First Things First - Julian Sayin joins, Cowboys Super Bowl dreams ‘not a reach’, Is this Aaron Rodgers’ last season?

Episode Date: July 29, 2026

(0:00) Cowboys Super Bowl dreams, Julian Sayin joins (24:55) J.J. McCarthy vs. Kyler Murray, Are the Falcons in trouble?  (39:23) Will the Bears make a deep playoff run? (45:25) Giants contenders, Broncos a one-hit wonder? (01:03:14) Can the Cowboys be the best offense in the NFL?  (01:15:53) Eagles roster incomplete?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Now streaming on Disney Plus, the Hulu original series Furious follows FBI agent Alice Black, played by Emmy Rossum, on the hunt for a mysterious and calculating serial killer. Both walk their own paths toward justice, and as their lives start to intertwine, the line between right and wrong begins to blur. New episodes week over week. Watch the Hulu original series Furious, now streaming only on Hulu on Disney Plus. Live from New York. It's the show that's in the middle of a quarterback competition, which I think if we had a quarterback competition amongst the show, I would do pretty well.

It's because I'm a superstar in my own mind. I'm Danny Parkins alongside Coach Manjini, and joining us from Minnesota is Greg Jennings. The home of quarterback battles. Greg, you really going with JJ over, Kyler? I mean, let's get into it. It's up for debate. Obviously, there's a quarterback competition for a reason.

Okay, you get to be the J.J. McCarthy guy. We'll see how that ages. We got a big show for you today. Ohio State quarterback and Heisman Trophy hopeful Julian Sayan joins the show live from Big Ten Media Day shortly. Also, does the Eagles roster have any question marks? Spoiler alert. General manager Howie Roseman says it is incomplete. We're going to ask what he's going to do about it. And finally, Aaron Rogers says season 22 will be his last. Greg, you spent seven years with Aaron. Do you feel like you abandoned him? Or should you get out there and help him for his last ride? I definitely abandoned him, and I'm going to continue to abandon him

because I'm not getting anywhere near that field. I'm putting a help in a bird. That's smart. Let's start in Dallas, though, where the Cowboys are in pursuit of their sixth Lombardi trophy, and it's been a while. The T-shirts yesterday to prove it 30 years. But Vegas thinks it'll be an uphill climb. They are the 16th best odds, and there's 32 teams,

so they're right in the middle of it to win it all. Luckily, though, Jerry Jones, he's ready to go all in. Take a listen. I think to contend for a Super Bowl, which would, if you contend, you've got a real chance of being in it and being in the game. I think those are the kinds of things

that I don't believe are an outlandish or a reach to expect. There's no way. way that I would do anything that would delay until next year or the next year to try to get to a Super Bowl this year. I feel that good about what we're starting with that it kind of alludes over to what we were talking about if a trade or something like that came along. It was a meandering press conference with Jerry Jones, but not a ton of fireworks in there.

Do you view the Cowboys as legit Super Bowl contenders? Jerry Jones says it's not a reach. Yeah, for the first time, I agree with a lot of what Jerry said. And he wasn't making any outlandish prediction. He was just saying that they're going to be in contention. And I hired Brian Schottinheimer as my office coordinator in New York with the Jets and got to know him really well. And the thing about Brian that I really respect is his openness and his willingness to try new things. It's similar to Jim Harbaugh, and I think that serves him really well, and he's not set in his ways in any sense of it, so there's a chance for real growth year over year.

And I think they're positioned to, based off what they did defensively, kind of taking that Philadelphia Eagles approach of seeing the need, addressing the need to the draft, through free agency, through every avenue they could. and they should be in the mix. So I agree with a lot of what coach is saying. When you talk about a head coach that also is a play caller, understanding what he has on that side of the ball, and having the wherewithal to know we have to go and I'm on board with us going all in on the defensive side in order for us to make that next step,

they did that. Now they can't take a step back as an offense because the expectation is for them to remain where they were or improve. And then that defense with Christian Parker being at the helm and the play caller now doing his part. The beauty of what I see out of Dallas is even when we listen to Jerry Jones and that you called it meandering. In years prior past, he would just directly say, look, yeah, absolutely. We're trying to win the Super Bowl this year. This is the team.

I believe in this team. He's not saying that. What he's saying is I'm doing everything within my power. I believe in what we've put together. And there's a chance that we can compete. I believe that we can be good enough. And he's not wrong. He is absolutely not wrong.

This is a team that based on what we know them to be offensively and the expectation that we have surrounding them offensively, if this defense improves to middle of the pack, this team is going to have a chance to make a lot of noise. Not only will they be in a lot of games, they're going to win a lot of games. I think we're all aligned here, but it's a weird phenomenon.

Like, the less nonsense that surrounds the Cowboys, the more it forces us to actually talk about the football team on the field and then the football team on the field, like, it's pretty good. Like, they legitimately could be, the best offense in football. There's a very clean path to that. They have the highest volume passing attack in the league. They have arguably the best wide receiver duo in the league. They have a ton of continuity on the coaching staff. Brian Schottenheimer. I know you were really

bullish on him last year coach. A lot of us were skeptical given that he was there with Mike McCarthy, like how different was it going to be? But it was really good. Javate Williams has over 1,200 yards rushing. And they bring everybody back offensively that you would want to bring back. And then to Greg's point, I don't know if any one move, like, I'd rather have Micah Parsons. Like, I still won't defend the process that got there. But when you factor, like, Quinn and Williams, plus Rishon Gary, plus two first-round picks in Lawrence and Caleb Downs, plus a new defensive coordinator and Christian Parker, there's enough variables there on the defense that provide at least the opportunity for upside, that if you got a middle-of-the-pack defense and a top-three offense, yeah, you absolutely could be.

a Super Bowl contender. Not a favorite, not picking them. It's not prediction week, but like broad stroke contender, I think the answer is yes. When you look at last year, so they finished what was it, 7-9 and 1, and then they lost four out of the last five games. And four of those games, they gave up 30 points or more. So the volume of improvements that they've made defensively, that should, we're not talking about Cincinnati. Cincinnati, to me, made some marginal gains. to me, Dallas did the Philadelphia program. They saw a need. They addressed the need.

They addressed the need dramatically in terms of every avenue they could. And Jerry is even talking about the idea of, hey, if something else comes up, I'm willing to do it. And then in addition to that, Brian Schoenheimer has calmed things down in Dallas. It's not just a circus of distractions. And to Jerry's credit, he's done the same thing. He stopped being for now. for now. For now.

We're one press conference in. Give them credit for the one for one. I'm giving them credit for one for one. And it's just, it's a different feel in Dallas. And I think it's a really positive field, Dallas. Yeah, you just get the sense that they all have their head down and they're focused on what's going on within the building. And when you listen to Christian Parker talk and his relationships that he's building with those guys on the defensive side of the ball,

you can't help but to become optimistic and in believing they are going to make fast improvements. Now, coach, you know you're on that side of the ball. You've called plays on that side of the ball. It takes time for everything to come together as a team. But if we're talking unit to unit, meaning offense or defense, we understand their special teams, but offense defense, it is a lot easier for it to come together quicker

then on defense than it is offensively. And so knowing that, understanding, you have to be competitive within your division. I don't think there's any one of us on here that believes they can't be competitive within that division to where that division is currently constructed and the things that everyone in that division

is facing this year, this cowboy team will be ready to go. It's just a matter of putting it all together. And like we're all saying, keeping your head down, being quiet about it in the media, and just letting your play determine who we believe you to be. Coach, that was an offensive player, I think, calling defense easy and simple. That's what I heard.

I think it was calling defense. That's what I heard, Greg. It comes together a little bit more quickly. It's a little simpler. And the nice thing, too, Greg, is you're not starting from this high point, you know, that the bar was pretty low defense. 30th-th-rate defense. So as a new defensive coordinator, you're pretty,

excited about, you know, working off those numbers. All right. Let's go to Pittsburgh, guys, where Aaron Rogers went 10 and 6 in his first season with the Steelers. Added to that that they brought in his old friend and newest head coach, Mike McCarthy, to make the decision to come back for season 22 a little easier. Here's Aaron Rogers spelling out exactly why this is his last ride. Take a listen. I thought last year might be it. And then Mike got hired and I talked to the wife and she said. said you can do one more year. So I said, well, see if it works out. And then it kind of all came together. We just talked to D.K. earlier and he said, well, you know, saying it to the last year might just be something guys didn't. You know, this year you want to come back another year.

Do you'll have any kind of debate or? No, zero debate. Zero. Okay. I guess that takes that topic off of the radar for next year. But Greg, how would you define success for Rogers in this zero debate final season? Well, obviously, you want to win it all. Everyone does. Everyone wants to ride off in the sunset, hoisting the Limbaier Trophy, and then hanging up their cleats. That, for me, does not define this success, that to be a success for this Pittsburgh Steelers team. What would be a success is not only making the postseason, but winning a postseason game.

because this is something that, this is the hurdle that they've tripped over consistently for the last few years with Mike Tomlin being the head coach. And so when you talk about all the things that Aaron Rogers alluded to, him having a sense of excitement because, man, he has a guy that he's familiar with, some familiarity, some success with, of actually getting things done when it matters most. You come back, you know you're going to be supported, you know the playbook is going to be favor. to you in terms of verbiage and things like that and just having input. We've heard D.K. Metcalfe talking about different things of how he's excited about it. And so all those things point up. However, you can't just make the postseason because we've seen that at nauseam. If you're a Steeler fan, winning the postseason would be not only a success for Aaron Rogers,

but a success for Mike McCarthy in this first year as a head coach there. Yeah, when I first saw this topic, I was thinking, okay, let me think back to Tom Brady, let me think back to Brett Farv and how they ended their career. And I had remembered it incorrectly. I was thinking, okay, Tom finished up with a Super Bowl, and Brett finished up with the NFC championship game and losing in overtime.

But that was actually the year before their last year. So Farv's second of last year was amazing. 33 touchdown, seven picks. They were 12 and 4, almost go to the Super Bowl. The next year, his final year, not so much. 11 touchdowns and 19 picks. They go 5 and 8. They miss the playoffs.

And then Brady, he has an exceptional year, second and last year, 43 touchdowns at 12 picks, 13 and 4. They go to the divisional round. The next year, they still make the wild card with a losing record, but it's nowhere near what I thought it would be. So he's, you know, the floor is hopefully Brady's last year. And the ceiling is something closer to either one of these guys second to last year. that would be an amazing success.

It's interesting that you chose to compare him to the other all-time grades, which he obviously is, and that's totally fair. I just had never considered it because he went to Pittsburgh to kind of wash off the stink of the jets, and he just wanted to go whether it was professional. And the whole thing in Pittsburgh, to what Greg alluded to, is they have this playoff drought. It's seven straight playoff games with a loss that, you know, they haven't won in their last six trips, even a single game. So for a team, it feels fairly obvious that it's win a playoff.

off game. Like, and end that drought be the reason that you end that drought because if he doesn't, and they have to start over with Will Howard or a rookie or whomever, who knows how long that drought goes in Pittsburgh. But it's a tougher thing to quantify. I'll just say he is one of, if not the most talented throwers of the football that I've ever seen. Like Brady's the goat.

He's got the best trophy case. He is the best winner. He is the most accomplished. But, like, Patrick Mahomes is kind of an evolution of Rogers. He talked about how Rogers influenced his game. Caleb Williams talks about how Rogers influenced his game. These guys who crazy velocity, improvisation, can throw on the move, I would just love to see one or two more great moments of the shootout.

And I know you make fun of me for just loving offense over defense and all that, but like are we going to get Joe Burrow and Aaron Rogers in like a good old-fashioned shootout? And like, are we going to get one or two more great football members? memories because so much of what has been around Aaron Rogers the last few years has been nonsense from podcasting, has been injuries, has been the Jets, has been distractions. If he's coming back to do this thing and trying to rekindle an old flame with Mike McCarthy, Greg, that you know very well, I'd love to see him go back into the time machine one or two more times and have some like mid-2000, late 2000 version of Aaron Rogers this year.

Yeah, look, and that would be awesome. And I think we, will see some of that show up from week to week. I don't think it can, I don't think that will show up consistently from week one to week 18. I think that would be unrealistic. If you ask

me, Aaron Rogers, I doubt if he believes that that would be unrealistic, but you got to understand you got two guys that are, regardless of they would outwardly say this, they're coaching, Mike McCarthy's coaching with the chip on his shoulder. Aaron Rogers is going to be playing with the chip on his shoulder.

because there's a lot of things that we don't believe that they're capable of accomplishing. Mike McCarthy, can he get past even the wild card game and get to the division around and pass that one? That's his bugle-a-has-be. It has been his buglepool as of late. Aaron Rogers, can you look like vintage Aaron Rogers consistently for weeks and weeks and weeks compiled together? And can you do it when it matters most? To your point, it would be awesome. we saw Aaron Rogers dueling out.

But what we can't see is the Pittsburgh Steelers not performing and he being a part of the reason why they aren't performing because that will be a complete and total disaster. Greg, quick question for you. Do you think this relationship is gonna be beneficial for both these guys? And my thought going into this is this is as good as it could be for in terms of transitioning

because there's so many built up reps. There's so much there's so much there's so much there that there's no learning curve for Aaron and really there's very little learning curve for Mike. Absolutely. You know coaching guys and being a head coach and having a quarterback the relationship between a head coach, whether it be a defensive-minded head coach office, there has to be a great relationship there.

Somebody has to be able to communicate and have that belief in that individual and they then in turn have to have belief in you. There is no question that Aaron Rogers believes in Mike McCarthy. There is no question that Mike McCarthy believes in Aaron Rogers. It's one of the reasons why they all opted to, we're going to wait. We're going to wait for him to make his decision. We want him before we want the other options on the table. Well, Greg, Coach, we will see you guys in just a little bit.

But right now, let's talk some college football. The Ohio State Buckeyes, they are the favorites to win the national championship. of college football season right around the corner. They would be the fourth Big Ten team in a row to win it all. So joining us now from Big Ten Media Day is Ohio State quarterback, Julian San. Julian, thanks so much for joining us from the craziness that I know is Big Ten Media Day. A lot of hype around you guys. And you, I thought, I actually have a pretty unique perspective.

You get recruited everywhere. You go to Bama first. End up at Ohio State. I just mentioned three straight championships of the Big Ten. we debate things like this on this show, Big Ten or SEC. Is that best conference debate over now that you guys have won three straight? I mean, I'm a big fan of the Big Ten, obviously, and I think the numbers speak for themselves and the championship speak for themselves.

But is that something that you guys talk about? You guys will have all of these teams on your schedule, and you're like, we're battle tested. We can beat anybody in the playoff. We came through the Big Ten. I don't know if you talk about it as much. I feel like, you know, maybe talk about like battle tested, yes, but like you're not like talking about like to other players. Like, hey, like Big Ten is better than the SEC.

The players don't focus on it as much as like maybe the fans do. All right. You could leave that to the fans and the media. I want to talk about you as a prospect. So I covered the draft a few years ago and I loved Drake May as a prospect because he was the youngest brother of older brothers who were athletes. And I was like, oh, this guy's going to be awesome. Like he just got beat up by his older brothers.

You had an older brother, Aiden, who's a quarterback at Penn. I'm curious about the battles that you guys had and if you feel like it has impacted you as a player and an athlete. I think definitely. As the youngest of four, you're definitely kept humble. And as a kid, me and my brother would always play the NCAA video game, and I don't think I'd beat him once. I mean, I was always chasing him and everything,

and it was awesome to grow up with a brother like that. But now that you're like one of the guys, like, does he still think he can beat you? Like, does he still think he's the better quarterback? We always, when we go home, we train together, we'll do like, we'll like throw routes and like, we'll grade like who has a better throw. And we're very harsh graders. Like if it's not a perfect ball, it's, it's not getting anything above a C. Okay.

All right. And so, but he would still say, like, does he think that he gets the best of you? I don't know. I think he would probably say that. but I'm obviously taking myself. You're going to take yourself. All right. I was listening to Jeremiah Smith.

He was on the herd here on FS1 earlier in the day. And he said that you guys are the best duo, wide receiver and quarterback in the country. I assume you agree with that. But can you talk about just your connection with him? And I would imagine having a guy like him and all the amazing wide receivers at Ohio State. It makes your job a lot easier. Yeah, having a guy like him, I mean, he's definitely extremely talented.

And it makes quarterbacking a lot of easy. I mean, when you have a guy who's got an extremely big catch radius, can make all the plays extremely, you know, fast, tall, explosive. And as somebody who's, you know, just a great teammate and a very humble player, it's awesome that I get to play with him. And, you know, we've been building our connection throughout this offseason, having that last year of experience. And it's been a lot of fun to keep building our connection and keep growing together. So you said you guys don't really talk like Big Ten versus SEC. see you guys are also on like every Heisman watch list. Do you

and Jeremiah have any competition about that? Which one is like the actual Heisman favorite in the Buckeye locker room? Well, I hope he wins it. I would be a static if he won it. So that would be awesome. That's a good quarterback answer right there. That's good. That's going to because if he has a great season

it means you probably had a great season. Probably means I had a great season. Yeah. So that would be awesome. So I was looking at your profile. and your rankings and like old articles about you. And I know you were a Bryce Young fan growing up. And then people are comparing you to Joe Burrow and Drew Breeze and Brock Purdy. And basically like every white, accurate quarterback I could read about it.

I'm like, oh, it's Julianne. Do you have a guy? Yeah, yeah, right? Like, you know all the stereotypes. Do you have someone that you actually modeled your game after? I think I like to model it after Joe Burrow. You know, somebody who's super smart quarterback, really good processor, accurate the football.

and just the elite quarterback. I like to model my game after him. I love watching him play. He's a very good quarterback. So I think that's who I would try to model my game after. You know, it's interesting. When I watch your highlights, there is so much like processing,

snap throw, get the ball out, get the ball to the great playmakers that you have at Ohio State. But then a lot of the stuff that I've read about what they've been telling you in the offseason is maybe you need to use your legs a little bit more, maybe you need to scramble, that sort of thing. Does that come naturally to you

as a processing pocket passer? Yeah, I think it does come naturally to me. I've been trying to improve that part of my game this off season. I think I've done a good job of that working throughout this off season. So I'm excited to show it. How do you work on such a thing without live reps and guys trying to actually tackle you? Yeah, I think you improve your physical traits. Like how can you get bigger, stronger, and faster?

And then also just, you know, training, you know, like your pocket and your internal clock. like, you know, when you're in spring, like, hey, like, let's take off here if we need to take off. So there is a large, just, look at any NFL roster, and there it's just, like, littered with Ohio State Buckeyes. You mentioned, like, trying to emulate a guy like Joe Burrow. But who do you reach out to? Like, who is your network of guys who have made the jump from Ohio State to the next level? Because I imagine they're also watching you, given that they're still such fans of the program. Yeah, I think, you know, I was able to play with a lot of those really talented players.

on that national championship team in 2024. So a guy like Will, he always reaches out, and whether it's a big winner, you know, a loss, and he'll give me great advice. And also a guy like CJ Stroud, he's reached out a couple times too and just connected with him. So having those past quarterbacks to be able to talk with them because nobody really knows what it's like except them.

It's really special. Any anecdote that you can share on something that they've passed down, some wisdom or knowledge on how to handle the pressure of being the Buckeye quarterback? You know, I think I was in a great position in my freshman year to, you know, I was on the bench and be able to watch, like, Will kind of go through that season. And I just took so many great things from it and, you know, just able to store it away for future use. There's so much pressure, like, big time college football, but you guys are, I mean,

NIL, you're basically pro athletes at this point. But I'm just kind of curious, like, the expectation is national. championship, you have to beat Michigan, you have to win the playoff. What do you do to deal with the pressure and the spotlight that you've chosen that you've earned? But how do you process and handle the pressure that comes with your position at such a young age? Yeah, I think that a lot of the time there's a lot of outside pressure, outside noise. I try to do my best to block it out and really just focus on the opinions of my coaches and my teammates because those are what are important to me. You know, how are my coaches thinking I'm playing? How can I improve? What can I do better

to help us be more successful. Well, Julian, we appreciate your time from Big Ten Media Days. Congrats on the preseason accolades and all the hype going into this year. We'll be watching, man. Thank you for the time. Back on first things first. Talk a good old-fashioned quarterback competition. The Vikings drafted J.J. McCarthy 10th overall with poor play, injuries.

It's been a bumpy start to the career. So this off season with all the expectations in Minnesota, they brought in Kyler Murray to push him, to replace him. That depends on your interpretation. Here is head coach Kevin O'Connor. on how the quarterback battle is looking during training camp. Take a listen. I feel very good about our plan. Both Kyler and JJ will take reps with the first team. They'll also take reps with the second group, and I think that gives different layers to the

evaluation as well. We want an elevator at the quarterback position. That offense is an evolving thing, and we're excited about what this year's offense could look like. All right, Greg, you're joining us from Minnesota. Yes, training camp just started, but let's fast forward. Who's the week one starter for the Vikings? J.J. McCarthy or Kyler Murray? So putting on my Minnesota hat, I'm going to say J.J. McCarthy is who they would love to name as the starter week one. Now, personally, I believe that Kyla Murray is the better of the two as they currently stand.

However, you got to remember, J.J. McCarthy has been in that offense. He's been in that building. He has a jump in terms of what is going to be expected. Now, he hasn't performed up to par, but they spent the draft capital on him to acquire him. So they are going to lean towards all understanding. They have a new GM. Totally understand that. But Kevin O'Connell is directly tied to J.J. McCarthy as a quarterback. the win is paramount though. And when you think about Kyle Murray and what he provides and the threat that he poses to opposing defenses, that's a different type of element. Now, if JJ McCarthy is to win this job, which I believe they're going to do everything in their power to give him the chance, it's going to be because he's improved as a accurate thrower. When they leaned on him to throw the ball and more than 24, 25 times a game, which he only did. did twice, he absolutely couldn't do it. He couldn't be accurate.

And you got a guy now that in Carla Murray that you know, I can hand him the keys. And I trust that he's going to be more accurate. He's going to do whatever he can do to impact the game and the positive man. Yeah, to your point, Greg, I think they're going to do everything they possibly can to make it work. And granted that the GM's gone. But McConnell had a big part in who was selected. And he probably had a big part in whether or not Sam Darnold, there either. Now, Sam Darnold

has the great year in Minnesota. He gets kind of named as a quarterback guru and then he goes on to Seattle and still has success and J.J. McCarthy can't get much done. So he wants to make that work and it makes the most sense organizationally for it to

work. But for Kyler Murray, he should have a huge advantage with all of his experience, with the success that he has, with the confidence that he has. He should obviously win the job. The thing concerns me about that is him talking about how difficult it is without the reps, without all the reps. That's a little bit of a concern for a veteran guy going in who's worked with other

offensive coordinators. Now, the other thing that makes me think that it's going to be Kyla Murray is look at these numbers. I don't know if you're a Shador Sanders fan or not, Greg. But J.J. McCarthy and Shador Sanders were very similar last season. And, you know, those numbers don't jump off the page to where you're excited about thinking, okay, he's going to come in and be able to compete in that division and help us win, you know, one of the toughest divisions in football. Coach, I'm going to load this. Did you just, this should do or just take a stray because of his deadline? It didn't take a stray. It's just, it's what it is. Just numbers don't lie. Just show you what it was. I will say this, coach. And, and in Kevin O'Connell, he mentioned it. And I think

this is going to be hugely important. When he talked about they're going to get reps with both the ones and the twos. We need to see if they're who's an elevator. Coach, you know this. When you're playing with the ones, obviously you got Justin Jefferson, you got Addison, you got all the all the elite guys. You got the starters. But when you put them under center and you have the two's, the backups, can you be the reason why it still looks good? Can you be the reason why our offense still flows. And when the play comes in, guys are lined up correctly. You know what they're supposed to be. The play looks very similar. We all understand it's going to be different because you have different, you have backups. But that's going to be a huge evaluation piece. And I'm

glad he mentioned that because it'll be interesting to see how that offense looks when they're both playing with those second team guys. You guys are much more measured on this one. I will be floored if Kyler Murray is not the week one starter. And I actually think that it's more likely that J.J. McCarthy gets traded than he's the week one starter. They signed Carson Wentz. Carson Wentz is a legitimate backup quarterback in this league. And I think that if Kyler Murray, I know that they give him the job.

And I know he would choose to go and believe that he can beat out J.J. McCarthy. And then if you get there, you've got a Brian Flores defense and you've got Jordan Addison and you have Justin Jefferson, and you have all of that talent. And you get to play in the dome and all of those things. But Kyler Murray could have gone to the Dolphins. He could have gone to the Jets. He could have gone to a place where there wasn't a competition and just been the starting quarterback.

Now, not as good as situations, admittedly, that would potentially await him if he wins this job. But I don't think Kyler Murray is going to Minnesota if he could lose this job to J.J. McCarthy and end up being the backup. So I think Kyler is going to start, and maybe they trade JJ, maybe they don't. But with Carson Wentz there,

I think it's very on the board that it was, the 10th overall pick and 10 total games for J.J. McCarthy and the Vikings. Well, I think that's the biggest difference between these two guys is Kyler Murray is confident that he's a starter. He's confident that he can be successful. He totally believes in himself and he believes in his ability to win a lot of games. Where with J.J. McCarthy, I don't know if he really believes that he can do it in the NFL. And to some degree, maybe his shortcomings were a little bit of crisis of confidence. And that's a concern.

Well, his shortcomings definitely had a lot to do with his self-confidence and his mental state as he was the head, the number one guy under center. And it impacting them drastically. And if you go into a quarterback competition to your point, coach, one being confident, the other questioning and having a idea that I've done it before, not done it at this level on this level, it's going to be hard for him to win. the job. I just think that they are going to put both of these guys in unique situations that provides them an opportunity to be fairly evaluated based upon their skill set. And in that running with the twos, that's where I believe Kyler personally, I believe Kyler has the advantage because he's going to tap into that level of confidence and just instinctively being a playmaker and make that often still look decent.

All right, let's move on to a very similar quarterback battle, honestly. The Falcons drafted Michael Pennex, two spots ahead of J.J. McCarthy, but injuries and poor play have also been the main story of his career. So Atlanta went outside the organization, brought in Tua this off season. Of course, unfortunately, he also has plenty of injury baggage. And now that's impacting the start of his training camp. Both guys, Pennix hasn't been cleared for 11 on 11. Tua's got the back flare up there saying here's head coach Kevin Stefanski on the Falcons quarterback situation.

Tua is dealing with an injury right now. It's not long term. He'll be out there sooner than later, but we'll work through that in next couple days. It happened while he'd like this off-sweets like away from him. A few days ago, I believe. Yeah, but he's you know, he'll be ready to roll. All right, coach. Falcons already in trouble?

No, not not at all. He got two quarterbacks with injury problems and neither one of them is available. To me, with two, as long as it's not anything to do with concussions, as long as it's not anything above the neck and it's a little bit of a strain, then that happens. And sometimes you've got to wait a little while for your guy to be ready to go. It's unfortunate, though, that he's not able to go and Pennix isn't able to go. So Cooper Rush is going to get a ton of reps.

They've also got BJ Robinson who's not playing or practicing right now. maybe a little bit of a sit-in or sit-out or whatever it's called now. Hold in. Hold in. Hold in. They're going to pay him. So there's a lot of guys who aren't practicing in the early part of training camp. But thankfully, this is the early part of training camp. Now, if we're having this conversation two weeks from now, it's a different scenario.

Yeah, I don't think they're in trouble either. Look, last year, different team, not comparing the quarterbacks, comparing only the situation, talking about the rent. Sean McVey had to stand in front of, sit in front of the media and answer questions about Matthew Stafford and his back. And I was one sitting on that desk saying up there in trouble. I don't know how Matthew Stafford will be able to get through 18 weeks of football if he's already dealing with this. Now he's older, two of being younger. And just seeing and listening to the vibrato of Kevin Stefansky there and that press, he's not concerned about it at all. And I'm with coach.

As long as he's protected, and it's not above the neck, Tuo will be just fine. Again, maybe more reactionary than the two of you. This is the third ACL injury for Pennix. They could have had Bo Nix in that draft. Tua has had massive concussion issues, as you mentioned. Now there's a back flare-up. Bejohn Robinson, Drake London, Kyle Pitts,

investments that they've made on the defense. defensive side of the ball, an incredibly winnable division, a new head coach in Kevin Stafansky, who is not tied to either quarterback. A new general manager and Ian Cunningham, they're not tied to either quarterback. I mean, Kevin Stofansky was joking about Matt Ryan, the president of football ops getting reps at practice. We're not quite ready for Matt to get reps, but we'll see where this goes. I just, I'm sure both of these guys are going to end up playing this year. I don't have much confidence in either of them being able to play a full season, but I just think the Falcons are, they're in the, they're already in the market for a quarterback for 2027,

and we're like one practice into 2026. Yeah, but you're being alarmist. Just looking at. You can't count on these guys. But looking at Kevin's body language, I've been in those situations where you have an injury and you're saying you think it's going to be short term, but you're really concerned as to whether it's long term. And there's a different level of anxiety that I'm sure comes through in those moments,

or at least, you know, judging from the outside looking in, he looked like he was in vacation mode. He didn't look like he was really worried about whether or not he'd have a starting quarterback in a few days. I agree with you. Like, I'm not saying that if, like, for all I know, he slept weird on a pillow, and that's why he's got a little kink in his neck and that's all this is. Like, that's not what I'm saying. But you can't rely on Tua long term.

Tua is not a long-term answer at quarterback for any franchise because of his concussion history. So I just, when you add in that plus the Pinnick's situation, I wouldn't feel comfortable if I was a Falcons fan. Yeah, look, I was shocked that the dolphins did the deal the dolphins did with him after all of the concussion issues. And you're, yeah, you're a playaway at any point where he could be, he could be out. And with Pennix, you drafted him knowing that he had an injury history, so you're willing to deal with that.

But there's a lot of guys that are a play away from being hurt and being lost for the season. they're a little bit higher on that scale, but a small back injury at the start of camp, I don't think is the need or necessitates too much of an alarmist reaction. Danny, you said it. Like, Kevin Stefansky isn't tied to either one of these quarterbacks. And so with that being the case, if Tua is available, he's going to play.

And if he plays well, great, awesome. We got something to work with, at least looking into the following season. If to a dozen, you go to Pennix, if he's available and healthy, and he plays, well, okay, maybe we can look into this. But to your point, Danny,

he's not tied to either one of these guys. And so when you have a head coach that's not tied to either quarterback, you're going to get the best version of those individuals every single time, no matter what the situation and circumstances are presented with them. So Tua's going to find a way to get on the field.

He understands the situation that he's in. That's why he chose to go to Atlanta. And when you think about Pinnix, it's like, man, he's probably bummed right now because he's not in a position where Tula would be out. It would be my gig right now. And they would be able to see me. And then I can kind of put him in my rearview mirror. But I don't think they have there in any position to panic because this year, albeit we feel like they feel like they're. can still be a competitive team for that division.

I don't think any of us believes that the Atlanta Falcons are ready to truly go and make a deep playoff run. I feel a lot better if they had a quarterback. They do feel like a roster that's a quarterback away from being something. They do. Right? It's pretty talented. They do.

Outside of the most important position in sports. But Ben Johnson is turning the page through the 2026 season. Personally, I would just watch 2025 Caleb highlights and be fine. But I guess we'll talk about the 2026 bears coming up, first things. First. Moving on to Chicago, Ben Johnson, you know, seriously, no big deal. It's just an 11 and six first season as the Bears head coach won the division, won a playoff game, won the last couple against the Packers. But he's not here to talk about the past. He's ready for year two. Take a listen. This is our chance to forge our identity. And, you know, a lot of coaches

come up and they say, we're going to be this, we're going to be that and the other. And and yet this is where it all all happens. This is, we've got a whole different group of guys. And we did a year ago, and this is where it gets fun, is call it half the roster was here, half the roster is new. There's a lot of getting to know each other. And yet, you know, it's a chance for us to create a new chapter of Chicago Bears football, the 2026 version. Coach, the Bears made it to the divisional rounds last year.

So would anything short of a deep playoff run be a failure? I think one of the biggest fallacies in sports is this idea that, you get to start where you left off. Ben Johnson said that a lot in his press conference. Yeah, and it's getting that across to everybody. It's getting across to the players. It's getting across to the coaches. It's understanding it yourself.

Look, my first year as a head coach, we went to the playoffs. And we had a big turnaround. The next year we brought in a lot of new players, and we tried to expand on the things that we were doing, and we took a significant step back. And you look at it across the league. Brian Dayball was coach of the year his first year. And then they took a significant step.

back. Two years ago, Washington was in the, and that was first year for Dan Quinn, they were in the NFC championship game, and they took a significant step back. So you have to do all the things that you did well last year, better than you did before, and you've got to get everybody understanding that, which is a hard thing to do. So I know, Danny, you want to say, yeah, a deep run is probably where they're headed. There are a lot of steps they're going to have to take to get even close to where they were last season. So I shook my head at the press conference because I'll say this before I answer the question. Man, he makes you believe, though.

I'll be honest. He just, when he talks, he talks with a conviction, almost like it's guaranteed. This is what's going to happen. This is my expectation. And players, they rally behind that. They pick up on that energy, that vibe. And so I think for them, inside. that locker room, absolutely. It's going to be anything short of a deep playoff run will be a failure.

Consider it a failure. And rightfully so, because as to coach's point, you believe that last year we had success, let's take it a step further. And it just doesn't cut out to beat that way every single year. Every year creates his own path, and you've got to carve it each week. And it starts right now. And the one thing I love about Ben Johnson is he's fully aware. fully aware of that, like the success and what Caleb was able to do and when the game was on the line, does he have that to kind of roll into this season? Yeah, that's awesome. You can do that. Now can you take it another step and be that guy who can run this offense efficiently, sustain drives, make the right decision, put us in position to where we're, we don't need you to do

that weekend and week out, but you got it in your bag because we've all seen it consistently done. So that's what I'm excited to see for this team. And I think, again, in that locker room, yeah, it will feel like a failure. But I don't believe that it would be a failure if they do not make a deep playoff front. I will listen to that whole press conference. I think it was the first question he was asked. How do you build off the momentum from last year? And he's like, there is no momentum from last year.

It's like, hey, you have to start from scratch. It's a new team. It could be almost 50% of roster turnover. We got a young team. We're going to have different contributors, all of those sort of things. So I think Ben Johnson knows that. But I do think two things can be true. Like, you can acknowledge that every season is its own thing and every team is its own thing

and anything that happened last year doesn't guarantee success from this year. And you can expect year over year progress. Like he was talking about how Caleb Williams, at this point last year, it was all about pre-snap, the cadence, getting the playout, identifying the protections, trying to do some pre-snap acknowledgement of what the coverage is. And now he's like, he's got that down like the back of his hand. Like, that's not even a question. about the verbiage and everything like that from Caleb.

And now it's about processing it quicker, getting better at the post-snap reads and all of those things. And so that is just a level where Caleb is at a different point this year from last year, just to use a specific example. So, like, I am fully expecting Caleb to take a massive year two with Ben Johnson, year three in the NFL leap. And if he does, and he is in that MVP conversation, the bears are going to be set up for a deep playoff run. So I don't want to overly simplify it. They have to stay healthy. The defense needs to be better.

They can't rely on fourth quarter comebacks. The offensive line probably won't be as healthy. They probably won't lead the league in takeaways. There's a million factors that go into this. But if Caleb Williams does what he is supposed to do, I do expect a deep playoff run, even if there is six months between now and then. Well, you know, it's going to be more entertaining, Greg. I don't know if you saw that that's what Caleb said.

Said it was going to be more entertaining throughout the game. No matter what. It's going to be more entertaining than it was last year. So that's a good starting point in terms of where Caleb's mindset is going into this season. And to Danny's point, yeah, if Caleb's in the MVP conversation, they should be better. That's a pretty big if. We're not saying like, hey, if he takes a marginal jump, if he's in the MVP conversation, yeah, the bear should be better. All right.

I won. There you go. I don't know if anyone was scoring that one, but I won. Coming up, first things first, goes camping. Oh, I'm excited about this. Greg's good around the campfire. Makes a mean smore. When you're a mid-sized business,

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Live from New York, it's the show that's still talking s'mores through the entire commercial break. Honestly, I mean, you thought Greg was making a buyer with two sticks? It's ridiculous. Coming up, Jerry Jodes is fired up for the season to start. Could the Cowboys have the best offense in the NFL? I don't see why not. And Hallie Roseman said the Eagles roster is incomplete.

So we discuss what their biggest question mark is as training camp gets underway. But at this point, let's go camping. We are officially six weeks away from opening night. We're going to go city to city to break down the biggest storylines as we gear up for the season. First up, just a quick trip over to MetLife. The Giants looking to climb out of the basement of the NFC East. It's a great postcard. It's just put a stamp on that.

It's perfect. Giants win 4 and 13, Jackson Darts rookie year. Let's take a look at the notable offseason editions. pretty big one at the top. Hired John Harvaws, the head coach, Isaiah likely, traded away, Dexter Lawrence, and of course the two picks at the top of the draft. And this is a little bit of a cop-out. We'll get more specific on some other ones. But my biggest training camp storyline is, are they playoff contenders? I was thinking about this and I make notes and I start my prep like in depth for the upcoming NFL season.

And I think I have more questions about the Giants than any team in football. I am a Jackson Dark believer, but there's a wide range of outcomes for if Jackson, like, is he a star or is he going to be a reckless player who is really inconsistent? Scadaboo has injury questions. Malik Neighbors is coming off of a serious injury. They've got cornerback questions. Their rush defense was a problem last year. They got rid of Dexter Lords. Like there are a lot of questions on this team, but there's a lot of reasons to assume that they would be better, most notably with John Harbaugh. So the question becomes, like, if you look at John Harbaugh on the wins that this guy has accumulated over a long period of time, basically since the last Giants Super Bowl, he's got the third most wins and the Giants have the fewest wins. So every question I have coach will not be answered positively. Some will be good. Some will be negative. The question is how quickly can John Harbaugh answer most of them and get this thing back into the playoffs? John is an excellent coach and brings in such a wealth of experience.

I think the challenge there is, again, the division. With Dallas emerging the way that they've emerged, you know, that's problematic. And then Philadelphia is going to retool and they're always going to be a hard out. Who knows what Washington is? Does Jaden Daniels come back to form? I mean, just getting out of the division alone to me, I think is going to be difficult. And we talked about Tua and the possibility that he can get. get injured at any point. It's kind of the same thing with Jackson Dart. There's only so many

times that you can tell the guy, hey, you need to slide, hey, you need to slide, hey, you need to slide before, you know, they take one of those hits and miss, you know, six, eight, ten games because they're taking unnecessary chances, and then the whole equation changes. Yeah, Danny, I mean, you mentioned a lot of the reasons why I don't believe that they are contenders yet. Like, and I don't think that that's far off. Like, you talked about almost every, every position. But there's a lot of reason to like some of it, right?

Like, like, neighbors is excellent. They have two top 10 picks who can be great. Like, if Jackson Dart takes a leap, like, there are a lot. Isaiah likely is a huge impact piece who's going to be featured. Like, they have a lot of questions, but they do have potential answers for almost every question I asked. So even within those questions that they have, that they all could be answers, there's a lot of unknown with that, like, likely. I like, I love him.

I like them. No pun intended. But he's never been a number one option at tight end. And so we'll see what that looks like. When you talk about Malik neighbors, a huge addition if he can be back on the field and healthy. And will he be back to form? obviously Jackson dark second year guy which direction is he going to go is he going to go is he going to stall out is he going to take the next step is he going to go in reverse because it's another coordinator another play calling system all these things and we haven't even gotten to the defense side of the ball again I'm with you all things to be excited about because you have the right coach that that can get things going in the right direction but to coach's point you're up against a lot in-house, let alone once you start looking outside within your own division.

What do you say that? Greg, I want to use the Danny metric. If the quarterback plays at an MVP level next year, I think they'll make the playoffs. Okay. All right. I'm sorry that I think that Caleb Williams, the most talented quarterback maybe in the entire league with Ben Johnson, might possibly be in the MVP conversation. What a ridiculous thought by me.

Let's go to Detroit. You were smirking. I knew you had something. The fan favorite to go from worse to first after finishing last season, 9 and 8, but that was last in the NFC North as we take a look at their notable offseason additions. A ton of changes on the offensive line, which is where I will go. And David Montgomery is no longer there. Jemir Gibbs, one of those hold-in candidates as they're about to pay their star running back.

My biggest question here, Greg, is will the Lions be able to protect Jared Gauth? If you go back to two years ago when they made that deep run and they were arguably the best offense in football, it was fueled by their offensive line. It was a dominant offensive line. And if we show what the offensive line of two years ago looks like compared to now, it is four new names. And Penae Soule has changed sides of the line. Now Penae Soule is one of the best tackles in the game. I'm not saying that he can't be as good of a left tackle as he is a right tackle. I'm certainly no expert on that sort of thing.

But Mahogany is starting on the injured list. You have Miller their first round pick. Ratledge is second round pick. You have young players, guys at new positions, and guys who are hurt on offense. And obviously, every team has offensive line questions. But for the lion specifically, when we look at Jared Goff, if he is protected, he produces at a top five level. When he is pressured, his drop off.

If everyone drops off from no pressure to pressure, his drop off is more precipitous. He becomes a very pedestrian football player. So to me, Greg, with all of that uncertainty on the offensive line, will they be able to protect Jared Gough's my biggest question? So that's a fair question, especially when you start to add youth and a mixture of guys who haven't played a lot of snaps together up front. But for me, it's not just about protecting Jared Gough. They lead with physicality and running the full.

football. That's who they are. That's what their head coach is all about Dan Campbell. And so even on top of, or in addition to protecting Jared Goff, if they cannot impose their will physically up front, it's going to be a long season for the Detroit Lions. Well, in fairness, to Detroit last year, Jared Goff was only sacked seven more times last year than he was the year before. And when you talk about some of those additions to the offensive line, when you look at both their tackles, they're number one draft picks. So it's not like they added, you know, a seventh rounder at right tackle. They brought in a first rounder who they feel very good about. I'd say the biggest difference is the amount of times they ran the ball. So two years ago, they had the fourth

most rushing attempts per game. Last year, they dropped all the way down to 21st in rushing attempts. So as we know, part of establishing physicality is allowing those offensive linemen to fire off, to be physical. And when you're fourth in the league versus 21st in the league, you're setting back to pass a lot more. Now, the other thing that came in to play last year is they made the change at offensive coordinator during the season. So there wasn't a lot of continuity, and I'm sure that caused some problems too. Hopefully they got it right at offensive coordinator or they're going to be able to keep this offensive coordinator throughout the course of the year. and you don't have that same flux that you had all last season. I expect them to be an explosive offense, though,

even with all of those questions on the offensive line. But is that just because I'm overrating skill guys? I'm on Ross St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Leporta, and Gibbs, with a very accurate player in Jared Gough throwing it to him. I'm not saying that every one of those guys on the offensive line, Greg, is going to hit, but it should still be a high-level offense this year. I'm expecting it to be. Yeah, I think that's the expectation, again,

And to coach's point, of every team believes that, you know, we can maintain or take a step further than what we did previous years. And that just doesn't always translate from year to year. All right. Let's get into the RV. Go down to Duval County. Jags coming off. One of the most shocking teams of last season with their 13 and 4 year. They won the AFC South.

If we look at the notable offseason moves, Trayvon. Don Walker got the huge payday. They lost Travis E.TN. They lose Devin Lloyd. And of course, they did not have the first round pick when they traded up to select Travis Hunter. And every article that you read about Jacksonville, the top story line is, how are they going to use Travis Hunter? How are they going to use Travis Hunter? And it is a big one.

I'm fascinated by the story as well. But my biggest camp story line is, did Liam Cohn really fix Trevor Lawrence? Because Trevor Lawrence last year was great. And my issue with Trevor Lawrence had always been he was great between the 20s, but then he would have all of these terrible red zone turnovers and all of these fumbles and just these boneheaded decisions where he wasn't able to capitalize. And how they finished the year in particular. And I know what we were talking about with the Bears, there is no momentum from season to season.

But when it is a coach and a quarterback where there is continuity, I do think you can at least have some belief that, like, as Trevor Lawrence got more comfortable in the system, that this type of thing can carry over. 19 touchdowns against one turnover to finish the year. The guy was prolific. He was throwing it down the field, and he was not making mistakes, and it was largely without Brian Thomas Jr. really contributing. So I don't know if he's fixed it,

but their offense looked amazing with Liam Cohn, and Liam Cohn did great things with Baker Mayfield. So I think there's real reason to believe that they're going to be a great offense again, coach. Yeah. Now, when you look at Trevor Lawrence's career, this pattern has happened before. When he came out his first year, he had 12 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. So then they make the coaching change.

The next year he has 25 touchdowns and only eight interceptions. A lot of people said, okay, he's fixed. We're now seeing the real Trevor Lawrence. And then it's been up and down since. So he had the down year two years ago. And now he's got the up year this year. My question is not, is he fixed? Are we going to see some consistency?

even if he doesn't have the same level that he had last year, not regress back to some of the patterns that he's had in the past? Yeah, so, Danny, you mentioned, you know, the way he performed. You know, between the 20s, from 20 to 20 and then 20 going in, different version of Trevor Lawrence in terms of getting rattled, getting sped up, turning the ball over, and it takes me back to a, A younger version of Josh Allen, really three, four years ago, Josh Allen, where he would always be great. And then in the red zone, he'd have that head scratching turnover.

I believe Liam Cohen has done a great job of settling Trevor Lawrence. And I think when you get a second year with the guy, you can move to the next phase, kind of like your bears and Ben Johnson and Caleb. So the next phase for Trevor Lawrence is okay. Now when we get into the red area, trust it. Trust your mechanics. Trust that we got to play that you are comfortable with and let it ride. Like, don't press. And I think sometimes when you're still young and you're in a new offense, you still, and you're one of those guys.

And Trevor Lawrence has always been a guy. You're going to press. Trust the guys around you to be where they need to be. You do your job. They'll do their job. I think he does take the next step. I really do. Well, that's going to put them in a good position then in the AFC South.

Final stop today going camping, first thing's first style. Let's go all the way out to Denver. Took Bo Nix just a couple of seasons to win the AFC West. The Broncos went, and also surprising, 14 and 3 last season. Their notable offseason moves, this one happened before the draft, so I feel like it gets forgotten about it a little bit. They did add Jalen Waddle. Of course, Franklin Myers, one of the best defensive tackles in the NFL,

goes to team up with Jeffrey Simmons down in Tennessee. Sean Payton gets his extension, and J.K. Dobbins is back in the fold. Denver was a fascinating team to watch last year, and my question is, and I don't know if we'll have this totally answered by the end of training camp, of like, were they a one-hit wonder? I know their offensive line is great. I know their coach is great. I know their defense is great, even with losing the defensive tackle.

Their secondary is maybe the deepest of any in the entire NFL. Bo Nix has been more productive than Caleb. than Drake May, then Jaden Daniels. But if you look at how it happened, like when you were actually watching the games last year, they were playing down to their opponents all the time. Tied for an NFL record, 11 wins in one score games,

eight of those 11 wins happened against non-playoff teams, and historically, that is just not a sustainable method of success, and it wasn't like they were beating great teams in one score. I remember that game against the Raiders. I remember that game against the Giants, the game against the Jets, where it was just like terrible for three quarters. Bo Nix would do something crazy in the fourth quarter, and then they would win. So, Greg, I don't know if you look at them as a one-hit wonder,

because it is a very talented roster, but last year's 14 wins felt a bit like a mirage. Yeah, and I can see why one would take that stance. I don't believe that there are one-hit wonder because of all the things that you had to say. I know that they have a great head coach. Like if you have all those things, then you're probably a pretty good team. Look, and then you add in a guy like Jalen Waddle, Evan Ingram, I think is going to be awesome for them. You're starting to provide your quarterback, which an offense that struggle to score points. Like, again, this is a team that's, you're not going to put up a lot of points on this team weekend and week out.

and you need firepower. You need to be able to produce and be productive and not settle for field goals and get touchdowns. And they believe that they've gotten a couple guys on that offensive side of the ball at the skill positions to where they can take another step forward. And if they can establish that running game that they are hopeful of having,

then look, this isn't a one-hit wonder. I don't believe that they'll win 14 games, but I think that we'll still be talking about the Denver Broncos as an impact. impactful team this year. Yeah, if you win six games when you're trying the last two minutes, then you can make the argument that it's a mirage or maybe it's, you know, because that's not high percentage either. I see what you did that. Yeah, I was able to, I'm picking up what you're putting down. But when you win 14 games, it's hard to call 14 win season a mirage. And that one score game

statistic, it could be looked at extremely positively as opposed to negatively in the sense that They understood how to win. They understood how to perform in moments under pressure. And they were able to do that. And a lot of that is a testament to coaching and the fact that Sean coaches the whole team, the program's in place, and the defense has been outstanding.

And to his credit, he took a guy in Bow Nix that not a lot of people believed in and he's gotten a lot out of them. This isn't Drew Brees, but he's continuing to make some strides with the young quarterback. So will it be a 14-3 season? It's hard to think that, again,

in the challenging division. But will they be in the mix? I would think they'd be in the mix, yeah. Coach, I also, I was looking at this. They return all of their passing yards, all of their rushing yards, all but 21 of their receiving yards, and 59 and a half of the 68 sacks that they got less.

That's pretty good. That's an astonishing amount of continuity. But again, no one's going to pick up for 14 wins. but they should be good. It's just that regular season, some of those times they were playing down to their opponents, and again, we looked at the history of it. It's not normally sustainable

when you have all of those one score wins. It's very difficult to repeat it. But coming up, can the Cowboys be the best offense in the NFL? Speaking of bringing back a ton of talent from last year, Dallas certainly does on the offensive side of the ball. We'll get into it. At first things first. The first ever, All-Electric, 26th Subaru Trail Seeker

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Test drive it at your local Subaru dealer or visit Subaru.ca. Coming up on Saturday, we've got baseball coming your way on FS1. Byron Buxton and the Twins against Julio Rodriguez and the Mariners. All begins for Eastern Saturday on FS1. Back here with Coach and Greg talking Cowboys, Dallas put up nearly 28 points per game. Last season, good for seventh best in the league.

And believe it or not, Jerry Jones is optimistic that they can be even better. Take a listen. Dax's feeling about it is more important than me feeling about it because Dak actually tangibly can cause his teammates to play at a higher level than I can. So when Dak is that positive about it, that adds some credibility to it. I too can say that the fact that Dak is looking at what he's looking at causes me to feel the same way. I think we've got a chance to really be good. coach you buying that the cowboys can be the best offense number one in the NFL i'm i'm really liking

jerry jones's press conferences these days there's like almost a grandfatherly wisdom to it and took him long enough he's not talking about he's not talking about what what you know big moves are going to make or or any sort of bravado he's talking about his quarterback and he's talking about all the positive things that DAC can do and has done. And to me, yeah, there is an opportunity in year two under Bryan's system for them to take another step forward. And this has been an offense that's been prolific for a while. If we can just pull up the last five years, it's impressive. And DAC has put up huge numbers, but the fact that they were first in both categories in 2021,

first again in 2023 in points per game, seventh last year. And the one year where they had the hiccup, the 21st, that's when DAC missed the final nine games of that season. So with him healthy, with the addition or with the shared reps that they've had, the shared experiences that they've had in the system, I'm definitely optimistic that this could be arguably the best defense in the league or offensive league. Yeah, look, Coach, I'm glad you pulled up the years prior to last season because last season, if you look at their numbers, they were absolutely fantastic. I mean, and I know we've talked about this with other teams and, you know, the ability to have momentum and going into the following season.

This is one of those teams that you just kind of, you kind of felt like, man, if they were given more time, could they have turned it around last season? again, can't do that for this season. But what Jerry Jones said is absolutely spot on. It's always been about that press cut. If DAC is healthy and this offense stays together, they have a running game now, and we see they have two of the best receivers in the game, this is going to be a fantastic offense.

Every time they step on the field, we believe that they have an opportunity to put the ball in the end zone. Very similarly to how we felt about and the sentiments that we have about the Cincinnati Bengals with Joe Burrow and those two great receivers, minus the running game. They have that.

Dak Prescott, when he's available and he's healthy and he can play a full season, they're going to have one of the better, if not the best offense in all of football. Okay, so we're all pretty much in alignment here. It's like, what's the floor? We have some questions at left tackle. Like, Javante Williams had 1,200 yards rushing last year,

but he's not an elite. We're not talking about a Jamir Gibbs, Bejohn Robinson level, like dynamic talent. But they got a lot invested on their offensive line in terms of draft capital. The best wide receiver duo, a crazy accurate quarterback, a high volume passing attack. I didn't need to build another graphic. You guys had the graphics covered. But the advanced metrics also say they were top five offensive last year. Success rate, EPA per play, top five in both.

So it feels like the floor is like a top five, top six offense. assuming that all of the main players stay healthy, because they also have coaching staff continuity here. And so it's a weird feeling to say going into a year that I actually really do think the Cowboys can be elite at something. Even though your point to coaches, like they have been that on the offensive side of the ball, but some of that has felt, at least as I've watched it, like they've been in shootouts because the defense has been so bad

and it's artificially inflated some of the numbers because they'll have 650 pass attempts or something in a season because they're playing so much catch-up. But it actually genuinely feels like this offense because of scheme, talent, continuity, and everything should be excellent. But remember when Dan Quinn was there a few years ago, that defense was pretty salty. A few years back, yeah. Yeah, and you saw the numbers even, I think they were first five years ago when Dan was there and then the defense was playing well. To me, it's also about the opportunities that they get.

If they're not constantly chasing points, if they're not, if the defense is able to get, get some more turnovers and put the offense in better field position. How does that affect scoring? How does that affect the whole approach to the system as opposed to every game we've got to score 30 points in order to be successful? All right. Let's go on to Indianapolis and talk about Greg's guy, Daniel Jones. He's coming off in Achilles injury that cut his season short last year.

But he says he's ready to roll and he doesn't see any limitations saying, quote, I'm in a really good spot. I can do everything. There's nothing I can't do. There's still that last little bit that you're working to get back, but I feel good in the next month or so as I get into team drills 11 on 11, doing everything again, coming back and feeling 100%. Now, when you take a look at his numbers before the injury sidelining,

Daniel Jones was spectacular. I mean, it was arguably the story of the first half of the year, how great the Colts looked on the offensive side of the ball. So again, Greg, your guy Danny Don. Now it's not going to be a surprise. Is he picking up right where he left off? Yeah, look, I believe he will. You know, I think the change of scenery, coaching staff, guys around him, it helped.

And we saw it. We saw a guy in New York that we saw turn the ball over, had happy feet in the pocket. When he got outside of the pocket, he could do great things, with his legs so it's like, why don't he use his legs? He kind of turned into more of a pocket passing quarterback, a guy that relied on his accuracy, his deep ball. They signed Alec Pierce, obviously. You got Tyler Warren at tight end. You got one of the better running backs in all of football, if not one of the better running games in all of football. So it's all there. It's just a matter of how quickly can you get back up to speed after such an injury. And we've seen Aaron Rogers

go through it, albeit older. Kirk Cousins, albeit older, it would feel, I would feel better, and I'm sure he would, and everyone around in that building, would feel a lot better if he would be involved a little bit more in training camp, team reps and different things like that. But you can only get what you can get,

and you slow play it. But I do believe when he's ready to go, he will be able to pick up where they left off. Yeah, he is, he's one of the toughest quarterbacks that, that I can remember in terms of the type of shots that he would take in New York. It was, it was unbelievable that he was able to get it back up from that. He's a great athlete. And he's, he's the latest, he's the latest of the second act quarterbacks, whether it's, it's Gino, it's Baker, it's Sam Darnold, and to some degree, Mack Jones, he had the fairy tale start to the season in, in Indianapolis. and it's going to be really interesting to see whether or not that's what it was just sort of a blip on the radar of his career because his body work there's been good things but nothing anywhere close to what he produced in Indianapolis is that now who he is or are we going to regress to some sort of mean between what we saw in New York and what we saw at the start in Indianapolis.

He shouldn't surprise anyone anymore. Like Greg, when you were running running through that, town. Like I do think Tyler Warren has a very high ceiling as a player, no question. And JT. is obviously an excellent running back. But it's not like anyone would say the Colts have a top five group of offensive talents in the league. Like it's good. It's above average. But I don't, we don't talk about them in the way that we just talked about Dallas, for example, or even Cincinnati and their skill position talent or the Rams and some teams like that. Shane Stuyken is just an awesome coach. He really is.

Like he, he seems to be a great play caller. He seems to overachieve to his talent level consistently. Like, just points per play, yards per play. Like all the things, like, whatever he gets dealt, he seems to do a great job of maximizing it. Where the other coaches on the offensive side that are in his caliber, I feel like have had more talent around like Sean McVay, what he's had with the Rams. Obviously what Andy Reed has had with the chiefs. The talent, frankly, that Ben Johnson now has with the.

what Kyle Shanahan has had with San Francisco. I hold Shane Steichen in that in terms of offensive mind in the league pretty much in that same tier. I don't know if you do or not coach, but I think that is one of the superpowers that Daniel Jones has. It's not really the talent that he has

or the guys around him. I just think Indianapolis is in a really good offensive infrastructure. Yeah, I think he's done a good job. I don't know if you're giving the running game enough credit. Maybe. That running back that they have, he's Pretty special. You've got to do a lot of things defensively to stop him, which is really positive from the quarterback perspective. When that's the focal point, he's done a good job. Now, they did draft a quarterback pretty high that hasn't worked out in Indianapolis, which is why they had to go get Danny Dimes. And again, great start to his career there. Will we see more of the same? Or are we going to take a start?

step back. So coach, you talk about that running game and I think that's a obviously you can't talk about this coach team without obviously talking about Jonathan Taylor and what they were able to do with the running game. It's one of the reasons why Danny though, you can have those other guys that we are not talking about a guy like Josh Downs in the slot and you they just can they're just good at just do your job. Kind of like the Bill Belichick mantra. Do your job. Be good at that. And we will make it work because we are a collective. We're not an individually based unit. And that's what you love about this team game.

And this is a team that exemplifies that. Jonathan Taylor will be the first to tell you. Look, I'm not going to have the type of year that I have if the guys up front aren't physical and creating and opening those holes. We all know Daniel Jones was not this version of himself in New York. And so, I mean, Alec Pierce probably would say the same thing. Look, this offensive scheme, this quarterback, this offensive line protecting, got me paid. Like, it's a collective.

Yeah, Alec Pierce. I was thinking maybe Daniel Jones is the biggest beneficiary of Shane Steichen and what they do and playing a play action. Yeah, Alex Pierce. You're right, Greg. Alec Pierce was quite literally the biggest benefactor of the whole thing. And, Greg, it's not predictions week yet, but I want you to be 10 toes down again for Daniel Jones. Oh, as always. He's always sent those.

I just want to be sure. I just want to be right. Everything we always say is like it's in pencil, it's in pencil until predictions week. Nah. Sharpie. Greg's picking the Colts to come out of the AFC South. But coming up, the Eagles roster, many would say among the best in football, but is it incomplete? Howie Roseman let us know and it has us wondering what's coming next for the Eagles.

That's coming up on first things first. Hey, y'all. It's Kelly Clarkson with Wayfair. Ever order furniture online and wonder what if? Like, what if it doesn't hold up? That sofa was four days old. You should have ordered from Wayfair. With Wayfair, there's no what if.

Just style you love and quality you can trust. Visit Wayfair.com. Wayfair, every style, every home. Welcome back to first things first talking New Look Eagles. They spent this off season trading away. They're number one wide receiver, of course, in A.J. Brown, who is now a patriot. To fill the gap, they brought in Dantavian Wicks, drafted Al-Qaeda Lemon. General manager, Howie Roseman, met the media alongside.

his blues brother, Nick Siriani. This is just great stuff. Talking about their roster. Take a listen. The roster is always a work in progress. You know, every day we're coming in. We're trying to find ways to get better. We're communicating with every team in the league to try to find fits to see if there's

opportunities to make ourselves better. And so it's certainly incomplete at this time. It will be incomplete throughout the course of the season. Four fried chickens and a Coke. Greg, biggest question mark for the Eagles this upcoming season? I know everybody's focused on Jalen Hertz, as in my, but it's going to be that offensive line. When you look at their success, when they won the Super Bowl, it was based around that offensive line. Last year, significant injuries.

Landon Dickerson facing injuries all throughout the year, Cam Jurgens, obviously Lane Johnson. like there was never really any solidified continuity and consistency with health. And when you have a guy like Sakewan having the amount of carries that he had and then turning around and trying to hand him the ball and the injuries are in front of him him instead of the health and the physicality, it looks different. And the numbers that they were able to put up in their running game versus the numbers that they were able to put up last year in Super Bowl year versus last year are staggering. And it starts with having healthy guys up front that you trust can create those opportunities.

They just didn't have it on a consistent basis, which resulted in them having to throw the ball a little bit more, more than what they would have hoped. And so for me, it's that offensive line in that running game. Yeah, I agree. There's a lot of questions on the offensive line. And I would add, in addition to that, they just switched offensive line coaches as well, and their longtime offensive line coach has left. So that's going to be a little bit of a transition as well.

But I don't think it's limited to the offensive line. I don't think you can let Sequan Barkley off the hook. He's had this pattern throughout the course of his career, where he's had some monster years and then takes a step back. That wasn't unique to Philadelphia. It happened in New York. And then you look at the situation with the receivers, So you move on from AJ Brown

and sometimes there is addition by subtraction. But who does fill that void? And it's not just the talent void. It's the game plan void because defensively, whether or not a guy is as productive as he possibly could be, you still have to game plan for the fact that he could reach that level at any point. So you take a player of that caliber and you move them out, even though the chemistry gets better,

someone's got to step up and fill that void. And then with the quarterback, which version of Jalen Hertz or are we going to get? And there's been some really good examples of Jalen Hertz. And there's been some where you're thinking maybe this isn't going to be good enough long term. And then finally, you've got another new offensive coordinator. This is what, three years in a row, three different offensive coordinators? It's basically every year of Jalen Hertz's his career. Yeah, so how well is he going to be as a new offensive coordinator?

What's he going to be like calling plays? What's he going to be like dealing with the group? What's he going to be like with in-game adjustments? All the learning curve that goes into that as well. So it's defensively, I feel pretty good. Victory and Joe is going to get them right. Offensively, there's a lot of different questions that need to be answered. Yeah, I mean, you just basically, like, listen, every level of their offense.

They could have the number one offense in the NFL. They could have the number one defense in the NFL. But I could see this team. You'd have to squint. few things go wrong. I could see them missing the playoffs. I do think that there is a wide range of outcomes of what could happen with Philadelphia.

And when I was listening to Howie Roseman, I don't think he's like tipping his hand. It's just like generic GM speak of like our roster is incomplete. But I didn't try to take him literally. And I was like looking at the depth chart because you're right, Greg. There are questions about health of the offensive line. But there's not a ton of questions about like who the guys are.

Like you still know the names on the offensive line. I was like, well, they lost Blankenship at safety. And Cooper DeGine, do they want to play him? Like in the slot, move him around. Do they want him to be a safety? Like, are they going to go out and get a safety? Are they going to, are they going to be a team that is just going to, I don't think they're going to go get Vita Vaya, but are they going to be like scouring the market when teams

have that surprising veteran cut and they go out and sign somebody on the offensive line or in the secondary, like wherever you see the weak point is for this team? Because I do think their expectations are the Super Bowl, but to your point, If we don't get the good version of Jalen Hertz, all of a sudden, their margin for error goes completely away. Yeah, and defensively, Vic Fangio's been doing it for a million years and doing it at a high level for that long. So he's the problems that show up defensively, the deficiencies that they have, he'll find some ways to cover that up and he'll get answers. But when you flip sides and you've got a young or a new offensive coordinator, a new offensive line coach, you've got you've got, you've got new. new receivers, all those moving parts, how well and how quickly can they mess together?

And in a division that seems like it's making some improvements, how long do you have before it becomes too late? I was watching some Jalen Hertz today, Greg, just like some of the quotes from his press conference, and he's like, it's important that we have continuity, that we're all on the same page. And it didn't seem to be taking a huge leap to be like, what happened last year with people talking out of, you know, we have to do this more, we have to do that more. and you've got to give me the ball, and we've got to run the ball, we've got to pass the ball. He was preaching a lot of continuity.

And I don't know if that's to what your point is on like offensive line health, or like I read that as when A.J. Brown was here, there was a lot of messages that were coming out that weren't necessarily aligned. And he's just trying to say, it's kind of sing the, if we're all on the same page, things will just be better just because of that factor. Yeah, I think it's all the above. I think he's alluding to A.J. Brown.

Obviously, the health of the guys and or the inconsisting. of health that wasn't available last season, his lack of performing in times when they needed him to play at a high level. But regardless, despite all of that, we are going to look at this season and we're going to assess it based on, okay, is that offensive line, if they are available, the names, if they're healthy, awesome, great. But if Jaylon Hertz continues to not show up or to not be able to be impact,

in second halves and throughout the duration of games and have these droughts, we're going to question once again who he is moving forward to coach's point. Yeah, there's not any guaranteed money after next year for Jalen Hertz as well so that he's put and put on notice with his pocketbook as well.