Speaker 1: Fail Round the League Podcast trust sources with knowledge of
Speaker 1: the situation. Welcome back to another edition of the Around
Speaker 1: the League Podcast. My name is Dan Hansis and I
Speaker 1: am joined by a room full of heroes, Chris Westling,
Speaker 1: Mark Sessler, and Greg Rosenthal. What's up, boys? He wanted
Speaker 1: the nickname No nicknames this time? The nicknames? I think
Speaker 1: I'm thinking I'm toying with the idea of tacking the
Speaker 1: nicknames on the back end when we say goodbye, and
Speaker 1: then giving you guys your proper names up top. What
Speaker 1: do you think that seems? That seems like a fine idea.
Speaker 1: Dan seems like he's getting more and more hosty with
Speaker 1: each show, adding little elements I like it. Before you
Speaker 1: know it, Dan will leave us and he'll be uh
Speaker 1: starting nfl am every morning. It might reach the guys,
Speaker 1: It might reach a point where I am giving no
Speaker 1: actual football analysis and you guys are doing all the
Speaker 1: heavy lifting, which actually sounds about right. Um. So today,
Speaker 1: big big news on the on the A t L page,
Speaker 1: we rolled out one of our season preview features and
Speaker 1: this is a doozy uh and we could have ramped
Speaker 1: it up and ramped toward the m v P but Greg,
Speaker 1: our boss, decided, let's start with the heat, our envy,
Speaker 1: our most valuable player predictions in the NFL and the
Speaker 1: two thousand thirteen seasons. Lyle are around the league in
Speaker 1: turn produced the page. But we have our four five
Speaker 1: picks with our new man, Kevin Patra based over in
Speaker 1: Chicago Sugartown. So I guess we could start. How do
Speaker 1: we want to do this? Do we want to just
Speaker 1: go around the horn here? Yeah? All right, let' see
Speaker 1: it's organized alright, And I guess I guess I'll start
Speaker 1: because I I chose. I guess mine was kind of
Speaker 1: the wild card here. Um, I could end up looking horrible,
Speaker 1: but you know who cares. I took Andrew Luck of
Speaker 1: the Colts. Um. As I've said on this podcast, I
Speaker 1: love the Colts offense this year. I love Colt. I
Speaker 1: love Luck as a trend ENDNT type Hall of Fame
Speaker 1: type dude despite being just twenty three years old. And
Speaker 1: I think he has everything in place, and I think
Speaker 1: he has the targets with Reggie, Wayne t Y Hilton,
Speaker 1: Darius Sayward Bay, Dwayne Allen, Kobe Fleaner. I love if
Speaker 1: a mod bradshow is healthy. What he brings to that
Speaker 1: team both as a runner, receiver and even a blogger.
Speaker 1: And uh, you know, most of all, I like, Oh,
Speaker 1: I also like Pep Hamilton's there. I think that's a
Speaker 1: good fit. But most of all, I like the look
Speaker 1: Luck has. The look he has that he looks like
Speaker 1: a Hall of Fame guy, and he seemed like that
Speaker 1: at Radio City Music Hall in two thousand twelve. He
Speaker 1: seemed like he was going to be a star. It
Speaker 1: was destined, and I think this is the year where
Speaker 1: he becomes that guy. As I wrote in my piece,
Speaker 1: the uh last guy to win the m v P
Speaker 1: in his second full year was Dan Reno and eighty four,
Speaker 1: I think it happens in two thousand thirteen Andrew Luck.
Speaker 1: I was a big fan of your Damn Marino comparison.
Speaker 1: I like that a lot. It was a bold pick,
Speaker 1: but I liked it a lot. And I could see
Speaker 1: it because he threw so many passes last year. That
Speaker 1: kind of helps when it comes to statistics and m
Speaker 1: v P voting. And I think the same thing is
Speaker 1: going to happen again, much better than you're running back
Speaker 1: ranking Andrew Luck. He's got to be like the coolest
Speaker 1: nerd in America right now, right he I think that's fair.
Speaker 1: He actually he's almost like a evolutionary type Peyton Manning,
Speaker 1: where he's almost a cool geek and he'll be on
Speaker 1: some love. I could see he's both cooler and geekier
Speaker 1: than Peyton Manning. That makes sense, and I see that
Speaker 1: five years, six years from now he is the face
Speaker 1: of the lead. Interesting about him too, You see Kaepernick
Speaker 1: is on every commercial right now, Russell Wilson's on commercials.
Speaker 1: R G three is everywhere. I have not seen one
Speaker 1: single commercial with Andrew Luck. Indianapolis factor is part of it.
Speaker 1: I think he's just all football all the time. But
Speaker 1: Manning broke through that. I know, you know he was.
Speaker 1: He was always a guy in commercials and he was
Speaker 1: playing in the same market. Oh, I think it's more
Speaker 1: than Andrew Luck doesn't want to do the commercial at
Speaker 1: this point in his career. I think you're right, and
Speaker 1: maybe he's conscious of something. I'm I'm with you Dan
Speaker 1: on Luck being that special. But I do wonder we're
Speaker 1: putting so much on this kid. Ron Drosky has him
Speaker 1: so high you think m v P. You know he
Speaker 1: did have completion rating last year twenty three touchdowns eighteen interceptions,
Speaker 1: so we're expecting him to really get a lot better.
Speaker 1: It's it's high expectations. I would attribute the majority of
Speaker 1: that completion percentage to Bruce Arians aggressive downfield attack, which
Speaker 1: is much harder complete passes, and the fact that he
Speaker 1: was always throwing on the run or with three defenders
Speaker 1: hanging off of him because his offensive line can give
Speaker 1: me any any protection. I think, like with the Academy Awards,
Speaker 1: they take a young actor and they like to give
Speaker 1: him right out of the gate and nomination or flat
Speaker 1: out an oscar and it kind of paves the way
Speaker 1: for his career. And I view the MVP well, I
Speaker 1: look at like what they did with like Damon an
Speaker 1: affleck out of the gate right away. It's perfect example
Speaker 1: Jennifer Lawrence last year. Mean it happens. That's marketing, and
Speaker 1: I don't I'm not saying the m v P Award
Speaker 1: is pure marketing. But I do think that all these
Speaker 1: awards to some degree are a bit of a sham.
Speaker 1: And uh, well, I just I do. I don't put
Speaker 1: that much on them. But luck fits the bill perfectly
Speaker 1: because a it's not a fluke, he is. We all
Speaker 1: sort of seem to agree. He is the kind of
Speaker 1: player that projects as a Hall of Fame quarterback. Potentially,
Speaker 1: he's on a team that's really well set up to
Speaker 1: go back to the playoffs when a lot of people
Speaker 1: doubt that. And finally, it's like, talk about coornating your
Speaker 1: next big quarterback star, right, and don't forget about his
Speaker 1: fifty eight year old dad flips cell phone, which I
Speaker 1: think he somehow works into this beyond his years. Okay,
Speaker 1: so look that's me. Let's go with Cessler Mark Sessler.
Speaker 1: Who are you picking? Well, I want to speak for
Speaker 1: Kevin Patra and myself, although we may be I am
Speaker 1: because we picked the same player. That's where I'll stop
Speaker 1: speaking for him. But I'm going to the other end
Speaker 1: of the spectrum Tom Brady, because number one Tom Brady
Speaker 1: is a guy that could have been m v P
Speaker 1: multiple other times. And it's like again, like with other
Speaker 1: awards show things, they want to keep picking someone new.
Speaker 1: There has to be a nice storyline. Bill Belichick could
Speaker 1: have been Coach of the Year eight times by now,
Speaker 1: But let's pick you know, the cozy underdog narrative to
Speaker 1: hoy stuff of the year, go to the cult slash
Speaker 1: or whatever it is you want. And for me, honestly,
Speaker 1: like I, I look at Brady and he it's not
Speaker 1: a it's not a sympathy vote. I view him still
Speaker 1: physically and the way he leads that offense as an
Speaker 1: m v P level performer, and I think he's well
Speaker 1: set up in New England when everyone, you know, two
Speaker 1: months ago, it was this is a team that finally
Speaker 1: has been stripped of enough weapons and gone through enough
Speaker 1: this offseason where hey, listen, we question if there's still
Speaker 1: the team in the a f C East. Not this
Speaker 1: has happened before the Patriots. Is it eleven years in
Speaker 1: a row that they could have double digit wins? And
Speaker 1: they're overlooked that way? And in a way, I just
Speaker 1: think that Manning or Brady, if he comes through this
Speaker 1: season with another playoff appearance, and I expect him to
Speaker 1: do more than just make the playoffs. That for me,
Speaker 1: that's my m v P and I'm not afraid to
Speaker 1: say it. I think he is the best quarterback of
Speaker 1: my lifetime personally. Haven't we almost come full circle? Though?
Speaker 1: On the on the hype with Brady it went from
Speaker 1: you know, the guy with all the weapons too now
Speaker 1: he has nothing left but now we were talking ourselves
Speaker 1: into all these new options he has that almost he's
Speaker 1: not he's no longer playing from behind again. Well, there's
Speaker 1: still are we talking about from preseason game? Is he
Speaker 1: still an underdog pick as m VP is at this point?
Speaker 1: Are we all confident that he's gonna automatically turn this
Speaker 1: team into a bunch of productive media? Is gonna latch
Speaker 1: onto the air and Hernandez stuff and say, look what
Speaker 1: he overcame the ground conk grown Cowski injury. Even if
Speaker 1: we're confident now and Kembrill, Tompkins and Subfield, the people
Speaker 1: voting for the m v P are gonna love the
Speaker 1: storyline of over coming those tight ends as they should.
Speaker 1: I mean, that was their offense last year along with
Speaker 1: Wes Welker. I love what Mark said about a narrative,
Speaker 1: and I do think that's why Luck and Tom Brady
Speaker 1: both makes sense because they have the carry your team
Speaker 1: on your back factor, which always seems to play a
Speaker 1: big role. Adrian Peterson last year is a good example
Speaker 1: where you look at Peyton Manny and Aaron Rodgers and
Speaker 1: maybe they have to do extra to get as much
Speaker 1: credit as Brady and Luck will be for carrying their teams.
Speaker 1: Brady will enter Week one with eight percent of his
Speaker 1: receptions gone from the roster from last year. He should
Speaker 1: get extra credit. That's well, there's been a lot of
Speaker 1: stories out there. Oh, Hernandez can be made up for,
Speaker 1: you know, the losses in here and there. But bottom line,
Speaker 1: it's like the Patriots haven't been an up and down operation.
Speaker 1: They've been completely steady. View and as the reason this
Speaker 1: won't be one of the three or four best years
Speaker 1: of Brady's career. That's why I don't think he'll win
Speaker 1: envy and will he throw an off to keep pace
Speaker 1: with some of the other quarterbacks that will be in
Speaker 1: this debate for Evy, Yes, he's gonna throw. It's Tom Brady.
Speaker 1: They're gonna agree. And I think for the first until
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving of last year, here I thought, watching tape every week,
Speaker 1: he was the best quarterback in the league. Al Right, West,
Speaker 1: you have the favorite pick late on us. I picked
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers just because simple reason he's the best player
Speaker 1: in the NFL. Alright, Greg, You're no, No, that's I
Speaker 1: mean that to me? That makes sense. Yeah, I think
Speaker 1: you could argue that the last two years he's throwing
Speaker 1: the ball better than any quarterback in NFL history ever.
Speaker 1: Has Dan gave me, you know, grief because I couched
Speaker 1: my pick a little bit that I said Rogers should
Speaker 1: be the favorite throughout his prime each year, just as
Speaker 1: the most likely guy, because he's that good, he's that talented,
Speaker 1: and he's right in the middle of his prime. But
Speaker 1: I went another way. But Greg's couch has made entirely
Speaker 1: of Rogers jerseys that I can't argue. That's that's a
Speaker 1: long way of saying I can't argue with West well,
Speaker 1: and you could also throw in the I. I think
Speaker 1: we all expect the running game in their defense to
Speaker 1: be better than last year. And you gotta win. To
Speaker 1: win the m v P, you have to make the playoffs.
Speaker 1: That's just part of it. And I know, Cecil, you
Speaker 1: actually picked the Packers not to make the playoffs. Do
Speaker 1: you do you feel that part of that will be
Speaker 1: Rogers coming down to earth a little bit? No, And
Speaker 1: I think I I hope I mentioned that last time
Speaker 1: when we discussed the NFC North Rogers. I'm ranked him
Speaker 1: as the number one quarterback in football. Over the summer,
Speaker 1: nothing has changed my opinion of him. He's completely an
Speaker 1: m VP level corn to figure out, um, what is
Speaker 1: going to cause the Packers to miss the playoffs in
Speaker 1: your view? And the only thing and come up with
Speaker 1: the Bermuda triangle is somehow involved in this. Remember I
Speaker 1: mentioned that like a metaphor, I had a metaphysical feeling
Speaker 1: of ugliness. That's something strange was gonna happen. So if
Speaker 1: you're looking on paper and for what's come before, you're right,
Speaker 1: it doesn't exist. How about the dbs starting at tackle uh,
Speaker 1: David backdri and Don Barclay that that's a reason that
Speaker 1: they might not do great? Yeah, but still even if
Speaker 1: the defense is bad, if you have and using mark
Speaker 1: your logic, if you have the best quarterback in the
Speaker 1: world at the height of his powers, how do you
Speaker 1: not make it through the regular seas a metaphysical dark spot? Here?
Speaker 1: You keep going to like mathematical ecouch. Can you argue
Speaker 1: against that kind of trump cars just listen, you know, yeah, logically,
Speaker 1: if you want me to just give you my computer
Speaker 1: predictions for the season they make the playoffs, I'm not
Speaker 1: using that. I'm using a feeling I have that they're
Speaker 1: going to go nine and seven. I'll probably be wrong.
Speaker 1: Is it like the last Batman movie where Baine explodes
Speaker 1: the middle of lambeau Field or something and asking me
Speaker 1: something that just floats in the ether. It caught my attention.
Speaker 1: I said, I'm gonna pay attention to this because it's
Speaker 1: like an X Files episode. Did police investigators call you
Speaker 1: and I ask you for psychological intervention? Actually that's not
Speaker 1: a bad idea. If this checks out, we're calling the
Speaker 1: Culver City Police Department. Um, do we have anything else?
Speaker 1: Or do you want to throw to Gregg? My pick
Speaker 1: is Ben Roethlisberger. I've talked him up all offseason as
Speaker 1: one of the most underrated quarterbacks in the league. I
Speaker 1: still think if you look at his career arc two
Speaker 1: time champion, he's had some great years, he's been hurt.
Speaker 1: He still has. To me, when I look, once his
Speaker 1: season is over, I can see him having that year
Speaker 1: where it just all comes together perfectly. And to me,
Speaker 1: this makes sense is that year he's at that sweet
Speaker 1: spot where his mind has started to catch up with
Speaker 1: his body and his body hasn't broken down yet. He
Speaker 1: still has his physical traits to get out of tackles.
Speaker 1: He's still got maybe the best deep arm in the league,
Speaker 1: and he's a much smarter quarterback than he used to be.
Speaker 1: He's got Todd Haley willing to throw the ball deep,
Speaker 1: and uh, I think the Steelers are going to be
Speaker 1: a surprisingly good team. So then he gets the m
Speaker 1: v P votes. See, I think that's a gut sier pick.
Speaker 1: Then luck because the Steelers, well, I apologize to the
Speaker 1: Steelers do not have a sense around their offense that
Speaker 1: they're about to take a step forward. Everyone's talking about
Speaker 1: a step back potentially for the now. We both picked
Speaker 1: them as to win the division I believe a couple
Speaker 1: of weeks ago. But Roethlisberger last season through midway of
Speaker 1: the season wasn't was playing at an m VP level.
Speaker 1: He was phenomenal during the early part of last year.
Speaker 1: So I like that pick myself. This is like the
Speaker 1: seventh straight year you've picked roethlis to pick him to
Speaker 1: do it once. Give me a break. Last week, big
Speaker 1: Ben made some throws down the field that we're just incredible.
Speaker 1: And for all the talk about Todd Haley being dinking
Speaker 1: dunk offense, I don't think Big Ben's gonna let it
Speaker 1: be a dinking dunk offense. And I think the guys
Speaker 1: that usually put in conversation with Big Ben when you
Speaker 1: hear people talk about him, Eli Manning used to hear
Speaker 1: Rivers and Big Ben is so much better than those
Speaker 1: guys Flacco. He is head and shoulders above that. He
Speaker 1: belongs in the Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Aaron
Speaker 1: Rogers category. He's that good and he has the same
Speaker 1: advantage as Luck and Brady in terms of the narrative
Speaker 1: that the lower low expectations. If they do well, it
Speaker 1: will be seen as Ben really raising up the level
Speaker 1: of some poor teams. Right. I think he's going to
Speaker 1: need Heath Miller to come back healthy and Marcus Wheaton
Speaker 1: to emerge as kind of a dangerous playmaker as the
Speaker 1: number three. Recently, you could argue he's lost almost as
Speaker 1: much as Brady has to some degree until Miller returns,
Speaker 1: because you lost Mike Wallace, and frankly, they they draft
Speaker 1: Bell to re shape that running game. The guy is
Speaker 1: out of the picture for a month or whatever it is,
Speaker 1: and what they have in the backfield is completely vanilla
Speaker 1: and unreliable. And again it falls on Big Ben shoulders
Speaker 1: to take the Steelers wherever they go. And my only concern,
Speaker 1: and even though he's only missed Uh, I guess four games.
Speaker 1: The last two seasons, he's had two pretty bad injuries.
Speaker 1: It was an ankle I think in eleven, and then
Speaker 1: last year was a shoulder. UM. If he could play sixteen,
Speaker 1: he's gonna win the m v people we're talking about
Speaker 1: m v P. He's gonna have to stay healthy the
Speaker 1: whole time because he's gonna need the number. UM. Alright,
Speaker 1: So that was our m v P talk. Crystal Rich
Speaker 1: behind the glass. How are you today? I'm very well.
Speaker 1: How are you guys? We're doing great. Uh. We got
Speaker 1: a big task for you today. I'm ready for it. Uh.
Speaker 1: The news around the league news, Crystal Rich is gonna
Speaker 1: handle it. She's gonna take those reins and take us
Speaker 1: through the league. Alright. Starting off, Green Bay Packers news,
Speaker 1: running back Duwan Harris out for the year. Reinjured his
Speaker 1: right knee. What does that mean for Mike McCarthy and
Speaker 1: the Packers. McCarthy was downright disconsolate, crest falling at the
Speaker 1: press conference yesterday. This is the one of the favorite emotion.
Speaker 1: This is one of his favorite players he's ever coach.
Speaker 1: You can tell he he has taken a vested personal
Speaker 1: interest in Duan Harris and said he was a huge
Speaker 1: part of what his individual focused was for the whole,
Speaker 1: for the offense for two thousand and thirteen, everybody assumed
Speaker 1: Lacie was going to be the guy he wanted, that
Speaker 1: one two punch of Lacey and Harris. I don't know
Speaker 1: that anybody believe McCarthy, but McCarthy fully believe that. I
Speaker 1: believe him after that press conference, because yes, he was
Speaker 1: touting Harris for weeks and it was like, all right,
Speaker 1: but we we kind of feel like you're pumping this
Speaker 1: player up, encouraging him, but we don't really know necessarily
Speaker 1: what the Packers planned to do deeper in the season.
Speaker 1: It's it's not out of the realm of possibility that
Speaker 1: Lacey was going to be part of a committee with
Speaker 1: him and that Harris really won over McCarthy. It's a loss,
Speaker 1: but I do think because of the draft and the
Speaker 1: way they restopped, it's not a devastating loss from so
Speaker 1: go back and watch Harris run last year. Though, if
Speaker 1: you didn't know he was a guy that was undrafted
Speaker 1: and then kind of came up waivers, he would have
Speaker 1: looked like a first or second round talent. He looked
Speaker 1: really good and I think McCarthy must see a big
Speaker 1: drop off from Harrison Lacy to whoever is next, So
Speaker 1: he was looking at those two big guys as a
Speaker 1: one to combo. Alright, Crystal, what else is in the news?
Speaker 1: All right? Now? This one's a good one. Linebacker Aaron Curry,
Speaker 1: recently released by the New York Giants, announced his retirement
Speaker 1: via Twitter. Is this the new trend? Is it not
Speaker 1: a real retirement? Is it not ligitimate? Did not come
Speaker 1: out on Twitter first? I think it just says where
Speaker 1: he's at in his career. He's not on a team,
Speaker 1: And he was the number four pick in the two
Speaker 1: thousand and nine draft, and it's the middle of August,
Speaker 1: and he has no other way to announce his retirement
Speaker 1: other than Twitter. And he was supposed to be one
Speaker 1: of the safest picks of the I mean, he's one
Speaker 1: of the biggest busts of the last ten years. How
Speaker 1: about that two draft? Pretty bleak? Well? I mean we
Speaker 1: looked at it today in the news room and it
Speaker 1: was like, you go through the first seven picks and
Speaker 1: if not deeper than that, you want to read him off.
Speaker 1: Maybe I don't know if I'm doing it off the
Speaker 1: top of my head. But Stafford was number one, so
Speaker 1: it's we're okay there. It started out fine. Smith number two,
Speaker 1: so I used this glowing box in front of me
Speaker 1: the information number two. That's a disaster. Tyson Jackson's number three.
Speaker 1: That's pretty bad, although he's still on the team, so
Speaker 1: he's better than some of the other guys. Uh. Number
Speaker 1: four in that draft for was Aaron Curry. Number five
Speaker 1: is Mark Sanchez, and it's sad that Mark Sanchez is
Speaker 1: the second best player in the top five and the
Speaker 1: Jets traded up for him. Andre Smith, to a lot
Speaker 1: of people thought would have been a bust. What came
Speaker 1: number six? He's been good? And then Darius Heyward Bay
Speaker 1: number seven. But this is all off the top of
Speaker 1: Greg's head. The second half of that draft has the
Speaker 1: best player in the draft. The second half of the
Speaker 1: first round Clay Matthews plus Kim Nixon, Percy Harvin, and
Speaker 1: I guess the first half has basically Matthew, Stafford and
Speaker 1: Brian Cushing. Yeah, Cushing smack Cleveland. But it just it
Speaker 1: just goes to show how you never know anything with
Speaker 1: the draft. Curry was supposed to be a really smart
Speaker 1: athletic player that was like, I can't miss the Lions
Speaker 1: were negotiating with him and Stafford for the number one pick.
Speaker 1: They were kind of using Curry, you know, to leverage Stafford.
Speaker 1: They were gonna take him, and then you know, now
Speaker 1: it's four years later, he's out of league and two
Speaker 1: k Rich's point, Uh, it is a retirement because his
Speaker 1: career is over. I don't care what you use a
Speaker 1: fact or go snail mail. It's over al right, guys. Next,
Speaker 1: Mr Patriots released cornerback Razi Dowling. What does this mean
Speaker 1: for the Pats secondary? If anything, it just means they're
Speaker 1: terrible at drafting defensive backs. He wasn't going to make
Speaker 1: the team. I mean, he wasn't going to be a factor.
Speaker 1: But it's just a reminder how bad they've been drafting
Speaker 1: defensive backs over the year. Well, and they talked about
Speaker 1: here's the great thing about New England. The year before,
Speaker 1: they swapped out a pick so that they could get
Speaker 1: a much higher picked than following season to take downing.
Speaker 1: But when they actually had to make the pick and
Speaker 1: it's a defensive back, New England can't close the deal.
Speaker 1: They can't seem to get that right. What else Crystal alright.
Speaker 1: Stephen Jones, son of Dallas Cowboys owner, says that the
Speaker 1: Cowboys have a get this secret sauce for an NFL title.
Speaker 1: Now I like to cook. Can I get the recipe
Speaker 1: from my Eagles? I don't know you want that recipe either,
Speaker 1: but you definitely don't want the Cowboys recipe. Greg, you
Speaker 1: have the recipe, right? Yeah? I wanted to ask what
Speaker 1: is in this secret sauce? But I'll take a gander
Speaker 1: at it. Um terrible self scouting over rating your own players. Um,
Speaker 1: you gotta throw in some dead cat money. I think
Speaker 1: that's important. Uh, a lot of self made hype. I
Speaker 1: think that that's crucial. Um, no depth, make sure don't
Speaker 1: add any depth to the mix. I think believing your
Speaker 1: own publicity. Did you say that it was kind of
Speaker 1: in there? How about a flock of incriminating photos of
Speaker 1: high up executives at every network that decides who plays
Speaker 1: football games on primetime? Well take a shot. Well the rating,
Speaker 1: but over your shoulder right now. Uh. You also need
Speaker 1: a head coach that is not that strong, and you
Speaker 1: need a lot of writers to fall for your hype
Speaker 1: every year, no matter how many times Dan and I
Speaker 1: have been burned, that we didn't come back in. But
Speaker 1: I've been burned so many times predicting great things for
Speaker 1: the Cowboys. Okay, so, Chris Law, you have a very
Speaker 1: very high Wonderlick score for your first news reading. What
Speaker 1: is the highest one score ever? The best you can do? Yes? Okay, Next,
Speaker 1: before we get into our division previews, wes uh, you
Speaker 1: want to talk a little pupulist. What what? What shall
Speaker 1: we be looking for? Give me some puplist do a
Speaker 1: publist round up. I'll give you four names, four guys
Speaker 1: who are put on the publist this week. Tell me
Speaker 1: which one is the most important player? Who was the
Speaker 1: biggest loss Percy Harvin, Michael Crabtree, Jonathan Stewart or j Ratliffe.
Speaker 1: Well for the season, I think it's harvn Um. I
Speaker 1: think they'll survive without him, but I just think he
Speaker 1: was going to be such a big part of what
Speaker 1: they do. I think the other teams, can you know,
Speaker 1: recover better than the Seahawksville Oh sorry, go ahead. Well,
Speaker 1: initially I was gonna go Harvan, but I think it's
Speaker 1: Crabtree because I think even this in the in the
Speaker 1: last month or two, we've seen that Seattle is stronger
Speaker 1: wide receiver than we initially thought, and their defense is
Speaker 1: in my mind every bit potentially as good as the Niners.
Speaker 1: Losing crab Tree, I don't see that they've replaced him
Speaker 1: in any way in San Francisco. You don't like Marlin Moore.
Speaker 1: I like Marlon Moore, but you're talking about fourteen days ago.
Speaker 1: I would have known who that come. Don't like him
Speaker 1: at all? No, I don't like him. Can I ask
Speaker 1: you kind of a spin off of that question, which
Speaker 1: of those guys has the best chance to make any
Speaker 1: type of tangible impact this season? Wow, that's a good question,
Speaker 1: I would guess, and again Ratliffe, Jonathan Stewart, crab Tree,
Speaker 1: and Harvard. I don't what's going on with Ratliff. It
Speaker 1: seemed it was such a bad idea to keep him,
Speaker 1: and this this one we first guessed on around the league.
Speaker 1: Right when they brought him back. We said, this is
Speaker 1: crazy that they're paying a guy who was injured, who
Speaker 1: got in a yelling match with the team owner, he
Speaker 1: was unhappy, played really bad. I do you. I forgot
Speaker 1: about the du It sounds like some relationships I've had,
Speaker 1: and they and they brought it back for five million,
Speaker 1: and now he's he's upset or he's hinting at being
Speaker 1: upset with the Cowboys training staff. They don't know if
Speaker 1: he's definitely gonna be back this year at all. I
Speaker 1: would say Harvard has the best chance of impacting the playoffs.
Speaker 1: Maybe Jonathan Stewart has the best chance of being backed
Speaker 1: by Halloween. Yeah, I think Jonathan Stewart will be back first,
Speaker 1: but I would go with Harvin because his injuries not
Speaker 1: as serious. I don't think it's and they did have
Speaker 1: months of install and practices with harvn on the field.
Speaker 1: They've tucked some of that away, but everyone has seen
Speaker 1: Harvan on that on that team, they practiced with him,
Speaker 1: played with him. I think that he could be a
Speaker 1: complete X factor in January if the Seahawks get where
Speaker 1: we think they'll be. And I'm not putting much stock
Speaker 1: into Crabtree having a real impact. We saw how Sugs
Speaker 1: came back from that injury. Who was heavier, he was slow,
Speaker 1: and crab Tree has to be explosive. It sucks tendon
Speaker 1: was partially torn. Crab Trees is fully torn. It's coming
Speaker 1: back from a more serious injury than sucks. I don't
Speaker 1: love hip injuries either for Harvin doesn't sound too fun,
Speaker 1: but he's got a long time Also, your favorite baseball
Speaker 1: player a Rod. So you have an issue with I
Speaker 1: have no idea what you're talking about anything else with Papa.
Speaker 1: We're popped out, all right. Okay, So we have reached
Speaker 1: our penultimate division preview, the NFC South. That was a
Speaker 1: Westling like word. They're penultimate enough to two dollar word
Speaker 1: right there. Um, we are on the NFC South, and
Speaker 1: I guess we could start with one big question, Chris Westling.
Speaker 1: We're gonna keep rolling with Chris. Okay, we've talked about
Speaker 1: this idea we have that there is this transcendent group
Speaker 1: of quarterbacks and they can take their team to the
Speaker 1: playoffs year in and year out because they're that good.
Speaker 1: The Saints couldn't do it last year, and we've said
Speaker 1: Joan Payton was a factor. I don't believe it they
Speaker 1: can do it this year because the defense simply isn't
Speaker 1: talented enough. Do you guys believe their defense is good
Speaker 1: enough to get to the playoffs this year? I do
Speaker 1: uh not to give away our predictions, but I've got
Speaker 1: them winning the division because we've talked about if Peyton
Speaker 1: makes a difference. It won seven games with the worst defense,
Speaker 1: one of the worst defenses in NFL history. I think
Speaker 1: they can improve enough. Although they're testing me with all
Speaker 1: these injuries, it's making it harder to pick this team.
Speaker 1: I think they can improve enough where you know what
Speaker 1: you're getting with Drew Brees in. That offense and that
Speaker 1: running game could be really good. I think their offense
Speaker 1: is the most impressive thing in this entire division, and
Speaker 1: it will carry them through how how devastating do you
Speaker 1: think it is losing both Victor Butler and Will Smith
Speaker 1: are two outside landbackers. Where those guys true impact guys
Speaker 1: that they are not gonna be able to replace. Do
Speaker 1: they have the depth where it will be that much
Speaker 1: of a drop off? I would say they were both
Speaker 1: question marked people. People were excited about Victor Butler and
Speaker 1: his first chance at a starting job up, but nobody
Speaker 1: knows how he would do. And Will Smith is a
Speaker 1: three or four defensive end, not a or a four
Speaker 1: three defensive end, not a three four outside linebacker. I
Speaker 1: put Coleman ahead of of Will Smith in terms of
Speaker 1: and I don't think that Coleman is a is a
Speaker 1: great player, but he was brought on as he's been
Speaker 1: with Ryan before, to teach that defense to all these
Speaker 1: guys who have no experience in the three four. The
Speaker 1: injuries there, I can't think of a team that's been
Speaker 1: more ransacked with injuries to the point where I'm not
Speaker 1: sure they can even do close to what Rex Ryan
Speaker 1: thought they were gonna do. Jonathan Wilmot, not that I
Speaker 1: expected him to help them that much at all, but
Speaker 1: he was expected to start, and we don't know when
Speaker 1: he's going to be back. It wouldn't surprise me if
Speaker 1: he does not play much this season at all. So
Speaker 1: that's four starters in your front seven. Yeah, none of
Speaker 1: them were that exciting, but they were still the guys
Speaker 1: you were planning to start. So they're back. I mean,
Speaker 1: legend on the field, Junior Gallet, You're guy, Chris Wesseley, Ryan,
Speaker 1: Rob Ryan's all Pro. Maybe it's because he was a Jet,
Speaker 1: but doesn't it feel like Jonathan of Film has been
Speaker 1: the league for twenty seven years? Yeah, has been, although
Speaker 1: it's hard to like link him to the Jets at
Speaker 1: this point. I think he's been so important to the Saints,
Speaker 1: but I don't think he's a great player for them
Speaker 1: at this point on any level? Do you want to
Speaker 1: make a case for the Saints defense. Ryan's been good
Speaker 1: with secondaries, and they have Keenan Lewis, Malcolm Jenkins, Vaccaro,
Speaker 1: who am I forgetting? Jabari Greer has been very good,
Speaker 1: could be an okay second could be a good second
Speaker 1: could be. But they have a long way to go
Speaker 1: from last year when they were the worst secondary and
Speaker 1: what the NFL history? Yeah, Mark, you're just depressing this
Speaker 1: former New Orleans resident. Mark it us a question about
Speaker 1: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. All right with Tampa Bay, you know,
Speaker 1: I really I actually like the Bucks more than a
Speaker 1: lot of people. I think there's a lot of intriguing
Speaker 1: talent there. They got rivas on defense, have got a
Speaker 1: great secondary. I love Doug Martin, I love the receivers. Obviously.
Speaker 1: The question mark there, and it has been for a while,
Speaker 1: is Josh Freeman. And I am one guy that does
Speaker 1: not buy Greg Schiano's months of trying to repair his
Speaker 1: at least statements that Freeman's his guy. I know he
Speaker 1: keeps saying that. But when I looked at Mike glennan
Speaker 1: I watched each of these Bucks games, I really like
Speaker 1: glenn and I think that they drafted him to fit
Speaker 1: their system, and I'm wondering does he finished the season
Speaker 1: as the team's starter. I'm gonna say, yes, Um, I'm
Speaker 1: finished believing in Josh Freeman. And I'm with you. What
Speaker 1: Greg Ciano said coming out of the season was fresh.
Speaker 1: He didn't believe in Josh Freeman. He wanted somebody better,
Speaker 1: and that's Mark Dominic's guys, not if he's not Greg
Speaker 1: Cianno's guy. I don't know. To me, there's some kind
Speaker 1: of chasm there. There's some kind of division between Siano
Speaker 1: and Freeman. And I haven't seen enough out of Freeman
Speaker 1: to believe he's a franchise quarterback. Yeah, I don't think
Speaker 1: the team believes in him anymore, and I think because
Speaker 1: of that, he's gonna have a short leash. And if
Speaker 1: he if they are two and four and they like
Speaker 1: Glennon as much as we think they do, I think
Speaker 1: they're gonna say, what do we have to lose? You know,
Speaker 1: Freeman think it would happen much later in the year.
Speaker 1: It's he's a tough guy to a value. We did
Speaker 1: the top ten quarterbacks under twenty five and look, Mike
Speaker 1: Glennon's I don't know if he's ever gonna put together
Speaker 1: a half of football like Josh Freeman put together. Uh
Speaker 1: in some of those comebacks the Saints comes to mind,
Speaker 1: I'm forgetting another one where he just was a bond
Speaker 1: on fire and he and he reminds you of Ben
Speaker 1: Roethlisberger at his peak. That's who he reminds me of.
Speaker 1: I don't know if Glennon has that upside. So I
Speaker 1: think Glennon is the quarterback only if they're three games
Speaker 1: under five hundred at some point this season. When that happens,
Speaker 1: then maybe I think it would be a December thing.
Speaker 1: You've got a quarterback without a contract next year in Freeman.
Speaker 1: If they're five and eight or six and nine in December,
Speaker 1: why not give glenn Why why not give glenn In
Speaker 1: a game or two to see what he has. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they need to be out of the picture because if
Speaker 1: they're in it, cause you know, last year, at one
Speaker 1: point they had a winning record beyond the midpoint of
Speaker 1: the season and they were surging and they were becoming
Speaker 1: this kind of hot story and then Freeman completely nose
Speaker 1: dived and so did the rest of the team, And yeah,
Speaker 1: I could see a switch happening myself, just because I
Speaker 1: think West nailed it. This is the guy Shiano brought in,
Speaker 1: and whenever you inherit a quarterback, it's not good news
Speaker 1: for that quarterback if he's not playing at a supreme level. Alright, Greg,
Speaker 1: give us a question on the Carolina Panthers. Mine's gonna
Speaker 1: be at quarterback as well. And just with all the
Speaker 1: young quarterbacks last year, the rookies and then Kaepernick breaking out,
Speaker 1: Cam Newton, you know, wasn't a big as big a
Speaker 1: focus as he was his rookie year. I just want
Speaker 1: to know what are your expectations for Cam Newton this year.
Speaker 1: I'm a little worried about Newton coming out and the
Speaker 1: team getting off to a slow start and going through
Speaker 1: that funk again where the team ends up getting buried
Speaker 1: and then he puts his his season together. Statistically, I'm
Speaker 1: not sold on him in terms of his uh ability
Speaker 1: to overcome yet, and until I see him come out
Speaker 1: strong or react well to adversity, I still think he's
Speaker 1: a guy that plays has to when the stakes are lowest.
Speaker 1: I don't question Cam Newton in terms of his ability
Speaker 1: to surpass what he did statistically in the first two seasons.
Speaker 1: I think he could do that. But I think that
Speaker 1: the Panthers have an issue. At the last two seasons
Speaker 1: under Newton, They've started like two and six or something
Speaker 1: and then surged down the stretch when the games they
Speaker 1: were in didn't matter. It's like the team loosened up.
Speaker 1: The Panthers need to learn how to compete early in
Speaker 1: the year, and that has a lot to do with
Speaker 1: Newton leading them. Um, I'm not gonna get on the
Speaker 1: whole Cam Newton leadership thing because I think he's made
Speaker 1: a lot of strides in that area. But to answer
Speaker 1: your question, Greg, I don't have a problem with Cam
Speaker 1: Newton putting on a better season this season than last year.
Speaker 1: I think he could do it. The Panthers are on
Speaker 1: my shortlist of the team slow playing the rest of
Speaker 1: the league in the preseason with vanilla office offense. The Rams,
Speaker 1: the Chiefs, and the Eagles are absolutely doing it, and
Speaker 1: I think the Panthers are too, which I guess as
Speaker 1: I have more confidence in Mike Shuler than I than
Speaker 1: I should. Well, let's back up on Cam Newton. After
Speaker 1: rookie year, the expectations for him were not that different
Speaker 1: than what we're talking about with Andrew Luck and Robert
Speaker 1: Griffin the third and Russell Wilson that that was the
Speaker 1: kind of quarterback we thought Cam Newton was. And if
Speaker 1: if he is that kind of quarterback, aren't they going
Speaker 1: to be pretty good this year? You know they have
Speaker 1: they have some talent on defense, especially up front. They
Speaker 1: have Cam Newton in his third year. I think the
Speaker 1: Panthers are in expectations be high, is what I guess. Yes,
Speaker 1: they should, and I honestly would. I think the Panthers
Speaker 1: are the kind of team that if they went ten
Speaker 1: and six or eleven and five, who really would be
Speaker 1: that surprised. I mean, on paper, I I see holes
Speaker 1: all over the place, but I could see them doing
Speaker 1: that at the same time I could see them going
Speaker 1: four and twelve. He absolutely belongs in the same discussion
Speaker 1: with Luck Wilson, r G three and Kaepernick. To me,
Speaker 1: the one thing, and this is this goes back to
Speaker 1: his slow starts. He has a tangible fault. He has
Speaker 1: the worst footwork in the NFL of any quarterback safe.
Speaker 1: If you watch his feet, he's a lot of times
Speaker 1: throws flat footed and he doesn't put his whole body
Speaker 1: into the and it's it's like that throughout the whole game.
Speaker 1: He just has awful footwork and to go along with that,
Speaker 1: he has the worst accuracy of that top five young
Speaker 1: quarterback group. And that because what a lot of people
Speaker 1: blame on Cam Newton's leadership, though I blame on Ron Rivera,
Speaker 1: not a not a good game manager at all. They
Speaker 1: lose a lot of close games and I think that
Speaker 1: comes back to coach well, and that's one. That's one point.
Speaker 1: I can't think of a coach that's on a hotter
Speaker 1: hot seat than Rivera, and that team could potentially splin
Speaker 1: spin completely out of control, throwing Newton's entire season off
Speaker 1: two with it. You just don't know. Okay, So the Falcons,
Speaker 1: I'll finish with them. Uh. They were the best team
Speaker 1: in the division last year, came within what five yards
Speaker 1: of a Super Bowl appearance last year? Um, they have
Speaker 1: most of their cast back, all their key guys, and
Speaker 1: yet why does it feel like they're being overlooked as
Speaker 1: a Super Bowl contender this year? Everybody's looking to the
Speaker 1: NFC West. Is it fair that no one seems to
Speaker 1: be taking the Falcon seriously? It's go ahead, you go.
Speaker 1: I think it's unfair. I think they proved last year,
Speaker 1: they were one of the better teams. They were one
Speaker 1: play away from the Super Bowl. Now we don't know
Speaker 1: if Matt Ryan would have even been able to play
Speaker 1: in the Super Bowl, but he says he would have
Speaker 1: been they were one play away. I think they got
Speaker 1: better on offense. You can you can debate that because
Speaker 1: of the offensive line questions, and I think they're a
Speaker 1: little bit more talented and inexperienced on defense. But what
Speaker 1: do we think is the real Falcons team? Is that
Speaker 1: the team that was skating by winning a ton of
Speaker 1: close games, often against pretty bad teams in the regular season,
Speaker 1: or the team that played pretty well in the playoffs
Speaker 1: against very good competition. Although you know, let's not forget
Speaker 1: really could have easily blown that game against Seattle, I
Speaker 1: mean had an epic choke that they made up for
Speaker 1: with two plays. To me, there, it's not unfair to
Speaker 1: overlook them because I don't think they're as talented as
Speaker 1: the other top teams. I don't think their defense is
Speaker 1: that good, and I think it's a really tough division,
Speaker 1: and it it's total sense to me that they would
Speaker 1: come back to the pack. I think their defense is
Speaker 1: a big question mark compared to when you look at
Speaker 1: Seattle in San Francisco. I think you know it was
Speaker 1: a year ago that Atlanta had not proven to anyone
Speaker 1: that they could do anything in January, and we're still
Speaker 1: getting used to the fact that, honestly, that first half
Speaker 1: ACA in San Francisco, they were nearly perfect. They played
Speaker 1: a wonderful half of football, and they yes, they came
Speaker 1: a play away from the Super Bowl. But there's the
Speaker 1: NFC is top loaded right now, where if they were
Speaker 1: in the a f C would be hard to ignore
Speaker 1: the Falcons as a as a clear Super Bowl choice.
Speaker 1: But in the NFC, there's just too much talent and
Speaker 1: I don't I don't take the Falcons over potentially to
Speaker 1: other teams in that conference. Well, that's a really good setup.
Speaker 1: Now as we go to the records for the division,
Speaker 1: and I'm really curious where you guys put Atlanta. We'll
Speaker 1: start with Chris Wesseling. I have the Falcons in first
Speaker 1: place at ten and six, the only team from the
Speaker 1: division making the playoffs, Panthers in second place at nine
Speaker 1: and seven, Saints in third place at eight and eight,
Speaker 1: Buck bringing up the rear. The wheels come off the
Speaker 1: wagon six and ten. Mark once again West and I
Speaker 1: are on a party line here. I have the Falcons
Speaker 1: at ten and six, the only playoff team. I have
Speaker 1: the Buccaneers, however, at eight and eight second place, the
Speaker 1: Saints going seven and nine, and the Panthers six and ten.
Speaker 1: Rivera will not be coaching there a season from now. Okay.
Speaker 1: I have the Falcons at twelve and four. I think
Speaker 1: they'll have another big regular season. The Saints eight and eight.
Speaker 1: I'm not buying in on that defense. Panthers eight and eight,
Speaker 1: same thing. I have Newton Questions and the Bucks seven
Speaker 1: and nine. I see those wheels coming off as well.
Speaker 1: I feel actually I'm already regretting seven and nine. I'm
Speaker 1: thinking more six and ten, but I'll stick with it.
Speaker 1: A couple of weeks ago, we are all talking about
Speaker 1: Sean Payton and we said how much is he worth?
Speaker 1: Everyone said two or three wins. We didn't say which direction,
Speaker 1: but no, no one has of winning anything. I do, though,
Speaker 1: I have him winning the NFC South at ten and six.
Speaker 1: I have the Carolina Panthers they really debated this as
Speaker 1: my second wild card team at nine and seven. I
Speaker 1: have the Falcons falling back to Earth at eight and eight.
Speaker 1: By the way people don't talk about that. That was
Speaker 1: one of the most devastating title game losses that you
Speaker 1: could come up with. It's kind of like, oh, they
Speaker 1: blew a seventeen point lead at home and everyone gives
Speaker 1: them a good you know, a for effort, But what
Speaker 1: about the Niners The year before that was worse. It's
Speaker 1: got to kill falcons faded. I guess put the collective
Speaker 1: stink on Michael Turner and sent him out of the
Speaker 1: town quarters, out the door. It was somehow viewed as Okay,
Speaker 1: they're making strides, but it's a killer. You don't get
Speaker 1: chances like that too often up seventeen. I think they
Speaker 1: won't get that chance this year, and I have the
Speaker 1: bucks at five and eleven. I just don't really trust
Speaker 1: the quarterback and someone has to fall here because I
Speaker 1: think it's a tough division. Okay, this would be the
Speaker 1: part of the show where we talked about Tuesday's Hard Knocks,
Speaker 1: But I am now the only at L letter who
Speaker 1: watched the episode an hour down to uh just waiving
Speaker 1: that segment out um on Friday. Why I can't call
Speaker 1: you out for that. It's a DVR world tonight. Alright,
Speaker 1: let's all watch it, and so we can talk about
Speaker 1: the finale. Why don't we make a packed Everyone can
Speaker 1: come over my house if they want. I don't have
Speaker 1: a house. That's it. Well, now that I've finally been invited,
Speaker 1: I will I won't show up, alright, good, alright, So yeah, Friday,
Speaker 1: will do NFC West uh and anything else coming up
Speaker 1: on Friday, Greg, I think that's it. I guess we'll
Speaker 1: start looking ahead. We're not going to talk about the
Speaker 1: fourth preseason week because you should never talk about it.
Speaker 1: We've got a toaster on Friday normally, Oh well, yeah,
Speaker 1: that will be a nice tease. There's a toaster involved
Speaker 1: Friday potentially, but I feel good that a big toaster
Speaker 1: competition is on tap um. Okay, so we'll see you
Speaker 1: guys Friday. Thank you too, Kay Rich behind the glass,
Speaker 1: the mailman, the sizzler, the boss signing off to see
Speaker 1: you Friday.