker 3: colored glasses playing the what if game. Well, you know,
Speaker 3: if this hadn't happened, or if they hadn't lost this
Speaker 3: game by three or seven, then they got three four
Speaker 3: more wins and suddenly they made these additions and they're
Speaker 3: a better team. That's what Washington's doing right now. That's
Speaker 3: what I can hear the Washington fan base doing, and
Speaker 3: I just caution against that because it can be a
Speaker 3: little bit too intoxicating and then distort your vision of
Speaker 3: how you view your football team.
Speaker 2: That's not to say that Jayde Daniels isn't an awesome quarterback.
Speaker 3: I think he is. He just got to stay on
Speaker 3: the field. We already discussed their receiver situation in previous shows. Yes,
Speaker 3: they went and got Stefon Diggs. That's great. I don't
Speaker 3: think that's going to fix all your problems. You lost
Speaker 3: Larry Atns will do a torn triceps, which could be
Speaker 3: the entire season. That hurts a lot, especially when one
Speaker 3: of your main concerns is key being your quarterback healthy,
Speaker 3: and that lowers the overall ceiling for your team.
Speaker 2: I like the running back room.
Speaker 3: It's better than it was last year, especially after they
Speaker 3: lost to Austin Eckler to injury.
Speaker 2: It's not like it's the worst offense in the world.
Speaker 2: It's not. The defense is a complete unknown.
Speaker 3: They were the worst team in the NFL defensively in
Speaker 3: terms of yards allowed per game last year, and Dan
Speaker 3: Quinn is your head coach, that's supposed to be his thing.
Speaker 3: They went and tried to rebuild the almost the entire
Speaker 3: starting lineup. They went and added a bunch of different guys.
Speaker 3: That's going to fuel optimism, but it takes a while
Speaker 3: for those guys to gel. I don't know if they
Speaker 3: can over the course of a preseason and training camp
Speaker 3: and be able to hit the ground running early this season.
Speaker 3: And if I believe, they also have a pretty tough
Speaker 3: schedule in terms of, you know, if you're going to
Speaker 3: play the schedule game overall.
Speaker 2: So that's why I have them down this low.
Speaker 3: It's probably too low, and I admit that, but the
Speaker 3: combination of the leaving Kunsil and having all these questions,
Speaker 3: it makes me uncertain about them.
Speaker 2: You gotta be bold.
Speaker 1: I give them an edge over these teams near them
Speaker 1: because it's not a first year head coach. It is
Speaker 1: a head coach that's had success in multiple spots. It's
Speaker 1: been a erratic success, but he's had success. It's year
Speaker 1: three of this regime. There is veteran talent here and
Speaker 1: so to me, their floor is much higher than the
Speaker 1: rest of the team's here. Last two teams are the
Speaker 1: Raiders and the Dolphins. Not a lot of disagreement in
Speaker 1: terms of the Dolphins being last. The Raiders fans that
Speaker 1: aren't happy there's a path to them being that Titans
Speaker 1: team the best of the worst, like there is a path.
Speaker 1: There is some talent, certainly on the defensive side, with
Speaker 1: the investments that they made, and it comes down to, like,
Speaker 1: can Clint Kubiak really deliver?
Speaker 2: We'll find out.
Speaker 1: But as a team that's thirty first ranked here and
Speaker 1: the Jets are thirtieth. I should have mentioned as well
Speaker 1: that there's a decent amount of talent here. But I
Speaker 1: appreciate you not putting Gino in the Jets number thirty two.
Speaker 3: Oh, they weren't going to be thirty two. Thirty two
Speaker 3: was just decided months ago. Oka was always going to
Speaker 3: be thirty or thirty one. I think, yeah, look what
Speaker 3: the Raiders there on the right path. I think after
Speaker 3: years and years of dysfunction, you know, they've they've set
Speaker 3: themselves on a long term path at quarterback and they
Speaker 3: also have a short term answer. They have their bridge
Speaker 3: veteran that Clint Kubiak won and they don't have much
Speaker 3: at receiver, and I know Brock Bauers is going to
Speaker 3: be their number one target again, and I know he
Speaker 3: was hurt last year and I'm not undervaluing him at all,
Speaker 3: but I'm just looking at it overall offensive ceiling potential,
Speaker 3: it's still pretty low. They did invest in their offensive line,
Speaker 3: which was undoubtedly the worst in the NFL last year.
Speaker 3: I don't care what anybody else says. Watch the games.
Speaker 3: The Raiders were by far the worst offensive line. They
Speaker 3: went and got Tyler Linderbaum. You get Colton Miller back.
Speaker 3: That's great. You didn't rebuild the entire group. I still
Speaker 3: have a lot of concerns about that. Defensively, it's like
Speaker 3: a hodgepodge of guys. You're like, oh, I could see
Speaker 3: that working. I could see that working. Oh you went
Speaker 3: and got the Georgia Bulldogs at linebacker, Nacobe Dean and
Speaker 3: Kuay Walker.
Speaker 2: That's cool.
Speaker 3: Hey it's Quitty pay, Hey it's Eric Stokes. It's a
Speaker 3: bunch of names that I recognized. Is it going to
Speaker 3: come together?
Speaker 2: I don't know. Yeah, we'll see.
Speaker 1: They have I totally agree about as many questions as
Speaker 1: any team. I think their floor is probably a little
Speaker 1: higher than the Jets where things could could go wrong.
Speaker 1: But we're just picking knits here as we wrap up
Speaker 1: a couple of just minor injury items.
Speaker 2: I did want to know.
Speaker 1: That one of the dolphins best defensive lineman, Zach Seelers,
Speaker 1: is week to week now.
Speaker 2: That's that's the last thing they need is to hurt
Speaker 2: their depth.
Speaker 1: A Meccha Abuka left practice on Wednesday, so that's an
Speaker 1: injury that we will be tracking. I mentioned the Bosa injury.
Speaker 1: Will also be watching forty nine ers practice and this
Speaker 1: leads to just something I wanted to do. I don't
Speaker 1: know if anyone else cares, but we're we're gonna declare
Speaker 1: a winner. Chook first for your power rankings. You won,
Speaker 1: you know, first ever time doing it. Great job on that.
Speaker 1: It was fun going through it. We'll do it throughout
Speaker 1: the season at various points. But you're gonna have your
Speaker 1: own show that we'll talk about in about a month,
Speaker 1: you know, as the regular season gets going.
Speaker 2: But for joint.
Speaker 1: Practices over the last couple of days, Bucks Jets clear
Speaker 1: win for the Bucks. The Bucks are one to zero
Speaker 1: and joint practice season despite the Abuka injury. All reports
Speaker 1: on the ground were Baker Mayfield fitness very strong, the
Speaker 1: Jets offense erratic at best Bucks defense carries the day
Speaker 1: Bucks offense does enough to win big first week joint
Speaker 1: practice victory for Tampa Colts Pats. It felt like a draw.
Speaker 1: Everyone said offenses won for both teams. There's a lot
Speaker 1: of injuries for the Patriots defense right now. But in
Speaker 1: the end, I'm gonna have to give the win to
Speaker 1: the Colts because the very last play of practice in
Speaker 1: the hurry up drill after the Colts scored in their
Speaker 1: hurry up drill was a Drake may interception cam bying
Speaker 1: them back and healthy again for the Colts. Colts with
Speaker 1: a big upset road victory in Foxborough forty nine Ers
Speaker 1: Titans sounded like the most one sided joint practice of
Speaker 1: the week. Despite all the injuries. Brock Purdy was slanging
Speaker 1: it out there. Forty nine ers get to win there
Speaker 1: one to zero in joint practice season, the Titans with
Speaker 1: a disappointing loss, although reportedly their offense was was okay,
Speaker 1: like they weren't making big mistakes. They weren't just they
Speaker 1: just weren't doing a lot. But their defense got hammered apparently,
Speaker 1: and then the Rams and Cowboys. Depending on who you
Speaker 1: asked here, sounded like it was very close. Surprisingly was
Speaker 1: the opposite shook of Rams patriots, I mean Rams colts.
Speaker 1: It was the defenses on both sides that just consistently
Speaker 1: won and that the offenses were struggling. Now, Puka Nakua
Speaker 1: left practice. That's not great, but overall it sounds like
Speaker 1: the level of dominance from the Rams defense was actually higher.
Speaker 1: The Rams defense is beating the Rams offense pretty regularly too,
Speaker 1: And so I asked multiple people, including NFL Daily correspondent
Speaker 1: Cynthia Freelan, who was there. She gave the edge to
Speaker 1: the Rams. I'm gonna give it to the Rams as well.
Speaker 1: They get the victory tight one though, good sign for
Speaker 1: the Cowboys that it was back and forth. So those
Speaker 1: are your joint practice wins and losses for the week.
Speaker 3: I love the idea of the Cowboys defense keeping up
Speaker 3: with the Rams offense. That lads really well for Dallas.
Speaker 1: Now Puka left. You know, they hit a couple deep
Speaker 1: throws apparently to Devonte Early. You know, there were some
Speaker 1: people thought maybe then they kind of laid off the gas,
Speaker 1: you know, like and then Pooka leaves with an injury
Speaker 1: that doesn't help. But that's why I also kind of
Speaker 1: gave it to the Rams defense because if you're if
Speaker 1: you're holding down a healthy Cowboys offense, that is a
Speaker 1: good sign. And their defense has been playing well at camp.
Speaker 1: We'll have to check out their preseason game two because look,
Speaker 1: we got a lot of starters playing throughout the NFL.
Speaker 1: It's a new thing, shook. Not only are more starters
Speaker 1: playing a little bit lately, a lot of them are
Speaker 1: playing in week one of the preseasons. So like Joe
Speaker 1: Burrow to a tongueo Bay Loa, Like, we're gonna see
Speaker 1: some some good starters in week one of the preseason.
Speaker 1: And well also see a lot of Ty Simpson for
Speaker 1: the Rams, which I'm I'm curious to watch their first
Speaker 1: round pick because you know, you gotta keep Stetson Bennett healthy.
Speaker 1: I don't think they're going to play him at all.
Speaker 1: It's just gonna be all Ti Simpson all the time.
Speaker 1: Stetson's too important. Pressure makes diamonds or something. Yeah, yes, sure,
Speaker 1: so I mentioned the preseason games. Nick Schuok and I
Speaker 1: will be with you hit that music on Thursday evening
Speaker 1: if you want to come hang out with us live.
Speaker 2: It's been fun. We take your questions.
Speaker 1: That'll be at seven pm Pacific, ten pm Eastern, and
Speaker 1: that will be in your ears overnight, our final show
Speaker 1: of the week. We'll also do some news as well
Speaker 1: as recapping those preseason games.
Speaker 2: We'll cook up something fun. We'll see again