Speaker 1: M fail Round the Podcast is on Coughlin time. Welcome
Speaker 1: to another Around the League podcast. My name is Greg
Speaker 1: Rosenthal in the host chair today for Dan Hansus, who
Speaker 1: is on vacation. But I am joined still by a
Speaker 1: room full of heroes, Mark Sessler, Chris Wesselen and Handsome
Speaker 1: Hank Henry Hodgson of Dave Damashek Football program fame joining
Speaker 1: us today. What's going on? Thank you for having me, guys.
Speaker 1: I'm a long time listener, first time of excited to
Speaker 1: be here. It's good. Isn't there a normally another guy?
Speaker 1: Another one of you guys? There is there is He's
Speaker 1: taking one of his eight vacations I believe of the year,
Speaker 1: the second during the preseason, during the week, you know,
Speaker 1: the busiest week. Dick Dan knows he's going to listen
Speaker 1: to this podcast, and within forty seconds of opening, he's
Speaker 1: going to be slashed by us for he is on
Speaker 1: what I have heard is a business trip in Nevada,
Speaker 1: oh and of other Las Vegas, the NFL's favorite place.
Speaker 1: I mean, you were talking about your fantasy draft last year,
Speaker 1: how hands this didn't show up for that either? And
Speaker 1: I was thinking when our fantasy draft Oh, that's right,
Speaker 1: smack in the middle of our busiest time again. That
Speaker 1: is a You know, Dan sat in remotely for last
Speaker 1: year's draft. It was two years ago that he completely blanked.
Speaker 1: But last year I had to step up to get
Speaker 1: a glass of water. I'm sure he's a different version
Speaker 1: of the story, said Dan, I need you to cycle
Speaker 1: in our fifth pick here in the draft. No problem,
Speaker 1: no problem, come back. No pick has been made. We've
Speaker 1: been auto picked Stephen Ridley, which actually turned out to
Speaker 1: be are one of the two productive players we had,
Speaker 1: so it's better than what he would have picked. Well,
Speaker 1: the reason he does it is because around Week eight,
Speaker 1: when our team is completely crumbling, he's able to blame
Speaker 1: me for the draft process. So it's a smart move on.
Speaker 1: It's very smart guy. So so far Dan really hasn't
Speaker 1: missed too much. But we have a ton of preseason
Speaker 1: games on Saturday. This week. Hasn't been a lot of
Speaker 1: huge news during the week. One interesting item today, which
Speaker 1: is Friday, was Felix Jones traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 1: Levy on Bella is hurt. What do we make about this?
Speaker 1: Looks to me like a tryout? Uh larade Stephens Howling
Speaker 1: has an mcl sprain, so they don't have that passing
Speaker 1: down specialists who can kind of flare out in the backfield.
Speaker 1: Maybe they try Felix Jones in that role for a
Speaker 1: couple of weeks. I don't think he's guaranteed to make
Speaker 1: the roster by any stretch. And it feels like with
Speaker 1: any of these trades that are happening in mid to
Speaker 1: late August, these one for one player, we've seen what
Speaker 1: are this is our third of the week to any
Speaker 1: of these guys have like a feel of a lock
Speaker 1: on the roster. It seems like all of them have
Speaker 1: about a week to prove that they should be there.
Speaker 1: Adrian Robinson, by the way, was the linebacker sent to
Speaker 1: UH Philadelphia. So yeah, these guys we don't even know
Speaker 1: if they're gonna make. It just shows how quickly things changed.
Speaker 1: Felix Jones was the first round pick five years ago.
Speaker 1: Jerry Jones, by the way said this offseason, Felix Jones
Speaker 1: was a great first round pick UH and I think
Speaker 1: he was trying to make the same case from Mike Jenkins.
Speaker 1: We got a lot out of Felix Jones, and he's
Speaker 1: so great that now he might be out of the
Speaker 1: league just a few weeks later. So what do we
Speaker 1: think happened to him? Because I don't think he looked
Speaker 1: as good last year or the year before on film
Speaker 1: as he did previously. Did all the injuries just wear
Speaker 1: him down and he no longer is quick enough. He
Speaker 1: average eight and a half yards to carry as a rookie. Well,
Speaker 1: that was his thing, wasn't it. And once that speed
Speaker 1: goes away, if you don't have it left over, then um,
Speaker 1: then then there's not much left in your very average
Speaker 1: exactly I think he was. I think he led the
Speaker 1: league or something like that. His first couple of years.
Speaker 1: He had a really high yards pause. I always thought
Speaker 1: he would bounce back. I guess it's not gonna happen.
Speaker 1: Still in the top five or six active running backs
Speaker 1: for career yards per carry it like four point eight
Speaker 1: or something like that. Yeah, No, he is, though. I
Speaker 1: think he's tied for fourth with D'Angelo Williams. I remember
Speaker 1: I was making that list earlier this preseason and Felix
Speaker 1: Jones was there in the top five. He might be
Speaker 1: out of the league now. There was more running back
Speaker 1: news today in the NFC East, which we're going to
Speaker 1: preview at length in just a few minutes. But let's
Speaker 1: talk about David Wilson. He's gonna be the starter for
Speaker 1: the Giants. Any any big takeaways here, I would say
Speaker 1: that out of all of them making the leap features
Speaker 1: I did, he is the one I feel most confident
Speaker 1: that will make the leap and become a breakout star.
Speaker 1: I just think he's um. He's up there with Adrian
Speaker 1: Peterson and c. J. Spiller to me, is the most dynamic,
Speaker 1: like can take it to the house on any run
Speaker 1: kind of running backs. Um. And in preseason we've seen
Speaker 1: he's been playing early downs Andre Browns just coming in
Speaker 1: on passing Brown passing downs basically. So to me, like
Speaker 1: it's clear they want David Wilson to run with his job.
Speaker 1: He really just when you watch the Giants plays one
Speaker 1: of the few players they have right now outside of
Speaker 1: maybe Cruise that just pops out when you see him
Speaker 1: take the ball. And I think that they're smart because
Speaker 1: it's I don't really care who starts in New York,
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter. It's like they're going to go with
Speaker 1: him and Brown And it's like Coughlin's a guy you
Speaker 1: just don't want to get on Coughlin's bad side and
Speaker 1: you'll continue to play and see snaps. But I think
Speaker 1: he's a very exciting player, and really I don't see
Speaker 1: a lot to love about the Giants, but he is
Speaker 1: one guy that could lift that offense to a place
Speaker 1: that hasn't gone before. We uh, when we picked up
Speaker 1: making the leap candidates, that was one Chris was all over.
Speaker 1: We almost jousted a little bit for the right to
Speaker 1: go with David Wilson, and he won that. He wanted
Speaker 1: David Wilson and Henry's boy Lamar Miller, who's you know,
Speaker 1: been singing a different two a little bit. But did
Speaker 1: we see this going any any different way? I mean,
Speaker 1: David Wilson has so much invested in him. Was this
Speaker 1: not the inevitable outcome of this? Was David Wilson's as started.
Speaker 1: I don't think that and Andre Brown. People think it's
Speaker 1: gonna be a split. I don't think Andre Brown has
Speaker 1: been a journeyman in his career. So we'll see if
Speaker 1: he's really going to be affecting behind that offensive line,
Speaker 1: which is very injured right now. I don't know if
Speaker 1: either one of them is gonna do that. Well, what
Speaker 1: do you think about that. Let's move on to the
Speaker 1: preseason games from uh Thursday night, Patriots and Lions. The
Speaker 1: Patriots have been on fire this preseason, and then they
Speaker 1: go out, they're losing at halftime, the starters are in
Speaker 1: their sixteent three. They wind up losing forty to nine.
Speaker 1: Tim Tebow doesn't even get into the game. To me,
Speaker 1: that was kind of expected. But is there any concern here,
Speaker 1: any big takeaways? Now that we've seen the Patriots for
Speaker 1: three games this preseason, I guess you could say that
Speaker 1: the assumption that Brady is so good that all of
Speaker 1: these new this newcaster characters is just gonna fit in
Speaker 1: seamlessly might be a bad assumption. I'm not really worried
Speaker 1: about their offense. I think they'll be fine, but there
Speaker 1: will be some stops and starts along the way. Um
Speaker 1: and ken Kenbrell Tompkins just looked great last night. Greg
Speaker 1: and I were discussing this during the game, that he
Speaker 1: beat Darius Slay off the line, then he beat Chris
Speaker 1: Houston off the line. He's just so quick footed and
Speaker 1: can get off the jam better than you would expect
Speaker 1: any rookie, much less than an undrafted rookie well, and
Speaker 1: Slay has had a rough preseason because I watched him
Speaker 1: get fried by Cleveland two weeks ago. He didn't necessarily
Speaker 1: have a great night last night. And I just think
Speaker 1: Tompkins has one reason every times people say, you know,
Speaker 1: the preseason is a waste of my time, it's not
Speaker 1: real football. Well to the coaches and especially as some
Speaker 1: of these players like, it's not just the preseason games.
Speaker 1: But I look at Tom because it's like the whole
Speaker 1: offseason process has been slowly, you know, building him into
Speaker 1: what maybe their best wide receiver this season, at least
Speaker 1: the guy that up through now has like looked to
Speaker 1: be most in tune with Brady. He's very been very productive,
Speaker 1: and I think it's an exciting guy for them to
Speaker 1: unearthed out of completely nowhere. I think you're taking a
Speaker 1: shot at me when you're saying those people, I think
Speaker 1: that's what football fans just. I think that's what they say,
Speaker 1: isn't it. Hank feels differently. He's a big Dolphins fan
Speaker 1: for everyone out there listening that doesn't know, and he's
Speaker 1: living and dying with these preseason things. He's like, we're
Speaker 1: really gonna learn what what Ryan Tannehill and everything is
Speaker 1: about this week going into the last part of that.
Speaker 1: Part of that is psychology for myself, since I have
Speaker 1: to sit through most of them, I don't want to
Speaker 1: be sitting there thinking I don't want to be here,
Speaker 1: So at least I need to convince myself that that's
Speaker 1: a good idea. But yeah, I enjoy seeing preseasons young players,
Speaker 1: like like you're saying that, you know guys that step up.
Speaker 1: I think it's interesting. Even if they don't do it
Speaker 1: this year, you know, you have a little thought about, well,
Speaker 1: that guy could do it a year from now. Thank
Speaker 1: you might be interested to know that. Great col absolutely
Speaker 1: raved about Tannehill's last game on his podect He had
Speaker 1: a great game. He used the word incredible four different
Speaker 1: times in talking about sounds like, Yeah, I mean the
Speaker 1: preseason's fun for four guys like Kember up Tom. I mean,
Speaker 1: going into the preseason, we heard so many good things
Speaker 1: about this guy that he's gonna wind up starting even
Speaker 1: though he's an undrafted rookie from Cincinnati. You're thinking this
Speaker 1: can't really happen, this is crazy. But right now watching him,
Speaker 1: I mean, he looks like a veteran. He looks ready
Speaker 1: to go. Um, I still think the preseason it reminds
Speaker 1: me there's no predictive value. Though I still think in
Speaker 1: the press, I think that's fair. I mean, it's hard
Speaker 1: to say, oh, well, let's look what happened two weeks ago.
Speaker 1: Every team is using their offenses and defenses so differently,
Speaker 1: and Belichick especially, I you know, in very believe Twitter
Speaker 1: was wandering last night are the Patriots in trouble? And
Speaker 1: I just think, listen, we can take nothing that Bill
Speaker 1: Belichick does in August in drawl from a conclusion about
Speaker 1: where they're gonna be two months from now, right. I
Speaker 1: think it actually almost last night's game almost plays into
Speaker 1: Bill Belichick's lot because he's he now he's got something
Speaker 1: to rally his team around and get angry around and
Speaker 1: all that. I mean, as much as he said that
Speaker 1: it was just it was disgraceful off to the game.
Speaker 1: I think he was loving it. He you know, now
Speaker 1: he has a chance to really tune those that team up.
Speaker 1: My theory on the preseason is much like when we
Speaker 1: go to our office cafe the huddle for lunch and
Speaker 1: we get there and hopefully no one there is listening
Speaker 1: to this podcast, and you get there and sometimes there's
Speaker 1: no line at all, and you think it's gonna be
Speaker 1: really quick, but it takes a while. Sometimes it's packed
Speaker 1: and you think there's no way I'm getting this meal
Speaker 1: in twenty minutes, but it's right away. And so you
Speaker 1: can look at all these factors that are going on
Speaker 1: and try to figure out, oh is this gonna take
Speaker 1: but in in the end you know nothing and you're
Speaker 1: just wasting brain cells trying to figure out aheadtime. So
Speaker 1: Huddle wonderful another operation. The Huddle as an entity has
Speaker 1: been lashed on podcasts NFL wide because I'm damnit shack,
Speaker 1: He's gone on it, and you know what I'm gonna
Speaker 1: say it. They deserve it because you can't go in
Speaker 1: there no listen. I I enjoy the product to some degree,
Speaker 1: but I have ordered probably a grilled cheese and French
Speaker 1: fries thirty five times. It has never looked the same
Speaker 1: and it has never cost the same, and it never stuff.
Speaker 1: I wasn't trying to I was just trying to say,
Speaker 1: you can't really know what's going to happen before you go,
Speaker 1: and it's all I'm going on record as pro huddle.
Speaker 1: They do an excellent job. We'll move on the other
Speaker 1: side of that game, Reggie Bush got the ball a ton.
Speaker 1: The defensive line played well the the offense has been
Speaker 1: a little scattershot. Anything Any big takeaways from the Lions
Speaker 1: a preseason. I have been calling the Bengals the best
Speaker 1: defensive line in the NFL, and I think the Lions
Speaker 1: might have. I think Jason Jones was in the backfield
Speaker 1: on every play I watched. He's gonna love playing with
Speaker 1: Sue and fairly taking up double teams Fairly's a beast
Speaker 1: and he fits right in in terms of talking trash.
Speaker 1: Jason Jones was you know if that was really young? Well, no, no,
Speaker 1: he did, but Jason Jones did as well. And another
Speaker 1: time they all were getting in Brady's face. But Jason
Speaker 1: Jones had a couple of plays where you mentioned he
Speaker 1: got in the backfield and he was talking to Brady too.
Speaker 1: They really enjoyed crushing Tom Brady last night. They did. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's funny watching that game and then the other game
Speaker 1: last night in the Panthers Ravens game, and both of
Speaker 1: them a team that won. I had almost nothing they
Speaker 1: could take away on offense that was particularly positive, but
Speaker 1: defensively they both had outstanding games. So was there any
Speaker 1: concern about Cam or Joe Flacco from that game. I'm
Speaker 1: concerned about Flacco early in the season, right, I mean,
Speaker 1: Stukeley was signed twelve days ago and was his go
Speaker 1: to guy in key situations last night. That doesn't bode well. Uh.
Speaker 1: The one rookie who looked good to me was undrafted
Speaker 1: Marlon Brown out of Georgia, and Hardball is kind of
Speaker 1: raved about him throughout training camp. He's a tall guy
Speaker 1: with with athleticism, and he looked to have a much
Speaker 1: better rapport with Joe Flacco than guys like Tandon DAWs
Speaker 1: and Lakwan Williams who have been there for a couple
Speaker 1: of years now. And they made a point about Flacco
Speaker 1: during the game that you know, he couldn't have done
Speaker 1: this three years ago, but at this stage in his career,
Speaker 1: after what he's accomplished. He basically told certain coaches, I
Speaker 1: want this guy, this young guy out on the field
Speaker 1: with me. I want to test different combinations of receivers.
Speaker 1: And that's smart because they're gonna be doing that week
Speaker 1: after week. I think is the regular season opens, I
Speaker 1: think if you just look at, you know, some facts
Speaker 1: with the Ravens and you had said these facts going
Speaker 1: into the preseason, it would sound like they're in trouble.
Speaker 1: Number one, Brandon Stokely and Dallas Clark started their third
Speaker 1: preseason game. I mean, these are guys that no one
Speaker 1: in the league wanted. Uh. Number two there their number
Speaker 1: one draft pick and their number two draft pick. Matt
Speaker 1: Elam and Arthur Brown are not starting. And Brown is
Speaker 1: behind Josh Binds, who is an undrafted rookie couple of
Speaker 1: years ago. At least he's kind of come up in
Speaker 1: the system. Maybe he's going to be a really good player.
Speaker 1: But Elam is behind James, ahead of bow who's who's
Speaker 1: a journeyman. So those two things, and then number three,
Speaker 1: I guess would just be that receiver battle that everyone
Speaker 1: was talking about. There really hasn't been any young guy
Speaker 1: to step up. Maybe maybe it'll be Brown, but I
Speaker 1: mean I think that from the preseason that's some level
Speaker 1: of concern. Are you buying the Ravens, Handsome Hank. I'm
Speaker 1: not buying the Ravens, but only because I am buying
Speaker 1: the Bengals, So in that division, I think, um, I
Speaker 1: think the Ravens are gonna have a hart of time
Speaker 1: than than they may be having previous years. And can
Speaker 1: we talk about the Panthers for a second, because obviously
Speaker 1: the defense last night was a revelation. I think that
Speaker 1: you know, Keik Lee in the in the defensive line
Speaker 1: is potentially special if those if the outside linebackers can
Speaker 1: stay healthy, which is a complete question mark years on end.
Speaker 1: But Cam Newton is not to be doubted. But Cam
Speaker 1: Newton's offensive coordinator, Mike Shula, I just I understand that
Speaker 1: it's it's vanilla time right now and you're not gonna
Speaker 1: show much. But I'm not convinced that he has much.
Speaker 1: And I just don't. I look at that offense and
Speaker 1: I really question what can they bring to the table
Speaker 1: in a in a in a division where you're gonna
Speaker 1: have to score points to keep up with the rest
Speaker 1: of that division. I I have seen very little so
Speaker 1: far to illicit confidence. I guess the devil's advocate here
Speaker 1: is that Cam Newton has been brutal in the preseason
Speaker 1: his first two years in the league. It's true. I
Speaker 1: remember that rookie year he was I mean, he's been terrible,
Speaker 1: and then he comes into the regular season. He's got
Speaker 1: arguably the best two years start in history. Of the NFL.
Speaker 1: They could be a flip side of the team. They
Speaker 1: were a couple of years ago, which was a great
Speaker 1: offense and a defense that was awful, and then it
Speaker 1: didn't quite work out where this year I think you mentioned,
Speaker 1: I mean that that front line with the Kraken and
Speaker 1: Charles Johnson and low Short, I mean that that's a
Speaker 1: pretty good group. And short we're all over the backfield
Speaker 1: day this night, just putting clown suits on the on
Speaker 1: the Ravens guards. It was if you have If you
Speaker 1: guys out there did not get a chance to watch
Speaker 1: this game, go go back on game pass and watch
Speaker 1: Luke Keikley's first half. It was unbelievable. They looked like
Speaker 1: locker and it was a freaky game, and largely because
Speaker 1: of that play where he shot through the backfield and
Speaker 1: you could watch that twelve thirteen times in a row.
Speaker 1: And Greg hopped on instant Messenger and said, holy did
Speaker 1: you see them? But it looked like he was in
Speaker 1: fast forward. That he's gonna be one of the most
Speaker 1: fun defensive players in the league. And you know Greg
Speaker 1: Cosel you mentioned earlier, said he thought he was the
Speaker 1: best metal linebacker in football by far. In the second
Speaker 1: half of last season and he and that kind of
Speaker 1: showed up that he's going to be a big starr
Speaker 1: and he's gonna need to be, I think, because that
Speaker 1: offense has a lot of declining players or guys that
Speaker 1: haven't proved themselves. Steve Smith is their most reliable player.
Speaker 1: He's getting a little older, Greg Olsen is good, and
Speaker 1: then after that it's a lot of question marks. It
Speaker 1: amazes me that that for it seems like forever Steve
Speaker 1: Smith has been um their outstanding receiver and they've been
Speaker 1: looking for a number two receiver and they still haven't
Speaker 1: managed to achieve that. Oh yeah, I mean that that's
Speaker 1: that's incredible. Much less than number three receiver and they
Speaker 1: got Ted Ginn and Armandi Edwards. It's ugly. Uh. Let's
Speaker 1: move on to a division where there's a lot of
Speaker 1: questionable Tina. This is a division that Bruce Allen, the
Speaker 1: general manager of the Washington Redskins, set in a radio
Speaker 1: interview this week is the sec of the NFL, and
Speaker 1: I'm talking about the NFC East. Of course, first of all,
Speaker 1: what do we think of the NFC East as a whole?
Speaker 1: Based off of that comment, there has been this blatant
Speaker 1: snobbery from the NFC East who think they are somehow
Speaker 1: head and shoulders above the rest of the NFL. And
Speaker 1: it just doesn't hold water. There. You mentioned this in
Speaker 1: the last podcast. Does any of the teams in the
Speaker 1: NFC NFC East to have a defense or secondary to
Speaker 1: scare anything crystal behind the glass? Our producer is getting
Speaker 1: very upset. She's flexing her muscles, She's she's not excited
Speaker 1: about this. How the how this conversation is going. I
Speaker 1: am highly upset. As a huge Eagles fan all my life.
Speaker 1: We have always been a fierce division. Just because we
Speaker 1: go through a little bit of growing pains for the
Speaker 1: past couple of years does not mean that you can
Speaker 1: take away from our legacy the Eagles, that were the
Speaker 1: best thing going in this division for about the last
Speaker 1: ten or fifteen years overall. But it's a pretty bad division.
Speaker 1: How many super Bowls do they have? The show for
Speaker 1: that two and seventeen years too, in the last seventeen years.
Speaker 1: But not only that, the Cowboys have one playoff win
Speaker 1: in that entire time. The Redskins arguably one of the
Speaker 1: worst three or four franchise in the league over that
Speaker 1: time because they've had almost no success, and then the
Speaker 1: Eagles and the Giants obviously got their two Super Bowls.
Speaker 1: The NFC East, I do agree with the stobbery comment,
Speaker 1: and it reminds me of way back in two thousand
Speaker 1: when George Bush and Al Gore were running against each other,
Speaker 1: both trying to connect with the common man and the
Speaker 1: working man, both who came from enormous riches, and they
Speaker 1: described him as basically guys who were born on third
Speaker 1: base thinking they'd hit a triple when they adjust been
Speaker 1: a great quote. Listen, this NFC East is what we
Speaker 1: grew up loving and watching as kids. Speaking. Well, I'm
Speaker 1: just saying you have if you have to admire the
Speaker 1: division for what it was during that great run, it
Speaker 1: is not that division today. Henry as A as a
Speaker 1: fan from the UK that somehow fell in love with
Speaker 1: the NFL from there was the NFC East. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: the other I mean I was thinking about as we're
Speaker 1: talking about this, if you look at the ratio of
Speaker 1: primetime games, let's say, over the course of a decade
Speaker 1: to to you know, great actual great teams, it's it's
Speaker 1: it's way out of proportion. I mean that that division
Speaker 1: that at one point. You know, you you heard them
Speaker 1: speaking as if they were going to go and form
Speaker 1: their own league. The NFC East is breaking away to
Speaker 1: create its own you know it was it was considered
Speaker 1: that good. Right now, Let's see how they work out
Speaker 1: this season. I think it's an interesting division to me
Speaker 1: this year, at least in that it's kind of tough
Speaker 1: to predict how it's going to shake out, and that
Speaker 1: that's always a fun thing. But in terms of quality
Speaker 1: of the four teams, not not the strongest division in
Speaker 1: the league by by any stretching. Well, Henry's title here
Speaker 1: at NFL dot com is the director of the programming
Speaker 1: What is your nickname? The DP? Something I did not,
Speaker 1: I don't give myself something like that. Well, he really
Speaker 1: he really respects the numbers, and that's what the NFC
Speaker 1: East it's kind of about. Even though you can, you know,
Speaker 1: not enjoy the fact that the Red Skins under Jim
Speaker 1: Zorn were on Sunday Night Football and Monday Night Football
Speaker 1: seemingly every week for no reason. The reason is because
Speaker 1: people watch the best rated games or NFC East games.
Speaker 1: I think it was eight of the top nine UH
Speaker 1: Sunday Night Football games of all time were Dallas Cowboys games. Um,
Speaker 1: and so people watch this division they're interested. Let's start
Speaker 1: going around the room with our one question per team.
Speaker 1: Let's start with the Cowboys. Mark all right. I wanna
Speaker 1: set this up because I believe this really tells us
Speaker 1: what we think about what Dallas accomplishes this season. We
Speaker 1: know Tony Romo's entrenched with new contract, there's no question
Speaker 1: about them moving on from him. Will Jason Garrett be
Speaker 1: the head coach of this team next season? Wow? That's
Speaker 1: I am picking the Cowboys to win a division, so
Speaker 1: I believe he will be supposed to give that away.
Speaker 1: I'm sure everybody was on the edge of their seats
Speaker 1: waiting for my pick on the NFC. I think I
Speaker 1: have confidence in him, but he's probably the one coach
Speaker 1: most on the hot seat entering the season, isn't he? Him?
Speaker 1: And Ron Rivera? I mean in the division for definitely
Speaker 1: in that division. Do you think Jason Garrett's back? I
Speaker 1: don't want to spoil anything, but I may also be
Speaker 1: interested in the Cowboys potentially theoretically winning the NFCT, so
Speaker 1: I have a feeling that he would be back, um
Speaker 1: in that situation, But I will also caveat it and
Speaker 1: hedge my bets by saying, if they don't, I think,
Speaker 1: if I think honestly, if they don't, let's say break
Speaker 1: nine wins, I think he's done. I don't think he's back,
Speaker 1: and I wouldn't be surprised if he's not coaching the
Speaker 1: team by December um because I think the everything they
Speaker 1: did this offseason with the defense is a problem. They
Speaker 1: can't pull John Gruden out of the booth until after December. Well,
Speaker 1: I don't know. You never know, but Bill Callahan's in place,
Speaker 1: and he's worked with Gruden before and and Monte Kiffin too.
Speaker 1: That's what they can't have Callahan take over. See. I
Speaker 1: think he'll be kind of seamless, like I always. You
Speaker 1: always can see that next the wheels have already been
Speaker 1: everything's been set in motion for Gruden, the seamlessly trans transition,
Speaker 1: and I think he'll be back because of Jerry Jones,
Speaker 1: as delusional as he has seems to have become, I
Speaker 1: think he understands that Garrett is the kind of coach
Speaker 1: he can control year to year. If Garrett will stay there,
Speaker 1: I don't think he can bring in the big name
Speaker 1: coach and make that work. He tried that, but they
Speaker 1: have to win, and if they don't win this year,
Speaker 1: I don't think there's any chance Garrett's back. And I
Speaker 1: think they really hurt themselves when they brought in my
Speaker 1: t Kiffen, who, by the way, couldn't have done a
Speaker 1: worse job at usc was pretty much pushed out the
Speaker 1: door in Tampa Bay his last few years there because
Speaker 1: they were struggling with the Buccaneers. Everyone seems to forget
Speaker 1: that has a style of defense that have kind of
Speaker 1: gone out of date in the NFL, and now he
Speaker 1: has to transform all these guys, a lot of them
Speaker 1: were older and injured. Interesting. Interesting that you mentioned Tampa
Speaker 1: two going out of style because again back to our
Speaker 1: man great causel mentioned this last week that he he
Speaker 1: has a theory that Tampa two will come back because
Speaker 1: of all the read option that you need, quicker, quicker
Speaker 1: players and playing closer to the line of scrimmage. And
Speaker 1: they have a couple of I mean, they have probably
Speaker 1: the best most exciting young linebacker duo in the league.
Speaker 1: And Sean Lee and Bruce Carter are number two guy
Speaker 1: on making the leap. So I like those two guys,
Speaker 1: but the guys up front, Jay Ratlift um counting on
Speaker 1: him to stay Healthy's gonna be chicky. Anthony Spencer not
Speaker 1: sure what we're gonna get. Let's move on to the
Speaker 1: next team than Washington Redskins. So I have a question
Speaker 1: about the Redskins. A lot of optimism in Washington and
Speaker 1: elsewhere and in the NFL that you know, a G
Speaker 1: three is coming back, He's going to be healthy, and
Speaker 1: this team's you know, set for take off. What happens
Speaker 1: if AG three comes back and he isn't the same guy,
Speaker 1: or even worse, if AG three comes back and gets
Speaker 1: injured relatively quickly this season, where do we see the
Speaker 1: Redskins going? And you know is do they have the
Speaker 1: pieces in place to win without al G three. I
Speaker 1: think for the Redskins, we forget what their record was
Speaker 1: at some point last season. Wasn't Korean six? Right? And Greg,
Speaker 1: I believe as a as a around the league group,
Speaker 1: we wrote them off entirely and had to eat those words.
Speaker 1: But I do think that they also simultaneously have developed
Speaker 1: one of the game's better backup quarterbacks in Kirk Cousins.
Speaker 1: And if r G three can't sustain a sixteen game season,
Speaker 1: I don't think that the offense changes, no question, it
Speaker 1: loses some of its dynamic abilities, but it doesn't fall
Speaker 1: off a cliff. Some of my questions with the Redskins
Speaker 1: or more on the other side of the football. UM,
Speaker 1: I think that they have a plan in place if
Speaker 1: r G three can't do it, but I still don't
Speaker 1: see them as being quite as impressive as they were
Speaker 1: last season. Let me couch this by saying that I
Speaker 1: firmly believe in r G three. I think he'll be fine.
Speaker 1: I don't think the knees an issue. I did see
Speaker 1: that Ron Jaworski came out today and said that he
Speaker 1: didn't like what he saw from RG three's mechanics, that
Speaker 1: he was off the knee was causing him to throw differently. UM.
Speaker 1: But to answer your question, if r G three is
Speaker 1: not under center for some reason, I think they fall
Speaker 1: flat on their face. I think they're the worst team
Speaker 1: in the division if RG three isn't. But you are,
Speaker 1: you are, You are in in the in the camp
Speaker 1: of Cousins. Of thinking Cousins is a fine backup. But
Speaker 1: I think they manage They do a great job of
Speaker 1: managing him. The coaching staff does. He's more like to
Speaker 1: me like an Alex Smith type of quarterback. I don't
Speaker 1: think he's a difference maker, whereas r. G three is
Speaker 1: one of the few difference makers. And that's a difference
Speaker 1: you have to make, is making up for the defense,
Speaker 1: which just it's found out not that good. Tom Brady
Speaker 1: wasn't the same coming off of to ourn a c L.
Speaker 1: Why do we just assume that Robert Griffin, the third
Speaker 1: is who's entering his second year, didn't get to practice.
Speaker 1: I'm worried less about the mobility and more about the accuracy.
Speaker 1: I mean, that was the thing that stuck out to
Speaker 1: me week after week. He might have been the most
Speaker 1: accurate quarterback in the entire NFL. It's I mean, it's tough.
Speaker 1: It's tough enough if you're just going into your second
Speaker 1: season and you're you're healthy, and you've practiced, and you know,
Speaker 1: you mentioned the defense and the I mean Brandon Merryweather
Speaker 1: they're still hoping is gonna play a role for them
Speaker 1: in D'Angelo Hall is still on that team, and Bakari
Speaker 1: Rambo rookie is gonna be playing safety. And there's not
Speaker 1: a lot to be excited about on the defense. Let's
Speaker 1: move on to the Philadelphia Eagles. That's you, Chris Westling.
Speaker 1: So we've seen in their preseason games, we've already seen
Speaker 1: Chip Kelly running some pretty exotic schemes. Um, but I
Speaker 1: saw Brent Selik say this week he can almost see
Speaker 1: the smirk on his face saying, well, I can't wait
Speaker 1: to unleash what we're gonna do. Like, my question to
Speaker 1: you guys is just how much different is the Eagles
Speaker 1: offense gonna look to the rest of the league. Has
Speaker 1: have they been so vanilla so far? Even though we
Speaker 1: have seen exotic schemes, it's Chip Kelly just gonna throw
Speaker 1: the whole league for a loop. I could see it happening.
Speaker 1: I mean there, if they're vanilla in the preseason, it's
Speaker 1: pretty interesting. They got four tight ends on the field,
Speaker 1: they got no tight ends some plays, and then four
Speaker 1: wide receivers stacked on top of each other. You don't
Speaker 1: know what's going on with them, and they're and they're
Speaker 1: playing very at a very fast pace. I could see it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I agree with that. I think we've, like any other team,
Speaker 1: we've only seen a fraction of what Kelly plans to do,
Speaker 1: maybe what is even implemented to some degree. What I
Speaker 1: love is the options that he's given Vic and fulls
Speaker 1: on certain plays where it's like you can you can
Speaker 1: give the ball to the running back, but there are
Speaker 1: four different targets within ten yards of you that don't
Speaker 1: have a defender on them, and you don't see what
Speaker 1: they've done anywhere else. What my question really when I
Speaker 1: watched the Eagles is how dunder headed is the rest
Speaker 1: of the league that if it succeeds, no one else
Speaker 1: is copying it very quickly. But we don't know if
Speaker 1: it is. If it's it's great to talk about it
Speaker 1: and it's gonna be fun to watch, don't you know,
Speaker 1: no doubt more reason to tune into NFC East games
Speaker 1: and put them in prime time. But does it actually
Speaker 1: translate into wins? I mean, let's let's just wait and
Speaker 1: see on that front, because you know, a lot of
Speaker 1: coaches subscribe to that. I think it was in Hard
Speaker 1: Knocks there was a conversation between two coaches and the
Speaker 1: COMMA who it was saying, you know, it's all about
Speaker 1: keeping it simple, and that's the other philosophy that coaches
Speaker 1: have of like Marvin Lewis. It was Marvin Lewison, I
Speaker 1: can't remember who Mike Smith Smith So, um, but you
Speaker 1: know it's it's it's it's about keeping it simple. Now,
Speaker 1: is it really the case that like doing a hundred
Speaker 1: complicated things translates into you know, twelve wins. But the
Speaker 1: way the NFL works, you always got to try to
Speaker 1: be a year ahead of everyone. Everyone's going to the
Speaker 1: up tempo offense now, um, everyone's gonna figure out their
Speaker 1: own ways to defend the read option. You've gotta be
Speaker 1: a year ahead. That's what the Patriots tried to do.
Speaker 1: And we kind of knew what the Patriots were doing
Speaker 1: in Week two or three or last year with this
Speaker 1: up tempo pace, and no one really caught up. I mean,
Speaker 1: they had they had a pretty great regular season, so
Speaker 1: I think it's tough to adjust in season. I think
Speaker 1: if they come out and they're as exciting as we think,
Speaker 1: I think, you know, sky's the limit, especially in this division.
Speaker 1: They remind me, you know that that's the one game
Speaker 1: I'm most looking forward to see that Money Night game,
Speaker 1: just to see what Chip Kelly has and um, they
Speaker 1: do remind me a little bit of what the Redskins
Speaker 1: did last preseason, where they were just they slow played
Speaker 1: the rest of the league in the preseason, and then
Speaker 1: they came out against the Saints and just unleashed this
Speaker 1: whole new offense. But they are giving us hints and obviously,
Speaker 1: like Chris Brown wrote that one column where you actually
Speaker 1: sat down and like linked where you could see remnants
Speaker 1: of Oregon's offense, but also stuff completely different from that.
Speaker 1: And yeah, if that's just a hint of what we're
Speaker 1: gonna get, then you're right. That opening game for the
Speaker 1: Eagles and Redskins is a doozy for it's multiple storyl
Speaker 1: and everyone's gonna go r G three. But I think
Speaker 1: the real like football fans, I want to see exactly
Speaker 1: what it is the Eagles do. And there's talent here.
Speaker 1: There's remnants of a team that was expected to be
Speaker 1: very good. I mean Michael Vick. In the right system,
Speaker 1: you have Lashan McCoy might be one of the best
Speaker 1: running backs in the league. I would certainly put them
Speaker 1: in the up three. I would say, uh, you have
Speaker 1: a top pick at tackle and Lane Johnson. You've got
Speaker 1: Jason Peters. I mean de Sean Jackson, who's had, uh,
Speaker 1: from all accounts, the best training camp of his career. Um,
Speaker 1: the question is the defense and can anyone name the
Speaker 1: Eagles defensive cordina And maybe I shouldn't do this. Bill Davis,
Speaker 1: see we know what we're talking about here at round
Speaker 1: in the league. Well, will he be their defensive coordinator?
Speaker 1: You know, six months from now? Totally different conversations. Good,
Speaker 1: they have a defensive boss named Billy. Not a lot
Speaker 1: of experience on on their defense. There there's a lot
Speaker 1: of experience on the Giants defense in terms of the coaching,
Speaker 1: they have a lot of continuity. Um, But my question
Speaker 1: is about the Giants defense and basically do we think
Speaker 1: this Giants defense is going to be a big liability? Yes?
Speaker 1: Well it did. It was last year. Gave up. I
Speaker 1: think that thirty first most points in the league. They
Speaker 1: so well of things changed. Justin Tucks said yesterday the
Speaker 1: day before he believed Aky to have the number one
Speaker 1: defense in the NFL, which means they only have to
Speaker 1: get thirty places better. Well, they're hoping something change. I mean,
Speaker 1: they brought in Colin Jenkins, they drafted Hankins in the
Speaker 1: second round. They're hoping Justin Tuck kind of revives his career.
Speaker 1: I feel like the defensive line will be fine. I
Speaker 1: guess Jason Pierre Paul is the major question mark. They're
Speaker 1: coming off of back surgery. But the linebackers were bad
Speaker 1: last year and look pretty bad this year. Their secondary
Speaker 1: was too easy to throw on last year and they
Speaker 1: still look easy to throw on. They always seem to
Speaker 1: get some crushing injuries in the secondary, and this is
Speaker 1: like the six year in a row or something where
Speaker 1: their schedule is so rough down the stretch. They always
Speaker 1: give them this kind of cream puff slate upfront and
Speaker 1: then it's it's a murders row and they're never fully healthy.
Speaker 1: And in the past, that's how they as a nine
Speaker 1: and seven team after starting like six and two or something,
Speaker 1: have snuck into the playoffs. I don't see them starting
Speaker 1: that way this year. I just think that there's too
Speaker 1: many liabilities on defense, and this is pivoting off the
Speaker 1: defense a little bit. But let's say they go seven
Speaker 1: and nine or eight and eight. Are we then back
Speaker 1: to talking about Eli Manning as just kind of how
Speaker 1: we talked about him a couple of years ago before
Speaker 1: he won the second Super Bowl and everyone was forced
Speaker 1: to pretend he was a top five quarterback. The only
Speaker 1: one that thinks that excellent question, because I thought the
Speaker 1: exact same thing. I think actually now he is he
Speaker 1: is the quarterback that people thought he was a few
Speaker 1: I think he is tangibly better now than he was
Speaker 1: three or four, except for that stretch last year when
Speaker 1: he had a dead arm and he refused to admit it.
Speaker 1: You know, we can't just talk about, Oh, let's lay
Speaker 1: out the issues for the Giants. They're all on defense,
Speaker 1: and then when they go seven and nine, let's blame
Speaker 1: Eli Mann. I think he was not the guy. He's
Speaker 1: not a two times super Bowl winner in the sense
Speaker 1: that he alone tugged them there. He played really well,
Speaker 1: He's got He's got too two of Justin Tuck's Super
Speaker 1: Bowl m v P trophies. Basically, I mean it's like,
Speaker 1: you know, he's he's he's a very reliable guy. He's
Speaker 1: not as bad as they're gonna say, is either if
Speaker 1: they if they crumble. Now, for the record, I mean,
Speaker 1: I think he's very good. But I don't think when
Speaker 1: you're putting him up in that class, those are the
Speaker 1: types of quarterbacks to just carry a team and just
Speaker 1: make everyone better. And I don't think he's not that guy.
Speaker 1: His name where Eli schaff and Frost. Would he be
Speaker 1: Eli Manning. That helps him be put in that class.
Speaker 1: You would not be getting the same amount of commercials
Speaker 1: if he was Chaffan Frost. I wish he was. All Right,
Speaker 1: let's go around the room and predict the division here, Mark,
Speaker 1: let's start with you, okay. And it's weird because West
Speaker 1: and I seem to continually have the same records here.
Speaker 1: But I have the Cowboys winning the division at nine
Speaker 1: and seven. Um, the Redskins also nine and seven, but
Speaker 1: missing out on the playoffs like the rest of the division.
Speaker 1: And I have the Eagles at eight and eight. I
Speaker 1: think they'll be a very intriguing team to watch, fun
Speaker 1: to watch. And then the Giants based on what we're
Speaker 1: just talking about, I see them at six and ten,
Speaker 1: and I think the floor sort of falls out. I
Speaker 1: think that would be the end of Coughlin's career, just
Speaker 1: on his own decision. If you think he does he
Speaker 1: get time to does he get the opportunity to call
Speaker 1: time on his career if it goes wrong this year?
Speaker 1: Is he still he can still say I want out
Speaker 1: rather than being told excuse me, Tom, we've just removed
Speaker 1: your office. But I think he would one out is
Speaker 1: the thing I really think he's so year a year
Speaker 1: right now anyways, that I don't know if he'd want
Speaker 1: to be back. Hank. I know you know you haven't
Speaker 1: been with us for the other predictions, but do you
Speaker 1: have some n I do have NFCS predictions. I want
Speaker 1: to say how much quickly I admire you guys, because,
Speaker 1: as I understand it from talking to each of you,
Speaker 1: you've actually worked out your predictions by work. You know,
Speaker 1: not everyone could be ten and six. Someone has to lose,
Speaker 1: So congratulations. I haven't had to go through that, so
Speaker 1: I can just throw out whatever whatever I want. So
Speaker 1: I'm I'm saying the Cowboys going to win the division,
Speaker 1: and I have ten and six next to their name.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna say the Redskins and nine and seven and
Speaker 1: miss out on the playoffs. I think the Giants finish
Speaker 1: eight and Nate and the Eagles at seven and nine,
Speaker 1: so it's pretty close. It's going to be exciting that.
Speaker 1: Like I said about about this division, I'm excited to
Speaker 1: see how it shakes out because I think it is
Speaker 1: it is a pretty tight I agree with it. I
Speaker 1: think it's a very mediocre division and it's very even division.
Speaker 1: I have the Cowboys at ten and six, winning the division.
Speaker 1: The Cowboys are the favorite. Suddenly, that's three for three.
Speaker 1: I don't think the rest of the country he believes this,
Speaker 1: but just the three men in this this room. So
Speaker 1: I have the Redskins also at ten six, but not
Speaker 1: in the playoffs, alright, Giants at nine and seven, the
Speaker 1: Eagles bringing up the rear at seven and nine. I
Speaker 1: believe the Eagles could easily finished first two. I just
Speaker 1: don't have any faith in their defense, all right. I
Speaker 1: did communicate with Dan this morning. He was just waking
Speaker 1: up at one in the afternoon, but he texted me
Speaker 1: his predictions, so we would have him for the record.
Speaker 1: Redskins ten and six from Dan. So he's the first
Speaker 1: person to have the Redskins repeating Giants nine and seven,
Speaker 1: Cowboys eight and eight, and the fourth straight person to
Speaker 1: have the Eagles in last place with five eleven. I'm sorry, Christal,
Speaker 1: but I'm gonna make your a right here because I'm
Speaker 1: going on with the Eagles and Chip Kelly. Forget about
Speaker 1: last place. I like them for first place. As the
Speaker 1: surprise team in the NFC this year, I've got to
Speaker 1: get to stay in the host chair. Now I have
Speaker 1: the Giants at nine and seven. Even despite the concerns,
Speaker 1: I just think the coaching is good. Their Redskins r
Speaker 1: G three is not quite the same eight and eight,
Speaker 1: and I have the Cowboys led by a poor defense,
Speaker 1: going six and ten in last place. Yours are exactly
Speaker 1: flipped from what everyone else had. Apparently. Yeah, we had
Speaker 1: four Eagles last place, three Cowboys in first. One for
Speaker 1: the Redskins. Yeah, I mean this division, I don't think
Speaker 1: anything would surprise, right, But I think the one thing
Speaker 1: you do know about this division when it comes to
Speaker 1: the playoffs, this is the fourth seed and this is
Speaker 1: the team that gets knocked out by a wild card team.
Speaker 1: Is there any scenario where Chip Kelly is one and done? No? No,
Speaker 1: Why do we laugh that off like it's so impossible
Speaker 1: though it is there, it's it's it can't it cannot
Speaker 1: happen if he was three and thirteen. I don't even
Speaker 1: think there's nobody the people above him aren't aren't smarter
Speaker 1: than him. Yeah, Like usually when they're in it, they're
Speaker 1: in it to win it. With coach is one and done,
Speaker 1: it's because he's kind of a laughing stock. Cameron was
Speaker 1: one and done, and he wasn't a laughing stock. Let's
Speaker 1: move on to the Metrics Matrix, America's favorite running segment
Speaker 1: about page views. UM, let's start. If you haven't heard
Speaker 1: the game before, I threw out three stories from the
Speaker 1: week that all did surprisingly well, and our guys are
Speaker 1: going to try to guess which one did the best.
Speaker 1: All right? Starting off with Terrell Prior is wearing the
Speaker 1: number two jersey formerly worn by JaMarcus Russell in Oakland.
Speaker 1: That's choice number one. Number two is John Moffatt, Mark
Speaker 1: Savior Cleveland didn't last there long and then was traded
Speaker 1: UH from Cleveland over to Denver. John Moffatt is choice
Speaker 1: number two and number three on the list New York
Speaker 1: Jets wide receiver. We almost went a whole show without
Speaker 1: mentioning the Jets with Dan gone, but here we go.
Speaker 1: Santonio Holmes is milking his injury, according to some Jets
Speaker 1: organizational members, according to the New York Post, So once
Speaker 1: again to review, We've got Daryl Terrell Prior wearing UH
Speaker 1: the number two jersey of Jamacus Russell and Oakland. John
Speaker 1: Moffatt traded to the Broncos, and UH, Santonio Holmes milking
Speaker 1: his injury. Let's start with you, Mark. I'm gonna go, uh,
Speaker 1: Moffatt because I think that Seattle is huge in terms
Speaker 1: of readership, and so is Denver. Henry, who should really
Speaker 1: win this game every week because all he cares about
Speaker 1: his numbers. He doesn't even love football, He's just into
Speaker 1: the metrics. I'm just kidding. He loves footballer the number.
Speaker 1: I am also going to go with Moffatt. I think
Speaker 1: there's a couple of reasons, not least that it's the
Speaker 1: oldest story of the three that you just gave us
Speaker 1: the options on and um, you're like the Greg Cosell
Speaker 1: of metrics. You come in with like a completely different
Speaker 1: view with the playbook and uh, and so it's had
Speaker 1: more chance to collect Patriots. See. Now, I gotta defer
Speaker 1: to Henry a little bit on that. I wasn't even
Speaker 1: thinking about the It's I'm not going to do it.
Speaker 1: You know, a trade story always does well, and a
Speaker 1: screwed up trade story even does better, I'm sure, and
Speaker 1: JaMarcus Russell does well. I'm going against my mantra that
Speaker 1: the that the Jets, uh, that fans don't care about
Speaker 1: the Jets nearly as much as the media does I
Speaker 1: think when you throw in the term milking it, I
Speaker 1: think that's going to get people a little riled up
Speaker 1: wanting to read about Santonio Homes. So I'm going with
Speaker 1: Santonio Holmes is milking his injury. All right, Westling goes
Speaker 1: with Santonio Holmes. Westling, you are absolutely incorrect. But he
Speaker 1: what he won it last week? And uh, Mark and
Speaker 1: Henry had the same answer. John Moffat gets traded, uh
Speaker 1: after briefly being a Brown over to the Broncos. And
Speaker 1: you guys are absolutely correct. You got it, had all
Speaker 1: the elements. Henry, your your prizes. You can come back
Speaker 1: to the show anytime, and Uh, you pretty much could
Speaker 1: anytime because you're kind of our boss. That's but I would.
Speaker 1: I'd love to come back if you invite me back again, um,
Speaker 1: and I will. In the meantime, I'll be listening to
Speaker 1: all your shows instead. All right, Well, we've gone long today.
Speaker 1: It was a lot of fun. We'll be hitting the
Speaker 1: NFC North on Monday. Will also recap all the preseason
Speaker 1: games on Monday for Mark Sessler, Crystal Rich, behind the Glass,
Speaker 1: Henry Hodgson, and Chris Westling. I'm Greg Rosenthal. You will
Speaker 1: feel it