Geoff Schwartz Is Smarter Than You - AFC Full Offseason Grades

Episode Date: May 11, 2021

With the draft behind us, Geoff is joined by Gabe Goodwin to grade each AFC team's entire offseason. They focus on which contenders added enough pieces enough to topple the Chiefs, which teams seem to be moving in the wrong direction, and what teams might make the leap from the top of the draft to the playoffs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It's Tuesday, May 11th. Welcome to the Jeff Schwartz is Smarter Than You podcast. I'm Jeff Schwartz alongside Gabe Goodwin. Gabe, we're going to grade the off-seasons for the AFC teams, right? We're going to just grade, grade, grade. We love grades. We're going to talk about the AFC teams, especially the contenders. But we have breaking news, something that's very near and dear to your heart. Oh, wow. One, Timothy Tebow has been signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars to play tight end on a one-year deal.

Yeah, baby! That is breaking news. How is that possible? He hasn't played in eight years. Buddy, this is big. This is going to change them from a team not worth talking about today because you said contenders to maybe one of the first teams we have to hit because I think it's going to happen fast in Jacksonville.

I don't think it's going to happen fast. They signed Tim Tebow. They haven't signed a guy who played eight years. Well, okay, he's been staying in shape. Check him out on Instagram. Body's looking fabulous. Playing tight end, I mean, listen, he's going to be a quarterback's best friend. He's going to be the first dump valve.

He knows how to get into open space. Obviously, he's hard to bring down. They need leaders. They need motivators. They need people who understand coaches' verbiage and style. He's all those things. This seems like a logical move. It seems like a terrible move.

And we got Ben and Jen back together today. Bennifer is back, too. So we got a lot of emotional things happening in the news, the world today, Gabe. Wait, Ben and Jen who? Who are we talking about? Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez are back together, supposedly. Jennifer Lopez? Yeah.

Hold on a second. A-Rod's out? Yeah, he's been out for like a couple weeks. She went from A-Rod to Affleck in like two weeks? That's what it says. We think there was some overlap time. Do we think maybe Affleck was already back before a rod was out? It says here at E news,

17 years after calling off their engagement, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are back. Wow. That's I, I don't know if that's an upgrade or a downgrade from a rod. I feel like that's a downgrade. Seriously. Honestly,

why the hell are, is Tim Tebow on NFL still? I don't know if that's an upgrade or a downgrade from a rod. I feel like that's a downgrade. Seriously. Why the hell are, is Tim Tebow on NFL still? I don't like it. It makes it look, come on. Like, I know you have a thing for Tim Tebow. We've been over as many times,

but come on. He hasn't played at eight seasons. He should not be in the NFL anymore. Okay. So I'm, I'm just going to say in all seriousness, all he does is when coach needs culture people, right? We know this.

We also know that Coach's first move or two as an NFL coach, I'm talking about Urban Meyer, was to famously botch some hiring and some messaging around hiring and to lose the locker room potentially. So if he brings Tim Tebow in because he thinks tim can help him install what he wants to do he doesn't have to be a great football player on the field does he like can't you just have a few guys who are just important glue guys isn't that possible on your 53 that's a waste of a roster spot you have 53 players you're going to take one away for a glue guy

that's what you're back that's what alex smith is supposed to do i'd rather hire alex smith to do this than tim tebow well i'm guessing tim tebow is a lot cheaper than alex would have been there's there's no there's no explanation logical explanation for why he's there like the idea that he can just show up and play tight end after eight years off in the nfl makes he should have done this to start his career that's what he should have done start his career done this hey man you know you get second chances in life you're probably right if he'd if he'd accepted a position as a tight end playing you know back when he was on my jets maybe he'd still be in the league and and be breaking you know records maybe he'd be travis kelsey instead of travis kelsey i don't know he's but i think that there's there's a strategy here. This isn't just a favor to Tim Tebow or a chance to get headlines.

You might have thought that about him playing baseball with the Mets, that that was just an attention grab. But this is humbling. This is him trying to be a team player and do his part. I really don't see it any other way. I just think it's like there's no one else that would have gotten this opportunity

to do this except tebow with urban meyer like can i can i go play tight end now i bet i would i'd be better tied into tim tebow would oh god what yes dude okay first of all i'm not addressing that because how would I know? But I kind of doubt that because Tim Tebow is built like Superman. But second of all, it is important to remember that this is Urban Meyer. And Urban Meyer isn't Urban Meyer without Tim Tebow. He just isn't. And all this stuff he's been able to do since Florida all that second and

third I think we're up to a third or fourth chance now he's only still getting them because of the success he had with Tim Tebow as his quarterback so there is a little bit of make good here and I think it's only fitting I mean I can't wait to give him like a million dollars guaranteed it's just a complete slap in the face to the rest of his roster. But Jeff, I respect you. And you're thoughtful. You don't go for clicks and hot takes. I'm curious.

Why as a former player, and you had a good career. You played a lot of years in the NFL. You know what it's like in locker rooms. And from what I can tell, you keep in touch with pretty grounded, smart, get it done the right way guys in the league. Why do guys like you have such a problem with Tim Tebow? Seriously. Well, okay.

I've told you some stuff behind the scenes. I'm not going to, I know I'm supposed to reveal the tea, but I train with Tim Tebow in the same gym as him. He ain't the dude that's portrayed out in the media. I'll tell you that. And that's what a lot of guys have problems with is that it's just a lot of guys have interactions with him just not the same guy and that's what people have a problem with i think people have a problem with guys who um are very talented and just refuse to kind of um use their talent to their best abilities like him playing

quarterback this is what people told him to do years ago i'm not doing it i refuse to do it like dude everyone told you you should do this like i I think that that's part of the problem people have with him um but there's no explanation for why he's back now like he hasn't there's and I think I think part of it too especially with the with the baseball thing is a lot of us kind of have to fight our car away to get to where we're at right and in the baseball thing he didn't have to do that at all right he was not a good baseball player yeah he's in triple a right right now he is not going to help the team game at all zero percent i've seen uh i don't know if you know your uncle chaps at barstow he's a big jaguars

funny goes this is a distraction this doesn't help our football team all i want to talk about is is tebow and make you look at it as it takes pressure off of Urban it takes pressure off of Trevor Lawrence but it's a distraction like it's again it's just like a and so that's the reason why is anyone else without eight NFL seasons would not have this opportunity as Tim Tebow does that that's what bothers people all right that's fair and I guess we should probably cover some other teams. But to pick on this for one more minute, isn't it likely that Trevor Lawrence is aware and was asked about what do you think of this? And that maybe he's going to come in there and just be like there for camp and just helping the kid like understand urban system.

Isn't it possible he's just coming in as almost like a coach? It's not about like how many catches he's gonna have as a so he's a coach between now and what the end of august i don't know don't they do this kind of thing i feel like michael vick was in andy reed's camp yeah but they do that but those two guys make the roster though vick was a coach with andy reed in kansas city he came in there for for as for the coach in the summer. He wasn't on the roster. Tim Tebow's on the roster right now. And look, I guess if you want to spin into leadership, but I don't know. I've never, have you heard

many NFL players talk about him as a leader in the locker room? I know. To be fair, I haven't, so I've not been looking at it. It's been many, many years now. But like, I knew some players on the Broncoscos team man it just wasn't like as fun as it may have looked on the outside i don't know i just have too many people tell me things about it um all right so i mean at the end of the day do i think that tim

tebow is going to be a starting tight end in the n this year? Am I going to go pick him in fantasy? Well, I'll pick him in fantasy. But do I think he's going to be productive on the field as a member of the Jags playing tight end? No, I don't. But do I think he can maybe help coach figure out what he's trying to do there? Yes, I do think so. And is that worth one stupid roster spot?

Yes, I've always thought that. We've talked about this before. I think too much value is placed on every single roster spot when sometimes glue can matter that's what i think um i i just i just haven't seen that be a real thing like guys on the roster that can't get you just remember though like if he's on the roster game and trevor lawrence gets hurt and garter mitchell's i think he's still on the team. I think he's still on the team. And then Tebow's second-string quarterback. Are you then cutting him?

Are you then cutting someone else to add another quarterback as Tebow's taking up a roster spot? And then is Tebow ready to play? Like, the problem is that's what happens, right? So we talked about this with Alex Smith last year, right? I thought he was there kind of as a coach, coach right but with the off chance he had to play and Washington felt the same way right Washington did not want him to play that all of a sudden it's like injury injury injury in comes Alex Smith he has to play now so if Tebow makes the roster he has to play and he

has to be good enough to play and I just obviously he's not a quarterback now he's a tight end but like i just yeah i mean you know it i don't think again like i'm not even viewing him as a tight end i'm talking about him as a quarterback that's how stupid this thing is um so we'll see uh we'll see man people be more reporting on this we'll have our time our chances to make more of a joke out of it or take it more seriously as we get closer to camp. They have a very young team and a brand new coach. They've got a lot of new skill position players and maybe having one guy who is, quote unquote, a leader help teach on the field could be valuable.

I don't know. Let's talk about some of the teams who would compete for a title this year. I think we can all agree the Jags are not one of those teams, at least not this year. So let's spend no more time on the Jags. I want to go to the team that I think was probably the biggest contender to the Chiefs in the AFC. I don't think you'd disagree with this assessment. Let's talk about the Bills. Okay, I that we we talked last week about how quickly the chiefs reloaded their offensive line you know they've still got most of the same threats on offense they've improved or at least stabilized their line which was the reason they lost the super bowl so let's just say they're the constant they're the favorite the bills seem like the biggest challenger did they do enough to help that pass rush? Do they need more big play guys? How are

the Bills looking this offseason? Yeah, I think the Bills did a really good job here of just continuing to build their defense around kind of what they're doing offensively, right? I think a huge bonus for them was they kept Brian Dable, their offensive coordinator, right? There was some concern he might leave. And obviously, if he leaves, then maybe kind of the dynamic offense goes with him. But he stayed. So he's still there still there and josh allen we know got a lot better last season um and he again will he be as good as he was last year i don't know but i think they have a system in place now where it's he's not going to be bad anymore if that makes sense right right? Like he might not be MVP good, but he's also not going to be bad. So that's bonus for them, right?

And look, they added Emmanuel Sanders. They re-signed Darrell Williams. They re-signed John Feliciano. They re-signed Matt Milano. And they drafted Gregory Rousseau and Boogie Basham from two defensive ends early in the draft because we saw them last year, right?

What was their one problem against the Chiefs in both games? Rushing the passer, right? Rushing the passer. And I think in the second game, and the Chiefs did this well in the first game, but they really blitzed Josh Allen's throwing hand. They blitzed from his right all the time and kind of put pressure on him. So obviously things to work on. But I think the Bills have done a great job of building their roster up,

of building around Josh Allen and the offensive line and the wide receivers and so you know credit uh to to brandon being a gentleman derma they get an a from me yeah i mean digs look like an mvp well as much as a wide receiver can look like an mvp he was that at times last year sanders is a veteran guy, and fantasy players know him well. He could fit in there with sort of that little look. I think he and Cole Beasley, I think, went to college together and kind of play very similarly. It feels like they just have Isaiah McKenzie back on the roster.

They just have a bunch of little dudes who can get into space and then make a play if Allen can get them the ball. Are we still imagining, if it goes the way they want it to, that we're looking at an AFC championship game that's a 37-34 Chiefs win, though? Like, does it still play out that way? Again, you have to either outscore them or rush the passer. And outscoring them is hard to do.

It's hard to just say, hey, we're going to score 38 this week. Because if you have two bad possessions, you're out of it. And that's not about what makes it tough. It's the stress on your offense, right? It's not that you can't score 38 points. It's that if you have one or two three and outs, or you punt the ball twice, it's like, we missed an opportunity to score points. Kansas City will go back and score.

So you can outscore them. And Buffalo, I think, has the offense to do so. But we've seen them play twice last year, and they just weren't as good on offense against Kansas City. So I think, you know, I think they've done enough. But I mean, Kansas City, we'll get to them. They're just, I think, what they did as far as their offensive line is so much more important. Well, so stay there if you want, because I kind of just said that's a time saver for us you've told us about how much they've beefed up that line but go ahead i mean do you do you think that they've strengthened are they even more dominant than they were before i mean are we guaranteeing them a super bowl run um so

this is what the chiefs did this offseason right their biggest issue was their offensive line offensive line. And when they've lost games, especially against better teams in the NFL, in the playoffs, they've lost two playoff games since Pat Mahomes and Andy Reid got together. One was the Patriots outscoring them in the overtime game, and two was their offensive line was beat to shit. And they went out and they addressed their offensive line in the biggest way possible. And this is why guys like Aaron Rodgers,

who were like in day 2,700 of him being angry with the Packers. This is what he talks about when he talks about feeling the commitment to him. Is that the Chiefs went out and committed to protecting Pat Mahomes. They traded for Orlando Brown. Well, first of all, they cut my brother, Eric Fisher, who signed with the Colts today. We'll get to the Colts in a second. They signed, so they have Orlando Brown on the left side,

left tackle, Joe Tooney at left guard, center now, probably Creed Humphrey, the Oklahoma center, who just was a second round draft pick for the Chiefs. He fits perfectly for them. Right guard can be rookie Trey Smith, can be Kyle Long, can be LTD coming back after a year away right tackle can be nang the kid from uh i probably butchered that last name i'm sorry lucas

the kid from tcu the third round draft pick from last year it can be kyle long it can be trey smith it could be mike remmers like they have all these options austin blthe they signed uh from the rams like they have they have eight guys or nine guys they can start and you'd be like good and so the depth is even so even if they lose a couple of those guys they have look i know my grammars get shit on and i think it's it's it's it's not right because he's actually a good football player and when you can play all those positions like he does it's very valuable to a team. But guys, he played decent last year, right? Like he had to move to left tackle in the Super Bowl. That's really hard to do in two weeks' notice.

Go from right tackle to left tackle. He's a valuable guy. He might not even make the roster this year because they have so many offensive line pieces. So if you look at the offense, you're looking at an improved offensive line, which is incredible. um and it is uh it's it they they've done yeah they have an opportunity to um you know their their secondary is um you know the depth and secondary in the pass rush worries me i think cluster injuries they're they're kind of screwed but so is everyone else like the idea that that cluster injuries can't can only affect the Chiefs is wrong. So it I think they're clear favorite men.

All right. Well, so I thought you'd say that for most of those reasons. I won't bother peppering with more questions. I think we can all agree their offense still has a year or two where it's the most high powered thing we've seen in in a generation um until you know until tyreek or kelsey slows down i mean they got hardman waiting like they're fine um ech should be even better this year so uh ceh ech what the hell did i call it clyde edwards hilarious there you go ceh thank you yeah i mean he should be better but i think the offensive line what they're going to do i think offensively they're going to go back to basics a little bit. They're going to run the ball. They're physical and offensive line.

They're going to go screen game again, quick passing game. I think they're – I think that they're going to be good again. I mean, again, I think it's boring to just keep saying the Chiefs are the best, but it's – I'd bet on them to win the AFC. Yeah. Well, okay. So the next team that I want to bring up, we mentioned the Bills. They seem like the popular favorite to take down the Chiefs. The less popular but gaining steam argument could be made for the Browns. We have seen a shift in you over the last few years and I'm going to credit Paul DiPodesta in the front office the the intelligence and process-based building of this team has been

impressive to watch over the last couple years they took a few risks those seem like they're paying off but they're they're pretty conservative and they're pretty focused it seems with building the roster so tell us a little bit about their offseason it seemed like defense has been the priority in the draft in the offseason it seems like they know they got to compete with the bills and chiefs are they doing it right you know i think you go back again to we talked about the bills and the way that they spent trying to stop the chiefs by pass rush right well the browns need to be better in the secondary. And what did they do?

They added Troy Hill. They added John Johnson III. And the draft added Greg Newsom as well. They drafted a linebacker out of Notre Dame in the second round who people had a first-round grade on. They got faster wide receiver, Anthony Schwartz, kind of a gadget guy. They really didn't have a gadget guy. Not a gadget guy, but more of a slot kind of

reverses screens you know you know like the mccall hardman type of you know kansas city has uh they didn't have that and they got with anthony schwartz who's the fastest schwartz of all time obviously um and you know it's uh it's impressive what they did now the question becomes is baker the guy do you trust him to get you there i mean i've always liked baker i've always been rooting for him i think he's good enough to get you there you know i think that there's so much discussion about him sort of like tebow frankly that has nothing to do with what he does right and wrong on the field so I think we sometimes like lose track of the fact that all this guy ever did was win you know he he played at different schools he won wherever he went he got

here he got beat up a little bit then he won in a way the Browns haven't in years like to me you don't bet against Baker until he's had a couple duds in a row i just don't see the point in questioning him yet i think the real question becomes can they score enough points in the games that matter most uh or do they have to try to slow everyone down to you know win 21 20 type games um the thing with slowing everyone down is people have said that's the way you do against the Chiefs and this doesn't work yeah again we have to relate everything back to being the Chiefs right and I know it's boring to do that and maybe it's redundant and repetitive but

they have to and their offensive line is great their defensive line is like they're top to bottom they might be the most talented team in the AFC as far as the talent now of course Pat Mahomes and Josh Allen are better quarterbacks. That kind of weighs the team differently, right? But roster-wise, it might be tough to find someone who's better than the Browns. Yeah. Any thoughts on OBJ? You've always been a fan.

Yeah, I mean, I like Odell. I think he gets misunderstood. But I don't know what they're going to do. I mean, they don't need him. But they can use him. They'll use him, obviously. I don't think he has trade value. Really?

We're that soon into the part where OBJ does not have trade value. Just a couple years ago, he was the best receiver in football. Now we're not sure he has trade value.'s his trade value i i don't know that's you make me smarter here i i don't know i would i don't think there's very much all right well let me let me say this would never happen in the division but let me use him as a segue to the ravens it seemed like if you could just drop him into the ravens offense he'd have a hell of a lot of value to them. Did the Ravens, who I guess are probably the next tier after the Bills and Browns, they seem like the only other type of team that could compete with the Chiefs

because they can score and they do have an MVP caliber quarterback. But I mean, do we like their receivers enough? Did they do enough in the draft? What do we think about that? I know people hate this answer. People have a soft spot for the Jacksonville because they go four and a fourth down

and they run the ball and they're very efficient offensively. Lamar won the MVP. But you've got to show me something in the postseason. People hate this answer. They absolutely hate this answer. Small sample size. It's been four games now.

And here's the difference, okay? Between another team struggling in the postseason let's say and the ravens is that the offense looks drastically different in the postseason than it does in the regular season that's my problem it's not that they're losing it's that the offense looks way different it looks worse first of all they don't put up as many points. They just aren't as good. They make more mistakes. And that's my problem. So maybe this is the year it turns around.

Maybe it's that year game. I think they did a good job adding wide receivers. They signed Phil Nueva to play left tackle and Kevin Zeitler as well. They added Bateman from Minnesota. I think it was a really good addition in the first round. Tylan Wallace, a wide receiver in the fourth round from Oklahoma State. I like Lamar Jackson. I love his attitude.

I love his work ethic. I love the way he plays the game. That's all great, but I don't see this team being the Chiefs or even being the Browns. I know they kicked the shit out of the Browns, I think, twice last year, right? No, the second game was the close one where Lamar had to poop. Poop. The poop run or cramp.

Literally poop, yeah. Whatever it was. Yeah, the poop, cramp, whatever it was. So, I love – this division's awesome. Like, I think this division's a lot of fun. But I like what they did. I mean, I give them, you know, a good effort, A or B, for the offseason. They did a good job building their team up.

I like John Harbaugh. I think they do the right things. But I just got to see different in the postseason, man. And the Chiefs have dominated them every time they played. I just don't see a game. I just don't. Okay, well, maybe you see it. You mentioned the division.

Maybe you see it in the Steelers. This feels like the last hurrah for Big Ben. I know we keep saying that, but this really does feel like it. They add a running back in the draft with Najee Harris. They keep Juju. The defense was already good. We don't really know what the hell happened in the last quarter of the season last year,

but they were the best team in football for the first half, at least. Could they surprise us? Could they suddenly look up and it's December and they've got 12, 13 wins? I don't think so. and i'll tell you why so the steelers were my surprise team last year if you remember right they were my team that i was really high on yeah yeah you were and i was high on them for always right defensively they're always going to be good with tomlin uh you know they played two years ago

without big ben and they just kind of, they always are good, right? They have yet to be under.500 under Mike Tomlin. But the problem is this, is that unless Big Ben defies logic and history and overcomes his age and his declining play, then I just don't see it, right? That's my concern with them, is that think they've they have a good roster i trust tomlin you know they added i think they should have gone offensive line heavier early in the draft but i actually do like where they went with with with green and kendrick and uh excuse me more junior um you know naji harris it doesn't really that does nothing for me i mean mean, their problem was their offensive line as far as in the run game.

And so I like what they did with the team, but Big Ben, man, like that's the problem, right? Is that he got worse as the year went on. He looked really old. Yeah, they switched OCs, but we have not seen many quarterbacks who like, especially in the down slope of their career, just all of a sudden kind of boot back up.

And so that's what I worry about with, with Pittsburgh. I give them, you know, maybe an A for effort, but, but yeah, I, I, I just don't trust Ben. Were you surprised that they didn't go for quarterback in the mid rounds? Like, would you have, would you have guessed that they might start to think about like the mid rounds like would you have would you have guessed that they might start to think about like a what do we do one day um i think you had to go all in for one year one more year with ben and a third round quarterback doesn't help you do that yeah all right i me, the whole AFC South is basically the Steelers in that.

I don't think there's any team coming out of here. That's a really serious contender, but you might want to talk me into the Colts being legit because they've done some interesting things, including on their line. So maybe spend a minute on the Colts. Did they do enough this off season to make themselves relevant beyond the first round appearance? No.

I mean, do you trust Carson Wentz? No, but he, he's good enough to be an MVP type guy at his best. Yeah. But are we, are we getting,

are we getting his best? I don't know. I don't know if you're getting anything better than you had with Phillip Rivers. Right. And that's, and that's, that's the concern,

right? Is that, is that you, you kind of than you had with Philip Rivers. Right. And that's the concern, right? Is that you kind of have to hope you get kind of MVP caliber Carson Wentz, which history would show you're not going to get. Even if you get average Carson Wentz, it's not better than Philip Rivers. I mean, not better, but they're probably the same, right? They probably wash out a little bit there. They re-signed T.Y. Hilton.

Marlon Mack came back. Their draft is pretty interesting. They went with defensive ends twice. Went with Quiddie Paye from Michigan, who is a high-trait guy. They mentioned they're just letting him rush the passer, which is good. They had dress left tackle. Huge need of theirs today, actually, with Eric Fisher, I guess, yesterday, by the time you listened to this signing.

But Eric Fisher is off in Achilles. I mean, if he's ready by September, that'd be pretty incredible. He might not play for the first couple of weeks or maybe a month or two. So, look, I like Chris Ballard. I like Frank Reich. But the idea that Carson Wentz is all of a sudden going to turn into an MVP candidate again feels very unlikely. If he becomes average again, I think that's the best case scenario. And average quarterbacks aren't winning Super Bowls very often.

No. They might win that division because that division is pretty average. The Colts are a kind of hard team to figure out because they do something one week, and then the next week they look very different. I would say you, Nick, Matt, all the other guys that work on this show pay very close attention to the lines each week. A little less plugged in than you guys are, but I don't like betting the Colts. I just feel like I never know, right?

They win two in a row, and I start to feel good about them, and then I'll lay a few points, and all of a sudden they dump one. They just feel like an inconsistent team to me. And Wentz makes them even more hard to predict. At least with Rivers, I was like, I'm getting a B-minus guy every week. I got it. With Wentz, we might get an A-plus and a D-minus. Yes.

Here's why people root for the Colts. A couple reasons. One is that I think they like Chris Bowder a lot, right right i think their general manager goes about it to kind of quote the right way right he is he's trades back he grabs kind of high trait guys he they're good at developing players right with you know leonard and quentin nelson like they're good at they're good at getting these guys and the right path um and I like Chris Ballard, too. You know, Frank Reich seems like a great guy, easy to root for. But now they're hitching their wagon to Carson Wentz.

Like, this is it. This is it. I mean, I know they weren't really in a spot to trade up for anybody. There was no one. And maybe, you know, if Aaron Rodgers had been available, they would have traded for him. But that obviously didn't really become a thing until a couple weeks ago so they went carter wentz and live or die with wentz i i don't think they're gonna live with that no it doesn't doesn't seem like it uh we talked jags i don't think we need to go back to them in that division there's one other team that maybe somebody could argue could contend and

a team that's more of a dumpster fire than ever before and they've always been a dumpster fire so the titans do a little bit here and there they still to me feel like a you know eight nine ten win team i don't really care about talking about them what about the texans i mean are they gonna just pull the plug and not even try from week one this year? I guess it all depends on what happens with Deshaun Watson. I mean, they want to win. I would imagine they have a new staff. No one tries to lose.

I mean, are we expecting their quarterback to be on the team by week one? It doesn't look good. Yeah, I don't think so. It doesn't seem like they're... I mean, the NFL, remember, the NFL doesn't have to do anything until training camp starts, basically, right? So there's nothing they can do.

They're not going to suspend or put him on the commissioner's deck list now. It's been very quiet on the Sean Watson front lately as well. But their Davis Mills draft pick feels like they don't think Watson's going to play this season. Yeah, so you mentioned the quarterback they draft.

That was the first pick they had in the third round. They pick a quarterback. They don't have any picks for now or forever because they've traded them all away. God knows why. So they pick a guy who was sort of outside that top tier of first round quarterbacks. I mean, they might be in a situation

where they have to play a rookie third rounder, right? Which, which see, I would have gone with the full tank. I would have been like, look, we're bad. Let's be bad. Let's have the first pick in the draft next year. And let's use our third round pick on more of a core player. Because I think at the first round pick next year, they're probably drafting quarterback again, right? It feels like a complete or, or, or Watson's coming back, right? draft cave on tibidore you draft someone off with the lineman to help out watson so those are the options right it doesn't feel like davis mills is long-term answer for them if you're the first pick in the draft because deshaun watson is out of there you're dropped a quarterback if you're the first pick in the draft

because deshaun watson is coming back or he didn't play this year then you have watson and you can draft so if the mills pick feel felt asinine at the moment. And it still feels that way now. Yeah. I couldn't quite tell what they were going for, but I don't think it's really worth scrutinizing the process. Their whole organization seems like a total mess. Boom.

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You cannot rule the Patriots out. They basically signed any guy who had a tight end title next to his name in the offseason. That could work for them. They drafted a quarterback to, I guess, sit behind Cam Newton in Mac Jones. You know, they added other guys who've sucked elsewhere but maybe become, you know, pro bowlers in New England

because that's what always seems to happen. So how do you feel about their offseason? I like what they did. You know, I think that John Lewis Smith, Matthew Judon, Hunter Henry, Kendrick Bourne, Nelson Aguilar, Dave Andrews came back. Cam Newton obviously re-assigned. Lawrence Guy, Trent Brown, who they traded for. They drafted Mac Jones, Christian Barrymore.

Everyone likes the Ronnie Perkins guy from the edge. Here's my thing. Again, like it's Cam Newton, right? There's two things to talk about with the Patriots, right? Before we get to Cam in a second. There's Belichick the GM and Belichick the coach. Belichick the coach I think can still do it. They went 7-9 last year with a pretty bad team.

Belichick the GM just signed all these guys to make up for everything he's done poorly. Yep. And Cam Newton and Mac Jones are two different players. So, if you start with Cam Newton as your starter, switching to Mac Jones will be tough. Look, the base offense will stay the same, but you're going to have your packaging for Cam Newton, right? The quarterback runs.

Everything off of that. Well, Mac Jones, you're not doing that, right? So, if you play Cam for eight weeks, then transition to Mac Jones, you're going to have to switch your offense around your philosophy. So I think they're kind of in this influx. I think maybe next year is the year where in Mac Jones in year two kind of takes off. I think the parts are there.

They've done a better job building the roster. But, you know, I just with the Bills and the Dolphins improving, I don't think the Patriots, maybe a playoff team, with the Bills and the Dolphins improving, I don't think the Patriots, maybe a playoff team, will do that obviously way down the road. I stopped that far away from, August is coming up pretty soon. I don't see them as a contender in the AFC. No, I somehow don't either, which is, of course,

why I'll be watching them in late January, because I'm counting them out. I guess I wonder this. Because they land Tom Brady 20 years ago, it seems to me like that makes Belichick into one of these VC guys who invested in Facebook or something 20 years ago. And then we never have to talk about all his misses. There are plenty of guys who've invested tens of millions of dollars in every single app you've never heard of, but they were part of Facebook. So we're considering them geniuses and now they're billionaires. I guess the question I have about Belichick is like, didn't his whole job get a lot

easier when he had the most important position in all in the game lockdown for 20 years. And like he could mix and match and spend his time focusing on other things while every other team had to worry about quarterback this whole time. And now that he has to worry about everything, he's actually not that great. I would agree that there is some balance there

that's nice to like, he just works on the defense, Tom works on, but I feel like Belichick had a big part though in the offense I mean we've heard at least we've seen you know the NFL film stuff of him you know with I think there is some of that that he helped with Tom Brady right I mean wouldn't Tom Brady want to pick one of the greatest defensive minds ever but I do think it is easier when you have a quarterback you trust to just game play every week right you know what to expect from that position i think right now if you're bill belichick you're just not quite sure

what you're getting from quarterback and that does probably frighten you so jeff let me let me make an analogy to something i know well um so when i was at espn i worked on a you know a team and the larger team was responsible for making shows with a lot of talent a lot of hosts and i you know all of them had strengths and weaknesses but i remember specifically an era where we were starting a show with keith olbrun and i had very little to do with this show but i just remember it being like all right well then keith will just handle all of that and there was just like a huge amount of work that was just like, well, Keith's got it, you know, and we're just going to do what he needs. And then that gave everyone the time to go work on like other things. And so I've always thought that must be how it is for Belichick of like, I don't know, Tom and whoever his offensive coordinator are, they got it. I'll focus on like

my fourth cornerback. I mean, it 100% helped that that was the way the England Patriots were run for a long period of time. I don't think it matters as much to the winning. But I think, again, I think the idea is

he trusted what the offense was going to do. He knew Tom would do what he wanted to. He knew Tom would be in the right place, do the right thing. They have to worry about that with Cam, not doing the right thing, but you know, kind of being the guy he wants him to be.

Obviously with Mac Jones, with a rookie, there's a lot of worry there. Yeah. Well, that's going to take up a lot of time. Let's stay in the division. I don't think this team is there yet,

but they look like a team that absolutely could be there in another year or two, the Dolphins. So they made the decision. It's Tua time for good. They don't even have the temptation of going to Fitzmagic now because he's in Washington. And by the way, you'll be previewing the whole NFC with Matt in a few days. So that'll be fun.

But the big ad, obviously, was Jalen Waddell. So he reunites with Tua, the Alabama guys. They make a few other sort of smart roster building moves, but not a huge offseason for them from my perspective. Do we think they did enough to take a leap into that sort of upper tier contender status or not? It all comes down to Tua, right? And I think the drafting of Jalen Waddell was really good. And I know people said they should have drafted, you know, Panay Sewell,

but they've spent four picks in the offensive line. They've spent a first rounder, second rounder, fourth rounder last year, and then a second rounder again this season on Liam Etchberg. They drafted Javon Holland. People have the highest safety on the board um you know at oregon jalen phillips the edge defender out of miami who uh injuries concerns in his career but very productive last year but jalen waddle is important because i think that he fits what two will two at least last year was not a down the field passer, right? We saw that all season.

And some people blame Chen Gailey, the OC, you know, he liked Ryan Fitzpatrick. He kind of called better plays for Fitz. I don't believe that theory per se. I think he was worried that Tua could do what Fitz could do. But Waddle is a guy that can catch those short passes game and take them much further. He fits, I think, I think it was a great, again, the Dolphins do a great job, and the best teams do this, of matching up personnel to what they want to do in offense or defense. And I think this is really what they want to do in offense.

So, again, I got to see from Tua this year. I don't know if I'm going to see it, but it's all up to him. If he can do it, then they're going to be good. If not, they're not going to be good. It's very simple. I don't think we need to add anything to that. That feels like a big roll of the dice. And I'd kind of be happy for them.

They're like kind of an easy team to root for, even though I'm a Jets fan. Like, I don't hate the Dolphins right now. It'd be cool if Tua was rolling in the playoffs and Brian Flores kind of building a cool team. Like, I'm all for for it I just don't see it Jets I don't see it at all obviously well documented on this show uh how angry and frustrated a Jets fan I am so I don't want to force you to spend any extra minutes talking about them

but they had two first round picks they got a first round talent in the second round in Elijah Moore um you know it's always fun to give give the jets a great off season grade and then watch them crap the bed when the season comes along. What do you, what do you make of them? Did they do the right things this off season? Who cares? I mean, you're the jets fan. You tell me.

No, I mean, you know, I just, I wish that we'd gone one more year before reaching for the quarterback. I wish that this had been the, you know, I just I wish that we'd gone one more year before reaching for the quarterback. I wish that this had been, you know, turn it over to some account somewhere and let him, you know, go eight and eight this year while we keep building a team. But instead, we'll start a rebuild a year or two prematurely and be right back here in a couple of years. I don't see a difference between Zach Wilson and Sam Darnold at all. So I, I, I don't think this was a good off season, but I could, I could find out I'm wrong.

I mean, it's up to Zach Wilson, right? I think they're doing a good job building the team up, but it's about, it's about Wilson. Yeah. And I don't believe that he's going to be great. So I'm preparing for another year of not being a very dedicated Jets fan. And here's what I'm thinking about joining a bandwagon for is the LA Chargers. So they go ahead and get Rashawn Slater, who I know you love and you can tell us more about. They get Asante Samuel Jr., both in the draft.

You know, they make a few more veteran kind of signings and additions. They lose Hunter Henry, but he wasn't doing a whole lot for them last year anyway. And they've got a guy who looks like, you know, an MVP for a decade in the future in Herbert at quarterback. So gotta like what they did this offseason, right? New coaching staff too. Yeah, look, I think the coaching staff will wait and see. Brandon Staley, who came over from the Rams. I do like how quiet it's been. I like that it's quiet. They're going about their business.

Obviously, I like Rashawn Slater. They have a lot of pieces, right? If Jerwin James can stay healthy, they can rush the passer. They can play good defense on the back end. Obviously, Herbert in year two is very important to see how him and you know and how he progresses um they're almost like too trendy though which does worry me right like the too trendy team how often are they going to be as good but the pieces are there it comes down to the new coaching staff right can the new coaching staff pull the most out of Justin Herbert we saw last year he played well against a lot of pressure coming from behind against a

coach who really didn't I think you know kind of pulled the reins back in the fourth quarter a lot of times when he shouldn't have done that um Justin gets a full season to prepare they're in the right direction Gabe but again man like they're just they're so trendy I worry about that team. That team always ends up kind of not living up to expectations. Yeah. I hear you on the trendy piece. They were trendy last year, at least if you talk to some of the people we like to talk to, and they really blew it.

And I think they actually hit their win total, weirdly enough. Well, you know, they were sort of like the falcons of the west right like they won and lost games that they had no business winning or losing everything was dramatic it always came down to like a fourth down or a kick or a call it was never easy uh and so you could easily give them a few more wins you might also just have to take a couple wins away from them because it all seemed completely coin flippy and random at the end of a few of them so i i like the chargers i don't think they're winning the division but i think they could sneak into the playoffs and i wouldn't want to face if they're playing well i would not want

to face that quarterback so we're going to say they did the right thing this offseason but they're probably a year or two away i think i think getting rid of anthony lynn did the right thing this offseason, but they're probably a year or two away. I think getting rid of Anthony Lynn was the right thing, too. They actually did it. I don't think they would do it. Remember, he was fired, I think, at the end of kind of the coaching cycle. Yeah. But they've done a good job, I think. All right.

I want to save time on the Raiders unless you want to just crap on them as you are wanted to do. You seem to get extra pleasure out of telling Raiders fans that Derek Carr isn't good enough, so feel free. I don't think they're worth discussing. The Broncos, not really either unless they do trade for Aaron Rodgers like we thought they would a week ago. So neither of those teams feel like they've done a whole lot

to improve their odds, but anything to talk about with either of them? I don't know. The Raiders them? I don't think the Raiders just, I don't trust Gruden. He's not good at end of game situations late in the year. And so the Raiders to me are not a threat at all. Who's the other team you mentioned? The Broncos.

Unless they go ahead and bring in Aaron Rodgers. Why are we talking about them? With Rodgers, they're a threat. That's it. I mean, with Rodgers, but without Rodgers, they we talking about them with Rodgers there are there are they're a threat that's it I mean with with Rodgers but without Rodgers they're not a threat so obviously you know in a couple weeks we might do a different podcast when Rodgers if Rodgers goes to the Broncos um but I don't see that happening right now obviously all right so we've covered the whole AFC you'll get to the NFC next week it sounds to me like a few good teams got a little bit better, but so did the Chiefs. So this sort of hierarchy of contenders in the AFC is relatively unchanged. Is there any team in summary that you'd say really their offseason has really taken them

out of consideration or any team that you weren't really thinking about but this off season you now feel like you have to take seriously i mean i feel like pittsburgh just kind of re you're re-upping with big ben kind of took him off my list of contenders like i'm not sure that any rookie quarterback would have put him on the list again but i just don't see it with him and i i like ben i just don't see it with him all right so so the steelers fall a tier or two because they're sticking with Ben. Is there anyone who climbs into get serious, like I'm now worried about them? I mean, if the Chargers live up to the hype, they're the team, right?

That's the team. But new coach, young coach, still young quarterback, address the offensive line, got to be healthy. They've had some issues with health the last couple of years. That's the problem, I think. But they're the problem team for the Chiefs. All right, so way too early, and you get 10 more chances this before September.

But what I'm hearing is Chiefs are a one seed. Bills are probably a two seed. Browns are probably in there competing for that two seed. Chargers, Ravens, Titans, Colts. These are the teams that sort of round out the rest of the AFC. And most of the other crappy teams stay crappy. Yeah, I think so, buddy. Sorry, Jets fans.

That's okay. As long as New England stays down there with us, I'm all right with that. Well, I think you got us smarter on the AFC this week. I look forward to hearing what you have to say about the NFC. The offseason is fun because you can be wrong and no one can say otherwise right now. Well, they'll come back and get me. There was something like two weeks ago floating around on Twitter

from a Bills take I had from June. So they'll come back in uh and uh and and get me so uh but look i just called my agent said hey if timothy's coming back at 34 i can long snap still i did it in college a little backup long snapper some nfl teams we get my ass in shape je, somebody should use a 53-man spot for you as a backup long snapper. That seems like a good use of money. That is a good use of money. I'll take it. Even though I kind of like doing this media stuff, though.

That would be the problem. You could do it. How hard would it be to be a long snapper slash podcaster? I feel like you could do both. It would be tough to write and talk about gambling while playing in the NFL. Does anyone really think a backup long snapper has much insight into who to bet on i feel like you'd be fine there i mean i don't know if people follow me for my insights or to fade me so either way i don't really know but all right guys we'll be back next week uh with the nfc have a great

week everyone please rate review subscribe and uh talk to you guys then