Speaker 1: Around the NFL Podcast is always ready to go along.
Speaker 1: Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL Podcast.
Speaker 1: My name is Dan Hands, come to you from a
Speaker 1: virtual room filled with some heroes. Greg Rosenthal as always,
Speaker 1: he's the new rock. We're good about that. Dwayne Johnson
Speaker 1: and joining us. One of our favorites. I call him
Speaker 1: the guiding conscience of NFL media. Steve Which back in
Speaker 1: the house, Welcome back to the podcast. Oh man, thanks
Speaker 1: for having me right here. You know, I gotta go,
Speaker 1: gotta go deep in the well. But I'm I'm in
Speaker 1: there somewhere screaming that goes for help. Oh no, we
Speaker 1: gotta what I mean, what a bench we have on
Speaker 1: the podcast. When you have a Hall of Famer like
Speaker 1: Steve to tap as, the A t N podcast drops
Speaker 1: like flies. Cessler still on the mend, was texting with
Speaker 1: Mark this morning. He's he's working his way back. He's
Speaker 1: feeling a little bit better. So that's good. But it's
Speaker 1: so good to have people like Nick Shook, people like
Speaker 1: Patrick Claiban and now White who was taking time out
Speaker 1: out of the extremely busy schedule like for instance, Steve
Speaker 1: all over NFL Network. As you know, he's doing the
Speaker 1: Falcon stuff. And then what you got going on this weekend?
Speaker 1: Labor Day weekend. Yeah, Sunday, we've got the Black College
Speaker 1: Football Hall of Fame Classic and Grambling in Tennessee State.
Speaker 1: Meet Charles Davis and Andrews Siliano on the call, four
Speaker 1: pm Eastern on NFL Network. But it's it's a showcase
Speaker 1: game for black colleges, and it's the two kind of
Speaker 1: most famous historically black colleges in terms of putting players
Speaker 1: into the NFL and into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Speaker 1: So it's gonna be a good time. That's pretty cool.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm lucky here. This is back to back
Speaker 1: days doing something with Weye she got it. He got
Speaker 1: on me for not wearing a tie yesterday. It was
Speaker 1: kind of like, grow up here. We're on NFL now,
Speaker 1: you know, start wearing wearing a tie. Bro Um. I
Speaker 1: did because a guys, I'm gonna I guess you are
Speaker 1: the conscience. Yea, the I'm gonna some live, some live
Speaker 1: podcast and a option here, get a little construction done
Speaker 1: on my house. You have to pause for one second.
Speaker 1: What's up? Okay, Okay, there we go. That's great content
Speaker 1: and we're not taking that out, But yeah, that's you know,
Speaker 1: that's funny. You have construction down your house. I have
Speaker 1: across my street. Literally, they bulldozed the house this morning
Speaker 1: and I was like, oh, what's the estimate on the rebuilding?
Speaker 1: Like about twenty months? So I got cool. It's a
Speaker 1: good thing I don't have a TV studio on my backyard. Oh,
Speaker 1: Man's way to go, Pat McAfee, Way to go, Pat McAfee. There, Dan, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I know, I can't help it. Sometimes the frustration of
Speaker 1: this home office life bubbles over all. Right, Oh my god,
Speaker 1: Steve's here by the way Erica on vacation, and I
Speaker 1: mean I just can't get over on the tropical vacation.
Speaker 1: This week. The Grave Digger, Justin Graver, has done great
Speaker 1: job filling in for but unfortunately with with Grave Digger here,
Speaker 1: we can't get into the Steve Weich saw submissions. So
Speaker 1: next time Steve's on, we're gonna play some of those submissions.
Speaker 1: And if you haven't set one in yet, White getting
Speaker 1: its own theme song. It's a big deal on this show.
Speaker 1: So what were you saying about that bench? And then
Speaker 1: what were you saying about that bench? The Grave Digger
Speaker 1: is not ready for the call up. Well, I think
Speaker 1: I think Grave Digger is Grave Digger is a big
Speaker 1: part of it. I mean White is a big part
Speaker 1: of it. Only Colleen has a song, so you know,
Speaker 1: there's there's some controversy that you've got a song before
Speaker 1: Claibon some of the claibon Claibon Nation up in arms
Speaker 1: the clay Hive about Clay Nation similar to Claymation. I
Speaker 1: kind of like that. Um, yes, the I believe it's
Speaker 1: what is it? Do you graver? Want to know what
Speaker 1: is our? Do you know the email that people could
Speaker 1: send submissions to. Yeah, I can. I can find look
Speaker 1: that up, find that get back to us because uh,
Speaker 1: I want to roll that out next time Steve's on
Speaker 1: the show anyway, coming up today. Yeah, it's very simple.
Speaker 1: It's actually the A t N Podcast at gmail dot com.
Speaker 1: Send in your Steve which song submissions? Yes, oh, I'm
Speaker 1: sure that are gonna come rolling in Fellas all right,
Speaker 1: coming up on today's show. You know we got you
Speaker 1: caught up Monday Tuesday. What's going on with news and
Speaker 1: cut down Day? Obviously, teams continue to be very active
Speaker 1: as they combed through waivers and the open market to
Speaker 1: finish that fifty three man roster. It's funny, and it's well,
Speaker 1: it's not funny to the players at the back end
Speaker 1: of these rosters, but you make that fifty three men
Speaker 1: cut on Tuesday, and then it's even worse. The next
Speaker 1: couple of days. You have to hope your team doesn't
Speaker 1: pick up somebody on waivers and and cut you after
Speaker 1: the fifty three man cut down. That's got to be
Speaker 1: one of them more cruel aspects of the sport. But
Speaker 1: with that in the rear view mirror, we're now going
Speaker 1: to talk about teams we feel better about or worse
Speaker 1: after training camp and preseason. So that's coming up in
Speaker 1: just a couple of minutes. And also coming up one
Speaker 1: of our favorites, Vic Tafer over at the Athlete that
Speaker 1: he covers the Raiders beautifully, and we are going to
Speaker 1: kind of a state of Raiders Nation. You Raiders fans
Speaker 1: out there sometimes saying, hey, you gotta talk about our
Speaker 1: team more. While we got Vic and I know why
Speaker 1: you have a connection with Steve has a connection with
Speaker 1: literally everyone in the industry. And then Victafer has no exception. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Vick was Vix and Miami guy. And when I used
Speaker 1: to work in Miami, Vic was down there was interning
Speaker 1: or working, you know, right on both of kind the
Speaker 1: initial stages of our career. A was a little bit
Speaker 1: older than him, but man, he is a hell of
Speaker 1: a reporter. The folks who read The Athletic in Vegas
Speaker 1: are lucky to have him because he is one of
Speaker 1: the best NFL journalists that there is in the NFL.
Speaker 1: He He is awesome, one of my favorite beats to read,
Speaker 1: always has been. But now you know, now it's him
Speaker 1: and Tashawn Reid. I think at the Athletic, who would
Speaker 1: both do a great job. And because the Raiders, like
Speaker 1: not only are they fascinating with Mayok and Gridden, we'll
Speaker 1: get into it. It's like there's leaks like you can
Speaker 1: you could break big stories with the Raiders still, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean, Like there's drama behind the scenes,
Speaker 1: in front of the scenes on the roster, there's questionable moves,
Speaker 1: like they don't have it all locked down. But that
Speaker 1: makes them a lot more fun to watch. Well said,
Speaker 1: all right, let's get to it before victimes on. Let's
Speaker 1: talk about this. Uh, you know, the season now is
Speaker 1: one week away as we record this. The the opener,
Speaker 1: of course, between the Bucks and the Cowboys, and then
Speaker 1: Sunday and Monday everybody else. Everybody else plays. So now
Speaker 1: as we spin forward, let's take one look back here
Speaker 1: at the month or six weeks that was training camp,
Speaker 1: three preseason games, um for most teams, and who do
Speaker 1: you feel better or worse about? Let's start in a
Speaker 1: positive way here. Do you want to share with us
Speaker 1: a team that you feel better about right now compared
Speaker 1: to say July. This sounds strange, but it's the Buccaneers
Speaker 1: popped up Joe try On or as Uh the kids
Speaker 1: call him now try On sho Anka changed his name,
Speaker 1: so everyone get on that. There's there's a dash in
Speaker 1: their typhen it's try On showing like we didn't know
Speaker 1: anything about this kid, and he made as big an impact,
Speaker 1: I think as any defensive rookie in the entire NFL.
Speaker 1: And sometimes that's what the preseason is all about, is
Speaker 1: just you see a player and you know, like, oh,
Speaker 1: this guy is not only gonna be a quality third
Speaker 1: edge rusher alongside Shock and JPB. I mean, he might
Speaker 1: be better than them. He might he might be as
Speaker 1: good as them. Right now, they were a little quiet
Speaker 1: in the regular season last year, and then really turned
Speaker 1: it on down the stretch. I just mean, he looks
Speaker 1: like he's gonna show up and play, and they made
Speaker 1: it through a healthy uh month. I just sort of
Speaker 1: liked what I saw and heard out of their skill
Speaker 1: position group. I think Antonio Brown is healthier and totally
Speaker 1: ready for this season. I think Chris Godwin, who and
Speaker 1: Mike Evans who had some injury troubles last year, god
Speaker 1: would have the Drops in the playoffs too. Like if
Speaker 1: you watch them and their their little preseason action and
Speaker 1: heard all the practice sports like they are ready to roll.
Speaker 1: Sometimes the Super Bowl champion start it's out like just
Speaker 1: a couple of feet ahead of the rest of the league,
Speaker 1: and there's no There was no reason to doubt the
Speaker 1: Bucks going into camp. But I actually feel even better
Speaker 1: about them now after everything I've seen, Like everyone's healthy.
Speaker 1: I think they're ready to roll. I think they're motivated,
Speaker 1: and I actually think September is the is the wrong
Speaker 1: time to play the Bucks. You might have a better
Speaker 1: chance against them in November and December than you do
Speaker 1: to start the season. They're gonna start out, I think,
Speaker 1: ahead of the rest of the league. Yeah, as I
Speaker 1: Todd Bowls need another toy to play with. I mean,
Speaker 1: this guy, now, he's I mean he's gonna be drawn
Speaker 1: stuff up, you know, like who knows what. But guys,
Speaker 1: I like the Tennessee Titans. I mean, this is who
Speaker 1: we don't we don't talk about very much, you know,
Speaker 1: but you know, I got to saw him playing a
Speaker 1: preseason game. They've got excellent depth. Um, the backup quarterback,
Speaker 1: I believe his name is Woodside and I think he's
Speaker 1: like an A, A F guy whatever. He supplanted Matt
Speaker 1: Barkley as the backup to Ryan Tanner. Nice player. They've
Speaker 1: got depth all over the place in the offensive backfield.
Speaker 1: But then I look at the rest of the division,
Speaker 1: and that looks like pretty much a catastrophe, right, you know,
Speaker 1: I think we all, I think we all really liked
Speaker 1: the Colts coming in. But now they've got injuries. Right,
Speaker 1: You've got the whole vaccinated on vaccinated situation, carsonal wentz Um.
Speaker 1: You know, finally they yeah, yeah, he's back, he's back
Speaker 1: in practice. But I mean he's missing time. You know,
Speaker 1: he had the foot injury and he's missing time because
Speaker 1: of that issue because the closed contact issues. Right, So
Speaker 1: we'll see. I think they're gonna get it back because
Speaker 1: their defense is is really good. I'm a big Darius
Speaker 1: Slander fan. But then you know, you've got the Texans
Speaker 1: who are like five years away from being five years away,
Speaker 1: so that's a decade right before. I'm giving them an opportunity.
Speaker 1: And then the Jacks, you know, like, look, and I
Speaker 1: know everyone's get all of Urban Meyer two for sitting
Speaker 1: here saying the vaccination status played into our cuts and
Speaker 1: now opening up an investigation. He's just saying out loud,
Speaker 1: what the other thirty one? Aren't you better believe it?
Speaker 1: So but look, besides that, they're still you know, they're
Speaker 1: still efficient a lot of ways. We'll see what Chever
Speaker 1: Lawrence can come up with. But you know, if he
Speaker 1: doesn't get killed, you know, I think this could be
Speaker 1: a Joey Burrow situation. Hopefully he stays healthy, but in
Speaker 1: terms of protecting him, that's an issue. So I think
Speaker 1: the Titans, I mean I think they've got a pretty
Speaker 1: good roster. I was worried about some of the losses
Speaker 1: they suffered coming into training camp. I think they're rock
Speaker 1: solid and division wise, I think they're clearly the front runners. Right,
Speaker 1: But do you are you into, of course, they lost
Speaker 1: Arthur Smith. Here, are you into the Titans as having
Speaker 1: a good summer by default just because you didn't liked
Speaker 1: any of the other summers in the division, or do
Speaker 1: you actually think that there's this team can be better
Speaker 1: than what they were yet last did one of their games, right,
Speaker 1: Steve and I did, and yeah, and they're and they're
Speaker 1: going to be more diverse offensively. You know, some of
Speaker 1: my conversations with Arthur Smith, He's like, it was nobody's
Speaker 1: plan to have Derrick Henry have four hundred touches last year, right,
Speaker 1: but they had to injury injury issues at the backup spot.
Speaker 1: So now they're gonna work some things differently. Offensively, You're
Speaker 1: going to see more and not necessary with Derrick Henry,
Speaker 1: but you're going to see more passes out of the backfield.
Speaker 1: You're gonna see the offense change a little bit with
Speaker 1: Johnny Smith gone, right, So they're gonna do some things offensively.
Speaker 1: They got Julio Jones there, so I think they're gonna
Speaker 1: be a little bit more creative, a little bit tougher
Speaker 1: to defend, and they're gonna open up the field a
Speaker 1: little more for Derrick Henry. When he does get his touches,
Speaker 1: which again I don't think it'll give me more frequent
Speaker 1: or as frequent as they have been in the past years.
Speaker 1: I had them written down too, I I did. They
Speaker 1: were one of my teams, not just because of the division. Oh,
Speaker 1: that's a big part of it. That's the worst division
Speaker 1: in football. Um, But I think they had a lot
Speaker 1: of positive things. First of all, Julio Jones is back
Speaker 1: at practice. I was a little worried about that. He
Speaker 1: just doesn't practice anymore. Now he's ready to roll. I
Speaker 1: think they found something um in their rookie uh Bold
Speaker 1: and Elijah Molden. Rather, he's gonna be their slot corner.
Speaker 1: Like their defense really turned over and that can go
Speaker 1: well or that can go not so well. But I
Speaker 1: liked the secondary right now. Jack Rabbit, Look, he officially
Speaker 1: changed his name to Jack Rabbit. By the way, we
Speaker 1: haven't announced that on the podcast, that you have to
Speaker 1: call him Jack Rabbit. I think us was ahead of
Speaker 1: the curve on that would always just just call them
Speaker 1: Jack Rabbit no matter what. Christian Fulton's starting there, like
Speaker 1: Bud Bud Dupre had a healthy preseason. Sometimes it's just
Speaker 1: about like who gets through healthy and who who like
Speaker 1: that you are a little worried about, like when you
Speaker 1: changed everything where they gonna have an okay month. I
Speaker 1: just liked everything I heard from them. Taylor the wands
Speaker 1: back from his a c O. I'm with you, Steve.
Speaker 1: I think that feels like a pretty safe playoff team
Speaker 1: when I wasn't necessarily thinking that back in July. And
Speaker 1: I also, you know, I'm of two minds on this
Speaker 1: because we just did our predictions podcasts and I throughout
Speaker 1: the cults there as the division winner, because I do
Speaker 1: feel there is a ceiling here that is a little
Speaker 1: higher than they're getting credit for if if things click
Speaker 1: health wise. But I had them ultimately on the team
Speaker 1: I feel um less about after the summer because of
Speaker 1: the injuries you mentioned, and also that schedule which we've
Speaker 1: hit on, but the fact that they're gonna be They've
Speaker 1: had a disjointed summer with many of their key players,
Speaker 1: and we also should mention t Y Hilton, who's indefinitely
Speaker 1: with this back neck thing. That schedule the first half
Speaker 1: of the season home Seattle, Rams at Tennessee, at Miami,
Speaker 1: at Baltimore, a little pick me up home Houston, then
Speaker 1: at San Francisco home Tennessee. The team that they could
Speaker 1: have used a week schedule in the in the front
Speaker 1: end to get things under control after kind of a
Speaker 1: hectic summer, but they got the opposite um And you
Speaker 1: had mentioned Greg the health being important, you know, and
Speaker 1: it's it should be obvious, but it doesn't always work
Speaker 1: out that way. And I'm gonna talk about the Chargers,
Speaker 1: a team I feel better about because the Chargers, and
Speaker 1: this should not surprise anyone that follows the team in
Speaker 1: the sport ranked fourth and waited approximate value loss to
Speaker 1: injuries last season according to the injury tracking site Man
Speaker 1: games lost, and just the fact that they've gotten out
Speaker 1: of this summer with all their stars intact, and they
Speaker 1: have such a fun, varied roster of plus players Justin Herbert,
Speaker 1: Austin Ekeler, Keenan Allen Derwin, James, Joeybosa all should be
Speaker 1: locked and loaded for Week one against Washington, which, by
Speaker 1: the way, Chargers Washington one of my sneaky favorite Week
Speaker 1: one matchups. That sounds that is good about that? It
Speaker 1: is good and I want to give you know credit.
Speaker 1: It's it's kind of tricky. How do you coming out
Speaker 1: of a summer with good health and being locked and
Speaker 1: loaded for the season. Do you Brandon Staley, the new coach,
Speaker 1: you give him some credit? How about Anthony Lamondo, the
Speaker 1: new director of sports performance. They added a whole bunch
Speaker 1: of They added a whole a whole new protocol in
Speaker 1: terms of how they handle practice, stretching, rest before and after,
Speaker 1: how they handled the preseason. And you know, some of
Speaker 1: this obviously goes back to luck, and but I I
Speaker 1: appreciate and I'm sure Chargers fans appreciate that this new
Speaker 1: coaching staff didn't just say, well, the football gods got
Speaker 1: the Chargers again last year, and they actually made an
Speaker 1: effort here. And uh, I just think the spoon of
Speaker 1: good health, which could blow up in the second quarter
Speaker 1: by Week one, of course we know that. But they're
Speaker 1: locked and loaded with arguably the most exciting young roster
Speaker 1: in football. And they and their offensive line editions. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean having an offensive line, I mean that was
Speaker 1: that was an issue, and they look strong up front
Speaker 1: right now. That's that's a dangerous football team. Blag has
Speaker 1: been in and out that that's one of those though
Speaker 1: it's like they didn't play at all in the preseason.
Speaker 1: You're right, on paper, it looks good. That's a that's
Speaker 1: a week one test and you're not gonna learn every
Speaker 1: I think week one is almost like extended preseason at
Speaker 1: this point, especially for teams the Rams and Chargers. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, it's hard to evaluate too much on paper, though,
Speaker 1: you're right, Like Joey Bosa, to me, is such a
Speaker 1: you know, important part of that team that needs to
Speaker 1: be healthy throughout. But if you kind of look at
Speaker 1: the rest of their defense, they're a little thin next
Speaker 1: to him. But the linebacker group, like they're excited about
Speaker 1: the linebackers that they have because you're white, Kenneth Murray,
Speaker 1: like Drew Tranquil, like that is a sneaky, good young group.
Speaker 1: They add Asante Samuel and a lot of people noticed,
Speaker 1: I mean, we're going deep here on the Charges. We
Speaker 1: haven't talked about that much. That they they cut Tyron Johnson,
Speaker 1: who made a lot of good plays with Herbert last year,
Speaker 1: and wow, like people were really surprised at that. And
Speaker 1: that told me, like they like their receivers. If he
Speaker 1: couldn't make that team, that tells me, okay, like i
Speaker 1: I'm I feel almost a little better about the Chargers receivers.
Speaker 1: If he couldn't make that team like that surprised me,
Speaker 1: but it shows that like they like the depth that
Speaker 1: they have at receiver, which is we don't. We don't
Speaker 1: not a lot of big names behind the starters, but
Speaker 1: could be guys, especially Josh Palmer, the rookie, that make
Speaker 1: a lot of big plays. One fly in the ointment
Speaker 1: because I think it's fair to throw with all the
Speaker 1: all the good vibes, there is a general feeling like, Wow,
Speaker 1: they got rid of Anthony Lynn and they're gonna solve
Speaker 1: their game management issues. They were thirty second and expected
Speaker 1: points added on special teams last year, for instance, and
Speaker 1: we know all the clock gaffs down the stretch, but
Speaker 1: this is good for Mike Sander. At the Athletic they
Speaker 1: did a ranking of a f C teams and they
Speaker 1: ranked the Chargers number six and like a vote, but
Speaker 1: one voter said that remains to be seen if they
Speaker 1: will improve game game management wise. Their head coach and
Speaker 1: three coordinators have a combined three seasons of coordinating experience.
Speaker 1: Wade Phillips had more in so the game management stuff
Speaker 1: is not a lock. That's that's fair. So I'm just
Speaker 1: gonna sprinkle in a little bit. Beware Chargers fans, especially yourself.
Speaker 1: Is fair because that was not a last year anomaly.
Speaker 1: That goes back decades with the Chargers. Well, plus I
Speaker 1: think Daniel Jeremiah is still their radio guy, so that's
Speaker 1: a I mean, you want to give money a huge
Speaker 1: extension and then you want to, you know, see what
Speaker 1: else you need to do. So why we were talking
Speaker 1: about like whether to listen to podcasts at one point
Speaker 1: five speed or not. Um that the Move the Sticks podcast,
Speaker 1: that's the one. You can listen to it one and
Speaker 1: half or two, just like, yeah, just just bang bang
Speaker 1: through it. I love because Andrew Siciliano brought it up
Speaker 1: on air to White, and White's just the most classic.
Speaker 1: White answer was like, I'm not looking to speed things
Speaker 1: up at this point in my life. I'm looking to
Speaker 1: slow things down. And I was just like, where we are, Greg,
Speaker 1: tell me somebody you're not feeling so hot about After
Speaker 1: this past month, I tried to convince myself the Giants
Speaker 1: were gonna be like the most watchable Giants since the
Speaker 1: pre Eli manning. There are just a little you know,
Speaker 1: a little bit of spice on offense, a lot of
Speaker 1: weapons around. They had a lame month. Goladay and Kadarius
Speaker 1: Tony are back on the practice field this week, so
Speaker 1: maybe they get out there for Week one, But their
Speaker 1: offensive line doesn't look any better. And sometimes teams tell
Speaker 1: you what they think about their own roster with their transactions.
Speaker 1: They made about like seven transactions on their offensive line
Speaker 1: in the last week, just like picking up anyone's leftovers
Speaker 1: and hope and they can slide it in like it
Speaker 1: just it doesn't look any better. So if you've got
Speaker 1: a bad offensive line, a quarterback that's probably not gonna
Speaker 1: overcome a really hard situation with an offensive line, and
Speaker 1: a play caller that hasn't inspired a lot of confidence
Speaker 1: that he's gonna like scheme his guys open, it just
Speaker 1: feels like the same all Giants. Yeah, you added Golladay
Speaker 1: and and Tony and Barkley's back, and so they should
Speaker 1: be should be better. But I'm not. I I think
Speaker 1: they had a rough month. I'm not into the Giants
Speaker 1: right now. That was that was my number one team too,
Speaker 1: because I mean, Golladay, how many times has he practiced?
Speaker 1: I mean, it's, by the way, not it's not even
Speaker 1: just a this year thing, right right, And so I
Speaker 1: was kind of like, I'm not sure, but you know
Speaker 1: who else, guys, And you know it's it's weird saying
Speaker 1: it is the Denver Broncos. I was really you know,
Speaker 1: I really love their defensive talent. I like their offensive
Speaker 1: line talent. But look carefully here because literally a second,
Speaker 1: he can't even stand up right now. He gets so
Speaker 1: excited talking about the Broncos, like you gotta just let
Speaker 1: him know that. Okay, so you've got the Chiefs who
Speaker 1: can score? Oh wait, they're playing to Broncos. Gets going
Speaker 1: to Broncos? What Chargers who can score? The Raiders who
Speaker 1: can score? The Ancles? Can they score? We know Teddy
Speaker 1: two gloves, right, he's great. I'm sure defensive coordinations right
Speaker 1: now are flipping out having to face Teddy b apposed though,
Speaker 1: what changed? Here's after you here, here's my point. In
Speaker 1: this era where we're supposed to have all these offensive
Speaker 1: fin galleys and quarterback developers and things like that, they
Speaker 1: had very moldible clay. They had very moldible clay, and
Speaker 1: now some of it on Drew lock Shore. But people
Speaker 1: I've talked like Drew locked it everything right. But when
Speaker 1: George Payton came in from Minnesota to be the GM.
Speaker 1: Teddy Bridge watching this guy, Let's play it safe in
Speaker 1: this's win game sixteen to thirteen. That works once, maybe
Speaker 1: twice in the NFL. Show me a team, show me
Speaker 1: a team that's routinely held people under twenty points a game,
Speaker 1: and it's just like, you know what I mean, that's
Speaker 1: and so three. Teddy can get Hamdlere albert O, Noah Fan,
Speaker 1: Javante Williams, Melvin Gordon. I think they can't score a
Speaker 1: little bit. You know, when calling the plays, you're gonna
Speaker 1: be boy. This is straight out of the Matt Naggy
Speaker 1: school of victory. I mean, look again, I'm pulling for
Speaker 1: the Broncos. I love their talent, I love Teddy Bridgewater.
Speaker 1: But I look at that division and I look at
Speaker 1: the a f C teams are are really good. They
Speaker 1: can put a point. You're not winning. Now if they
Speaker 1: generate thirty five plus turnovers like the Dolphins did last year, Okay,
Speaker 1: they have a chance. Okay, they they've got they've got
Speaker 1: to get the takeaways. But I mean, I was really
Speaker 1: really liking the Broncos coming in, and now I'm just
Speaker 1: kind of like you're liking him with lock and then Teddy,
Speaker 1: Teddy changes your mind. This is something. Here's the thing though,
Speaker 1: like they have locks the bed. It's not like Naggie
Speaker 1: and the Bears because they have so much offensive town.
Speaker 1: That is what I'm banking on that. It's not just
Speaker 1: the defensive talent. Yes, you look at you look and
Speaker 1: it looks like a top five defense and certainly a
Speaker 1: top five defensive play caller. But I think if you
Speaker 1: just go weapons, go running back, wide receiver, tight ends,
Speaker 1: that might be top five too. So you're surrounding a
Speaker 1: mid level quarterback with a lot of good pieces. So
Speaker 1: if you put action, if you put Jerry Judy, Courtland
Speaker 1: Sutton and Melvin Gordon on the Bears, they're going to
Speaker 1: the playoffs. Albert Oh no, no a fan? Deep? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think so. I think so if you put Teddy
Speaker 1: on him too. I mean they had Trabisky out there quarterbacks.
Speaker 1: So is the ceiling Steve to you? And he's not
Speaker 1: as bad as you think. I'm not saying I love him,
Speaker 1: but he's the ceiling to you. Steve Bears for the Broncos,
Speaker 1: Like if they if they get a bunch of turnover
Speaker 1: luck on defense and they have a perfect season, in
Speaker 1: a lot of ways. On defense, they can win double
Speaker 1: digit games, but still it doesn't make them a true
Speaker 1: contender because that offense is just gonna kill him. You
Speaker 1: gotta score in the NFL now, I mean, look, I
Speaker 1: love I love the talent, I love what they're developing.
Speaker 1: But the Chiefs are gonna hang thirty a game, the
Speaker 1: Chargers are gonna hang thirty game, and the Raiders are
Speaker 1: gonna hang thirty a game. I'll believe the Chargers when
Speaker 1: I see it, though, with Joe Lombardi on offense, running,
Speaker 1: running the player, I just want to see it. I
Speaker 1: just want to see offense, and I agree with that.
Speaker 1: And again I'm not throwing total ship. I am. I
Speaker 1: was really high and the Broncos coming in, but now
Speaker 1: I'm just kind of like when I look around these
Speaker 1: teams in the A f C deep, I've never seen
Speaker 1: it like this, where one of them having the trouble
Speaker 1: finding a spot for the Chargers in the playoffs. Who
Speaker 1: I'm always a huge fan of having a trouble finding
Speaker 1: Steelers and Browns, Like can can two or three teams
Speaker 1: really get out of that division when it's that deep
Speaker 1: like it it is. I've never seen the a f
Speaker 1: C this deep, so that part of it, and you've
Speaker 1: got you've got to get twenty four game and I
Speaker 1: just don't see that consistent. Let me transition to another team,
Speaker 1: and I mean, you're not getting that song now. But yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, Steve, you have no idea how much this
Speaker 1: quarter because it's like if he won't listen to Mark
Speaker 1: and I try to ramp down the expectations, maybe the
Speaker 1: north star of the NFL media snack the Tito Landrum. Dude,
Speaker 1: you do you can pull off the bench and put
Speaker 1: on any position. Um, all right, I want to get
Speaker 1: this on tape so everybody knows you're not dunking on
Speaker 1: me on Twitter. I I am very down on the
Speaker 1: Jets as having a season of true progress this year.
Speaker 1: I know it seems like I'm all over the map,
Speaker 1: But there's the optimis optimistic fan ofm me that just
Speaker 1: hopes for the best. But this was a really bad
Speaker 1: month for the j to. It started tragically when Greg Knapp,
Speaker 1: who was a really respected quarterbacks coach, um dies tragically
Speaker 1: in a bike accident. Um you know he was uh
Speaker 1: supposed to be a guy that was really going to
Speaker 1: help Zack Wilson and then the Carl lost an injury,
Speaker 1: just devastating to what the Jets need to do on defense.
Speaker 1: The Vinney Vinny Curry then he's a rotational rusher of
Speaker 1: veteran not as big a deal obviously, but still then
Speaker 1: he leaves for the season with a blood clot issue. Um.
Speaker 1: The offensive line is supposed to be better, but if
Speaker 1: you're reading about this team, there's issues on that line
Speaker 1: right now. McKay Beckton did not have a good summer.
Speaker 1: Michael Floor even called him out on it, the offensive coordinator,
Speaker 1: and I just think if the line isn't ready to roll, uh,
Speaker 1: if a secondary that is just so green, and then
Speaker 1: they take and they release Blessing Austin, who is their
Speaker 1: most seasoned cornerback this week, the court, the secondary is
Speaker 1: real le dicey. Without Carl Lawson, it's gonna be very
Speaker 1: difficult to get a push. Um. I like the interior
Speaker 1: of that defense. But then you have and then on
Speaker 1: the other side of the ball, questions that offensive line,
Speaker 1: an unproven backfield and a quarterback in Zack Wilson. There's
Speaker 1: gonna be a lot of bumps. And when you factor
Speaker 1: in which Greg also fact said that this is a
Speaker 1: loaded a f C, which I agree with. Um, it's
Speaker 1: gonna be tough for me to to see the Jets
Speaker 1: winning more than about four games this year. And I
Speaker 1: think that I think you could still come out of
Speaker 1: the season saying we're going in the right direction if
Speaker 1: they go maybe not for let's say five and twelve
Speaker 1: or something, but I think this is just the way
Speaker 1: this summer has played out puts them behind the eight ball.
Speaker 1: And they were the last team that needed bad breaks,
Speaker 1: uh this summer, and they got them. And I've recalibrated
Speaker 1: my expectations this year as a result. Dan, you pick
Speaker 1: up an you know, two interesting points and we can
Speaker 1: have the conversation about offensive line concerns with teams right now.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know that that's really interesting, but more so,
Speaker 1: but why the Jets having four wins? When I'm looking
Speaker 1: at the teams have picked in the top five, six,
Speaker 1: seven this year, I'm having a hard time to think
Speaker 1: that the majority of those teams are not gonna be
Speaker 1: picking in the top five, six or seven next year.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's all of those teams. You know, that's
Speaker 1: not usually how it goes, but I I know, I mean,
Speaker 1: and it looks some of them will probably slide. Someone's
Speaker 1: gonna have some injuries and things like that, and it's going.
Speaker 1: But I mean, just coming into the season, it's like, wow, Okay, Jacksonville,
Speaker 1: you know, Falcons, the Jets, I mean, what's you know,
Speaker 1: what's to make you think any of those and some
Speaker 1: of them probably will get to double dig We just
Speaker 1: know how the averages go. But just coming into the season,
Speaker 1: it's like, wow, man, these all these teams still have
Speaker 1: a long way to go to seem like they're gonna
Speaker 1: be effectively competitive. Now again that that'll change. We know
Speaker 1: how the wheel spend. But I think that's a really
Speaker 1: good point to the Jets. You don't see more than
Speaker 1: four wins and that division alone, I mean that that's
Speaker 1: a tough that's a brutal division, and so you know
Speaker 1: that's just something that that's weird. The offensive line play
Speaker 1: and just these teams are on the bottom kind of
Speaker 1: making headway. These are two things that I that that's
Speaker 1: been deep on Tito Landam's brain. Counterpoint this is some
Speaker 1: Mark Sessler stuff here where like a week ago you
Speaker 1: were really literally like playing the Solelujah song. And and
Speaker 1: then counterpoint number two is the only thing that matters
Speaker 1: about the Jets, and maybe that's not true in terms
Speaker 1: of wins and losses, but the most important thing is
Speaker 1: Zach Wilson, and you feel better than ever about him
Speaker 1: after this month. So I feel you You're there was
Speaker 1: there was some bad luck, and certainly Lawson is the
Speaker 1: is the number one thing to be you know that's
Speaker 1: a concern and that's not just but I don't know,
Speaker 1: I don't to me, it was it was a positive
Speaker 1: month because Zach Wilson played well. Just put it this way.
Speaker 1: If Zach Wilson didn't have a positive month, this would
Speaker 1: have been an outright disaster of a month for the Jets.
Speaker 1: But to your point, there's nothing more important than Zach
Speaker 1: Wilson having a big month. So yes, I'm just I
Speaker 1: think the Jets can have a successful season without having
Speaker 1: a nice right, you're trying to protect your protect your heart.
Speaker 1: Let's revisit after the Jets go down to Carolina, Uh,
Speaker 1: get that Week one victory over the team I'm putting
Speaker 1: next that I feel worse about, and that's the Panthers.
Speaker 1: And that's partly because I watched their preseason game with
Speaker 1: Donald and I was just like, oh yeah, and still
Speaker 1: see m Donald. Uh. I mean, I know it's one
Speaker 1: preseason game, but remember how everyone likes to say, well,
Speaker 1: as the starters against the backups, you can't like, uh,
Speaker 1: you can't pull too much from that. You know, that's
Speaker 1: what Zach Wilson should do. Okay, Well, Sam Darnald was
Speaker 1: with a bunch of with all his starters against a
Speaker 1: bunch of backups in the third preseason game. Didn't look
Speaker 1: very good, had multiple turnover worthy plays, held the ball
Speaker 1: too long, ended up getting like a two minute drive
Speaker 1: at the end of the half that that kind of
Speaker 1: saved his day. But I just didn't see the processing,
Speaker 1: didn't see him like making quick decisions. I think Matt
Speaker 1: Rule is gonna help him out. I think he's gonna
Speaker 1: be better in Carolina. But it just was a reminder
Speaker 1: this is a young team on both sides of the ball.
Speaker 1: They have got their own line questions. You're right, Steve,
Speaker 1: we could say that about five teams, but man Donald
Speaker 1: could use a great line. He definitely doesn't have one.
Speaker 1: And I just think I think they made a huge
Speaker 1: quarterback misfire and in that little extra tape uh cemented
Speaker 1: it for me. They could have taken justin fields. It
Speaker 1: could have taken Mac Jones. They weren't interested. They wanted
Speaker 1: Sam Donald. Yeah, I'm not Caroline. I still have a
Speaker 1: lot more question marks before I I checked him out
Speaker 1: of the picture. I think they're gonna be better. I think,
Speaker 1: you know, Donald's gonna improve. I think they're gonna be
Speaker 1: a better team. In one of those teams are going
Speaker 1: to be like, Okay, you know Matt Rulken coach, I've
Speaker 1: got a little I've got a little faith in him.
Speaker 1: I do too. It was one it was just like preseason,
Speaker 1: confirming my prior views. But we hadn't mentioned that on
Speaker 1: on this show that I feel like his his performance
Speaker 1: in the preconfirmation bias. Perhaps absolutely, but he had If
Speaker 1: you go watch that half, he struggled and it was
Speaker 1: starters versus backups, and he struggled the same ways that
Speaker 1: he struggled when he was in New York. Here here
Speaker 1: just want to have for you guys. And it's a team.
Speaker 1: I don't know if I feel worse about them, but
Speaker 1: I don't necessarily feel better. And that's the Arizona Cardinals.
Speaker 1: I mean, I know they've added some some defensive talent
Speaker 1: and they should absolutely be better on defense with J. J.
Speaker 1: Watt and Chandler Jones and all these guys playing together.
Speaker 1: But what are they man? I mean what you know,
Speaker 1: you still you still don't know when you look at
Speaker 1: every other team in that division. I mean, Seattle has
Speaker 1: gotten better up front of the offensive line. We think,
Speaker 1: we think they've gotten better, you know, at receiver and
Speaker 1: some of their other positions to ramps. Clearly if if
Speaker 1: done somethings, you know, quarterback, some things they want to change.
Speaker 1: Even though I think defensively, it's gonna be interesting with
Speaker 1: some of the coaching train that they've had on that staff. Um,
Speaker 1: in the Niners. You know, we'll see what it's like Arizona.
Speaker 1: Do you know, do we even think they have a
Speaker 1: shot to compete? And so that that's a team you
Speaker 1: can't get a read on in the preseason. But you know, look,
Speaker 1: Cliff Kingsbury's coming in with a very warm seat. Um,
Speaker 1: we'll see what's up with Steve Kyme. They cut another
Speaker 1: receiver that he drafted, you know, fella or Keishan Johnson.
Speaker 1: They cut them. I mean, how many how many receivers
Speaker 1: they gonna draft and cut? That's two from the same class. Well,
Speaker 1: they're like team no practice. Their team no practice. They're
Speaker 1: like Team Arizona. Like what Chandler Jones, DeAndre Hopkins, A J. Green.
Speaker 1: You got a whole bunch of veterans that just like
Speaker 1: having practiced, don't practice. I don't know is that gonna
Speaker 1: Is that gonna work? We'll see, Yeah, we'll see anybody
Speaker 1: we have any others one way or the other before
Speaker 1: we what do you guys hear the Vikings? Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think that's a team. That's a team that that's a team.
Speaker 1: I think that should be good. But man, not a
Speaker 1: good summer for the Vikings. I was gonna I was
Speaker 1: gonna pick them to the playoffs. I did, actually, but
Speaker 1: no left. Their offensive line maybe looks worse, nor Smith
Speaker 1: pretty thin. The same problems they had a year ago
Speaker 1: looked like they could have them again. But defensive I
Speaker 1: just saw. I saw a headline like the Vikings solved
Speaker 1: their tight end situation with the Chris Herndon trade, which
Speaker 1: is silly. But also how about the fact you just
Speaker 1: look at the back, not that this is a thing
Speaker 1: that exists, or maybe it does because there's a bit
Speaker 1: of a sports card boom or rebirth happening right now.
Speaker 1: Look at the back of Kirk Cousins football card, like
Speaker 1: if he's their quarterback or seventeen games, they're gonna move
Speaker 1: the ball. And then Dalvin Cook is one of the
Speaker 1: very best running backs in the league who could do
Speaker 1: it all. You've got Justin Jefferson. In year two you
Speaker 1: got Adam feeling there. So yes, I get you lose,
Speaker 1: lose Irv Smith, who is a guy people are feeling
Speaker 1: good about. But this team is going to score points still, right,
Speaker 1: And then if this why I put him in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: This is my rambling set up. And if the defense
Speaker 1: just gets better than it was last year, and Mike
Speaker 1: Zimmers a defensive coach, come on, this is a ten
Speaker 1: win team. My crazy no, no, I would think that's
Speaker 1: an Anthony Barr's back. They've got some pieces back. But
Speaker 1: I mean, look, I've no Zimmer for a long time,
Speaker 1: and he's he's like your textbook curmudgeon, you know, and
Speaker 1: I love him, but good lord, he is like at
Speaker 1: a whole different level of curmudgeon. Is um and um
Speaker 1: you know, I'm you know, I think he's coming under
Speaker 1: a warm sheet as well, and so, uh, I don't know.
Speaker 1: I mean, this is a team that that I I
Speaker 1: liked coming in and I don't know if I disliked
Speaker 1: them anymore coming into the season, but there just seems
Speaker 1: to be like some weird mojo. Again, I'm not there
Speaker 1: every day, I don't know, but it seems to be
Speaker 1: like some different sauce coming out of there. So they
Speaker 1: lost some key players too. I mean it's a factor.
Speaker 1: And just to clarify, are you referring to the Kirk
Speaker 1: Cousins drama. They've had some issues with vaccination rates and
Speaker 1: Mike Zimmer being outspoken about it and Cousins being outspoken
Speaker 1: and talking about his little plexiglass cube that he might
Speaker 1: live in this season, you think, and in general from
Speaker 1: a broader persective, Steve, because you you're so plugged in,
Speaker 1: like how much of a fact do you think that
Speaker 1: could play into this season? The Bills are another team
Speaker 1: where it's it's obviously a hot point inside the inside
Speaker 1: that building that it could mess up some seasons potentially
Speaker 1: in terms of how this plays out. Absolutely could. I
Speaker 1: mean the Colts, I mean, you know, we'll see this
Speaker 1: is this is again urban urban Meyer said out loud
Speaker 1: what everyone else is saying secretly. I've heard them say
Speaker 1: it's secretly. And this is something and especially when it
Speaker 1: comes to the quarterback position. If if all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: you're rolling your role and all of a sudden, your
Speaker 1: guys got to take a powder for possibly two games
Speaker 1: because of because of a positive test or whatever. You know,
Speaker 1: you're constantly where you were last season, like are we
Speaker 1: gonna get through? Are we going to get through? Whereas
Speaker 1: other teams don't have that concern. I don't know. I
Speaker 1: think it's I think it's gonna pop up. I mean,
Speaker 1: I think there's gonna be some issues that popped up
Speaker 1: last year they are gonna surface again this year, you know,
Speaker 1: across the whole league for the NFL scheduling wise and
Speaker 1: things like that. Despite all of the incentives for pet
Speaker 1: get vaccinated, Tom Brady's vaccinated. That that surprised me when
Speaker 1: the Bucks announced today they're at a hundred percent vaccination, right,
Speaker 1: so we know Tom Tom took that job Dan he
Speaker 1: did have and the arians has been outspoken about it too.
Speaker 1: And it works for some coaches, I guess, putting the
Speaker 1: heat on the team a little bit, and others it
Speaker 1: seems to be less effective, which adds to curmudgeon nature
Speaker 1: of Mike Zimmer. Why can't I have the percent team?
Speaker 1: Why do I got this? Get these guys. I do
Speaker 1: want to ask Steve about the Falcon just because he
Speaker 1: covered them, I don't feel better or worse. So that
Speaker 1: was kind of thinking they might be a a bounce
Speaker 1: back candidate because if you look at their their numbers
Speaker 1: last year, like DV O way and points scored and
Speaker 1: stuff like that, they were maybe more of like an
Speaker 1: eight win team that had a lot of bad luck
Speaker 1: and lost a lot of like heartbreakers, and you know
Speaker 1: they're they're not all bad. You get Arthur Smith, you
Speaker 1: have a real quarterback, Like, what what was it like?
Speaker 1: First of all, you're in the booth, which is pretty badass,
Speaker 1: Like you know that that I'm not I'm not trying
Speaker 1: to put you in a box here, but not a
Speaker 1: next NFL player providing analysis, not not being the play
Speaker 1: by play guy providing analysis is awesome as for me
Speaker 1: to hear just anyone do that, and you did an
Speaker 1: amazing job. I couldn't believe how comfortable the whole booth was.
Speaker 1: I was like, this is better than the Monday Night
Speaker 1: crew right here. You and DJ Shockley, Um, you guys
Speaker 1: are great doing those talking teams. What do you think
Speaker 1: about the Falcons after being so kind of close with
Speaker 1: them for three weeks. Well, I mean thanks for that.
Speaker 1: I mean the Falcons frontline talent is good. Defensively, they're
Speaker 1: gonna be better if they stay healthy. I mean at
Speaker 1: front seven, they may not have, you know, an individual
Speaker 1: winner in terms of pass rusher. DNPS is gonna create
Speaker 1: some stuff and and man, they've got some linebackers. I
Speaker 1: mean Foy, oh Lookawan is really good, Dion Jones is
Speaker 1: really good. They got to got Michael Walker out of Fresno. Man,
Speaker 1: he's a player. So they're gonna find ways. They're gonna
Speaker 1: use Dante followers a situational pass rusher. You know, they
Speaker 1: tried to have us a three down guy last year.
Speaker 1: That didn't work. DPS. Yeah, d dnp's gonna be created.
Speaker 1: A j. Terrell is a really good corner. I mean,
Speaker 1: I know, the film on him last year because you
Speaker 1: saw him getting beat sometimes didn't look great. But I
Speaker 1: mean he didn't have anyone else so so teams could
Speaker 1: really do some things off. But he's gonna be a
Speaker 1: good corner. They got some other issues, you know, they've
Speaker 1: got to work through. But if they have one injury.
Speaker 1: I mean, if they have one injured any position, that's
Speaker 1: when you're hitting. I mean, and you know they're gonna
Speaker 1: have an injury. And their offensive line situation, I mean,
Speaker 1: they had Josh Andrews a left guard, which was a
Speaker 1: major concern, and he broke his hand. So now they're
Speaker 1: gonna start rookie Jalen Mayfield. Um that like didn't have
Speaker 1: enough money to sign the rookies or whatever. Mark kept
Speaker 1: bringing this up that they had no one on the roster,
Speaker 1: But you're actually kind of speaking to that point that
Speaker 1: the bottom twenty players on their roster might not be
Speaker 1: you know, league ready. Yeah, I mean it's it's gonna
Speaker 1: be one of those things that if they start for
Speaker 1: an injury too, they're quickly going to go from a
Speaker 1: team trying to compete to a developmental team where you're
Speaker 1: up close with Kyle Pitts too. Is that guy jump
Speaker 1: off the tape and he jumps off, jumps off, I
Speaker 1: mean immediate immediately you see that Darren Waller is you know,
Speaker 1: the Darren Waller comparison in terms of speed, being able
Speaker 1: to beat guys catch balls in traffic. You know, he's
Speaker 1: got a bigger wingspan than than Waller. He's one of
Speaker 1: those guys you can throw with you twenty times a game.
Speaker 1: You know, he's he's that versatile. You can line up
Speaker 1: wide in line, move him, he can block, he competes.
Speaker 1: He I mean he is like super legit. You know
Speaker 1: when I saw those joint practices against the Dolphins, you know,
Speaker 1: the Dolphins and US Eric Rowe is there designated tight
Speaker 1: end slack eye. You know, that's the guy that I
Speaker 1: showed on Waller and they and he was giving it
Speaker 1: something to Row. I mean, Row won his battles too,
Speaker 1: but for a rookie, he's just too big. I mean,
Speaker 1: Matt Ryan could throw the ball nine feet in the
Speaker 1: air and he's gonna catch it. There's nothing you can
Speaker 1: do regardless of your coverage. And that's a great tool
Speaker 1: to have. With Hayden Hurst, Um, there's another option of
Speaker 1: tight end. I mean, what geez, But I mean Pitts
Speaker 1: is real. What people really want to know, though, Steve
Speaker 1: is should they select Kyle Pitts with the fourth round
Speaker 1: pick in their fantasy draft because that's what he's going touchdowns? Touchdowns?
Speaker 1: All right? All right, yeah, there you go. They're not
Speaker 1: gonna run it in can't punch it in, throw it
Speaker 1: the pits teams, all the all the listeners. By the way,
Speaker 1: who sent me there? Roster is full of my faiths
Speaker 1: from the Fantasy Spectacular. I don't know if I sold
Speaker 1: my takes better this year, but I don't remember this
Speaker 1: in the past. But everyone's just sending me all the
Speaker 1: rosters of all my faiths. So I will lay you down.
Speaker 1: And also in fairness, because we did throw some shade earlier.
Speaker 1: Daniel Jeremiah also a color analyst that does not have
Speaker 1: NFL experience, so he climbed the mountains. That's true. He
Speaker 1: worked for a team, but that's that's true. Mina Mina
Speaker 1: Kimes is another one that stands out. But I love
Speaker 1: we need more of these. I think they add a
Speaker 1: lot to a booth alongside like an ex player. It's
Speaker 1: the perfect, perfect mix. Let's now move straight into it.
Speaker 1: He is a stalwart senior writer at the Athletic covers
Speaker 1: the NFL. He covers the Raiders and maybe nobody does
Speaker 1: it better. Welcome back to the Around the NFL podcast.
Speaker 1: Vic Tafer even got his last name correctly pronunciated this time.
Speaker 1: I'm on fire, how about you? Vic? I'm all right, guy,
Speaker 1: He's kind of like, maybe I'm the best covering the Raiders.
Speaker 1: Come on, all right, VIC, so your boots on the
Speaker 1: ground with the Raiders. This is a big season obviously
Speaker 1: for that whole organization. And before I get your opening thoughts,
Speaker 1: let's just hear from the general manager, Mike Mayock, who
Speaker 1: spoke with the media this week and made no bones
Speaker 1: about it. It's time for progress in the form of
Speaker 1: relevant January football. Here's what may I got to say.
Speaker 1: We think we're gonna be a pretty good football team.
Speaker 1: We're not hiding from expectations. I think John and I
Speaker 1: will both tell you that we feel like we need
Speaker 1: to be a playoff team this year. And I don't
Speaker 1: think there's any doubt about that. And you guys are
Speaker 1: all gonna put that in your headlines and I understand it, um,
Speaker 1: but we're not. I mean, that's what the expectation is.
Speaker 1: We think we've done, um the infrastructure work necessary to
Speaker 1: put us in position, and we got to take care
Speaker 1: of business. Well, how say you, Vic, do you think
Speaker 1: they've done the proper amount of infrastructure work to make
Speaker 1: this a playoff team. I do enjoy the advice to
Speaker 1: put it in our headlines. I like to hey, this guy,
Speaker 1: this is important. Guys, focus on this. But I thought,
Speaker 1: I thought, you know, this is obviously year four for
Speaker 1: John Gruden, so I would have thought last year might
Speaker 1: have been kind of, you know, do or die kind
Speaker 1: of year. But I get the timeline. Now we're on it.
Speaker 1: This year, it's uh, it's a key year for Derek
Speaker 1: Carr in his contract. This is the last year before
Speaker 1: they have to kind of getting extension. Mike may X
Speaker 1: probably himself on the hot seat a little bit. So um,
Speaker 1: I think they've got more talent on defense obviously. I
Speaker 1: think Yannick mcgaquay was a big time signing trade by Morrig.
Speaker 1: I think is is really good at safety TCU. I
Speaker 1: still a question the depth and the death is still
Speaker 1: a pretty big issue for them. So um, but I
Speaker 1: agree with the whole playoffs are bus kind of mentality.
Speaker 1: I'm not quite sure that quite there. Yeah, but they're definitely,
Speaker 1: you know, getting a little closer. Mak looks pretty like
Speaker 1: he's in pretty good shapey might be competing with Weiss,
Speaker 1: is like the best best than shape over fifty guy.
Speaker 1: Not to aid you there, Steve, Oh no, I'm I'm
Speaker 1: I'm very happy Vick knows Vick and Vick and I
Speaker 1: go back to Miami Herald, Vick, what years were you there,
Speaker 1: like ninety were I was, Yeah, I'm president close old. Yes,
Speaker 1: we're back there A long time, a long time ago,
Speaker 1: so I can't remember how far back it was. But
Speaker 1: here's here's what I have. Here's what I hear when
Speaker 1: when people say, like, you know, it's it's a make
Speaker 1: or break year for the for who Gruden has got
Speaker 1: the ultimate you know, landing landing pad. I mean for Mayock.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, you know, Mike, Mike's great Scott
Speaker 1: and does all this, but Gruten has final say, I mean,
Speaker 1: Mark Davidson could pull the plug on Gruten the five
Speaker 1: years left on that deal. Well, Mayck might have been
Speaker 1: speaking about himself and maybe Derek Carto, you know, maybe
Speaker 1: it's a little bit of projecting. He might know they
Speaker 1: need to be the playoffs, or Gruden will find someone
Speaker 1: else too. But it's not the problem here, right Vic,
Speaker 1: I mean, and Mike Mayock frankly probably isn't the problem here.
Speaker 1: These these are systemic issues that maybe go beyond the quarterback.
Speaker 1: This team could score points. We're just talking about it.
Speaker 1: Uh and if if Max being set up as the
Speaker 1: sacrificial lamb here, like if I'm a Raiders fan, am
Speaker 1: I not feeling too good about the basic structure of
Speaker 1: this organization four years into this thing, Well that's some
Speaker 1: bad you know, bad f agent signings, bad draft picks
Speaker 1: to the last three or four years. And before that
Speaker 1: you go back, had one winning season in twenty years.
Speaker 1: So that's a lot a lot of a lot of
Speaker 1: bad draft picks, a lot of bad freezing signings. So
Speaker 1: I think hopefully got right this year and then one
Speaker 1: big bullet to shoot that was in gotway and he
Speaker 1: by all means and better, She's gained weight, wants to
Speaker 1: show he's like a you know, a three down guy.
Speaker 1: I'm just a pass rush specialist. He's come in. He
Speaker 1: Max Crosby really connected to their Max is in great
Speaker 1: shape so that they feel they have like two wheel
Speaker 1: bona fide pass rushers for the first time in a
Speaker 1: long time. So for them that's been a huge issue.
Speaker 1: I'm staying what I mentioned Mary earlier. They haven't had
Speaker 1: a real center fielder and safety for a long time.
Speaker 1: Guy you can actually make plays Bisince Charles Woodson and
Speaker 1: Woodson was her not what he was in his prime
Speaker 1: when he was here the second time. So even that's
Speaker 1: not the high bar you would think it would be.
Speaker 1: But so they have two guys that ever had defense.
Speaker 1: And so to your point about Derek Carr, I agree,
Speaker 1: it's not his fault that they haven't gone the playoffs.
Speaker 1: You know, uh, only at one time and it's my
Speaker 1: my sixteen. But he has to do more. I think
Speaker 1: the offense can make a jump this year to be
Speaker 1: a little better in the rest zone, but primarily it's defense.
Speaker 1: Defense has to make some plays that blew the three
Speaker 1: games late last year. So that to me is the
Speaker 1: key the key area this year. Well, it's unfair. Maybe
Speaker 1: it's unfair to Maya because we don't know who's making
Speaker 1: the final calls. Ultimately, it's it's probably okay, we do
Speaker 1: know it's good, but you can't you can't help but
Speaker 1: read into the fact that that the Raiders have invested
Speaker 1: more draft capital in defensive backs, in safeties, the position
Speaker 1: that Mayock you know, played, is kind of an expert
Speaker 1: than any team in the league, and they haven't you know,
Speaker 1: necessarily worked out. You know, they're still there. Like I
Speaker 1: think Trayvon Mullin could be good dame in our net star.
Speaker 1: There more rigs there. They picked up Hayward as a
Speaker 1: free agent. I mean, Donovan Neighboring has been kind of
Speaker 1: a bust so far. Like those are a ton of picks,
Speaker 1: and you kind of you associate that a little bit
Speaker 1: with Mayock and they're not working out. Like this is
Speaker 1: when I when he says like we need to be
Speaker 1: a playoff team, I kind of think it's like, we
Speaker 1: need to be a competent defense because I've had a
Speaker 1: big hand in putting together this defense and it's been
Speaker 1: one of the worst in the NFL. Yeah, definitely, competency
Speaker 1: is definitely key. If they can be they'd be like
Speaker 1: a middle of the road defense. They should be fine
Speaker 1: under offense will be problems. Top ten last year, it
Speaker 1: should be fine this year. They got Josh Jacobs. I
Speaker 1: think he's got a big year. Kenyan Drake is a
Speaker 1: nice little, uh secondary piece they got. Darren Waller is
Speaker 1: only gonna get better. And I think that people think
Speaker 1: he's reached the ceiling, but he's not close. And he
Speaker 1: was a receiver in college. He's already in my book,
Speaker 1: the third best tight end the league. And he wants
Speaker 1: to be the best, and I'm not betting against him.
Speaker 1: So I think that's a key, key piece that a
Speaker 1: lot of teams can't can't defend against. You can't put
Speaker 1: a safety on, and you can't put a quarterback ground
Speaker 1: kept on lineback gro on and we've got a really
Speaker 1: scheme to stop that guy. So they've got a lot
Speaker 1: of tools on offense, and like you said, the defense
Speaker 1: has to be not embarrassing bad and then they'll be
Speaker 1: we'll mix some progress vic we're talking about personnel. But
Speaker 1: I think what I think the Raiders may win the
Speaker 1: best offseason acquisitions NFL. And that's Gus Bradley right coming
Speaker 1: to this defense. He you talked about a guy who
Speaker 1: knows how to scheme with maybe not a great and
Speaker 1: they've got unique and got ways of stud He's a
Speaker 1: he's a winner in terms of beating guys and double
Speaker 1: team and stuff like that. But if you've got a
Speaker 1: pass rusher in terms of putting another linebacker on the
Speaker 1: same side, like he'll line up him and Crosby on
Speaker 1: the same side when you get in the regular season, No,
Speaker 1: he'll do some gaming. How much to it Gus Bradley
Speaker 1: likes to do again, leaving the corners out there in
Speaker 1: zone protection and getting after upfront. Do you think can
Speaker 1: help out this defense? Yeah, definitely. I think Gress has
Speaker 1: been a big breath of fresher, not just spyschematically, like
Speaker 1: he's making a defense simpler. Guys have to think as
Speaker 1: much last year and the guys we're trying to think
Speaker 1: about where they should be in their assignments and the
Speaker 1: should be able to do that. But last year, obviously
Speaker 1: it was a problem. So simply defense guys can run
Speaker 1: and react better. And just in terms of his personality,
Speaker 1: is like one of the most optimistic, like happiest guys
Speaker 1: that ever met in my life, which is a huge
Speaker 1: nothing with Paul Gunther. Gunther was more of a hardcore,
Speaker 1: kind of in your face kind of guy, going well gruffly.
Speaker 1: So I think based on the just on the whole
Speaker 1: attitude change of this young guys has definitely been welcome
Speaker 1: as well. So Guss is just like you exactly. Gus
Speaker 1: and I are like the same. But I'm gonna look,
Speaker 1: I'm looking into my crystal ball Vic. We're gonna see
Speaker 1: g I in this later, so just play along and
Speaker 1: I see nine and eight for the Raiders. Is that
Speaker 1: optimistic pessimistic or is it right on? That's probably pretty close.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think with the Vegas were unders still
Speaker 1: Saturn a half, which I think is a little low.
Speaker 1: I think just the offense should there's no reason the
Speaker 1: offense shouldn't be good the old line. I know a
Speaker 1: lot of people said they got rid of the three
Speaker 1: ventered Venteran guys. Ronnie Hudson gave Jackson Trent Brown, who
Speaker 1: definitely one part of big time guys, and but they
Speaker 1: should be fine. The death is again questionable, but they
Speaker 1: want should be good enough. I think the winning game
Speaker 1: will be fine. So again all comes out of defense.
Speaker 1: I think the defense can have to make a big
Speaker 1: jump on Address Bradley and then Gowth and they can
Speaker 1: do better than nine eight. But I think my eight
Speaker 1: is definitely a fair and pretty probably a pretty accurate goal.
Speaker 1: I know it's a little random, but I don't want
Speaker 1: to let you go before just because you were there
Speaker 1: every day, like what happened to my guy Smokey Brown.
Speaker 1: He won the award in Mayock and John Gruden won
Speaker 1: the award this year. And tell someone, tell me if
Speaker 1: I'm wrong, But I'm pretty sure he got the most
Speaker 1: amount of guaranteed money of any player across the NFL
Speaker 1: this offseason that did not make the team, and like
Speaker 1: Za Jones made the team over John Brown, Like what
Speaker 1: what happened here? Like this is the type of stuff
Speaker 1: that does make you worry about the structure that like
Speaker 1: Dan was talking about at the beginning, like what happened there?
Speaker 1: I think when John Brown signed here, he looked at
Speaker 1: the roster, the depth Charlotte I've got Rugs, Edwards, the
Speaker 1: draft picks. I get that. I thought he might be
Speaker 1: their number one. He was pretty good last year and
Speaker 1: number one. I mean, I don't know, you love John Brown,
Speaker 1: not Jooning. Brown had a good year last year, But
Speaker 1: I think his his problem was he came and didn't
Speaker 1: realize how much of coaches loves A Jones. With coaches,
Speaker 1: they loves A Jones Jones. I think he had like
Speaker 1: fifteen catches last year on a guess and got a
Speaker 1: million dollar pay increased this year. They gave him one
Speaker 1: million dollars more than one point fively made last year,
Speaker 1: So clearly they liked him. Allies and Gray always says,
Speaker 1: in the best shape for anyone on the roster and
Speaker 1: smart guy, veteran John loves the veteran receiver. So I
Speaker 1: think John Brown is probably surprised during camp that hey,
Speaker 1: I'm below Z Jones and so at some point he's like,
Speaker 1: I can't be below A Jones. I'm gonna play. He's
Speaker 1: good enough to play somewhere. So, um yeah, ideally you
Speaker 1: don't give a guy three point trew million dollars and
Speaker 1: then cut him. Um, that's probably as kind of ideal
Speaker 1: in the ideal world, but you gotta jack up those
Speaker 1: prices on like the pool season tickets or whatever, you know,
Speaker 1: like like hanging out on the sidelines. That the thing
Speaker 1: if you're if you're just throwing three point two million
Speaker 1: dollars away, Yeah, that's actually I think as one point
Speaker 1: seven five was signing bonus and the one point five
Speaker 1: salaries offset, so we signed somewhere else, So I think
Speaker 1: you will. But still it's two million dollars. You you're
Speaker 1: pretty much lit on fire, which is not not good.
Speaker 1: But again, the history of those team's transactions over the years,
Speaker 1: that's not an uncommon occurrence. They kind of they like
Speaker 1: monning on fire pretty regularly. So, um, is a any
Speaker 1: Jones plays well? No one's gonna care about this, you know,
Speaker 1: week six, and I think last year was a big surprise.
Speaker 1: I don't know if that Jones can do that, but
Speaker 1: you should be able to be fine in there offense
Speaker 1: and makes some key plays for him every now and then.
Speaker 1: And speaking of fire as we let you go, Vic,
Speaker 1: and thank you so much for your time. You are.
Speaker 1: You're a guy that's respected. I'm sure in that building
Speaker 1: they all love Vic. Maybe sometimes they don't know. Yes, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's a batch of honor as we all know. But
Speaker 1: but maybe you could use your cloud within the team
Speaker 1: to replace the digital flame with the real deal holy field.
Speaker 1: Get us back the the everlasting flame, the Al Davis flame.
Speaker 1: Just one thing to work on this season. Maybe if
Speaker 1: you have some extra time. That's pretty big fire line
Speaker 1: off that might be dangerous. I like the idea, but well,
Speaker 1: I'll see what I can do. I'll make some calls
Speaker 1: and next time Vix and he's gonna share some examples
Speaker 1: of the team disliking him, and that's gonna be fun.
Speaker 1: I'll be good, all right. Do you want me to
Speaker 1: tell Vic? I can know till the off season, all right,
Speaker 1: Think best of luck, luck this season, and thanks for
Speaker 1: joining us. Um, how do I go there? He gave
Speaker 1: us so much time and it was great. But my
Speaker 1: one of the thought when I think about this roster is, yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't know if Darren Waller gets better. I mean
Speaker 1: he was basically uncoverable in the last six or seven
Speaker 1: weeks of the season. If you get that guy, that
Speaker 1: is going to be more than good enough. And I
Speaker 1: believe that cars who he is, which is like above
Speaker 1: the Dalton line. Maybe not a true franchise UM star,
Speaker 1: but a guy that will win games. Uh. And Josh
Speaker 1: Jacobs should solidify that backfield. Henry Ruggs twelve overall pick
Speaker 1: last year. If they could add one more guy that
Speaker 1: is a real difference maker on offense, they can win
Speaker 1: some of these shootouts. Um, and they did well against
Speaker 1: the Chiefs lash year. As you remember, Ruggs is such
Speaker 1: a key guy after tough here. I know he's put
Speaker 1: on some muscles with that old trope, but they kind
Speaker 1: of need one more guy if they really want to
Speaker 1: win some of these shootouts. If their defense is only
Speaker 1: gonna be May maybe two because they don't have Nelson Aghlar.
Speaker 1: That was maybe I'm overrating John Brown. Last year. I
Speaker 1: remember some big games and taken it back by how
Speaker 1: much you like John I mean, and maybe I'm over ratum,
Speaker 1: but they're starting Rugs, They're starting Brian Edwards. They love
Speaker 1: Brian Edwards, they love Za Jones. That they are also
Speaker 1: an answer to who are three receivers who have never
Speaker 1: topped five yards or six hundred yards in a in
Speaker 1: an NFL season before? Like that never, not not one
Speaker 1: of those three guy have ever done anything? And and
Speaker 1: Edwards and Rugs are just entering a year two. That's
Speaker 1: maybe it's a little unfair and maybe they're going to
Speaker 1: be great, but they better be right, I guess about
Speaker 1: that stuff. Scouting, Yeah, especially they want to get past
Speaker 1: the Broncos, right, Greig, Hey, it's a good Broncos number
Speaker 1: two chick, it's a good division. I know Steve is
Speaker 1: super busy like we are during the season. But if
Speaker 1: we can get Steve back on at some point once
Speaker 1: the season really takes shape and we decide who was
Speaker 1: right and who was wrong about the Broncos, someone gets
Speaker 1: to have a victory parade over the other guy. Uh.
Speaker 1: And I'm just gonna sit from the from the stands
Speaker 1: and enjoy it all. I can't wait. I'm hoping they
Speaker 1: live up to the potential. But I'm just saying they've
Speaker 1: got They've got an average twenty four points game this
Speaker 1: division to even have a shot, and I just don't
Speaker 1: know if that's gonna happen unless they get the takeaways
Speaker 1: on defense, get those fans of points like the Rams
Speaker 1: got last year with all of their defensive scores. Taking
Speaker 1: on Steve Weich is not like a smart move within
Speaker 1: NFL media. It's like that that's a bit like Steve
Speaker 1: he was back on NFL a M back in the day.
Speaker 1: It's like, I don't know where a lot of that
Speaker 1: that crew is, but Steve still right here, you know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying. And Steve's in the sas and you're
Speaker 1: you're gonna get a text about four minutes from now,
Speaker 1: Gregg from White's being like, don't you ever cross me
Speaker 1: on the show? Don't you ever disagree with me? Don't
Speaker 1: you know who I that's me. I'm hard man, I'm hard,
Speaker 1: all right, Steve tell us, first of all, get your
Speaker 1: Steve White song submissions in Everybody be a part of
Speaker 1: the show's history forever. Uh the E t N podcast
Speaker 1: at Gmail, Steve, where can listeners find you? This season.
Speaker 1: I know you're all over the place. Yeah, look, I
Speaker 1: mean I'm gonna be here from time to time. No podcast,
Speaker 1: no podcast. The hotal flow has has has met its maker.
Speaker 1: It's been shuttered. Bummer, Okay, it's it's it's yeah. It's
Speaker 1: unfortunately in the ether. But you can find me on
Speaker 1: the Twitter accounts at White eight nine. I will be
Speaker 1: on NFL Now, Game Day and all other pretty much
Speaker 1: NFL media people should check out Sunday. I know, I
Speaker 1: know that Black College Football Hall of Fame game and
Speaker 1: you're excited about that. Aren't they going to play? That?
Speaker 1: Is that different than the two the game they were
Speaker 1: hoping to play at two Lane at some point. No, no,
Speaker 1: this this is different. The game at two Lane is
Speaker 1: is the week after the Super Bowl. That's gonna happen,
Speaker 1: uh February nineteenth. That is the HBCU Legacy Bowl. That's
Speaker 1: that's kind of the Black College Senior Bowl. It's gonna
Speaker 1: be week. We could work out up to one draft
Speaker 1: eligible players there for our team, jump scout and all this. Now,
Speaker 1: this is an actual game, you know, to kick things
Speaker 1: off between Tennessee State and Grambling, the two of the
Speaker 1: most historic HBCUs in college football history. It confused me
Speaker 1: because it's at the Tom Benson Stadium and Canon I got.
Speaker 1: I kind of like mixed it all up. A good
Speaker 1: job by Tom Benson. Good job and as you know
Speaker 1: at Tulane, like the Benson's also helped fund Yolman Stadium.
Speaker 1: It's like Yoman Stadium at Benson Field and everything at
Speaker 1: Lane University. So yes, depends on how they're hing a lot.
Speaker 1: And and speaking of Benson, shout out to everybody in
Speaker 1: New Orleans, the Gulf, the Gulf Coast, especially in the past.
Speaker 1: We're seeing in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, Delaware
Speaker 1: too with the storms. Many they're going through it, so
Speaker 1: we can only wish the best for them. What's that
Speaker 1: The Raiders have just signed K J. Wright? Okay, Bradley Link,
Speaker 1: Bradley Link, Grave Digger hit the drop. I can't believe
Speaker 1: he was out there for this long. He was six.
Speaker 1: He was number sixty seven to one. That was risky
Speaker 1: moved by Grave Digger right, as we're you know, and
Speaker 1: in the show over the line there of whether it's
Speaker 1: worth the breaking news. kJ Right was ranked in our
Speaker 1: in our top top fifty. I think free agents available
Speaker 1: so I think it just cleared the line. That is
Speaker 1: that that was worth it. It was a top one
Speaker 1: hundred player, Top one hundred players, number sixty seven. He
Speaker 1: was just out there until now pick up, great pick up.
Speaker 1: That's Grave Digger and hit me the hit me to
Speaker 1: the drop again, Grave Digger. That's Grave Digger. Like he's
Speaker 1: he's four of six from behind the arc at the
Speaker 1: y and all of a sudden he just pulls up
Speaker 1: from twenty eight and says, let's see what happens here
Speaker 1: and guess what. Swish baby. That's one of the Yeah,
Speaker 1: you better make it or else. Everyone's looking at you sideways.
Speaker 1: It's like, who do you think you are? Steph Curry?
Speaker 1: But he connected, he connected, He rattled. It in very
Speaker 1: interesting to watch how the Raiders they're they're fascinating team
Speaker 1: this season and we'll see how it plays out. Thank you,
Speaker 1: Mr Weish, you're the best. And Greg. We'll be back
Speaker 1: tomorrow well, yes, on NFL dot Com and then on
Speaker 1: NFL Network after that with the Around the NFL broadcast.
Speaker 1: It's our final hour long show before we go to
Speaker 1: a two hour show in the regular season where we'll
Speaker 1: embrace a new format that's gonna give you coverage of
Speaker 1: every team every episode. We're really excited about that. Will
Speaker 1: tell you more about it as it gets closer. How
Speaker 1: long do we have to wait till it's like polite
Speaker 1: to ask Steve to come back, because we've got two
Speaker 1: hours to fill Steve, we're gonna it's gonna be when
Speaker 1: the Broncos, when the Broncos are eight and one, I'll
Speaker 1: be right there, Okay, okay, awesome, alright, so make sure
Speaker 1: you check that out and follow Steve. Thank you, Grave
Speaker 1: digger for filling in so beautifully all week, and we
Speaker 1: will be back next week, which will be the week
Speaker 1: of the regular season's beginning. Beautiful till then heed the call.