Speaker 1: Be Around the NFL Podcast, Have a billion dollar idea.
Speaker 1: Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL Podcast.
Speaker 1: My name is Dan Hansis. I'm coming to you from
Speaker 1: a virtual room filled with heroes. Greg Rosenthal, Chris Westling,
Speaker 1: What is up? Boys? Hey DNN, Yeah, Buddy west back
Speaker 1: Around the NFL Podcast. Gotta love it. I like that
Speaker 1: money drop. I would say this podcast is the closest
Speaker 1: I've come to having a money making idea. We've just
Speaker 1: got to start making money off it somehow, you know,
Speaker 1: And we're real Grammar Golden. That's as close as I've come,
Speaker 1: you know. West Monday's are a hit. When um Debbie Rosenthal,
Speaker 1: my mom chimed in and said how nice it was
Speaker 1: to hear Chris's voice, and how nice it is that
Speaker 1: my mom is listening to uh three times a week
Speaker 1: football podcast during the middle of the pandemic. Not bad.
Speaker 1: Good job by Debbie studio audience. It's pretty great. Is
Speaker 1: deb Rosenthal? Obviously she's a Greg Rosenthal fan. She loves
Speaker 1: you all. That's that's why mom's. The moms are the best.
Speaker 1: But is she a pro football fan? Is she for real?
Speaker 1: She's a Patriots fan? I would say she's casual ish,
Speaker 1: but she watches every game and she gets into it.
Speaker 1: It's definitely the sport, uh that she is most into.
Speaker 1: But as Lakisha sometimes points out, Uh, she my mom
Speaker 1: likes listening more for like the personal stuff, you know what.
Speaker 1: She she says, she maybe tunes out a little bit.
Speaker 1: She takes it on her walks around, you know, around
Speaker 1: the neighborhood, and she might tune out a little bit
Speaker 1: when we're discussing Trey waynees is in latest injury. But
Speaker 1: that's that's actually not true. She texted me about get
Speaker 1: those in the weight room. That is one of Keisha's
Speaker 1: pet theories that a lot of the women listen more
Speaker 1: for personal stuff and inside jokes. But I do it
Speaker 1: seems a little that maybe a little gender specific, and
Speaker 1: we don't need we don't need to go there. That's
Speaker 1: a theory that Lakisha can right two shows, He's already
Speaker 1: get into trouble. This is the New World West, you
Speaker 1: gotta watch. There are plenty of men who prefer uh,
Speaker 1: the more personal areas of the podcast too. Absolutely. I
Speaker 1: mean on on Twitter, there's some high high level um
Speaker 1: women with takes that go deep. It's you know this
Speaker 1: isn't like Cam Newton, right, Ricky look at Greg's like,
Speaker 1: I'm uncomfortable at all time. Yeah, Cam Newton situation. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think you know, the women probably prefer more of
Speaker 1: the football talk on this show than than you know,
Speaker 1: your bs that you guys talk about, obligatory, obligatory, contrarian take,
Speaker 1: thank you, You're welcome. But that is your quarterback, Greg,
Speaker 1: So you could put your barrier face in your hands
Speaker 1: and shake your head. But your quarterback said that quote
Speaker 1: about you know the woman in that press count. You
Speaker 1: gotta live with that. I mean, he's living with it. It
Speaker 1: It was it was not his finest moment and he
Speaker 1: knows that, and he's talked about that, and I'm ready
Speaker 1: to move on. It doesn't feel like a career ender.
Speaker 1: It doesn't feel like this podcast is ready to move
Speaker 1: on from it, but he is. Um. This is the
Speaker 1: Monday edition of the Round the NFL podcast. You'll notice
Speaker 1: there's no Mark Mark Sessler, There's no there's been no
Speaker 1: stardonic chime in yet of any kind. Mark is moving.
Speaker 1: As you know, this has been going on for a
Speaker 1: while and there was some type of issue with WiFi
Speaker 1: that hasn't been set up yet. So he plans to
Speaker 1: be back on Wednesday. Yes, you have a take there, No,
Speaker 1: I have no take. I when when Mark this happened
Speaker 1: a few months ago, when he came on and let
Speaker 1: us know that that his landlord was basically booting him
Speaker 1: out in the middle of a pandemic. And I think
Speaker 1: he was in kind of a rotten mood that day,
Speaker 1: and he was a little surprised that we all understood
Speaker 1: to the degree we did, like, you can be in
Speaker 1: whatever rotten mood you want to be for the next
Speaker 1: couple of months, because that sounds awful to be going
Speaker 1: through in the middle of a pandemic looking for a
Speaker 1: new Oh yeah, now that he's actually moved out, and
Speaker 1: he didn't decide to like take this guy to court
Speaker 1: or whatever. If if you're out there, Sessler's old landlord, Yeah,
Speaker 1: you're a piece of work. Mark. Mark defended you for
Speaker 1: whatever reason because Mark's a nice guy. But you're dropping
Speaker 1: this um notice in the middle of the pandemic because
Speaker 1: you need some cash. It's straight up illegal. And uh,
Speaker 1: I would have I would have liked to see Mark
Speaker 1: take you to court, because we would have taken you
Speaker 1: to the cleaners. We've got the NFL back in US.
Speaker 1: Greg's all very litigious. We uh, I will say, just
Speaker 1: from the transaction wire standpoint, totally agree with everything west
Speaker 1: just set. Everything Greg just said. But I did have
Speaker 1: to place Mark on the non podcast injury list, so
Speaker 1: there will be a fine. And it's it's more paperwork
Speaker 1: than anything else. We all get it. But yes, that's
Speaker 1: what it wasn't it. It wasn't a He's not missing
Speaker 1: activities because of something that happened on the podcast, and
Speaker 1: that's that's just that's the that's the nature of the
Speaker 1: beast here. It seems like it all worked out though,
Speaker 1: even though even if he's on this list, the place
Speaker 1: looks great. The kids were really excited to get their
Speaker 1: own bedroom. See, it's actually kind of inspired me that, Okay,
Speaker 1: I gotta I gotta get my act together and move
Speaker 1: next off season. Oh wow. Alright, so something to look
Speaker 1: forward to, Greg sharing things he'll be putting on his
Speaker 1: street corner this time next year. Perhaps, all right, A
Speaker 1: lot to get to. Yes, west is on the show,
Speaker 1: so we thought it might be fun to uh talk
Speaker 1: about potential possibilities teams that are peaking Mr Westling's interest
Speaker 1: when it comes time to consider whether there will be
Speaker 1: a team of a t L team of a t
Speaker 1: N team of West t N, what do you whatever
Speaker 1: you want to call it. We can't promise you there
Speaker 1: will be a team this year because, as we've said before,
Speaker 1: it's an organic process. The team has to just click
Speaker 1: with the UH people on the show, most specifically West.
Speaker 1: But it's always an open dialogue and an open study, Right, Chris,
Speaker 1: I love this idea. We are free to generate discussion
Speaker 1: about an idea which we are taking no responsibility for whatsoever,
Speaker 1: And we're not guaranteeing there will be a team, but
Speaker 1: we're gonna talk about it. An it seems like that's
Speaker 1: gonna like nicely uh you know, slide about seventeen midicine
Speaker 1: to today's show. So at the very least it will
Speaker 1: accomplish that. So I'm looking forward to it. Generating discussion
Speaker 1: that we have take no responsibility for is basically our
Speaker 1: job description. That's what we did. They can't guarantee we're
Speaker 1: gonna have a sixteen game season anyway, so why should
Speaker 1: we guarantee there's gonna be a team of a t M. Right.
Speaker 1: We've been shooting from behind bulletproof glass for seven years
Speaker 1: on this podcast us. We're not gonna stop now, touchet,
Speaker 1: Let's do some news, are there? You know, I was thinking, guys,
Speaker 1: it feels like a missed opportunity. Perhaps a missed opportunity.
Speaker 1: We worked with Dion for the entire run of this show. Dean,
Speaker 1: of course, has exited NFL Network for perhaps greener pastures.
Speaker 1: Probably not. But he's with bar stool now and we
Speaker 1: never asked him to be on our podcast. And maybe
Speaker 1: because he has such a high opinion of the podcast
Speaker 1: industry he sees it as the future. Maybe if we
Speaker 1: just would have, you know, spotted him in the in
Speaker 1: the commissary or by the water cooler or by the
Speaker 1: copy machine and just said, hey, Dann, you wanna pop
Speaker 1: upstairs and do forty seven minutes with us on defensive
Speaker 1: backs in the NFC, maybe he would have said yes, Well,
Speaker 1: you'd have to shake him away from his Sunday afternoon nap.
Speaker 1: All the games are going onto. I mean, uh, I
Speaker 1: just wish he had said these words earlier, and then
Speaker 1: maybe someone at the NFL they would have listened. If
Speaker 1: Dion told them podcasts for the future back in the day,
Speaker 1: maybe maybe they would have listened. Remember the old M
Speaker 1: and M podcast that was Michael Irvin and Marshall Fox. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know remember the old R and B podcast that
Speaker 1: was that was better Michael Robinson and Nate Burlison. But um,
Speaker 1: but they the number, you know, the numbers don't lie.
Speaker 1: You can put Mike Irvin and Marshall Falk on a
Speaker 1: podcast doesn't mean people are gonna listen to him like
Speaker 1: this one. The best part of the R and B
Speaker 1: podcast was and this is you know, uh, Mike Robinson's excellent,
Speaker 1: uh Na Burlson. This is before he kind of went
Speaker 1: next level in terms of a sports slash uh personality
Speaker 1: entertainment personality and moved to New York and did the
Speaker 1: Good Morning Football thing. He was out here in l
Speaker 1: A And sometimes the R and B Podcast Michael Robinson
Speaker 1: Nate Burlson podcast would be wrapping up when we him
Speaker 1: upstairs to Studio sixty six to record, and the episodes
Speaker 1: would often end with Nate Burlson and a full on
Speaker 1: rap He would he would be they would have some
Speaker 1: type of b playing and he'd just be like dropping
Speaker 1: those bars and and I couldn't tell if a real
Speaker 1: rob was into it or not, but like Nate was
Speaker 1: doing his thing and then that's how many episodes would
Speaker 1: end and I would just I guess I wish Mark
Speaker 1: was here for this. It feels like we have that
Speaker 1: opportunity now that Mark is a rapper. Well, I don't
Speaker 1: know if real Rob was into it, but TD was
Speaker 1: into it. Yeah, our old friend. But yeah, he really
Speaker 1: set He was a trailblazer for the really set the
Speaker 1: path for Mark to follow. I'm excited to hear what
Speaker 1: Mark rap is about next. All right, let's get into
Speaker 1: the news. And yes, teams are practicing now in some
Speaker 1: capacity and with that, well that's excellent. But with that
Speaker 1: comes injuries, which always happened this time of year, and
Speaker 1: they started to pile up a little bit this weekend.
Speaker 1: We'll start in Dallas where Cowboys defensive tackle Gerald McCoy
Speaker 1: ruptured his quad. Oh my own, what an injury to suffer. Uh,
Speaker 1: that's gonna cost him the season. Season ending surgery coming
Speaker 1: up for McCoy. The former Bucks star went to the Panthers.
Speaker 1: Now with the Cowboys, they are counting on him to
Speaker 1: really uh provide some stability along their defensive line. He
Speaker 1: signed a three or eighteen million dollar contract this offseason
Speaker 1: and now he's a thirty two year old former All
Speaker 1: Pro uh that will be rehabbing a ruptured quad. Who
Speaker 1: knows what comes next? Big blow for Dallas right west.
Speaker 1: That's why they signed so many guys and draft so
Speaker 1: many guys to give to Rob Marinellio on that defensive line,
Speaker 1: because it seems like every year half of them end
Speaker 1: up suspended or injured. And the bigger the name, the
Speaker 1: more likely they seem to be to end up suspended
Speaker 1: or injured. And in this case, you bring in Gerald
Speaker 1: McCoy early in free agency. This is a priority signing.
Speaker 1: Get him in there, rebuilding your defensive line around him,
Speaker 1: and now you lose him. They've got a lot of
Speaker 1: bodies to throw at you, and they've got guys. They've
Speaker 1: drafted Tristan Hill in two thousand nineteen of Gallamore. This year,
Speaker 1: they're gonna need some young guys to step up. Well,
Speaker 1: Hill didn't do anything for them last year. He was
Speaker 1: like a second round pick who I remember going to
Speaker 1: their training camp from day one. Was kind of buried
Speaker 1: and uh never caught up. Didn't didn't do much, didn't
Speaker 1: didn't do much for them, and um McCoy and don
Speaker 1: Terry Power signed to be the starters. And you know,
Speaker 1: with Marinelli now gone, you know you mentioned it, it's
Speaker 1: a totally different defense. Not only um, have we replaced
Speaker 1: Jason Garrett, you got Mike McCarthy. You got Mike Nolan,
Speaker 1: our old co worker, another colleague. We actually we did
Speaker 1: speak with Mike Nolan. He was a nice guy when
Speaker 1: he was at a NFL network, but he really right.
Speaker 1: He was last I think with with the Saints in
Speaker 1: terms of actually, uh coaching the defense, and so we
Speaker 1: don't know what his defense is gonna look like exactly.
Speaker 1: But I still think even with at the Everson Griffin signing,
Speaker 1: they're a little thin there. I mean, they need one
Speaker 1: of those young guys to step up. Tyrone Crawford has
Speaker 1: been hurt a lot. Maybe he moves inside a little bit.
Speaker 1: But they're a bit of a mystery, and their defense
Speaker 1: gotta looked at. They're they're putting your boy west Layton
Speaker 1: Vanderesh at middle linebacker and now Jalen Smith is now
Speaker 1: a week side linebacker and hopefully that takes advantage of
Speaker 1: Vanderesh's speed, but that that's a bit of a change too,
Speaker 1: and and uh, everything is a little different in that secondary.
Speaker 1: They lost Byron Jones, like the they have a lot
Speaker 1: of turnover in that in that defense. Yeah, those two
Speaker 1: linebackers took a major step back last year from where
Speaker 1: they were in two thousand eighteen, and this is not
Speaker 1: going to be a top ten defense unless they return
Speaker 1: to that level. And other bummer injury news, Jalen heard
Speaker 1: the forty Niners uh slash player, a guy that they
Speaker 1: really were hoping could do things for them after missing
Speaker 1: all of last year with a issue with his back.
Speaker 1: He tore his a c L and his season is done.
Speaker 1: And Greg, you've been kind of pecking at the Niners
Speaker 1: a little bit in the last week about some from
Speaker 1: some chinks in the armor. Jalen hard heard. What does
Speaker 1: his loss mean for their offense? That's just one less option.
Speaker 1: It helps explain why they signed Tavon Austin and j J. Nelson.
Speaker 1: They're just looking for bodies. They're they're thin. I mean,
Speaker 1: he you feel for him. He was a such an
Speaker 1: exciting college player and now he's gonna miss the entire
Speaker 1: first two seasons of his career. They are talking to
Speaker 1: Brandon ayuk as having a nice fast start to camp.
Speaker 1: He's gonna be a starter. Their first round picks gonna
Speaker 1: be a starter. And I think Trent Taylor, who's there
Speaker 1: and had a moment with Jimmy g three years ago
Speaker 1: now is healthy and I think he's gonna be in
Speaker 1: their top rotation. But you know that's it's those two
Speaker 1: guys and Kendrick Born are probably their top three receivers.
Speaker 1: I mean, if it was a non Kyle Shanahan team,
Speaker 1: you would look at that and be like that, that's
Speaker 1: a problem. They drafted Dante Pettis in the second round,
Speaker 1: and I think so far they've had the luxury playing
Speaker 1: hardball with him, sending him messages, drawing lines into sand,
Speaker 1: and he's a guy they're gonna need this year. With
Speaker 1: all the injuries, it really makes me think too with
Speaker 1: not with just rookies, but just we haven't had like
Speaker 1: the same amount of injuries in the off season because
Speaker 1: we haven't they haven't been playing football. And so you
Speaker 1: talked about this, dan Um last week, that you're just
Speaker 1: worried about all these soft tissue injuries are gonna start
Speaker 1: popping up. And I think we're starting to see that.
Speaker 1: Pads just came on Monday, that's the day we're recording,
Speaker 1: and so I think the next three weeks and teams
Speaker 1: have aggressive practice squeddules, a lot of practicing and pads,
Speaker 1: a lot of scrimmages. I just think you're gonna see
Speaker 1: a lot of injuries. Like you're our boy, Denzel Mims.
Speaker 1: It might be nothing, but he's been out three or
Speaker 1: four days with a hamstring injury. And when it when
Speaker 1: it's a rookie and there's only three weeks before the season,
Speaker 1: then these injuries are gonna start, you know, becoming uh
Speaker 1: more and more worrisome. I was speaking with our Denzel
Speaker 1: Min's media insider Bob Bates TDS down in Texas. We're
Speaker 1: texting earlier today. It's a tough break for Mims, who's
Speaker 1: it's gonna be very hard for any rookie to get
Speaker 1: up to speed and make an impact in week one.
Speaker 1: You have an injury in camp, you're in You're in
Speaker 1: deep trouble. And I you he's healthy for the Niners
Speaker 1: right out, but geez, I mean asking any of these
Speaker 1: guys to step into prominent roles right out of the gate,
Speaker 1: and this year especially, it seems to be asking a lot.
Speaker 1: But who knows good coaching down there? We know that
Speaker 1: the I know it's not on the news rundown, but
Speaker 1: it also this this discussion kind of remind like just
Speaker 1: makes me think of rookies and how Doug Peterson another
Speaker 1: good coaches talking like there might not be many stafs
Speaker 1: for Jalen Hurts, not Jalen Hurd. It's a little confusing.
Speaker 1: You know, the quarterback that the Eagles draft in the
Speaker 1: second round. It might not be many snaps room in
Speaker 1: camp like there would be for a normal camp because
Speaker 1: they're gonna get Nate Sudfeld ready to be their backup.
Speaker 1: And like this is sort of the the third level
Speaker 1: effects I think of the pandemic of just like they
Speaker 1: don't have time to be developing rookie quarterback. Tim Boyle
Speaker 1: might be the backup quarterback in Green Bay, not Jordan's Love,
Speaker 1: because they don't have time to develop a rookie quarterback
Speaker 1: in this camp. Let's talk some positive injury news. Alex Smith,
Speaker 1: who of course trying to make his way back from
Speaker 1: a grizzly leg injury that ward's seventeen different surgeries, the
Speaker 1: Washington football team officially and by the way, I was
Speaker 1: getting hit on Twitter last week. Apparently I dropped the
Speaker 1: R word and nobody correct me. Please correct me in
Speaker 1: real time if you hear it, and I'll do the
Speaker 1: same for you. You You know, we gotta it's tricky. It's tricky.
Speaker 1: Your your mind has been saying it all these years,
Speaker 1: your mind anyway, Alex Smith has been activated, uh from
Speaker 1: the active populist by the Washington football team. The thirty
Speaker 1: six year old quarterback now potentially enters a a competition
Speaker 1: at quarterback. As you know, we talked about this a
Speaker 1: week ago. Ron Rivera said that if Smith is activated
Speaker 1: last week, he's going to be in the throes of
Speaker 1: competition for the team's starting quarterbacks spot. And I know West.
Speaker 1: There was a video that was sent out corresponding with
Speaker 1: this move by the Washington Football team that showed Alex
Speaker 1: Smith stepping down his front step from his door to
Speaker 1: celebrate with his family. And it was a really nice moment,
Speaker 1: but a lot of people on Twitter couldn't help but
Speaker 1: notice that he kind of gingerly took that step. Uh,
Speaker 1: that step down the one step to celebrate, and uh,
Speaker 1: I feel like that's something to monitor. You just hope
Speaker 1: this guy is going to be healthy enough. But also
Speaker 1: the people less that are on Twitter saying he shouldn't
Speaker 1: be doing this off watching that video that does that
Speaker 1: is not your call to make. So get out of
Speaker 1: here with that trash. Yeah, it's hard to argue with
Speaker 1: any of that is not their call to make. And
Speaker 1: this what what this news means. It is he's competing,
Speaker 1: that he's playing football, and whether he's ready to or not,
Speaker 1: he's gonna be there. My my expectations are low. I
Speaker 1: just based on what he was doing before the injury,
Speaker 1: based on how he's moving now and how he may
Speaker 1: reasonably be expected to move in the future. My expectations
Speaker 1: are really low. But this is a situation where I'd
Speaker 1: be I'd be so happy for Alex Smith. The surprise
Speaker 1: and shock everyone. Well, you saw how much it meant
Speaker 1: to him and his family, so that it does make you,
Speaker 1: uh feel better about it because I I'm not someone
Speaker 1: who would be commenting on Twitter, but I think, just
Speaker 1: like any human, you'd be And you mentioned this last
Speaker 1: week day and this issud be worried that he's gonna
Speaker 1: get hurt again, But when you see how much it
Speaker 1: means to him and his family, you can't help but
Speaker 1: be happy for him and maybe maybe he can kind
Speaker 1: of be the new Josh McCown or at least for
Speaker 1: this Washington football team season, he can be the the
Speaker 1: veteran who's been there, who's seen at all, who's so smart,
Speaker 1: who's shown you's good with young quarterbacks. That is an
Speaker 1: asset to be with Dwayne Haskins and Kyle Allen too
Speaker 1: young quarter even if he can't play like you're you're
Speaker 1: paying to Alex Smith. Anyways, he got one of the
Speaker 1: best contracts the quarterbacks um received, I think in terms
Speaker 1: of it being player friendly in the last number of years.
Speaker 1: He's getting paid a lot of money this year whether
Speaker 1: he's there or not, So he might as well keep
Speaker 1: him there and and be a value add to your
Speaker 1: team you know how to and he doesn't get hurt.
Speaker 1: Never take never take any risks ever, never take any chances.
Speaker 1: I mean, of course there's a chance he's gonna get hurt,
Speaker 1: but look to me, what he's accomplished just in getting
Speaker 1: to this point is where worth everybody's admiration. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: people the disparaging comments you you see on Twitter, like listen,
Speaker 1: you only get one shot at this. I mean, just
Speaker 1: like life in general, but especially when you're talking about
Speaker 1: a professional athlete and you hear these guys talk about
Speaker 1: it all the time. When their career ends, it's like
Speaker 1: another type of death for them. They almost die twice
Speaker 1: in their lifetime. So he's not ready to end this
Speaker 1: part of his life. So just be cool with him,
Speaker 1: support him because he deserves it. Just because you're scared,
Speaker 1: doesn't mean everyone else has to be scared, exactly. I
Speaker 1: think it's courageous that he's trying to do this. Um
Speaker 1: Moving on, Kenny Clark gets paid by the Packers. The
Speaker 1: nose tackle signed a four year, seventy million dollar extension
Speaker 1: takes him through includes million uh signing bonus. He's now
Speaker 1: the highest paid nose tackle in football. He was playing
Speaker 1: on a fifth year option, set to be a free agent.
Speaker 1: The Packers find a way to make him work with
Speaker 1: the books and they get Clark under contract for the
Speaker 1: foreseeable future. Yeah, I remember West and I like talking
Speaker 1: last year. Just can you believe Kenny Clark ass He's
Speaker 1: a guy who's gotten better every single season. I mean,
Speaker 1: he he's a true nose tackle. There's not that many
Speaker 1: of them in the NFL anymore who truly play over
Speaker 1: the center, and there's no one, there's none that are
Speaker 1: as good at stopping the run and now affecting the pass.
Speaker 1: I mean, he was a great pass fresher. I think
Speaker 1: the combination of him and Zadarius Smith, you've got two
Speaker 1: of the very best players at their positions next to
Speaker 1: each other. And that's a big time problem. And that's
Speaker 1: why he got paid like he did. I mean, heck,
Speaker 1: he got more. We talked about George Kittle's money. He
Speaker 1: got more than George Kittle did, really in terms of
Speaker 1: per year and in terms of the signing bonus. West
Speaker 1: loves him a little scientist tape on Kenny Clark. He's
Speaker 1: got a generic name and he plays a position that was,
Speaker 1: you know, way more popular in the nineteen nineties then now,
Speaker 1: so people don't really know him that much. But I
Speaker 1: remember doing research for the playoffs last year, and statistically
Speaker 1: he was Aaron Donald in the second half of the season.
Speaker 1: His stats were like mirroring Aaron Donald stats from October
Speaker 1: through January. He was that good nose tackle is not
Speaker 1: a glory boy position. You know, you're you're doing the
Speaker 1: grunt work. You are supposed to absorb as many uh
Speaker 1: offensive players on the line as possible to free up
Speaker 1: other people to make plays. And that's what he does
Speaker 1: on that defense for the Packers. So it makes sense,
Speaker 1: smart people in that building locking the guy that can
Speaker 1: do that. Uh. In other news, Dez Bryant, Oh, Dez
Speaker 1: will admire Dez as a player what he was able
Speaker 1: to do during his Cowboy glory years. But it's been
Speaker 1: a while now, he's thirty one years old, he's starting
Speaker 1: turning thirty two in November. He's been out of football
Speaker 1: for a while. And he re signed, of course, with
Speaker 1: He signed with the Saints last year and then promptly
Speaker 1: tore his achilles, costing him a chance at another Super
Speaker 1: Bowl run. Well. Tom Palosero of NFL Network reports that
Speaker 1: the Ravens are expected to host the free agent for
Speaker 1: a workout. The Cowboys have also been floated as a possibility. West. Uh,
Speaker 1: I don't know what what real analysis about Dez Bryant
Speaker 1: anyone give, but this is a guy that seemed to
Speaker 1: be an obvious decline. Uh in seventeen What can you
Speaker 1: expect from him if he ever got on the field. Now, yeah,
Speaker 1: we know that when the Cowboys got rid of him,
Speaker 1: it was because he couldn't move like he he wanted it.
Speaker 1: He couldn't run he couldn't jump um like a starting
Speaker 1: NFL wide receiver, and that's why he's not in Dallas.
Speaker 1: That's why he's not playing for anyone in two thousand nineteen.
Speaker 1: And now that's why he's got his work cut out
Speaker 1: for him to make a Ravens team where they have
Speaker 1: some really good young wide receivers for maybe the first
Speaker 1: time in the history of the franchise. I've got some analysis,
Speaker 1: you know, I mean, you you put it out on
Speaker 1: the table. You can't come up with any I was,
Speaker 1: how about this him working out is interesting just because
Speaker 1: it's does it's not Antonio Brown working out. They have
Speaker 1: a couple of veterans going. It's not Antonio Brown, it
Speaker 1: is Dez Bryant. So it's like, this is what you
Speaker 1: would do on like a first take type show. Okay,
Speaker 1: maybe the story itself isn't that interesting, but you add
Speaker 1: in some splashy other topic into the new you know,
Speaker 1: that's how that's how the game is done in smart
Speaker 1: Very well played there about you, Greg. I. If we
Speaker 1: had to make like our all a t N team
Speaker 1: two thousand thirteen, President des would have been there. And
Speaker 1: I'm kind of it's a bummer that his career, he
Speaker 1: had sixteen touchdowns to two thousand and fourteen. He was
Speaker 1: one of the best red zone guys of last decade.
Speaker 1: Maybe at his peak, I wouldn't want anyone else inside
Speaker 1: the you know, fifteen yard line when you needed a score. Uh.
Speaker 1: But like we said, it's been a while since we
Speaker 1: saw that guy. But good luck to him. It seems
Speaker 1: especially cruel last year. That was an awesome Saints team.
Speaker 1: I know they flamed out uh in the wild card
Speaker 1: round of the playoffs, but it seemed like des was
Speaker 1: really set up for a nice little fairy tale potentially
Speaker 1: there and then the football gods pulled it away from him.
Speaker 1: All right. Finally, in the news, Kim Jones, our own
Speaker 1: Kim Jones and the NFL Network had an interesting nugget
Speaker 1: here on Joe Judge, the Giants first year head coach. Uh.
Speaker 1: They noticed during practice that the Giants players don't have
Speaker 1: names on their practice jerseys. Why. Judge says, we should
Speaker 1: know who we are by the way they carry themselves.
Speaker 1: It's important to know the person across from you, by
Speaker 1: the way they moved. Yes, folks, it's Joe Judge. In
Speaker 1: the case of the nameless jerseys, I need Frank Signetti
Speaker 1: back on the case. What we need this. We gotta
Speaker 1: fill out this entire district attorney office, the police force,
Speaker 1: the p I is the judges. But we got judge,
Speaker 1: judge and you're all set there because this guy doesn't
Speaker 1: take any bs. He controls that courtroom. It's really as
Speaker 1: simple as his last name is judge that this story
Speaker 1: entertains me. But it is also that he has he
Speaker 1: makes these declarative statements, you should judge. We need to
Speaker 1: be judging people by the way they move. Judge. What
Speaker 1: I don't I don't is that do you want me
Speaker 1: to judge us? How by how you're moving? Why is
Speaker 1: it to every story associated with this guy? Is him
Speaker 1: treating his players like their high school kids? Well, it goes,
Speaker 1: it goes further than that. There was another part of
Speaker 1: this story that he's making players do laps when they
Speaker 1: make a mistake. That's pretty normal. But he's making the
Speaker 1: coaches do laps when they make mistake too. Yes, I
Speaker 1: love that. I can't think of a better franchise for
Speaker 1: a coach to be acting this way. It's such a
Speaker 1: giant thing to be doing. It's like six in that building.
Speaker 1: Every day you take the lapse two Jason Garrett. There
Speaker 1: are there are consequences for making mistakes, says Joe Judge
Speaker 1: when asked about that the coaches taking the laps. I mean,
Speaker 1: I don't know. We are all accountable, all right, that's
Speaker 1: what's happening in the news, all right. As we said, yes,
Speaker 1: we don't know if there will be a Team of
Speaker 1: a t N this year, but what we do know
Speaker 1: is that if it's gonna happen, we need to get
Speaker 1: buy in from Chris Wesley, because we know what happens
Speaker 1: when we don't have Westling buy in on the team
Speaker 1: of a t N, the whole thing crumbles. Mark almost
Speaker 1: had a psychotic break during the Vikings five game lose
Speaker 1: in streak when the Vikings are the team of a
Speaker 1: t N a few years back that didn't have the
Speaker 1: room buy in. So I would have if you showed
Speaker 1: me the text that Mark was sending it like halftime
Speaker 1: of some Monday night football game right now, I would
Speaker 1: have PTSD. I mean, just just reading his text would
Speaker 1: give me PTSD. As soon as the words were out
Speaker 1: of his mouth to nominate the Vikings for Team of
Speaker 1: a t L that year, he immediately regretted it and
Speaker 1: hated himself and us, and because we did that put
Speaker 1: responsibility on his shoulder as anyone nothing to do with it. No,
Speaker 1: he struggled with it, and Uh, I'm glad he's not
Speaker 1: here to relive it right now because that was tough.
Speaker 1: So they're there are hard lessons to learn when the
Speaker 1: team of a t N doesn't have buy in from
Speaker 1: Chris Westling. So let's do this and kind of the
Speaker 1: most the most pragmatic way possible here, Greg, Why if
Speaker 1: there is to be a team of a t N,
Speaker 1: let's like have West putting in the foundation, pour the concrete,
Speaker 1: put in you know, the the iron, uh foundation of
Speaker 1: it all. I don't know. I don't build things. Um, West,
Speaker 1: why don't you share this? Yeah, bricks, bricks are good too.
Speaker 1: I was talking about the iron steel beams. Chef pe
Speaker 1: Corwell on the show to talk about steel beams. That
Speaker 1: guy knows about steel beams. All right, let's go through
Speaker 1: a few teams. Maybe Greg and I will chime in
Speaker 1: and try to sell you on a team as a possibility. Uh,
Speaker 1: you get us going here? Well, the way I approached
Speaker 1: this exercise was to think back to two thousand thirteen,
Speaker 1: that initial organic tea. The Carolina Panthers with Thomas Davis
Speaker 1: and Luke keik Lee covering all kinds of ground on
Speaker 1: that defense. What we did was fall in love with
Speaker 1: one side of the ball, and that's usually how team
Speaker 1: of a t L works at its best. Well, maybe
Speaker 1: it's the two thousand fifteen Cardinals offense that we know
Speaker 1: is gonna be much better than then most people think,
Speaker 1: or the two thousand third team Panthers defense. So I'm
Speaker 1: looking I kind of look at one side of the
Speaker 1: ball here, and Buccaneers defense has really really intrigued because
Speaker 1: everyone's talking about their offense. They might not be a
Speaker 1: candidate just because they're too trendy overall. The Broncos are
Speaker 1: another trendy team, which bothers me because they check most
Speaker 1: of the boxes that I look for on a team,
Speaker 1: and I like their young offense. I think they have
Speaker 1: a lot of the trendy in your heart. You've been
Speaker 1: on the Broncos bandwagon for a while, But are they trending?
Speaker 1: Every time I walk by a TV, they keep talking,
Speaker 1: they keep saying the trendy Denver Broncos. So those are
Speaker 1: two teams I'm thinking about. I think the Buffalo Bills
Speaker 1: are always on the periphery for me. Um, they don't
Speaker 1: get a lot of attention, and I believe their their
Speaker 1: defense is already one of the best. Their offense um
Speaker 1: is not one of the best, but they've got some
Speaker 1: room to grow. Mark. We know Mark loves uh, Mark
Speaker 1: loves the Bills. I'll I'll just first give you, um,
Speaker 1: you know, a round of a pause or just an
Speaker 1: appreciation West that you that you're going along with this
Speaker 1: entire segment, that now you used to fight so hard
Speaker 1: against the notion that there was a team of WESTDL
Speaker 1: that that wasn't even true, but now we're doing around
Speaker 1: that premise. Well, I remember a few times I tried
Speaker 1: to save you guys from your own choices, but it
Speaker 1: didn't work out that way, so I just had to
Speaker 1: settle into this rule. Bucks are interesting. Yes, they're trendy,
Speaker 1: and they're they're gonna be on prime time and I
Speaker 1: could definitely see that annoying um Mark, for instance, But
Speaker 1: there's something fun about uh them for me obviously, not
Speaker 1: just that Tom Brady and Gronker. They're just like it's
Speaker 1: just like a quick, crazy experiment. Yes, we're not like
Speaker 1: picking a diamond in the rough there, But I don't
Speaker 1: think I'm alone saying I want to watch every Bucks game,
Speaker 1: And that's kind of the heart of what this is.
Speaker 1: This exercise is partly about I don't know if it's
Speaker 1: gonna go well or not. And I don't think this
Speaker 1: is necessarily about picking teams that are gonna be good,
Speaker 1: but but they better be fun to watch. I mean
Speaker 1: Godwin and O. J. Howard and I mean Gron being back.
Speaker 1: I'm still not quite over that, and just the whole
Speaker 1: thing in Arians, like, I don't know they I am
Speaker 1: into them as kind of a secondary team. They're they're
Speaker 1: ceiling their ceiling floor. Disparity is probably is as big
Speaker 1: as anyone in the league or at least the NFC,
Speaker 1: because we know all about how well the defense played
Speaker 1: at the end of the year, and Baldi talked about
Speaker 1: it as well, if they just kept that up, you
Speaker 1: got that side locked down, and then if this offense works,
Speaker 1: watch out. I mean, this team could be fighting out
Speaker 1: with the Saints to win the NFC South, but it
Speaker 1: does feel like that. I don't know. Whenever you you
Speaker 1: say things like, okay, the defense needs to be as
Speaker 1: good as last year, and then Tom Brady needs to
Speaker 1: be the Tom Brady of a couple of years ago,
Speaker 1: and then Gronk needs to still have some juice, and
Speaker 1: these wide receivers need to continue to be great in
Speaker 1: the running back situation needs to figure out. Maybe too
Speaker 1: much has to to inspire for this to be the
Speaker 1: twelve and four, thirteen and three Juggernaut, But they're an
Speaker 1: interesting team to follow because they have that that ceiling. Well,
Speaker 1: I think the biggest thing working against them is that
Speaker 1: every TV producer in the country has already decided they're
Speaker 1: the number one team to monitor in two thousand twenties.
Speaker 1: So they're gonna be fish. I mean for a good
Speaker 1: reason on some level. I mean, the great, literally the
Speaker 1: most accomplished player in the league's history is joining them
Speaker 1: along with the with Gronk and and you said it
Speaker 1: with the defense, And that is not why the producers
Speaker 1: are into it. But I do think that's why I'm
Speaker 1: especially looking forward to watching the Bucks because they'll be fine.
Speaker 1: They'll be fun to watch. I think whichever side of
Speaker 1: the balls on the field, give me a little Jpp
Speaker 1: and Shack Barrett, like, give me a little Lavante David
Speaker 1: and Devin White. Um. I mean these Wingfield Jr. Right,
Speaker 1: these are entertaining players where I think and I don't know,
Speaker 1: and I the one thing I like about the team
Speaker 1: of West l are secondary teams in general is like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm invested, but not really like if it crashes and burns, like,
Speaker 1: it's not gonna it's not gonna kill me, like a
Speaker 1: killed Mark with that that Vikings team. I mean, either way,
Speaker 1: it'll be kind of fun. Well you, especially Greg, I
Speaker 1: know you try to check your fan allegiance at the door,
Speaker 1: pretend to, but you're in a good situation because you're conflicted.
Speaker 1: Just tell me if this makes any sense at all,
Speaker 1: Just and be honest with me. Tom Brady is a
Speaker 1: bit of a conflicting figure to you in because on
Speaker 1: one hand, you're okay with what the Patriots did that
Speaker 1: you were fine with the divorce happening away it was
Speaker 1: and him getting a fresh start for the final chapter
Speaker 1: of his career. But on the other hand, you won't
Speaker 1: admit it. It would have been nice if if the
Speaker 1: two sides made nice and Brady played his whole year
Speaker 1: in New England. Uh So there's party. It's like, I
Speaker 1: love Tom Brady, I love what he did for New
Speaker 1: England and Martha's Vineyard and the West side of Massachusetts.
Speaker 1: And so if he goes another couple of years where
Speaker 1: he thrives, I'll be happy for him. Plus it's not
Speaker 1: in the A f C, so it doesn't really hurt me. However,
Speaker 1: if he flames out totally, it makes Bill Belichick look
Speaker 1: even smarter, and that would be kind of cool that too,
Speaker 1: because it would justify the Patriot's decision to cut bait.
Speaker 1: It'd be fine. And I now that we're having it,
Speaker 1: I'm I feel relieved. We haven't had this conversation since
Speaker 1: March since like you were last with us, Chris, so
Speaker 1: that's good. But I wouldn't be relieved, Like if he
Speaker 1: crashes and burms, I will be more disappointed than anything. Um,
Speaker 1: I really feel like I feel like I don't know
Speaker 1: what Bill Belichick feels like or if he if he
Speaker 1: has emotions, but I'm surprised more Patriots fans and maybe
Speaker 1: they feel like me. Man. I feel a relief that
Speaker 1: he's not there. That was like a weight on the
Speaker 1: shoulders of the Patriots and it's nice. It's nice to
Speaker 1: just sort of start over, and the fact that he's
Speaker 1: somewhere else, like if you can't, if you can appreciate
Speaker 1: the goat, you know, for what he did. Yeah, that's
Speaker 1: on that's on you. You're right, it's it's like a
Speaker 1: good situation either way. But I feel like it's so
Speaker 1: nice to just be starting fresh, uh in New England.
Speaker 1: And it's kind of nice to watch Tom Brady start
Speaker 1: fresh too. Al Right, A win win for Greg and football.
Speaker 1: It always seems to work out that way. West About
Speaker 1: another team, I've got a dark horse and one of
Speaker 1: us usually not Dan, falls for this team every year,
Speaker 1: The Chargers. I was thinking about them. Their defense um
Speaker 1: is loaded with talent. Derwin James coming back healthy now
Speaker 1: um And just from the little bit of footage we
Speaker 1: got from from Justin Herbert on the Hard Knocks, he
Speaker 1: can spin it. This could be to use a damnage
Speaker 1: check it isn't. He can spin it, baby. I'm surprised
Speaker 1: to us, not not that making a larger point, but
Speaker 1: guys throwing it into nets for switches on a football
Speaker 1: field feels like something that wouldn't mean anything to you,
Speaker 1: but you're saying it it did. It did mean something
Speaker 1: to you. Oh, it's not scientific. It just sometimes I
Speaker 1: think it's they want to be scouting me just feels like,
Speaker 1: I can you know, just by the way he throws
Speaker 1: the ball, you can tell he's got some arm talent there.
Speaker 1: He's got a great balls. He's got great Yeah, he's
Speaker 1: got great balls. They'd be fun. I know. I cannot
Speaker 1: imagine Mark getting on on board with the Chargers thing
Speaker 1: for whatever reason, but I I like that one West.
Speaker 1: I think they could be a fun Excuse me, I
Speaker 1: think they could be a fun team to watch on paper,
Speaker 1: just because they have so much like premier talent Keenan
Speaker 1: Allen again, Joey Bose. I. I don't think about sides
Speaker 1: of the ball, but I think about players that are
Speaker 1: entertaining that I uh that I want to watch Bosa Derwin,
Speaker 1: James Austin Ekeler, Keenan Allen, Hunter, Henry. It's just like
Speaker 1: you got players Casey Hayward, Desmond King. It's like a
Speaker 1: fun little secondary uh. I would dig that. I wouldn't.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't pass on your Broncos. Not to circle back though,
Speaker 1: just because you think they're trendy, I think they they
Speaker 1: could be. They've kind of got the old the other
Speaker 1: the old krusty coach that that people like as my
Speaker 1: son Walker chimes in there a little bit. I think
Speaker 1: because they I've been associated, But then the last couple
Speaker 1: of years, the Broncos and Culture be first and second
Speaker 1: on my list. Here's the thing with Locke. I know
Speaker 1: we've talked a lot about him at all. I think
Speaker 1: he's gonna be fun to watch. Regardless. To me, he's
Speaker 1: like a tools e. It's either kind of like the Bucks.
Speaker 1: It's either gonna go wrong or it won't. But I
Speaker 1: don't I think they'll be boring. I don't think they'll
Speaker 1: be boring because because speaking of lock we we would
Speaker 1: have said the same thing about Drew Locker once upon
Speaker 1: a time. What an athlete, at least he'll be fun
Speaker 1: to watch one way or Locker. Lock has already shown
Speaker 1: significantly more than Jake Locker. That is not true. That
Speaker 1: is not true, who was arguably going to be the
Speaker 1: number one overall pick in the draft, was almost as
Speaker 1: highly thought of as a baseball prospect as a football prospect,
Speaker 1: an incredible athlete and had some had some flashes as
Speaker 1: a rookie and second year where you thought this guy
Speaker 1: might be a difference maker. I mean, I just if
Speaker 1: a guy can't cut it, he's not gonna be entertaining
Speaker 1: no matter how I think the I I guess I'm
Speaker 1: I have a low baseline where I think, I think
Speaker 1: he has a good chance to uh be like a
Speaker 1: frustrating starter at worst, like a you know, a Winstead
Speaker 1: or a Cutler or something like that. I think there's
Speaker 1: a you got you find those guys a lot more entertaining.
Speaker 1: But I'm saying that's that's you know, fifty times better
Speaker 1: than a than a Jake Locker. And to your point
Speaker 1: about the young guys there, Philip Linn, you know, Jerry
Speaker 1: Judy looks like he could be one of the most
Speaker 1: fun rookies to watch, and uh, you've got Melvin Gordon
Speaker 1: added to a back up, Philip Lindsay is a ton
Speaker 1: of fun to watch. Courtland Sutton's a ball and no
Speaker 1: fans of ball er. It's like, these guys are are
Speaker 1: guys you want to see. I've said everything I need
Speaker 1: to say about Drew lock and good luck to him.
Speaker 1: We'll see how he plays when he gets a full
Speaker 1: sample size. I'm looking forward to seeing it a team
Speaker 1: on the Okay, all right, so I gotta try to
Speaker 1: sell you now, right, tough sell in the West sometimes.
Speaker 1: So I'm gonna do my best. I've got to be invested.
Speaker 1: This is and I all I ask store, and I
Speaker 1: know you're gonna give it to me. Is um unvarnished honesty,
Speaker 1: you know, all right, see if I can do that.
Speaker 1: So I'm I'm trying to think because I know what
Speaker 1: you like, Wes, Like I know, for instance, you, Yeah,
Speaker 1: you're fetishes on a Sunday night after um a long
Speaker 1: day of work, and you go and you you start
Speaker 1: tape dogging, and you go, you open up that game pass.
Speaker 1: You want something, you want to go to, a game
Speaker 1: that excites you, one that keeps you from falling asleep
Speaker 1: with your glass of wine. And so I I got
Speaker 1: one here for you in an offensive centerpiece for this
Speaker 1: team that's gonna make you run to game pass every
Speaker 1: Sunday night. I mean, this guy is generationally talented, a beautiful,
Speaker 1: beautiful athlete who is just entering his prime. I'll pair
Speaker 1: that guy with a very intriguing young quarterback, a kid
Speaker 1: with iron will in the pocket, multifaceted abilities. Uh, you
Speaker 1: love the sport, West like you have a love affair
Speaker 1: with football, and you've read every football book that matters.
Speaker 1: So you understand the importance of history. Well, here is
Speaker 1: one of the NFL's Tiffany franchises, one of the signature franchises.
Speaker 1: You have a general manager who is an intriguing personality
Speaker 1: who has had some missteps, but you know what, he
Speaker 1: owned up to him earlier this year. He said that
Speaker 1: he made some miscalculations about how to steer the franchises.
Speaker 1: But now he's a man in search of redemption. And
Speaker 1: who amongst us should turn away from someone that admits
Speaker 1: that they were wrong and wants to do well. And finally,
Speaker 1: a head coach that graduated Magna Come Loud from Belichick
Speaker 1: University and won't say his player's name Magna Come Loud Loud,
Speaker 1: A Joe Judge baby the New York Giants eli's Gone
Speaker 1: New Era, flawed team, but potentially a fun team to
Speaker 1: get behind is they try to enter the next wave.
Speaker 1: Got several things working against him, not least of which
Speaker 1: is an NFL head coach treating his players like children.
Speaker 1: That that would be problem number one for me. He's
Speaker 1: a leader, he's a father figure, he's a judge, like
Speaker 1: this is a ninety boys town movie or something. Alright,
Speaker 1: what else? What else? What I said doesn't make sense. No, no,
Speaker 1: you sold it. Well, who's our who's catching our eye?
Speaker 1: On defense? There? I can't really get behind anything with
Speaker 1: that defense. It seems like a train wreck and you
Speaker 1: just lost. You're promising a second year, first round pick
Speaker 1: safety to a robbery charge. So I don't know, man,
Speaker 1: I'm counting on you to figure out a silver lining
Speaker 1: with the defense. I'm more speaking to the offense and
Speaker 1: the fresh start in the ELI free world. I do
Speaker 1: believe their offense could be better than than most people imagine.
Speaker 1: And even a guy like Evan Engraham, who's supremely talented,
Speaker 1: what kind of year could he be our next one
Speaker 1: thousand yard tight end? I mean, all of that health,
Speaker 1: all that made sense, and I'd love the attempt that
Speaker 1: you're going for, Like the hardest thing possible is to
Speaker 1: get the rest on Yeah, you trying to get him
Speaker 1: on board? Um with the Giants because I'm with you
Speaker 1: that Daniel Jones could be fun, but they're big, stinky. Uh.
Speaker 1: You know. Part of the equation that I don't like
Speaker 1: is Jason Yeah offense. I knew this Jason Garrett assassination
Speaker 1: would come up. I mean, I'm willing, I'm willing to
Speaker 1: talk about someone who needs, um, you know, a new narrative,
Speaker 1: second chance and a new narrative and and to change
Speaker 1: maybe he can change it, because you know what, I
Speaker 1: wouldn't when I was writing about Garrett a little bit
Speaker 1: this offseason and Daniel Jones, who who I am and
Speaker 1: really intrigued to watch. So if you have a fun quarterback,
Speaker 1: that can make you fun. Um. You know what, those
Speaker 1: those first years that Garrett was running the plays in Dallas,
Speaker 1: like I was looking for some stats that maybe I
Speaker 1: would like, kind of bury that they were boring something.
Speaker 1: You know what, they were pretty good. They were a
Speaker 1: past first, pretty good offense when Garrett was actually right
Speaker 1: in place problems, it was like eleven years ago. It's
Speaker 1: just so long ago. Um, the NFL is so different.
Speaker 1: So we'll have to see. But maybe maybe Garrett could
Speaker 1: be the guy. When you were going through that, I
Speaker 1: was wrong about which team it was until the very end.
Speaker 1: I thought you were talking about the Cardinals. I thought
Speaker 1: DeAndre Hopkins was the generational talent, that Steve Kim was
Speaker 1: the GM trying to get past a big mistake, and
Speaker 1: that Kyler murder. Exciting young quarterback DeAndre Hopkins is an excellent,
Speaker 1: excellent wide receiver. I wouldn't call him a generational town
Speaker 1: Barkley is a generational talent, and even look at his
Speaker 1: numbers last year, he played on one leg without the
Speaker 1: worst injuries, a high ankle sprain, and still had like
Speaker 1: fifteen total yards. Imagine what would happen if the Giants
Speaker 1: actually succeeded in building a more competent offense around that
Speaker 1: guy and then he stayed healthy. I think he could
Speaker 1: be one of the greats. Ever, I think that DeAndre
Speaker 1: is going to the Hall of Fame, so you know,
Speaker 1: we're talking levels of greatness. I really he is gonna
Speaker 1: end up. Nobody would say he's more like a generational
Speaker 1: talent more than Julio Jones or something like that. It's
Speaker 1: fair maybe a step below that, but I think sae
Speaker 1: Quon is exactly that. When you look at the running backs,
Speaker 1: like maybe the most talented running back to come into
Speaker 1: the league since Adrian Peterson, I would put him in
Speaker 1: that conversation at he's like twenty four years old. And
Speaker 1: this is where a team of atl is supposed to
Speaker 1: come from. It's supposed to be a little bit of
Speaker 1: a dark horse, and surprise something nobody saw coming. So
Speaker 1: kudos to you for selling the Giants. Maybe you watch
Speaker 1: him and and you change it's not gonna happen, But
Speaker 1: you know, I'm gonna keep an open mind. Two teams
Speaker 1: come to my mind, but I'm gonna start with with
Speaker 1: the one that just feels like the layup and maybe
Speaker 1: that's why West didn't put him on his list, and
Speaker 1: which makes you a little concerned, because this is the
Speaker 1: team that I think I've got in my heart as
Speaker 1: kind of a secondary team that I'm all about, and
Speaker 1: that's the Indianapolis Colts, And I know people are gonna
Speaker 1: be thinking that they're that they're gonna be good this
Speaker 1: year because they make sense. I like a well constructed team.
Speaker 1: I like teams without a big time weakness. Chris Ballard
Speaker 1: put this team together. Their offensive line is as stable
Speaker 1: as any and as good as any team in the league.
Speaker 1: And when you have good offensive line play, they they
Speaker 1: haven't had a single guy changed spots in three years,
Speaker 1: which is almost unprecedented. Mrs start, So you hope you
Speaker 1: keep that luck uh going. But when you have a
Speaker 1: good offensive line, you end up having good talent shows
Speaker 1: showing up on offense and adding Philip Rivers to this mix,
Speaker 1: to me is just a delightful narrative, but also on field,
Speaker 1: uh you know, relevant revelation for them that they're gonna
Speaker 1: be fun to watch because Rivers even last year, to me,
Speaker 1: it was fun to watch. He's gonna he's gonna attempt
Speaker 1: the throws. T Y Hilton is there always fun to watch.
Speaker 1: Jonathan Taylor added to Marlon Mack that they should be
Speaker 1: good on offense and the kind of the story book
Speaker 1: of it, all of Rivers going for it and having
Speaker 1: a legitimate offensive line and having a legitimate team for
Speaker 1: first time in a while, with a pretty fun looking
Speaker 1: defense too with Darius Leonard, to me, is irresistible. I'm
Speaker 1: just gonna be rooting for this team. I think they
Speaker 1: check as many boxes as any team for this exercise.
Speaker 1: There are there's one huge one that they miss on
Speaker 1: and there's nothing really they can do about at this point.
Speaker 1: They play in a dome, so I mean, good luck
Speaker 1: with that. I mean, just lets some natural light in
Speaker 1: once the dome during a pandemic, it's not as safe
Speaker 1: as the outdoor stadiums. Another downside for the dome. In
Speaker 1: this household, we like mother nature, so we're gonna root
Speaker 1: for that um and then the other thing. I mean, Greg,
Speaker 1: I've just realized over the years, our tastes and quarterbacks
Speaker 1: are just way different. And Philip Rivers is one thing
Speaker 1: I hold against the Colts right now. If he plays
Speaker 1: anything like he played last year, that's gonna be a
Speaker 1: hard team to watch. He was hard to watch last year.
Speaker 1: I didn't think he was fun at all. I thought
Speaker 1: he was a boring quarterback and a bad quarterback. So
Speaker 1: he's gonna have to play a lot better. Yeah, he
Speaker 1: had the worst tackle combination in the in football, and
Speaker 1: I think a quarterback like that, he's only got to
Speaker 1: be as good as his protection, and so he needs it.
Speaker 1: But it looks like he's kind of found the perfect team.
Speaker 1: I mean, you got can you just throw it twenty
Speaker 1: yards down field on a lollipop and expect your receiver
Speaker 1: to run under it every time? And that's your offense.
Speaker 1: He's gonna count on a lot of timing, which will
Speaker 1: be interesting with a whole new set of receivers. They're
Speaker 1: hoping rookie Michael Pittman is a big part of this group,
Speaker 1: and they haven't had the time at that timing, so
Speaker 1: so it's definitely it's not gonna be. But I'm fascinated
Speaker 1: to see them because I think they could be a
Speaker 1: legit contender. Um, if he plays well, I agree, that's
Speaker 1: a big if. Another one I do before we go,
Speaker 1: I mean I have I should, someone should say it, right,
Speaker 1: I mean the most obvious, the most obvious one on
Speaker 1: the list is the is then the city which you
Speaker 1: got the name on right behind you, Cincinnati, Chris Wesseling.
Speaker 1: It's time to come yeah and take a trip over
Speaker 1: to the Bengal situary. You were early on the train
Speaker 1: of coming home in terms of shaving your head when
Speaker 1: it wasn't growing in. How about coming home and uh
Speaker 1: being a real Westling and embracing your brothers and embracing
Speaker 1: your family, embracing your roots. Uh, during this time of
Speaker 1: of international upheaval. What's important? And I understand this because
Speaker 1: it's not just about football, and you're not just looking
Speaker 1: at the rosters. There's more to it. There's layers to this.
Speaker 1: The man has a dossier eight inches thick for all
Speaker 1: the reasons why he divorced the Bengals as his favorite
Speaker 1: team decades ago. But maybe, just maybe, in this time West,
Speaker 1: this uncertain time Um in your in your latest fight
Speaker 1: with the Big Sea on our quest for uh double obliteration,
Speaker 1: Maybe the time to hit the old reset button on
Speaker 1: the Bungles. Welcome to the Sanctuary, DoD The Bengals feel
Speaker 1: like they deserve that's always been three decades. They don't
Speaker 1: feel like they deserve to win the trust. They don't
Speaker 1: trust that they're good enough. They don't trust that they've
Speaker 1: learned how not to lose. They don't trust anything in
Speaker 1: that building. And they really not sure if they can
Speaker 1: win a playoff game. I don't know if they don't try,
Speaker 1: if they don't believe in themselves, can I believe in
Speaker 1: I gotta admit the whole trade waynes Um complaining that
Speaker 1: they wouldn't give him his money until he showed up
Speaker 1: for camp and that he wouldn't be able to work
Speaker 1: out as much because of that, and then get injured
Speaker 1: right away at that his agent warned them might happen.
Speaker 1: That feels like the same old Bungles kind of storyline.
Speaker 1: But you know what you you like. In terms of
Speaker 1: picking the team of West l is just teams that
Speaker 1: are fun to watch, and uh, maybe maybe we're not
Speaker 1: gonna have a preseason but maybe week one, Week two,
Speaker 1: you'll see Joe Mixon out there. To me, is as
Speaker 1: fun to watch as any receiver. And you'll see Green
Speaker 1: and Higgins and Autumn Tate and Tyler Boyd and Ross
Speaker 1: and Geoe Bernard and Joey Burrow. Who might be the
Speaker 1: answer the guy that this city has been looking for,
Speaker 1: who is awfully fun to watch, and that this team
Speaker 1: maybe they're not gonna go to the playoffs or win
Speaker 1: eight games, but you can be fun to watch and
Speaker 1: win six or seven games. And I think this team
Speaker 1: could be that they're they're fun to watch. Scale seems
Speaker 1: like it goes from from top five to bottom five.
Speaker 1: And I noticed you didn't mention that offensive line, which
Speaker 1: has held him back for years. I mean, we it's
Speaker 1: hard to take off the offensive line anyway. You're not
Speaker 1: gonna get any John Ross. If you can't block up front,
Speaker 1: you're not You know, Joe Mixon spent half of last
Speaker 1: year getting like thirty yards a game because he had
Speaker 1: nowhere to go. So these are the teams and west
Speaker 1: you have. If you have another one, police chime in.
Speaker 1: But this is the team. These are the teams that
Speaker 1: have not been nominated. It's not that official. This is
Speaker 1: just these are just talks. We're just having a conversation. Bucks, Broncos.
Speaker 1: Did you say bills? I did, I didn't mention the
Speaker 1: bill bills vgi uh. That was a DAN nomination. Greg
Speaker 1: nominated the Colts and the Bengals by my chargers by
Speaker 1: my count, that is one, two, three, four or five
Speaker 1: six seven options. And that leaves all the divisions accounted
Speaker 1: for aside from the NFC North, the a f C South,
Speaker 1: and the NFC West. Any teams from that those three
Speaker 1: divisions west that maybe get some consideration, which one NFC West, UH,
Speaker 1: NFC West, NFC southc North. We got the South, good
Speaker 1: good good good. So NFC North, NFC West, NFC West
Speaker 1: is out. No, no, none of those teams are doing it.
Speaker 1: They all they're all just qualified for one reason or another.
Speaker 1: Um the NFC North, the Packers are two. I mean,
Speaker 1: there's too much America's team. So you can't have out
Speaker 1: those Lions. No, no, no, this is not in on.
Speaker 1: The Lions are kind of frisky this like I I
Speaker 1: agree that their offense could be kind of fun to watch,
Speaker 1: but no, they're they defined mediocrity until they prove otherwise.
Speaker 1: I do kind of like the Bears. But how can
Speaker 1: I support a team that said we've got a chance
Speaker 1: at Cam Newton, but instead we're gonna bring in Nick Fools.
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't want to encourage other teams to
Speaker 1: do stuff like that. One another player on that two
Speaker 1: thousand and thirteen Panthers team, you said you were all
Speaker 1: about one side of the ball. I mean I remember
Speaker 1: watching uh young Cam Newton and being pretty entertained by
Speaker 1: that too. So I'm just saying Cam Newton's out there,
Speaker 1: he's playing on a new team again. The Patriots aren't
Speaker 1: forgiven for their Antonio Brownson. The days of carrying the
Speaker 1: water are over. They're gone. All right, anything else was
Speaker 1: before we it was a topic for now. You know what,
Speaker 1: anyone else intrigued by the Redskins defense, We're not We
Speaker 1: can't ever say that again. Well they're gone. That's not
Speaker 1: the team. But what about when you talk about like
Speaker 1: thee like, yeah, the Super Bowl champion? Could you could
Speaker 1: avoid it if you want? But yeah, that's different, uh West,
Speaker 1: It's it's allowable if you refer to if you if
Speaker 1: that's how you want to go, well, I think eight
Speaker 1: t N we could give you that wiggle room pre
Speaker 1: to if you want. It feels like if it's an
Speaker 1: honest mistake, people should just let it ride. But you know,
Speaker 1: if we want to play hall monitor all year, that
Speaker 1: we can do that too. Strict punishments West all right,
Speaker 1: they could be kind of fun, but that is similar
Speaker 1: to your Cincinnati organization troubles. Uh, I'm not I'm not
Speaker 1: into Let's see something more positive where I really we did.
Speaker 1: Just on on Monday we saw something positive. The first
Speaker 1: black um NFL team president was hired by the Washington Redskins.
Speaker 1: Was his name Jason Right? Yeah, former player. I remember
Speaker 1: him vaguely as a kind of a journeyman guy who
Speaker 1: was on the Cardinals as like a third down back.
Speaker 1: I mean, this wasn't that long ago. Um and he
Speaker 1: received effusive praise from around the league on Monday. He Uh.
Speaker 1: He also is inheriting a role which normally has a
Speaker 1: lot more power than most team presidents, and team president
Speaker 1: is a very significant role, to be clear. I mean
Speaker 1: that's the guy running the business. But also in in Washington,
Speaker 1: it also tends to have some a little more say
Speaker 1: over large swatha of the organization, uh, including the football side.
Speaker 1: So we'll see if that's the case, um with Jason, Right,
Speaker 1: But like I mean, you think about Bruce Allen. No
Speaker 1: one was more powerful as a as a team president there,
Speaker 1: and he wasn't the only one in in the Dan
Speaker 1: Snyder tenure. Alright, so the who I always said, the
Speaker 1: Washington All right, let's let's kind of let's bookmark this
Speaker 1: and maybe revisit then maybe once the season begins, maybe
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks in. I don't know. It's all
Speaker 1: it's a fact finding mission more than anything else. All right, good,
Speaker 1: all right, Well everything is kind of day by day,
Speaker 1: week week at this point, so we can't really promise.
Speaker 1: Absolutely nothing in life should be presumed. I guess we
Speaker 1: gotta see what happens with the testing. But I do
Speaker 1: feel like right now, at this very moment, there's only
Speaker 1: fifteen players on the COVID nineteen lists, and the players
Speaker 1: and the teams are practicing in full pads, and now
Speaker 1: we've got to see what the impact of that is
Speaker 1: in the next week or two. But and we're three
Speaker 1: weeks away for the season and them really practicing it
Speaker 1: is kind of the moment I was like, Okay, well
Speaker 1: this is happening. This is we're we're almost there. Uh
Speaker 1: we we gotta see what happens in terms of the
Speaker 1: test results, but at least right now that you know,
Speaker 1: there's not many people on that list. Something very interesting
Speaker 1: happened in baseball over the weekend. Mike Clevinger and Dan
Speaker 1: pleazach to quality starting pitchers for the Cleveland Indians UM,
Speaker 1: a team that is in contention in the American League.
Speaker 1: They went out with friends dinner and socializing up and
Speaker 1: broke curfew and then lied about it, and one of
Speaker 1: the players actually traveled on the team plane without owning
Speaker 1: up to it, and then that led to a bit
Speaker 1: of a locker room um showdown and those two players
Speaker 1: being optioned to the the team's minor league facility essentially
Speaker 1: or their training camp whatever they're calling it this year.
Speaker 1: So I'm interested to see in football because again this
Speaker 1: will be something to watch. But this summer and then
Speaker 1: when the season starts, can players be disciplined and if
Speaker 1: they are not, will there be similar hell to pay
Speaker 1: internally for the team being put in jeopardy both health
Speaker 1: wise and season wise. I imagine there will be. This
Speaker 1: is a subplot that will happen in the NFL. Just
Speaker 1: happened in baseball. First, more players involved in the NFL
Speaker 1: because the rosters are so big, and generally younger players too,
Speaker 1: and less of less of a bubble situation really, because
Speaker 1: even though the the MLB teams are not in their
Speaker 1: travel I mean, when they're in those hotels, that's that's
Speaker 1: a bubble situation. Whereas players here you know from almost
Speaker 1: every day of the season, they're gonna be at home
Speaker 1: in the NFL. So it will be interesting, but so far,
Speaker 1: so good. To your point, Greig, it feels like we're
Speaker 1: on a good path right now, and hopefully it stays
Speaker 1: that way as training camp rolls on. We'll be back
Speaker 1: on Wednesday with another show and a reminder our NFL
Speaker 1: Network program I'm returned on Saturday, so make sure you
Speaker 1: set your DVR for the Around the NFL Show on
Speaker 1: NFL Network, and you also could see that digitally on
Speaker 1: NFL dot com, and I believe it's on YouTube if
Speaker 1: it's not being put up on on YouTube by our people,
Speaker 1: I believe if you check out the Around the NFL subreddit,
Speaker 1: there's a way to see the show if you don't
Speaker 1: have access to NFL Network, So just look into that
Speaker 1: if you want, and um that's it West, great to
Speaker 1: see again, buddy. All right, that was a good one
Speaker 1: this week. What's that? This is a treatment? Is this
Speaker 1: a treatment week tomorrow? I've actually got doctor's appointment today
Speaker 1: and then chemo tomorrow, so treatment every tuesday. All right. Well,
Speaker 1: good luck with that, buddy, and I hope you're feeling
Speaker 1: okay after it, and uh love you buddy, Thank you
Speaker 1: good let's uh, let's sign off. This is Dan Hass.
Speaker 1: The old Zeus are signing up for email man. Mm hmmm,
Speaker 1: he said, good Joe, loved but not love you back
Speaker 1: mail man. Get into that next time. Still want