Speaker 1: The Around the League Podcast didn't come here to make friends.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to another edition of the Around the League Podcast.
Speaker 1: My name is Dan hansis joined by a room full
Speaker 1: of heroes, Mark Sessler, Chris Westling and Greg Rosenthal the Boss.
Speaker 1: What's up? Boys? What is happening? How are you? How
Speaker 1: are you going? I love that? I love that injury.
Speaker 1: Thank you to Matt money Smith that we didn't give
Speaker 1: credit to uh last week for voicing that introduction and
Speaker 1: it's just fantastic. He actually gets one point three million
Speaker 1: dollars in royalties for every time we use it, so
Speaker 1: I think he should be thanking us. You know, the
Speaker 1: regular season is fast approaching today Monday, Greg, we're gonna
Speaker 1: start with you. What are the top headlines? I think
Speaker 1: you gotta start with A. J. Jenkins the trade to
Speaker 1: Kansas City, Jonathan Baldwin going to San Francisco. Maybe not
Speaker 1: making the biggest football impact, but it's interesting. How often
Speaker 1: do we see two first round picks traded for each
Speaker 1: other basically just in a challenge trade. Um, I think
Speaker 1: my guy is better than your guy? Right? I don't
Speaker 1: remember anything like this, especially didn't they play against each
Speaker 1: other the other night too? Yeah? They did. They saw
Speaker 1: Jonathan Baldwin just mangle a pass over the middle, and
Speaker 1: yet they still tried to acquire him as he is
Speaker 1: want to do. It is funny to imagine these two
Speaker 1: g ms calling up each other and you know, kind
Speaker 1: of moaning to each other about what a mess they
Speaker 1: have in these first round picks, and like, hey, do
Speaker 1: you want my guy? Do you want my guy? It's
Speaker 1: almost so clean to imagine that this could happen, but
Speaker 1: it is. And now it kind of makes sense, though,
Speaker 1: I mean, what does either side, What does either side
Speaker 1: have to lose? You take on guys, two guys that
Speaker 1: have I guess good measurables but haven't shown anything, and
Speaker 1: now they get it at least one more chance to
Speaker 1: start over. I'd like to know who actually picked up
Speaker 1: the phone first. I would I would guess Kansas City though,
Speaker 1: because I think they are just completely done with Baldwin
Speaker 1: and I don't know. For me, I think the forty
Speaker 1: Niners get a little bit more of an edge in
Speaker 1: the trade, but it is a complete wash on some level.
Speaker 1: Would be I wouldn't be surprised if neither made the team.
Speaker 1: Well A. J. Jenkins doesn't have any production in the NFL.
Speaker 1: Jonathan Baldwin we've seen make a few plays. He's actually
Speaker 1: guaranteed money this year, I think a million dollars. I
Speaker 1: think he could play for that team, just because they
Speaker 1: don't have anyone at wide receiver and we're seeing Chad
Speaker 1: Hall lining up with the starters the other night. Maybe
Speaker 1: Baldwin plays and uh, Jim Jim Harbaugh, you know, sprinkles
Speaker 1: his magic offensive dust. That seems to work on some
Speaker 1: of those players. I would look at it the other way.
Speaker 1: We've seen John Baldwin play a lot of games, and
Speaker 1: we know he's not good. We know he's kind of
Speaker 1: a bum. He can't get off the jam, he has
Speaker 1: bad hands, he's slow after the catch. We haven't seen
Speaker 1: a J. Jenkins playing. Maybe there's something there. It is
Speaker 1: a little strange to me though, Uh. And you know,
Speaker 1: by trading Jenkins away, it's an admission of failure on
Speaker 1: some level by the Niners for a team that has
Speaker 1: hardball entrenched up top, and they've made so many good
Speaker 1: decisions that they could have missed so badly on that
Speaker 1: it's it's really surprising played out. What's interesting about them, though,
Speaker 1: is they are so confident they have the most confident
Speaker 1: coaching staff in the most confident front office, and if
Speaker 1: they make a mistake, they don't worry about what the
Speaker 1: rest of the league thinks. They just move on. It
Speaker 1: reminds me of the Patriots. I think they do one
Speaker 1: thing they do really well as self scouting, and they
Speaker 1: make as many mistakes, almost as anyone. But when they
Speaker 1: make a mistake, they just give up on it right
Speaker 1: away and they cut the guys and as clean as
Speaker 1: the Niners are draftways that made a lot of savvy moves.
Speaker 1: It is such an imperfect process that it's it's good
Speaker 1: to see her. It's refreshing to see San Francisco just
Speaker 1: basically say we're moving on. We're washing our hands of it.
Speaker 1: You look perfect today, Mark, thank you. I've rested. I
Speaker 1: slept till mid morning. Yeah, Chris Wesseling had the Mark
Speaker 1: Sesler appreciation shift today with me. Was in at four
Speaker 1: in the morning. It was a rough morning. I attempted
Speaker 1: to go to sleep at eight o'clock last night. It
Speaker 1: didn't come close. Tough to shift into that schedule. I apologize,
Speaker 1: al right, Greg, What else is going on? We got
Speaker 1: Rob Gunkowski some news that he's doubtful for Week one,
Speaker 1: which isn't a big surprise. It's it's his back, it's
Speaker 1: his arm, it's a little bit of everything. But we
Speaker 1: haven't heard a lot about Gronkowski, you know, this preseason
Speaker 1: at all. Now now we know for sure, and I
Speaker 1: think with the Patriots, were we expecting him on any
Speaker 1: level to play Week one. I mean, I don't know
Speaker 1: if we're gonna see him for all of September at
Speaker 1: this point. Doesn't sound like he's close. We also learned
Speaker 1: Blaine Gabber is out for the rest of the preseason.
Speaker 1: We'll talk him about him upcoming in our a f
Speaker 1: C South preview a little later in the show. But
Speaker 1: he's gonna be he's gonna be the starter of the team,
Speaker 1: but he's gonna miss the rest of the preseason. So
Speaker 1: they announced Chad Henny lose that job. Not a surprise there. Uh.
Speaker 1: We learned that Alex Barron does not really like football.
Speaker 1: The general manager of the St. Louis Rams just a
Speaker 1: few years back, Billy Devaney said on his ESPN show
Speaker 1: today that Alex Barron um really the only thing like
Speaker 1: he likes about football is getting paid that he doesn't like.
Speaker 1: He doesn't have the heart to play football, and basically
Speaker 1: that's your starting left tackle, Oakland. I find it interesting
Speaker 1: that this is the same GM that then drafted Jason
Speaker 1: Smith out of Baylor in two thousand nine, so maybe
Speaker 1: he's not the greatest judge of character for left tackles
Speaker 1: who love football. Don't forget the Raiders also have Andre
Speaker 1: Garad just signed off the streets, so Garad and Barren
Speaker 1: him it played since two thousand and ten. This offensive
Speaker 1: line is starting to take on the look of like
Speaker 1: a early nineties sports comedy film, like with Ving Rames
Speaker 1: as Alex Barron and Aimon Walker is Andrea road Walker.
Speaker 1: He played Holan Wolf and Cadillac Records, big big six
Speaker 1: ft six guys. I see it like a weekend of
Speaker 1: Bernie's two where they have all the linemen tied together
Speaker 1: and they're just like trying to keep them all up right.
Speaker 1: It looks like it Saturday night. Is Amy Trash still
Speaker 1: in the front office? Can Kathy Ireland play her? No?
Speaker 1: She has gone, but yeah, five sacks in the first
Speaker 1: half against Matt Flynn. Matt Flynn, you want to be
Speaker 1: the starter, Buddy Um and then staying with the offensive line.
Speaker 1: Big trade today, John Moffatt of the Seahawks form on
Speaker 1: leave the Seas traded to your Cleveland Browns. We probably
Speaker 1: wouldn't mention this, but it is a a Browns trade there, Sessler.
Speaker 1: So do you feel like now you know they're getting
Speaker 1: it back together? They got a starter from the Seahawks.
Speaker 1: It's sort of the final piece in the puzzle. Um,
Speaker 1: you know. By the way, speaking of the Browns, Mark
Speaker 1: Sessler and our last podcast, when we did a swing
Speaker 1: around the a f C North in our preview, Mark,
Speaker 1: despite being a Browns fan, he dropped a four and
Speaker 1: twelve on the Browns, and I guess upon some reflection, Uh,
Speaker 1: there's been a decision to maybe change that pick. So
Speaker 1: Mark has what I understand to be a prepared statement
Speaker 1: he'd like to read on the Around the League podcast.
Speaker 1: I would like to read it. I know this drives
Speaker 1: Greg nuts because he wanted our picks to be etched
Speaker 1: in stone. But that's not how I was hoping. You're
Speaker 1: going to rid off a piece of paper. I had
Speaker 1: it on a piece of paper and it was soiled
Speaker 1: by a spilled coffee. Okay, it takes a look, all right,
Speaker 1: go ahead, ah here we go, alright, on behalf of myself.
Speaker 1: I would like to apologize to the Cleveland Browns. In
Speaker 1: a rush of judgment last week during our a f
Speaker 1: C North preview, I called Cleveland a four and twelve operation.
Speaker 1: It is my sincere belief the team will eclipse four
Speaker 1: wins this season, and I have revised my prediction for
Speaker 1: the two thousand and thirteen Browns to seven and nine.
Speaker 1: As a Cleveland fan, since there have been some disappointments
Speaker 1: along the way, and an attitude of pessimism has been
Speaker 1: known to wash over me like an ugly rain. But
Speaker 1: logic tells me this is more than a four win team.
Speaker 1: Seven wins are possible, and I don't believe the Browns
Speaker 1: will let me down this time, after all, they never
Speaker 1: have before. End of statement. You're you're making this bold,
Speaker 1: heroic statement to make them a seven win team, right,
Speaker 1: and they won't let you down. They'll get six or
Speaker 1: seven wins. I have to admit I'm getting a little
Speaker 1: emotional over here. Seven wins this would be that would
Speaker 1: change the city. Yeah, it was a big change from
Speaker 1: four to seven. I mean that's almost doubling that nobody
Speaker 1: will even think about Lebron James anymore. You can finish
Speaker 1: seven and nine. It will cover many sins if that happened.
Speaker 1: Of course, I have them going to the playoffs, so
Speaker 1: they might throw a parade for me if I'm so.
Speaker 1: If you want the updated standings mark is updated, so
Speaker 1: the rest of the division makes sense. We're actually writing
Speaker 1: out a division preview for each one of these teams
Speaker 1: and that's up on around the league right now. So
Speaker 1: all have our AFC South written preview up on Tuesday.
Speaker 1: And as Gregg pointed out, and he's he's asked all
Speaker 1: of us at the A t L team to make
Speaker 1: sure when we make these record picks that everything evens
Speaker 1: out in records. So this is not easy. Just we're
Speaker 1: not throwing records around. We want to have this to
Speaker 1: be a balanced, correct prediction, right because the first time
Speaker 1: you do it and you just go and you estimate it,
Speaker 1: you inevitate. We all did this exercise, you inevitably have
Speaker 1: way too many teams over because you just want to
Speaker 1: be nice. You don't want to be too harsh. You
Speaker 1: don't want to give the jack guars you know only
Speaker 1: two or three wins. But we have to be fair.
Speaker 1: You have to go out and predict flat out disaster
Speaker 1: for a couple of clubs. Yes, alright, so okay, so
Speaker 1: let's get going. We got the week two preseason now
Speaker 1: is in the books after tonight, Um, but through the weekend.
Speaker 1: We covered the Thursday games in the last podcast. But
Speaker 1: what did you guys take out of this weekend? And
Speaker 1: we'll start with Greg. I think EJ. Manuel and Buffalo
Speaker 1: just having another performance that impressed, and this time it
Speaker 1: was more impressive. UM, just running the hurry up there.
Speaker 1: They are fun team to watch again. Kevin Cobb was
Speaker 1: exactly as bad as you would have expected. So that
Speaker 1: just ended whatever competition there was there, and it just
Speaker 1: it made me a little more excited to watch Manuel
Speaker 1: and and this Bills team this year. And you just hope,
Speaker 1: uh that he's gonna be ready for Week one. They
Speaker 1: announced after the game the following day that he has
Speaker 1: a knee injury and his status for week ones uncertain,
Speaker 1: but I think if he's healthy enough to play, he'll
Speaker 1: be the starter. It's kind of a shame too, because
Speaker 1: the feeling you got on Friday was was a done deal.
Speaker 1: You know. All Kevin Cobb had left now was just
Speaker 1: his concession speech. But now and probably there's a chance
Speaker 1: that this Cobb is gonna start Week one. You hope
Speaker 1: it doesn't happen, though, because the Bills need that fresh start,
Speaker 1: and you know Manuel would help give it to them.
Speaker 1: You know, that was such a brutal quarterback in game.
Speaker 1: Cobb and Christian Ponder took turns just backing up fifteen
Speaker 1: yards away from the line of scrimmage and just throwing
Speaker 1: the ball uh terribly under pressure. And by the way,
Speaker 1: the Vikings have looked awful this preseason off just throwing
Speaker 1: that out well, Ponder, especially West. What was your big takeaway? Well,
Speaker 1: I often find the preseason to be valueless, but my
Speaker 1: one thing I look forward to is watching rookies who
Speaker 1: I think can really have an impact take the league
Speaker 1: by storm and even effect division races. I saw one
Speaker 1: this weekend and Eddie Lacey. The Packers now have a
Speaker 1: running back even if they have a bad offensive line.
Speaker 1: What was most impressive about Lacy as we know him,
Speaker 1: It was a big back you can break tackles. He
Speaker 1: was making the first defender miss in the backfield and
Speaker 1: then breaking tack cools. We didn't see any Packers running
Speaker 1: backs do that last week. And Lazy looks to me
Speaker 1: like a young Stephen Jackson or even a more quick
Speaker 1: footed Jerome Bettis. I think he's the real deal. I
Speaker 1: thought the same thing with Jackson. I even remember writing
Speaker 1: that down in my notebook. But like they thought about
Speaker 1: getting Steven Jackson actually this off seat and the Packers
Speaker 1: and I agree, it was impressive how he got to
Speaker 1: the outside too. He's not just an inside runner. Does
Speaker 1: anyone benefit more, I think than Aaron Rodgers too, because
Speaker 1: you know, the Packers were so potent throwing the ball
Speaker 1: last couple of seasons, but still was like teams knew
Speaker 1: exactly what was coming. And now you have to finally
Speaker 1: respect that run game because if you don't. Lacy is
Speaker 1: not a guy who goes down after the first hit.
Speaker 1: He seems to be breaking tackles left and right. He's
Speaker 1: overpowering smaller defensive backs. It was cool to see in
Speaker 1: Green Bay. It seems like what Packers football should be.
Speaker 1: And we didn't know what their rotation was going to
Speaker 1: be going into camp, and I think we know now
Speaker 1: it's probably gonna be lazy one. Harris too, as long
Speaker 1: as he's healthy, and Jonathan Franklin, who has been a disappointment,
Speaker 1: probably number three. It seems like a long time ago
Speaker 1: that people were starting to pump up Jonathan Franklin at
Speaker 1: Lacey's expense. But it certainly isn't shaping up that way. Now, Well,
Speaker 1: let me just have one thing. Lacey was impressive enough,
Speaker 1: and then if you add Duan Harris has change of pace,
Speaker 1: I am making the Packers my favorite in the NFC
Speaker 1: just based on what I saw from that game wow
Speaker 1: of a preseason game. Well, I mean there's other factors.
Speaker 1: I mean, Percy Harvin is gone from the Seahawks, the
Speaker 1: forty Niners have injury problems in the Falcons. I'm just
Speaker 1: you may have convinced me that they were a little
Speaker 1: bit lucky last year. I don't like when people are
Speaker 1: jumping on my predictions, and Packers are my NFC team
Speaker 1: this year, yours alone. All right, Cessler, what do you
Speaker 1: have for a takeaway? Well, I also don't want to
Speaker 1: over judge the preseason, but I was concerned with what
Speaker 1: I saw from the New York Jets defense. And you know,
Speaker 1: I talked to no I talked with Dan over the weekend,
Speaker 1: and he is tired of the piling on the Jets
Speaker 1: on the offensive side the ball. And I'm not going
Speaker 1: to do that. But what concerns me is because what
Speaker 1: we keep hearing over and over is, oh, this Rex
Speaker 1: Ryan turning his focus to defense is going to bring
Speaker 1: the Jets back to what they've always been. But you know,
Speaker 1: what I saw was the Jaguars of all teams, with
Speaker 1: Blaine Gabbett running a hurry up offense and the Jets
Speaker 1: looking like they had never encountered a hurry up offense
Speaker 1: in their lives. They couldn't get the right guys on
Speaker 1: the field. They looked confused. There was it was like
Speaker 1: the Jaguars just had their way to two straight drives.
Speaker 1: The final score doesn't show that, but they scored early
Speaker 1: with the Jacksonville offense. And it's like, of all teams,
Speaker 1: you've got the Patriots in your division, you think that
Speaker 1: you would have been built defensively to attack understand the
Speaker 1: hurry up years ago, and they just looked completely lost
Speaker 1: to me. And it's I think it was rich to me.
Speaker 1: They basically said, this is the blueprint of how to
Speaker 1: shred the debt the Jets on defense. You're seeing it
Speaker 1: right here. It seems all a little premature, though a
Speaker 1: lot of teams don't have their stuff together in week
Speaker 1: two the place it was their starters still. I mean,
Speaker 1: and you bring up starters. One if I had to
Speaker 1: take away something from the Jets would be d Milner,
Speaker 1: who who struggled. And I found it notable that Cramarti
Speaker 1: and Rex Ryan both kind of came now publicly and said,
Speaker 1: this guy's got to play play better when you gotta
Speaker 1: remember also, with Reevs now gone, this is a this
Speaker 1: is a different team. They're trying to move the strength
Speaker 1: of the team to the front seven where it used
Speaker 1: to be Crimarti and Revs. It's gonna be a process
Speaker 1: making them a strong unit. I know this is agree
Speaker 1: it's the preseason well, and and Greg is a total
Speaker 1: Jets defense apologist. I understand that, but it's like I
Speaker 1: just I'm saying I went in thinking, yeah, this Jets
Speaker 1: defense is the strength of this team. It's the reason
Speaker 1: they could go eight and eight and they looked completely lost.
Speaker 1: I just think there's a lot of ways, a lot
Speaker 1: of reasons to get down on Rex Ryan, and a
Speaker 1: lot of them are deserved. But I think on defense
Speaker 1: he deserves the benefit of the death. I hate to
Speaker 1: gang up on Mark for the second straight podcast, but
Speaker 1: if we say last week that we that our trust
Speaker 1: in Rex Ryan defensively is implicit, then we can't really
Speaker 1: kill him for one bad chilling in the preseason game.
Speaker 1: Plus that was Blaine Gabbert's super Bowl. We we two
Speaker 1: of the preseason is where Blaine Gabbert signs. He's where
Speaker 1: it's where he gets everyone excited. Fair enough. It's what
Speaker 1: I saw and a concern. I'm not actually flaming the Jets.
Speaker 1: I'm just saying it concerned me. I would just say,
Speaker 1: get that, get another prepared statement ready for weeks six
Speaker 1: when the Jets are four and two and flying on
Speaker 1: defense all right and has been hearing drugs um okay.
Speaker 1: So in my takeaway would be also the a f
Speaker 1: C East Dustin Keller suffers a terrible knee injury, um,
Speaker 1: which really bummed me out as as a Jets fan. UM,
Speaker 1: knowing what this guy's ability was if he ever got
Speaker 1: a chance to be in a system that was you
Speaker 1: know good, and now who knows what you get? And
Speaker 1: then from a team standpoint, the Dolphins, he was a
Speaker 1: guy that was showing good rapport with Tannehill and now
Speaker 1: and now what for the Dolphins. I think it was
Speaker 1: the biggest story in terms of having an impact on
Speaker 1: the team winning and losing of the of the weekend,
Speaker 1: just because I thought he was gonna lead the team
Speaker 1: in in targets and catches and and they haven't had
Speaker 1: a pastor catching tight end for so long and now
Speaker 1: they still don't. It's right up there with losing. Honestly,
Speaker 1: Like Mike Wallace was the big name offseason edition, but
Speaker 1: it was Keller. I think that would have changed this
Speaker 1: offense a lot and really been like a safety blanket
Speaker 1: for Tannehill. And there's just no way They're trying to
Speaker 1: find guys to replace him right now, and I just
Speaker 1: don't think you can. Charles Clay step on up. How
Speaker 1: about Michael Agnew last year's hard knocks Uh disasters Deon
Speaker 1: Sims Uh Yeah, good luck with that. Although Tannehill and
Speaker 1: Wallace uh look pretty good in that game, so they'll
Speaker 1: be fine. There's too much handwringing over that connection. Mike
Speaker 1: Wallace is one of the maybe two or three difference
Speaker 1: makers who got signed in free agency. I think it's
Speaker 1: gonna be tough for that offense to be explosive, though
Speaker 1: in general to be a plus offense. Talent is talent,
Speaker 1: and Mike Wallace has it. I'm I'm actually surprised, Gregg
Speaker 1: that you're saying they might not be explosive with your
Speaker 1: boy Ryan Tannehill behind the controls. Well, I think it's
Speaker 1: the type of thing he'll play well. He'll kind of
Speaker 1: be like an early career Joe Flacco where he'll play well,
Speaker 1: but it's not going to show up with great, great
Speaker 1: numbers the early period Joe flaccan Um. Alright, so fellas
Speaker 1: are award winning Division Previews is up next. Now, we
Speaker 1: haven't won an award yet, but we could possibly eventually
Speaker 1: won an award. We handled the a f C East
Speaker 1: the f C North today is the a f C South.
Speaker 1: So as we've done, we're gonna have each each of
Speaker 1: us will ask a question for each of the teams,
Speaker 1: and Greg Rosenthal, I will open it up with you
Speaker 1: and the Tennessee Titans. Yeah. My question for the Titans,
Speaker 1: because I have a hard time figuring this team out,
Speaker 1: is why should I believe this team is gonna be
Speaker 1: any good? I know that's kind of a big question,
Speaker 1: but I can't come up with the one to three reasons.
Speaker 1: This just it's kind of a team that's, you know,
Speaker 1: in the weeds. You don't hear a lot about and
Speaker 1: what are the reasons to be excited about this Titan.
Speaker 1: I'll make this case, and uh, you know, I agree
Speaker 1: with Check that this is kind of the one team
Speaker 1: with the biggest range of outcomes. They could be ten
Speaker 1: and six, maybe eleven and five if they get lucky
Speaker 1: in a Indianapolis Colts two thousand twelve kind of way.
Speaker 1: They could also be four and twelve or five and eleven.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think we start with the offensive line.
Speaker 1: We knew they were a good pass blocking offensive line
Speaker 1: last year. They overhauled the entire interior. Bring in Lavitre,
Speaker 1: who was Pro Bowl caliber, Chance Womack Uh, and in center,
Speaker 1: they've got three or four guys there who can play.
Speaker 1: So you start with the offensive line there, it's a
Speaker 1: massive upgrade. They get to a running game. Chris Johnson
Speaker 1: was Boomer bust. They bring in Sean Green who can
Speaker 1: move the chains and sustain and and convert short short yardage.
Speaker 1: They'll be a lot more consistent, won't have to rely
Speaker 1: as much on locker and when they do rely on locker.
Speaker 1: Now you've got uh two thousand and twelve first round
Speaker 1: pick in Kendall Wright two thousand and thirteen second round pick,
Speaker 1: and Justin Hunter to go with Kenny Britt. You've got
Speaker 1: a lot of ifs there, but there's talent. You know.
Speaker 1: They're a little bit enigmatic there. And on a defense,
Speaker 1: you've got some interesting young linebackers. They upgraded the defensive line.
Speaker 1: I don't know that they're a even a top twenty defense,
Speaker 1: but the talent on offense is intriguing enough to me
Speaker 1: that they can make some noise. I would just now
Speaker 1: you you hit on a lot of different items there.
Speaker 1: The one I'd pick out though, is I like watching
Speaker 1: their first couple of games, the offensive line does look
Speaker 1: much improved from last season. I think Johnson was just
Speaker 1: running scared last year. He couldn't even he had no
Speaker 1: trust that he could even get protected. Well, I think
Speaker 1: they changed the offense to some degree to fit Locker
Speaker 1: a little bit better than what we saw before. But
Speaker 1: I like I like what I saw in Warmack in
Speaker 1: the last game, and I do think he's going to
Speaker 1: be a keeper there and that can change a team
Speaker 1: a lot if you're protecting your quarterback and opening holes
Speaker 1: for Chris Johnson. And I'll take a page out of
Speaker 1: the Damna Check, and if l book and you have
Speaker 1: you do have all those points that that West just made.
Speaker 1: What if what if Bud Adams was able to successfully
Speaker 1: acquire Peyton Manning last year? I mean that this this
Speaker 1: type of team that has a lot of weapons, you
Speaker 1: just need a guy who can operate them on offense.
Speaker 1: But very interesting, I don't know if Locker is that
Speaker 1: my my NF? My WHATF is? What if Bud Adams
Speaker 1: fires this whole coaching staff halfway through this season, which
Speaker 1: I could totally see happened. I might be coaching staff
Speaker 1: than any in the league. Jerry Gray is never the
Speaker 1: guy you want running your defense. Actually, Greg Williams, if
Speaker 1: you wanted to make a case for the Titans, maybe
Speaker 1: he'll help there, because I don't I don't have a
Speaker 1: lot of faith in a Jerry Gray run defense. Are
Speaker 1: we supposed to trust mun Check after he decided it
Speaker 1: was a good idea to hire Chris Palmer to run
Speaker 1: his offense? There you go, all right? West off that
Speaker 1: dynamic statement. I want you to give us the Houston Texas. Okay,
Speaker 1: my question involves Arian Foster is now just trailing red
Speaker 1: flags behind him. He's got the cap strain that all
Speaker 1: of a sudden became a back injury and into his legs.
Speaker 1: His yards per carry is dwindling, his yards per catch,
Speaker 1: just Crater last year, he's had heavy workloads. Uh, the
Speaker 1: offensive line is kind of a mess. Now, this is
Speaker 1: a offense that is based on the run in play action.
Speaker 1: Please convince me that Texans can run the ball this year.
Speaker 1: So you're not buying Michael Fabriano's number one overall ranking.
Speaker 1: You have overheard Fats and not shotting back and forth
Speaker 1: about that for a couple of months. Now that you
Speaker 1: can't take Arian Foster well over Peter and Fabriano's defense
Speaker 1: that has since been modified after the calf strain turned
Speaker 1: into the back injury. But yeah, there there's I think
Speaker 1: that I would not if you want to talk fantasy,
Speaker 1: I would not touch Arian Foster um with a first
Speaker 1: round pick. Somebody else will won't be me. But from
Speaker 1: a Texans standpoint, yeah, this guy was the engine of
Speaker 1: this offense. And then if you look behind them, you
Speaker 1: have Bentate who had injury issues last year, and then
Speaker 1: there's really nothing else behind them, so they could be
Speaker 1: in a very bad situation. On the right side of
Speaker 1: their line is got question marks. For sure, and Dan
Speaker 1: and I on our co owned fantasy football team, which
Speaker 1: was last year named Jenna Fisher, this year will be yes.
Speaker 1: We we fell more than once for beent Tate as
Speaker 1: a later fantasy pick, and what I found so maddening
Speaker 1: about him was that we would chronically sit him and
Speaker 1: then he'd blow up and have one of his It
Speaker 1: wasn't so much last year, but the year before. He'd
Speaker 1: step in and blow up, and we'd start him the
Speaker 1: next week thinking the same thing would happen, and he'd
Speaker 1: go utterly go ship quiet. So I think that if
Speaker 1: he had a more expanded role, which I think we're
Speaker 1: gonna see that they have to give him a bigger
Speaker 1: rule this year. But he's even consistent, I just I
Speaker 1: don't know. I think the Texans I share West's concern
Speaker 1: on that front. The argument to be made with Foster
Speaker 1: is that it's more about the system, and the system
Speaker 1: wasn't very good last year. They weren't opening up holes.
Speaker 1: But maybe they can rebound there and they'll find the
Speaker 1: next Arian Foster, or they'll just let Wade Phillips in
Speaker 1: that defense kind of carry the day like they did
Speaker 1: last season, and you have cushion there who they're saying
Speaker 1: is moving great. Uh you put him there with what
Speaker 1: that that's ah Ed Reid ever gets back. I mean,
Speaker 1: there's the guts of a really good defense potentially. And
Speaker 1: I do buy that Arian Foster is a good back
Speaker 1: or was a very good back two years ago. I
Speaker 1: buy that it's a system, and I buy that Ben
Speaker 1: taken rush for twelve yards if he's made the starter.
Speaker 1: Arian Foster deleted his Twitter account, and that kind of
Speaker 1: when the trouble started. When it's tided to bring back
Speaker 1: Arian Foster's ponderous Twitter account, Um, I will let me
Speaker 1: hit the jags. Um. Uh. You know, we talked a
Speaker 1: little bit about blame Gabbert and you know they're gonna
Speaker 1: sit him for the rest of the preseason. He has
Speaker 1: the stumb injury or he hit the thumb on the helmet.
Speaker 1: But they came out and they said he's going to
Speaker 1: be the starter week one. Is this the right move?
Speaker 1: There's nobody even wants to answer because it's a hard
Speaker 1: one to answer. I'll I don't understand how two weeks
Speaker 1: after he throws for nineteen yards and averages less than
Speaker 1: two yards per attempt the Gaffert zone, the Gabert. Now,
Speaker 1: like my Twitter page was one in agreement that Gabbert
Speaker 1: should be the starter instead of Henny just because of
Speaker 1: one good preseason game. I guess I am skeptical. I
Speaker 1: think the team is skeptical, and I think that what
Speaker 1: they're doing is, first of all, we're gonna see both
Speaker 1: these quarterbacks this season. But you've got Gabbert and you've
Speaker 1: got up GM that probably has already decided his where
Speaker 1: he's going with what will be the top five pick
Speaker 1: in April. I don't think there's any long term commitment
Speaker 1: to Gabbert, so it almost doesn't matter. Why not give
Speaker 1: him one more chance. I do think the one upside
Speaker 1: is that he's been in He's in his third offense,
Speaker 1: which is not good for him. But they're shaping that
Speaker 1: offense from what I'm hearing, to kind of fit what
Speaker 1: he did in college a little bit more, a little
Speaker 1: bit more to his skills, which wasn't the case before.
Speaker 1: But even what Malarkey and was it in the middle
Speaker 1: of the summer, Malarkey, no longer with the Jaguar, said,
Speaker 1: if I had to choose today, no way do I
Speaker 1: start Gabber and I start Henny. Yeah, you know, jet
Speaker 1: Fish is a first time offensive coordinator, so maybe he
Speaker 1: brings some new ideas to the table. And you know,
Speaker 1: you talked about the Jets defense not being ready for
Speaker 1: the hurry up, But the flip side of that was
Speaker 1: the Jaguars, like you said, played to Gabbert strength. The
Speaker 1: ball was coming out of his I mean, he is
Speaker 1: not a good quarterback when he holds the ball too long.
Speaker 1: So this is all three five step drops. It kind
Speaker 1: of looked like he was at Missouri getting rid of
Speaker 1: the ball short passes. I mean it was fine. That's
Speaker 1: probably the best that they can do with him, and
Speaker 1: maybe they'll be that sort of hurry up team and
Speaker 1: make the best with what they have, Like we're searching
Speaker 1: for positives. That's um, that's smart of them. That's what
Speaker 1: the Dolphins did with Tannehill last year, and that's what
Speaker 1: the Redskins really did with r G. Three quick decisions,
Speaker 1: get the ball out fast, and they only have to
Speaker 1: make one. Reef Malarkey seems like one of those old
Speaker 1: school NFL coaches that he's got his system and he
Speaker 1: he thinks there's a certain NFL way to do things,
Speaker 1: and it wasn't gonna work with Blaine gab and he
Speaker 1: was just trying to make it work. It wasn't gonna happen,
Speaker 1: all right, Mark, alright, My question, I don't know if
Speaker 1: you asked, did you ask even ask a question there?
Speaker 1: Did we just mention my question with the cults, because
Speaker 1: what I hear over and over is, you know, oh,
Speaker 1: they overachieved last year. They were on this sort of
Speaker 1: uh spiritual ride. Everything went right, and there's no way
Speaker 1: they go eleven and five again. So my question is,
Speaker 1: if they aren't going to go eleven and five, if
Speaker 1: we don't believe this, what's the number one reason they
Speaker 1: can't get back to that record? Now? If you disagree
Speaker 1: and you think they can, give me the reason they
Speaker 1: can in I disagree, and it's because of schedule and luck,
Speaker 1: not the quarterback luck, but randomness chance. I believe they
Speaker 1: went on like a nine and two stretch last year
Speaker 1: where they didn't beat a single team over five, and
Speaker 1: most of the teams were well below they That stretch
Speaker 1: was a who's who of the worst teams in the league.
Speaker 1: That's not gonna happen again. And Andrew Luck, I believe,
Speaker 1: broke the record with seven come from behind victories. That's
Speaker 1: not gonna happen again. As much as I love Andrew
Speaker 1: Luck and I think he's I've I've already written that
Speaker 1: he's All of Famer and gotten killed for writing that,
Speaker 1: but I totally believe in him. But I don't believe
Speaker 1: the Coolts are going to be as lucky or faces
Speaker 1: soft as a schedule I didn't. I don't think they're
Speaker 1: gonna get that same level of luck, But I also
Speaker 1: don't think they need it as much. I I think
Speaker 1: this might be and we can get into it later
Speaker 1: with the division record breakdown, this might be the worst
Speaker 1: division in the league. And and I kind of can
Speaker 1: see the Colts not necessarily being a powerhouse, but certainly
Speaker 1: being good enough to get to ten or eleven wins
Speaker 1: and be the division champion. Here. I think the argument
Speaker 1: against the Colts are all the pieces on defense being
Speaker 1: new that they're counting on. I mean, think about you know,
Speaker 1: Laron Landry's there now, you know, maybe maybe he helps,
Speaker 1: maybe he doesn't. You have guys starting like Drell Freeman,
Speaker 1: you brought in Ricky Jean Francois, you bring in Greg Toler.
Speaker 1: I mean you're just bringing in all these defensive players
Speaker 1: that you know the defense really wasn't that good last year,
Speaker 1: and it's a whole group that's full of question marks.
Speaker 1: I think the argument for the Colts is just that
Speaker 1: Andrew Luck is so good that it doesn't matter that
Speaker 1: he is like Peyton Manning early in his career, who
Speaker 1: was on some flawed Colts teams that would just get
Speaker 1: them to the playoffs. Is Andrew Luck potentially gonna be
Speaker 1: the level of quarterback where his team is just a
Speaker 1: contender every year, it doesn't matter what's around him. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I look at them as an example of a team
Speaker 1: that record won't be the same, but they're gonna be
Speaker 1: a better football team than what they were a season ago.
Speaker 1: And I actually think, you know, West just talked about
Speaker 1: shaping an offensive round r G three or shaping We
Speaker 1: talked about shaping one around Gabbett. I think Pep Hamilton's
Speaker 1: actually a good uh switch for Luck because as as
Speaker 1: much as I liked what arians did last season, I
Speaker 1: think that was probably one of the reasons that Luck
Speaker 1: had some of the interceptions he did and took some
Speaker 1: of the hits he did. They have fixed that offensive
Speaker 1: line to some degree, but I don't see them going
Speaker 1: eleven and five Yeah, he's so fun to watch. Luck
Speaker 1: to like last night against the Giants again, it's week
Speaker 1: two of the preseason. I know it means a lot
Speaker 1: to you. Mark does not mean as much to me,
Speaker 1: but they he led that team on three straight scoring drives.
Speaker 1: And just his ability he looks like a ten year
Speaker 1: pro in the pocket. His ability to move around fuel pressure,
Speaker 1: and he can move much better than he gets credit for.
Speaker 1: And you know, I just think he's the total package.
Speaker 1: And the team is not a perfect team, but he's
Speaker 1: pretty close to a perfect quarterback to me, and I
Speaker 1: think that's enough to make them a playoff team. For
Speaker 1: that skill set. He might be the best quarterback in
Speaker 1: the league already. I mean certainly in the top couple,
Speaker 1: and I mean in terms of avoiding pressure and buying
Speaker 1: time in the pocket. Oh, he's It's uncanny how savvy
Speaker 1: he is in the pocket. Yeah. Okay, so let's now
Speaker 1: we've gone We've gone through the four questions. Now let's
Speaker 1: go records for each team, and we'll start with the
Speaker 1: great Mark Sessler. All Right, I start up top with
Speaker 1: the This is reluctant on my part, but I go
Speaker 1: Texans eleven and five. Reluctant and then you give them
Speaker 1: eleven wins. Yeah, I just I could see them taking
Speaker 1: a disastrous turn. But eleven and five for the Texans,
Speaker 1: Colts eight and eight, UH Titans six and ten, Jaguars
Speaker 1: four and twelve. Al right, West, I have uh the
Speaker 1: same exact thing for the first two teams. I have
Speaker 1: Texans eleven and five called a vote for the defense
Speaker 1: Colts eight and eight. I believe, as Mark said, they
Speaker 1: can be a better team with a worse record, UH
Speaker 1: Titans seven nine, Jaguars three and thirteen, util Andrew lucton
Speaker 1: the Hall of Fame, and they're they're not winning more
Speaker 1: than eight games. They can't repeat the luck that they had.
Speaker 1: Um Okay, I have the call. I I do think
Speaker 1: luck and luck and luck will prevail and the Colts
Speaker 1: will go eleven and five. They will win the division. Texans,
Speaker 1: and a lot of this does have to goes into
Speaker 1: some of my concerns about Foster and the depth. They're
Speaker 1: they're gonna go eight and eight, They're gonna drop Titans.
Speaker 1: They're not gonna pull together six and ten and Jags
Speaker 1: three and thirteen. Um. I agree with Dan, He's right.
Speaker 1: The Colts are going to win this division. And I
Speaker 1: think Andrew LUCKX just gonna be that good. If you
Speaker 1: if your quarterback is that good, I think you'll find
Speaker 1: a way to win ten games. Plus this is a
Speaker 1: bad division, so I think they can win a lot
Speaker 1: of the games in the divisions. I have the Texans
Speaker 1: falling out of the playoffs to nine and seven, although
Speaker 1: I do want to say I'm more excited to watch J. J.
Speaker 1: Watt this season than I think I've been like excited
Speaker 1: about watching any defensive player in any season, So that
Speaker 1: should be fun. Titans at five and eleven, I just
Speaker 1: don't think the defensive roster especially is very good at all.
Speaker 1: And the Jaguars at three and thirteen battling the Oakland Raiders,
Speaker 1: not to give anything away, but battling the Open Raiders
Speaker 1: for the reveal. Yeah, um okay. So that that wraps
Speaker 1: up another edition of the A t L Podcast. On Wednesday,
Speaker 1: we will hit the A f C West. A lot
Speaker 1: of people are excited about that, uh but a lot
Speaker 1: of buzz and if anything happens tonight with the Steelers
Speaker 1: and Skins, will touch on that and then any other news.
Speaker 1: So until next time,