Speaker 1: The Around the NFL podcast puts up popae in Poppie
Speaker 1: from the Chris Westling podcast studio. It's Around the NFL.
Speaker 2: I am Dan Hansis I got heroes here, Greg Rosenthal,
Speaker 2: Mark Sessler Busy, Busy, Busy Cowboys camp on Monday. Check
Speaker 2: out that one. The Hard Knocks podcast debuted with episode
Speaker 2: one recap Tuesday, and shout out to Eric Roberts behind
Speaker 2: the glass who's been grinding his heine off all week
Speaker 2: for us and doing elite production work. We did that
Speaker 2: with Connie and special guest Rich Eisen. Check that out
Speaker 2: if you haven't yet. And now we have two more
Speaker 2: new episodes of atn Today and Thursday Football.
Speaker 1: Mark is back.
Speaker 3: I want to if there are people out there that
Speaker 3: maybe aren't Hard Knocks aficionados and watchers and I go
Speaker 3: hot and cold on that show. I just want to say,
Speaker 3: listen to this episode that you and Rich and Polling
Speaker 3: did because I mean, well, we know you're a Jets
Speaker 3: fan and Riches too, but like you kind of designed
Speaker 3: in a really wonderful way, why how you became one?
Speaker 3: What this first episode meant? And yet it wasn't if
Speaker 3: you aren't a Jets fan.
Speaker 4: It didn't. It wasn't laborious.
Speaker 3: It was very well done and like, uh, I can
Speaker 3: only imagine the cloud that you're floating on seeing this
Speaker 3: whole Jets team and what they are.
Speaker 2: I don't want to be that guy, but I think
Speaker 2: it is important sometimes to understand, like how lucky we are,
Speaker 2: like getting paid to watch the Jets Hard Knock Show
Speaker 2: and then talk about it with my friends.
Speaker 1: It's it's pretty it's pretty awesome and really excited.
Speaker 5: Rich like it would have blown your mind.
Speaker 1: I got.
Speaker 6: I listened to half of it. I listened to the
Speaker 6: rich part so far. Usually I would be listening on
Speaker 6: the way in. But we had a very important call
Speaker 6: with their great friend. We did Henry Hodgson, handsome Hank
Speaker 6: that cut into my time planning call.
Speaker 1: Will leave it at that handsome fantastic.
Speaker 5: It was fantastic.
Speaker 2: What we'll do a little hard knocks talk a little
Speaker 2: bit later. But we got a lot going on today
Speaker 2: because we have one of the smartest football men in
Speaker 2: the business, Aaron Shatz Over at FTN. He released his
Speaker 2: annual Football Almanac twenty twenty three, and obviously, if you
Speaker 2: don't read this almanac, you're not really prepared for the season.
Speaker 2: So we're gonna dig in on the defensive side of
Speaker 2: the ball, which we haven't really tackled, tackled, nailed it.
Speaker 1: We're gonna work that side of the ball.
Speaker 2: That conversation with Aaron and what defenses stand out to
Speaker 2: him and what defenses might be ready for regression or
Speaker 2: to be outright terrible.
Speaker 1: Get into all that, but first let's do some news.
Speaker 7: Just understand this. I don't give what goes down this year.
Speaker 7: We will always be in games no matter what. We
Speaker 7: break some shoelaces and get a few points on us, guys,
Speaker 7: We're going to be in every game. Guys, this is
Speaker 7: across the field on the back shoulder.
Speaker 1: Look at this.
Speaker 7: I don't know there's any other human on earth that
Speaker 7: can make that throw. He's our quarterback, He's ours, he's ours.
Speaker 1: Awesome, man, I think that should be a drop going forward.
Speaker 1: Eric Crawarts, Yes, as I said to Rich Eiesen.
Speaker 2: Ulbrich, the defensive coordinator for the Jets, Jeff Olbrick, he
Speaker 2: speaks for all of this is Jets fenss.
Speaker 1: Like he's ours, he's ours, he's ours.
Speaker 2: Watching that episode and yeah, that was in the defensive
Speaker 2: room where the coordinator's going over some plays from practice.
Speaker 1: We'll get some thoughts out there.
Speaker 2: Anybody wants to hear my thoughts, obviously go check out
Speaker 2: the podcast with Connie and I, but episode one thoughts Smart.
Speaker 1: We'll start with.
Speaker 3: Allbri Good to me was one of the stars of
Speaker 3: the episode, because you know, you'd think it's just Salah
Speaker 3: calling the plays on defense and like, what does the
Speaker 3: coordinator do? I mean, I love his fire, and I
Speaker 3: think that there's something to him and what the jets are.
Speaker 3: There's a lot of connective tissue there, and I mean,
Speaker 3: I think this episode maybe if it lacked four or
Speaker 3: five like deep narrative threads like some hard knocks ones do,
Speaker 3: and this show us a chance to get into that.
Speaker 3: It was really about the experience of Aaron Rodgers. And
Speaker 3: I think for those that have been critical of Aaron Rodgers,
Speaker 3: I'm certainly one of those in the past, Like this
Speaker 3: is a different version of this human being, and like
Speaker 3: you just get this feeling that he couldn't be happier
Speaker 3: being there, and you hear all the giggles and the
Speaker 3: anticipation when they're watching him whip that pass in that
Speaker 3: film session there with All Brick and it's like this
Speaker 3: team and there's so many young players, but teams, teammates, coaches.
Speaker 4: It's like they have watched Jesus Land.
Speaker 3: That is sort of the aura I got watching this
Speaker 3: first episode, and it's kind of incredible because it reminds
Speaker 3: me of nothing the New York Jets have ever produced
Speaker 3: on a human level.
Speaker 6: Right It was like the Hard Knocks version of Barbie.
Speaker 6: It was just like feel good, easy entertainment. But it
Speaker 6: was also like a little different than Hard Knocks usually is,
Speaker 6: like they decided to I think maybe mix it up.
Speaker 6: It was really all about Aaron Rodgers and the good
Speaker 6: vibes and everything, and it's cool to get go along
Speaker 6: on the journey with these teams, and it helps that
Speaker 6: the team is the center or one of the center
Speaker 6: pieces of the NFL right now. It just it just
Speaker 6: does to be along the ride. It was great to
Speaker 6: be along the ride with the Lions, too, and I
Speaker 6: think that's why we enjoyed part of that, you know,
Speaker 6: season with them. I We'll see, it'll change over the
Speaker 6: next three or four weeks, but I really enjoyed it.
Speaker 6: And I loved the Weeds celebration that Sauce and Rogers
Speaker 6: had going on, and.
Speaker 5: That they just suddenly alluded to it. They were like,
Speaker 5: expectations are higher in New.
Speaker 2: York, wells Schreiber. Of course Greg would like who arrives
Speaker 2: in a helicopter.
Speaker 4: And he's great in it. I love Schreiber.
Speaker 3: I mean I already we all loved him, but like
Speaker 3: it's fun he there's, like Colin mentioned it, like there's
Speaker 3: this humility to him, and like he was like sort
Speaker 3: of a kid in a candy storey. Yet a bunch
Speaker 3: of those players are too young to really understand his
Speaker 3: career as an actor, and like Solid didn't even know
Speaker 3: he was the narrator of the show.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we were talking about many and I were talking
Speaker 1: about that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, put yourself in his shoes there, that the production
Speaker 2: team sends you to the practice in a helicopter literally
Speaker 2: landing next to the field and everyone's expecting, you know,
Speaker 2: some huge celebrity to get out, And.
Speaker 1: Obviously Shriver's a celebrity.
Speaker 2: But that was a funny little positioning of that and
Speaker 2: other thought on Olbrick because I already have regrets.
Speaker 1: We do our MVP rankings at the end of each episode.
Speaker 2: I should have put him a place in that conversation
Speaker 2: for just his takedown of the do your job complex.
Speaker 1: That was that was good.
Speaker 5: He actually he's gonna get on Belichick's radar.
Speaker 2: He actually said that. He said, you got to do
Speaker 2: your job? What else are you going to do? It
Speaker 2: was time for somebody to take down do your job,
Speaker 2: which is the most tired cliche to post on walls
Speaker 2: and complexes.
Speaker 1: An old brick did it.
Speaker 6: I will dress there's too many, too many things on
Speaker 6: the walls with the jetstuff. They've got like fourteen different
Speaker 6: thing those slogans, thes, what is what is their main one?
Speaker 5: I forget what it was. I'll guess no break, I know,
Speaker 5: but it's like a g no.
Speaker 1: And I don't know. I don't know. It's like I
Speaker 1: don't know. There was a lot of areas.
Speaker 5: It's too much.
Speaker 1: What was that?
Speaker 8: I just want to fly around like a butterfly.
Speaker 6: If Zach Wilson never panned out, I will remember him
Speaker 6: eating uncrustable after a preseason and performance.
Speaker 1: That was that.
Speaker 4: I thought his his part of the show was a
Speaker 4: little uncomfortable.
Speaker 5: No, I think it was good interesting.
Speaker 4: I don't think it was a weird in a weird place,
Speaker 4: in a.
Speaker 2: Very tough position, very tough position, especially if you're aging
Speaker 2: backwards and defying you know, humankind.
Speaker 1: He's now sixteen years old.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I was.
Speaker 3: I was thinking this is the one quarterback that literally
Speaker 3: looks like a boy.
Speaker 6: I was thinking it would be tough for Packers fans
Speaker 6: to watch this though. It's very much like watching the
Speaker 6: guy that your your favorite player, your best player for
Speaker 6: the last fifteen years, just be totally reborn, Like it
Speaker 6: wouldn't be a fun.
Speaker 2: Ex wife, Yeah, you have four kids with and you
Speaker 2: were in love with and it just over time, it
Speaker 2: just broke down.
Speaker 1: And then and it's on TV and.
Speaker 6: That wasn't acting right like that was like on this
Speaker 6: very podcast five months ago, we're talking about how he's
Speaker 6: not acting right, how he was basically an inconsistent human,
Speaker 6: that he was being a jerk. And then you see
Speaker 6: him and suddenly he's in better shape. He's cracking jokes,
Speaker 6: he's happy, he's like a whole new guy.
Speaker 4: And you're like, the Packers aren't innocent and all of that.
Speaker 1: What about A and Rogers on TV is a lot.
Speaker 2: Let's get into And yes, check out the Hard Knocks
Speaker 2: podcast and we'll have that up every Tuesday night on
Speaker 2: wherever you get your podcasts and on this feed to
Speaker 2: SATEN feed, So it's pretty easy for you people to
Speaker 2: check out if you want, you people, let's get to it.
Speaker 2: Ron Rivera, head coach of the Commanders, created a bit
Speaker 2: of a mess for himself this week. Eric B Enemy
Speaker 2: is the new offensive coordinator. We know b Enemy's history
Speaker 2: with the Chiefs and his long struggle to try to
Speaker 2: get a head coaching job.
Speaker 1: It never happens.
Speaker 2: So now he's off on his own attempting to build
Speaker 2: a bridge to that head coaching job.
Speaker 1: So this is a very important year an era for
Speaker 1: the enemy.
Speaker 2: As a head coach, Rivera said, some players are quote
Speaker 2: concerned with the enemy's intensity in training camp, which led
Speaker 2: to a big story both for and against the enemy.
Speaker 2: Mostly for the enemy and against Ron Rivera putting that
Speaker 2: out there. The commander's coach then followed up by offering
Speaker 2: a lengthy opening statement to his press conference on Wednesday,
Speaker 2: noting that his comments.
Speaker 1: Quote took on a different life. Don't do that thing.
Speaker 2: Don't do the thing where you blame the media for
Speaker 2: blowing up the story because you said it and you
Speaker 2: should know, Ronrivera, how this world works. But anyway, took
Speaker 2: on a different life than he intended, and that he
Speaker 2: wasn't as straightforward as he needed to be here as
Speaker 2: well else he.
Speaker 9: Said, we talked about it and you know, and it
Speaker 9: was just I basically told him I put my foot
Speaker 9: in my mouth. I think what I said wasn't as
Speaker 9: clear as it needed to be. And I think the
Speaker 9: understanding of it is the fact that I think everybody's making,
Speaker 9: in my opinion, a little bit more than needs to
Speaker 9: be made of this, because again, the results.
Speaker 8: Are what you're looking for.
Speaker 9: On the field.
Speaker 8: So far, the last couple of days have been outstanding.
Speaker 9: I think Eric has done a great job of communicating
Speaker 9: his message now that guys you know, have opened up
Speaker 9: talk with him, it's been it's been a great bit
Speaker 9: of growth the last couple of days, that guys are
Speaker 9: starting to have the aha moments. That's why we do this,
Speaker 9: That's why we want that, you know.
Speaker 1: It's Uh. We had a guy.
Speaker 9: I just really burst out of it and the ball
Speaker 9: was right on time, and you sit there and go.
Speaker 1: Long cave get it.
Speaker 4: I think you slam on the desk at the end.
Speaker 1: He gets real hyph.
Speaker 5: I mean, but that's what I think.
Speaker 6: How Rodn Rivera gets into trouble is he's just like
Speaker 6: a free and easy, like long answers to every question talker,
Speaker 6: and he's absolutely right.
Speaker 5: Way too much was made about it.
Speaker 6: I think people that read THEO and tried to make
Speaker 6: it more than it was didn't listen to how he
Speaker 6: said it and in context, because he was just kind
Speaker 6: of saying, how like, hey, look, players these days like
Speaker 6: they're not used to coaches that coach them hard, essentially,
Speaker 6: and that a couple of them had come up to
Speaker 6: him and say, hey, can you go talk to him?
Speaker 6: But he was saying it sort of in a joking way,
Speaker 6: and the enemy has this reputation as a coach that
Speaker 6: he's always a little hard edge and people are just like,
Speaker 6: oh okay, and because not all there, not every coach
Speaker 6: is like that anymore, that they're that they're very sensitive
Speaker 6: to the players. But he also was saying, even as
Speaker 6: he was saying that the players coming up to him,
Speaker 6: he was talking it down and say like a lot
Speaker 6: of these play, you know, young players, they got to
Speaker 6: get used to it. I think Bienemy's response was as
Speaker 6: telling as anything, though he said, yes I am intense.
Speaker 6: Eric Benemy is who Eric is, who he is Eric
Speaker 6: Benemy knows how to adapt, adapt it adjust. Eric Benemy
Speaker 6: is a tough, hard nosed coach. That's three third persons
Speaker 6: in three sentences. But he also says, you know, they
Speaker 6: got to understand I'm their biggest credit. I'm also there
Speaker 6: number one fan any of any of his foreign players. No,
Speaker 6: I've got there back more than anyone. I'm gonna support
Speaker 6: this was but this was blown out of proportion.
Speaker 3: I don't I don't. It'll it's dust in the wind,
Speaker 3: you know, hours from now. But I don't think that
Speaker 3: Ron Rivera who I'm If I had to pick a
Speaker 3: coach to like step in it in this way, I
Speaker 3: would not have put Ron Rivera in my top twenty.
Speaker 4: I really wouldn't a lot.
Speaker 3: I feel like over the long like this. This to
Speaker 3: me is like this. I mean, I think he didn't
Speaker 3: think it would turn into all this. But my problem
Speaker 3: is when he does the back pedaling where the ankle
Speaker 3: breaks dan he he read he had a written statement,
Speaker 3: you're Ron Rivera, You've been doing this for a long
Speaker 3: long time. Go out there and defend your coach.
Speaker 1: How you know? That's how you know. He really had
Speaker 1: regrets about how it played out and how it was
Speaker 1: probably the media.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but you don't you a written statement unless you're
Speaker 3: like in legal trouble.
Speaker 4: This is this is like something. Just go back your guy.
Speaker 1: He's just trying to put out a fire here.
Speaker 3: Right, And I have no problem with like, I mean,
Speaker 3: so Ben Standing of the Athletic had it. I thought
Speaker 3: a good line. He said, there is intense and there
Speaker 3: is mean. The enemy's coaching style is firmly in the
Speaker 3: former category. I have no problem with this coaching style.
Speaker 3: I mean, I'm not a player, but I think I
Speaker 3: think the problem is that training camp largely sucks. I
Speaker 3: think you're gonna find them to be complaining about something
Speaker 3: at some point to someone.
Speaker 4: And it's been a major shift.
Speaker 3: And I think a lot of the reports though, coming
Speaker 3: out of Washington training camp is that your quarterback Sam
Speaker 3: Howell and Jacoby Brissett have not been thriving like. There
Speaker 3: have been a lot of up and down, which is
Speaker 3: not surprising. But I think one of the more intriguing
Speaker 3: preseason starts is Howell versus the Browns on Friday night and.
Speaker 6: They said they said they've gotten better, and Rivera alluded
Speaker 6: to that over the last handful of days. And interesting
Speaker 6: because he's a former running backs coach, and we sawed
Speaker 6: even at Cowboys practice, like running backs coaches are different.
Speaker 6: They're always the ones barking like crazy. And Viennamy has
Speaker 6: this reputation, which is interesting because when you watch quarterback,
Speaker 6: he never said a word no, but he has. He's
Speaker 6: always had this reputation as a like particularly hard nosed
Speaker 6: guy barking on you, and that to me is very
Speaker 6: running back and very running backs coach ish.
Speaker 5: But now he's the offensive coordinator running the whole.
Speaker 1: Time, and it's in some ways a loaded subject.
Speaker 2: So I don't want to take it too far in
Speaker 2: terms of what I saw on quarterback, but it was
Speaker 2: It was interesting how mahomes ninety five percent of his
Speaker 2: conversations in game and the heat of the battle throughout
Speaker 2: the season in the playoffs, was either with Andy Reid
Speaker 2: or with Matt Nagy.
Speaker 1: It just was interesting to me.
Speaker 2: So I'm really, you know, I, like everyone else, you
Speaker 2: want to see what the enemy does with this this
Speaker 2: great opportunity has well, we shall see. In other news,
Speaker 2: Minnesota Vikings owner Mark Wilf declined to say Tuesday whether
Speaker 2: he wants Kirk Cousins to re sign with the franchise
Speaker 2: when his contract expires after the conclusion of this season,
Speaker 2: putting that decision on GM Quescia, Doofo Mensa and coach
Speaker 2: Kevin O'Connell.
Speaker 1: Here's Wilf's quote.
Speaker 2: We'll leave that to Questi and coach to work through
Speaker 2: those discussions. There's always conversations on that, but our real
Speaker 2: focus is one hundred percent on twenty twenty three and
Speaker 2: getting where we need to be and where I know
Speaker 2: we can be. Mark My thoughts on this is this
Speaker 2: is cool. It's gonna work out. I think how it should.
Speaker 2: I think Cousins is going to have enough their productive,
Speaker 2: solid season. I think it's gonna put him in a
Speaker 2: position to get paid whether and he's gonna get paid again.
Speaker 2: He's gonna sign another point deal, you know, two three
Speaker 2: year deal with whether it's a Vikings or someone else.
Speaker 2: And it makes sense for the Vikings at this point,
Speaker 2: assessing a relationship that's lasted since twenty eighteen.
Speaker 1: Where are we? Where are we? Where we want to
Speaker 1: go going forward? Let's use this year as a real trial.
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's no you know, consternation here. Cousins said back
Speaker 3: in June that he didn't even have any faint expectations
Speaker 3: that that even talk contract till next March.
Speaker 4: And he knows that.
Speaker 3: I think you know from I know you guys watched
Speaker 3: the whole quarterback thing, but from what little I know,
Speaker 3: I watched little snippets here and there. But I mean
Speaker 3: Kirk Cousins came out as the big winner of that
Speaker 3: whole thing. Is the nicest man on you know, east
Speaker 3: of the Mississippi. I guess if he is east or
Speaker 3: he's North's happening somewhere in there. I don't know, gone
Speaker 3: eas east and north, Yes, But to me, it's just
Speaker 3: like I think everything on.
Speaker 6: North, I guess because it's it is. I mean, it's
Speaker 6: it's a north south tribute. It's not a sharp east.
Speaker 2: What's going on out here west of the Mississippi just
Speaker 2: way nicer guy than Kirk Cousins.
Speaker 1: I'd feel that he would have that on lockdown.
Speaker 5: But he's west of the Mississippi.
Speaker 1: Give the whole country, and I'll give them the west.
Speaker 5: If he's west, he's west of Mark said east.
Speaker 3: Oh well, Andy, so I'm giving him the whole I
Speaker 3: give them the whole nation, the whole thing continental.
Speaker 6: He's west, not Hawaii and Alaska to keep that out
Speaker 6: of the convers come down with the east and west
Speaker 6: of the Mississippi too. Kind of defining aspect of this
Speaker 6: country used to be greg absolutely, but uh, you know
Speaker 6: what I mean.
Speaker 3: Outside of me, I'm referencing it. How often is it
Speaker 3: getting guys?
Speaker 1: You've got Aaron Shats and six mans.
Speaker 5: It's a lot of pop. It's a lot of pops.
Speaker 1: Go ahead ships.
Speaker 3: No, I think vikings have set all off season. You know,
Speaker 3: we're redoing the books, we're cutting money, and we'll you know,
Speaker 3: a lot of change could be coming.
Speaker 6: Yeah, old Kirk Gunn's gonna be before the start of
Speaker 6: that next country.
Speaker 1: Let me get saying on Kimlin. No, No, he's going to
Speaker 1: be like thirty five.
Speaker 6: There will be thirty six by the start of next season.
Speaker 6: It's like I'm doing. I got my top fifty free
Speaker 6: agents of twenty twenty four coming out this week, Dan Plug.
Speaker 5: It Uh, not sure where to put Kirk.
Speaker 6: I think I had him met around ten or eleven,
Speaker 6: but it's like that is getting up there where to me.
Speaker 5: Ideally you would have him on a year to year
Speaker 5: you will take a deal.
Speaker 6: He'll get more than that, I think from another team
Speaker 6: somewhere if the Vikings don't want to give more than year.
Speaker 2: Speaking speaking of Vikings and quarterbacks, Teddy Bridgewater, once upon
Speaker 2: a time at first round pick the Vikings. He's bounced
Speaker 2: around a lot, obviously, and despite that, is always kept
Speaker 2: Greg Rosevedal's attention as his new project, perhaps his new
Speaker 2: version of Geno Smith, now that he needs a QB
Speaker 2: to get behind that he overlooked.
Speaker 1: With them both. You know, his eyes are wandering, you know.
Speaker 2: Now that he's he's like one of those Uh, it's
Speaker 2: like one of those men who you know, he's with
Speaker 2: the who's with the wife, and then he hits it
Speaker 2: big and then all of a suddenly I start darting around.
Speaker 1: You know. That's that's Geno.
Speaker 4: You think Geno's that's Geno's attitude. He seems to be.
Speaker 1: It's like quite pleasure and thank you for all the sport,
Speaker 1: you know, during when I was kind of down. But
Speaker 1: now I have a lot of options. I have a
Speaker 1: feast in front of me.
Speaker 6: I think he's bare. I don't know my existence as
Speaker 6: a human. He does follow me on Twitter, uh, and
Speaker 6: I don't think that's changed.
Speaker 5: I think that's been Craig trying. That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 6: That's why I'm saying barely, because if you get the
Speaker 6: likes here and there, I get at least throw in
Speaker 6: the barely. Teddy Bridgewater, I'm pretty sure is unaware of
Speaker 6: my existence. But I am happy he's a lion.
Speaker 2: I mean, I would say this, and it happened again
Speaker 2: at the Cowboys camp. A lot of people know Greg.
Speaker 2: Greg's been in the business for a long time. You've
Speaker 2: done your job at a high level. We're we're very
Speaker 2: lucky to have you the team here at around the NFL.
Speaker 2: And uh so I would not be surprised that Geno
Speaker 2: Smith recognized you.
Speaker 1: No, I would not be sprissed.
Speaker 3: But Greg also pointed out that Jerry Jones recognized him
Speaker 3: when when he walked by and basically vaguely that was
Speaker 3: me though I was Dan. Well, then then what are
Speaker 3: we talking like? I mean, you know, this entire show
Speaker 3: is filled with people like this.
Speaker 6: So if Teddy ever was going to become the next Gino,
Speaker 6: he's in the right place now. I don't want Jared
Speaker 6: GoF to get hurt because that's what it would take. Uh,
Speaker 6: Teddy is better than Nate Sutdfield. I assume he's gonna
Speaker 6: win that job. Do I think Teddy would be any
Speaker 6: worse than Jared Goff if you cook over?
Speaker 5: I do not.
Speaker 1: Still, Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 3: I think Jared Goff was quietly We're still doing the
Speaker 3: best version.
Speaker 1: We're still taking down Jared Goff. Really, I'm not just
Speaker 1: trying to have a say, solid career.
Speaker 6: In this great situation that is the Detroit Lions. Teddy
Speaker 6: Bridgewater would put up excellent numbers and be able above
Speaker 6: it all these.
Speaker 4: Years if he can stay healthy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I feel like all these years of bouncing around
Speaker 2: for Teddy now he's had opportunities to kind of find
Speaker 2: his place, find his footing. The fact that it still
Speaker 2: hasn't happened, I think it tells you something, not that
Speaker 2: he's a bad quarterback and certainly a likable guy and
Speaker 2: a great comeback story after what happened with his knee injury.
Speaker 4: Which was seven years ago at this point.
Speaker 6: I mean it tells you, yeah, he's he's hurt too
Speaker 6: much to be relied upon. But but I still remember
Speaker 6: that Denver season, isn't it?
Speaker 1: Nice?
Speaker 5: Nice little job?
Speaker 1: All right?
Speaker 2: A couple more things you know that tragic story had
Speaker 2: Rugg's former first round pick of the Raiders who got
Speaker 2: drunk at a bar or a club and then went
Speaker 2: driving home in Vegas a couple of years back, rear
Speaker 2: ended at a crazy speed a poor woman and her
Speaker 2: dog and they both burned to death in the car.
Speaker 2: And he was way over the legal limit. It's a
Speaker 2: terrible story all the way around. And Rugs twenty four
Speaker 2: years old.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 2: He's been out of the league after the Raiders cut
Speaker 2: him shortly after that incident in November of twenty twenty one.
Speaker 2: On Wednesday, clark Keunty District Court Judge Jennifer Schwartz told
Speaker 2: Ruggs that it was one of the more tragic cases
Speaker 2: she had seen.
Speaker 1: In her sentencing of Rugs to three to.
Speaker 2: Ten years in that fatal dui, Ruggs said, to the
Speaker 2: parents and family of miss Tinter that's the woman who
Speaker 2: died in the accident. Tina Tinter, I sincerely apologize for
Speaker 2: the pain and suffering. I don't even really know what
Speaker 2: else needs to be said on that one, boys, But
Speaker 2: just like one of the sadder stories, up with a
Speaker 2: little eight o'clock delight.
Speaker 6: The Texans lose newly signed tackle. We missed that one
Speaker 6: a few weeks ago Titus Howard got a big deal,
Speaker 6: good tackle combo in Houston.
Speaker 3: But they're not going to be around Mark He's out. Nope,
Speaker 3: they got Laramie Tunsel. You do have George Fund maybe
Speaker 3: maybe you can help.
Speaker 5: Out and Rams back in.
Speaker 1: John john said, Leev Schreiber, Leave Schreiber.
Speaker 4: I say leave.
Speaker 1: I've got to get that right.
Speaker 4: But I am hearing people say Leev no, and I
Speaker 4: don't like that at all.
Speaker 1: What is it? Eric?
Speaker 6: Can you check that you're reading more of Leev? You
Speaker 6: feel like in Russia it would definitely be Leev.
Speaker 1: I'm self conscious when I say it.
Speaker 4: Every day I've been saying leave my entire life.
Speaker 1: I'm okay, go ahead.
Speaker 5: The Rams signed, uh John Johnson what.
Speaker 1: Johnny jo Safety?
Speaker 7: Uh?
Speaker 1: Brown's Rams also came on our show.
Speaker 2: Came on our show when we thought we were getting
Speaker 2: Robert right, but at the Old Coliseum and we were.
Speaker 1: Like hamah hamanaha, we do in.
Speaker 3: Your ear Like seconds before he sat down, it was like,
Speaker 3: this is John Johnson of the Rams Safety.
Speaker 2: He was a rook It was a rookie at the time,
Speaker 2: very close to the old Zeuser saying well, Robert Woods,
Speaker 2: great to have you on the show.
Speaker 1: That would have went well.
Speaker 6: Kareem Hunt visited the Colts after a trip to the Saints.
Speaker 6: Jadavian Clowney visited the Ravens. Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trash
Speaker 6: will each start a preseason.
Speaker 4: Game, though this could bubble into the worst quarter they are.
Speaker 2: They are co number one QBS on the depth chart.
Speaker 2: Can we calm down a little bit over there in Tampa?
Speaker 5: That's yeah, not fun.
Speaker 6: Broncos lost another starter, Mike Mclinche's out two to three weeks,
Speaker 6: and then Rashad Bateman off the pup list for the Ravens.
Speaker 5: It sounds like JK.
Speaker 6: Dobbins is probably gonna end his holding fairly soon, even
Speaker 6: though no one has called it all.
Speaker 2: Right, And I'll tag that with Jonathan Taylor's left the
Speaker 2: scene and indeed to rehab his he's got inside.
Speaker 6: I actually think this is something where the journalism industry
Speaker 6: had an impact, because the Colts beat writers were like,
Speaker 6: can we get Jonathan Taylor off the field? Scowling at
Speaker 6: every practice, it's just sort of bad vibes, And then
Speaker 6: like a day or two later, they're like, he's just
Speaker 6: inside rehabby It's like if he's just gonna be standing there.
Speaker 5: That's it's kind of awkward.
Speaker 1: That's what's happening in the news promo time.
Speaker 2: Football is back and NFL Network has every preseason game,
Speaker 2: including twenty three of them live, twenty three and twenty three.
Speaker 2: Big names putting new cities on their backs, a new
Speaker 2: class putting their names on the map. Your team is
Speaker 2: back in action. It's time for football. The NFL Preseason
Speaker 2: August tenth through the twenty sixth on NFL Network and
Speaker 2: stream on NFL Plus.
Speaker 1: We'll be right back with Aaron Shatz. Wow.
Speaker 2: You know, I asked Eric to send me something a
Speaker 2: little fresh.
Speaker 3: Eric is from a different generation than us, and he
Speaker 3: found something that I don't think we.
Speaker 2: Would have foun This sounds like something that was playing
Speaker 2: out of the boombox when Woody Harrelson and Lesley Snipes
Speaker 2: are dribbling poorly and white Man Kenjum.
Speaker 5: Has a bit of a CNC music factory vibe to it.
Speaker 2: Here's a man that has a CNC music factory vibe
Speaker 2: to No, that doesn't make sense.
Speaker 1: He is a great man. He is one of the
Speaker 1: pre eminent football minds.
Speaker 2: He's the Oppenheimer of you know, detailed, nuanced takes on football,
Speaker 2: founder of Football Outsiders, and now he's got his new
Speaker 2: UH partnership with FTN as Football Almanac twenty twenty three.
Speaker 1: Aaron Schatz, Welcome back to Around the NFL.
Speaker 8: Hey, thanks for having me back on. I think I'm
Speaker 8: more Oppenheimer than I am CNC Music Factory.
Speaker 6: Yeah, you were a DJ though, I do remember that
Speaker 6: you professional day.
Speaker 1: You were looking down on CNC.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's in that Nathaniel Hackett, you know, dance instructor
Speaker 3: category right there, that you were a DJ.
Speaker 4: I'm impressed. I would not have I would not have
Speaker 4: guessed then.
Speaker 8: Yeah, it was my first job out of college.
Speaker 2: My buddy Bob and I saw Soul Asylum at the
Speaker 2: Troubadour like five years ago.
Speaker 1: How about that.
Speaker 8: Yeah, they're still going.
Speaker 1: Still doing it, still doing the things.
Speaker 8: Not a band, still going, not all the original members,
Speaker 8: but still going.
Speaker 2: Got Perner in there, some of the Souls went back
Speaker 2: to her Wenona Ryder not in attendance, but I did
Speaker 2: look around Aaron Shatz again, this is it, and this
Speaker 2: is the guy. This is the almanac that you need
Speaker 2: to study ahead of a football season. And we're lucky
Speaker 2: enough to have him here, and we wanted to really
Speaker 2: kind of dive into the defensive side of the ball
Speaker 2: in our conversation with you, because there were some things
Speaker 2: when you kind of look at your breakdowns on the
Speaker 2: DVOA side of things that really stood out.
Speaker 1: Greg.
Speaker 2: I mean, why don't you get us going with this conversation?
Speaker 2: What's what's a rating that Shats and his team had
Speaker 2: that really jumped out.
Speaker 5: To Yeah, I was fascinating.
Speaker 6: First, let's let's go through like what you your top
Speaker 6: five work, because it's interesting on defense in terms of
Speaker 6: DVOA projections to his Bills, Jets, Cowboys, Niners, and then
Speaker 6: Commanders and the Bills being on top kind of gets
Speaker 6: to something I've been noticing lately that there's this feeling
Speaker 6: that it's like, well, has their window closed, or like
Speaker 6: you know, is the rest of the league caught up
Speaker 6: and passed the Bills. And I do feel like I'm
Speaker 6: taking crazy pills a little because they won thirteen games
Speaker 6: a year ago and they've had a stable a.
Speaker 5: Defense as anyone. So why do you think Bills and
Speaker 5: Jets especially came out on top when you're looking at it?
Speaker 5: Because I saw also you have the Bills as your
Speaker 5: Super Bowl pick, which is weird that that's going to
Speaker 5: be I feel like a not a trendy pick this year.
Speaker 5: The Bills getting to the super Bowl finally.
Speaker 8: Yeah, the thing about the Bill. One of the things
Speaker 8: about the Bills, and this also goes for the Cowboys,
Speaker 8: is that people overestimate in their minds the effect of
Speaker 8: one playoff instead of thinking about the much larger sample
Speaker 8: size of the entire regular season. And so, yeah, the Bills.
Speaker 8: The last time we remember the Bills, they were not
Speaker 8: playing well. That was a loss, no question about it.
Speaker 8: But they had a phenomenal regular season. They've had a
Speaker 8: couple of phenomenal regular seasons. Their defense has been really good,
Speaker 8: and they've added a bunch of stuff to their defense, right,
Speaker 8: like by getting guys back from injury and adding Leonard Floyd, Like,
Speaker 8: their defense should be better. They have a whole year
Speaker 8: of Tradavius White, they get Micah Hyde back. There's just
Speaker 8: a lot of reason to believe that their defense can
Speaker 8: be even better this year than it was last year.
Speaker 3: I looked at this list and right away I have
Speaker 3: a very clear number one thing that jumped out to me.
Speaker 3: I'll say it before I jump into that though, that
Speaker 3: this almanac that you guys put every year, like the writing.
Speaker 3: You know, I'll go read this in like taverns and
Speaker 3: restaurants and like I'll be cracking up at some of
Speaker 3: the stuff that's going on. So back in the day
Speaker 3: the Farmers, they wrote an almanac, a lot of data,
Speaker 3: not good writing, not intriguing.
Speaker 4: This is a different type of almanac. Pick it up.
Speaker 3: But you have the Falcons as the tenth defense and
Speaker 3: I know they had it. They did a lot this offseason,
Speaker 3: so you're weighing some of that. But i'd branch that
Speaker 3: off to say that when you go through your projected
Speaker 3: win totals, you have the Falcons as the third highest
Speaker 3: team in the in the in the NFC, at point one,
Speaker 3: above Philadelphia and just below San Francisco and Dallas. I mean,
Speaker 3: Greg and I have been on this Falcons thing. Dan
Speaker 3: is now there too. I think they're going to be
Speaker 3: so fun to watch. But what brought you to this place?
Speaker 3: What is the for of your belief? Because this was
Speaker 3: the thing that stood out to me more than anything else.
Speaker 8: Defense and schedule. So we think their defense is going
Speaker 8: to really improve. There's a variable in our system based
Speaker 8: on a combination of you know, free agent additions, getting
Speaker 8: guys back from injury, and drafting rookies. High Buffalo is
Speaker 8: actually number one in that variable because of all the
Speaker 8: guys they're getting back from injury, but Atlanta is number
Speaker 8: two Jesse Bates and Kaleiis Campbell and Caden Ellis and
Speaker 8: they've just added a ton on defense, and then their
Speaker 8: schedule is remarkably easy. I know it sounds strange given
Speaker 8: that the NFC South was won by a team with
Speaker 8: a losing record last year, but the Saints and Falcons
Speaker 8: schedules are so much easier than the other thirty teams
Speaker 8: that it is really likely that you're going to have
Speaker 8: two NFC teams NFC South teams in the playoffs over
Speaker 8: teams that are better than them but have harder schedules,
Speaker 8: because if you look at the overall DVOA projections, the
Speaker 8: Saints and Falcons are projected to be average, like not good,
Speaker 8: just average. But the schedule is so easy. The hardest
Speaker 8: quarterback that either of those teams plays is Trevor Lawrence.
Speaker 8: And then the Falcons also have Aaron Rodgers, which the
Speaker 8: Saints don't have because they play the Patriots instead of
Speaker 8: the Jets. And as far as top quarterbacks in the league.
Speaker 8: That's it. Then I think the next hardest one they
Speaker 8: play is Kirk Cousins. Like they just have really easy schedules.
Speaker 6: I don't like this because I was already toying around
Speaker 6: with putting them both in the playoffs, like in my
Speaker 6: in my mind, but now I feel like shots took
Speaker 6: a little bit of my Oh that's kind of a
Speaker 6: good sandwich prop thunder here.
Speaker 5: Not happy with that.
Speaker 6: But you do have them as top ten defenses, both
Speaker 6: of them, so even even separate to the schedule, that
Speaker 6: that would be amazing because the Falcons had one of
Speaker 6: the worst defense in the league of years.
Speaker 2: Now I'm curious, not to get off topic, but who's
Speaker 2: like kind of the inverse of that, a team that
Speaker 2: all your data really backs up as being a good team,
Speaker 2: but the schedule is so brutal that it's going to
Speaker 2: depress their value and hold them back.
Speaker 8: Maybe the Chargers, the Jets. Yeah yeah, AFCAST the four
Speaker 8: hardest schedules in the league are the four AFC East teams.
Speaker 6: Miami you have eight and a half wins project did
Speaker 6: Patriots are eight? And I was a little surprised that
Speaker 6: neither of those teams were in your top ten defensive projections,
Speaker 6: because that's not taking into account schedule, that's looking at
Speaker 6: how effective they're going to be. When I came up,
Speaker 6: I tried to come up with what my five were
Speaker 6: before I looked at yours, just curious how they'd be different.
Speaker 6: And I had forteen. I had Cowboys, forty nine, Ers, Bills, Patriots, Dolphins.
Speaker 6: I had all three of the AFC teams in a
Speaker 6: top five. And you don't have the Dolphins or the
Speaker 6: Patriots particularly close. You have the Jets and the Bills
Speaker 6: at a whole other level to them.
Speaker 8: Yeah, the Patriots. The Dolphins are interesting because the Dolphins
Speaker 8: didn't have a lot of takeaways last year, so there's
Speaker 8: reason to believe that they're going to be better. But
Speaker 8: you know, obviously no more credit for Jalen Ramsey, right,
Speaker 8: So sure, I think the thing about the Dolphins, some
Speaker 8: of this has to do with splits of stats and
Speaker 8: certain down, down in play situations. It's sort of complicated
Speaker 8: to get to. But for the Dolphins, I think part
Speaker 8: of it is that mentally, everyone wants to feel like
Speaker 8: Vic Fangio comes in and builds a top five defense. Yes,
Speaker 8: and historically Vic Fangio does not come in and immediately
Speaker 8: build a top five defense. Most of the teams he's
Speaker 8: been with have taken some time to have their defenses
Speaker 8: develop into being top defenses. So I don't think that
Speaker 8: Fangio necessarily equals a top five defense on his own.
Speaker 8: And then a lot of this is just general regression
Speaker 8: from both of these teams, Like they were good on
Speaker 8: third and short last year, and that tends to regress
Speaker 8: a little bit. And you know, in general, an important
Speaker 8: analytic precept is defense is harder to project than offense.
Speaker 8: So you know, the defensive projections are just not going
Speaker 8: to be as accurate as the offensive ones. And a
Speaker 8: lot of the teams are sort of grouped around the
Speaker 8: middle because we don't quite know what's going to happen
Speaker 8: with defenses.
Speaker 3: I think, you know, if you ask the average fan
Speaker 3: what the triumvirt of power is in the AFC, it's
Speaker 3: very clearly Kansas City, Buffalo, and Cincinnati to most people.
Speaker 3: I don't know if you're going to be having a
Speaker 3: delightful trip to Cincinnati anytime soon. This got on Greg
Speaker 3: and my radar as well, that you have the Browns
Speaker 3: overall as number one, the ninth Bens defense and the
Speaker 3: Bengals down at twenty six.
Speaker 4: That's through me.
Speaker 3: But then also Cleveland is the third best team in
Speaker 3: the AFC with a ten point five win total and
Speaker 3: Cincinnati at ten point two. I mean, I know you're
Speaker 3: not doing this for clicks and tweets and stuff, but like,
Speaker 3: this is going to get on some people's radar.
Speaker 8: I would imagine, Yeah, notice that Cincinnati is better but
Speaker 8: has a harder schedule, so Cincinnati does come out slightly better.
Speaker 8: But yeah, the fact that we have Cleveland so high
Speaker 8: is going to surprise people. Defensively, we like what they've
Speaker 8: done with the additions to offseason, people like Sadarius Smith.
Speaker 8: I think their defense is going to really improve. Offensively,
Speaker 8: it's about sample size. You have three years of them
Speaker 8: having good offenses with bad quarterbacks, and then you have
Speaker 8: six bad games at the end of last year. And
Speaker 8: you have all of Deshaun's Watson's career of him being
Speaker 8: good and then six bad games at the end of
Speaker 8: last year. So what means more all of that sample
Speaker 8: of Kevin Stefanski running a good offense and Deshaun Watson
Speaker 8: running a good offense were those six games. I mean,
Speaker 8: we're going to bet that it's the larger sample that
Speaker 8: tells you more about how good Cleveland is. And then
Speaker 8: we have Cincinnati. They lost a lot of talent in
Speaker 8: their secondary, so we do have them declining a little
Speaker 8: bit on defense, and that's what puts Cleveland slightly ahead
Speaker 8: of them in wins. Although it's not like Cincinnati. Cincinnati
Speaker 8: is not a major Super Bowl contender. They have our
Speaker 8: number two projection on offense.
Speaker 6: That's surprising, but you still have you have them as
Speaker 6: like one of the five teams that are the top
Speaker 6: ten offense and a top ten defense.
Speaker 8: Cleveland. Yeah, we have Cleveland right on the edge of
Speaker 8: the top ten in both offense.
Speaker 6: Is that because Jim Schwartz used to blurb your No
Speaker 6: Football Outsiders Almanac back in like two thousand and five.
Speaker 5: That was a good pop for you though early on
Speaker 5: that you got a real big football guy, it would
Speaker 5: always be like Bill Simmons, maybe Peter King I feel like,
Speaker 5: but it would always be Schwartz. It would always be
Speaker 5: Jim Schwartz's quote on the front of the book that
Speaker 5: would be like, these guys really know what they're talking about.
Speaker 3: You know what Greg is going for here? Greg wants
Speaker 3: a blurb at some point in the future.
Speaker 8: Oh, we'll take it. Oh, I'll take it happily. Yeah,
Speaker 8: we counted him as a new defensive coordinator the way
Speaker 8: we normally do with new defensive coordinators. It is a
Speaker 8: new scheme they're learning, and all other things being equal,
Speaker 8: teams take a little bit of a step back when
Speaker 8: they have to learn a new scheme. But of course
Speaker 8: all things aren't equal because of the talent that they
Speaker 8: added in the offseason, and you know other statistical trends.
Speaker 6: Seahawks, you had a seventh on defense. You wrote to me,
Speaker 6: you put your top twelve in an order very nicely
Speaker 6: for me, and you thought that was the biggest surprise
Speaker 6: of your top ten.
Speaker 8: Yeah, this is another one where they added talent. They're
Speaker 8: the number three in the added talent variable because they
Speaker 8: drafted the cornerback so high and then getting Bobby Wagner
Speaker 8: back and then getting Dreamont Jones. This is probably right
Speaker 8: the defensive projection that I like. If you ask me subjectively,
Speaker 8: I think we're too low on the Seattle offense and
Speaker 8: too high on the Seattle defense, and probably right about
Speaker 8: them overall.
Speaker 3: I get what you're doing with Minnesota's defense. They are
Speaker 3: dead last at thirty two. I do think Brian Flores
Speaker 3: could get them a little bit of a boost, but
Speaker 3: you know, personnel wise, it's a bit of an apocalypse.
Speaker 3: But overall, I mean, I kind of love what you
Speaker 3: did with the with the Vikings because this will be
Speaker 3: another minor earthquake up in that part of the country.
Speaker 3: You have them at six point four wins, so you're
Speaker 3: basically saying all these what happened last year was ultimately
Speaker 3: a massive mirage in.
Speaker 8: Terms of yes, they were twenty seventh in DVA. Overall,
Speaker 8: despite being thirteen and four, it was like the weirdest
Speaker 8: season of all times. So like all advanced stats said
Speaker 8: the Vikings were overrated, but we may have had them
Speaker 8: lower than anybody. And then they went out lost talent, right,
Speaker 8: no more feeling, No more's a Darius Smith, no more
Speaker 8: Patrick Peterson, so you know, Dalvin Cook, also Kendrick So yeah,
Speaker 8: I mean, I just don't think Minnesota's going to be
Speaker 8: very good, and I don't think they think they're going
Speaker 8: to be that good because I think that Adolphamenza ran
Speaker 8: the off season as if they're rebuilding, right, and they
Speaker 8: ran a rebuilding off season. I think he saw the
Speaker 8: analytics and said, we're not a thirteen and fourteen trying
Speaker 8: to get to the super Bowl. We're a rebuilding team.
Speaker 8: We're going to have a rebuilding off season.
Speaker 2: And we talked about in our news before we had
Speaker 2: you on, Aaron that they're keeping their options open with
Speaker 2: cousins because I think they're using this as a big
Speaker 2: evaluation year, not we're going for this or we have
Speaker 2: the core in place already over in the NFC West.
Speaker 1: I get it, I get it. You.
Speaker 2: In terms of win projections, you have the Rams at
Speaker 2: five point eight, Arizona also at five point eight, and
Speaker 2: on the defensive side, you have the Rams thirtieth. And
Speaker 2: I think it's kind of hard to wrap your head
Speaker 2: around that a defense that has Aaron Donald ostensibly still
Speaker 2: in or near the peak of his game anchoring a
Speaker 2: defense that could be this bad. But I would imagine
Speaker 2: for the exercise and the projections you do, they are
Speaker 2: a unique case because they just have so many new
Speaker 2: faces there and they're just kind of starting from scratch.
Speaker 8: Yeah. I was gonna say, Okay, Aaron Donald, name another
Speaker 8: defender on the Rams. You guys can do it, of course, right,
Speaker 8: you guys know, Hey, John Johnson just signed there, which
Speaker 8: isn't incorporated in this because that happened after we finished
Speaker 8: the book.
Speaker 5: Now it's a bad side. I saw on their poster.
Speaker 6: Jordan Fuller was on their poster, who's like a fourth
Speaker 6: year safety for fans out there, you know, and that
Speaker 6: defensive captain. Like that's a pretty big steep fall from
Speaker 6: Aaron Donald to Jordan Fuller.
Speaker 8: Their secondary is almost all Day three draft picks, and
Speaker 8: you know, other than Fuller, not established really players. There's
Speaker 8: like one linebacker, Ernest Jones, Like there really isn't a
Speaker 8: second off ball linebacker, Like, I don't know what they're
Speaker 8: gonna do when they need to play nickel or bass.
Speaker 4: It's unusual to see the Ravens down as the twentieth
Speaker 4: defense in the NFL.
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's surprising.
Speaker 8: Yeah, there's a little regression there. You know, high turnovers
Speaker 8: last year, their defense getting a lot younger this year
Speaker 8: than it was last year. The system doesn't really like
Speaker 8: that that much. They were particularly good on third downs
Speaker 8: last year, so it sees that regressing a little bit.
Speaker 8: I mean, we like the Ravens overall. The thing that
Speaker 8: people forget about the Ravens is you can always pencil
Speaker 8: them in for, if not the best special teams in
Speaker 8: the league, close to the best special teams in the league.
Speaker 8: It's like this hidden little bump that they get when
Speaker 8: you're thinking about what they're going to do this year,
Speaker 8: Like special teams are impossible to predict, except the Ravens.
Speaker 8: You know they're going to do.
Speaker 6: For a while, it was the Patriots and uh, yeah
Speaker 6: that's over. That's over, Cliff, I am. I do think
Speaker 6: the Ravens defense is going to be better, but I'm
Speaker 6: basing it on uh, subjective things, which is that I
Speaker 6: think their defense took a little bit to catch on
Speaker 6: last year under uh the new coordinator MacDonald. And then
Speaker 6: I'm buying like little camp reports where it's like Michael
Speaker 6: Pierce is like a once in every three year player,
Speaker 6: but he sounds like he's looking pretty awesome this year.
Speaker 6: I think some of their young players, like Matt a
Speaker 6: Bouquet away a Jabo, like a lot of guys who
Speaker 6: haven't quite produced at the NFL level. A full season
Speaker 6: of Rokwan Smith and Queen together, which which seemed like
Speaker 6: a great combination last year. There's questions in the secondary,
Speaker 6: but they're a team to me. That and you you
Speaker 6: said it, defense is hard to predict that. Like, if
Speaker 6: you told me they're a top five defense this year,
Speaker 6: I wouldn't be totally shocked. I feel like they have
Speaker 6: a chance at doing that, and really so I don't
Speaker 6: think shocked.
Speaker 8: You're right, edge rushers, right, Like part of it is
Speaker 8: they've they haven't had a really good edge rush for
Speaker 8: a couple of years, and they've depended on like rental
Speaker 8: veterans like justin Houston. If those guys get it together
Speaker 8: and you know that they have talent Jabbo and Oda Fay, oh, like, yeah,
Speaker 8: they could be a much better defense than we're projecting. Sure. Absolutely.
Speaker 3: Another team that you have falling off a cliff after
Speaker 3: an inspiring campaign a year ago in New York the Giants,
Speaker 3: the g Men, Yeah.
Speaker 8: They were the mini Vikings.
Speaker 2: Basically were you about might as well tum Aaron, do
Speaker 2: the talk about it?
Speaker 1: Talk about it?
Speaker 3: No? I thought I emphasized that g Men and then
Speaker 3: just like leave it to you the state you talk
Speaker 3: about it.
Speaker 8: Yeah, I mean they they were a little overrated last year.
Speaker 8: I think Daboll did an amazing job and ran a
Speaker 8: great offense. Their defense was man and they won games.
Speaker 8: They you know, were very close in and their overall
Speaker 8: numbers weren't great, but the thing is they're sort of, hey,
Speaker 8: here's a team that's having kind of a lucky year.
Speaker 8: Was so overshadowed by the vikings like yours ever that,
Speaker 8: you know, and then the two teams faced each other
Speaker 8: in the playoffs, which was, you know, it was like
Speaker 8: battle of the network frauds, which the Giants won because
Speaker 8: they were better in our numbers over the course of
Speaker 8: the season.
Speaker 2: But kind of messed up the NFC playoffs a little
Speaker 2: bit because we got the fraud the fraud game, and
Speaker 2: then he had the Eagles dismantling the fraud that won
Speaker 2: the next week.
Speaker 1: We don't need all those frauds, right.
Speaker 5: It's good that the Eagles played so well in the
Speaker 5: Super Bowl.
Speaker 6: I know they lost, but it was a classic because
Speaker 6: before that it was like no team has ever had
Speaker 6: such a buye to the Super Bowl.
Speaker 8: If the story is that the Giants play better than
Speaker 8: this because Dave Bowl coaches the heck out of them,
Speaker 8: I will buy it. Like I think Dave Bowl was
Speaker 8: a great coach last year. And it's hard, you know,
Speaker 8: it's hard to control for that in a stat analysis system.
Speaker 5: Right, So they coached up that defense.
Speaker 6: I'm with you on paper, they coached up their defense
Speaker 6: to get it to even respectable last year. And in
Speaker 6: the back end, it's like Deontay Banks is getting smoked
Speaker 6: at at practice reportedly basically linebacker and secondary is trouble.
Speaker 6: But they're looking at it like, our lines are pretty
Speaker 6: good and if you have good lines, that's a good
Speaker 6: base to build from.
Speaker 8: And we might yeah, you need a good secondary too, right.
Speaker 1: I don't.
Speaker 5: I don't see it with them. I think they're a
Speaker 5: solid fourth for me.
Speaker 2: Let's end it this way, Aaron, because this is in
Speaker 2: some ways the most vital question in your business and
Speaker 2: all of sports. What do you have to say to
Speaker 2: the one thing You can't measure his heart, Mafia.
Speaker 8: I mean you measure heart, because if a guy's heart
Speaker 8: makes him play better than his muscles would make him play,
Speaker 8: it's gonna come out in his performance.
Speaker 1: The heart is a muscle.
Speaker 5: Hard will be in the numbers, the heart the numbers.
Speaker 8: What you can't measure is whether guys get along in
Speaker 8: the locker room. You can't measure coaches, you know, uh,
Speaker 8: making their players play better through inspiration. That kind of
Speaker 8: stuff you can't measure. But I mean I feel like,
Speaker 8: you know, if a player wants it more, then you're
Speaker 8: gonna see it in his numbers because he's gonna do
Speaker 8: it more.
Speaker 2: Asking for a friend. Last question, last, last question, is
Speaker 2: momentum real?
Speaker 8: No?
Speaker 1: Oh, I mean you knew that, you know, well.
Speaker 2: You know we have a buddy, Patrick Claibon. Yes, I'm
Speaker 2: actually doing him a favor. I thought that it would align.
Speaker 4: I felt we would go that way with I'm with him.
Speaker 8: I know I know how much players and coaches feel it,
Speaker 8: but you can't ever define it in such a way
Speaker 8: that's actually testable. I mean, I'm less than football anyway,
Speaker 8: because when the defense does something, the offense comes on.
Speaker 8: Like completely different players come on the field after the
Speaker 8: offense does something or the defense does something. So it's
Speaker 8: not even like you know in basketball, where you know,
Speaker 8: you let up a ten ozer run and then you're
Speaker 8: still on the court. Like football, completely different players are
Speaker 8: suddenly on the field.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you'd just like to agree with clayboun and everything. Greg,
Speaker 1: I don't believe you.
Speaker 2: I bet we could find one hundred instances on this
Speaker 2: podcast where you talk about lentum swinging.
Speaker 1: No, I think it's a lot, Eric, I have a
Speaker 1: project for you this week.
Speaker 4: Oh, a big project.
Speaker 6: I think it's a little more nuanced. But if you
Speaker 6: have to go just black and white, yes, no, then
Speaker 6: it's basically no because it's it's a movie.
Speaker 1: Here's the deal with Aaron chats Uh.
Speaker 2: He's over with the FTN Fantasy crowd and his football
Speaker 2: Almanac is as good as ever.
Speaker 1: Where could people get it? Get that plug in?
Speaker 8: So the PDF version you can get at ftnfantasy dot com.
Speaker 8: Look for the picture of Patrick Mahomes. He's on the
Speaker 8: cover of the book.
Speaker 1: Smart.
Speaker 8: There's a physical copy also. It's currently in review by Amazon,
Speaker 8: but within the next day or two that should be
Speaker 8: available as well on Amazon. So physical book on Amazon,
Speaker 8: Pdf at FTN fantasy dot.
Speaker 4: Com under review.
Speaker 3: Yes, someone's got to read the whole thing in like
Speaker 3: one day. That's a bit.
Speaker 4: There's a lot going on here, so.
Speaker 8: You have to make sure our fonts look right right.
Speaker 6: It's like Bezos says up in his office. He's like, actually,
Speaker 6: momentum is real. I'm gonna need you.
Speaker 1: It's a big red stamp, like.
Speaker 8: Like they're going over on the commanders.
Speaker 1: There you go. Aaron Schautz thank you for the time
Speaker 1: you got it. Thanks Aaron. There he goes.
Speaker 2: Listen, Greg, I I just think you're saying this because
Speaker 2: I know that's the smart football guys.
Speaker 5: I've always believed that.
Speaker 6: I just don't like getting in the same arguments over
Speaker 6: and over on this podcast. But back in the day,
Speaker 6: if you went back to like twenty thirteen, we were
Speaker 6: in those arguments.
Speaker 1: I know.
Speaker 3: I mean, I'm not that I'm not that surprised that
Speaker 3: Greg takes the more robotic Earth approach to this topic.
Speaker 4: But you know, I kind of disagree entirely.
Speaker 1: I don't like the battle against science because science usually
Speaker 1: wins out, but it can't win verbally. But there is
Speaker 1: there's something beaten in here.
Speaker 4: Okay, yeah, go talk to the real players who play.
Speaker 2: There's a motion drive not just sports, but important the
Speaker 2: human race and really all animals.
Speaker 3: Do you ever feel momentum when you were play a
Speaker 3: teenage tennis player, Greg.
Speaker 5: Well, that's a one on one sport.
Speaker 1: How about how about when you.
Speaker 6: Did well with removing a lot of the variables when
Speaker 6: it's a one on one sport.
Speaker 1: But there's the scientists over here, now over here, Now
Speaker 1: about the girls.
Speaker 2: In high school when you got on that nice run
Speaker 2: you were on. Yeah, you had the girlfriend after girlfriend,
Speaker 2: and then things slowed down a little bit.
Speaker 1: Like college. That was momentum.
Speaker 2: My friend was one. It was born out of the
Speaker 2: momentum of one girl.
Speaker 5: And we're talking about in a football game first of all.
Speaker 1: Now, right, just like.
Speaker 2: Leaving them behind. Oh I'm bored of you. First period,
Speaker 2: that's my first period, girl. I got my fourth period, girl,
Speaker 2: I got my seventh period.
Speaker 4: Girl, lunch lunch time.
Speaker 1: Speaking of hearts, you didn't care about their hearts.
Speaker 5: I cared a lot my heart.
Speaker 6: That's why I think was working out, because it's like
Speaker 6: when people talk about high school and they're like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 6: they're this one girl. I had a bigger Like didn't
Speaker 6: you have a crush on like thirty girls in high
Speaker 6: school all the time? Wasn't it always changing? And there
Speaker 6: was like many at once Because there's so many.
Speaker 1: There was the crush that was like.
Speaker 6: I rejected, like some of them they feel your vibe
Speaker 6: and you're getting backed back.
Speaker 3: But you could lock in on one, which is a mistake.
Speaker 3: That's what you went back in high school. You lock
Speaker 3: in on one and you don't see anything else.
Speaker 2: Right, there's the unattainable crush that you might have. Then
Speaker 2: there's the one that you think is attainable. Yeah, there
Speaker 2: are different levels of it.
Speaker 6: Right, I think I'm such a lover, you know, not
Speaker 6: a rope that it was just it was just the
Speaker 6: vibes were going out to many people, and then you're
Speaker 6: you're bound to.
Speaker 1: Uh, we should just subjects. I don't.
Speaker 2: I don't think we're gonna agree on this one. I
Speaker 2: think you were cold and emotionless in high school and
Speaker 2: you just you just had notches on your on your
Speaker 2: bedpost rather than caring about people.
Speaker 4: It's tough to watch, tough to see.
Speaker 2: I was at the Tailor Swift Show, which was an incredible,
Speaker 2: incredible scene, by the way, and I even as a
Speaker 2: tailor Swift and I am not near the level of
Speaker 2: the true Swifties, So I just kind of watched it
Speaker 2: from a distance, and it is a very cool vibe.
Speaker 2: I don't have any daughters, Greg, you do have a daughter.
Speaker 2: It was so cool to see you. I have a daughter,
Speaker 2: you do, I mean a eighteen She kind of started
Speaker 2: over that relationship and you guys are working through it.
Speaker 2: It was so great to see the vibe in Sofi Stadium.
Speaker 2: Of this is an outdated term, the girl power, but
Speaker 2: it was just like this this great communal experience of
Speaker 2: everyone like loving this woman who puts out all this
Speaker 2: positive energy and it's such a great role model.
Speaker 1: I was as like as a dad, I was like,
Speaker 1: this would be a concert.
Speaker 2: I would make sure to take my daughter to to
Speaker 2: show the power of that's great.
Speaker 4: Did we ever find out who won that?
Speaker 7: In?
Speaker 1: Like?
Speaker 5: That raffers that much?
Speaker 1: Though? Then I wouldn't take her.
Speaker 2: I guess I would take her to you know something else,
Speaker 2: the Beyonce Show.
Speaker 5: I wanted to hear about your experience, So I'm glad you.
Speaker 3: Told who I was who won this raffle? By the way,
Speaker 3: did we ever get any We never got any info
Speaker 3: on that. Did you see any like and a half hour?
Speaker 1: By the way?
Speaker 5: Wow? Really?
Speaker 1: Yes? Wow? Just one tonight.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Speaking of Clay and we were talking, he was he
Speaker 3: came up with an idea to go sit up on
Speaker 3: the roof of our building and just see what you
Speaker 3: could hear, because you can hear rams games really well.
Speaker 4: So it's like we heard the show on the top
Speaker 4: of the parking.
Speaker 6: We left work on Thursday, and I could hear the
Speaker 6: sound check I mean it sound quality is not great
Speaker 6: from there, but it's something.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was great and an insane production. Like I
Speaker 2: don't know how she does it. I have no idea
Speaker 2: how she's doing it night after night.
Speaker 1: All right? Anything else?
Speaker 2: Oh, I have one thing developing news.
Speaker 1: Boots on the ground. We mentioned the rams.
Speaker 2: Jordan Rodrieg, who covers that team so well, she's been
Speaker 2: all over the story helping figure out. Uh, we don't
Speaker 2: call t shirt gate because we don't use gate around here,
Speaker 2: but what is the who's responsible for? You know that shirt? Right,
Speaker 2: let's flash that up again for the YouTube audience. Mentally
Speaker 2: and physically tough players who play smart and love to compete.
Speaker 2: But there's and spelled out and then there's an amber
Speaker 2: sand disaster.
Speaker 1: Here's here's what Jordan had to tell me.
Speaker 2: Huse, we've been kind of back and forth all week
Speaker 2: on it. According to Jordan, both of Sean McVay quotes
Speaker 2: Model the Way, which is the other shirt we saw
Speaker 2: as a reminder to him and some of the vets
Speaker 2: to walk the walk this year and get back to teaching,
Speaker 2: where he's admitted he's gotten away from. He's admitted he
Speaker 2: got away from living his other slogans we not me
Speaker 2: et cetera, et cetera last season. Now, the shirt in question,
Speaker 2: this was very interesting according to Jordan, and this isn't
Speaker 2: hard reporting like this is just based on conversation she
Speaker 2: has had. And I just want to make that very clear.
Speaker 2: It's it's presented more as a leading theory gathered from
Speaker 2: whispers around camp. Okay, that the shirt and the way
Speaker 2: it's written, what is a syntax?
Speaker 4: Sure?
Speaker 6: I mean even just choosing to put all those words
Speaker 6: on the shirt, I'm counting them now. I think there's
Speaker 6: twelve words. It's a lot of words, no traumas, mixed use.
Speaker 2: Of Amber San's that's the way Sean McVay texts on
Speaker 2: his phone. And the running theory according to Jordan, and
Speaker 2: this is not hard reporting, but just formulated on conversations
Speaker 2: is he texted whoever the assistant was to make the shirt,
Speaker 2: and of course said that assistant, you know, would not
Speaker 2: dare to deviate from the word of the initial text
Speaker 2: from their boss. They just basically cut and pasted it
Speaker 2: onto the T shirt design and that's how you end
Speaker 2: up with.
Speaker 1: This situation of it.
Speaker 3: This is an a plus work by Jordan, not surprisingly,
Speaker 3: I think a more empowered assistant. But you were assuming
Speaker 3: the assistant is even caught by the end and the ampersan.
Speaker 3: Maybe that's not in their world, but if you were,
Speaker 3: you might want to go back to McVeigh and say,
Speaker 3: I'm here to make you look good. Nerds out there,
Speaker 3: who are you know, grammatical nerds are going to look
Speaker 3: at the and the ampersan and be thrown by it.
Speaker 3: Probably not all your players, some, but like you know,
Speaker 3: some of them are also if it was.
Speaker 1: A test by McVeigh to see if set assistant would
Speaker 1: confront him or approach him, right, and it's being used,
Speaker 1: I mean, if I'm.
Speaker 6: Not there, it's like sleeping way yes, man or woman. Uh,
Speaker 6: it's not about the assistant. It's about that terrible text.
Speaker 6: Because you can fix the and and the and and
Speaker 6: there's no ampersand and it's still a mouthful that you
Speaker 6: don't want on a T shirt.
Speaker 5: It's a terrible T shirt. So it's all on McVeigh.
Speaker 6: And I think if he wants to live, you know
Speaker 6: another slogan like how about take some responsibility, stand up
Speaker 6: at the podium and say that's on me.
Speaker 5: I didn't understand the game I was playing.
Speaker 1: We're not far from mam. Maybe we got to get
Speaker 1: up there right.
Speaker 6: I didn't understand the T shirt game, and I made
Speaker 6: a mistake because I think it's ultimately.
Speaker 2: Turned on the air conditioning, get the cargoing. Eric, we
Speaker 2: got a road trip. Also, have you ever done an
Speaker 2: Amber sand On on text? You have to do like
Speaker 2: the shift.
Speaker 1: Down and five.
Speaker 4: I've done him multiple times.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's that's something he sought out the amberd there.
Speaker 3: Well, yeah, I think there's just something. The questions become
Speaker 3: deeper and they become more disturbing.
Speaker 6: Sean mcvayb being an All Caps Texter is the least
Speaker 6: surprising news of the day. He's like, he's like Rhine Bould,
Speaker 6: our friend at skuy on Twitter, just like all Caps All.
Speaker 1: That's past.
Speaker 2: All right, that's it. We'll be back Thursday with another show.
Speaker 2: Make sure you check that out and.
Speaker 1: Anything else.
Speaker 3: Mark No, I think this was just an absolute delight
Speaker 3: and a joy. Thank you to Aaron Schatz, Thank you
Speaker 3: to Dan, thank you to Greg, thank you to Eric.
Speaker 3: Behind the Glass, thank you everyone else behind the glass.
Speaker 1: Goodbye. How about Parker, Parker