Speaker 1: Be Around the NFL Podcast is actually real life friends
Speaker 1: with Move the Sticks. Welcome back Fogus to another edition
Speaker 1: to Be Around the NFL Podcast. My name is Dan Handers,
Speaker 1: and I am joined in room that's filled with some heroes,
Speaker 1: Chris Westling and Greg Rose a ball. What's up boys?
Speaker 1: Hey dan Ah Bah. Stuff to be at work right now, weekend,
Speaker 1: a bunch of dad's in Vegas, then the five you know,
Speaker 1: four and a half five hour drive back to l A. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean certainly we want you to to become a man
Speaker 1: of my age, my late thirties. Now. It takes a
Speaker 1: few days to get back. So I'm just letting everybody now,
Speaker 1: no pre show grade from the old Zeuser as your
Speaker 1: host D minus who the gentleman. That's for your own personal,
Speaker 1: my own personal, the our show pre show grade I'll
Speaker 1: save for the end of this open. This was your
Speaker 1: swan song in Vegas. I'm thinking about hanging up, hanging
Speaker 1: up to the cleats, just like I didn't like. You
Speaker 1: turned this Vegas trip into what Ozzy Knewsom did with
Speaker 1: his last draft and similar praise from the Football COGNIZENTI
Speaker 1: people just standing up and cheering you as you walked
Speaker 1: out of the sports book. We need a spice Rack
Speaker 1: update because I saw some random tweets from him. Yeah,
Speaker 1: spice Rack and I were in communication via text. We
Speaker 1: could not get on the same page to meet up,
Speaker 1: which was a bummer, but we did. I I did
Speaker 1: see a around the NFL podcast listener approached me and uh,
Speaker 1: study enjoyed our work, which was really a great move
Speaker 1: considering it happened in front of all my friends, UH,
Speaker 1: and that led to them being filled with jealousy and envy,
Speaker 1: which is really what you want. Uh. You want to
Speaker 1: win into personal battles with your best friends, with every yes,
Speaker 1: every interpersonal battle in your life. Right, So everybody else
Speaker 1: had to take stock what am I really doing in
Speaker 1: my career in my life, and I was just like
Speaker 1: soaking it up doing the Pope handshake. You really did
Speaker 1: win the week as it's great to hear you vocalize
Speaker 1: you know all these inside of your brain. Some of
Speaker 1: these men listen to the podcast too, so it might
Speaker 1: be the end of the friendship West. You also had
Speaker 1: a nice saucy weekend. I heard we hung out the
Speaker 1: Paramore and I hung out with Tiffany Blackman on Saturday
Speaker 1: for Derby and then NFL Network did a little brunch
Speaker 1: acting yesterday. The paramore's cousin was in town from St. Louis.
Speaker 1: So I went over my limit of fun for the weekend.
Speaker 1: I don't I don't doubt that West that you had
Speaker 1: fun this weekend, Greg, and you got down? I imagine
Speaker 1: what got down? What does that mean? That's what the
Speaker 1: kids are saying. That's what the kids were saying. In like,
Speaker 1: I hung out a lot with my my kids, but
Speaker 1: I did go out for my wedding anniversary eleven eleven years.
Speaker 1: Tell us about the whole night. Okay, alright, So Greg
Speaker 1: had a nice weekend too. We hope all the listeners
Speaker 1: had a nice weekend. It is now Friday, and this
Speaker 1: is uh what I'm talking about. That's how you get
Speaker 1: a D minus. This is not Friday, literally opposite of Friday.
Speaker 1: It's Monday, and we have a nice show. We're gonna
Speaker 1: plow through the show. The pre show great. Here a
Speaker 1: very solid C plus. That's the upside, very solid. Uh.
Speaker 1: So we're gonna do some news, including Big Ben Roethlisberger
Speaker 1: making some interesting public comments about his own team's draft
Speaker 1: strategy and his new colleague in a quarterback room. Uh
Speaker 1: saucy stuff. Also, Chris Wessling wrote a banger Top ten
Speaker 1: Offenses the National Football I can't hear that siren anymore.
Speaker 1: I heard it all weekend. I think it's not a
Speaker 1: good show. Off the show. Everybody. Yeah, this is a
Speaker 1: terrible for the show ahead. Speak for yourself. Weeks. So
Speaker 1: the top ten office are gonna carry league? Yes? I
Speaker 1: like that. Uh So, there you go. That's today's show
Speaker 1: and we're very excited to get to it and to
Speaker 1: start things off. Oh and by the way, Sessili's not here,
Speaker 1: still on jury duty. We believe all week that's the plan.
Speaker 1: Do we believe that he's on jury duty? Yes, I
Speaker 1: believe it. There's a lot of corroborating, That's all I'm saying.
Speaker 1: Doesn't it seem like a nice, perfect timing for an
Speaker 1: extended jury duty, That's all I'm saying. I believe him,
Speaker 1: but I don't believe that he tried his hardest to
Speaker 1: get out of it, literally begging the judge, I do
Speaker 1: not want to do three podcasts a week after the draft, please.
Speaker 1: Uh So, but you know what, if you know the
Speaker 1: movie fest Bueller's day Off, when the principal starts poking
Speaker 1: around to see if fest really is under the weather.
Speaker 1: Might hit the poke around a little bit this week
Speaker 1: on the podcast, just to make sure Mark is where
Speaker 1: he says he is. I think it's a brilliant idea. Okay,
Speaker 1: let's do some news. He was great, I want to
Speaker 1: play right now. That was a little jarring to hear.
Speaker 1: My boy, Todd Bowles, the Jets coach, get really um
Speaker 1: inside of him, was Bowls. He was asked in the
Speaker 1: press conference, uh, I think on Friday to evaluate Sam
Speaker 1: Donald's first practice, and he said this, He was great,
Speaker 1: I want to play right now. He was great, I
Speaker 1: want him to play right now. That's Todd Bowles. That
Speaker 1: does not sound like it was. It was purposeful sarcasm
Speaker 1: on his part. But but he'd never done that in
Speaker 1: four years. Three years coaches showed more personality in one
Speaker 1: sentence than he did in three years. You can tell
Speaker 1: even the room it was like nervous laughter. It's like,
Speaker 1: what is happening? Who is this guy? Anyway? Todd Bowls. Well,
Speaker 1: we'll get to the Jets at the end of the
Speaker 1: news too, but let's start with Ben Roethlisberger, who has
Speaker 1: been the quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers since two thousand
Speaker 1: four and he's been the starter that entire time. And
Speaker 1: he's a man that even though he's you know, contemplated
Speaker 1: retirement or told him that told us that for many years.
Speaker 1: UM has a little issue with his team going going
Speaker 1: ahead and drafting Mason Rudolph Uh in the third round
Speaker 1: of the draft. Uh this uh path the last week
Speaker 1: or two weeks ago. So now uh you have Ben
Speaker 1: Roethlisberger talking about it and uh he was on K
Speaker 1: d K's Cook and Pony uh in Pittsburgh and he
Speaker 1: had this to say about the situation. I told him
Speaker 1: when the season was over, I felt really good and
Speaker 1: had plant was planning on coming back for you know,
Speaker 1: three to five years exactly where I just told you guys. UM.
Speaker 1: So I was surprised and they took a quarterback because
Speaker 1: I thought that maybe in the third round, you know,
Speaker 1: you can get some really good football players that can
Speaker 1: help this team. Now. And nothing against Mason. I think
Speaker 1: it's a great football player. I don't know him personally,
Speaker 1: but I'm sure he's a great kid. Um. I just
Speaker 1: don't know how um, you know, backing up or being
Speaker 1: the third who knows where he's gonna fall on the
Speaker 1: depth chart but helps us win now. But you know
Speaker 1: that's not my decision to make. You know, that's on
Speaker 1: the coaches and the GM and all and those kind
Speaker 1: of things. So if they feel like he can help
Speaker 1: our team, um so be it. I was a little surprised.
Speaker 1: Ben was also asked if he planned to mentor Mason Rudolph. Well,
Speaker 1: I don't think i'll need to. Mean, he said that
Speaker 1: he doesn't need me, So do you ask a question?
Speaker 1: I might have to just point to the point book,
Speaker 1: you know, listen that laugh at the end. What's going
Speaker 1: on here? I'm always thought evil cackle. I'm always disappointed
Speaker 1: when people are predictable. I'd like to give him the
Speaker 1: benefit of doubt. When Gregg's immediate analysis after the draft
Speaker 1: pick was is there anybody you'd rather you'd least rather
Speaker 1: have as your mentor than Ben Roethli, I think that
Speaker 1: was the question. Uh yeah, question y, yeah, And I thought,
Speaker 1: let's give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he's
Speaker 1: not that predictable. Maybe he'll no, he's entirely that predictable.
Speaker 1: And his little evil cackle just because Mason Rudolph said,
Speaker 1: it's not big Ben's job to teach me. Mason Rudolph
Speaker 1: was trying to be nice about it. You know, can
Speaker 1: you use that cackle? Like honestly, lindsay, like thirty times
Speaker 1: in the show I wanted you can't be enough evil
Speaker 1: been Big Ben cackle today? I think that's that's a
Speaker 1: keeper got It's going to be part of the show,
Speaker 1: all right. So Ben, he's been like a laugh track now,
Speaker 1: like an evil Big Ben. So Ben is not. Ben
Speaker 1: is not good at hiding his you know, the lesser
Speaker 1: parts of him, you know what I mean. He's just
Speaker 1: he's just bad at hiding that. He's kind of a jerk,
Speaker 1: and he deserves some criticism for this, and you know,
Speaker 1: don't don't be a jerk. The difference though, between him
Speaker 1: and a lot of great quarterbacks is just he's kind
Speaker 1: of just bad at hiding it. It's like, who could
Speaker 1: be a bigger jerk than Joe Montana was to Steve Young.
Speaker 1: I mean, you couldn't be or Brett Farve to Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers or probably a lot of quarterbacks when if they're
Speaker 1: in a similar type of situation, they just kind of
Speaker 1: quietly go about being a jerk behind the scene. It
Speaker 1: doesn't it doesn't make Ben. I'm not defending Ben as
Speaker 1: a better player. But I also understand the reaction of, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, Dave damage that because the Steeler fan who's
Speaker 1: basically saying, you know, give me a break. With all
Speaker 1: these people getting the vapors over, Ben Roethlisberger not being
Speaker 1: thrilled that a guy's coming in to potentially take his job.
Speaker 1: It is kind of a natural reaction. He's sort of
Speaker 1: a jerk about it. I don't know if it's that
Speaker 1: unique among quarterback My takeaway on it is is one
Speaker 1: big bend pipe down a little bit. I'm not getting
Speaker 1: the vapors over. But you have been talking about how
Speaker 1: you're gonna retire for like five six years now. So sorry,
Speaker 1: like sue the Steelers if they realize that Landry Jones
Speaker 1: stinks and they have to get somebody else in there
Speaker 1: in case you're you get hurt or you finally do
Speaker 1: follow through on your retirement threat. So I can't. I
Speaker 1: got you have to understand where the Steelers are are
Speaker 1: coming from on this. And one other note is that
Speaker 1: um Ben Roethlisberger once said that he would not be
Speaker 1: where he was and he had so much help when
Speaker 1: he was young in his career from Tommy Maddox. So
Speaker 1: it's kind of like that pay it forward situation. But
Speaker 1: if you're maybe like you know, a guy that laughs
Speaker 1: like this, maybe you don't pay it forward and you
Speaker 1: just want to live out career with yourself in the
Speaker 1: spotlight the whole time. It's not just that he threatened
Speaker 1: retirement last offseason. It's that even though he says he's
Speaker 1: playing three to five more years at the same time
Speaker 1: in the same interview for the second time this week,
Speaker 1: he says, I'm taking it one season at a time.
Speaker 1: After each season, I had to take a look at
Speaker 1: my body and see how I'm gonna be. So, of
Speaker 1: course these Steelers are gonna protect themselves. They answer to
Speaker 1: the other, the other part of their ownership, the front office,
Speaker 1: the rest of the guys on the roster, not just
Speaker 1: a big Ben in the quarterback room. They answered to
Speaker 1: higher power than Ben Roethlisberg. Well it's funny too, because
Speaker 1: it's just gonna make this a bigger issue in theory.
Speaker 1: It's gonna it's really gonna make it more annoying for
Speaker 1: Ben Roethlisberger because now there's gonna be more eyes on this.
Speaker 1: There's gonna be more conversation about this, more questions about it.
Speaker 1: And and as much as the Steelers were happy to
Speaker 1: get Mason Rudolph, you know, their general manager Kevin Colbert
Speaker 1: said he was in the mix in their rankings with
Speaker 1: some of the top quarterbacks. Yeah, part of it's just
Speaker 1: value and circumstance. He fell to the end of the
Speaker 1: third round, and so they they took him. And they
Speaker 1: you know, if someone had really loved Mason Rudolph and
Speaker 1: taken him in the late first or second round, he
Speaker 1: wouldn't end up being on the Steelers. But they gotta
Speaker 1: do what they like because they liked the value. He
Speaker 1: went all out on cooking Pony. By the way, not
Speaker 1: only did he express these issues that he had in
Speaker 1: the playbook comment, but he also went out and said, well,
Speaker 1: what about Joshua Dobbs last his fourth round pick. If
Speaker 1: you take Mason Rudolph in the third round the following year,
Speaker 1: does that mean that you screwed up your fourth round pick?
Speaker 1: Like he's going all out calling. I didn't even like that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that is I mean, listen beyond the pane, you know what,
Speaker 1: do we want to hear it? Let's hear it. They
Speaker 1: the worst. I'll be honest, I wasn't worried about it.
Speaker 1: Told me to take him my job. I feel confidence
Speaker 1: that I can be whoever I need to beat out
Speaker 1: to get for my job. That's just the com hself.
Speaker 1: I do bad for those guys because you know, ladies,
Speaker 1: and I don't know what what's gonna happen still the
Speaker 1: true I don't really know. Um you know in Josh,
Speaker 1: same thing last year, taken in the fourth round? Um
Speaker 1: you know? So does it mean the Steelers like screw up?
Speaker 1: Like do they think that that he wasn't the one
Speaker 1: that they thought? Or has he not developed the way
Speaker 1: they thought? Why else would you take a quarterback in
Speaker 1: the third round the next year? So that's what's going
Speaker 1: on Big Ben right now. He's going through a lot
Speaker 1: of stuff and I feel, I honestly feel bad for
Speaker 1: Mason Ruop. I don't feel bad that he's in the
Speaker 1: NFL and he's making a lot of money now, But
Speaker 1: that's a tough situation to walk into. Let's move on.
Speaker 1: The Carolina Panthers have signed a new running back. His
Speaker 1: name is C. J. Anderson uh. He was released by
Speaker 1: the Broncos earlier this offseason. A guy that is has
Speaker 1: a track record of success, Greg Rosenthal, and he joins
Speaker 1: the Carolina backfield that could probably use a little more
Speaker 1: heat between the tackles. Yes or no, absolutely great signing.
Speaker 1: I was kind of wondering, what are they gonna do
Speaker 1: because even if you're as high as on Christian McCaffrey
Speaker 1: as possible, I don't think you see him as four
Speaker 1: and fifty touches this year. And they had really no option.
Speaker 1: And c J. Anderson was one of, if not the
Speaker 1: best free agents at any position unsigned I believe certainly
Speaker 1: the best free agent running back I can think of.
Speaker 1: I love the fit. I agree with you totally. I
Speaker 1: was working on his top ten offense list and one
Speaker 1: of the reasons the Panthers didn't squeak into the tent
Speaker 1: spot was because they didn't have a power back. This
Speaker 1: feels that whole He's a good compliment to Christian McCaffrey.
Speaker 1: Man didn't end up in Miami who had shown interest
Speaker 1: in him, and I guess Frank Gore took that spot
Speaker 1: from him. Fozzy Whittaker, Cameron Artist Payne also on the
Speaker 1: depth chart, So CJ is going to have a role
Speaker 1: on this team. Uh and potentially a very big one. Uh.
Speaker 1: The Seattle Seahawks have parted ways with pass rusher Cliff Avril. Uh.
Speaker 1: He was waived with a failed physical designation. A neck
Speaker 1: injury suffered four games into his tenth season led Pete
Speaker 1: Carroll to concede earlier in the offseason that Avril will
Speaker 1: have a quote hard time playing football again. So Avril
Speaker 1: leaves the Seahawks and all of the NFL because he
Speaker 1: took a job west with a local radio station in Seattle.
Speaker 1: So happy trails Clove April. Yeah, he has been embraced
Speaker 1: by that community. Um. And we all know his work
Speaker 1: off the football field building those houses in Haiti. Um.
Speaker 1: I believe he also built a school in Haiti. So
Speaker 1: good for him that he he has been embraced and
Speaker 1: he has a job after his football. He's not officially
Speaker 1: ruling out retirement for what it's worth. Uh that if
Speaker 1: the doctors somehow cleared him. It sounds like mentally he
Speaker 1: hasn't kind of gotten to that hurdle that he's totally
Speaker 1: giving up. It's sure sounds like it. And he's got
Speaker 1: a nice landing spot there, and you know him and
Speaker 1: Michael Bennett signing within days of you know, on the
Speaker 1: same day. I believe back in two thousand and thirteen
Speaker 1: turned that defense from like rising to one of the
Speaker 1: best that we've seen, and they won the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: Did a very similar contracts the first time first time around,
Speaker 1: and if they didn't credible bargains, if they didn't have
Speaker 1: a quarterback on a rookie salary, they wouldn't have been
Speaker 1: able to sign those guys five years with the Seahawks.
Speaker 1: I remember uh he came in and was at NFL
Speaker 1: Network studios about six years ago and I interviewed him
Speaker 1: and he was getting jerked around by the lines who
Speaker 1: weren't willing to pay him the money that he wanted.
Speaker 1: And he goes to Seattle and it certainly worked out
Speaker 1: for him. I thought he could have won Super Bowl
Speaker 1: m v P, being we were at that game live
Speaker 1: and that was a tough one to pick an m
Speaker 1: v P. Malcolm Smith got it, but Avril was my
Speaker 1: pick as the guy who made the biggest difference on
Speaker 1: a snap to snap basis, he could have easily been
Speaker 1: Super Bowl MVP. The New Orleans Saints are moving on
Speaker 1: from Kobe Fleaner. The Saints UH are releasing the tight
Speaker 1: end Uh. He signed a five year, thirty six million
Speaker 1: dollar deal in free agency in Steen, but it just
Speaker 1: never clicked between Fleaner and Drew Breesey appeared in twenty
Speaker 1: seven games, just nine starts, seventy two catches for five touchdowns. UH.
Speaker 1: His season ended after a concussion in week twelve. I'm
Speaker 1: not sure what his status is uh in terms of
Speaker 1: his physical availability right now. But UH, Fleaner, the first
Speaker 1: round pick of the Colts West had Andrew Luck and
Speaker 1: then Drew Brees, and it just has never happened for him.
Speaker 1: So you suspect that it never will. I do suspect
Speaker 1: that he's never been a physical player. And now he's
Speaker 1: dealing with the fifth concussion of his career that we
Speaker 1: know about. UH. Rap Sheet reported he's still receiving treatment
Speaker 1: from the final concussion he just ended his season last year,
Speaker 1: and he still wants to play if he can return
Speaker 1: to health. That was one of those contracts everyone kind
Speaker 1: of made fun of the second happened, and everyone was
Speaker 1: right in this In this case, have you noticed the
Speaker 1: Saints can't just plug anyone in it tight end? It
Speaker 1: feels like they should be able to with Drew Brees,
Speaker 1: But Josh Shale never made that leap, and Kobe Fleaner
Speaker 1: never was what they thought he was either. And now
Speaker 1: they're bringing back Ben Watson, a guy who's done it
Speaker 1: there before, but he's he's thirty seven years old. I
Speaker 1: was kind of surprised that he's just penciled in as
Speaker 1: their starter, but makes that very clear. There aren't many.
Speaker 1: I was thinking about this when I was reading the story.
Speaker 1: There aren't many. I guess Marty Bennett, who we know
Speaker 1: we're talking about, Michael Bennett. How many tight ends get
Speaker 1: signed in free agency and then really do make a
Speaker 1: big impact. The list isn't very long, is it. No,
Speaker 1: you're right, You're right? Um, all right? You know what?
Speaker 1: This feels like a good time two check in with Mark.
Speaker 1: And again I'm not saying I don't believe that Mark
Speaker 1: is an on jury duty You're raising the question now.
Speaker 1: I just feel like someone has to ask it, because
Speaker 1: you know, Mark could be doing some mark things too,
Speaker 1: That's all I'm saying. Like the case could have been
Speaker 1: settled four days ago, for all we know is an
Speaker 1: even is anyone doing any homework on this? I go
Speaker 1: to Vegas, I unplug, I come back in and everyone
Speaker 1: is just accepting that markus like involved in the trial
Speaker 1: of the century. So when we give him a call,
Speaker 1: all right, And I mean, I've got a family to
Speaker 1: worry about. This isn't on the top of my list.
Speaker 1: I don't want Mark to know that I'm questioning him.
Speaker 1: So let me just calm under the theory that I
Speaker 1: need to know more about the Kobe Fleaner release. Mark
Speaker 1: Sessler's thoughts on Kobe Fleaner's release. That's why we're calling nobody.
Speaker 1: Let him know there are doubts. We're great actors because
Speaker 1: I know I'm not the only one with doubts. By
Speaker 1: the way, maybe you guys aren't speaking to them, but
Speaker 1: I know they're there now. If you get If it's
Speaker 1: a voicemail doesn't necess automated messaging system is not available
Speaker 1: at the tone. Please record your message. When you finished recording,
Speaker 1: you may hang up or press one for more options. Hey,
Speaker 1: Mark's Dan, what's up? West? And Greg here too? Around
Speaker 1: the endical podcast Kobe Fleaner released by the Saints after
Speaker 1: two uninspiring seasons. Just thought, maybe you give us a detailed,
Speaker 1: uh look into your feelings on this move by the
Speaker 1: Saints and whether Fleaner has an NFL future beyond last season.
Speaker 1: We miss you, Mark, we need you on this fleaner
Speaker 1: to us. Good luck with that case. Alright did you
Speaker 1: wink when you said case? All right, listen, I'm not
Speaker 1: saying it for sure moving on. It's just something to
Speaker 1: track your suspicions have been roused. Derek Johnson signing with
Speaker 1: the Enemy. The former chiefs UH star signed with the
Speaker 1: Raiders on Friday. Mike Silver had this uh. The team
Speaker 1: made the announcement official. Uh thirty five years old. The
Speaker 1: Raiders continue greg to add veterans that are probably on
Speaker 1: the other side of their uh their prime. Uh. Do
Speaker 1: you think Johnson makes an impact for Vocal this year?
Speaker 1: Not a not a meaningful one, And it just as
Speaker 1: another signing that I think goes to prove the reporting
Speaker 1: out there that basically John Gruden is running this front office,
Speaker 1: that he's doing that Reggie got pushed out. I mean,
Speaker 1: I don't I don't necessarily doubt that Reggie mackenzie enjoys
Speaker 1: working with John Gruden and fulfilling John Gruden's vision like
Speaker 1: they've worked he but it's clear that it's John Gruden
Speaker 1: kind of, you know, making these decisions and asking Reggie
Speaker 1: to do it. So after playing his entire career, or
Speaker 1: at least the latter part of his career in a
Speaker 1: three or four defense, he's moving to a four three defense.
Speaker 1: I don't know if that's gonna work. He played, he played,
Speaker 1: They had a four three in in Kansas City before.
Speaker 1: But yeah, it's thirty five years old. Regardless, it's it's uh,
Speaker 1: it's a lot to ask, and that's been a trouble
Speaker 1: position for them, Yeah, says in. It does not look
Speaker 1: much better on paper. Raiders are kind of a fascinating team.
Speaker 1: I was gonna say potential car crash, but I don't
Speaker 1: want to assume that these are all going to be
Speaker 1: removed that don't don't work out, because we don't know.
Speaker 1: But oh, I think car crash is one end of
Speaker 1: the spectrum of what could happen. Now imagine, let's go
Speaker 1: worst case scenario and they drop a four and twelve
Speaker 1: and Gruden has nine years and ninety million soldier. It's
Speaker 1: funny because everyone is now so against them, and it's
Speaker 1: a it's a stupid, you know nature of mine that
Speaker 1: now I think I'm going to root for them more
Speaker 1: like I just want them to be in the mix.
Speaker 1: I don't want them to be the car crash that
Speaker 1: everyone expects because I felt the same thing. Everyone is
Speaker 1: so sure of it that I just want to be
Speaker 1: the guy. It's like, well, everybody shut up for a second.
Speaker 1: Let's just see if this guy actually can still do it.
Speaker 1: I don't know what's gonna happen. I'm just kind of
Speaker 1: more into them being interesting because it's become a cliche now,
Speaker 1: but it's true. The Raiders are more The league is
Speaker 1: more interesting when the Raiders are good, and especially now
Speaker 1: that Gruden's back, like it'll I think it'll be more
Speaker 1: fun if at least they're in the mix a little bit. Uh.
Speaker 1: You know, we love talking about the booth. We love
Speaker 1: the booth. We cover it and I'm not not many
Speaker 1: podcasts cover the booth. It's as heavily he's got the
Speaker 1: coverage of the booth that we got. CBS announced announced
Speaker 1: CBS announced Thursday that Bruce Arians will work in a
Speaker 1: three man booth Booth with Greg Gumbel and Trent green
Speaker 1: Um and Jamie Urdal handles the sideline reporting for that team.
Speaker 1: Quick takeaway on that one, Chris Wesley, Well, I like
Speaker 1: to rank all these booths throughout the year when I
Speaker 1: watch and let's just say that Bruce arians landed in
Speaker 1: the dream spot what that booth needed some personality. He
Speaker 1: better be good though, because yeah, he's not good. You
Speaker 1: could look at it like that, or you could look
Speaker 1: at it like he's joining a group that he can
Speaker 1: only improve to a certain level, and I would rather
Speaker 1: see him at a certain you think they'll pull him down.
Speaker 1: So you're saying you'd rather him sign with a star
Speaker 1: team rather than a team that's kind of middling or worse, right,
Speaker 1: or just be by himself, like like, all I know
Speaker 1: is that you do not want to run into Mark
Speaker 1: Sessler or or myself on the Sunday mornings where we
Speaker 1: turn on the Old Game at ten am and you
Speaker 1: realize you got old gumble and people make people are
Speaker 1: making comments, people streets talking. When Mark would get it,
Speaker 1: it would like it would immediately put him in a
Speaker 1: bad movie too. I totally understand it. I wouldn't say,
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know what you guys stand and
Speaker 1: we're talking talking Gumbi and Green here he had he
Speaker 1: had a streak of Gumbi and Green that was tough
Speaker 1: last season. I wouldn't say that they maybe. Opinions vary
Speaker 1: on this. They never take away from the game or
Speaker 1: the point where I'm like liking the game, I'm watching less,
Speaker 1: but are they bringing anything to the table? Opinions definitely
Speaker 1: vary on that one. In other news, Richard Ditch of
Speaker 1: The Athletic reported that Joe test It, Tore and Jason
Speaker 1: Witten will be a two man booth on Monday Night
Speaker 1: Football and Booger McFarlane the good natured giant former NFL player?
Speaker 1: Is that a good way to describe someone? A good
Speaker 1: natured giant football fella? There, it's just on the borderline
Speaker 1: of offensive. I feel like, I don't know where giant,
Speaker 1: I don't know how, I don't know, but it feels
Speaker 1: like a compliment to that point. It did ring a
Speaker 1: bell in my own head as I was saying it
Speaker 1: is that. Okay, he's a good natured giant. Feels fine
Speaker 1: to me. Yeah, okay, he's gonna be the quote field
Speaker 1: analyst of this team. And then, uh, poor Lisa Saulters.
Speaker 1: She had that whole field to herself and now she
Speaker 1: uh stays on. She's the only one who survives the
Speaker 1: Monday Night football purge. She's the sideline reporter, So I
Speaker 1: guess she has to stay on the sideline. She can't
Speaker 1: move anywhere because you got the affable giant everywhere else.
Speaker 1: I think it's the combination of the good natured even
Speaker 1: might be more offensive than the giant part. Anyways, I
Speaker 1: like good nature to put down somehow. I don't know
Speaker 1: him in with faint praise. I don't know what the
Speaker 1: word is the field. I think this has really good potential.
Speaker 1: I'm excited. I don't know Booger McFarland's track record that
Speaker 1: well because he's a college football guy, so you know
Speaker 1: at ESPN. But I like the idea of kind of
Speaker 1: the x as and those guys on the field. I
Speaker 1: know they tried it with Tony sirag Goose that maybe
Speaker 1: that wasn't the right guy to execute that vision, but
Speaker 1: Lewis Riddick did it in the Pro Bowl. And I
Speaker 1: think Booger McFarland is very He is a likable guy,
Speaker 1: and I think he's going to kind of add that
Speaker 1: sort of like XS and OS sideline thing. It's like
Speaker 1: trying something something. I would love to be a fly
Speaker 1: on the wall in this meeting where someone throughout this line, Hey,
Speaker 1: what if we revived the old Tony Sea Goosa rule?
Speaker 1: How how does that happen? But I think the actual,
Speaker 1: hopefully execution of it's gonna be be a little different.
Speaker 1: So it's not another sideline reporter. It's basically another guy
Speaker 1: that chimes in, not as often as a third man
Speaker 1: in the booth, but he's gonna he's gonna be hining
Speaker 1: in with some Sara Goose. Thing was more than an
Speaker 1: experiment by the way, it lasted years, and it felt
Speaker 1: like it lasted decades. I mean, did he ever contribute
Speaker 1: anything to the broadcast? Right? But that's not Buger McFarland's fault,
Speaker 1: you know. Throw it down to uh Tony Sargos and
Speaker 1: he's like, oh, from my vantage point, that was a
Speaker 1: heck of a play back to you, it's like they're
Speaker 1: about to wear their long cleats when they try down
Speaker 1: that Salters territory. Though, that's where he gets tricky. That
Speaker 1: will not be Booger's territory. Richard Ditch reported this, and
Speaker 1: as part of that he said twelve people tried out
Speaker 1: for that job that Witten got, and it sounded like
Speaker 1: McFarland was another was one of those twelve as well.
Speaker 1: So he made an impression on them. I believe Bruce
Speaker 1: Arians was one of those twelve. Uh two did not
Speaker 1: did not wind up getting the job. Why why not
Speaker 1: just have a three man booth. I don't get this
Speaker 1: field analyst thing. They're just trying to mix it up,
Speaker 1: reinvent the wheel if you will see if it works.
Speaker 1: You sound skeptical. I have no taker you, I think
Speaker 1: West Yeah, I don't. I don't see how that adds
Speaker 1: to the broadcast in any meaningful way at all. He said,
Speaker 1: I'm looking in these broadcasts for some announcers who can
Speaker 1: teach me things, and not enough of them are like that.
Speaker 1: Tony Romo is absolutely McFarland once every twenty seven minutes
Speaker 1: is gonna my guests. He'll be more involved, and that's
Speaker 1: gonna be part of his role. We'll see. You gotta
Speaker 1: be good at doing it. But he's been with ESPN
Speaker 1: for four years like this as the potential to really
Speaker 1: annoy Mark Sessler. Oh my god, you're right and uh
Speaker 1: and I think we all agree that Monday Night Football
Speaker 1: was due for a change. It was not working, as
Speaker 1: we talked about before um Gruden left. So let's see
Speaker 1: what this work. This works finally, as Yes, you heard
Speaker 1: from Todd Bowls earlier today he was great. I want
Speaker 1: to play right now. Regarding Sam Donald, who's in his
Speaker 1: initial practices as the future and the turning point in
Speaker 1: the history of the New York Jets. His arrival, I
Speaker 1: got a lot of tweets about what does Keith Hanss
Speaker 1: think about uh the move and uh haven't had a
Speaker 1: chance to unveil the voicemail from Keith, but now at
Speaker 1: this time his thoughts on Sam Donald to the Jets
Speaker 1: at number three overall his name was Keith. He's dands dad.
Speaker 1: He'll doubt about it. He's a big Jets fan. Well
Speaker 1: does he go to say that game to say, well,
Speaker 1: does he go pull that? I think Sam Donald was
Speaker 1: a great pick to the Jets. He's the man they
Speaker 1: wanted from the beginning, and I believe he has the
Speaker 1: intangibles needed to be a star in the NFL. Um
Speaker 1: the Jets A certainly do. They've grabbed twenty four quarterbacks
Speaker 1: since nineteen seventy six, and enough for to replace my
Speaker 1: hero Joe Willie Go Jets. He's very excited. Yes, he's
Speaker 1: very excited. I mean my dad was born in the fifties,
Speaker 1: early fifties, and since nineteen seventy five, he's seen them all,
Speaker 1: all the horrible quarterbacks. I just started. My jet fandom
Speaker 1: really started uh in Earnest right around Browning Nagle in
Speaker 1: ninety two, and it's been a holacious healthscape of twenty
Speaker 1: five years. Uh kids got the Ken O'Brien, Richard Todd,
Speaker 1: Pat Ryan uh and all the other who bumps in between.
Speaker 1: So who is the best one drafted and all that
Speaker 1: span had to be Chad Pennington? I guess Brian Pennington
Speaker 1: and O'Brien, you've had some had some top ten to
Speaker 1: twelve guys and you said you claim that that like that,
Speaker 1: that even that alone, you'd be happy about that if
Speaker 1: you can just finally get a serviceable guy that although
Speaker 1: I think now Sam Donald's raised the bar and that
Speaker 1: if he if he has Ken O'Brien's career, are you
Speaker 1: gonna be happy? No? No, no, I don't think. I
Speaker 1: think if he I don't know, if he is kind
Speaker 1: of like a Matt Stafford type career, that would I
Speaker 1: would definitely sign off on that. But the excitement of
Speaker 1: all this is that maybe he's way better than that.
Speaker 1: But you know, Keiths excited when he's throwing Joe Namath's
Speaker 1: name around. That's true. That's true when Joe Willie comes up, uh,
Speaker 1: and his name has been coming up a lot, a
Speaker 1: lot with Sam Donald. I think Donald is the right
Speaker 1: attitude to handle that type of pressure. But we're gonna
Speaker 1: find out. Oh, it's good to be a Jet fan
Speaker 1: right now. Anyway, in this exact moment, it is all right,
Speaker 1: there we go, that's what's happening in the news. Now.
Speaker 1: Chris Westling wrote what he calls a sub banger. But Greg,
Speaker 1: you and I both know that west is a gifted
Speaker 1: football analyst and he really has a way with words.
Speaker 1: So even a sub banger from west I don't even
Speaker 1: believe it. Well, what I'm saying very high standard for
Speaker 1: an off season banger. A sub banger from west though,
Speaker 1: is someone else's supreme banger. So I still think. Check
Speaker 1: it out at NFL dot com slash Westling the top
Speaker 1: ten offenses in the National Football League. So let's get
Speaker 1: into it. Wes. Now, my first question, first of all,
Speaker 1: let me get this list of that's important. Here we go.
Speaker 1: You have that number one, so that's the front at
Speaker 1: the top, and some people are gonna say they're a
Speaker 1: little surprised by this New Orleans Saints the number one
Speaker 1: offense in the league. What makes them to you? Are
Speaker 1: they head and shoulders above the number two team you
Speaker 1: have here are the Patriots and then the Steelers are three?
Speaker 1: Or is it really kind of a toss of it?
Speaker 1: I don't think they're head and shoulders. In fact, the
Speaker 1: Patriots led in every meaningful metric last year for offense.
Speaker 1: They were number one and everything. But they've also lost
Speaker 1: a guy who was one of the hottest running backs
Speaker 1: in the league down the stretch and Dion Lewis. They
Speaker 1: lost their deep threat in Brandon Cooks, and they don't
Speaker 1: have anyone else on the roster really who has that
Speaker 1: skill set. And they lost their left tackle. So there's
Speaker 1: a lot of questions on the Patriots offense. They do
Speaker 1: get Edelman and Malcolm Mitchell back, and they drafted Sony Michelle,
Speaker 1: but those are question marks. Greg I was surprised to
Speaker 1: see the Patriots as high as they were, so I
Speaker 1: I appreciate it, you know, as a as a Patriots
Speaker 1: Did you see the last incredible Yeah? And then and that,
Speaker 1: and I think to your point you just mentioned, you know,
Speaker 1: the options they have to they had a plan eventually
Speaker 1: for how to replace They don't really have a vertical
Speaker 1: receiver Cooks, I think wasn't exactly what they wanted out
Speaker 1: of a vertical receiver either, but they are deep at receiver.
Speaker 1: I think they believe Sony Michelle will be an upgrade
Speaker 1: for Dion Lewis. That has to play out. And one
Speaker 1: move that has gotten has been pretty under the radar
Speaker 1: was their trade for Trent Brown, who people around New
Speaker 1: England now seemed to think has a good chance to
Speaker 1: start at left tackle, a position he did not play
Speaker 1: much in San Francisco, So we'll see if that works.
Speaker 1: Two seems high. I would not even put the Patriots
Speaker 1: number two. I would put the Steelers either one or two,
Speaker 1: just because the continuity you have with Rogers, I mean Roethlisberger, Bell,
Speaker 1: Brown and that offensive line. So that's eight of their
Speaker 1: eleven starters on offense. You don't see a group that
Speaker 1: good stay together that long. Too long. The Patriots have
Speaker 1: the greatest quarterback of all time, in the greatest tight
Speaker 1: end of all time, still playing as well as they've
Speaker 1: ever played. And you know, Juju Smith Schuster is another
Speaker 1: guy you think and maybe even take a step they
Speaker 1: felt good enough Pittsburgh about Smith Schuster to trade Martavis Bryant,
Speaker 1: So you gotta love them this the Saints, though, just
Speaker 1: the the skill talent all over the field, playing in
Speaker 1: that building, with the quarterback who's master. You look for
Speaker 1: a weakness in that offense. We we talked about the
Speaker 1: tight end earlier, so that's one. Ben Watson isn't a
Speaker 1: guy who's making people miss after the catch anymore. But
Speaker 1: to me, the biggest weakness is the backup quarterback. If
Speaker 1: Drew Brees goes down, their playoff hopes are over because
Speaker 1: Tom Savage is their number two. And if you're talking
Speaker 1: about only the backup quarterback as your problem, that's a
Speaker 1: pretty good offense. Yeah, Cameron Meredith, I think can add something.
Speaker 1: When mark Ingram is your second best running back, that's incredible.
Speaker 1: I mean, the that duo and that offensive line, which
Speaker 1: had so many injuries last year. That's why injuries. Teams
Speaker 1: that blame their season on injuries are usually fans are
Speaker 1: just kind of taking the easy way out because teams
Speaker 1: like the Saints or the Patriots for that matter, they'll
Speaker 1: have crazy injuries and they'll figure it out. And that's
Speaker 1: Sean Payton who is still getting it done as a
Speaker 1: play caller after all these years. Whatever reputation he has,
Speaker 1: like he has earned it, Like that he is right near,
Speaker 1: if not the top of the list of the guys
Speaker 1: you want. But no issues have always been the rest
Speaker 1: of the other side of the ball, even even during
Speaker 1: their down days that they were one of the best
Speaker 1: offenses in the league every year. The only only hesitation
Speaker 1: I would have not that Drew Brees really showed that
Speaker 1: he was in any level decline, but he is now
Speaker 1: another year older. And then Kamara and Ingram that was
Speaker 1: an altar literally the best tandem season of all time.
Speaker 1: Uh do they do that every single year? Probably not.
Speaker 1: Will they ever be that good again? Maybe not? Uh
Speaker 1: So they need to kind of continue to perform in
Speaker 1: tandem at that level. Are close to it for this offense,
Speaker 1: I think to be number one but not impossible? Was no,
Speaker 1: I agree, and I looked to forth on this list
Speaker 1: of Falcons. That could be a model of how the
Speaker 1: Saints running backs come back to the pack a little
Speaker 1: bit like DeVonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman did last year.
Speaker 1: But that's still a great tandem in Atlanta. That's and
Speaker 1: then you add Calvin Ridley to the wide receiver corps.
Speaker 1: Again an offense where the backup quarterback seems to be
Speaker 1: the biggest problem. Maybe the play caller. Yeah, I think
Speaker 1: Starcusing is a guy that I worry about the most.
Speaker 1: There that's giving them some love, which I'm totally on
Speaker 1: board with. If if people have been listening to these
Speaker 1: podcasts last couple of weeks, like I am very high
Speaker 1: on this Falcons team to stay near the top of
Speaker 1: the NFL. But I think the perception out there after
Speaker 1: last season is no one. Most people would not consider
Speaker 1: them the fourth best offense in the league anymore. Well,
Speaker 1: I think most people look at they look at basic
Speaker 1: stats like total offense points per game. If you look
Speaker 1: at the metrics, they were second and drive success rate
Speaker 1: and second in yards per drive last season. The field.
Speaker 1: We talked about this on the last podcast. They just
Speaker 1: had bad luck on turnovers and in the red zone.
Speaker 1: And you know, some some of it is Sarkasian's play
Speaker 1: only he didn't maximize guys like Taylor Taylor Gabriel. He
Speaker 1: didn't get Tevin Coleman the ball in space enough. If
Speaker 1: he can get better at that, I think the Falcons
Speaker 1: can just as easily go back to number one. If
Speaker 1: it's May, then Wesley or Rosental writing bangers, you know
Speaker 1: the Chargers are gonna be the top five of things here.
Speaker 1: They are sitting at number five five, the number five
Speaker 1: offense and all football according to west tell Us. Why
Speaker 1: Chris Well. They won six of their last seven games
Speaker 1: last year. They were one of the best offenses already,
Speaker 1: so I expect. And then the number seven overall pick
Speaker 1: in the draft, Mike Williams really gave him nothing. He
Speaker 1: figured he's gonna have a bigger rule this year. Hunter
Speaker 1: Henry I thought was a top five tight end by
Speaker 1: the end of the season, and with Antonio Gates no
Speaker 1: longer around, you have to worry about that. The offensive
Speaker 1: line is improved with Mike Pouncey coming in as a center,
Speaker 1: and they've got a couple of second year guards there
Speaker 1: looked promising. I don't really see a weakness on this
Speaker 1: offense except maybe running back depth. Mhm. If I'm if
Speaker 1: I'm giving awards though for this list just about you
Speaker 1: know I would give the award to This is a mouthful,
Speaker 1: but you know the fan base with the best change
Speaker 1: to be piste off award. It goes to the Eagles.
Speaker 1: I mean, what the Eagles are two spots behind the
Speaker 1: Chargers after dropping a forty burger in the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: The backup, stop back, I I just and I get
Speaker 1: and you can explain why you you put them there
Speaker 1: there behind some other offenses. But to me, they have
Speaker 1: the best chance to rise if you make this list
Speaker 1: again at the end of the year, because they have
Speaker 1: a chance, I think to be one of the very
Speaker 1: best offenses. Well, I'm not really gonna put the recency
Speaker 1: bias of the Super Bowl is like to decide did
Speaker 1: what the Chargers end of the season. You know, that's
Speaker 1: seven games, not one. They Eagles finished ninth and waited
Speaker 1: d b o A eleven yards per drive in seventh
Speaker 1: and total offense, they were not like some jugger not
Speaker 1: that people couldn't stop. Where were they before Carson wentz Tour?
Speaker 1: But they were higher because but now he's coming in
Speaker 1: often he's not gonna be the same quarterback coming off
Speaker 1: in a c L surgery. Yeah, I'm I'm less worried
Speaker 1: about what all these teams did last season and more
Speaker 1: just projecting forward. And I love their offensive line in general.
Speaker 1: Do you project the loss of Frank Wright and John D.
Speaker 1: Flippo hurting them at all not a ton again, And
Speaker 1: maybe I'll be wrong about that that I'm I'm because
Speaker 1: it's kind of hard to wrap your head around how
Speaker 1: much they matter or not. But when your head coach
Speaker 1: is it's like, if Andy Reid and then maybe this
Speaker 1: is giving Doug Peterson a little too much credit of
Speaker 1: Andy Reid loses his offensive coordinator, I don't think the
Speaker 1: Chief's offense is gonna get worse, and so Peterson just
Speaker 1: lost it. I kind of trust in his system and
Speaker 1: his quarterbacks and their talent, and they're just a team.
Speaker 1: I kind of expect he'll be just very tough to
Speaker 1: defend week after week. And if their quarterback was not
Speaker 1: coming off in a c L and L c L injury,
Speaker 1: they would be higher on this list. Another fan base
Speaker 1: that is gonna get angry. In West I I think
Speaker 1: you could fend for yourself. Maybe you're not all the
Speaker 1: way back physically after your cancer win, but at the
Speaker 1: same time, I know you could take care of yourself.
Speaker 1: But in Los Angeles, when you put those Rams at
Speaker 1: number seven and you order eight, excuse me, and you
Speaker 1: got a team that led the league in points scoring
Speaker 1: less year they add Brandon Cooks. They got all that
Speaker 1: talent and arguably the best running back in Todd Gurley.
Speaker 1: Shouldn't they be a little bit higher? Would you believe?
Speaker 1: The two thousand seventeen l A Rams finished behind the
Speaker 1: tamp A Bay Buccaneers, considerably behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Speaker 1: and drive success rate in yards per drive. The Rams
Speaker 1: scored a lot of points because they have a brilliant
Speaker 1: offensive coordinator, but they did not move the ball consistently, turnovers, possessions,
Speaker 1: short fields. They were good, they didn't move the ball.
Speaker 1: They were an effective offense. I don't have a problem
Speaker 1: with them being there, if only because the team's ahead
Speaker 1: of them are all rock solid. The Packers. Packers have
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers, so I'm just gonna put them ahead of
Speaker 1: The quarterbacks ahead of them are all better than Jared
Speaker 1: goff the the Chargers. You know you're high on them,
Speaker 1: and that makes sense. I I do it. I kind
Speaker 1: of expect the Ramps to come back to the pack
Speaker 1: a little bit on offense at least, and I I
Speaker 1: don't think I actually, I'm pretty sure I'm not the
Speaker 1: only one. But does anyone else think Jared Goff specifically
Speaker 1: could really come back to the back. I'm not gonna
Speaker 1: say rookie year Jared Goff, but maybe somewhere in the middle.
Speaker 1: It's the big it's really the main question for that
Speaker 1: team because you look at their offense and they have Girly,
Speaker 1: but it's not like it's the loaded offensive weapons around.
Speaker 1: They're good. Good happens to this offensive girly goes down.
Speaker 1: They're in trouble. They're in big trouble, and so running
Speaker 1: back depth is is a big issue for them. Brandy Cooks,
Speaker 1: Robert Woods, Cooper Cup I like that. That's a nice
Speaker 1: run widerit not maybe all world, but they can they
Speaker 1: can get the job done. Tyler Higbee a tight end um,
Speaker 1: not exactly grounk. It shows how deep the league is
Speaker 1: on offense at the Vikings with with Cousins who I
Speaker 1: know you like, with Dalvin Cook who I know you like,
Speaker 1: and then Digs and deel and on the outside can
Speaker 1: only be ninth. I don't have a huge issue with
Speaker 1: them there because I don't know who I would put in,
Speaker 1: you know, I would put them ahead of But that's
Speaker 1: a good looking offense to be number nine. Case Keenum
Speaker 1: was a borderline stud last year in Minnesota's offense. We
Speaker 1: talked about that last week that he was in a
Speaker 1: really great set up. Now Kirk Cousins, who's a probably
Speaker 1: a substantially better quarterback you should say than case Keenum
Speaker 1: now steps into that offense. West. You put them in
Speaker 1: the bottom of your top a tenant number nine, but
Speaker 1: some upside there to be even better. Right there is
Speaker 1: and a lot depends on Dalvin Cook. Again, I have
Speaker 1: a hard time penciling guys right into their pre injury
Speaker 1: form when they're coming back from major knee injuries. So
Speaker 1: he's a question mark. Uh. The wide receiver group is
Speaker 1: one of the best in the league, I think, and
Speaker 1: the offensive line is questionable. Okay, I but a little
Speaker 1: love from our West to the Detroit Lions usually is
Speaker 1: punching bag. Yet they made the list over a number
Speaker 1: of teams, but the Chiefs kind of stand out to
Speaker 1: me as the team that that I would be afraid
Speaker 1: to defend. I know, we have to see how it
Speaker 1: goes with Patrick Mahomes, but just the weapons and the coach.
Speaker 1: They finished in the knocking on the door category by
Speaker 1: Chris Yeah, I'm gonna bust down that door. I know
Speaker 1: everyone loves Patrick Mahomes, but Patrick Mahomes gonna throw the
Speaker 1: ball through the door. That's fine. But the way I
Speaker 1: envisioned this offense, a young quarterback is gonna be making
Speaker 1: rookie mistakes. They're gonna have turnovers, They're gonna have games
Speaker 1: where they're not moving the chains. It's gonna happen. And uh,
Speaker 1: because that is one of my principal roles on this podcast.
Speaker 1: The New York Giants not even getting a knocking on
Speaker 1: the door, Well, they don't have a good call those weapons.
Speaker 1: You need a good quarterback to have a good Hall
Speaker 1: of Famer Eli Manning, Sae Kwon Barkley, who could be
Speaker 1: Todd Gurlsamer, But if right now, I wouldn't rank them high,
Speaker 1: Sterling Shepherd, Evan Ingram. I mean, what else could you
Speaker 1: want to improved offensive line? The Giants are going to
Speaker 1: score some points. I've won a good quarterback. That's what
Speaker 1: I would want in a good offense. I mean, I
Speaker 1: knew that would be your replies. Well, I mean, honestly,
Speaker 1: if you not watch the last two years. Uh, last year,
Speaker 1: I am throwing out last year. No, I don't mean,
Speaker 1: I mean the way he's throwing the ball. He's not
Speaker 1: the same guy he was, But I think the way
Speaker 1: he escapes pressure a ton of weapons. You could argue,
Speaker 1: yet no one has better weapons than him right now, right?
Speaker 1: I mean the offensive line is part of your weapons, right,
Speaker 1: I don't. I don't think it's fixed. I actually don't count.
Speaker 1: If we're talking football parlance, I don't count the offensive
Speaker 1: line in weapons. However, it's very important that you bring
Speaker 1: up with offensive line because it is a suspect of
Speaker 1: it of what at best. Yeah, we'll we'll reconvene Wednesday
Speaker 1: on the off season. Eli is Eli Manning gonna script
Speaker 1: the Giants podcast. That's basically what we do every show
Speaker 1: from here until September. About this, the Buccaneers, Texans, uh,
Speaker 1: and forty Niners. I thought all of those have a better,
Speaker 1: uh more deserving of top ten mentioned than the Giants.
Speaker 1: They they got on the outs Panthers too. Yeah, forty
Speaker 1: Niners will be fascinating. Weirdly, I don't feel like we've
Speaker 1: talked about them a lot this offseason. You would think
Speaker 1: they'd be kind of a a buzz team. Like I
Speaker 1: have a lot of faith in their coach and quarterback.
Speaker 1: The rest of it is coming together and we have
Speaker 1: to see like I don't I don't know. They to
Speaker 1: me have the biggest gap maybe be between ceiling and
Speaker 1: floor just about any of these teams. Certainly their drive
Speaker 1: success rate with Jimmy g under Center would have said
Speaker 1: an NFL record if it lasted all season, and that's
Speaker 1: not gonna happen this year. Uh. So check it out
Speaker 1: nfl dot Com slash Westling. I'm sure you'll get a
Speaker 1: vanity u R eventually, Chris, we shall see. A man
Speaker 1: of your stature within this organization deserves one. So check
Speaker 1: it out the full right up from West Uh. The
Speaker 1: next time you hear from us will be Wednesday. Three
Speaker 1: shows this week, um and um. Greg is going to
Speaker 1: make a very special and extremely personal announcement slash revelation
Speaker 1: on Wednesday show. So you're not gonna want to miss it. Wow. Wow,
Speaker 1: I gotta come up with something. Usually that's a bit
Speaker 1: that I would throw at Mark and then Mark we
Speaker 1: get a little bit flustered and angry at me. But
Speaker 1: in this case I had to go to you know
Speaker 1: what I actually have? I have something immediately popped into
Speaker 1: my mind. Do you want to share it on Wednesday Show? Yeah? Okay,
Speaker 1: so there you go. Now you gotta tune it. Greg's
Speaker 1: a man that sometimes we'll keep the cards close to this,
Speaker 1: not on Wednesday. The guy's an open book. This is
Speaker 1: looking forward to this. Yeah, this is one. This is
Speaker 1: one that's been it's been bubbling inside my family for
Speaker 1: a little bit. I'll just use that as my interesting now.
Speaker 1: I thinking I might have an idea of it, but
Speaker 1: I don't even want to say it. I don't want
Speaker 1: to speak it. I'm not having another way. Oh I
Speaker 1: thought number three was kind. I was gonna say, you
Speaker 1: made a terrible decision. You gotta shut it down at
Speaker 1: two living in l A. But it's not that. Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm very excited and I got that it kind of
Speaker 1: sounded like that. The open Book. It's the Greg Rosenthal
Speaker 1: Open Book podcast coming up Wednesday, so you don't want
Speaker 1: to miss it until then. This Dan Hands is signing
Speaker 1: off for Chris Westling, Greg Rosenthal and Lindsey Bolton Behind
Speaker 1: the Glass. Oh it's still Wednesday.