Speaker 1: Be Around the NFL Podcast. I bought too many n
Speaker 1: f T s. Welcome to another edition to the Around
Speaker 1: the NFL Podcast. My name is Dan Hansis. I come
Speaker 1: to you from a room filled with some heroes, Mark Sessler,
Speaker 1: Patrick Claiban and Greg Rosenthal and f T. S Well,
Speaker 1: I please nailed it. This is not a group I
Speaker 1: feel like that that's true about or is overly um
Speaker 1: invested in the n f T market. I would say,
Speaker 1: is this is this call for another episode of money
Speaker 1: on money hit it Ricky? No, I don't have it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think he would be the guy. But as as
Speaker 1: our capitalist class becomes more intrigued by the idea, I
Speaker 1: recognized that for fear of future consequences, maybe I should
Speaker 1: keep my mouth shut regarding mart Smart. Yes, this is
Speaker 1: the first post draft edition of our show. Thank you
Speaker 1: for everybody who was loyal to the brand last week
Speaker 1: when we rolled out with five apps and the biggest
Speaker 1: of all spots. Uh. And now uh we have Claibon back,
Speaker 1: which is great because Claibon is Claibon um. But he's
Speaker 1: here for a specific reason because as per tradition, Greg Rosenthal, Uh,
Speaker 1: this week is a good week to do a check
Speaker 1: in on everybody, isn't it It is? We always do
Speaker 1: the around the a f C and NFC in forty
Speaker 1: eight minutes three minutes per team. At one point we
Speaker 1: changed it to two and a half minutes per team.
Speaker 1: I think we forgot about that. I don't know where
Speaker 1: that stands about. Claibroon is a veteran of this. I
Speaker 1: didn't even have to tell him the rules because he's
Speaker 1: he's been, He's done it many times for whatever reason. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I look forward to the opportunity I got. I got
Speaker 1: the text late night uh me a comparative two from
Speaker 1: from Dan, and I was like, Okay, I'm ready for this.
Speaker 1: I mean, I know that when I'm hoping to get
Speaker 1: late night text surprise text, what I wanted to be
Speaker 1: is You're on a show tomorrow to requires a ton
Speaker 1: of research. Get to bed, wake up early, and get
Speaker 1: your act together because we aired eleven. My favorite Mark
Speaker 1: texts are the one that comes the ones that come
Speaker 1: in like three am and it's a U R L
Speaker 1: two St. Vincent song or something, uh that's a real
Speaker 1: woozy banger. Three in the morning that's a little aggressive,
Speaker 1: or like four in the morning and it's like, why
Speaker 1: is this person tweeting this? Just me just be with
Speaker 1: the market that you know that you can save it.
Speaker 1: I don't have um sleeping patterns that match up with
Speaker 1: a anyone in my house or most people that I know,
Speaker 1: but I try not to break code by hitting you
Speaker 1: with too many texts at four in the morning. If
Speaker 1: that's happening too often, I need to check myself at
Speaker 1: the door. Where are we with your your sleep cycle
Speaker 1: right now? Because as you're saying, that is an issue
Speaker 1: uh for you unfortunately? How many hours of sleep would
Speaker 1: you estimate you get on average for night? A four? Mm?
Speaker 1: Not great, it's not great, but I kind of you
Speaker 1: kind of get used to it, you know. It's like
Speaker 1: if it's six or something, Um, you feel lucky. But
Speaker 1: about four, but mixed with periods of sitting alone in
Speaker 1: the house in total alone, but total silence for another
Speaker 1: four in between those four. It's not four in a row. So,
Speaker 1: oh my god? Could I be more productive during that time? Yes,
Speaker 1: I do nothing just sitting as a lot. Um. I'm
Speaker 1: actually concerned, pretty Mark. That sucks. Well that's just the
Speaker 1: beginning of the issues. Um. Alright, so yes, I you know,
Speaker 1: I know we did drop down to two and a half, Greg,
Speaker 1: but that just doesn't it doesn't have the same pop
Speaker 1: is three nights. That was like a pre season one
Speaker 1: or something that. Forget that nonsense. And what happens is
Speaker 1: and it happens every year we come out of our
Speaker 1: two draft shows and people get a little snippy that
Speaker 1: their team didn't get the love. Well, these next two shows,
Speaker 1: every team in NFL gets there due And by the way,
Speaker 1: one rule that Scott was an unofficial type rule. It's
Speaker 1: like how they changed the rule with the official being
Speaker 1: able to help out the guys on the field, the
Speaker 1: guy in the eye and the sky. Uh, we're gonna
Speaker 1: add three time outs if at any and and you
Speaker 1: have to be good with time management here, it's for
Speaker 1: the whole show. We all have to work together. If
Speaker 1: you have to stop the clock for any reason, whether
Speaker 1: you need to share something unrelated to a team or
Speaker 1: if there's something that you really just need to get
Speaker 1: out there. Ricky, this involves you as well call time
Speaker 1: out and then um that stops the clock. I don't
Speaker 1: know if we have any Andy Reid time managers here,
Speaker 1: Like who's the best of time management in the NFL?
Speaker 1: By the way, who's the guy that's seen as the best?
Speaker 1: Is there somebody out there besides Greg Rosenthal? Yeah? I
Speaker 1: think certainly he is up there. I think it's Belichick
Speaker 1: because he's kind of free from criticism. It's like if
Speaker 1: Bill does mess something up, then everybody's like, oh he
Speaker 1: did that for a reason. You know who's good? Good? Good? Right? Wait,
Speaker 1: we all we each have three time outs or like
Speaker 1: suddenly Greg's used burned two time outs as a team,
Speaker 1: So someone someone could just jack up three time outs
Speaker 1: in the first like two minutes. You're saying, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: be honest, I'm gonna be reluctant to use the time
Speaker 1: out one of you guys of it, because I would
Speaker 1: like it to be one of the other one's faults.
Speaker 1: If another person doesn't get a time out together, I
Speaker 1: will not use one. I will say that, all right, Mark,
Speaker 1: if there were fifteen timeouts in the sexercise, that would
Speaker 1: be potentially an issue. So we're just three total for
Speaker 1: the five of us. Think about it, but be smart.
Speaker 1: All right. Now we're doing a f C today Thursday
Speaker 1: NFC with another special guest. But right now, the only
Speaker 1: guest that matters is the Great Patrick Clay, but not
Speaker 1: really a guest either, kind of an unofficial hero. Um,
Speaker 1: let's get to it, starting with the a f C
Speaker 1: East Ricky, you know the rules. You got to hold
Speaker 1: us to the clock and nobody goes beyond the three minutes.
Speaker 1: There's an honor system here. Okay, it's about honor. Let's
Speaker 1: start at the Buffalo Bills. Start the clock, Ricky marks session.
Speaker 1: You know, I think the journey of the Bills is
Speaker 1: super fascinating. Like two years ago, we were wondering, when
Speaker 1: will they get past the New England Patriots Bill Belichick
Speaker 1: and vers Shawn McDermott, When will they get over that?
Speaker 1: Last year at this time, it was like, yeah, we
Speaker 1: like the Bills, but half of us don't trust Josh Allen,
Speaker 1: like he's he can't get it all done. He's an
Speaker 1: incomplete quarterback. Yeah yeah, yeah, all right, Well he basically
Speaker 1: answered all those questions. Last year the Bills were thirteen
Speaker 1: and three, dominating everyone. Um. I thought they had a
Speaker 1: good draft. They left a few things out there maybe
Speaker 1: to do. But for me, these are one of these
Speaker 1: teams where I say I would just ticket them for
Speaker 1: the a f C title game, barring an unforeseen disaster.
Speaker 1: Is it that easy or can you guys, I'm looking
Speaker 1: to you guys to pick out something about the Bills
Speaker 1: that still concerns you or are we just completely fine
Speaker 1: with the Bills at this point. I think the Bills
Speaker 1: are locked and loaded here. I mean they they did.
Speaker 1: They did the move a similar mark to your Brownies,
Speaker 1: where they've built up such a strong roster that they
Speaker 1: were able to focus on a specific area need and
Speaker 1: for them it was the pass rush and they go
Speaker 1: and add Gregory Russo Russo excuse me, thirty overall Carlos
Speaker 1: Fashion Jr. At sixty one, which people really liked. They
Speaker 1: need those guys though, to step up because greg pass
Speaker 1: rush was an issue. Yeah, they didn't have that great
Speaker 1: ufront seven. They need their recent draft picks at Oliver
Speaker 1: and trell Um, the Edmunds to show up and Tremaine
Speaker 1: Edmonds rather not his not his brother on the Steelers.
Speaker 1: They had to take those pastors because they haven't had
Speaker 1: any juice. It kind of made them look better when
Speaker 1: you watched in the Super Bowl what the Bucks did
Speaker 1: to the Chief's offensive line and thought, like in Sean
Speaker 1: mcdermot's dreams, if he had the Bills or the nineteen Bills.
Speaker 1: Perhaps their defense wouldn't have gotten steam rolled and would
Speaker 1: have taken advantage. Yes, Eric Fisher was on the field
Speaker 1: for most of the game, but that's one guy. The
Speaker 1: Bucks defense dominated throughout upfront and the Bills just didn't
Speaker 1: have that. Right now, I'm not taking in them for
Speaker 1: the n c JAMI because the the NFL. It is
Speaker 1: the hardest thing to do in the NFL to back
Speaker 1: up elite seasons, and I think that's where Josh Allen
Speaker 1: has to um show that he's gonna maintain his games.
Speaker 1: When you jump that high in one season, I do
Speaker 1: want to see him do it like at that level. Again,
Speaker 1: I don't think we can just assume that. And I
Speaker 1: think we believe so much in the offense because of
Speaker 1: the playmakers, right, Josh Allen is is a He's a
Speaker 1: play waiting to happen every time. In him and Stefan
Speaker 1: days we saw. We believe in all that, but as
Speaker 1: you guys mentioned, it doesn't exist on the defense. And
Speaker 1: I think in Boogie basham right, you get a solid player,
Speaker 1: you get that Sean McDermott type, you know, hold over
Speaker 1: from Carolina type. He's going Buggie Basham officially. By the way,
Speaker 1: like on NFL dot com, that's the name that links
Speaker 1: up now is Boogy, So he's changed cars. I love it.
Speaker 1: It's a good name. But Russo is right, the guy
Speaker 1: that you're looking forward, the upside guy to hopefully make
Speaker 1: a play, because it's a Greg mentioned like if you
Speaker 1: don't have defensive playmakers, eventually you're just like nothing's gonna happen.
Speaker 1: You just gonna lose the game three to build jump
Speaker 1: through the table. Patrick Clayvin the Miami Dolphins, All right,
Speaker 1: let's do it. Um the Mijaret Dolphins. I hope there's
Speaker 1: no trouble with using this particular audio. Have gone through
Speaker 1: a far amount of question answering this offseason. I think
Speaker 1: we've seen what they prioritize. They they get Will Fuller
Speaker 1: earlier on in free agency, Jalen Waddle in the draft. Um,
Speaker 1: so they're prioritizing speed. Uh. We saw him trade down,
Speaker 1: so they believe in to Uh. We see their whole
Speaker 1: draft strategy. But but I think there's one thing that
Speaker 1: we haven't seen, um, and that's an answer to the question.
Speaker 1: In all this discussion about TOA and the weapons and
Speaker 1: the offense protection. UH, we still don't know who's gonna
Speaker 1: be calling the plays on offense in Miami like Studsville
Speaker 1: and God see your co offensive coordinators floors and said
Speaker 1: they'll develop a plan during the week. But that kind
Speaker 1: of runs in con tryst to like the league where
Speaker 1: it seems like the entire plane is being built out
Speaker 1: of play callers and it like dictates, Uh, the entire
Speaker 1: direction of regimes around the league is being dictated by
Speaker 1: one man calling the play. So I wanted to ask you, guys,
Speaker 1: do you think a team can without one firm voice
Speaker 1: ultimately and making the decisions in play calling. Do you
Speaker 1: think that can work? And do you think that's a
Speaker 1: solid strategy for a young quarterback? I would say this like,
Speaker 1: there's a reason that there's only one co offensive coordinator
Speaker 1: set up in the NFL right now. You're in a
Speaker 1: division with Brian Dable, Josh McDaniels, Mike Lafleur. I mean,
Speaker 1: these are three premier play callers who have completely changed
Speaker 1: their teams in the quarterbacks around them, and you you
Speaker 1: have you have more hope in someone like Zach Wilson
Speaker 1: because he's attached to a Mike Lafloor offense. So Yeah,
Speaker 1: with the Dolphins, I think that's sort of a burning
Speaker 1: question mark. I mean, I trust coaches to be able
Speaker 1: to like organize during the week, but really what separates
Speaker 1: some of these teams, Like why do we love a
Speaker 1: Kyle Shanahan Because they talked about by being one of
Speaker 1: the best in game play callers around. It's like, do
Speaker 1: the Dolphins have that right now? We don't know. I'deer
Speaker 1: towards no, right, I mean they It's been done before
Speaker 1: by Florence's boss. And you know that's partly why I
Speaker 1: think he's not worrying about the titles. There probably will
Speaker 1: be a guy. I mean, Josh Boyer, who was with
Speaker 1: the Dolphins was a co offensive coordinator. One of the
Speaker 1: greatest offensives of all time. The Patriots in terms of production.
Speaker 1: They didn't have an offensive quarter but that's Belichick and
Speaker 1: that's Tom Brady. Like I have totally with you, Like
Speaker 1: this is a young quarterback who really is going to
Speaker 1: be asked to do a lot. Think about these receivers
Speaker 1: Waddle Parker Fuller, those are like bombs away receivers too.
Speaker 1: Was like a little hesitant to go down the field.
Speaker 1: It's so many young players, the offensive lines young. The
Speaker 1: receivers are young, like everyone's young on this team. And
Speaker 1: you're right, that's that's a major question mark because Florence
Speaker 1: has not found a coordinator he believes and because he
Speaker 1: changes it every year. I'm not feeling this brand. Jolina
Speaker 1: set up to the offensive coordinator in Miami, and yeah,
Speaker 1: I think you need to have real struture in place,
Speaker 1: and you got to know who's who's the bottom line
Speaker 1: guy who's in charge of this offense, especially with a
Speaker 1: young quarterback because this is not Tom Brady. But yeah,
Speaker 1: I do like overall, if the Dolphins did on offense,
Speaker 1: they really did put two in in position here to
Speaker 1: take a jump for He's got to be structure. M hm.
Speaker 1: The New England Patriots with Greg Rosenbom. Oh, yeah, I'm
Speaker 1: glad I get to talk about the Patriots. You know,
Speaker 1: what would a podcast be without the Patriots, Jets and Browns.
Speaker 1: We guarantee they won't be on Thursday show. I it's true.
Speaker 1: I was, you know, taken by the aggressiveness of the
Speaker 1: rest of the draft after Mac Jones. I think that
Speaker 1: got slept on nationally that they take Christian bar More,
Speaker 1: they trade up for him in the second round, a
Speaker 1: guy the PFF had an in their top fifteen but
Speaker 1: was kind of an inconsistent effort guy, yet absolutely took
Speaker 1: over in the playoffs, the National Collegiate playoffs and was
Speaker 1: probably the best player on the field defensively, you know,
Speaker 1: in the championship. And then with their next pick, Ronnie Perkins,
Speaker 1: the guy who was suspended, DJ had him in the
Speaker 1: top fifty, but he falls to nineties six, maybe because
Speaker 1: of that suspension. And then in their next pick they
Speaker 1: take another guy who was suspended half the season, who
Speaker 1: was Ronnie perkins teammate, And it just gets me thinking,
Speaker 1: this is very much like a d G a F
Speaker 1: off season for Bill Belichick. He has taken swings. I
Speaker 1: think they needed it on defense. They've made so many
Speaker 1: changes on defense, they needed some guys that could potentially,
Speaker 1: uh make a big difference. I think he he feels
Speaker 1: confident in Barmer because you know, he talks to Nick
Speaker 1: Saban about that and they're definitely like, it's the biggest
Speaker 1: boomer Bus draft to me in the league. And I
Speaker 1: think Mac Jones is boomer Bus too. I know, like
Speaker 1: some people think he's gonna be like a safe, safe guy.
Speaker 1: I don't know, like either he's not gonna have the
Speaker 1: skill set to do it, or you could see him
Speaker 1: being the top ten quarterback. And to me that that's
Speaker 1: boomer Bus. It's a boomer Bus off season for Trevor
Speaker 1: Lawrence is the same for prospect is coming to the
Speaker 1: league in a decade and he's on to a certain
Speaker 1: degree of boom er bust guy. All these guys can
Speaker 1: bust out. That's just you look at the history of
Speaker 1: our league. I think the quarterback room is really interesting here.
Speaker 1: Jared Stidham is obviously an afterthought now and what what
Speaker 1: what a lot of wasted breath last year talking about
Speaker 1: that guy. Um, best luck to him going forward. But
Speaker 1: Matt Joe mac Jones, best of luck to the guy
Speaker 1: I just assassinated. Hey, listen, they don't like him mac Jones.
Speaker 1: That those two minutes go fast. I'm sorry for Hankins
Speaker 1: so much. Mac Jones and Cam Newton. That feels like
Speaker 1: a great camp battle. I wonder if Jones is going
Speaker 1: to get a chance to win this thing in week one.
Speaker 1: It's interesting I heard like Mike Lombardi say that Cam
Speaker 1: Newton is your Week one starter and less Matt Jones
Speaker 1: to the visible, to the eye of everyone on the
Speaker 1: Patriots roster completely blew him away in camp, and I
Speaker 1: think that's just the way you go. But you know,
Speaker 1: it's less boom or bust when you pick Matt Jones
Speaker 1: at fifteen versus trading up for him. I mean it
Speaker 1: took some of the heat off of that. And I
Speaker 1: don't agree with the d G A F aspect of
Speaker 1: Bill Belichick. I think he does quite a bit. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean that's why they're doing all this. Yeah, if
Speaker 1: if you're not in this to win it, right, if
Speaker 1: you're not trying to win and making aggressive moves, then
Speaker 1: then what's the point. And we've seen them kind of
Speaker 1: be able to rest on the fact that they had
Speaker 1: the greatest and the best quarterback of all time for
Speaker 1: so long and they don't be more so they went
Speaker 1: from one of the worst rosters in the league to
Speaker 1: now an average one. I think I think that's what
Speaker 1: they did this album. I think Bill R. G. A
Speaker 1: s he really gives up? Was that plural? The New
Speaker 1: York Jets. Okay, so everyone associated with the organization is
Speaker 1: super pumped up about Zach Wilson, the Mormon Mahomes, what
Speaker 1: have you, all that, and maybe he'll be great or
Speaker 1: maybe he'll be bad. We'll see, and there's no there's
Speaker 1: no sense really digging in whether you like or hate
Speaker 1: the pick or whatever. We're got to see. We'll see
Speaker 1: if you can play the guitar. But I do have
Speaker 1: one issue I'm concerned about. Now. Let's look at the
Speaker 1: five first round picks quickly. Quarterbacks. Okay, Um, we just
Speaker 1: mentioned Mac Jones, Cam Newton's in the building there, um
Speaker 1: justin fields, Andy Dalton's in that building. Trevor Lawrence Meanshoe
Speaker 1: is in that building. Zack Wilson, James Morgan, and Mike White.
Speaker 1: Should the Jets have a little bit more uh thought too?
Speaker 1: Maybe we have a veteran guy in here and we
Speaker 1: could ease in Zack. Or are they so excited about
Speaker 1: this guy's potential just throw him out there and let
Speaker 1: him learn on the fly. I kind of wouldn't mind
Speaker 1: if there was somebody with a little more experience on
Speaker 1: the depth chart. Yeah, I why I'd throw him out
Speaker 1: there because like number two overall, I think he's got
Speaker 1: a much better environment around him than I understand. Maybe
Speaker 1: your Jets fan um minor panic over the idea of that, um,
Speaker 1: but this is a different situation than previous Jets quarterbacks.
Speaker 1: He's got a lot more help around him. I trust
Speaker 1: the coaching staff. I think it's one of these situations
Speaker 1: where you're you're you're gonna put him on the bench
Speaker 1: behind like a Joe Flacco three point oh. I mean,
Speaker 1: they're gonna want to see him by the end of
Speaker 1: the first game, Jets fans and be going crazy. Everything's changed.
Speaker 1: I roll with him from day one. I haven't seen
Speaker 1: any evidence to the number of years that I've I've
Speaker 1: felt this way that somebody can get better by not
Speaker 1: doing something like I I just don't think that it
Speaker 1: works out. Perhaps right, Jet's faithful would lose faith in
Speaker 1: Zach Wilson if they see him play poorly. That doesn't
Speaker 1: have anything to do with the quality of the football player.
Speaker 1: I think if you want him to be good at football,
Speaker 1: then he needs to play. Let me give you an example.
Speaker 1: I'll give you an example. Last year to A was
Speaker 1: a little bit underwater, and the coaching staff said, we
Speaker 1: have this backup, Ryan Fitzpatrick that we like, we're gonna
Speaker 1: let this kid sit. We're gonna keep Fitzpatrick in the mix,
Speaker 1: give him a chance to play, keep us in a
Speaker 1: season if they're contending and then too what can learn
Speaker 1: and maybe grow from it. That probably is not gonna
Speaker 1: be the case here. If Wilson struggles as a rookie
Speaker 1: and that can happen, those guys aren't out there now,
Speaker 1: so it's too late. They I'm with you, they could.
Speaker 1: They could upgrade their backup quarterback position, like it wouldn't
Speaker 1: hurt to sign Matt Barkley. I was just at the
Speaker 1: free agent quarterck just like someone better than those two
Speaker 1: guys in case Zach Wilson gets injured and maybe can
Speaker 1: give him some pointers about you know which clubs to
Speaker 1: go to in New York or whatever. But that's about it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I should mention also Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo. So
Speaker 1: every one of these rookies coming in has an established guy.
Speaker 1: The Jets are an outlier. I don't like when the
Speaker 1: Jets are an outlier because usually that means they're doing
Speaker 1: something wrong. I don't think that if we're using the
Speaker 1: two example that TOA is a better football player if
Speaker 1: he didn't play last I just might be better being
Speaker 1: around Fitzpatrick, though, I do think there's something there, like
Speaker 1: Minshew is not helping out Trevor Lawrence in the same
Speaker 1: way that having a guy that's been around for so
Speaker 1: loanda yea. The a f C North begins with Mark
Speaker 1: Sessler and the Cincinnati Bengals. All right, Look, so a
Speaker 1: lot of people talk about you need to know who
Speaker 1: you are. We need to know who you are by
Speaker 1: year three of a program. And I'll just look at
Speaker 1: the inside the a f C North three years into
Speaker 1: his reign, like Tomlin had already won a Super Bowl, Okay,
Speaker 1: John Harbor was thirty two and sixteen as Baltimore's coach.
Speaker 1: Kevin Stefanski one year in takes the Browns to the
Speaker 1: playoffs for the first time in like a thousand eons. So,
Speaker 1: I mean, you want to see results, It's not it's
Speaker 1: not too much to ask. I look at Zach Taylor
Speaker 1: in Cincinnati. He had a tough situation out of the gate. Um.
Speaker 1: I think the two years he's been there, they have
Speaker 1: been ravaged by injuries. You lost your quarterback. Everything goes
Speaker 1: south at that point. But right now, look at this offense,
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow, Joe Mixon, Jamaar, Chase te Higgins, Tyler Boyd
Speaker 1: right on defense, DJ Reader, They're gonna get a full
Speaker 1: season from him. Trey Hendrickson, this is a pretty interesting,
Speaker 1: good roster that's just ticketed for fourth place because they're
Speaker 1: in the a f C North. UM. I look at
Speaker 1: this team and think if they were in the a
Speaker 1: f C South, you wonder if they could compete for
Speaker 1: a division title if Burrow is who you think he is,
Speaker 1: and I we saw evidence of that. So what is
Speaker 1: an appropriate um when you look at Zach Taylor? An
Speaker 1: appropriate asked for this year? It can they go like
Speaker 1: a soft five and twelve and no one says anything
Speaker 1: about it? I think the the it needs to be higher.
Speaker 1: We need to see results because again we're three years
Speaker 1: into this experiment with someone who was ticketed as someone
Speaker 1: to come in and be kind of a Seawan McVeigh
Speaker 1: for the Bengals. Not happen yet. Yes, six or seven
Speaker 1: wins I think is fair. I think if Joe Burrow
Speaker 1: is bawling out and the offense is good, that's all
Speaker 1: Zach Taylor needs. The the defense they've been rolling out
Speaker 1: lou on a room, oh every year. No one even
Speaker 1: knows this guy that defends the coordinator. It hasn't played well.
Speaker 1: They're okay, they've got right, they've got okay personnel. I
Speaker 1: wouldn't say they're average even personnel. So I think Burrow
Speaker 1: is the biggest question. I think people are just expecting him.
Speaker 1: It's like to make a leap when you're coming off
Speaker 1: a torn a c L. And he was a little
Speaker 1: up and down because the situation was tougher than I
Speaker 1: think people realize. Because he made a lot of splash
Speaker 1: plays and showed a lot of potential. That's not easy.
Speaker 1: He's coming off a torn a c L. And if
Speaker 1: he struggles a little bit, then that the heat's gonna
Speaker 1: go on Taylor And I was one of the course
Speaker 1: of people that said take the offensive line and take
Speaker 1: the stul this or can study it and and protect
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow. But ultimately, how mad can you get if
Speaker 1: you end up with Jamaar Chase Um this l s
Speaker 1: U guy who could be a superstar and could put
Speaker 1: up video game numbers for ten years. And by the way,
Speaker 1: to Greg's point, according to next Gens stats, Cincinnati had
Speaker 1: just fifteen completions of twenty or more air yards last
Speaker 1: year that ranked in the NFL. Burrow, of course, got
Speaker 1: hurt and missed the last five or so weeks. But
Speaker 1: they weren't lighting it up downfield with Burrow either, that's
Speaker 1: gonna help. So this is a team and I'm with you, Mark,
Speaker 1: You're big point, which is we need to see progress
Speaker 1: for this from this coaching regime. And there's questions right
Speaker 1: about that deep passing, whether that's Joe Burrow's arm or
Speaker 1: whether that's the offense or the circumstances. But I think
Speaker 1: right Greg mitchen la Rumo, they couldn't find anybody to
Speaker 1: be in the defensive cordat or just wound up their
Speaker 1: seven choice. Yeah, and and they've they've been terrible for
Speaker 1: three That speaks to the idea of hiring a coach
Speaker 1: that has actions, which the Bengals coach did not. All Right,
Speaker 1: grow out a beard called time out, grow out the
Speaker 1: beard made if you want to if you want to be,
Speaker 1: if you really want to establish yourself, if you feel
Speaker 1: like you're no name uh in the coordinator ranks, change
Speaker 1: your look and and do if if you kind of
Speaker 1: your name sounds like Captain Lou Albano, and most of
Speaker 1: America at this point is too young to know who
Speaker 1: he was. Just steal Lou Albano's bit. Rest in peace,
Speaker 1: grow out the beard punch, put a bunch of rubber
Speaker 1: bands into it, and uh it, guess what the camera's
Speaker 1: gonna find you. I think that was an appropriate use
Speaker 1: of a time out because if lou on Aamo slash
Speaker 1: Albano is uh watching or listening to this, you've you've
Speaker 1: changed the course of his career. If you were to
Speaker 1: take your advice, it's the only way he moves out
Speaker 1: of total anonymity um into someone that becomes sort of
Speaker 1: a cultural flash points. I thought I thought Dan had
Speaker 1: pre planned bits for the time out, so I wasn't
Speaker 1: gonna take him either, So of course out this is
Speaker 1: just just flying. I don't Greg, I don't do pre
Speaker 1: planned bits on ever. Um. Cindy Lauper, who was one
Speaker 1: of the biggest pop stars of the eighties, that's Captain
Speaker 1: lew got into her video for girls Just want to
Speaker 1: have Fun. We could get the Bengals d C into
Speaker 1: like a Billie Eilish single video. If he plays his
Speaker 1: cards all right, just put some rubber bands natural between
Speaker 1: that coach and that performer. I just I see a
Speaker 1: lot of linkage alright, time in. I love the investment
Speaker 1: in the time out. That's incredible. Cleveland Browns, Patrick Clevan, Yes, uh,
Speaker 1: the Browns Spectacular. I was honored to, uh to actually
Speaker 1: voice the weather warning videos for the NFL experience this
Speaker 1: year at the draft. So it was rewarding to know
Speaker 1: that the people of Cleveland, if they were to take
Speaker 1: shelter due to some sort of like lake effect calamity,
Speaker 1: it would be my voice leading them the way. There's
Speaker 1: other column voices. Yeah, we had hurricanes to meteors anyway,
Speaker 1: there's like other calming voices in Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanski.
Speaker 1: Thanks in part large people like did did Obama just
Speaker 1: tell us to seek shelter shelter? Um? But yeah, like
Speaker 1: thanks to some hold over picks from the previous regime, right,
Speaker 1: and these two men, like they weren't even picking until
Speaker 1: twenty last week, and the pickles were the picks were
Speaker 1: universally appreciated, right, And so there's so much faith in
Speaker 1: the brain trust. But they just picked up the fifth
Speaker 1: year option for Baker Mayfield. And we live in a
Speaker 1: world where people believe in this concept of quarterback wins.
Speaker 1: And I wonder who's best for the long term livelihood
Speaker 1: if you had to choose of this Brown's rebirth Baker
Speaker 1: Mayfield or the brain trust in Cleveland. Oh wow, Mark,
Speaker 1: I mean, look at I think Baker Mayfield has been
Speaker 1: a good quarterback. But if you take away the brain
Speaker 1: trust and what Andrew Berry has done. UM and Kevin Stefanski,
Speaker 1: I mean, you know Jet, you bring up the Jets
Speaker 1: Stan and like concern about how to deal with a
Speaker 1: young quarterback. I mean, Brown's fans have watched terrible game
Speaker 1: day coaching for twenty plus years. UM, And typically a
Speaker 1: coach that's like in fighting with the general manager, who
Speaker 1: also is not good at making picks on draft days.
Speaker 1: So you know, I I can see the tangible difference
Speaker 1: between what was and what is, and I would have
Speaker 1: to side with management. UM. I would just because like
Speaker 1: to find a good coach in general manager to get along.
Speaker 1: That's your ticket, that's invaluable. It's not a knock on
Speaker 1: Baker Mayfield, but if you're asking me to pick between
Speaker 1: one or the other, you don't remove all that infrastructure.
Speaker 1: Can I throw something out just as random and dumb
Speaker 1: and fun? Uh? Packers asked for three first round picks
Speaker 1: and Baker for Aaron Rodgers d take it one note?
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, I would you Aaron Rodgers is so
Speaker 1: much better. And you just said you trust the management.
Speaker 1: The management's gonna know how to use those picks. I
Speaker 1: think Patrick right got to where we were where we
Speaker 1: are with with Paker Mayfield at this point in time.
Speaker 1: So it's a good way to get there, which is,
Speaker 1: you know, he maybe is more of a function of
Speaker 1: the offense in the management because most great quarterbacks you
Speaker 1: would never say management, you know, you just wouldn't. And
Speaker 1: for right now, because of what Stefanski did, I trust
Speaker 1: it because Baker in this team thought they were hot stuff.
Speaker 1: The last time they finished strong, when they finished seven
Speaker 1: and eight, they did not handle that hype. Well, we'll
Speaker 1: see how they do it this time. I think because
Speaker 1: the the Andrew Berry's there, you have more faith in it.
Speaker 1: I mean, like maybe I would do that trade. It's
Speaker 1: just like I don't want it everything to be turned
Speaker 1: into this like Baker Mayfields the problem. He was actually
Speaker 1: quite good for them last year. And I'm with you.
Speaker 1: I think Browns are gonna be awesome. It's gonna be fun.
Speaker 1: We'll see the Baltimore. The Ravens are so good at
Speaker 1: like working their rookies and slowly not needing them right away,
Speaker 1: and I don't I don't know if they can afford
Speaker 1: to do that. This year they draft for Shot Bateman,
Speaker 1: I feel like he has to play right away. Uh,
Speaker 1: they drafted Huda fee oh way Um whose name was Jason,
Speaker 1: So if any confusion, they're the number thirty one, and
Speaker 1: like they've been in the middle of the pack in
Speaker 1: terms of sacks and back to back years, they definitely
Speaker 1: haven't had juice on the outside. I'm not counting on
Speaker 1: Sammy Watkins to give Lamar kind of what he needs,
Speaker 1: So I like, I feel like these guys got to
Speaker 1: play right away. They don't have any great looking pass
Speaker 1: rushers with Bateman. You're the biggest Lamar fan in the room, Clay, Like,
Speaker 1: do you think they give they gave Lamar enough this
Speaker 1: off season. Yeah, it's the fact that they get somebody
Speaker 1: who can track a ball in the air and make
Speaker 1: a play on it. I love that. I love that
Speaker 1: that's Lamar. We were we ran uh during some discussion
Speaker 1: because Bucky Brooks are brought up this absurd idea that
Speaker 1: the Ravens would give up on Lamar and you know,
Speaker 1: go college plan for for quarterbacks and just keep rotating them.
Speaker 1: And I pointed out that during the highlights, he's throwing
Speaker 1: to Dez Bryant's corps as well as like Brandon Boykin's,
Speaker 1: Like if that's the if that's the receiver highlights, then
Speaker 1: then perhaps hey, good luck to whoever that that up
Speaker 1: and coming quarterback is. But yeah, I mean I know
Speaker 1: that heard you to say because you were a dead
Speaker 1: guy back in the day too, that yeah, well now
Speaker 1: he's dead, um. But but yeah, it's uh. If I
Speaker 1: wouldn't say that if he didn't have some some horrible
Speaker 1: tweets here in the past few years. But but honestly,
Speaker 1: like it's uh, I believe in it because I believe
Speaker 1: in Lamar, and so give him somebody that can make
Speaker 1: a play on the football and run to it when
Speaker 1: it's in the air and also snapped Lamar of the ball.
Speaker 1: I think that would help a lot. I think it's
Speaker 1: It's notable that Greg Roman was on record saying that
Speaker 1: with Bateman there and the other wide out they took
Speaker 1: like we can expand our passing game like that. And
Speaker 1: I don't think you're gonna get this Ravens team that
Speaker 1: changes drastically on offense. If you looked at who they
Speaker 1: drafted I mean, it's more power, it's more run, it's
Speaker 1: all that stuff. But I mean Roman at least understands
Speaker 1: that you can't do what happened last year over and over.
Speaker 1: They've got to expand the air attack. And I think
Speaker 1: Bateman was a perfect pick for them. And they were
Speaker 1: repeatedly rebuffed in free agency and their attempts to upgrade
Speaker 1: at wide receivers. So I like that they said, Okay,
Speaker 1: we're gonna take control of this process using the draft
Speaker 1: to do that. And we had an eight types on
Speaker 1: on our show a couple of weeks back. He was
Speaker 1: singing rashod Bateman's praises. Um, even though a lot of
Speaker 1: moks didn't have him in the first round, Um, the
Speaker 1: Ravens saw value there, and then Thyland Wallace at in
Speaker 1: round four. Uh, he's in the mix there as well.
Speaker 1: It's unbelievable, um that they had one thousand, seven twenty
Speaker 1: nine yards on passes to wide receiver in that just
Speaker 1: gotta be better. I mean, I don't know, if you
Speaker 1: you can't win the Super Bowl unless Sammy could happens, maybe,
Speaker 1: but it's a Bateman is such an important pick for them,
Speaker 1: and it was such a no brainer because you just
Speaker 1: can't trust Sammy Watkins. He just can't stand the field.
Speaker 1: And Greg Rome embarrasson him in this as well. Sure,
Speaker 1: I think he gives a universal credit for his other
Speaker 1: talented quarterback, but at some point maybe it's you, Yeah, reminder,
Speaker 1: we have two timeouts remaining. I think there's distinct pressure
Speaker 1: on the three of us now who are not dan
Speaker 1: to know when and how to use the time out.
Speaker 1: But well, we're all working together, all right. Next Greg Rosenthal.
Speaker 1: Next the old Zeuser Pittsburgh Steelers. Okay um, a bit
Speaker 1: of a high wire act here in Pittsburgh. Huh. I
Speaker 1: was saying that they should seriously consider getting that quarterback mix,
Speaker 1: which is not a quote unquote Steelers thing to do,
Speaker 1: and two type they didn't do that. They go and
Speaker 1: get Naji Harris at running back and maybe he's a
Speaker 1: star and that would be good for the offense. But
Speaker 1: this just feels like the Steelers are a circus act
Speaker 1: on a high wire with a old quarterback that showed
Speaker 1: signs of slippage slash falling off a cliff late last season,
Speaker 1: and then an offensive line that continues to loom as
Speaker 1: a question marks. They didn't hit that hard either are
Speaker 1: the Steelers the biggest boom or bust property in the
Speaker 1: a f C. I'll buy that because they're so thin
Speaker 1: that the like the premium positions. They are not an
Speaker 1: analyt type of team. You look at their tackles, it's
Speaker 1: a Coora for right now, k core for and and
Speaker 1: Zach Banner. Are there two tackles their cornerbacks, I would say,
Speaker 1: are the next thinnest position on their team, and like
Speaker 1: those are the premium positions. Those are the ones that's like,
Speaker 1: use your draft capital on that, and they don't have
Speaker 1: it right now. They're and they're putting a lot of
Speaker 1: faith in those two tackles and probably a starting rookie
Speaker 1: center for a team that has not coached up the
Speaker 1: offensive line well since Mike Munchak left a couple of
Speaker 1: years ago. I mean, like an ali Jandro Villaneuvas signed
Speaker 1: with the Ravens and it's like their old tackle is
Speaker 1: going and filling holes for their biggest rivals. So it's
Speaker 1: you know, that's problematic. I think the boom or bust
Speaker 1: aspect too, is like was the Big Bend fall off
Speaker 1: a cliff act? Like something that was a bit of
Speaker 1: an admiration. You can still play and we're gonna get
Speaker 1: a fresh version of him or not? Or does that
Speaker 1: decline continue? Um, which means by week eight you're in
Speaker 1: hot water. I mean, the one thing I would say
Speaker 1: that Naji Harris their scouts saying he is the most
Speaker 1: complete back they've had under Mike Tomlin, and they said
Speaker 1: more than Levian Bell. So I get that you'd want
Speaker 1: to have the offensive line stronger, but like, does any
Speaker 1: remember Levian Bell at his peak? Was there a more
Speaker 1: complete back that I would put him in the top
Speaker 1: three running back to the last twenty years in terms
Speaker 1: of at his peak, just seeing it's difficult to to
Speaker 1: get that camp for Nagy right because at six two
Speaker 1: six three, at that size is moving with his feet right.
Speaker 1: Levian is the closest thing you can get to right
Speaker 1: in terms of a guy catching passes out of the
Speaker 1: backfield that can run in between the tackles. Um. I
Speaker 1: think like maybe maybe we're looking at this as the
Speaker 1: the end of last season is heavily influencing the way
Speaker 1: we feel about Pittsburgh and not necessarily the start. But
Speaker 1: for me, as much as I believe in guys coming
Speaker 1: back from injury and and getting a full chance to
Speaker 1: be healthy. It's hard to do that thirty eight and
Speaker 1: thirty nine years old, and I can't see things getting
Speaker 1: any better. Uh. I mean this, but imagine if Joe
Speaker 1: Burrow had the weapon and Ratsburg had We've been talking
Speaker 1: up like how talented this group is. They have so
Speaker 1: many good players. Bengals are getting close, but yeah, Steelers
Speaker 1: feel like they're either gonna be eleven and six or
Speaker 1: six and eleven. Fair, all right, we are rolling bulls.
Speaker 1: Halfway through. Mark gets going with the Indianapolis Cults as
Speaker 1: when we begin the a f C s all right,
Speaker 1: you know, I know, like the Broncos are getting killed
Speaker 1: for not um picking a quarterback. And we can get
Speaker 1: into that down the road. But I look at the
Speaker 1: Cults and I asked myself coming out of the draft,
Speaker 1: like is this team better than they were a year ago?
Speaker 1: And like, are the cults being treated a little too
Speaker 1: lightly for a ignoring tackle in the draft. We're killing
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh for that. Um, the Colts didn't feel that they
Speaker 1: have a huge issue there a burnie need and also
Speaker 1: showing um immense faith in Carson Wentz. I have to
Speaker 1: ask if this is quietly the riskiest maneuver of any
Speaker 1: by any team in the a f C this offseason.
Speaker 1: After what we saw from Carson Wentz last year. It's, oh,
Speaker 1: you know, Frank Reich knows him. There's a good relationship.
Speaker 1: That's all nice in theory, But there's a lot of
Speaker 1: tape that suggests Carson Wentz was a disturbed quarterback last
Speaker 1: year in a lot of ways. But do we have
Speaker 1: any Wentz heads here that are saying, you shut up?
Speaker 1: I totally have faith in this. We're gonna get the
Speaker 1: old version of Wentz back in Indy. First of all,
Speaker 1: call Carson Wentz disturbed last year. I love that. Uh.
Speaker 1: Second of all, oh, there's always been a little heat
Speaker 1: with Cessler and Carson Wentz because the way back when
Speaker 1: with the Draft and the Browns, I've always enjoyed that. Um.
Speaker 1: Third of all, all right, I'll be a little bit
Speaker 1: of a Wentz head here. We we have said for
Speaker 1: a couple of years now that Frank Reich was this
Speaker 1: this magical figure in Philadelphia and once he left things changed. Uh. Well,
Speaker 1: now he's reunited with Frank Reich in Indianapolis, and Chris Ballard,
Speaker 1: the general manager, to me, has earned the benefit of
Speaker 1: the doubt. Um, these two guys, Reich and Ballard there.
Speaker 1: They've had this organization going in the right direction for
Speaker 1: years now, and that's why I don't see this going terribly.
Speaker 1: I think they're just too smart, uh and they're just
Speaker 1: too locked in place as a football men for this
Speaker 1: thing to really go south. Does that mean it won't know?
Speaker 1: But to me, they get the benefit of the doubt.
Speaker 1: You guys agree, I think Mark you you hit it
Speaker 1: when you mentioned the risk. But my question is who's
Speaker 1: taking the risk because in this quarterback centric world, I
Speaker 1: don't think Ballard suffers consequences if there's this Winds explosion.
Speaker 1: I don't think it's right. Because Dan said, like people
Speaker 1: believe in Frank Rock and they think it was the
Speaker 1: reasons they won the Super Bowl. They kind of get
Speaker 1: a free experiment here. The only person taking any risk
Speaker 1: is Carson Wentz because if it doesn't work out, then
Speaker 1: it's like, oh, well, I guess he's he's done. So
Speaker 1: like you could, yeah, you could also argue that Andrew
Speaker 1: Luck put them in all in this situation to some
Speaker 1: degree to but you're I agree, but you're also potentially
Speaker 1: wasting a good roster. I think it is the biggest
Speaker 1: risk any team took. I think it's the most confounding
Speaker 1: decision of the off season. Maybe they bring in Charles Leno,
Speaker 1: who just got cut by the Bears. You know, their
Speaker 1: tackles might become available. You would think they're not going
Speaker 1: to go into the season with Sam Dewie. I'm much
Speaker 1: more concerned about Carson Wentz than I am about their
Speaker 1: left tackles. Man, is that nobody Wentz was so good
Speaker 1: in twenty nineteen. Is that that's just that's not even
Speaker 1: a factory. Just one bad year. It's been a minute
Speaker 1: and four. You didn't think I think? Am? I? Am?
Speaker 1: I getting my years confused there? Now you did? He's fine,
Speaker 1: He's fine. All right, I'm the wein said let's move on. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the Tennessee Titans, Patrick Laybyn. They get arguably the best
Speaker 1: corner in the in the draft per Charlie Cast release
Speaker 1: polling UH from last fall, right before Caleb Farley had
Speaker 1: the back surgery and the COVID and everything went bad
Speaker 1: for the draft. Um, and I think you see why
Speaker 1: that they went corner. The defense was really bad. They
Speaker 1: had some departures as well. But Derrick Henry that transcendent season,
Speaker 1: He's he's averaging almost five and a half yards per
Speaker 1: carry lash year. Tannehill was good. A J. Brown was good. Right,
Speaker 1: So Art Smith goes to Atlanta. They don't take an
Speaker 1: offensive skill position into the fourth round. But on the
Speaker 1: defensive side of the ball, you know, Bud Dupree comes over.
Speaker 1: They've got all these guys they've drafted, and I've started
Speaker 1: to wonder again as I looked through year after year
Speaker 1: in the Verbel era, the defense is worse than it
Speaker 1: was the previous year. When do we start to wonder
Speaker 1: if Mike Vrabel is the problem well with regards to
Speaker 1: the defense in Tennessee, Well, I don't. I don't think
Speaker 1: he's shown to be a very good defensive coach. The
Speaker 1: Texans also had one of the worst defenses in the
Speaker 1: NFL when he was their coordinator before he got the
Speaker 1: head coaching job. Like yet, it's not about if it's
Speaker 1: not his scheme isn't gonna save you. We've we've seen
Speaker 1: that maybe the talent hasn't been great either. There there
Speaker 1: the team, I hate to say it, Titans fans like
Speaker 1: if I had to pick up playoff team from a
Speaker 1: year ago, that would fall off a cliff Here it
Speaker 1: is because I just don't see the position group on
Speaker 1: this team where I look at it and say, there's
Speaker 1: our edge, there's where we're good. Where is where is
Speaker 1: that for Tennessee? Other than Henry, I think you're if
Speaker 1: you're Todd downing the new play call or you're you're
Speaker 1: in a tough spot because you don't have the tools
Speaker 1: that Art Smith had. And you know, I look at
Speaker 1: the wide receiver position. The tight end position is a
Speaker 1: total mess right now. Um, I would pig the peg
Speaker 1: them as a team that maybe would go look at O. J.
Speaker 1: Howard and say, we need to find a more game
Speaker 1: changing tight end in this. But I like Frabel um
Speaker 1: overall as head coach. I think he's given We used
Speaker 1: to kill the Titans for having no identity, the Titoons,
Speaker 1: we called them. They haven't been that under Rabel. There's
Speaker 1: something about his presence. Well, okay, except for Greg, who
Speaker 1: please the ultra classy Greg refused to to put that
Speaker 1: moniker on. Then Frabel has given them an article about
Speaker 1: that Greg one who was legitimized. They did USA today
Speaker 1: ahead Mark. Sorry, no, I'm I I just thumbs up
Speaker 1: on Rabel because they've been a good team. But you know,
Speaker 1: in terms of defensive difference maker. It's a fair point.
Speaker 1: That's fair and and I think what you're saying to
Speaker 1: Greg is fair about the offense doesn't take a step back,
Speaker 1: do we if it's still a team with Derrick Henry
Speaker 1: and A. J. Brown and Ryan Tannehill unless we buy
Speaker 1: into the theory, well, it's still not trust Tannehill because
Speaker 1: Arthur Smith's gun. Maybe he takes a step back. Because
Speaker 1: if he doesn't, I still feel like this team's gonna
Speaker 1: score a lot of points. And if the defense gets
Speaker 1: even a tick better, I still see it as a
Speaker 1: double digit win team. I don't. And yeah, that's a
Speaker 1: fair point on Tannhell. Maybe that's where the edges. But
Speaker 1: he almost has to take a step back. Numbers. You
Speaker 1: just look at the numbers. He's been a top five
Speaker 1: quarterback the last two years. Unless he actually was all
Speaker 1: along and he got gaged. Adam Gaze, where are you? Adam? Game?
Speaker 1: Time out? Time out? Where's that in there? We go?
Speaker 1: Do you think do you think Adam Gaze is even
Speaker 1: trying to get work right now or do you think
Speaker 1: he's just like I'm just well, he's getting he's getting
Speaker 1: Jets money still and it's it's significant. Why would he
Speaker 1: try to get work? Like, what about Adam Gates's recent
Speaker 1: career suggest he he has to try to do anything.
Speaker 1: You think, Yeah, he's just gonna have to wait, sit around,
Speaker 1: and then eventually Adam Gates will be back in this
Speaker 1: league and probably head coach of a football team. WHOA,
Speaker 1: now that I've been I've been watching this this planet
Speaker 1: for too long. As certain as the tides in the
Speaker 1: moment is right in this in this area. And it's
Speaker 1: unfortunate and it's it's an issue for the NFL that
Speaker 1: some guys get chances over and over while other people
Speaker 1: don't get the opportunities they deserve. But I would think
Speaker 1: a two time and this is a little harsh, but
Speaker 1: two time loser in Miami and New York at a
Speaker 1: high level, I mean in plouting imploading at a high
Speaker 1: level in his most recent stop stop. I don't think
Speaker 1: he gets another head coaching job, but he'll probably show
Speaker 1: up as like a offensive quality control guy in Jacksonville
Speaker 1: or something actually into the head coach after after he
Speaker 1: spends the off season, you know, reading PFF and you know,
Speaker 1: hanging out with other former fired coaches. I mean, my one.
Speaker 1: My one concern would be conra or once painted very meticulously.
Speaker 1: The concept um, you know, it's a bit of a
Speaker 1: conspiracy theory, but it starts to have legs that the
Speaker 1: Manning family is essentially run Pro football for decades, and
Speaker 1: so who's Adam Gates is like best pal. Peyton Manning
Speaker 1: gets on the phone with some sort of New Week
Speaker 1: is shown or just says you're gonna hi my frand
Speaker 1: and then like suddenly Adam Gates says another head coaching
Speaker 1: that my voice over time, you're gonna hire on my
Speaker 1: frand like that's a Peyton Manning voice. Doesn't sound like
Speaker 1: him at all. It's like it's very sassy Peyton man Well,
Speaker 1: he's very agitated and annoyed. He doesn't like being attached
Speaker 1: to someone who's pr you know, Q rating is not
Speaker 1: nos dives. So he's Peyton Manning needs to get him
Speaker 1: a job to help. This whole thing was that Peyton
Speaker 1: Manning or Delta Burke. I think I think a little
Speaker 1: bit of Delta are gonna the ESPN original film Junction Boys,
Speaker 1: where they took they made the Bear Bryant a Kentucky movie,
Speaker 1: and they hired a bunch of Australians to play football
Speaker 1: players and they did Southern accellence. That's what that's what
Speaker 1: I heard, that capabilities. And before we come back from
Speaker 1: our time out here, remember i'm out of the time.
Speaker 1: I've used two time outs. I won't use the third.
Speaker 1: But if you go into the tunnel without using all
Speaker 1: your time outs, you're a joke. Okay, just keep that
Speaker 1: in mind. What they've ever complained about coaches not using
Speaker 1: their time outs, it's always a delight. I'm always like,
Speaker 1: I'm always at the when they get to an NBA
Speaker 1: game at the end and there's like three timeouts left
Speaker 1: for each team, which never happens, but every once in
Speaker 1: a while, I'm like, thank you. And also my family,
Speaker 1: who are you pegging it on? There's four of us
Speaker 1: to could call time out outside of dance, so if
Speaker 1: if one doesn't get called, I'll just deflect the critics
Speaker 1: criticism towards Greg towards Claybourne, probably towards Ricky. Very fact,
Speaker 1: how many times have you heard Chris Collins where there's
Speaker 1: someone come after a coach, oh man and they and
Speaker 1: they're unable to stop the clock and they go into
Speaker 1: the tunnel with timeouts in their pocket. This is Delta Burke.
Speaker 1: All right, let's let's time back in here and uh
Speaker 1: up next the Houston Texans. I just want to point
Speaker 1: out how strange this team is. There's been, you know,
Speaker 1: an understandable amount of focus on Deshaun Watson situation in
Speaker 1: the front office, and I'm not having a draft pick
Speaker 1: till Davis Mills. Uh. I don't know if people know this.
Speaker 1: Philip Lindsay is on this team. Their backfield right now
Speaker 1: is David Johnson, mark Ingram and Philip Lindsay. That's weird. Uh.
Speaker 1: The receivers, Brandon Cooks, Randall Cobb, Andre Roberts. Did you
Speaker 1: guys know Lovey Smith is back in the NFL and
Speaker 1: he is the defensive coordinator of the Texans. I know
Speaker 1: this room knows this, but I feel like the fans
Speaker 1: out there they don't know all these facts. This is
Speaker 1: just a very strange theme we're gonna be watching here. Yeah.
Speaker 1: You know what's interesting. They they're they're famous for, you know,
Speaker 1: being asset poor, um and now talent deficient and the
Speaker 1: Deshaun Watson mess which changes changes everything. Um. I guess
Speaker 1: this makes sense if Watson doesn't end up playing for them.
Speaker 1: One way, or the other to just go in the
Speaker 1: tank right and and get back into uh positive draft standing,
Speaker 1: Like I think they start getting first round picks back
Speaker 1: again next year, right that the Tunsil deal finally tolls there. Um,
Speaker 1: this feels like a team that is ready to tear
Speaker 1: it all down. And that's tough for Houston fans because
Speaker 1: you thought you were going in a certain direction with
Speaker 1: the Shaun Watson. But it feels like it makes more
Speaker 1: sense now to strip the whole thing down. I mean
Speaker 1: the unintentional tank, which is the normal way teams quote
Speaker 1: unquote tank. They didn't mean to be the worst team
Speaker 1: in league. They're just that's how they got. That's how
Speaker 1: they got. Even when they had Watson and J. J. Watton,
Speaker 1: you know, they always felt a little top heavy. I mean,
Speaker 1: how many years did we talk about them as a
Speaker 1: team that, you know, before the seventeen games could have
Speaker 1: gone five and eleven or eleven and five, and Watson
Speaker 1: made such a difference. But it is an unintentional tank
Speaker 1: can like this. You know, this team looks absurd to
Speaker 1: me on paper, but it's I just wonder, if you're
Speaker 1: the GM or the coach, are you really glad you
Speaker 1: took this job. That would be my question because I
Speaker 1: don't know from ownership on down where the support is
Speaker 1: here or the vision. It depends ownership. And we know
Speaker 1: there's some murky stuff going on with the preacher, But
Speaker 1: if they let him, um truly Cali build this team,
Speaker 1: then that's that's good. But think about it, if you
Speaker 1: do trade Deshaun Watson, if that's how this ends, um,
Speaker 1: And again, it could go in a lot of different directions.
Speaker 1: Let's say you get a couple of first round picks.
Speaker 1: Let's say you go one in sixteen, you get the
Speaker 1: first round pick. Maybe you come into next year with
Speaker 1: three first round picks or something like that, and then
Speaker 1: you can begin like, all right, let's try this again.
Speaker 1: But I mean, what do you do with with the
Speaker 1: hope and the promise that those picks bring. Like we saw,
Speaker 1: and this is before we knew about the circumstances surrounding
Speaker 1: Deshaun Watson and all of the accusers and hopefully like
Speaker 1: somebody finds out what actually happens and we get some
Speaker 1: form of justice uh through through all of this. But
Speaker 1: it's what reason do we have to believe that that's
Speaker 1: just not gonna happen? Again, even if thisy do a
Speaker 1: symbol promising team, but the executive vice president of football
Speaker 1: Operations doesn't like slink in there and say, yeah, get
Speaker 1: the execute order sixty six. Yeah, that's rough. You can
Speaker 1: do a total reset. Yeah, I'm total reset, and then
Speaker 1: this brain trust can foul at all scary times, this
Speaker 1: Texans fence. All right, let's move on to the Jacksonville Jaguars. UM.
Speaker 1: All right. The great late Chris Westling said it often
Speaker 1: history is instructive. Everyone says, Trevor Lawrence is Andrew luck
Speaker 1: level good? All right, So then you go back in
Speaker 1: the history books. Colts went two and fourteen with Curtis
Speaker 1: Painter and company. UM. In two thousand eleven, luck comes in.
Speaker 1: They go eleven and five during the playoffs. The next
Speaker 1: year they win double digits. Again, they win a playoff game,
Speaker 1: and they're often running as a a f C contender.
Speaker 1: Is root? Is Is this a situation you see as
Speaker 1: as the possibility for the Jaguars this year? Because I
Speaker 1: was looking at it. They had six games last year
Speaker 1: that they lost by one score or less, and they
Speaker 1: went in the tank totally in the last month of
Speaker 1: the season. But before that happened Uh, this team hung
Speaker 1: around in games. So if you add a high level quarterback, Um,
Speaker 1: could they actually be a team playing for the postseason
Speaker 1: in December? I guess since uh, since Penny tried to
Speaker 1: answer your question prematurely, Dan, I'm gonna say if I
Speaker 1: do believe it, uh, and I'm probably that that I
Speaker 1: do believe it. It's gonna be because of the rest
Speaker 1: of the division. As we mentioned, the Texans could potentially
Speaker 1: be consolutely in the trough. The Titans defense couldn't stop
Speaker 1: anybody last year, and if there is right that that
Speaker 1: little bit of boost that comes from a coach knowing
Speaker 1: what he wants to do and bringing in new people
Speaker 1: that he gets to choose with somebody else's holdovers, that
Speaker 1: that they had some form of consistency we saw in
Speaker 1: Robinson right and the running game, in some aspects of
Speaker 1: the defense, uh last year. Yeah, I think it could happen.
Speaker 1: I think Trevor Lawrence does bring some some unique skills
Speaker 1: that that nobody else could bring in terms of the
Speaker 1: total package, right, the arm uh, the ability to you know,
Speaker 1: to to make plays with his feet as well. So
Speaker 1: why not? I guess I'd like to see because you know,
Speaker 1: when's the last time Urban Meyer had a season where
Speaker 1: everything went wrong. I mean it's just like you know,
Speaker 1: twelve thirteen win seasons and bowl games all left and
Speaker 1: right for like a thousand years in a row. I mean,
Speaker 1: if they get out to a really rough start for
Speaker 1: some reason, Um, I just would like to observe how
Speaker 1: he handles that. It's a totally different situation than he's
Speaker 1: been in. And you know, the no matter who you are,
Speaker 1: is a college coach. I mean, Nick Saban learned this
Speaker 1: that the pro game is totally different and and you know,
Speaker 1: the Urban Meyers talked about having to um retrain himself
Speaker 1: to even think about something like the NFL Draft. But
Speaker 1: point being, I think that they've got if he works,
Speaker 1: um an interesting coach, a great quarterback, and you're right then,
Speaker 1: like they were off out in games last year, they
Speaker 1: were not getting handled week after week. They were still
Speaker 1: a bad team. But they've transformed this roster at least
Speaker 1: with a ton of bodies. There was a ton of
Speaker 1: new people here, and Trevor Lawrence is Trevor Lawrence. Good Night.
Speaker 1: Like they can easily win nine games. I'll tell you what,
Speaker 1: I'll set the over under here for wins for the
Speaker 1: Jaguars at eight and a half. I'm banging the over
Speaker 1: what I'm banging it? Greg? Why not? I love Claybounds
Speaker 1: point about the division they played in two Yeah, that's fine,
Speaker 1: but then win the division with a eight wins once.
Speaker 1: I get it. But they also took a lot of
Speaker 1: risk in this draft. For instance, they take a guy
Speaker 1: in et N's like they say is going to be
Speaker 1: their third round pick. They take my son's new favorite player,
Speaker 1: Walker Little. He says he's rooting for the Jaguars now
Speaker 1: he hasn't played in two years. Uh. They they're moving
Speaker 1: Tyson Campbell at the top of the second round to
Speaker 1: slack corner. Never play that position. Took a guy who
Speaker 1: missed all the last season in the third round, Like,
Speaker 1: I gotta see it, man, expect Greg. You also say
Speaker 1: it's not hard for the teams to go seven and nine,
Speaker 1: so it's like you can have six games. Everyone should
Speaker 1: be happy if they win six or seven games. We
Speaker 1: don't know who the team of a ten will be,
Speaker 1: but we know who the team of Antien is, the Jagulins,
Speaker 1: that Joke Division, the Denver Broncos. Mark selick I find
Speaker 1: this is one of the tougher teams to evaluate right
Speaker 1: now because we just don't know, um, where we're gonna
Speaker 1: be down the road. Are they going to go get
Speaker 1: a quarterback if they don't, If they don't get Aaron Rodgers, like,
Speaker 1: then they're the team that is gonna be tough. It's
Speaker 1: gonna be tough. Press Um Broncos fans I lived in
Speaker 1: Denver are super passionate and they are on fire about
Speaker 1: the fact that you passed up the chance to put
Speaker 1: Justin Fields into a really awesome looking offense that right
Speaker 1: now your front office that's basically saying, are are like
Speaker 1: vision to battle Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert inside of
Speaker 1: R O Division is to roll out Drew lock or
Speaker 1: Teddy Bridgewater patches middle of the road guys. Um one
Speaker 1: of them who's proven nothing. So I just can't believe
Speaker 1: that that's how a front office actually thinks, in especially
Speaker 1: with one attached to John Elway always looking for quarterbacks. Um,
Speaker 1: the way that they organized their draft, I think Patrick's certain, um,
Speaker 1: but the way they organized their draft makes me think
Speaker 1: that they think they can get Aaron Rodgers. And I
Speaker 1: don't think this story is over. I would just wonder,
Speaker 1: is this a bunch of hogwash. I know it's the
Speaker 1: most obvious question for the Broncos, but come September, is
Speaker 1: Rogers in orange or is that a pipe dream and
Speaker 1: they're stuck with Drew or Teddy. I think it's a
Speaker 1: pipe dream because they think it's a pipe dream. I
Speaker 1: read that Mike Silver article about their you know, draft,
Speaker 1: and the second the Packers were like, we're not even
Speaker 1: gonna listen, you know, they have to move on. What
Speaker 1: motivation to the Packers have to take anything before the
Speaker 1: start of this season when the primary thing they can
Speaker 1: get his draft picks we didn't get next year. Like,
Speaker 1: unless you're sending me Bradley Chubb and Courtland Sutton, what
Speaker 1: what is going to help the Packers this year? And
Speaker 1: then that would ruin you know that that would hurt
Speaker 1: the Broncos team. The most interesting thing in that article
Speaker 1: I thought was one line where it said Teddy Bridgewater
Speaker 1: is the presumptive starter and Silver doesn't write that for nothing.
Speaker 1: That's what the front office thinks. That That told me
Speaker 1: a lot. I'm surprised. Uh, it's a great opportunity for
Speaker 1: Teddy Bridgewater. Certainly, I know we've been through this before,
Speaker 1: but wow, that these these weapons around him are incredible.
Speaker 1: I think they're thinking he can be our Alex Smith
Speaker 1: in Kansas City. Whether they're right or not. You know,
Speaker 1: the Panthers weren't right about it. But it's I think
Speaker 1: it's not Drew Lock. I think it's Teddy Bridgewater. Based
Speaker 1: on that one line. I think like we heard from
Speaker 1: George Peyton leading up to the draft just about how
Speaker 1: much they were looking at quarterbacks and how invested they
Speaker 1: were in the quarterback starts, and like, oh yeah, we
Speaker 1: believe in Drew Lock too, and it's like those things
Speaker 1: can't be true now. And so like Mark, to answer
Speaker 1: your question about like a rog, like if if they
Speaker 1: were in pursuit of Aaron Rodgers, would taking Justin Fields
Speaker 1: could only help in that? Right, they would have because
Speaker 1: we saw it with Chicago, right, they would have had
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson if they had a quarterback to give to Seattle,
Speaker 1: to say okay, this is your future. But they didn't
Speaker 1: up one um. So I think they're out. Honestly, I
Speaker 1: think if if the move was to be made, then
Speaker 1: they would have made it. So it'll be next year.
Speaker 1: Maybe they're in next year, but I don't see anyone
Speaker 1: that makes a lot of sense this year. I just
Speaker 1: they have no idea what to do with the quarterback position.
Speaker 1: How do you come out of this with all the
Speaker 1: trade movement and the rookie prospects and you realize Drew
Speaker 1: Locks not the quarterback. Congratulations of that, that's easy. And
Speaker 1: then you come out and say Teddy Bridgewaters are back up,
Speaker 1: like it's it's unbelievable to me, Teddy comeback season. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's over. Get the better. It's literally the most annoying
Speaker 1: thing on our podcast, know that you and ted the
Speaker 1: You and Teddy thing, and like he's proving he's proving
Speaker 1: your argument wrong year after year. He really had. Last
Speaker 1: year he made major mistakes in crucial situations, which was
Speaker 1: red zone and fourth quarter, which is which is important.
Speaker 1: He was a pretty productive like lower to middle field.
Speaker 1: He's not been liked. I like players totally, and the
Speaker 1: way Dan overrates the Jets every year, Like I like
Speaker 1: certain players that I root for them. That why am
Speaker 1: I catching sniper fire on this? Why don't you, if
Speaker 1: you're fighting with Mark Yah, say something nasty about Mark Rights.
Speaker 1: Not nasty, I'm saying, like, of course there's players I
Speaker 1: root for. He's a likable person who to me had
Speaker 1: had a has a more fun style than people think
Speaker 1: that I thought had a chance. He's obviously a middle
Speaker 1: smarter to factor in that he's a nice guy. We
Speaker 1: all know Teddy's a great teammate and nice, but it
Speaker 1: doesn't matter. That doesn't affect how I root for him,
Speaker 1: and he has been like significantly better than Drew Lock
Speaker 1: has ever been at multiple points in his career, including
Speaker 1: when he was with George Peyton. Almost every starter in
Speaker 1: the league, though, that isn't an argument for Teddy Bridgewater,
Speaker 1: is your answer? That's all. If they had an argument
Speaker 1: for sitting in their lap and they said we'd rather
Speaker 1: have Teddy Bridgewater and or Drew Lock, I killed them
Speaker 1: for that. I killed them for that. All I'm saying
Speaker 1: is I'm recognizing the situation where they are right now,
Speaker 1: and Teddy is their best chance to start games, and
Speaker 1: he is their best chance. Like, whether you like it
Speaker 1: or not, he's gonna be starting games this year. I
Speaker 1: guess my point is there were better options than Teddy
Speaker 1: to upgrade from Drew Lock. Maybe he's an upgrade Overlock,
Speaker 1: but from what we've seen, is he going to be
Speaker 1: a huge upgrade they didn't prioritize it. They didn't because
Speaker 1: even then they're paying him, were the better options right now?
Speaker 1: Well now the horses, I think I think that's ultimately
Speaker 1: Gregg's point, right, it's it's gotta be Teddy. And we
Speaker 1: saw a new offense right in the first team, a
Speaker 1: first year for that offense, and Teddy Bridgewater in his
Speaker 1: first year in that offense. Um, he's not gonna get
Speaker 1: like a sustained chance to be somewhere for for long.
Speaker 1: But I would like to see Teddy bridge Road to
Speaker 1: have an opportunity to grow in an offense. Right the
Speaker 1: Packers were bailing on Aaron Rodgers, Aaron Rodgers going to
Speaker 1: the Hall of Fame, right, well on Aaron Rodgers up here,
Speaker 1: first year the here's the timing of it. Okay, look
Speaker 1: at you could have traded for Teddy Bridgewater after you
Speaker 1: didn't get the quarterback in the draft. If you're trying,
Speaker 1: if you're trying to tell me that the way to
Speaker 1: galvanize your fan base and your own offense is to
Speaker 1: say that it's smarter to trade for Teddy Bridgewater days
Speaker 1: before the draft and then pass on Justin Fields, who
Speaker 1: lands in our lap, who is undoubtedly. I think to
Speaker 1: the common eye or analytical eye, more excited that we
Speaker 1: all I wanted that. How there's no defending they totally
Speaker 1: to your point. The Panthers wanted Teddy Bridgewater to have
Speaker 1: an extended stay in Carolina. Look at the contract they
Speaker 1: gave him. They set him up with a great offensive
Speaker 1: head coach, and Matt Rule. They didn't like. They didn't
Speaker 1: like what he brought to the table, and they said,
Speaker 1: we got we're getting rid of them. He chance there.
Speaker 1: He moved the ball very well and was a disaster
Speaker 1: in high leverage situations in the red zone in the
Speaker 1: fourth quarter. Say that it's a positive when you're not. Don't.
Speaker 1: But like, if if let's put it this, if Teddy
Speaker 1: Bridgewater even gave them the offense passing wise that the
Speaker 1: Panthers had last year last year's but Broncos would have
Speaker 1: gone to the playoffs. They were They were like eighteenth
Speaker 1: nineteenth in dv o A in terms of passing. The
Speaker 1: Broncos were. And that's that's sort of the thing they're
Speaker 1: hoping for is to be middle of the road good theater.
Speaker 1: On this podcast, Panthers chose Sam right. Matt Rule has
Speaker 1: had like big jeweled eyes for Sam, like floating in
Speaker 1: the air wafting after Sam. Since the the initial flirtation
Speaker 1: with the Jets, I think that was they were done
Speaker 1: with Teddy regardless, though to be fair, they they the
Speaker 1: way this season ended with him playing his worst in December,
Speaker 1: they decided. Uh. And I think they're making a mistake
Speaker 1: by the way picking up Donald's contract, Uh, you know,
Speaker 1: for two Like, why make a two year commitment when
Speaker 1: you just made a huge unforced there. No one was
Speaker 1: giving Teddy Bridgewater two years, big money guaranteed, no one,
Speaker 1: And they just gave the second year for no reason.
Speaker 1: And they're doing the exact same thing with Donald. No
Speaker 1: one was giving Donald this kind of contract with two
Speaker 1: years is guaranteed, and they're doing it again. By the way,
Speaker 1: watch out, Greg, you got the cessler E's came out
Speaker 1: there for you at one point when you were waxing poetic.
Speaker 1: But I get it. He doesn't like Teddy. I enjoy
Speaker 1: enough with inflating Teddy. No one, no one, no one
Speaker 1: was saying anything, no one. Just make you feel better.
Speaker 1: Greg was proven wrong once about Teddy Bridgewater. It will
Speaker 1: happen once again. Let's see. Now, I gotta have to
Speaker 1: rally the troops. Teddy Nation comes all right time in
Speaker 1: the Los Angeles Superchargers. Patrick Lava Alright, So hope always
Speaker 1: seems to come back with regards to fan bases and
Speaker 1: beliefs to this quarterback thing. And from what we saw
Speaker 1: in there's a lot of reason to feel great about it.
Speaker 1: Like we had people describing Trevor Lawrence as as Justin
Speaker 1: Herbert plus and I think, you know, as much as
Speaker 1: that could be a slight to Justin Herbert, seeing as
Speaker 1: he did it at a professional level, I think it
Speaker 1: speaks to help people feel about him. And you know,
Speaker 1: if avertising continuity for an offense and a quarterback that
Speaker 1: seemed promising is a way to go, it seems weird
Speaker 1: that the people behind that progress are now elsewhere in
Speaker 1: Los Angeles or not in Los Angeles, they're just elsewhere
Speaker 1: in general. But um, anyway, Mike, my question surrounds the
Speaker 1: head coach, right and the man that that its own
Speaker 1: players have classified as a as a genius. UM. So
Speaker 1: he's got two players in Los Angeles who I would
Speaker 1: argue or singularly talented with regards to the rest of
Speaker 1: the league, that was the foundation of a defense. UM.
Speaker 1: In In in one of them. I think it's going
Speaker 1: to the Hall of Fame and Aaron Donald, right, and
Speaker 1: then there's Jalen Ramsey, So now, uh, can he do
Speaker 1: similar things on this defense using Derwin James perhaps and
Speaker 1: Joey Bosa or does he need that high level talent
Speaker 1: to be successful? Well, those are two potential Hall of
Speaker 1: famers too. I know it's a long, long long way
Speaker 1: to go, and Derwin James has to stay healthy. That's
Speaker 1: like the key to this team to me. But those
Speaker 1: are two of the very best at what they do.
Speaker 1: The hype is back. I'm buying in the first two picks,
Speaker 1: the Chargers had felt huge needs with their tackle and
Speaker 1: then Assante Samuel in the second round, Like I'm I'm
Speaker 1: buying in because I would take Justin Herbert over Trevor
Speaker 1: Lawrence in a second, I would take Justin Herbert over
Speaker 1: every single young quarterback in the league not named Patrick Mahomes.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's to me, that's where Justin Herbert is
Speaker 1: its and it's not a hard decision for me, alight,
Speaker 1: So the hype should be huge. Everything that I've read
Speaker 1: about Brandon Staley, everything I've seen, I mean, this is
Speaker 1: my version of Greg's Teddy Bridgewater. This happens to me
Speaker 1: with coaches where he's not coached a game, and I
Speaker 1: couldn't be more excited about um the head coach there.
Speaker 1: I think it changes a lot. And a lot of
Speaker 1: the issues with the Chargers have been these bizarre sort
Speaker 1: of like antimistical end of game meltdowns with time and
Speaker 1: kickers missing field goals, all this stuff. I think Brandon
Speaker 1: Staley is the kind of guy who is like bathed
Speaker 1: in details. I think that stuff is gonna go away.
Speaker 1: I just do. And I think you're gonna see him
Speaker 1: be able to coach up that defense and the way
Speaker 1: he did with the Rams. And I think Derwin James,
Speaker 1: if he had been healthy this whole time, would be
Speaker 1: viewed as like a top five player in the league.
Speaker 1: But he's just his career's gone south. It's it's fortunate,
Speaker 1: and it's you know, Gregg, you mentioned Hall of Fame, yes,
Speaker 1: that that was a rookie season at all Hall of
Speaker 1: Fame level. But he hasn't He hasn't played in what
Speaker 1: two years basically now. Um, so they need him to
Speaker 1: come back and you just have to hope with the
Speaker 1: injuries that he suffered that he doesn't come back, and
Speaker 1: he's a compromised version of what we saw back in ten.
Speaker 1: But he does seem like a Lynch print. Mark I
Speaker 1: know is Brennan Staley. Has he toppled Matt Rule in
Speaker 1: your head? Coach Crush power Ranks. I feel like MAT's
Speaker 1: gonna start getting jealous a little bit here. No, I've
Speaker 1: got a lot of crushes. I mean, it's Shanahan, it's Rule,
Speaker 1: it's Stale, and they're vying for my affections. It's their job,
Speaker 1: not mine. Three. I like the idea of the image
Speaker 1: of them all standing in line to talk to you
Speaker 1: with Flowers. Well, the one time we spoke with Matt
Speaker 1: Rule Greg Barry out of time out, that was a
Speaker 1: good story. But I'll stay that it's been taught on
Speaker 1: the podcast like five times. I'll tell it's five more
Speaker 1: the Las Vegas see, that's where I'm using my time.
Speaker 1: That's where the animosity might come from. With Teddy. It
Speaker 1: was a sore spot here because um, you know, I
Speaker 1: Mark look back. This is a little bit of cheating.
Speaker 1: I'm worried about the Raiders because I think a strong
Speaker 1: case could be made that the two most important people
Speaker 1: in their organization this year are Gus Bradley and Tom Cable.
Speaker 1: They're putting a lot of faith in those two guys
Speaker 1: because otherwise I don't see it, like you're counting on
Speaker 1: Tom Cable to coach up this offensive line. There's only
Speaker 1: one new starter, I mean, the two guys that are elevating,
Speaker 1: Like they know those two Denzel Good and I forgot
Speaker 1: the other one off top of my head. But like
Speaker 1: they've been there. There's only one guy that wasn't with
Speaker 1: the team. And then they've poured all these draft picks
Speaker 1: and all this free agent money into the defense. But
Speaker 1: ultimately it's like Gus Bradley just has to be way
Speaker 1: better than what they were doing before or else there's
Speaker 1: not much reason to think this team will be any better.
Speaker 1: I mean, Gus Bradley needs to be better than Gus Bradley.
Speaker 1: That's that's sort of the problem. He's not. You know,
Speaker 1: he keeps getting to keep getting jobs, but like his
Speaker 1: defenses have not been marvelous by any stretch. I mean,
Speaker 1: the players, and there's a he's a d C. There's
Speaker 1: only so much you could do. Like sometimes I wonder
Speaker 1: what these dcs and even the coordinators most of them anyway.
Speaker 1: It's like they if you don't give them the guys
Speaker 1: to play with, if you don't give them the chess pieces,
Speaker 1: there's only so much you could do. And a lot
Speaker 1: of that I think goes back to this front office
Speaker 1: and and the draft stuff gets a little annoying to me.
Speaker 1: And I did Power rankings this week, so I do
Speaker 1: a lot of reading and trying to learn about some
Speaker 1: different things. And you see all these grades and they're
Speaker 1: all over the map. But there's certain teams that every
Speaker 1: analyst feels safe just banging with an f And that's
Speaker 1: where the Raiders are right now, that everything they do
Speaker 1: is viewed as bad. But until some of these like
Speaker 1: unorthodox picks hits uh, you understand why they're not being
Speaker 1: given the benefit of the doubt. And I think I
Speaker 1: remember back to there was an old clip of the
Speaker 1: Seahawks drafting James Carpenter in the first round, and there
Speaker 1: was a shot of Nick Saban in the crowd going
Speaker 1: James Carpenter got drafted in the first round. And that's
Speaker 1: kind of everybody's reaction to Alex Leatherwood. It who can
Speaker 1: be a solid player? Right? He started a lot of
Speaker 1: games for for a team that when he was there
Speaker 1: a couple of national championships. But um, it's a question
Speaker 1: of value and at some point right um, as Dan,
Speaker 1: you mentioned the personnel and whether it's a coordinator, whether
Speaker 1: it's personnel. Um, it's it's just not working. Um, And
Speaker 1: so they're gonna need to stop somebody. Um. But they
Speaker 1: took one of the greatest strengths in their offensive line
Speaker 1: and decimated it to the point where they needed to
Speaker 1: to draft an offensive lineman in the first round, and
Speaker 1: then they reached It feels like they got worse this offseason.
Speaker 1: Does Yeah, they were the seventh the best passing attack
Speaker 1: a year ago, but that also requires, you know, Car
Speaker 1: to be protected. When we've seen Car when he's not protected. Well,
Speaker 1: it's a whole different situation. And I don't know what.
Speaker 1: You look at that team and say the strength is
Speaker 1: they're they're out of the box thinkers, But there's two
Speaker 1: month too many out of the box picks that have
Speaker 1: not worked. That's why people attack it. If you have
Speaker 1: a track record of thinking differently and it works, everyone's like, well,
Speaker 1: these guys are just smarter. That's not how they're viewed
Speaker 1: right now. So the pr fight this legit three. We
Speaker 1: closed with the defending NFC champion Kansas City Chiefs. The
Speaker 1: Chiefs couldn't protect Patrick Mahomes and the Super Bowl and
Speaker 1: they got there. Heine's whipped as a result. Um, and
Speaker 1: I just have so much respect for Brett Beach and
Speaker 1: that organization, a little bit jealous that they they said,
Speaker 1: this is a need and we could have waited because
Speaker 1: part of the reason they got destroyed in the Super
Speaker 1: Bowls they weren't healthy on the offensive line. It wasn't
Speaker 1: just that these guys couldn't play. They're missing their tackles
Speaker 1: and it was just everything was they were missing some
Speaker 1: material guys. It was just kind of patchwork. So they
Speaker 1: could have said, let's get healthy, Let's bring back our guys,
Speaker 1: get healthy and go for it again. So I respect
Speaker 1: that they just said, no, we want to make this
Speaker 1: a team strength again. Orlando Brown, Joe Tuney, you bring
Speaker 1: Kyle Long out of retire and we'll see how that goes.
Speaker 1: But in theory, Um, it makes sense. Creed Humphrey, they
Speaker 1: took with the sixty three overall pick. Everybody's saying he's
Speaker 1: gonna be awesome in the pivot. Um, So I look
Speaker 1: at this team they took this week. This turned it
Speaker 1: into a strength. Uh and I look at a seventeen
Speaker 1: game season, how are they not a thirteen plus win team?
Speaker 1: And how is anyone else gonna contend for that top
Speaker 1: seed in the a f C. I just think they're
Speaker 1: the heavy favorite in the a f C after what
Speaker 1: they've done. I mean, let's not forget they put up
Speaker 1: thirty eight points weeks earlier against the Bills. It was
Speaker 1: that the Super Bowl was it couldn't have gone better
Speaker 1: for the Bucks, who were a worthy super Bowl champion,
Speaker 1: but there was an obvious achilles heel to what Kansas
Speaker 1: City wanted to do with, you know, their protection, not
Speaker 1: they're not on the field. You know. It's kind of
Speaker 1: funny because I look back on all the Super Bowl
Speaker 1: preview coverage, not just our show, but everyone show, and
Speaker 1: it's just like not enough. I don't remember anyone being
Speaker 1: like the Chiefs are screwed because they have both of
Speaker 1: the tackles out. It was just like Tyree Kale, you know,
Speaker 1: Travis Kelsey, Patrick Mahomes, and it's like it doesn't work
Speaker 1: with three lineman and they totally patch. Think Orlando Brown
Speaker 1: was an some signing by an awesome trade by them.
Speaker 1: I mean it just again, it turned it into a strength.
Speaker 1: Like you said, remember the their off season began being
Speaker 1: rebuffed to get Trent Williams, so it wasn't like everything
Speaker 1: fell into place. They had to regroup after that, and
Speaker 1: they still managed to get the job done. I think
Speaker 1: I'm with you that they're the favorite. To me, they're
Speaker 1: always going to be the favorites unless things go really
Speaker 1: poorly building their roster. But they didn't have their right
Speaker 1: tackle all last season and they were still the best
Speaker 1: or one of the best offenses in the league. To
Speaker 1: that that position is kind of the same. The offensive
Speaker 1: line has to come together. I always say this, but
Speaker 1: they're like it's like a bullpen. It's really hard to
Speaker 1: predict what's going to be good or not, especially if
Speaker 1: the guys have not played together. They put every amounce
Speaker 1: of investment. They're a little thinner at the skill groups now,
Speaker 1: like they they rely on Kelsey and Tyrie Hill so much.
Speaker 1: They're a little thinner now than they are in years past,
Speaker 1: So that that's just something to watch. If either one
Speaker 1: of those guys got hurt, I think they're banked. And
Speaker 1: obviously on Mahomes greatness covering up that well, and they
Speaker 1: should because he's because he's great. But I think back
Speaker 1: to a Panther's team, right the star to Mike Rimmers
Speaker 1: in the Super Bowl, and then he just got undressed
Speaker 1: by von Miller, which Von Miller undresses a lot of people.
Speaker 1: But then Mike Remmers started sixteen games the next year.
Speaker 1: It's just like you address right well, you know who
Speaker 1: they're right, you know who the chief's right tackle is
Speaker 1: right now, doesn't put it out together. It's Mike Remmer.
Speaker 1: My thinking is it's not going to be season. They
Speaker 1: saw a problem and I think they addressed it, and
Speaker 1: that's what you want for a team that hasn't you know,
Speaker 1: a really good ported. We just went around the a
Speaker 1: f C and exactly forty eight minutes and don't don't
Speaker 1: even bother doing a math yourself. Just assume that's what happened.
Speaker 1: Just trust us with the clock. We know we we've
Speaker 1: nailed that. I feel like we made our listeners smarter today.
Speaker 1: I think they're going to really take this information and uh,
Speaker 1: sitting around a fire pit or socially distanced at their
Speaker 1: favorite pub, They're gonna hit their friends with a little
Speaker 1: bit of knowledge on some of these team tames, and
Speaker 1: the friends are gonna be like, Wow, this guy is cool,
Speaker 1: and then a girl's gonna hear it be like whoa,
Speaker 1: I want to bed that man for his knowledge. I
Speaker 1: feel like that's what's happening here coming out of Today's
Speaker 1: What a service that we're offering the listener. If all
Speaker 1: those things do happen. Yeah, we've created humans today just
Speaker 1: in that in linking up those two people. And we
Speaker 1: also used the time out as well. I gotta say,
Speaker 1: you know that the Teddy time out, Um, well you know,
Speaker 1: well learned, uh and well used definitely better than the
Speaker 1: Panthers who are in the fourth quarters last year. Just
Speaker 1: close strong, Mark, I'll give you a final thought on
Speaker 1: the Teddy situation. Well, that's the great thing about football
Speaker 1: is that you know, if I always I just assumed
Speaker 1: Teddy Bridgewater is listening to this episode, just assumed that. Um,
Speaker 1: And he's gonna say the one guy always seems to
Speaker 1: be sticking up for me, um, partly because I'm nice
Speaker 1: and the other guys seems to always begetting on my case.
Speaker 1: It's like I have a chip on my shoulder. As
Speaker 1: they say, now to like go to prove to that
Speaker 1: that one mouthie negative guy that I'm can play. So
Speaker 1: you know we've done a service for him too. Now
Speaker 1: you are like the Brian, You're the Brian good kunt
Speaker 1: to uh Teddy's Aaron Rodgers this year. And there is
Speaker 1: and there is the background. There is that Matt rules
Speaker 1: on our show at the height of Mark's crush for
Speaker 1: Rule and then he believes that Greg kind of threw
Speaker 1: him under the bus a little bit about Teddy Bridgewater. Uh,
Speaker 1: And I think that there's a lot of that is
Speaker 1: space there. It's not that I believe that that's exactly
Speaker 1: what that's factually what happened Greg. So so that has
Speaker 1: that made you concerned about your boys, you know, talent evaluation,
Speaker 1: because otherwise you have like sort of beliefs that are clashing. Here.
Speaker 1: They were stuck, I think that, you know, like they
Speaker 1: showed us, they showed us they were stuck. They were
Speaker 1: just stuck. But Matt Rule, Um it started. The crushed
Speaker 1: started because he came up to me Dan that wonderful
Speaker 1: night at the Combine in the snow and we walked
Speaker 1: into a wonderful you know, hotel Tavern and he walked
Speaker 1: right up and just said good to meet you on
Speaker 1: Matt Rule, and I was like, that's all it takes.
Speaker 1: I am absolutely in love with this person from now
Speaker 1: until the end of time, so his decisions are honorable
Speaker 1: and correct every time. To anybody who's a fan of
Speaker 1: verbal discussions, I hope they noticed the way that Greg
Speaker 1: took that criticism and then turned it into a mirror
Speaker 1: and tried to redirect it at Mark as if you
Speaker 1: have absolve himself of any particular wrongdoing it. Well, welcome
Speaker 1: to every episode. It's artful. All right, we'll be back.
Speaker 1: There's that Patrick, thank you as if you've said it
Speaker 1: all and you've done it all and we appreciate your help. Um.
Speaker 1: On Thursday, Steve Weisch will join us to break down
Speaker 1: the NFC in forty eight minutes and um we thank you. Ricky,
Speaker 1: have anything you wanted to add for Yeah, just before
Speaker 1: we go to the listeners, especially the males, it's not
Speaker 1: going to get a girl in bed with you if
Speaker 1: you're just like man splaining football at her. That's like
Speaker 1: the worst thing. No, no, no, no, time out, time out,
Speaker 1: Because I know where you're trying to go at this.
Speaker 1: I wasn't saying that he was man's landing to the
Speaker 1: woman and then she was so taken aback. She's like,
Speaker 1: where's your apartment? We gotta go. I was saying, he
Speaker 1: was in conversation with his buddies, and then she was
Speaker 1: at the next table over and she was so impressed
Speaker 1: by this. Information's like she knew a lot too. She's like,
Speaker 1: he knows his stuff exactly, thinking women can know just
Speaker 1: as much about football as men. Got to turn that
Speaker 1: mirror around, baby, I learned. Yeah, like displaying sports knowledge,
Speaker 1: nothing gets the opposite sex more excited about than that.
Speaker 1: All Right, Fregg needs to get out more. It does work. Yeah,
Speaker 1: all right, we'll be back Thursday. As I said with
Speaker 1: Steve which breaking down the NFC until then, the Dan
Speaker 1: hands of signing off for Patrick Laivan, the Quiet Storm,
Speaker 1: the old ball Rickey Hollywood, until then he'd the call
Speaker 1: s