0:00

The Around the NFL podcast.

0:03

It is going around the

0:06

NFC forty eight

0:08

minutes here we are should

0:11

just have Jason do the whole show with Timber

0:13

episode. I love that from the Chris

0:15

Westley podcast studio. It's around the

0:18

NFL. I am Dan Hansis got

0:20

heroes here, great girls of ball, Mark

0:24

Cecil wearing that black

0:26

button up and

0:29

joining us. A very special guest.

0:32

We love her. She's been on the show, but never in

0:34

person. Jordan Rodrigue of the

0:36

Athletic.

0:38

Guys are all taller in person, all

0:42

to a man, all of you.

0:44

Jordan, what is happening? This is?

0:47

This is very fun. And Jordan, we're gonna

0:49

get to a little bit later. Who

0:52

covers the RAMS and the NFL

0:54

and kills it over on the Athletic

0:56

You come up a lot on the show, which is a

0:58

credit to your work. You

1:00

just came out with Finding Rams, which was a

1:03

deep dive, two part breakdown

1:05

on their entire draft process, which is

1:08

awesome. Uh, and now we're going

1:10

to talk about not just the RAMS, but all the

1:12

NFC.

1:12

Are you prepared for this?

1:14

I'm very nervous because this

1:16

is literally life or death because of

1:18

the Dart situation. So I

1:21

am prepared to be punctured by

1:24

a dart.

1:24

Well.

1:24

Also just that Dan is a very

1:26

exacting judge on guests,

1:29

and unfortunately, as a fan of the show, you.

1:31

Do know that that we do have importance.

1:34

And it's not a demad standards it. It really come

1:36

boils down to how Dan feels like.

1:38

You do you bring value to

1:40

the show. We have it the famous

1:43

that no one's ever seen it. Like we talked, we're going to

1:45

talk about the RAMS

1:48

database. We have our hit it and

1:50

quitit list, and you know, could

1:53

Jordan end up on it?

1:54

We don't know.

1:55

He's already been on the show at least like four times

1:57

in person.

1:57

Okay, now I can change it. Yeah, the pressure

1:59

is off the charts right now.

2:01

It's an incredible pressure. I am glad you did brief

2:03

me about this when I last saw you over

2:06

at the Orphanage. So thank you.

2:08

It was great to see you. It was great to see

2:10

you.

2:10

I had an amazing guy right in

2:12

the community.

2:13

Well, the first thing Dan

2:15

would have mentioned it himself, so it's it's important

2:18

that you bring it up.

2:18

I did. I ran into Dabo Sweeney at the Senior

2:21

Bowl and mobile like what said he said,

2:23

hey, I heard you know Dan hands a stack guy.

2:26

You would know he personalized the football

2:28

that Jordan saw.

2:30

So it is great.

2:32

Whenever I run into people at the orphanage that I'm

2:34

building, it's always great. And Greg

2:37

joined us at the orphan instead of getting mad about me getting

2:39

these footballs for my work.

2:41

Yeah, join me.

2:42

Oh no, I I left some You

2:44

know the thing where you lift the wooden

2:46

frame of the home right, and everybody's got to

2:48

work together. Yes, there's always one spot that's

2:50

empty. That's the Greg spot.

2:52

I don't love like you out you leave

2:54

a plate out for Jesus or a dead.

2:56

Right or the kid that's at the recital, and

2:58

there's the seat save for dad. And they

3:00

look and you see, like the light go out behind

3:02

the ice. That's that's us with the orphanage building in.

3:04

Greg, Greg, it was in that

3:06

empty spot at the Orphanage

3:09

that I carried you.

3:11

Oh I

3:13

don't I don't like The second

3:15

thing Jordan did after taking a beat and seeing

3:18

the great picture of Chris Westling the Chris Westling

3:20

Podcast. After taking a beat, the second thing

3:22

Jordan did here was take a picture of

3:25

your football. But I do like you

3:27

bringing it up because now that we know it

3:29

actually was meant for Mark, that Mark

3:31

did the you know, moderate amount

3:34

of help for the Clemson

3:36

you know, capitalists of America

3:38

Society or whatever, and it just was a

3:40

mistake, and that they actually don't know the difference between the

3:42

two of you. It actually puts you and I.

3:43

Feel like anytime that realization,

3:46

that truth, that narrative bubbles up, it's

3:48

probably scrubbed from the show.

3:49

I don't really listen to the show.

3:50

It's a great ending to this.

3:52

I've never heard this. I've listened

3:54

to every episode.

3:55

It just came out then.

3:58

I don't know. It's a baseless theory,

4:01

and it's not baseless.

4:02

You literally met the he's

4:04

the one who met in our newsroom.

4:06

But the way that we have our glass cubes, some

4:09

one of their PR people probably that's probably Dan Hands

4:12

because it's our names.

4:12

But it looks like I said it.

4:14

This says so much more about you, Mark

4:16

than anyone and Greg less

4:19

you continually.

4:20

I've never thought about this a second time.

4:22

For a second.

4:23

You haven't.

4:23

It's a delicious answer to the The

4:26

best part.

4:27

Is that I wouldn't have even said a word about it

4:29

if that was true, which is an absurd theory

4:31

that you have. It is

4:32

Bryan the.

4:33

Idea that as soon as the football

4:36

showed up, Mark's brain started

4:38

and I've been overlooked once more,

4:40

that the gears turning.

4:43

More under your skin.

4:45

It's delicious. I would say this like I got

4:47

a spill. Hang on, I'm so happy.

4:50

I just simply like, yeah,

4:53

students, So that

4:55

could just be unannoying

4:57

to hang out with most of the time.

5:00

Can I get a quick something to wipe

5:02

down my laptop?

5:03

That would be excellent. All right, So we have

5:05

a lot of work to do and

5:09

we're going around the NFC in

5:12

exactly forty eight minutes, and I think it's it's very

5:14

important, Jordan, you

5:17

are aware of the dart situation. We

5:19

have Big Funk behind the glass that I filling in for

5:22

ETP, and that is that's

5:25

important to know because ETP

5:28

is reckless with the Dart. But

5:30

Big Funk has always wanted an opera Thank you. Big

5:33

Funk has always wanted the opportunity to

5:35

shoot people at the Dart in the studio, So just

5:37

don't go over the three minutes.

5:39

He's more of a like an Oswald type, so you

5:41

know, high chaos potential.

5:44

All right, let's get into it. We've

5:47

divvied up the teams and we're gonna go through it. And we're

5:49

gonna start with the NFC East.

5:51

And why don't we start with

5:53

the Dallas Cowboys. Why don't I get it going with

5:55

the Dallas Cowboys. Okay, I

5:57

hope my laptop is a play

6:00

Matt.

6:02

There we go. Hang on, We're gonna get the laptop wipe

6:04

down a little bit more. All

6:06

right, here we go.

6:10

All right, The way the running back situation has been

6:12

has played out has been yeah, minor fiasco

6:14

on some level.

6:15

I mean, they just resigned Zeke Elliott. But

6:18

I think it's.

6:18

Important to also point out the sky is not

6:20

falling in Dallas.

6:23

Uh.

6:23

You know you you still have uh,

6:27

you still have Dak Prescott, you still have Cde

6:29

Lamb. I assume se CEEDE. Lamb's going to be in the

6:31

building when it matters. You

6:34

have questions, sure, like is Jalen Tolbert

6:36

going to be able to fill that number three wide receiver

6:38

spot the offensive line? We know Zach Martin

6:40

is probably going to be the right guard,

6:43

but where does everyone else fall in this mix?

6:46

The defense has has some issues,

6:49

but it's not overwhelming concerns.

6:52

Brandon Aubrey's on this team, best dan kicker

6:54

in the league outside of Justin Tucker.

6:56

Uh.

6:57

We could sit here and say the same things about Dallas

6:59

eventually falling on their face in January,

7:01

but I just want to say, like, I expect them to

7:03

be playing in mid January once again, based

7:06

on where this roster stands.

7:08

What do you think, Jordan, I'm really

7:10

curious. I mean, there was really strong team last

7:13

year obviously, but then sputtered out at the end.

7:15

And I'm really curious about the structures

7:17

of the contracts. I know, Greg, you're in the weeds on some of

7:19

those things as well. It seems

7:22

like one year left for

7:24

a lot of different people, including some of the fifth year option

7:26

stuff that they've picked up. This is not reporting,

7:29

this is not source, But I do wonder if they're trying

7:31

to play the string out a little bit, including

7:33

aligned with the head coach the last year on his

7:35

contract. See what happens if they're in a

7:37

good shape before the trade deadline,

7:40

take a really big swing to try to push

7:42

or understand that that's about that time

7:44

that you start saying you're goodbyes.

7:46

Which is like not the way I would run things.

7:49

The sky isn't falling now, but it wouldn't surprise me

7:52

if it is falling around the trade deadline

7:54

time. Like, I've just been

7:56

looking at this organization for a long time wondering because

7:58

they used to never be able to handle success, and they

8:00

have handled it under Mike McCarthy. They've been consistent,

8:03

but this time there's just a lot of things pulling

8:05

when especially when it's pulling at your quarterback,

8:08

and then I do think there's questions that can Mike Zimmer

8:11

fix what was a collapsing defense

8:13

at the end of the year. Their linebacker play is what really

8:15

killed them, and they don't seem any better at

8:17

linebacker right now.

8:19

They just feel to me a little bit more directionless

8:21

than in years past. And now all that's amped

8:23

up because it's the Cowboys, But if you look at

8:25

their draft, like in their top three picks, you

8:28

got to tackle a guard.

8:29

I kind of like what they.

8:29

Did on that side, on that side of the ball, because that was

8:32

necessary and not everything can be

8:34

some sort of fantasy based home

8:36

run in the draft, but for me, it

8:38

starts just with like you have a

8:40

quarterback that you what are you doing with the contract there.

8:42

I mean, I really agree with.

8:44

That is Whatdy's zick back. That's gonna make them happy.

8:46

But that's such a Jerry Jones thing from old

8:48

I don't like it feels like like a play that hits

8:50

kind of Jerry Jones move. But I'm

8:52

with Jordan, like this feels like there's a one year window

8:54

here to find out how much things could change.

8:56

If they don't sign an extension.

8:59

Dak will play the final year of his contract

9:01

and counts close to sixty million against the cap.

9:03

So a

9:06

lot of stuff going on there, Mark

9:11

Sessler, who's em all right?

9:14

Some say the ancient pyramids of Egypt

9:16

were actually ornately constructed energy

9:18

centers offering a brand of cosmic power.

9:21

People are not saying this about the New York Giants.

9:24

Since selecting Daniel Jones in twenty nineteen,

9:27

the g Men rank thirty first

9:29

in points per game, total yards per game,

9:31

and passing yards per game. That is

9:33

why I love the Molik neighbors pick. I

9:36

think it's a total change agent. No Giants

9:38

players had eight hundred plus yards receiving

9:40

in over half a decade. I think Theo Johnson

9:43

is an interesting tight end prospect too, Tyler

9:45

Nuban was PFS top safety prospect.

9:47

The pressure is real, though the Rams and Seahawks

9:50

went through what I'd call many rebuilds

9:52

in the course of a season. They're back on their

9:54

toes, rendering year three of Brian Dable.

9:56

There's chatter that Drew Locke could see tangible

9:58

snaps. The owner has of sugar

10:01

sugar plumps and Bill Belichick dancing

10:03

in his head. The Giants were a white hot

10:05

regression candidate a year ago, but Malik

10:07

Neighbors, Brian Burns, a healthy offensive

10:10

line, a healthy Danny Dimes. Are the

10:12

g Men actually an inflation candidate

10:14

one year later? If that's even a thing. Weird team,

10:16

weird days.

10:17

Malik Neighbors is the type of player twenty

10:20

one in his first training camp, by the way, twenty

10:22

one years old. He is the type of player that

10:24

makes you look less wrong about

10:26

whatever quarterback and

10:29

look.

10:29

I like their idea that they were going to try

10:31

to trade up for Drake May but otherwise take

10:33

the best player on the board, which is Malik Neighbors.

10:36

I thought it was alt if he was there right, I thought

10:38

it was interesting. Our

10:41

frenemy Daniel Jeremiah mentioned

10:43

on his something. I guess he has

10:46

a program Moved the Sticks.

10:48

That's a radio show.

10:49

He kind of gave the game away that he says

10:52

Drew Lockey thinks has a good chance of winning the job,

10:54

and that the Giants were literally comparing Drew

10:57

Locke and Daniel Jones,

10:59

but emphasis son Drew Lock to the quarterbacks that were

11:01

gonna come out, and essentially, you

11:03

know, reading between the lines saying like Drew Lock's

11:05

just as good as JJ McCarthy. Uh

11:08

so why take a quarterback? And it's

11:10

something to think about. Dable

11:12

got Coach of the Year because of like a run first offense

11:14

with a quarterback that now has a neck injury,

11:18

has had a neck injury and has injury

11:20

guarantees in twenty twenty five. So it'd be very

11:23

risky to play Daniel Jones a lot.

11:25

And yet I think they will. I think

11:28

the I doubt I think he's gonna play.

11:30

I think they're gonna give him a shot. I think they unless

11:32

they've totally soured on him based on six

11:35

games, seven games and an injury. I think he's going

11:37

to get a chance to play this year and rectify

11:39

or and make them look smart after he's made them

11:42

look so dumb the last year.

11:44

I guess what this is.

11:45

Doesn't matter that the owner seems to like him, because

11:47

that's of course it got a position which.

11:51

A lot and Brian Burns came

11:53

on Thibodeau.

11:54

Yeah, I like that, Dexter Lawrence. I mean, that's

11:56

an awesome front line. I think getting Martin

11:58

Dale out of there is probably like positive. We

12:01

don't really know what we're getting out of Shane

12:03

Bowen, who's their coordinator. I'm predictable apparently,

12:05

because Jordan says she made ten pages

12:07

of notes for this nervous and one

12:09

of them was Greg's going to bring up Drew Locke.

12:12

It is I have to hear in parentheses. Yeah, Greg

12:14

may bring up DJ's comment about your lock

12:17

be ready.

12:18

To me, that's like he had this info the whole time,

12:20

and then he waits till after the draft because.

12:22

They a

12:26

class successor. Rub Build was in there always

12:29

trips.

12:29

Well. I think it's you can compare these.

12:31

I was dizzy for about a minute and a half after

12:33

he hit me. Rub Build all right

12:36

up next, Jordan on

12:38

the.

12:38

Iggles first,

12:41

I have no additional Howie Roseman take the range

12:43

was pretty much already coming on the show. A big fan of

12:45

the show, have listened to every minute of this show.

12:47

I do love, specifically pairing Cooper

12:50

de Jean with Vic Pongio,

12:52

and in fact wonder Ifangio has an idea to make

12:54

him the star, which is a larger framed hybrid

12:56

safety and corner who in this defense does

12:59

not have to abide by the coverage of the rest of the group.

13:01

The idea is to make him an unavoidable player,

13:03

especially pairing him with Quinyon Mitchell. It's

13:06

an offman zone scheme that can get real

13:08

matchy and Quinon Mitchell's ability

13:10

on the outside can open up more movement for

13:12

Cooper Dejene and more like dictating

13:14

the throw to where they need it

13:16

they needed amp up their secondary. I think

13:18

schematically this could get really funky and cool.

13:21

I love the legacy pick Jeremiah Trotter, great

13:23

point, Mark and I think they're

13:26

and I think they're underrated. Pick for twenty twenty five

13:29

or maybe twenty twenty six as the edge Jlyx

13:31

Hunt. Also, I met Big Dom

13:33

at a leak function.

13:35

Oh what's he like?

13:36

Could not have been? Kinder?

13:37

Okay?

13:37

Really nice man?

13:39

Does it seem like you seely the head coach and the

13:41

centering force of the sideline.

13:43

We didn't really interact that long, but you know, I'll

13:45

dig deeper next time.

13:46

That's a great idea about the Gene.

13:49

I mean, Bondo is a perfect

13:51

guy to use him, and then pairing him with CJ. Gardner

13:53

Johnson, whos been successful there and is so versa

13:55

like, they have a lot of options. I wonder if James Bradbury

13:58

even makes this team there they're suddenly deep

14:00

in the secondary after that being a weakness.

14:02

I love.

14:03

I kind of love when teams do that, and I think that's one

14:05

of the reasons someone like Roseman's getting

14:07

the praise because they rebuilt that entire

14:10

secondary. Darius slay A Bradberry

14:12

too, coming off like big names but not coming

14:14

off good seasons. They only one team in the league

14:17

allowed more passing yardage per game than the Eagles,

14:19

So I think the Queny and Mitchell

14:21

thing was fortuitous to have them land on their

14:23

lap in Cooper de Gene, like I had them going in the

14:25

first round, so to get him at forty, it's like good

14:28

timing with good picks. That's why they're getting

14:30

the praise they're getting.

14:31

I love that for the league.

14:34

Yes, I wonder if they're

14:36

just as good on defense, though, as like Jordan Davis

14:38

and Jalen Carter get better, that's a position it takes

14:40

a little while to get better. Jordan Davis maybe

14:42

didn't make the step they hoped last year.

14:44

Well it'll it'll open up what you can do in

14:46

the secondary, in the back half. You know this when

14:48

it's functioning at its you know, at

14:50

its truest form, like this, defense is all

14:52

about tendencies. I think the combination

14:55

of the quarters they brought in are tendency

14:57

breaking or tendency forcing or dictating

15:00

to the offense players. And when you

15:02

have movement like that upfront or the potential

15:04

of that, I think that could be really cool.

15:07

It was good to have because we're gonna have

15:09

Jordan also handled

15:11

the falcons later.

15:13

These are these are hot button topics.

15:15

On the show, no opinion, So as a guiding

15:17

force of the group on the show,

15:19

I think that that that's a smart move. In

15:22

fact, it could be Jordan in the role of

15:24

peacemaker, and I think that's very important.

15:27

Or you settle the ties, you know, you

15:29

decide who's right who's wrong forever

15:32

more.

15:32

We'll see we'll see.

15:34

The great Howie Roson debate of.

15:37

Big Funk. Come

15:41

on, big Funk. That peacemaker

15:43

Eagles gotta be ready.

15:45

I know I tried finding it. I thought I had

15:47

it, and then I'm like, suddenly it's just gone.

15:49

So yeah, time out,

15:51

time out, all right?

15:53

So listen, this Howie

15:56

thing has

15:58

turned into a national focking point.

16:00

Interesting. Some of the takes a little bit similar to

16:02

the ones you heard Saturday. I think

16:04

you had a point there, but.

16:06

That's beside the point. I wanted to say. This

16:08

is not me looking to do some gotcha journalism.

16:11

Jordan nailed it. This is

16:14

uh, let's just take a look by the numbers. So I hit

16:16

up NFL media research. I

16:19

came up with this how we do that? A closer

16:22

look at the draft prom king. Since

16:24

Howie Roseman regained personnel authority following

16:26

Chip Kelly's firing twenty sixteen,

16:28

he's had eight draft classes total

16:31

players selections, fifty seven first team All

16:33

Pro, zero Pro Bowl players, five

16:36

players who started Super Bowl fifty two or fifty

16:38

seven, twelve draft picks who signed second

16:41

contract with the Eagles, and an underrated kind of stat When

16:43

you look at this draft stuff, eleven out

16:45

of forty five eligible for guys draft

16:47

that is late as twenty twenty one.

16:51

What does that tell you? I guess you need to see other

16:53

teams. It seems pretty normal. It

16:55

seems I would guess, probably in

16:57

line with an average type of GM's

17:00

track record.

17:01

I think the second contracts would be higher. But you're

17:03

right, we kind of.

17:03

Need I want to see I'd want to like line up

17:05

everyone else. But

17:08

those numbers are surprising, uh,

17:11

compared to the amount of gushing and

17:13

praise he seems to get.

17:14

From I mean, in eight drafts, he hasn't nobody's

17:17

been Uh. So this doesn't include when he

17:19

was put out in the shed behind

17:21

them after the shed. Once he

17:23

won the shed, he's taken out of the Pocono's

17:25

and returned to Also.

17:26

I'd also say that a lot of the how he praised is bubbled

17:28

up in like the last couple of years. It wasn't the minute

17:31

he came out of the shed that people also, you

17:33

know, he had to rebuild things.

17:34

That's a hye bar. First team All pros like Jalen

17:36

Hurts was a pick that people

17:39

really were negative about. Why

17:42

why would you do that? I mean, he's an All Pro. So

17:44

that's one. I mean, I guess they're not counting

17:46

second teams, but they've had multiple I

17:48

can think of second team too, and they had a defensive

17:51

Rookie of the Year. The eleven contracts,

17:53

I think is big. It is a reminder though,

17:55

to me, if you were picking what's how he'd done best,

17:58

it's probably been the trade and free agency.

18:01

If I had to rank, like how he's acquired

18:03

players the best, it's and more most creatively

18:06

has been trades.

18:07

If the media was really so

18:09

high on Howie Rosman's players,

18:12

wouldn't they be voting for more?

18:15

Just asking questions, Well it is.

18:17

I feel like it's this time of year where the love

18:19

affair peaks right and then people get

18:21

to normal business and it's

18:23

become a very safe trope to praise.

18:25

How they don't allow us.

18:26

Into the Pro Football Writers Association

18:28

of America and beyond, we actually

18:30

had the chief of that association.

18:33

We can't vote, but yeah, we need more writing

18:36

from Mark right, that would help.

18:38

I'm good for I'm good with my current status. Like

18:40

a J.

18:41

Brown is an All Pro, but that's acquired

18:44

through trade. Jalen hurts right,

18:47

Yeah, does Scotter's never.

18:48

Made And you know, the point there is not that how

18:50

he has not done a good job. He's done a very good job

18:53

by all accounts. Uh, it's

18:55

just you.

18:56

Know, I love this draft

18:58

though, I mean, I he they

19:00

really spammed a need with

19:03

good players, the versatile players that match what the coach

19:05

probably wants, what the scheme is, and

19:08

that that consistency is kind of what I'm looking

19:10

at here with him is you

19:12

know, sometimes there's some some you

19:15

know, high value picks, and sometimes there's

19:17

some some wins. But if you

19:19

look at the like the meat and potatoes of the

19:21

drafts that he's doing, it's

19:23

like you can understand why he made every pick.

19:26

And I think that's part of it. It makes sense. It makes

19:28

sense whether you really know a lot about football

19:30

or whether you don't. You see, Okay, this was

19:33

a need, but also these are the top players on their board

19:35

and they fit the scheme.

19:36

Woch cool.

19:36

How he handled last season was a huge negative

19:39

though, Like you got Jalen Carter, but the way

19:41

they attacked that secondary and gave all that money to Bradbury

19:43

that was a terrible contract. And they've

19:45

been on the forefront of like linebackers

19:47

don't matter until last year when

19:49

like they were thirtieth in the league in DVOA

19:52

and I think their linebacker position

19:54

was the number one really.

19:55

Greg, that was all after Big Dom was

19:57

sentenced to Abstenia back. He was

19:59

in their draft room on draft days. So it's

20:02

like, you know, you can they're back at their back

20:04

in the year. Ship Roles

20:07

just become the head coach, Sirian.

20:09

He is like assistant, he's

20:11

not assistance.

20:11

I think, so,

20:14

like that's pretty high.

20:15

Yeah, that's true.

20:17

I just want to really quick. It reminds me a lot kind

20:19

of when the league catches you off guards

20:21

the linebacker point that you made, Greg, that

20:24

happens to teams who play that long into

20:27

the postseason. I mean we saw it in twenty twenty

20:29

two. They were caught by everything you could

20:31

not see. You couldn't see it through all the injuries, but

20:33

their offense had gotten stale. They lost

20:35

an offensive coordinator, the players were injured

20:38

like all spring. You

20:40

couldn't see it because of what happened right out of the gate

20:42

with the injury catastrophe along their offensive

20:44

line. But they weren't running you know, new stuff.

20:46

They were still very one dimensional. Their run game wasn't

20:48

what it is now. They got caught by

20:51

the league changing and they didn't have

20:53

the time to regain their

20:55

own pace because they were operating, you know,

20:57

the longest season in NFL history At that time,

20:59

the Eagles, you know, did the same thing. It also makes what

21:01

the Chiefs do every year that much more massive.

21:04

But you don't hear bred Veach getting any

21:07

love at this level.

21:10

I know when those numbers, those Howie based

21:12

numbers were generated

21:15

for you, I know you had a little grin

21:17

on your face.

21:18

No, the numbers don't look bad for him.

21:21

It just kind of bears out that we already knew

21:23

that he doesn't. They're all not home runs in reality,

21:25

but they look awesome in April.

21:28

All right, Let's move to the final team

21:30

in the NFC East, the Washington Commanders,

21:32

with Gray.

21:35

Going into his Week one start. I assume

21:37

Jayden and Daniels is the starter. His left

21:40

tackle will be either Cornelius

21:42

Lucas or Brandon

21:44

Coleman, a third round pick who is probably

21:47

a guard, and then his right tackle is Andrew Wiley.

21:50

Overall, this looks like a bottom five

21:53

offensive line. Is this offensive

21:55

line in Cliff Kingsbury putting

21:58

Jaden Daniels in a situation too,

22:02

because I look at it and I saw a lot of like, oh, the

22:04

Patriots, that's the worst situation at

22:07

bottom five offensive line, Cliff Kingsbury

22:10

and a skilled position group that's Terry

22:13

Mlorin and just like a lot of questions

22:15

like is Jaye and Daniels set up?

22:17

Well, well, there's not a lot of proof that the offensive

22:19

line is a big positive and Cliff

22:21

Kingsbury, for me, is the biggest question

22:24

mark of new coordinator position

22:26

in the entire league. Pat matched with

22:28

a when he had Kyler it

22:31

was like, there's a very specific scheme here.

22:32

The quarterback matches it.

22:34

And it's not that Daniels doesn't, but like, is Kingsbury

22:36

rolling that back out as he changed, as

22:38

he gone through any sort of personal growth,

22:40

and now he's going to attack teams because what he does

22:43

he.

22:43

Have the players? I mean, I don't know if he has.

22:45

It's not a great situation, but that's why bad teams

22:47

get these quarterbacks how often.

22:49

Yeah, it's it's going to be interesting. I mean, it's a great point

22:51

on the on the offensive line.

22:54

Bang, I guess is why I say here, Yeah,

22:56

and so

22:58

I'm so nervous. I'm sorry, but

23:02

I do think you make a great point. Like everybody

23:04

talks about how slight a frame Jaden

23:07

Daniels is, and you

23:10

know, you grow into that obviously, and you

23:12

know, the medical assessments that teams do prior

23:15

to the draft tells you how much more

23:17

mass a person can put on their

23:20

frame, and so they will have

23:22

some sort of guideline for that. They'll know.

23:25

But you also have to protect him, and I

23:27

think that's that's key and critical. Obviously. You

23:29

don't want a guy coming in and you

23:31

know he gets beat to hell and

23:33

and he's scared. You know, he's kind of seeing.

23:35

Ghosts a little bit like that every every year, and

23:37

you saw it with the first pick last year. There's guys

23:40

that and basically every Jets

23:42

quarterback that's coming too the league in my lifetime, it

23:44

seems they get stuck with that type of team.

23:46

It happens every year.

23:47

You hope it's not going to be Jayden Daniels this year, but

23:49

maybe this is a dawn of a new Aaron Washington.

23:51

While it's not going to be built overnight.

23:54

They'll protect him enough, like the Austin Eckler

23:56

move for instance, Like I think the general consensus

23:59

around Eckler now is he lost two

24:01

three steps near the end with the Chargers.

24:03

But he also is like.

24:04

A potential really good weapon

24:07

for a young quarterback, a guy that can has

24:09

a nose for the end zone that could catch the ball out

24:11

of the backfield. You have Brian Robinson with them,

24:13

so maybe their running game can help stabilize

24:16

things while Daniels gets his feet wet.

24:18

But you gotta protect them.

24:19

Or that's what the Sam Howell thing like

24:22

through me as a not great

24:24

move because you're you're like a snap away from

24:26

Marcus Mariota being your starter.

24:28

It's just a lot to ask him. He's explosive.

24:30

Are any players other than mcluurin around him explosive?

24:37

Take a break and when we

24:39

return the NFC North All

24:50

right, welcome back around

24:52

the NFC in forty eight minutes. You

24:55

are a fan of the show, Jordan,

24:58

You're doing great.

24:59

I just I just mouthed to Greg, do

25:01

I do this?

25:03

I would like you to so.

25:04

I think I can actually.

25:06

I understand the anxiety around this.

25:08

I practiced this in my car.

25:09

You already don't build more anxiety. Mark

25:11

let let her.

25:13

Nobody look at me right,

25:21

look back.

25:22

That's great, done, that

25:24

was excellent.

25:25

That might be the best one. There you go,

25:28

big Funk. We just went through the entire

25:30

first quarter of this exercise.

25:33

The dart didn't come out once. I

25:36

don't know, uh, if you're feeling

25:39

any sense of tensions.

25:40

We were good, good men and women here guys.

25:42

You guys are pros. There was a moment, wait,

25:44

can I please have the big Funk theme? Please?

25:47

Before we go any further said

25:50

the big Funk? Are you ready for the big Funk theme?

25:53

When it's big Funk time? You spilled water on your

25:55

laptop?

25:57

That never happened, big

26:02

phonem.

26:08

Ajp ass

26:12

than.

26:14

Bunk.

26:15

So yeah, don't be afraid

26:17

to dart, including the guests.

26:19

But I think we were.

26:20

Putting the host.

26:21

I thought we were well behaved though. Yeah, I thought

26:23

we were. Yeah, you guys did a great job.

26:26

There was a moment during the time out where I thought about hitting

26:28

you guys with it. Yeah, I don't know the the

26:31

attique time out wise.

26:33

Yeah, he's a bit of a one man band. He's trying to he's happening,

26:35

having to do a lot back there, so he's doing

26:37

great.

26:37

He's got the the symbols are on the knees,

26:40

he's got the accordion, he's

26:42

got.

26:42

The horn juggling, juggling.

26:45

All right, let's get back into it, uh

26:47

with the NFC North Market.

26:49

It's going with the bears, all right, quick little

26:51

story to get into this one. The first magazine

26:53

article I ever published on the subject of astral

26:55

projection for a publication called

26:58

Fate Magazine. And I'm keeping this quid, but

27:00

I wrote about an experience I had during a long

27:02

water fast when I was living at that camp

27:04

Happiness place in the winter. Okay, I

27:07

began having these intense elusive dreams.

27:09

Where I would load out of my body.

27:11

I can see, I can see myself a seat in

27:14

my actual bedroom, and I was kept floating

27:16

like down the hallway. I went

27:18

into different rooms, and I went into this one

27:20

room in my dream, floating above near the ceiling,

27:23

where I saw like a bookshelf tipped over. And then

27:25

when I went into this room, my friend's room, after

27:27

I woke, the bookshelf was actually tipped over. So

27:29

I described this experience, but I will say that when

27:32

I woke, I felt that these dreams

27:35

brought incredible peace and a feeling

27:37

of complete newness and intense

27:39

calm, like everything was new upon

27:41

awakening, everything and anything felt possible.

27:44

And that is how I imagine it feels to be a Bears

27:46

fan right now after so many days

27:48

of darkness, because no team in the NFC

27:51

has changed more in a calendar year. And

27:53

I ask you, what is the bar for

27:55

a successful season? What should we reasonably

27:58

expect from this very different way Bears

28:00

team.

28:00

I'm sorry, I know we're supposed to now get to the Bears. But when

28:02

you set it up that way, you were a camp

28:04

happiness in the summer, I mean in the winter.

28:07

Oh yeah, was this like a delinquent boys home?

28:09

No, like there was thought. It was just like a place you went

28:11

for six weeks.

28:12

You would do a small

28:14

amount of work with school groups that would come

28:16

in on like Monday and Tuesday. But other than

28:18

that, you you know, free food, your

28:21

own room.

28:21

Respond what unbelievable? It

28:24

was wonderful.

28:24

Yeah, it's a great question about

28:26

the Bears, because.

28:29

Sorry, Bears fans, you got one twenty two.

28:31

Maybe maybe you get a time out here, because

28:33

to me, the answer is just Caleb Williams

28:36

is great, and I don't care anything

28:38

else that happens, like that they provide enough

28:40

support offensively and that maybe

28:43

he wins Offensive Rookie of the Year and that he's the guy.

28:45

And you come out of the season just feeling like we

28:47

we got a quarterback because I think beyond

28:49

that it's a really good division. I don't put them

28:51

ahead of the Packers or the Lions. Do I

28:53

complete? You said everything's new? I mean Matt

28:55

Eberflus isn't new. What do I he looks new?

28:58

Do I looks he looks up fresh?

28:59

He's do?

29:00

I fully think that, like their defense is gonna

29:02

stay at that high of a level. They don't really have much

29:04

of a pass rush. Ownership has been an issue over

29:06

the years. Like as long as Caleb Williams

29:08

is Caleb Williams, then it's a success, even if

29:10

they win seven or eight games. That's how I feel the ola

29:13

loose spruce ooh yeah, I love

29:15

that.

29:15

I don't the.

29:16

Project we're gonna talk about later. You know,

29:19

you got to be in a lot of rooms and listen to a lot

29:21

of things and hear about just like

29:23

league wide chatter, not team specific.

29:25

I did not hear people gush as much

29:28

as they did about Roma Dunze that,

29:31

I mean it blew me away. I mean I love

29:33

him as a prospect. I knew he was gonna be a

29:35

great player. I love his film. But

29:38

the way that people raved about

29:40

him as like this is the guy

29:42

to pair with that dude, you

29:44

know, and I just think that that's gonna be really fun.

29:51

Dock me right in the face.

29:54

The Bears on paper are

29:58

a great looking offense all of a sudden, so

30:01

much as contingent. Is Caleb as good as people

30:03

think he could be. But if he is, this

30:05

division is fun.

30:06

I got the

30:08

AFC North where any team can make the playoffs,

30:10

and I could sing any one of these teams in the NFC

30:12

North can make the playoffs.

30:13

Absolutely. I

30:16

think you get dart Mark there too. Why

30:18

why in that situation right in the eye?

30:20

Gotcha in the eye? Patch for life?

30:22

All right?

30:23

Up next Jordan defending Division

30:25

champion Lions.

30:27

There's really no other way to put it at this point.

30:30

The Lions know what they are about

30:32

under Brad Holmes. This is a team that is gonna

30:34

flat out pick players they like or are best available

30:37

on their board, regardless of perceived

30:39

positional value or consensus charting I

30:41

also saw some commentary about the trades up. I get

30:43

that, but I want to reiterate that Holmes came up

30:45

through Less Snead and the Rams. When Sneid felt the roster

30:48

was ready to break through up to the

30:50

next tier, he started swinging hard regardless

30:52

of the cost. And what some don't realize is that

30:54

to NFL teams, it's not just playoff

30:56

team or not playoff team. Once you become

30:59

a playoff team, there are actual tiers

31:01

to the dance, like breaking glass into

31:03

legitimate Super Bowl contention. I

31:05

get the concern, and they have to be the right

31:07

players, but at least the Lions have told us who

31:10

they think they are. They want to win, they

31:12

think they can now, and the cost doesn't matter.

31:14

Wondering about the quarterback extension, I'm

31:16

really curious to see what the framework of a possible

31:19

Jared Goff extension might be. And

31:21

good for him, by

31:23

the way, absolutely, and

31:25

you said it.

31:26

I believe around Philadelphia spamming

31:28

an area need. Their cornerbacks are

31:30

an issue for them last year, and

31:32

they go and they draft two quarterbacks cornerbacks

31:35

at the top of this draft. So if

31:37

that defense takes a step and the offense

31:40

kind of remains where it is. Yeah, they were final

31:42

four team last year.

31:43

They had a seventeen point lead in the NFC Championship

31:45

game.

31:45

Yeah, I think this is like, unlike some

31:48

of these other teams that spam a position, this was

31:50

kind of like their last overt

31:53

position of need and they and it happened

31:55

perfectly for them, And like Terry and Arnold,

31:57

to go to them is a total coup. I would just

32:00

one question about Brad Holmes, like, because it's hard

32:02

to get to know these gms from a distance, Like what

32:04

kind of words would you use to characterize them? Because I think he's

32:07

been one of the quickest team builders around.

32:08

I think he's brilliant a lot of the

32:10

stuff that the Rams would get sort

32:13

of external praise for when they were identifying

32:15

middle and late round players, Like Brad was one

32:17

of the people who helped set and identify that framework

32:19

and who really pushed for that type of

32:21

thinking along with Less and some

32:24

of the other people in that building. So this

32:26

doesn't surprise me at all to see him killing it.

32:28

But it like the Rams, he's not afraid

32:30

to do things differently. I mean they're feeling themselves.

32:33

They traded a future third for a

32:35

kid from Canada, and then they drafted

32:38

a safety who had twenty eight

32:40

snaps at running back to play running

32:42

back. So it's like they're feeling themselves.

32:45

I would push back slightly that

32:47

they don't have any needs. I don't think. First of

32:49

all, they could use another receiver for sure, and

32:51

then they absolutely need another pass

32:53

rusher like Aiden Hutchinson needs

32:55

help. Maybe it's James Houston. They put a lot

32:57

of resources there. To me, they're thin. There

32:59

were reports they actually were kind of trade up

33:01

for Darius Robinson until

33:04

Terry and Arnold the cornerback fell, and so

33:06

that shows that they had an internal kind of

33:08

thought too. We maybe need a little more beef up.

33:10

They just don't have like, oh my god, this is right,

33:12

costs nothing, crazy, pretty solid all over

33:14

the place.

33:14

I agree.

33:15

The Detroit fanbez love Love Love

33:17

affair for Jared Goff is so

33:20

sweet, just chanting his name throughout

33:22

the draft, just independent of anything.

33:24

It's just like, I.

33:27

Mean, they had a few beers in them, I'm sure, but that's

33:29

it was. I

33:33

knew it was coming, so I stopped talking. Also, many of them

33:35

were completely sober. I would imagine there

33:38

were there was just love that this underdog quarter

33:40

as much as an underdog could be. A former first round,

33:42

first overall pick, Jared

33:45

Goff is really a guy that they've

33:47

gotten behind, is an overlooked entity that rows

33:50

up. I'm not suggesting you need drunk

33:52

to like Jared Goff. I think he's earned the many

33:55

ways.

33:55

That's important to clarify. Raggy on

33:57

the rise in Green Bay Packers.

34:00

Yeah, I think Jordan Love's going to get a new contract this offseason.

34:02

I think Jared Goff, as we

34:04

just mentioned, will as well, and those come later in the offseason.

34:07

We talked about how the first three picks the Packers

34:10

took in this draft I think are going to be able to play right

34:12

away. They're still a little short at cornerback. I think they

34:14

could be a Stefan Gilmour team. They would make some

34:16

sense to me. But I'm looking at their receiver

34:19

group and I'm just curious, how do you guys

34:21

think they're gonna shake out? You got Romeo

34:23

Dobbs, Christian Watson, Jayden

34:25

Reid. I feel like we kind of know who Jaden Reid is and

34:27

Doantavian Wick's Like I'm fascinated

34:29

to just see how these four line

34:32

up, because to me, they all have potential to be like

34:34

twelve hundred yard receivers, and yet it's

34:36

a good problem to have. I don't know how they're going to line up

34:38

one to four.

34:39

To that point, I almost wonder if we see Matt Lafleur

34:41

do more with the tight ends this year. It

34:44

seemed like that was something when they drafted

34:46

last year, seemed like something that they might

34:48

trend to. And then mid season you saw them doing

34:50

a lot of this similar stuff as

34:52

Sean McVay with some of that you know, escort

34:55

motion, the sifts and the run game, those types

34:57

of things as well as you know, getting

34:59

those tight ends going. So I think that maybe

35:01

we could see that too. And yeah, it's

35:04

it's crowded, but I mean Jordan Love can throw

35:06

it all around the yard.

35:07

So right, That's why it's like the Bears optimism

35:09

is great. It's like you look at the Packers and the lines,

35:11

those teams seem further along.

35:12

They all grew up so quickly, and it's

35:14

I guess, you know, when it comes to the wide receivers,

35:16

and like in today's league, if

35:19

you're a team without that clear dominant number

35:21

one alpha guy, like you can kind of use him in a lot of different

35:23

ways, and I think some there was some unexpected growth

35:25

and regression by some of them last year too, So

35:27

it's like get him on the field and see what happens

35:29

and let like the hot horse run

35:32

it.

35:32

The hot horse.

35:33

The Christian Watson side

35:36

of this is kind of interesting because they did. Everybody

35:39

developed very quickly, as did the quarterback,

35:41

and Watson, who was the apparent breakout

35:43

star in the final Rogers season, was

35:45

not really the guy that we were talking about by the end.

35:47

That's who I was, like, we're sort of pointing to the right,

35:50

so.

35:50

Like wide receiver four at this point, I would say.

35:52

And that's interesting, Like where

35:54

does he fit in because he's had issues

35:57

staying healthy. Did you know that he has worked

35:59

with a quote spec show lab who

36:01

addresses hamstring issues.

36:03

What kind of lab?

36:04

A special hamstring lab?

36:06

Yeah, hamstring lab.

36:07

Okay, So keep an eye on

36:10

on Watson and where he fits in on this because

36:13

he was super dynamic at

36:15

the end of twenty two and now maybe he's

36:17

healthy in twenty four.

36:18

Those labs are often like in Sweden, by the way,

36:21

isn't it weird? That's always the way to

36:24

get on the plane.

36:25

Fun fact at tip to our friend Justice

36:27

over at ACME Packing Company, the Packers

36:29

have added thirty five players in the last three drafts,

36:32

most of any team since twenty twenty two, thirteen

36:34

first to third rounders and twenty two

36:36

in the other rounds. Basically,

36:39

that's called dart throwing, no pun intended

36:41

for the Nature program.

36:43

The dart fires.

36:44

It's volume. It's volume drafting those

36:46

a couple of those guys are bound to work out out when

36:48

you have the ability to draft with that kind

36:50

of a volume. You can only draft

36:52

with that kind of a volume if you already have your

36:55

QB and they have their QB.

37:01

Unbelievably done first time

37:04

in studio, doing around the NFC,

37:06

sticking the landing there.

37:07

Like I'm gonna burst into tears at any minute.

37:10

All right, let's move. Let's

37:12

move to the Minnesota Vikings.

37:13

Okay, I

37:16

mean, if you're nervous, I'd like to see what you're

37:18

like when you're cool. Colmon, collected, you're killing

37:20

it, Jordan, give me

37:22

a new clock. Give me that new clock anyway. The

37:25

Vikings deserve it.

37:26

Okay.

37:28

Two fun plots to track around

37:30

the two time around team of

37:32

around the NFL. Okay, will

37:34

Sam Darnold be able to hold off JJ

37:36

McCarthy in a summer camp competition?

37:40

Will McCarthy ever even get a true opportunity

37:43

to be the Week one starter? We know he's gonna play, but

37:45

how does this summer breakdown? And

37:48

then there's the defense, which was, you know, an

37:50

absolute sieve in twenty twenty two despite

37:52

their great record, they improved to

37:54

a middle of the pack unit statistically under

37:56

Brian Flores, and now talent

37:59

continues to flow in on

38:01

that side of the ball, and it makes a possibility that

38:03

this team defense could all of a sudden

38:05

become team strength. And it's also a reminder

38:08

scheme change, coordinator change, and a few

38:10

players how quickly you could turn

38:12

around a unit in this league. So

38:15

my general takeaway here, the Vikings are not going

38:17

to be many people's darling

38:19

pick to get back to the playoffs, especially in this division,

38:22

which we've just broken down is very competitive,

38:24

But disregard them at your own

38:26

peril.

38:27

And yes, if Samwich.

38:30

I think Sam has a little chance.

38:32

I was surprised reading up on them ahead of this today

38:35

that I kind of assume once they took McCarthy

38:37

there, and he's a veteran guy. I mean, he you

38:39

know, played a lot in college and was a quote unquote

38:41

winner. Felt like a Week one guy. But they not

38:43

necessarily is that their path here.

38:47

To pivot a little. I do get trading

38:49

up for Dallas Turner, great

38:51

player, even though they you

38:54

know, they have defensive players. Even though the moves

38:56

they made in free agency. I do remember

38:58

Van Ginkle had hurt foot into

39:01

the spring, so maybe you're kind

39:03

of just making sure you're shoring up that position

39:05

just in case. And you

39:07

know, I think my colleague Alex

39:09

Lewis at the Athletic pointed out a little

39:12

bit worried about their interior offensive line.

39:14

We're talking about another slider framed

39:16

guy, Tyler Williams, who runs their sports science

39:18

department over there in Minnesota. He will

39:20

have had the DEXA scan will have He

39:22

will know like what he still needs to add and how,

39:25

and also importantly like how long it's gonna

39:27

take, in particular with

39:29

what they're dealing with on the offensive line.

39:30

I mean, I think the thing that could get

39:33

McCarthy in there, if not just by week one,

39:35

I just assume week one at this point. But that's

39:37

fine, but you've got Justin Jefferson, Jordan

39:39

Addison Hawkinson, Aaron Jones,

39:42

and you're you're right. Like their interior line,

39:44

you know, per PFF is a bit of a trouble,

39:46

but this is a good starting place for any

39:48

rookie compared to some places you could go.

39:50

I'm it is outstanding, especially with

39:52

the coaching, and I'm really encouraged

39:55

they invested so much in the defense because I'd

39:57

be worried that Floris's defense will come

39:59

back to the like you see that big one

40:01

year bumped. When you change schemes sometimes and you're

40:03

doing something creative, can you keep that going

40:05

into year two? It usually doesn't happen the way. That's why

40:07

I'm a little worried about Schwartz and the Browns

40:10

too. It's just like when you pop up that

40:12

high and you're creative. Like but they added Town,

40:14

they added Grenard, they added Blake Cashman, they added Van

40:16

Gyinkle, they added Dallas Turner.

40:17

You had that much talent, they should be better. They have a lot

40:19

for Dallas Turner, but they've got to love them, I

40:22

believe to that point.

40:22

I think they only have three picks right now in the twenty twenty

40:24

five NFL Draft.

40:25

But they didn't have to trade up a bundle to get McCarthy

40:28

at all.

40:28

Net Holmes, he

40:32

wasn't at a bounce mark. You just shot him a

40:34

glare, but he has.

40:35

To I'm not glaring at him, but I

40:37

feel like I've been better behaved on this

40:39

like quasi fugeese dart

40:41

situation than most during these.

40:43

Quasi dart

40:45

situation.

40:46

Hey, I just has been a

40:48

problem for me, and I acknowledge that, so I'm gonna

40:50

try to work on it. The second half of the show, I

40:52

think where when you wear the black button up,

40:55

you're kind of like that bad boy Sessler comes out the

40:58

Bad Angels, and that doesn't take long. That doesn't take

41:00

too much effort for that my

41:02

favorite. All right, let's take a break and come back

41:04

with the NFC South. All

41:09

right, we're back, Let's keep moving. We got Jordan

41:11

Rodrigue here. She's killing it.

41:13

She keeps saying she's nervous, but she's

41:15

not performing as if she's nervous.

41:17

You wouldn't know. And she keeps reminding

41:19

us that it's happening.

41:20

Right, I would say, I

41:22

would say unsolicited advice. You don't

41:24

have to keep saying your nerves.

41:26

Just feel like you guys can.

41:28

No, You're good, You're good, You're doing great. We're

41:31

having a great time with you. I feel like the show has

41:33

been very informative, and

41:36

dare I say entertaining.

41:37

That's what we're going for.

41:39

Entertainment, informative, then diagram

41:41

and then it's just a big Jordan's head right in the middle.

41:44

You're killing it. So let's move

41:46

forward now with utter and complete

41:48

confidence.

41:48

How about that?

41:50

Okay, that was.

41:52

The pep talk. Let's go into the NFC South

41:54

with the Falcons.

41:56

I don't have much to add to the Fenix Cousins

41:58

dialogue that hasn't already been covered off

42:00

this show and beyond, but I do

42:03

have one extra thought. After once watching the Rams

42:05

trade away their former quarterback, a number one overall

42:07

pick who they signed to a massive extension they had

42:09

not started paying yet that turned into a huge amount

42:12

of dead money, it's clear to me many

42:14

teams are starting to fear less and less

42:16

the financial capital public, questioning

42:19

consequences of their own actions as

42:21

long as they ultimately get the quarterback

42:24

right, and that's the big As long as too

42:26

has to still be the right guy I'm a Michael PENNOCKX

42:28

fan. I think he rules. I'm less worried about

42:31

the age and injury stuff than other people

42:33

might be. I also understand why they

42:35

had went and got cousins when they did, and

42:37

why they did. Just the decisions in sequence

42:40

and not each in a vacuum is what is breaking

42:42

our brains, and rightfully so. At

42:44

the end of the day, someone just needs to get the freaking

42:47

ball to Kyle Pitts elsewhere

42:49

in their draft. I loved the Brandon Dorles

42:51

pickup. He's super underrated in my opinion. I heard he

42:53

was popular on a lot of teams draft boards. He

42:55

can rush the heck out of the quarterback. He's versatile.

42:57

If Jimmy Lake is moving to a three to four, it looks

42:59

like the falcon are seeking out bigger edges, dynamic

43:01

three techs who could possibly do some four four

43:04

I stuff concerned about corner

43:06

depth. There are a couple older free agents out there, including

43:08

Akello Witherspoon, who has a connection with

43:10

Raheem Morris and Lake the

43:12

like.

43:13

There's all everything's been said about the cousins

43:15

part of it. The only thing that it's because I was

43:17

supported it when it happened, and I think, Greg, you like

43:20

just go get all the quarterbacks you

43:22

need, and this is the league today. The

43:24

way it happened in the order is you know, eyebrow

43:26

raising. But there is like there is a

43:29

suggestion out there that Cousins is a little

43:31

bit more sensitive than other types of quarterbacks.

43:33

And if there's a reason you can't operate

43:36

in the you know, in training camp or the preseason. I

43:38

think the type of quarterback that Penix is with like these

43:40

laser arm, like the strongest arm around,

43:42

like that just gets into the mind of

43:44

everyone and maybe that's there the mind of

43:46

Kirk Cousins and the fan base because it's son. You've got this

43:48

like Titanic like potential

43:51

behind Kirk Cousins. That to me is

43:53

a little unsettling from a team angle.

43:55

The human part of it is the most concerned.

43:58

I don't think you can spend too many resources and quarter but

44:00

it is concerning, especially with

44:02

the guy that we all remember, like everyone has this image

44:04

of like it was MVP candidate Kirk because like,

44:07

dude, I've seen that Kirk Cousins a ton of times

44:09

over the last twelve years. And what usually happens

44:12

is like a five game slump, Like he's not always

44:14

that guy. He's also coming off an achilles.

44:16

So it does add a lot of drama to the mix,

44:18

especially because I don't think the defense will necessarily

44:21

support them. They need their offense to be good

44:23

talent wise, it's it's not a good defense,

44:26

huh.

44:26

And that's and that's why part of the process that felt

44:28

flawed to me and many others out there

44:30

is like, then use a top ten pick on a

44:32

defensive player, or trade down and

44:34

take two defensive players. It would have made

44:37

so much more. They just to me, would it boils

44:39

down to this if you would have gotten a

44:41

lower tiered quarterback like a hold

44:44

the Ford guy, and then gotten Panix,

44:46

everything makes sense, Like everything checks out.

44:48

It's that investment cousins

44:50

that will always irk.

44:53

Me and many others.

44:56

I mean, we could to o it if we want, if we want

44:58

to continue to talk about it, but.

45:00

I think we have we will

45:02

yeah shah we shah.

45:05

All right, here we go.

45:07

Greg on the Panthers, like

45:12

the concept of Jonathan Brooks behind

45:14

this media offensive line that they've invested

45:16

in. I like that they kept the Giro. Everro

45:18

who you're familiar with, you know

45:21

intimately there Jordan just in terms of he

45:23

was there with the Rams, But like, I don't love that they

45:25

have less talent on their defense. You know,

45:27

they did trade away Brian Burns. Lagette

45:30

seems like a boomer bust pick. I

45:33

want to have optimism, but I'm not feeling

45:35

it, Like do we does anyone else have

45:37

any optimism here?

45:39

I think Dave Kanalis is the reason for optimism,

45:41

based on his solely on his work with quarterbacks

45:44

that were, you know, on the edge of non

45:46

existence before he took over. I

45:48

thought though the Robert Hunt signing was really important

45:51

and good along the offensive line. Yeah, we don't

45:53

know about Lagett, and but I think Jonathan Brooks it's

45:55

like, if anything, it happened almost a year

45:57

or too late in an exposed Bryce Young a year ago,

45:59

and we don't really have a full read on what he

46:01

is at this point.

46:02

I'm a little concerned.

46:02

But yes, it was the off season to throw

46:05

resources at your quarterback and get

46:07

a quarterback coach that can come in and help them.

46:09

If Legette was going into a Frank

46:12

Reich offense, I wouldn't have liked

46:14

the pick. I like the pick because

46:16

I think that they'll do more. They're going to

46:18

do more emotions, misdirection shifts,

46:21

you know, stuff that makes sense. And I

46:23

think that one of the quotes from the post

46:25

draft press conference captured by the Great Panthers

46:28

beat writer Joe Person. Yes that is

46:30

his real name, legend. Yeah,

46:33

just for the audience, Like Joe Person, You're like,

46:35

okay, I see in the Missing Person's program.

46:37

That's like back when like like uh, when

46:39

they you get your last name based on like

46:41

if you were a carpenter.

46:42

This like it's just this Joe Person and

46:46

Island. It's like, I don't know he.

46:48

Is indeed a person. That's what

46:50

he wants you to believe. So

46:52

this, this quote really stood out to me. You

46:55

can give them the ball in different ways including carries.

46:57

Please God, let us see more motions,

47:00

misdirection sweeps, quick game, lots

47:02

of different layers, three tiers in

47:04

your route concepts and let's

47:06

see. Uh this guy turned

47:08

into the do it all Deebo Samuel

47:11

and he seems like you're great dude.

47:13

Yeah.

47:13

And and I guess the optimism

47:16

Greg is it can't be worse than last year. And

47:18

you dedicated in free agency. You spent money

47:20

to help the protection side of things. Three

47:22

or first four picks are offensive players.

47:25

Hopefully the scheme, as we're saying, is more imagined

47:27

Toante Johnson and you just you

47:29

and you figure some things out. And people

47:32

that are really draft heads are

47:34

saying, this kid Bryce Young, do not count

47:36

him out. He got screwed

47:39

in so many ways. He would drop back. His

47:41

receivers are getting no separation, he's not getting

47:43

protected. Nobody would have had a chance.

47:45

So maybe this year, maybe

47:48

this year, we will be better than yours.

47:51

He reminds me so much of Alex Smith in

47:55

terms of playing style. In terms of the catastrophic

47:58

rookie year, Alex Smith had the worst rookie year

48:00

of any top shelf quarterback I've ever

48:02

seen. They brought a North Turner his second year

48:04

and suddenly he was league average.

48:06

I think that's the path team

48:09

around the NFL.

48:14

Our original teamer around the NFL. The Carolina

48:16

Panthers.

48:18

Interesting, Okay,

48:20

the Saints.

48:21

The Saints have a lot of work to do to get this roster back

48:23

to true Super Bowl contention, and

48:26

the draft wasn't ideal toward

48:28

that goal, With only two selections

48:30

out of the first one forty nine on the board. Still,

48:32

they added a blue chip, prospected offensive line

48:35

potential Marshall Lattimore successor

48:38

and teammate at corner.

48:40

That made sense.

48:42

Keep an eye on the QB position this fall because

48:44

New Orleans drafted Spencer Rattler

48:47

with one hundred and fiftieth pick. He's a guy that's

48:49

got, you know, some tools, and people kind

48:51

of into him in terms of that type of mid round QB.

48:54

Given Derek Carr and everything

48:56

around Derek Carr, You're gonna

48:59

imagine if this team is middle of the road

49:01

or worse like last year, it's

49:03

gonna get really loud, really

49:05

quickly around a quarterback change.

49:08

Ted Wynn did an article on a

49:10

bunch of people talking about quarterback mechanics,

49:12

and people were raving. Coaches were raving

49:14

about Spencer Rattler's mechanics. So

49:17

might be kind of a sneaky good I'll defer to groa

49:19

things because I know you're a

49:22

fan, but.

49:23

I'm not a fan.

49:25

I do follow him, yeah, but I think he's

49:27

maybe maybe a sneaky maybe

49:29

a sneaky good pick there.

49:30

He reminds me of a little Sam Howell in terms of a guy

49:32

that you thought might be a first round pick at some point and probably

49:35

even more talented as a thrower and could

49:37

develop. So that was a good dart throat. I do think

49:39

the new Derek Carr contract really slipped

49:42

under the radar this year as they continued to kick

49:44

the can down the corner, down the

49:47

road or whatever. In terms of trying to save salary

49:50

cap space. They've had like the normal off season

49:52

everyone wanted. Finally they did stay quiet.

49:54

It's a pretty normal draft, but they did kick

49:56

more future money into Derek Carr's

49:59

contract into twenty five, so it'll

50:02

be more painful if they do want to get rid of him.

50:04

It feels like he's going to be there the next two years.

50:07

They I mean part of it.

50:08

I kind of like their draft up top, except

50:10

that you were forced to take a tackle and they'd

50:12

taking an offensive or defensive lineman

50:15

in the first round of nine of the last ten drafts.

50:17

So they've got a type, they've got a thing they like to

50:19

do.

50:20

But you had to do that because of Ryan rams Check

50:22

and you had to go get Kuoloid

50:24

McKinstry. Because I'm not assuming this, but I

50:27

think the Marshawn Lattimore is sort of the last piece

50:29

of drama surrounding the NFC South.

50:31

I'm glad you mentioned that their top four cornerbacks

50:33

are Pulse in a Day, a debo, kool Aid, mckinnistry,

50:36

Marshaun Lattimore is obviously number one, and Alontae

50:38

Taylor. That is a loaded cornerback

50:40

room. It's kind of awesome, but you're right. It makes you wonder

50:43

if someone gets dealt in training camps, and

50:45

it might not be Latimore. It could be like a debo who's

50:47

in a contract ere It could be Alontae Taylor who

50:49

has been a little up and down, but people would be into those

50:52

cornerbacks.

50:52

I like the McKinstry pick. Yeah,

50:54

I think he's I mean that dude's a badass. I

50:57

think that's a great pick.

50:58

Got him at forty one.

50:59

Lannis Allen knows how to they

51:01

know, they've known an Mickey Loomis has known how to pick corners.

51:04

There was, by the way, talk around Rattler

51:06

and why did he fall to the fifth round?

51:08

And one of them was that he appeared on.

51:10

A reality TV show in high school

51:12

in which he came off extremely PA watched I

51:14

must dig it up.

51:15

I must, I mean I think number one.

51:16

People grow and change, and that's what his camp

51:19

was trying to stress. But it is an

51:21

unpleasant watch. It's not great

51:23

for his cure.

51:26

I let I kind of led him into not purposely,

51:28

but I was. I needed that.

51:30

I was providing information. But you

51:32

had an option. You had an option there. You could

51:35

have I.

51:35

Gets caught staring at you and then I'm not watching

51:37

the clocks right.

51:38

But you had the option there to to fully

51:41

flesh that out what you did, which the show needed. Or

51:43

you could have just sat there quietly and let it the clock

51:45

tick out and then it's a worse show.

51:46

But you don't take a doctor that fight.

51:48

If it makes you feel any better. I feel like really bad

51:51

every time I shoot the darted Mark.

51:52

Yeah, that's that does make me. I see it coming

51:55

from like a mile away. Yeah, and I'm like, I

51:57

have to go.

51:58

I should do better.

51:58

I should feel bad.

52:00

Yeah, I mean, but he like drew me into

52:02

that, Dan especially it turns his head and gives

52:04

you those Manson lamps.

52:05

You know, I feel bad. I feel bad, all

52:09

right? That is is that

52:11

the NFC South?

52:12

No it is not.

52:14

Uh, there is one more, one

52:16

more defending champion.

52:18

Now I'm gonna get the Manson lamps. They

52:21

are the defending division champions.

52:22

Somehow the Bucks go Mark Goree

52:25

sort of like a meat and potatoes draft

52:27

for the Bucks. I think Graham Barton,

52:29

the more I've read about him, it's like round one

52:31

tough, immediate starter at center.

52:33

They really needed that.

52:34

Both Bucks guards last year Brent Brettison

52:36

and Cody Mack, who

52:38

I really liked the look of in terms of

52:40

his wild madness, but they were pretty,

52:42

they hop but mostly cold. A year ago they were

52:44

twenty seventh in rushing EPA. The

52:46

Bucks they were twenty six and short yarded situations.

52:49

They had PFF's fifth worst run blocking

52:51

great, and it's like, if you want this Baker thing

52:53

to continue, I think Baker's been a

52:55

little over praise for this, like great season

52:57

he had, but like for this to happen two years

52:59

ago, Baker, you got to you need a better ground

53:01

game, and so I think this was a smart pick. I

53:04

do a question for Jordan though, because Mayfield

53:06

is onto his like four hundred and forty fourth

53:08

offensive coordinator after Canalis

53:11

went to Carolina, so he does

53:13

know Liam Cohen a little bit to

53:15

some degree. But there have been weird whispers

53:17

about Cohen in other places, not totally

53:20

being a favorite of everyone. Like do you think this

53:22

can be a smooth transition for Baker? I

53:24

just don't like quarterbacks that the switch schemes

53:27

and coordinators every three hundred and sixty five days.

53:29

I mean, I think Liam and Baker will get

53:31

along really well. And like

53:33

I said, so much happened in twenty two to

53:35

the Rams, some outside their

53:38

control, some inside their control, and

53:41

it just was an all around disaster.

53:43

No one person was the reason for that

53:45

disaster. It was all around to total.

53:47

But if you had to make one person, it was probably Liam Cohen.

53:50

It was Greg actually

53:52

spin held it. But

53:55

yet no, I mean he Baker

53:57

is a player that Liam will know how

53:59

to work with and use and like it'll be,

54:01

I think it'll he will remind him of

54:04

a lot of the college quarterbacks he had great success

54:06

with. Maybe not the arm strength that he was

54:08

working with with Will Levis, but you

54:10

know, the timing stuff, the quick game,

54:13

some of the underneath things that the Baker really

54:15

can get into a rhythm very fast doing. That's

54:18

that's right up Liam Cohen's alley. So I'm

54:20

curious to see how it works. But I do know that there

54:23

they'll get along. I mean they're they're both like

54:25

they'll they'll be fine.

54:26

Yeah, they have a ton of continuity and

54:29

on both sides of the ball, especially the

54:32

defense. And I

54:34

just don't get why the

54:36

Falcons are negative money to win this division,

54:38

Like no way to me, Like I

54:40

would happily take the.

54:42

For those that don't dig in on that realm.

54:44

Just like that it is more likely the

54:46

odds are saying that the Falcons win from

54:48

an addition than the other three teams combined.

54:50

Essentially, it's it's like a greater

54:52

than fifty percent chance they win the division, and the

54:54

Bucks and the Saints are way behind them. It's just like I

54:57

don't see that like people came sleeping on this buck S team.

54:59

It's just a solid football team.

55:00

Like people are just like throwing up their hands with the NFC

55:03

south right, So it's hard to really just figure it out there

55:06

overlooked though, they just get overlooked right.

55:08

And to me, the three of them are in the same ballpark where

55:10

it's like you're probably a below average NFL

55:12

team, but one team's gonna win the division.

55:14

I like the Jaylen McMillan pick one of my under

55:17

the radar favorite picks really great

55:19

underneath will help with that pop gun stuff that Baker

55:22

likes to do.

55:24

Also, why the Falcons should have taken a defensive

55:26

player and went for the division and get a home game of the playoffs

55:28

and you never know what happens. Whatever,

55:33

Let's take a break and we'll finish it out with the

55:35

NFC West.

55:40

That right, we're back.

55:41

We are closing out around the

55:43

NFC in forty eight minutes, exactly

55:45

forty eight minutes, not a second over with

55:49

the NFC West and Greg

55:51

get us going.

55:52

With the Cards.

55:53

The Arizona Cardinals, after

55:55

they put Kyler Murray into

55:58

the starting lineup with Drew Petzing as his eyes defensive

56:00

coordinator, were ninth in EPA

56:02

per play for the rest of the season. That

56:04

is buoyed by being second

56:07

in rushing. I think it's a good and Kyler

56:09

is a big part of that because to me, get dirty,

56:12

Yeah, I'm excited

56:14

to get dirty with this UH team.

56:16

Adding Marvin Harrison, I think they're a really

56:18

well run offensive team. He was a

56:20

good higher. I

56:23

think they added the most exciting running

56:27

back in the draft in Benson. Is

56:29

this a top ten offense?

56:30

Whoa all right, where were they

56:32

finished? Where did they finished after Kyler came

56:35

back?

56:35

I mean, technically they were a top ten offense in EPA

56:37

per play already, but that can

56:40

you keep that up a whole season that that's obviously not the

56:42

only stat out there. I think they

56:44

got a chance to be pretty exciting.

56:46

Top ten feels rich, but they down

56:49

the stretch.

56:49

I think petsing is like a good play call

56:51

comes from the Stefanski tree, and that's good for

56:53

tight ends, that's good for I think, you know, we didn't

56:56

like.

56:56

Connor and Trey Benson are an awesome dude.

56:58

Yeah, I think that's like that was a lot of options

57:00

around that, and like you know, Kyler looked good

57:02

when he came back, but it's like a full off season

57:05

together and all that. It's like there's a there's

57:07

there's signs to suggest they could like pick up where

57:09

they left off. They're well coached team.

57:11

Yeah, to thank you for making that point.

57:14

Actually that goes into my notes, so that Mark,

57:18

I knew you would have my back on this.

57:20

Mark.

57:21

Yeah.

57:21

I think they have some actually really talented up

57:23

and coming coaches. Drew Tarrell, their new receivers

57:26

coach Nick Rallis, their defensive coordinator.

57:28

They're young guys, but I think they're super

57:30

talented. I met Nick Rallis at a coaching

57:32

incubator a couple of years ago, and he was sitting

57:34

on the offensive side, so he was trying to learn

57:36

from from a lot of those guys. So

57:39

there's there's something cooking under

57:41

the radar there on the defensive side. I think Matthew

57:44

Stafford said last year this was the one defense

57:46

that he saw that kind of was like, what the hell

57:48

is that? And they were kind of doing this walk around

57:51

pre snap thing. It was really

57:53

interesting, and then they just ran the ball for four hundred

57:55

yards.

57:56

So I'm curious, yeah,

57:58

because it could take a big jump if Arvin

58:00

Harrison is that guy. Kyler

58:02

Murray is Kyler Murray now, like

58:04

we said, full year removed?

58:05

Is he that guy again? I'm looking at some of.

58:07

His you know, earlier years

58:10

he rushed for He had ninety three rushing

58:12

attempts as a rookie in sixteen games. I

58:14

went up to one hundred and thirty three his second

58:16

year. His third year and fourteen games,

58:19

he was on pace to go over one hundred again last year

58:21

in eight games forty four rushes, so

58:23

a bit under that one hundred pace.

58:25

Where where does he now? Like around

58:27

one hundred rushes feels like a great spot for him, especially

58:29

if he's moving well and feels good, and if

58:31

he can add that element of his game back

58:33

in full with having a big time number

58:36

one wide receiver, potentially, Yeah, the offense could take

58:38

a significant jump.

58:39

I think one other thing, like Monte Austin, for it, two

58:41

years in a row, has had a very rock

58:43

solid plan with the draft, with the offseason,

58:46

they look different, and I think their front office we

58:48

know, I mean under Steve Kaine that was plaguing

58:50

them for a long time.

58:59

Was that to the establishment? Yeah? That was our

59:01

producer.

59:02

No, no, no, it was not to the Randy's been the

59:04

listeners about this. No, it's just Jordan, like

59:07

the greater world or universe

59:09

things. They are going to catch me, you're going

59:11

beyond zero zero zero, And they didn't.

59:14

Except they except you guys all did well.

59:16

If there's no regard for the rules, So it's not it's

59:18

not connected directly anymore to the team. Talk's

59:21

that's a little understood.

59:24

Aspect of all of this.

59:25

I'm new.

59:25

Sorry, Yeah, here we go. Jordan

59:27

your team, the Rams.

59:29

While few classes in recent history hit

59:32

like the Rams did in twenty twenty three, there's

59:34

a lot to like this year about the way they sought out

59:36

the combination of Jared Verse and teammate Braden

59:38

Fisk at nineteen and thirty nine. They

59:40

overpaid to trade up for Fisk, but I'm

59:43

of the understanding that once the board fell their way

59:45

and they got Verse, one of their three

59:47

favorite players in the whole class and their

59:49

top outside linebacker, they were

59:51

always going to try to get Fisk, and they believed

59:53

in paying more for the plug and play chemistry

59:55

on a defensive line. Now without Aaron Donald,

59:58

they did say they could never replace him with just one

1:00:00

player, So here are two. Blake

1:00:03

Korum the third round running back. Again a little

1:00:05

high for generally what we see with running backs, but basically

1:00:07

gives them Karen Williams and an intact scheme

1:00:10

kind of left handed when Kien Williams

1:00:12

was out. In light of his injuries, Throy miss four

1:00:14

games in twenty twenty three. Also maybe wouldn't

1:00:16

have been able to be healthy for a deeper postseason

1:00:18

push he got hurt in that Detroit game. Rams

1:00:21

fans do not want to hear this, I understand, But

1:00:23

on the Matthew Stafford contract situation,

1:00:26

Sean McVay kind of admitted that this situation

1:00:29

is ongoing after rap Sheets initial report

1:00:31

last Thursday night that Matthew Stafford wants

1:00:33

more guaranteed money on his contract been

1:00:35

simmering for a little while. I don't think it's anything

1:00:38

to freak out about right now. He's

1:00:40

at OTA's the Rams. It's

1:00:43

kind of awkward a little bit. They made a documentary.

1:00:45

It was really really well done. It was outstanding,

1:00:48

but it was also parts of it where like how

1:00:50

beat up he gets during a season. So

1:00:53

when you enter that into the guaranteed money conversation,

1:00:55

it's just something to keep an eye on. I do think

1:00:57

they're going to try to find a win win solution, that's

1:01:00

my opinion. The Rams spent

1:01:02

the spring beefing up his offensive line

1:01:05

and his run game. There's no reason to think that he won't

1:01:07

or can't play a few more years. Like

1:01:09

I said, he's been at voluntary Otia's, he's

1:01:11

been throwing it around. Dude's

1:01:14

a badass when he's healthy.

1:01:16

Turned thirty six in February, so yeah,

1:01:18

he's he's basically at Kirk Cousins' age.

1:01:21

You think these guys have their body holds

1:01:23

up two three more years and this

1:01:25

is a window for the Rams to with this

1:01:27

high level potential Hall of Famer.

1:01:29

We all like watched a lot of like

1:01:32

Rams together in some of our Monday NFL

1:01:34

Plus shows, and like, he looked as good

1:01:36

as he's ever looked last season.

1:01:38

So I stick stayed the course

1:01:40

there.

1:01:40

I think a lot of people are wondering, like when

1:01:42

Karen Williams was not on the field, they were a different offense,

1:01:45

and like he led the league and yards per

1:01:47

game. I mean, he really hit the scene.

1:01:49

But with Blake Korum, is it like, what's

1:01:51

what happens fantasy wise? Do you think how they have

1:01:54

both of them at the same time.

1:01:55

I couldn't tell you.

1:01:57

Yeah, I just I don't know. I know you

1:02:00

were early on the like a big

1:02:02

role. I might have a bigger role than cam Akers right.

1:02:04

Right, because they signed Boston Scott too.

1:02:06

I mean that's just you're looking at Kirene still

1:02:08

being the lead rusher, the lead back. But over

1:02:10

time, especially a long season, they expect

1:02:13

to go to the postseason this year if they have Matthew Staffer

1:02:15

a healthy Matthew Stafford. So over time,

1:02:17

you're probably looking at an increase in Blake Korm's

1:02:19

snaps. I don't know what the fantasy footballlanguage would

1:02:21

be for that, but like stashing him or something,

1:02:24

or maybe you know, get him and stash him

1:02:27

handcuff?

1:02:28

Is that what it is? Good time

1:02:32

out? All right?

1:02:33

We got to talk about this

1:02:36

feature this monster too

1:02:38

parter from Jordan. The

1:02:41

second part is coming out later in the week.

1:02:43

The first part dropped today Finding Rams

1:02:45

colon one year

1:02:47

behind the scenes of the NFL Draft scouting

1:02:50

process. Comma Part one really

1:02:53

well done, beautifully written and reported.

1:02:55

Even we're talking about the artwork is tremendous

1:02:57

by the athletic on it. Everybody's got to

1:02:59

read it. I think just to get into this conversation,

1:03:01

Jordan, because you obviously did a ton

1:03:04

of work and you were embedded behind the scenes. There's

1:03:06

an irony to me that that this

1:03:08

team less need famously wore the f

1:03:11

them Picks t shirt after they won

1:03:13

the Super Bowl. But just because they didn't

1:03:15

have first round picks doesn't mean that this team doesn't

1:03:18

absolutely value and obsess

1:03:20

over uh these draft classes.

1:03:22

And you really go behind the scenes in a way

1:03:24

that it's really illuminating in this piece.

1:03:27

Well, thank you. I'm happy to be here

1:03:29

to talk about it. First of all, I

1:03:31

felt like last year when we talked about

1:03:33

the play Caller series, you,

1:03:36

Greg, you and Mark said some really nice things about

1:03:38

what it reminded you of. And Dan just

1:03:40

was.

1:03:40

Not on that episode.

1:03:41

Yeah, he went with hell thumbs

1:03:43

down. I know he doesn't

1:03:46

listen.

1:03:47

It was I was, it was six am and Tokyo.

1:03:50

Yeah, that's so.

1:03:52

But you guys also said something that

1:03:54

resonated with me. And forgive

1:03:56

me if my voice cracks, but you

1:03:58

said that these are the types of things that

1:04:00

that Wes would really get into for

1:04:03

me that kept me pushing into

1:04:05

this new space, which was very unfamiliar territory

1:04:08

for me. I've covered a lot about team

1:04:10

building, but I've never been behind the scenes

1:04:13

in a scouting department for as long

1:04:15

a period of time, the ten months

1:04:17

as this was, And it was

1:04:20

the entire time I was thinking, this

1:04:22

is the coolest thing. This is

1:04:24

so like to get to explain even

1:04:27

a piece of what this looks like and

1:04:29

how it works, it just

1:04:31

like lit me up on the inside, and like I

1:04:34

cannot emphasize enough,

1:04:36

Like I mean, doing this project. Just like play

1:04:38

Callers altered me forever, this also

1:04:40

has altered.

1:04:41

Me for it, Like, if you had ten pages of notes for

1:04:43

this episode, how much dense

1:04:46

you know, research and personal literature

1:04:49

came out, do you have stashed away somewhere

1:04:51

like in your apartment or mansion wherever you live.

1:04:54

Certainly not the athletic.

1:04:56

They're paying botts their.

1:04:58

Bucks, moving

1:05:00

right along. So

1:05:03

it was one hundred and eighty six pages of

1:05:05

notes from on site, on site

1:05:07

reporting. A lot of stuff was

1:05:10

off the record, so you're not You're obviously

1:05:12

not, you know, recording notes at that time.

1:05:14

You're sort of absorbing and listening. And

1:05:17

also I think like thirty seven post

1:05:19

its around on like just to help set

1:05:21

up structure and and all of those things. It's

1:05:23

really fun when a project's ever to like peel the post its

1:05:26

off, the off the cabinets, very satisfying

1:05:29

and no longer look like a serial killer in my own home.

1:05:32

But yeah, it was. It was an

1:05:34

extraordinarily cool thing to get

1:05:36

to do. The fact that James Gladstone,

1:05:39

the director of Scouting, and Less Snead were

1:05:42

open to it. James came up to me

1:05:44

on the sideline at training camp and was

1:05:47

like, love the play callers, wish there was one about scouts.

1:05:49

And I looked at him for all of two seconds and I

1:05:51

was like, can there be? And

1:05:53

he thought I was joking and then I pitched

1:05:56

it to him and Less and I think Less maybe still thought

1:05:58

I was joking until about six months ago, and

1:06:00

because I'd been in the meetings, I just kept showing up

1:06:03

and then it just was this

1:06:05

very cool There

1:06:08

was a lot of trust there, which I

1:06:10

don't take for granted, but I think they understood

1:06:12

what I was trying to do. I wasn't trying to say this

1:06:15

is better or worse so the other I was trying

1:06:17

to amplify the process and the

1:06:19

language of a group of people

1:06:22

with continuity who have created

1:06:24

this thing behind the scenes that works for

1:06:26

them. Not to compare or contrast

1:06:29

or anything like that, but to show how something

1:06:31

works, right.

1:06:32

That's what I took Part one is great. I'm really

1:06:34

looking forward to part two, and one of my

1:06:37

takeaways would just be I didn't

1:06:39

understand. I don't think the average fan would understand

1:06:41

just how different

1:06:45

the rams certainly do the

1:06:48

evaluation process. And then it made me think, like, there's

1:06:50

probably they're not the only ones, and that each

1:06:53

team is attacking this

1:06:56

entire process in such a different

1:06:58

way. And there's yeah, maybe the kind

1:07:00

of is a way,

1:07:02

a conventional way to do it, but

1:07:04

like how many teams do you think, or like

1:07:08

how many different ways are there? Because the way

1:07:10

they do it, I suspect is totally

1:07:13

their own way of doing it, And like, what did you find

1:07:15

different about it?

1:07:16

I think there are thirty two different ways of

1:07:18

approaching this, And like I said, that's where I

1:07:20

think we on the outside we get into rankings

1:07:23

and grades and things like that. But like, if

1:07:26

their process works for them

1:07:28

and it's different to another process and another

1:07:30

building, they're not weighing that or

1:07:32

leveraging that. They're looking for what fits them.

1:07:35

And some teams do this very well

1:07:37

and have a very functional behind

1:07:40

the scenes process for a draft calendar.

1:07:42

And as you see, like some teams just

1:07:44

can't seem to find that a momentum or can't

1:07:47

seem to like sort of gather themselves. One

1:07:49

of the things that's really I learned

1:07:52

one of the biggest things I learned from this reporting

1:07:55

this out over the last year was this

1:07:58

isn't really about players

1:08:01

or picks, Like the result This is

1:08:03

more about the process and the language

1:08:06

of that process, and how they

1:08:09

basically built an alphabet and

1:08:11

then evolved it over time into a language

1:08:14

that builds out what it is

1:08:16

exactly that they do. And I know that sounds like

1:08:18

kind of galaxy brain or like you know

1:08:21

what you were reading at Camp Happiness, but

1:08:24

at the same time, it's it's

1:08:26

so it's a living thing, this

1:08:28

language. And I think the number one reason

1:08:31

why failure compounds in NFL

1:08:33

buildings is the loss of that language

1:08:36

when quick

1:08:38

too quick turnover. Whether it's

1:08:40

in the scouting for an office department, department, personnel

1:08:43

department, or even the coaching staff that also has to

1:08:45

assimilate and help build and evolve out

1:08:48

that language. And this is one of the most

1:08:51

They've been together for so long at this point,

1:08:54

not just Lesson Sean, but that entire

1:08:56

scouting department has been together for at least a

1:08:58

decade, and they have built

1:09:00

out this language that it's

1:09:02

a living thing at this point.

1:09:05

One quick thing is there's also a very human element

1:09:07

to this, because I've always thought like the life of a scout

1:09:09

would be very appealing to a certain personality

1:09:11

if you like, don't mind being like a road Warrior

1:09:14

out on the grind like it's related, so you

1:09:16

show how much it's relationships with schools.

1:09:18

But one little thing, like here's what scouts

1:09:20

do, what they like? They have like a

1:09:22

coda it said, stay at hotels with free

1:09:25

breakfast, fill an insulated

1:09:27

coffee cup with eggs and bacon, and bring

1:09:29

it to the school to consume mid morning.

1:09:31

Yeah, that one commatable psychotic.

1:09:32

I noted that in my notes as well, what are

1:09:34

we doing we get a fresh breakfast.

1:09:36

I just want to see what it looks like. You got to save

1:09:38

the dollars and cents.

1:09:39

But they don't have time because they're at this place and they're

1:09:41

not going to get fed while they're there all day.

1:09:43

I guarantee you thirty one

1:09:45

teams are reading what you wrote,

1:09:48

Jordan, because sorry, Less there's

1:09:50

a reason why there's and they weighed

1:09:52

that, I'm sure, but like there's a reason why

1:09:55

good teams stay good and bad teams stay bad. And

1:09:57

look at and look at the Rams to

1:09:59

go from seventeen through twenty three without

1:10:02

a first round pick but remain pretty

1:10:04

consistently one of the better teams in the NFC

1:10:06

shows you how they've been able to keep

1:10:08

the roster churning and stay

1:10:11

competitive despite having those high end picks.

1:10:13

I thought, that's very interesting.

1:10:14

The other thing I want to read here, so

1:10:16

you were talking about this almost sentient process

1:10:20

they have now the most and I'm going to

1:10:22

read Jordan's reporting here and writing most

1:10:24

NFL teams and by the way, this

1:10:27

is why Northeastern

1:10:30

Classico two, this is why journalism

1:10:32

matters. Sports journal It's fun what we do, but

1:10:34

having people that are really smart and curious

1:10:38

to be able to go behind the scenes and

1:10:40

then write something like this and allow us to understand

1:10:42

the sport in a different, smarter way.

1:10:45

Thank you, Jordan to the Athletic. Now

1:10:47

I'm going to read what you wrote.

1:10:49

Most NFL teams have a data and information

1:10:51

processing system, usually constructed in house,

1:10:54

in which scouts, coaches, medical staff, front office

1:10:56

executives, and others input notes

1:10:58

on the players. The RAMS is

1:11:00

is ja RS the

1:11:03

Joint after Action Review system. They

1:11:06

go on to say, it's valueized

1:11:08

not only in its player data, it's

1:11:11

the keeper of an entire language. Some

1:11:13

RAM staffer's joke that the system

1:11:16

will eventually need a new, more

1:11:18

human senting acronym to reflect

1:11:21

its approaching sentience. Now let me let

1:11:23

me jump in if I might, and you could relay

1:11:25

this or choose not to relay.

1:11:26

I'm so happy now.

1:11:28

So it's staring right at them.

1:11:29

They want it's starting to feel like a human

1:11:32

and they want to make give it a name that's human.

1:11:34

And you got jaa r S.

1:11:36

Okay, But what if it was joint

1:11:40

after Action review value

1:11:42

internalization system.

1:11:44

Jarvis? Jarvis? Jarvis

1:11:47

is right there, bang so close.

1:11:49

Take it to less, Please take it to less. We've had

1:11:52

less on the show.

1:11:52

That would be my lasting input.

1:11:55

Maybe I would get a super Bowl ring.

1:11:56

You get a football.

1:11:57

It's up to our football less.

1:11:59

If there's a football to hand out, if it becomes

1:12:01

Jarvis, that's all.

1:12:02

It'd be nice if they had like a fourth

1:12:05

round pick that meant a lot to them, that had

1:12:07

actually been named Jarvis.

1:12:09

I will tell you one last one

1:12:12

last they probably knowing them, they would one

1:12:14

last thing to add to. So much of us

1:12:17

is still about Luck Part two, which

1:12:19

releases Friday. There's

1:12:21

some some moments in there that I think you guys

1:12:23

will just get a kick out of, about

1:12:26

how you can put in like to

1:12:29

the nth degree amount of process and

1:12:31

preparation and you can you can sound

1:12:33

you know, like you're the expert strategist

1:12:35

and everything, and then at the very last minute, some

1:12:38

crazy could happen, right

1:12:40

and and like just and some of it

1:12:42

does come down to luck. I take

1:12:45

people through the Pukina Kula pick in the

1:12:47

fifth round. There was

1:12:49

actually what people don't realize, there was actually

1:12:51

a really interesting strategy behind

1:12:54

that pick. They all say,

1:12:56

now they should have picked them in the first but in

1:12:58

the fifth round with their volume in there and draft,

1:13:00

there was an interesting strategy that part two does go

1:13:02

into and then but there also

1:13:04

was luck. There also was a

1:13:08

a crapload of luck in

1:13:10

that pick as well. And they're the first

1:13:12

to admit it was.

1:13:14

Less need or is less neat because he's probably

1:13:16

reading it right about now, annoyed

1:13:18

that you've announced to the world that he doesn't know how to

1:13:20

change a tire, which I think

1:13:23

a lot of people I was a bit of a lot of ravio magnific

1:13:25

See, I think a lot of people don't.

1:13:26

But you don't want it on record at people just to

1:13:29

think that you probably.

1:13:29

Gets pretty it's pretty privileged. Once again, beautiful

1:13:33

man, all right, time in great.

1:13:35

Job, Thank you, Thank you guys, seriously,

1:13:37

did.

1:13:37

You have an answer on the less thing?

1:13:39

I guess you'll find out, but yeah, you'll I took it more

1:13:41

as a retort. I'll get, you know, a text maybe

1:13:43

like I took it more as a rhetorical.

1:13:45

And I should say that that little story

1:13:48

ends with less and a very masculine

1:13:50

mess. Yes, that's hiring the tire into

1:13:52

the brush. Yes, so it kind of kind of saves

1:13:54

it a little bit. It's like, yeah, him and

1:13:57

his buddy couldn't figure it out, but that tire

1:13:59

went.

1:14:00

I'm weird because that's like the thing I'll remember the most about

1:14:02

the whole thing, and the eggs and bacon in a coffee cup.

1:14:04

It's a strange, but let's know, Jarvis,

1:14:07

Jarvis servis one signed football.

1:14:09

I don't need anything else.

1:14:12

All right, let's time back in and head to the

1:14:14

forty nine Ers. Drama

1:14:17

will continue to swirl around that wide receiver

1:14:19

room this spring. Did the Niners take Ricky

1:14:22

Piersoll because they planned to trade Ayuk

1:14:24

or Samuel or perhaps an even

1:14:26

more dramatic thought exercise

1:14:28

for the rest of us, what if Piersall

1:14:31

is a stud and he just makes the

1:14:33

offense that much more wicked?

1:14:34

Could this score? Could this team score five

1:14:36

hundred points?

1:14:37

You know that has not happened by the

1:14:39

Bay since the Steve Young Niners

1:14:41

of nineteen ninety four.

1:14:42

I believe they won it all that year.

1:14:44

The pressure will be immense for San Francisco

1:14:46

to finally get over the hump this year. But this roster

1:14:48

is as good as any in football. Stay

1:14:51

healthy, stay out of trouble, and

1:14:53

I think just get ready to watch the Niners

1:14:55

kick some more ass this year.

1:14:58

I feel very good about this team.

1:15:00

I'd love to see a similar article about the way

1:15:02

that they draft and develop

1:15:04

talent, too, because I thought, like, to not trade

1:15:06

your guys. But then get Ricky Parasol, who

1:15:08

has dropped five passes since twenty twenty

1:15:11

and just looks like a Shanahan type. And

1:15:13

then there's a second player, Isaac Garndo,

1:15:16

the running back who had the fastest

1:15:18

forty in the combine, had the best vertical

1:15:20

jump, and like Shanahan spoke about that player

1:15:23

after the draft, and it was just like this was just

1:15:25

another Shanahan guy. And it's like they added more

1:15:27

nine er z stuff to a roster

1:15:29

without stripping away sick.

1:15:31

When you start to think about it, because you're talking about a running

1:15:33

back. They have the best running back on the planet right

1:15:35

there, so you could use that guy exactly

1:15:38

where you want to dot him into the offense.

1:15:40

It's it's an embarrassment of riches.

1:15:42

Yeah, it's interesting. Tim Kawakami,

1:15:44

who works with me at the Athletic, he

1:15:46

wrote some really interesting stuff about how you

1:15:48

could really pinpoint some of their draft

1:15:51

class this year and project them a

1:15:53

year or two years from now as replacements

1:15:55

for some people on their current roster, and

1:15:59

like trade identification seemed

1:16:01

very similar in that way. I

1:16:03

found that to be fascinating, and

1:16:06

it is interesting. They're looking they're

1:16:08

trying to win the whole thing and trying to stay

1:16:10

in that, like I said, that top tier of contention, but

1:16:13

they also at the same time have to start looking toward

1:16:15

the future too, and this draft class seemed

1:16:18

like they're kind of doing that right.

1:16:20

It wasn't just pearsall. They had a

1:16:22

fourth round pick, what was a cowing in the fourth round,

1:16:24

like at wide receiver too, so you're trying to do both

1:16:26

at the same time. I do just don't

1:16:28

buy any trade

1:16:30

talk, including for Juwan Jennings, who's entering

1:16:32

a free agent year. And is going to get paid somewhere

1:16:35

next year, probably not in San Francisco. Like there,

1:16:38

all systems go. And if it had happened that they

1:16:40

could have replaced it in the draft. Maybe it was a possibility,

1:16:42

but they didn't get the right price. Like, no,

1:16:45

they they know their window is

1:16:47

now. There's no way to me that those guys

1:16:49

are getting traded between now and

1:16:52

week one.

1:16:53

No chance.

1:16:54

Not now.

1:16:54

By the way, maybe been an offer, Oh

1:16:56

there there was, and by the way, the last guy. And now

1:16:58

I forget as any one find it that I remember

1:17:01

Peter King was in the draft room for the

1:17:03

forty nine ers when Kyle Shanahan like probably

1:17:05

annoyed the entire scouting process and stood

1:17:07

on the table for this running back that he wanted to

1:17:10

trade up for. It was a big thing, and like the fourth

1:17:12

round was like he was out of a league in a year.

1:17:15

That happens too.

1:17:18

Now I don't do this, Jordan, And on that

1:17:20

side of table, sometimes there's some heat when

1:17:23

certain individuals look at other people's laptops.

1:17:27

We do have one remaining timeout, and I thought I saw

1:17:29

it in bold like there was like time out here

1:17:31

for the Niners.

1:17:32

Was that not for the Niners. I was

1:17:34

stuck in traffic for a long time today. Yes,

1:17:38

I matched all of you

1:17:40

guys to quarterbacks, like if you.

1:17:42

Got time out, hold on, we've got a time

1:17:44

Sorry.

1:17:45

Seahawks, we will not be getting to you today.

1:17:47

In fact, let's just cut everything that we've

1:17:49

done to this point right out of

1:17:52

the intro, right into what Jordan

1:17:54

said.

1:17:54

Cut everything I just said, just now.

1:17:56

I can't believe you looked at my computer.

1:17:57

To revealing okay, apologizing.

1:18:01

So this, uh if you

1:18:03

three were quarterbacks, and like

1:18:06

I said, very this

1:18:08

is all a compliment, Okay,

1:18:11

Just so you're right. And also

1:18:13

I listened to the show and and I have

1:18:15

for a long time, and you know, we

1:18:17

talk about things.

1:18:18

And Mark's entire may is on the line. Right.

1:18:20

But also but also I can't pretend

1:18:22

to know you on like the deepest personal

1:18:25

level. So if I'm wrong, I'm

1:18:27

so sorry. But I think I'm right. Okay, Greg

1:18:31

Rock Party short king who loves proving

1:18:33

people wrong, Dan

1:18:37

Dan Josh Allen, fun bit aficionado,

1:18:40

Golden Retriever parentheses compliment.

1:18:43

Yeah no, there's also the like a guy like a

1:18:45

Kato Kalin Golden Retriever type. But

1:18:48

I'll take that and I'll see Josh Allen's better than

1:18:50

brock Party.

1:18:50

So okay, right now.

1:18:51

We're always I was smart that you understood

1:18:53

Dan needed to be puffed up the most of any

1:18:56

of us, So that makes the most.

1:18:57

Listen, you're hitting out again.

1:18:58

That's saying I called you a king.

1:19:00

Do we can we get a little drum roll, little timpany

1:19:03

for the Mark Sessler?

1:19:04

Uh, this is really important.

1:19:07

Mark.

1:19:07

Wait, let's wait for the drums. We have them,

1:19:09

then actual band back. They're big funk all

1:19:12

right, here we go, Jordan, Here we go,

1:19:15

Mark.

1:19:15

Matthew, Stafford, Salt and Pepper

1:19:18

bearded gunslinger with an appreciation

1:19:20

for chaotic darkness.

1:19:21

Totally in Yeah, I was I

1:19:24

had in my mind, Stafford is what I was hoping

1:19:26

for.

1:19:26

Right, No, I think those are a few that's

1:19:29

both great choices and I got a system

1:19:31

creation that no one would want on their team

1:19:34

with very few physical talent.

1:19:36

Whispers of bench in December, one.

1:19:40

Short king.

1:19:42

About the story of rock Perky.

1:19:43

If we're going on height, you know, then there's

1:19:45

no one well, Kyler, I guess you could if you wanted

1:19:47

to. You know, Uh, there's no there's

1:19:50

no short quarterbacks.

1:19:51

I think this.

1:19:52

I also I also had it that

1:19:55

you were most likely to correct my assessment.

1:19:57

Oh no, talk

1:19:59

about the scouting fact.

1:20:01

This seems to have actually bothered you more than perhaps

1:20:03

you were expecting it to.

1:20:04

I mean, Brock pretty the

1:20:07

tough spot.

1:20:09

All right, excellent, great time out

1:20:11

come on, Josh Allen. Now now I'm a

1:20:13

Bills fan. All

1:20:16

right, Time in and let's close it out.

1:20:19

We have just enough time for the Seattle

1:20:21

Seahawks and Matthew stat I feel.

1:20:23

Like if if we did

1:20:25

some AI.

1:20:28

Like best case scenario for Sessler

1:20:30

looks wise and you just change some things around.

1:20:33

Okay, it's it's Stafford with those you

1:20:35

know, gleaming new white teeth. He's gotten everything

1:20:37

like that. That

1:20:39

that would check out as well.

1:20:40

I don't think Matthew Stafford would play me

1:20:42

if there was a film version.

1:20:44

Of me like.

1:20:46

Foot in eighty pounds.

1:20:47

But we just we film

1:20:50

up, We film up, are tilted upward

1:20:52

anyway.

1:20:53

Think I'll take that as a positive from you, Dan, I will

1:20:55

assess that comment later.

1:20:57

Well, it's camera magic. It's a go

1:21:00

ahead.

1:21:04

Oh by the way,

1:21:06

you're looking at my screen again, I know what you're

1:21:08

doing.

1:21:09

I know that. Start this

1:21:11

over all right, Mark started

1:21:13

over.

1:21:13

Sorry Mark, Sorry,

1:21:17

Mattler.

1:21:18

Here we go. We're

1:21:21

not going to start it over the cloud.

1:21:22

Let's start this clock over the.

1:21:24

Closs and here we go, you

1:21:26

know, sorry.

1:21:26

Talking about Seattle's draft, one executive

1:21:29

told Mike Sando, you're co worker

1:21:31

at the Athletic.

1:21:32

Nice guy. Mike is a very nice guy. Mike.

1:21:35

The scout set of Seattle's draft. It looks

1:21:37

like they went Baltimoreish meeting,

1:21:39

build up both lines.

1:21:41

And I love the Byron Murphy.

1:21:42

This is me talking now, not the anonymous

1:21:44

scout or Matt Stafford or Matt

1:21:46

Stafford, but I like Byron Murphy is one of the

1:21:48

guys that we were like catching up and watching him. I'm

1:21:50

like, I love this dude, Like he is a chaos maker

1:21:53

and like the kind of like a beating heart of the front

1:21:55

seven.

1:21:56

And other people are talking, you know,

1:21:58

not Tepper.

1:21:58

Maybe Tepper be talking about guard Christian

1:22:01

Haynes as a steal at pick eighty one. And

1:22:03

it's never too early for me to talk talk

1:22:05

about roughly twenty two coaches

1:22:07

as my Coach of the Year candidates, even here

1:22:09

in early May. There we go, here's one early

1:22:12

vote for Mike McDonald. I think I am

1:22:14

a total believer and what he did in Baltimore,

1:22:17

he systematically milks the very best out of

1:22:19

his defensive roster.

1:22:20

Plus, it will tell a good story.

1:22:22

When Gino Smith is benched for Sam Howell

1:22:25

prior to Week eleven is the five and five Seahawks

1:22:27

rip off seven straight wins and route

1:22:29

to a wild card Berth Welcome to tomorrowland.

1:22:32

Ooh okay, the last

1:22:34

time you got behind a coach with no experience was Brandon

1:22:36

Staley, So maybe

1:22:38

this will be this will be different.

1:22:40

I you never know, Matt Ruhle.

1:22:43

I hope that you know that's not the route

1:22:45

that happens. He's intriguing. They've they've

1:22:47

kind of had a quiet offseason. They kept

1:22:49

their players, they haven't had a lot of people coming in

1:22:52

or out, and yet I'm intrigued

1:22:54

by them because of the coaches like Ryan Grubb is

1:22:56

one of the biggest X factors in the entire

1:22:59

NFL this year. What he did at Washington

1:23:01

was super creative and just different,

1:23:04

and he has a lot of talent to work with.

1:23:06

Like Gino, there's continuity

1:23:08

on the offensive line. I'm not sure if it's great, but the skill

1:23:10

position continuity is fantastic,

1:23:14

and this group has been together and they're talented

1:23:16

like him with like an electric coach,

1:23:18

could be exciting.

1:23:19

Yeah, I'm a Gino Smith fan, so

1:23:22

maybe I'm back in your good grace.

1:23:23

Oh yeah, just give me Gino at least for the question.

1:23:26

So, but grub Is, I

1:23:28

think, like you said, I agree with you one hundred percent,

1:23:31

Greg in this topic and most things

1:23:33

in life. Probably I'm

1:23:35

sweating. You

1:23:38

know. It's an X factor here, especially

1:23:40

with you know everyone when people watch

1:23:42

Washing the Washington Huskies. Obviously Michael Penick stood

1:23:45

out because of what he can do with the football, but if you

1:23:47

look past that and you look at some of the

1:23:49

route concepts, some of the pre snap movements,

1:23:51

some of the alignments and the spacing that

1:23:53

they were getting, I think that's perfect

1:23:56

with Gino, and I think that's going to be really really

1:23:58

fun to watch. I am curious see if

1:24:00

Mike McDonald's defense is truly the

1:24:03

Shanahan Killer. I know that that was sort

1:24:05

of the the energy of it in

1:24:07

terms of why you make a higher

1:24:09

like that and swing and swing like that, So it'll be I'll

1:24:12

be curious.

1:24:14

Got her by milliseconds.

1:24:17

I got kicked off the Wi FI.

1:24:18

I will say two things, Gino.

1:24:21

The off season worked out great for Gino, right

1:24:24

he Sam Howe's is backup. They didn't

1:24:26

draft anybody of note,

1:24:28

and then as much

1:24:30

as we could spend. That was a pretty positive assessment

1:24:32

of Seattle to me, clearly the third

1:24:34

best team in the division.

1:24:36

That's tough, tough division. But yeah,

1:24:38

and the Niners are one of those teams. I like teams

1:24:40

that feel different. And I've always

1:24:42

liked Pete Carroll. It's not a Pek Carroll thing, but it kind

1:24:44

of is time and Mike McDonald,

1:24:47

like they had this pre draft thing with him and John Schneider. It's

1:24:49

like, you forget he's thirty six and he looks

1:24:51

like really young, and it's like, wait a minute, what these coaches

1:24:53

are like just just past

1:24:57

that's agis.

1:24:58

I like it. I'll say go for it, Pete

1:25:00

Carroll.

1:25:01

They remind me a little bit of the Cowboys, though, just

1:25:03

in that they're Bill.

1:25:05

And Pete shipped out of town, earned seventy

1:25:07

bye bye.

1:25:09

Like Seahawks could be very good. I think I

1:25:11

don't think. I don't see them in the rams, like in a different

1:25:13

tier of each other. They're they're both a

1:25:16

different year. But if I had to put

1:25:18

them in a pecking yard, right, I don't struggle put it this way,

1:25:20

if either of them were in the NFC South, then

1:25:22

I'm putting them as negative money to win

1:25:24

the division money, including the Seahawks,

1:25:26

I would I would put in that category. But the Seahawks

1:25:29

feel a little bit of like the Cowboys, where there could be a

1:25:31

lot of stress if things don't go right

1:25:33

this year. There's just like Tyler Lockett,

1:25:35

DK Gino some

1:25:37

of the players on the defense, like

1:25:39

are they gonna be with this regime long

1:25:42

term? Is kind of open question?

1:25:44

All right, we just went around the NFC

1:25:48

in around forty eight minutes. Uh,

1:25:52

let's give it up for Jordan Rodrigue and

1:25:54

again check out her incredible

1:25:57

deep dive journalism in sport

1:26:00

Alive because of people like Jordan Rodrigue

1:26:03

finding let me.

1:26:04

Read it like that headline too. But

1:26:07

what what what are you shaking your head

1:26:09

for here?

1:26:09

I'm trying to get a plug in a big spot,

1:26:12

the biggest of all spot.

1:26:14

Greg's gotta go, oh yeah, I'm good.

1:26:17

Finding Rams Colon One year behind

1:26:19

the scenes of the NFL draft scouting

1:26:21

process. COMMA Part one. Check that out.

1:26:23

Check out all of Jordan's coverage

1:26:25

of the Rams and her NFL projects

1:26:28

like this, and uh, you've said

1:26:30

it all, Jordan. What else can I say.

1:26:33

I'm so happy she did

1:26:35

it, folks, that.

1:26:36

She was great, and I hope everybody enjoyed

1:26:38

it. We'll be back next week. Until then,

1:26:41

you know what you must do.

1:26:42

Say it, Jordan, Heat the call bang,