NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - 2017 Dalton Scale

Episode Date: June 2, 2017

A room filled with heroes – Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler, Chris Wesseling, & Gregg Rosenthal – recap all the latest news from around the NFL including Matt Jones dropping down the depth chart, Christine Michael signing with the Colts, and the Titans offensive line partying for the Nashville Predators. The heroes then bring back the Andy Dalton scale to find the prime meridian of signal callers in order to rank every pro quarterback.Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. The Around the NFL podcast. Blames TD for the Move the Sticks podcast. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansis and I'm joined by room filled with Heroes, Mark Sessler, Chris Wessling and Greg Rosethol. What's up, boys? Hey, Dan.

Ow! It's Thursday. T-G-I-G. I mean tea. Something like that. What's up? What's up everybody? Wes, back in the chair.

Good to see you again, buddy. Good to be back. How are things going? How about a little Chris Wesleying health update? Maybe we'll have to cook up a sound drop for that. But for now, just the straight up Wes update. I am really looking forward to your cancer drop. Yeah, it's coming.

It's coming. I started chemo and radiation this week. Radiation is 10 minutes a day every Monday through Friday. Kemo is once a week. I feel good. The medicines and the technology is so good now that they really, nausea is not much a factor. I think once they ramp up the treatments, I'll start to feel more fatigue. But they want me to exercise as much as possible.

I'll be playing softball with the shield tonight. Very important. I feel good. I feel strong. Everything's going well. And the paramour has been by my side taking notes, asking all the questions, recording all the doctor's meetings. It's been a big support system for me. Here comes the bride.

She's been an MVP. I mean, and you were, I mean, you were feeling good enough that, you know, you had the treatment on Tuesday. You were back in the office on a very slow OTA Wednesday yesterday. At one point, I think because of the news that was coming in, you were just like, I picked the right time of year to get cancer. Oh, yeah. Yeah, there's nothing going on. It's part of my new, my new favorite genre, Wes makes jokes about cancer. Once you're, yeah, I mean, it sucks.

I assume to be diagnosed with cancer. But the one positive of it is you can start just ramping out, ramping up your cancer bits and you could say whatever you want because you do, you have it. Well, I like playing the cancer card. That's been fun for me, you know, get out of a few things. Yeah. It's been all right.

You were saying the radiation, the little 10-minute treatments, that sometimes you just sit back and relax and... Yeah, I put my arms behind my head because the radiation is going right into my chest and they play a little Bob Marley for 10 minutes and I space out and I'm out of there. You sent out a photo and Greg got a good comment on Facebook basically that you underneath line back, getting the treatment underneath blankets

looked more manly than most any of us would ever look. You still somehow looked like a gigantic, amazing man. I was speaking for myself essentially there. Checked out. Wait, so let me just, I'm going to picture it. So you're laying back arms above your head tucked behind, right behind your ears. I like it.

All right. Appropriate time for that? So there's the Wes update and he's playing center field for the shield today. We need to win two straight losses. I took the wife to a band of horses concert last Thursday and, you know, I left Greg in charge and, you know, a sloppy loss.

Oh, God. Wow, first of all, that's not even accurate. Wes was our acting manager, and Wes made a beautiful shoe string sliding catch out there in center field. Keep deflecting, Donald. In his workout. Two game losing streak, I did my job. I did my job. In two game losing streak, everyone is involved.

25 guys, 25 cabs. We got a, we got a, this, it was this time last year, by the way, that I tried to put it on me. I suspended David Ely for skipping out of a game to watch game one of the NBA finals, which starts tonight. And I do have to say, if there is not a win, if we do not win tonight and we lose our third game in a row, there will be consequences for people on the roster. I like it. Got to shake things up. I was four for four last week, Skip. Well, I'm going to be watching everyone very closely.

Put it that way. We do have a good luck charm today. Mama Wesleyan flying in from Cincinnati getting in just before game time. A little bit of pressure on you. Yeah, definitely. A little bit of pressure when my dad came to a game a few weeks ago. and it was like my third is that and I was focusing on the pitcher

and then all of a sudden I hear come on Danny, wrap it! I was like thrown back to 1991 as an 11 year old in Little League so maybe your mom will be drinking wine coolers and, you know, yentating up. Well, yeah, that's how I remember her at my games, drinking Bartles and James

and hanging out with the loud moms. Well, I'll be in the stands with her, so I'll make sure she has a drink in hand. Oh, very good. We got the erstwhile GM. as well. So we're flying here. Big show today. You know why it's a big show? We're bringing back the Dalton scale.

Whoa. The Dalton scale 2017 in which we decide who is, Wes, what? Who is? Because I don't understand. Prime meridian of quarterbacks. If Andy Dalton is right in the middle, that means if your quarterback is ranked ahead of him, you've got a franchise quarterback. You're set.

If your quarterback is ranked behind him, you need an answer. You need a solution. do this every year this is the third year we've done it um andy dalton was the face of mediocrity or that that middle gray area uh for for many years last year uh we had collectively decided alex smith was the the more fitting person there so we'll figure out who is in that spot that prime meridian spot and then we'll figure out who's around that spot who's above who's below who's who's a franchise quarterback that's the question that is the key and that's what all teams are looking for uh is a franchise quarterback so all

GMs will be tuned in very closely to this podcast, I'm sure. Also, we're going to do some news, so we're going to have some fun. And before we get going, I want to say hi to Sully behind the glass. What's up, bud? Hi, fellas. How are you today? Fellers. Billers.

Doing well. What is, you did a great job in the first show. Appreciate it. Taking over in your Dan Campbell role for Sydney. And now, Dan Campbell won his first game, if you remember. Yeah. Oh, yeah. It was all brohugs and, you know, puffing out their chest and being all proud of themselves.

And that Dolphins team then went in the tank, if you recall, Dan didn't come back. So you're looking to avoid that fate. Oh, certainly. Yeah, yeah. We want to keep those brohugs going. Why have we already drawn a parallel to Dan Campbell if that's what Dan Campbell did with the dolphins between that coach and Sully? That seems very ominous, that it's all downhill for Sully. I mean, Sully would do so well to be looking like Dan Campbell.

I'm just saying. Sully, by the way, wearing a... More of a Joe Vitt. Wearing a podcast parka today, one that we all own, but ours are adorned with the Around the NFL logo, his move the sticks. I was only given one. I was only given one quarter zip.

It's a bit of an allegiance issue that we're working through, but I'm putting Sully's professionalism above all, so I'm not concerned. I'm not going to be ignored, Dan. Let's do some news. Find me later, man. Find me later, man. It's me everything to me.

It's Tack McKinley, of course, the star of the first round of the NFL draft when he brought a picture, a framed poster of his deceased grandmother after being drafted at 26th overall by the Falcons, made some more news today, which I enjoyed. He posted on Instagram a video dancing and celebrating the fact that he just went from being dirt poor to a millionaire. I like this guy. I like this Tack McKill.

Hope he can play as much as he entertains in his rookie campaign. say now let's talk some news and we'll start with a big trade oh it's a trade and it's the it's the most depressing kind of trade a trade between the jets and the browns um as the two teams swap um you know i don't know what's a nice way to call these these two players to mario davis and calvin prior uh underachiever one is an underachiever uh prior former first round pick Demario Davis is kind of just the guy at most the linebacker. So you saw the rare one-for-one trade with Calvin Pryor going to the Browns and Demerio Davis, who was a former jet coming back to New York,

the Browns later confirmed the trade agreement. And because Sashi Brown loves for people to know what Sashi Brown thinks about things. Oh, please. There was a missive sent out. Sashi. By Mr. Brown. Calvin is a young experienced safety that has upside. We are pleased to be able to add him to our defensive back room.

And just like every player we acquire, we expect him to come in with a hardworking mindset ready to compete. DeMario is a guy that we developed the utmost respect for in his time with our team, not only as a professional, but also as a person. We appreciate all he did for our organization in his time in Cleveland. Sashi went to Harvard? I believe so. sashi it's safety who has upside not safety that has i doubt he wrote it i don't know

can i just say something and uh you know keep talking calvin prior is terrible i i'm just got to be honest if he was a bad player a year ago at this time it should be pointed out you were very high on him i thought he was going to be very good i just want to point that out that's not true by the way we we got into a little thing that you you said that you had some high you high and high helps for Calvin Pryor. I also got publicly roasted by Calvin Pryor on Twitter for suggesting that he wasn't quite a superstar at that stage of a season. He had a bad year and then he had a promising year.

And then he was the worst safety on a team with terrible safeties last year. You could check the tape. And I just want to make the point that some of the talking like, the Browns are making another Patriots move, taking somebody's old first round. Have fun with Calvin Pryor's all I said. Who is saying that? I read that in multiple places. Where?

I mean, honestly, I think this trade is exactly how we've framed it. It's two teams struggling to build a roster. No one is praising the Browns for getting a safety that the Jets don't want, and no one's praising the Jets for getting a linebacker back that they didn't even try to re-sign. They were going to cut Calvin Pryor. It's a non-issue move. It's not a big deal. Both teams had a need at the position.

The Browns need safeties. They'll give them a shot. It's not guaranteed to make the roster. And also, if we're going to spend all this time on side, Sashi Brown. And I'll go work with, I'll work with Sully next time. But Mike McCagnan, who was a glory boy. By the way, who was a glory boy about a year ago,

has sunk this team into the ground. He has a lot more to answer for than Sashi Brown, who has helped accrue massive amount of draft picks. Amazing. That amazing one in 15th season, Mark. Yes, he's doing an amazing worker. You can say that, but honestly, you don't think the Browns have done a nice job.

Let's calm down. You're turning this into like a Browns versus Jets. I was certain, I was just pointing out that the Browns are getting a bum and the Jets getting a bum back as well. Well, Wes came back for a cracker. There's multiple ways to frame it, but there you go. Doesn't, Mark, is there any chance that the Browns, Greg Williams sees Calvin Pryor is his new Mark Barron where he'll be playing that hybrid linebacker safety rule?

I saw that also, but I don't see that being true until Calvin Pryor proves anything on the field. I just think it's a low-stakes trade. Right, they are very thin at linebacker now, but Davis didn't quite fit. They're very thin at safety. The best way I would categorize this trade is, if it happened on the fifth day of free agency or the third day of the draft, it would have not made our podcast.

It would have not been big enough news to make our podcast because those were busy times. Now, you know, that's awesome. That's so busy. It's Brown's Jets, too. Yeah. And now I got on. I'm not criticizing it.

It's what we got here on June 1st. I'm on Mark Sonar very early. Well, no, continue on. It's just like if you put all this pre-production into selling the Browns down the river, the Jets are no pretty picture either. I mean, like Mike McAgnon has a lot to answer for. What? I'm the guy.

I'm coming for your corner, buddy. I'm coming for you. I am the lowest guy in the totem pole now. I'm excited about it. Not yet. Because we're scamming for Sam, baby. You can have that too. So it's not like I'm saying, oh, Mike McCagin's got it all figured it out.

I'm coming, baby. You can't have that too. I'm taking it from you. Too lousy franchises. You have to suffer through it to get it. I'm coming, baby. It's not going to just get handed to you, Dan, in May and June. Wes has never been happier with his decision to not root for an NFL.

It's like who's 31 and who's 32. Moving on. All right. Very. Listen, I should have seen that coming, but I didn't. And I apologize, Mark. My GM had a horrible year, too. Your GM is getting a lot of accolades.

That's all right now. You know what? I have nothing else to say on the matter. Moving on, Matt Jones. Whoa, what a swift fall from Matt Jones. The running back who was once seen as maybe the future guy on the Redskins in the backfield. Mike Silver reported Thursday that Jones has been told by Coach Jay Gruden, that he is now the team's number five running back,

motivating at least part of the man's decision to stay away from OTAs. Let's see, who else is on that list of running backs? Rob Kelly, someone's going to help me. me with this one. Samachet Parin? Samajet Piron. Nice. It might be their week one starter. Chris Thompson, Mack Brown, and Keith Marshall. And speaking of Rob Kelly, known by many as fat Rob Kelly, he has done some work cutting his body fat from 18% to 13% this offseason, a nice little offseason trope there. And Kelly says he feels more explosive faster, blah, blah, blah. Wes, Matt Jones, are you surprised?

how far he's fallen in this time? No, I'm not. I know Greg is, but I am not surprised. And I'm not surprised that Rob Kelly feels the need to lose some weight, and he feels Somaget Parin on his back, because the last six games of last season, Rob Kelly averaged less than 3.3 yards per carry. Their running game, which looks strong at midseason,

faltered down the stretch. Samajai Pirine is basically a more athletic version of Rob Kelly. Like when I did that projected starter series, I put him as the starter just because I think they sent a message drafting him. I'm surprised about Matt Jones because it is worth mentioning. He averaged 4.6 yards per carry last year in 99 carries. He broke a lot of tackles. You know, he's averaged 14 yards per catch in his career.

He's made plays. He just fumbled a lot. He didn't fumble a lot last year, really, but he did in a couple key spots twice in one game, and they never look back. I think it's a personal thing, and it's also a reminder that coaches lie through their teeth because Jay Gruden, the first time he didn't show up to OTAs, acted surprised.

And the reporting since and other whispers I've heard are that that was a total fabrication that he had met with Jay Gruden before that. And they both knew exactly what was going to happen. And he got the idea that he basically wasn't part of the picture. And he decided, well, screw that. Cut me. In other running back news, the awakening is awake once more. Let's call it Awakening 5.0.

Kristen Michael has signed with the Indianapolis Colts, Michael, who spent last season with the Seahawks. He finishes the team's leading rusher, and then a short stint with the Packers that didn't ultimately work out. Now he lands with the Colts. Wes, you wrote about this. You believe that if Kristen Michael is going to get a job on the first day of June, he landed in a pretty good spot. I think this was the best possible scenario for him. A backfield that desperately needs speed and playmaking ability. with Frank Gore, who had basically fewer big plays than any starting running back in the NFL.

Their backup running back Robert Turbin is one of the slowest backups in the NFL. They do have Marlon Mack, who's a rookie, but maybe they don't want to put all their marbles in that bank. So Kristen Michael's going to get a chance, I think, to make this team and to have a pretty significant role. The only issue. We've been down this road 40 to 50 times at this point with Kristen Michael, and he's been in good situations before where they've given him prime opportunities to prove that he can be a week-to-week. starter, and it refuses to click anywhere. And it must be his ability, it must be an ability to retain the playbook and other stuff

as well. It's not just his athletic ability. Well, he missed mental errors. He misreads holes at the line of scrimmage, and he's not an asset in the passing game. That said, it's on tape. In September and early October last year, he ran better than any Seattle running back. I, Wes, you know, I feel that you were an excellent writer and you did a very good job on this piece on NFL.com.

but I will take issue with your final paragraph. After watching the Seahawks, Packers, Cowboys, and Redskins fail to unleash Michael's athletic explosiveness over the past few seasons, how about Chris and Michael? Accountability, he failed. Those teams didn't fail. They gave him a shot and he just can't seem to stick around anywhere. Well, part of the equation is coaching and development. So you think he has yet to find the right staff to bring it out of him at this point?

I think he was ultimately scapegoated in Seattle last year. that any running back with that offensive line they had early in the season and Russell Wilson not a threat to run on a high ankle sprain no running back was going to do well he was scapegoated and no running back really did better than him in Seattle the rest of the something's going on though that didn't work with the Packers and I mean he's got a shot here but I'm surprised personally that Chris Ballard and I think he just had so much to do on his wish list this year

I think if he had all the draft picks and the money of the world he would have done more to upgrade the spot next to Gore Because I think they like having gore, but I think the less gore for them, probably the more effective. I also don't particularly know if I trust Chuck Pagano's staff over that of the Seahawks or the Cowboys or the Packers. Moving on. You know, I have to say this about offensive linemen, NFL offensive linemen.

If you had to pick who you wanted to be if you were an NFL player, maybe you wouldn't pick those guys because they're kind of the grunts. They're the big dudes. I'm sure they do well with the ladies, but maybe it's more fun to be a saucy quarterback or a running back or wide receiver. But I'll tell you what. You're right, Greg, by the way?

What are you looking for, bud? Just picking something up, continue on. At least once a show, something like this happens. What's not going on over there. Every show. But offensive linemen, those guys have fun. I feel like if I wanted to go out for a day out or a night out, I'd probably go out with the linemen.

And I bring this up because the Tennessee Titans offensive line has started a tradition. I don't know how plugged in you guys are in the Stanley Cup finals. Not very. Big Predators fan right here. The Preds are in the finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins right now.

They're down too old. Things aren't looking good. But the Titans linemen have started a tradition where they all go to the game together. They wear matching jerseys. They hoist fresh catfish in their bare hands and then slug giant beers and pour the beers down the gullets of the dead catfish

and the Hulk, they put him on the jumbo tron and the crowd goes nuts. That's pretty fun. I mean, stupid. Mariotta's there too. He's got the star right next to him. He's doing, you'll notice he's very quarterback-esque though in all these videos.

He's standing there smiling. And just because it was... So he doesn't down the beer? No, I have not seen him chugging any of the videos that I've seen. Game three in Nashville on Saturday night, you know it's going to go off. And I'd Taylor Luan, who is a Pro Bowl tackle, of course, for Tennessee, and he's the ringleader of all this.

He gave an interview to the local Nashville station and talked about it a little bit. Let's hear. I knew I wanted to get a catfish. I was starting about two weeks before. I knew catfish was the thing. I didn't even know that until the playoffs actually started. And we get there, I have my catfish.

I mean, the boys are talking. I'm like, I'm going to crank a beer after. And I was like, no, no, no, no, why do we all just drink a beer? It's all crank a beer together. We're like, all right. So the plan was hold the catfish up, wait for the crowd to enjoy. you slam the catfish down and then all of us cheers and just crank it and uh it was just good old-fashioned fun just a nod to noodling do you know what noodling is i don't in tennessee

sully probably knows what noot yeah you go you go and uh you're you're looking for catfish in their abodes and you're like oh you stick your hand and the actual the the the like the muddy hut of a catfish underwater and grab it out with your hand so and you could people like lose fingers and stuff oh yeah yeah it was like a There was a show about this on some basic cable. So that's where this comes from? I think where it comes from is they're kind of adapting the Detroit octopus. Octopus and throwing it on the guys.

Hockey's weird, man. Yeah, it is. Hockey's a weird thing. Tennessee and up the Detroit tradition is what they do. Are you plugged in on the NHL finals? On the Preds, yeah. With the Preds? Yeah, they've outplayed the Penguins, and I think everybody would agree with me for most of this series.

but other than two five-minute stretches, two-minute, five-minute stretches where they just gave up a flurry of three and four goals. Has anyone on this side of the glass watched 10 minutes of the NHL finals? Hell not. I'm tracking it because Damashek's so plugged in with his penguins.

But I do like that Taylor-Luan is all about cranking. Well, this is, it's good for Nashville that they're getting a taste of big-time sports action because listeners will remember since our bosses won't send us to the UK. we've said that they're going to send us to Nashville this year, the Around the NFL podcast, on to Nashville. We're going there.

So it's a little bit of an appetizer before we show up. Well, I don't believe they've signed off on that yet either, but no. Let's move on. I'm Rob Grankowski, and welcome to my city. Oh, turn this up, Sully. I know you've got your own ways. I know there's a place like, Oh, but I know you're going to like it in my city.

Oh, yeah. You know in this song, Crank, and what is it mean, Greg? Priyanka's back? Not quite. But we're going to talk some Thursday night football. And Priyanka's celebration music is necessary because Mike Tariko's going to be in the booth on a full-time capacity. Sports Business Daily reported Wednesday at the NFL approved NBC's request to allow,

how silly that it ever came to this to allow tariko allow tariko the like borderline or arguably the best guy in the business at this to be the play-by-play announcer for thursday night football taking al michael's place alongside chris collinsworth so colesworth stays on the Thursday Sunday shift al michael's is one and done as a Thursday Sunday guy which i think makes sense for everyone tariko from the time he jumped from ESPN to nbc made the most sense for Thursday night and now Al Michaels who is in his early to mid-70s

at this point can go back to just focusing on one game a week a win-win for everyone and especially for the Tariko fans like me out there who now can guarantee to get Mike

maybe the games will be crap but the guy calling him won't be how was the Tariko fan Reddit board after this news blew up it actually crashed you're like the griebie of the Reddit board

You're running the Reddit board. Yeah, we were, not a lot of us got sleep last night, put it that way, once the news came out. So, Tariko will call Thursday Night Football. And finally, I love it. Yeah. That's it. Yeah, we're all. That's what they got them for me.

Yeah, we should be there for the next 25 years. I don't know if TNF should be, but it should be. Yeah, and I think Al Michaels, we all love Al too, but, you know, you need to have a succession plan. By the way, saw Priyanka, if I'm not mistaken, in Baywatch, went to see Baywatch during my vacation week. You did. You know where that was filmed, right? Tybee. Baywatch was filmed on Tybee Island.

That's why I went to see it. No, because I had ripped through a bunch of movies and it was the only one left. Wow. She played, if I'm not mistaken, at one point I left for like 20 minutes and was walking around the movie theater, but like...

It's supposed to be a wretched film. It is awful, but it's very enjoyable if you go in realizing this may be one of the top worst movies top five worst movies you've ever seen in it. Fit that bill? Mark is full of surprise. But rarely have I been more surprised by anything coming out of his mouth than I went to see Baywatch. Our house was under construction.

I had to leave for like hours at a time. And I was doing a week-long staycation, you know. Not judging. Just surprised. Honest answer. How much did the hot babe factor come into the decision to go to the moon? Didn't hurt at all. Of course it helped me get anything in there.

But that, I will say that alone is not, you could get that anywhere. Yeah. I mean, it's not a good reason to spend. I think I dropped $16 to get into the. the theater, too. Wow. By the way, I've never,

how was Priyanka in the movie? She plays some sort of villainous. She's like the antagonist in the film. Yeah. She's fine. It's like you've seen the same, you've seen the role 17,000, 18,000 times before.

Kay Rich, once upon a time, tease the possibility that we could get Priyanka in studio, but that never happened. And Priyanka then was one and done as the voice of Thursday night. Yeah, we are the only people keeping the memory of that great song alive,

and I'm proud of that. You do love that song, Greg. Finally, Des Bryant at Cowboys OTAs this week was talking about driving fast because the Indy 500 winner. A lot of sports, a different sports coming up today. Takuma Sato was at the practice. Greg, did I get that right? I know you have a Japanese wife. Wow.

I believe so. I mean, it doesn't make me an expert in all pronunciation. It sounds right to me. Takuma Sato. I think I nailed it. Takuma. Anyway, Des Bryant was asked, what's the fastest he's got? in a car because he's a maniac.

He said he went 180 miles per hour and his Bentley got pulled over by the cops who didn't even give him a ticket. We'd still be in jail if we got pulled over for going 180. I'm just curious for you guys because for me I've never been that guy.

My car history is a Ford S court into a Honda Accord into a Jeddah so I don't have any high octane sports cars in my past. So once I get, if I get onto the highway and I get into the, you know, I'm feeling good. There's no traffic. All of a sudden, I'm hitting 80.

And then if I creep a little bit more, I can feel it. And then I, I wimp out. And that's 85, I'd say, 8590 is the highest I've ever gone. Highest, you ever driven in a car. Be honest. The statute of limitations is up. 105. You got to triple digits.

Once. I mean, this was in Kansas driving on, I believe, Route 70 from basically East Coast, all the way to Denver, and there were no cars in either direction at all. And I got up there, and then I looked, I didn't intentionally do it. You look at the Spenometer, I got my God, get down. Greg? I was right in that same area, similar story, driving with a friend from Massachusetts to L.A. Back in about 2000, 2001, it went over 100, but I don't remember, not much.

Wes? I drove a Dodge Ram pickup truck for 10 years. Outside of that, I've had nothing but jalopies. And those cars, every single one of them would shake. Yeah, mine's shake. They would shake when you'd get up to 85 or 90. I think I've probably topped 90 a couple of times, but I've definitely never been in triple figures.

Mine was like a 95 centra. I was a little surprised that could handle that. Sol, you seem like a guy that maybe... I think I might have all you guys beat. What do you got? Does Brian beat? I don't know if we can count it, though. What?

I've done 172. Is this not an... On a race track? On a race track? Not a video game. I did the NASCAR experience. It doesn't really count. All right.

But it was awesome to drive on television. It was sweet. I recommend that experience. Listen, everybody, let's save for the White Bad Boys podcast. Speaking of which, good job by Mikhail Holm on Twitter, who actually took the time to collect all of the off-season podcasts that we've teased but never recorded. Some ones that stand out. Of course, the Theology podcast, which is coming.

It's coming. Let's see, some ones that we liked. The Chris Sessling Dating Podcast. the West Needs Money podcast. I remember that era of the show where Wes was turning each episode into an airing of his financial grievances. I enjoyed that time. Kind of missed that. Yeah, Dan's gullability podcast is a good one.

The Fractured Skull podcast. The Is the Girl Worthed podcast? The F8 Function podcast. I like the George Seaford podcast. Yeah, we can do three hours on Seaford. What about the Mark Freeball on podcast? Not the case anymore. I believe we've gone over that podcast.

It's all over. Greatest moments of the Godsy era podcast. George God. So many great options. That's what's happening in the news. Elevate your underwear game to the next level with... What is Miandis? Just seriously soft feel-good undies delivered right to your door.

Miundis are designed in L.A. and made from sustainably sourced, Munguinaldahl, a fabric three-time softer than cotton. Miandi's softer than soft. Luggini's come in an ever-changing selection of classic bold colors, bold shades, and adventurous patterns so you can tailor your undies to your own personal style. And guess what? What? You can save time and money each month with a monthly subscription.

And if you're not ready for a subscription, that's okay. You can still save. That's because Miandis is offering you 20% off your first pair. Just use our special URL, meandies.com slash NFL 2017, and get 20% off your first pair. So go ahead, revamp your underwear. Drow, you know why, Mark? Why? She deserve it.

Thank you. Once again, that's meundies.com slash NFL 2017. Meundies.com slash NFL 2017. Greg, you will pull back the curtain. You had a meeting about the individualized offer code. How'd that go? Yeah, I took the bullet for the team there. Sure did.

We appreciate it. Well, like many things in corporate culture, it is, you know, being considered. We'll see. the wheels of corporate justice are cranking trying to get us that code it's true it's in process justice justice is slow

but it will be powerful now it is time I did tell them you know if they give us that code they're going to be selling some underpants oh yeah but until then that underpants the underpants sales are going to go through the rope if you let us

that's in your hands anyway now is the time yes it's a annual tradition here at the Round of the NFL podcast, the Dalton scale 2017 edition. And yes, hazaa indeed, because everybody loves talking quarterbacks. And this conversation is special because I believe, and it's always, you know, it's always been a bit nebulous or nebulous to me. But at the same time, it's nebulous for a reason, which is because it's a science

that really breaks down who has the quarter. quarterback to take them to the Promise Lennon. Who doesn't? Wes, again, a brief rundown, how this came to be, and where we're at now. I believe it started about four years ago, 2014, when we all realized that Andy Dalton was quarterback purgatory, that he could take you to the playoffs. He was a facilitator. He was only as good as his surrounding talent, but he didn't make teammates better, and the Bengals would lose their first playoff game every year. So we put Andy Dalton as the primary inning of quarterbacks if your quarterback is ranked ahead of him you have an answer you've got your guy you are set with a franchise quarterback if your quarterback is ranked behind danny dalton you need a quarterback

you don't have an answer you're running him out there every week but you probably want to trade it for a guy or draft a guy there you go a great explainer and uh in terms of the history of this podcast so dalton was that guy then dalton had that big years we all know in 2015 ended prematurely with the broken thumb, but he was one of the better passers in the AFC. So collectively it was decided it wouldn't be right to stick him at that spot. Maybe he'd moved up a little bit. And we all

decided collectively that Alex Smith was the new prime meridian. And so I guess the good way to start here, and we'll start with you, Mark, is who should we install as that prime meridian figure? And then we could work our way both backwards and forwards around

that figure. And Mark, do you want to maybe make the case for Alex Smith remaining that man? I will make the case for Alex Smith because I don't know what has changed with Alex Smith over the last year to change my impression of him. As we mentioned on our NFL network hit,

the guy is two and four in the playoffs. He has proven over and over that he's good enough to get your team. He can serviceably get your team to the playoffs. He's not going to shred that opportunity. He can get you there, but then it all starts to crumble. And Alex Smith to me is just

he's extremely milkedose. and the chiefs have made it very clear that they have come to the conclusion that is exactly the same. They trade it up to draft Patrick Mahomes that needs work, of course, but he offers a skill set that is a complete counter to Alex Smith's, and they want to go in a different direction. And that, to me, tells you Alex Smith is out sooner than later in Kansas City. Yeah, I think you have to consider Alex Smith below the Dalton scale now. The chiefs have told us he's not a franchise quarterback.

I agree. And when Aaron Rogers fell to the Packers and they had Brett Farr, they took him because he was the best player on the board. The Chiefs gave away an extra first round pick, traded way up to get Patrick Mahomes, and that's a much different story. Right. Even if Smith is sort of right near the line,

I think that move really says the Chiefs believe he's below the line. And when you start to do the numbers, and we can talk about Andy Dalton, when you start to just line up all the, these players. In my mind, it's unfair to have Dalton as the middle, but then you think about who are the guys you would rather have and the guys that you wouldn't. And you know what? It still works out pretty even. I did a list of who I would want as my quarterback moving forward, and Andy Dalton landed right smack in the middle of starting quarterback's number 16. Now, he's

better than the number 16 quarterback used to be, but the quality of play at quarterback and their numbers are just at a different level that actually like you would rather have marcus mariotto more than him wouldn't you dan yeah back prescott matthew stafford james what's i mean those are the guys that are kind of in the 10 to 15 level and then there's dalton back right where he should be it's back to the dalton scale all right a couple things this off good come down a little bit um although we do appreciate your enthusiasm i think it's a little bit unfair i thought dalton got kind of hosed by his own team last year, which did not do a nice job building around him,

letting two contributors go. Tyler Eifford being hurt at the Pro Bowl did not help him at all. So I don't think, like, I think Andy Dalton kind of elevated his game to the next level with Miundis two years ago. And then last year, he kind of got banged by his surroundings a little bit. And then this year,

I expect him to kind of be closer to that 2015 guy. So I think he's on the right side. In my opinion, I want to go back to Alex Smith one second here. Have you guys heard Patrick Mahomes yet? Yeah, I mean, just really dive into the playbook, getting up to speed on trying to catch up to where these guys are and really just going through the motions, learning from mistakes, and getting better every rep. I don't know if I'm that far away. It's just more about I've got to keep working, keep getting better.

I mean, these veterans are guys who've been around the league, been in the league, and have been very successful. So in order to be like them, we've got to really go as hard as they do. Does that change how you guys feel at all about Patrick Williams? I feel like I've had beers with him at Huckapoo's. I definitely know that voice from some... How many Pro Bowl quarterbacks came out of Huckapoo's? He's definitely a man where you see him step to the podium

and when the voice that comes out of his mouth comes out of his mouth, it's surprising. It takes you a back. So I think Alex Smith is still Alex Smith. He's more Alex Smith than he's ever been. So I'm with Mark on this and you guys are, in the camp of Dalton returning to his roots, which I can get by.

I don't want to deadlock this thing because it's, frankly, it's easier to call the Dalton scale when Dalton's the guy in the middle. Well, I've never taken Dalton out of. Wes never bought this argument. No, I was listening to our podcast last year, and you did state that his performance last year

changed your feeling on him a little bit. It did. I think I still ranked him 16th, though. I would say, how about if we called it at any point, if Andy Dalton left to become an accountant, we called it the Smith scale. It's the most boring last name, right at the most area where you cannot possibly be an exciting.

Well, we thought about calling it at the Tana scale, too. The problem with Alex Smith, first of all, he didn't play as well last year as he had the previous two or three years. I think he played at a lower level. And I've got him about 20th among starters, and that seems like too low to be the Dalton's. Then do they go 12.

I know 12 and 4 is not necessarily all because of the quarterback, But, you know, he was the quarterback for a team that won the AFC West. Yeah. But I think he would admit he did not play as well individually as he did in 2015 or 24. That's the same paradigm, though, as Dalton. When he had a good team around them, they go to the playoffs. They go 11 and 5, 10, and 6. And he's not the reason alone that they were.

He's not going to be the reason why they're 6 and 10 either. To me, the one other real logical guy, and it's the guy couldn't decide whether to rank Dalton over or below is Kirk Cousins, who's basically East Coast Andy Dalton. And I think if you put Andy Dalton on the Redskins, he would put up numbers like Kirk Cousins. And I think you mentioned how Dalton kind of went up and down based on his surrounding cast.

And I think that's the kind of quarterback cousins is. How about this for a compromise? I'm all down with putting Dalton right there, reinstalling him, as long as we're okay putting Alex Smith as the first guy in either side. No, I have Alex Smith. I think the trade changes everything. Alex Smith is not a franchise quarterback.

So to me, he's below guys like Joe Flacco. Whoa. I have Flacco below Dalton, but I could see an argument for either side because Flacco has not played well the past couple of years, but he's also, like Dalton, his surrounding town, has gone downhill. And as soon as you want to rank Dalton ahead of Flacco, you remember Flacco's postseason success. Well, you're going to have Eli at 33 on this list, and he is two years. Eli is one of those.

Eli's postseason record is not nearly as good as people think it is. All right. I'm going to now I will say okay he's he's had two two super bowl runs and every other playoff appearance he's been terrible you know do you understand what a Super Bowl run is to to go through the playoffs but go four and no two separate years what I do but that doesn't render useless all other data involving Eli Manning in the playoffs one thing we can agree on though is the Dalton scale is a snapshot in time so Eli's had his time and Wes and I at least I think are in agreement that he is not where he was he was he was significantly

worst last year, and that's why it was not hard for me to rank him below Dalton here on the Dalton scale. I think they need another franchise quarterback. I think this is the year that Eli to me enters that guy. I know he's been there for you guys earlier than this coming off that bad year. How is he going to react to that with a better cast around him? The Giants are good enough to win games in the playoffs this year, and if they don't, and Eli plays poorly again, I think he's on the wrong side of this. I think he's in that kind. I still think he's on the right side of this prime meridian, but now he's closer than ever to the middle. For me, anyway, I'd put him right next to Andy Dalton right now at this point in that area. That's

where I have. Where do you got to mark? I put him higher too. I mean, you, and I think there's two of us in this room that are probably, or more on the Manning side of things, but you have Eli Manning one spot above Jared Goff. I found your placement of Jared Goff at 24, one spot above Tyrod's Taylor. It's sued for that, Wes. Well, no, and maybe you're thinking that we didn't get a full picture of him last year. And I also look at Carson Wentz, who, you know, he has his faults too, but he's two spots below Andy Dalton. Where I get caught up is that if I were to create my own team, I would quickly take a shot

on Carson Wentz as my quarterback over Andy Dalton or not, you know, wouldn't go much higher on this list, but he would be above the Andy Dalton scale for me based on the potential. Well, I believe that for three years running, that same logic killed us with Blake Bortals. You're right. At the same time, I just, I don't, you car. Until Carson Wentz fixes his obvious mechanical flaws, I cannot put him above Andy Dolton. And it is a snapshot in time, but if the definition is that anyone under below Andy Dalton, that GM, that team needs to go and find a quarterback,

it gets tricky with someone like Carson Wentz when they sold so many draft picks to go get Wentz. If there's any flaw in the Dalton scale, it is those young ascending quarterbacks that you haven't seen do it yet. Because you're right, I had Wentz below it too, but he is not a guy that you're looking to draft another player. But he's also not a franchise quarterback yet. He hasn't proven yet, I think. I don't think we've seen yet that he's going to be as good as good as the hope. He was one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL from mid-October through the end of the game. You're right, and we also asked too much.

I think we all have learned that we don't want to define what a quarterback is after one year. We did that with Derek Carr in some cases. We did that with Blake Bortles. We've all been on the wrong side of the fence with some of this stuff. And some of these guys are just, you have... Or even after two or three years. I mean, literally a year ago, I did the QB Index, a year-in-Rangings. I went back and looked.

I had Blake Bortles ahead of Matt Ryan that year after his good year. I think I had him 14th and Ryan 15. So a year ago at this time, Bortles, I think, would have been above it and that was a misfire. I think that, see, you called it a flaw potentially, Greg. I see it is. It makes sense that they should be lower on the list until they prove that they should be above that threshold. So hypothetically, a guy like Carliners, Carson Wentz, who, Wes, you have him at 18 here, even despite some of his struggles in the back half of that season.

He showed a lot of growth to get into this neighborhood now. And now we'll see if he takes the next step to get over the hump at 16. And then you, and the Eagles, you're feeling great because after year two, you have a franchise quarterback for sure. But we're not sure yet. See, him being there says, we're not sure yet, but it's promising because he's 18. See, it all checks out. It would be wrong to say you're sure. so I get why he's below Dalton.

So to answer your Jared Goff question, he gets a mulligan for last year. We don't know who he is. He had one of the worst offensive coaching staffs we've seen in a long time with no quarterback guru on the staff, soft offensive line, no running game, bad receivers. I said all year, Dan, if you remember, he wasn't ready to play, they shouldn't play. He was terrible as a rookie, but I think he gets a mulligan. So I ranked him right above all the guys who nobody wants.

that Tyrod Taylor nobody wanted him because he has limitations yeah but that's that's assuming they know what that they're doing I mean the NFL mis-evaluates quarterbacks all the time as we do that's why players get drafted in bad spots I don't I don't get caught up too much I have Taylor way ahead of golf but it doesn't matter they're not that close really to the Dalton scale though the one thing with Goff though that gets me is like we're we're kind of moving the goalposts here for a number one overall pick like I agree he should be given mostly a pass for his rookie season considering everything around him but he's also the number one pick in the draft

and we weren't just hoping that Cam Newton would be passable in his second year like if he is just passable if he's okay everyone's going to feel great about Jared Gough that's not how he felt about Andrew Luck that's not how he felt about Marcus Mariotta who had no weapons around him as a rookie like this is a guy you should be able

to improve some of your teammates a little bit different types of prospects though just because you're a number one pick doesn't mean you're the same Cam Newton was not the same as Andrew luck and who's not as same as Jared Goff. Some of this is the failure of the draft industrial complex that Jared Goff even went number one in the first place. Yeah.

And I am fundamentally concerned about someone. And this is not a football issue. You don't know what side of the sky the sun rises. There's something happening with you as a person. I would never put that person this high on any list. So you're putting that hard knocks stumble as a major disqualifier potentially? It's much more drastic than. Tanna Hill not knowing the divisions and how all the divisions lay out, which was also concerning to me,

but that's more of we're all plugged into that. He's maybe not. Maybe that is, that says something about his focus. How focused are you on life if you don't know where the sun rises at age 20 something? I will counter if you went through the Hall of Fame quarterbacks, the living Hall of Fame quarterbacks, you might be surprised how many of those quarterbacks don't know where the sunrise. At the end of their lives, yes. What are you saying about quarterbacks?

I'm saying at their respect to Brian. Have you ever mowed the lawn? Have you ever walked through a park? You can't tell where the sun is setting or rising? Mark, you tell time by a sundial? You're really plugged in on this. I mean, if I have any friends that do not know where the sun rises and sets, I don't think that I'd have to sit down and think about that friendship.

All right, Wes, by the way, on your list, you have Carson Palmer at 20. You know, this Eli stuff sticks in my craw. Carson Palmer is a noted playoff choke artist and a guy that really stumbling. in his age 38 season and there's a lot of reason to think that he is not nearly the guy he was three years ago that you have him considerably higher than Eli why is that well he's what a year and a half removed from finishing second in the MVP race he played really well down a stretch last year as Eli Manning was face planting and ruining the giant season Carson Palmer is a better quarterback than Eli Manning that's why I have him higher but he but he is below the

Dalton line, which I think makes sense because I think you saw last year, he's going up and down with what's happening around him. If he does not have protection, he is not someone who's going to survive, which is true of a lot of quarterbacks, but he is a guy that you no longer feel is the guy that they need to get another. The only reason I have him below Dalton is because he has flirted with retirement. And he's year to year at this point, so you can't consider him a franchise quarterback. And there was a lot of heat around the fact that the Cardinals also were very interested in Patrick Mahomes. I have him as the quarterback directly below the Dalton scale. That's where I have, Carson Palmer.

Yeah, but he's the first one that gets cut. So you, okay, so, and Wes has Kirk Cousins, excuse me not Kirk Cousins, Joe Flacco in that same spot. I have Palmer then Flacco, yeah. Mark, who would you put as the first guy kind of below Andy Dalton? Although you think it's Alex Miss him. Yeah, I think I would flip-flop, I would maybe put Dolton. Dalton below Alex Smith.

That would be the same place I would go with it. Well, you guys think Alex Smith is a better player than Dalton. Is that what you're saying? No, I think Dalton is, well, let me put it in the way. They're kind of like the same thing, I guess. That's the thing. To me, they better be touching each other, and I put Kirk Cousins above both of them. I think Dalton can be considerably better.

And yeah, Cousins was the one I was going to ask you guys how you're feeling about old Kirkie these days because me and him and Dalton are the same guy. Alex Smith, to me, is a tier, is pretty significantly. below that. And those two guys are, to me, the whole, they are this exercise. They are that. I feel like if you have, you should have, if your list is making sense, it makes sense for Kirk Cousins to be in that 14 to 18 area.

Yeah. I feel like, you know, he's, and this is a big year for him. And the only thing you could say about, it's been a very weird contract situation, the way it's played out in D.C. with Kirk Cousins. But if the Redskins, for instance, we're all about the Dalton scale, this is exactly how you would want to play it, kind of taking this thing year by year and try to figure out who this guy is, and now they get another year to kind of figure it out. Well, it seems like that's exactly how they're playing it.

Yeah. And maybe to their credit, unless it blows up in their face. I think they share that view or else they would have acted differently over the last few years. They seem pretty willing to roll the dice and watch him walk away or possibly even trade him away a year from now. Well, I think Jay Gruden sees him as his Andy Dalton. And if Jay Gruden was running that front office, he'd be signed already, but he's not running that front office.

How about Dak Prescott, just fourth round rookie jumping right over the Dalton line, unlike most rookies, right in his first season. He deserves it, right? I agree. I agree. Everything that he did last year. How about it? But it does again, it's more like a football thing rather than a flaw in this list. It shows you how much having an amazing supporting cast can make a quarterback look better or perform better. if Dak Prescott switched places with Carson Wentz,

I'm not saying Wins would have performed as well, but I don't think that Prescott is on the right side of this yet. But the Cowboys, just like the Chiefs in reverse, the Cowboys told you what they thought by letting Tony Romo drift off. Exactly. And I think, like, for instance, Jared Goff, you know, we're giving him a pass.

I think we saw enough out of Jared Goff to say if he had been put in that situation in Dallas, things would not have gone as well as they went with Dak Prescott. I mean, you can still make evaluations on whether guys are processing things because he's not accurate because he really... I'm sorry, I misunderstood.

Did you say Tony Romo? No, I was saying Goff. Oh, Goff. That Goff was somehow in Dallas, then it wouldn't work out. Okay. Sorry, Greg. I just misunderstood you for a second.

I thought you said something else and I was going to take him to task on this. And then I said, wait a second. Did I hear him right? It turns out I didn't. Thank you for taking us through your thought process. All right, in the bottom 10, Mark, do you have a 32? Did you do a 32, too?

Or am I just going off West and? I did not produce one. Okay, that's fine, that's fine. Probably to the viewer's delight. Greg, this is on TV. Greg and Wes, in your respective bottom tens, who's the guy that would surprise you the least to jump onto the right side of the Prime Meridian here?

Ooh. In 2018. It's between Trevor's, Simeon and Blake Bortles. If Bortles could ever fix his mechanics, and I am no longer holding out hope. You have 26 and 27, those two guys, Bordels and Simeon, in that order. Yeah, I am not holding out hope for Bortles anymore. I have given up the ghost, but he has the tools if he can ever fix his mechanics.

Trevor Simeon, I liked almost everything I saw out of him last year. I just don't know if he's talented enough. We'll see. Barely sneaking into my bottom 10 there was Sam Bradford. and it wouldn't surprise me with some improved protection that he puts together. If he puts together the quality of play that he did a year ago again, then to me he's kind of proven that he is a reliable middle tier, but solid franchise quarterback.

The only reason I still had him so low is that it was the best season of his career. And he's been in the NFL a long time. He's played a long time. So I want to see him do it again. He outplayed Andy Dalton with, you know, Dalton had a bad offensive line. Sam Bradford had one of the worst offensive lines I've ever seen. I think that's fair, but you have Bradford below your Dalton scale as well. I do.

I have him 19th, and he would be higher if not for his injury history. Makes sense. I feel like Sam Bradford is exactly where he should be, the place he always was and always will be, like, right around 20 on this list. Dan's never bought into the Bradford Renaissance. Well, he was very good last year, but still at the end of the day, what was he? He was a quarterback that lorded over a deeply mediocre team. It wasn't all his fault, obviously, but is he ever going to be a guy that you're going to build a franchise around at this stage?

If it hasn't happened yet. Still pretty young. I mean, guys like 30 at this point. Yeah, I got you. But guys like Rich Gannon, we've seen quarterbacks as they get older. Has that in him potentially? Trent Green. Yeah, that if he got in the perfect, it is tough quarterback to separate him from the team.

But if he got a perfect situation like a Trent Green, like a rich Gannon could he make that sort of development late in his career maybe forget sandwiches i will uh you could sign over your car payments and your monthly rentals uh at your home in santa monica if sam bradford ever wins the MVP and or takes his team to the super bowl but take him up on that yeah okay what do i give up uh what's the counter nothing nothing i mean MVP MVP ain't happening going to the super bowl i mean some bad quarterbacks have made it to the super bowl Grossman made it to the super ball. Daddy likes that one. You never know. I mean, that Viking's front seven, who knows? That's possible. Yeah, that's possible. Good luck. Good luck. Can you imagine, Dan,

if you had to go home one night and explain to your wife. And at that point, your children, who would be aware of this, that you have taken on a financial burden that will sink your household for a thousand years. Even better, what if the Vikings start making a run? Right. This is, they're making the playoffs. This is recorded. Yeah, it's fine. And you pick the wrong, like, you know, If you did this with Wes or Mark, they'd be like, ah, ha, ha, you can take me out for some jinks. Now, I want that run money. That's happening.

I know this. It's on the record. I know this, you know, scratches an itch for you, Greg. So I have no problem with it. Now, I will say, if it ever did happen, if you turned out to be the subject of a dateline episode, don't be surprised. If I had to make the problem go away.

You know what does that even mean? That means you would be, you'd be the subject, but you wouldn't be watching it. because you'd be deep below the earth. Put it this way. You wouldn't be interviewed, but you would be... I got them to hide.

Well, he wants to hide something. It would be you. I'd kill you, Greg. I'd murder you if I had to. If you stood between me and taking care of my family, I'd have to probably kill you. I thought you were trying to entrap me

in some sort of... No, but that's a good idea, too. I could entrap you. Well, you've already hatched the plan on a public podcast, so you've entrapped yourself. We should edit this part out just in case.

I need to unfurl some type of scheme. Right, right. Cut it out. Where would you guys put Ryan, do you guys think that Ryan Tanna, I feel like I'm speaking to the wrong room for this? But I think if we were talking to a lot of NFL people, there would be some that would make the case for Ryan Tanna Hill to be above the Doughton scale at this.

No. Why do you do this every offseason? All the Dolphins fans are starting to get riled up. Everybody calmed down. Let's hear out West. No, every off season, people want to act like Ryan Tannahills much better than he is. He played better last year. I think that's fair to say. The end stretch with Gase was the best stretch of his career, I think, his last six, seven games last year before he got hurt. I'm not big on

closing season stretches. Then he got hurt. Wildly played up in the upcoming season. I remember Jamarcus Russell's wild closing stretch and everybody was convinced. How about the Gino Smith closing stretch that had Greg doing cartwheels? Well, he hasn't played since. A lot of weird stuff is happening at the end of any NFL season. too. But I think here's... That was mid-season. He just got hurt in week 14 or whatever. I guess I think it's a snapshot of Tannahill. He'd be higher than he would have been maybe in other periods in his career. But if you're thinking about Tannahill, the overall product,

I think he's right where he should be. I have him 19th, and I think he is among the guys below the Dalton scale. For me, like Flacco, that would have a good chance to jump above because I think... But you say that every year. But this is the first time he's had a... competent coordinator for the second straight year. He certainly got better talent around him. If he doesn't do it now, there are no excuses.

But I think you can look at Mike Sherman and Joe Philbin and what's been going on with the offensive line and make some excuses for him. I think that's what we, when Andy Dalton took the team to 8 and O or whatever, and he was playing in an MVP level, it was in a world where everything around him was perfect for the most part. And we got the prime version of Andy Dalton. Dalton, a version that I think would have argued for him not to be in this spot again if that

play had continued ever again, not close to it. But if you look at Tannahill, we're projecting that. He has to do it. We can't just say everything needs to be perfect around Tannahill, then he'll rise above Dalton. It's no coincidence that this sequence that Greg is talking about also it is also when they started to run their offense through Jay Ajai. Yep. But one thing Tana Hill did last year and he should be given credit because he got picked on a lot for it, was he threw the ball deep well, period. And that was one of maybe the biggest weakness that he had, ended up averaging 7.7 yards per attempt.

Can you do it again? Yeah, he showed some progress. That's all I'm saying. He's been around for a while. I can't keep track of Greg's Tanna Hill love scale. It seems to come and go. Sometimes it's stronger than others. I remember it was very, very strong entering that Dan Campbell season.

I sort of lost hope going into last year. Yeah, and now it's getting back. You regretted bailing on him. Yeah, a little bit. No, it's not too late. It's not too late. I think he's perfect right where he is hanging out around San Bradford, but we'll see.

Maybe he does make the leap for good, for you, Greg. Which would be bad news for your football team, but you don't really care anymore. I care if, you know, if Ray and Tainahill gets in the way of them in the playoffs or anything like that, that. Crush him like a grape. I mean, all credit to him.

I'm not expecting that to happen. Anything else we want to discuss? I guess we, because I like to come out of this with us all being on the same page, but there's no reason to force it either. But where some of us believe Alex Smith is, some of us believe that Andy Dalton is the prime meridian. But in general, I think the bigger takeaways, who is in that realm and who's going to fall back, who's going to jump over.

And that's what we've really dug in on here. And I think we haven't talked a lot about the guys that are above the line because it feels like this year more than others that they're kind of no-doubters. Like Stafford is a no-douder now. Cam, of course, is a no-douder. I think Mariotta and Winston at this point are no-doubors. All right, yeah, let's do this. Earlier, we looked at the bottom 10.

Who in your boys' top 10 quarterbacks stands the greatest chance to drop below the Dalton line in 2018? Ooh, this was where it could get a little testy. I like it. Well, I have Stafford and Newton 9 and 10. I'd say they're the most likely. Stafford, I mean, he's in an offense where they throw quick, short passes. Does that really use his skill set the most? I don't know.

And Newton had one of the least accurate stretches we've seen done the stretch last year. He was playing through a shoulder injury, but. I don't know. I think... We'll see what Cam Newton does this year. Yeah, Cam would be my choice, and I love Cam. I love watching him. I don't think it's going to happen yet.

They want to change the offense. He's coming up a shoulder surgery, and you look at his last three seasons. I think it's universally agreed, not a top 10 quarterback in 2014. MVP in 2015, not a top 10 quarterback in 2016. That is a crazy career thing. So could he, if he... he struggled again, if he had another bad season, is that going to change the way we think about Newton? Yeah, I guess it would because I would be three out of four years.

I would go with Stafford and Newton because I think they'll both be leapfrogged by Marriota and Winston. And honestly, I could see Philip Rivers getting back up into the top 10 with that. Not top 10. I'm talking about it will drop out of the top 10 and beyond the top 16. I'm saying that would displace them. To go out of the 16, Stafford for me. Yeah, I'm with you on that. Just because obviously he's had great moments. all throughout his career, but could I see him regressing a little bit? Has he peaked as a player? It's possible.

I got a bad taste of my mouth, too, that playoff lost to the Seahawks. I feel like I'm kind of sick of Matt Stafford after that game. I'm sick of the whole Matt Stafford. I really was impressed by the way he played. I think he played in a way that convinced me that he's going to have a really nice back end of his career. He kind of is a very steady. He was not their problem. He's the one carrying the last year.

But I think in the past he's been very up and down last year he was not up and down to me. It's just looking at Wes's top 10 over here, I don't see like a total phony hanging out in there. No. It's an automatic to drop. It's tough. I think when you look at the breadth of Matthew Stafford's career, the one thing that jumps out is his total inability to beat good teams. Yeah. And that's a trait of, I think that's a trait of the Dalton scale-esque issues is that, for me, that's part of it.

And Stafford has been there. this physically gifted player the whole time and yet how many huge wins do you remember? And finally just a little cute note here my favorite little rivalry between my boys. Wes has Marcus

Mariotto one spot ahead of James Winston and Greg has James Winston one spot ahead of Marcus Mariotto. You guys are so cute. Yeah I didn't waffle on that one at all. Mariotta clearly the choice of... Well I mean it's not like you have two

too far apart there. That is funny. We didn't see our lists, obviously, separate. All right, there you go. That is our Dalton Scale conversation for 2017. Finally, a little bit of breaking news here. And to do that, yes, we're going to the Ravens Nest. Hit me again.

Not good news. Ravens' cornerback, Tavon Young, suffered a torn ACL at OTAs, expected to miss most of, or if not the entire 2017 season was a nice player in the slot for them as a rookie. No official word out yet, but tough times in the Ravens Nest today. I really was impressed by him as a rookie.

He was such a tough player, but they are about as deep at cornerback as any team in football, which is surprising to say about the Ravens. They have Jimmy Smith, their first round pick Marlon Humphrey, and Brandon Carr still. Three pretty solid cornerback. So if they were going to take a bad injury We had a position.

I guess cornerback would be one to do it. You guys ready to hop out of the nest? It's a rare, rare late visit to the nest. Sometimes you're in, sometimes you're out. It's time to hop out of that nest. All right. It's time to end the around the NFL podcast. We've got a big softball game to prepare for no more work.

Only focus on an important game. And I will say it again. I say this with peace and love. Heads will roll if we do not prevail tonight. The pressure is on. How many jobs? are on the line in this game. I don't want to put a number on it

because I don't want people listen, I want people looking over their shoulders during this game but I don't want them to be in an outright panic where they're counting numbers and saying, looking at the box score, who's doing better, do I have to stay above this guy? But just no, skips

watching very closely. Half the team is in Europe. I mean, how are you going to contact one of these vacationers if it's them that gets axed? We should have close to a full squad today, actually. One thing you should like, or not like, but at least take comfort in, the arc of the team is somewhat similar. It's even early in the process to last year's team, right?

You guys had some ups and downs you were saying you were seven and seven at one point. With all due respect, Greg, each season is its own thing. So I'm not going to say, oh, just because we sucked it up for a portion of the regular season last year last year, it's okay that's happening this year? No, I expect more from this team this year coming off our season. and I haven't liked what I've seen in the last couple weeks, some of the playing and some of the attitudes, quite frankly. And if I have to make a move, I have to make a move. Well, I don't want to get on your radar,

but what if someone raises the issue that you were not at the last game? Well, I put family above softball. All right. This isn't about everyone can miss a game here and there. Okay. That's fine. That's not the issue. It's the attitude.

It's when you're on the field, what are you doing for me? In fact, me missing a game shouldn't be the end of the world because we have a lot of guys. My problem is I got a lot of guys, but do I got a lot of guys that can play? And I'm going to make some decisions based on what I see today. I have taken copious scattering reports the last few weeks, and I am ready to contribute to this discussion in any way you need. Wes, you know, as my Don Zimmer, as by Consigliary,

we always discuss any huge moves, and that will happen again. So good luck, Greg, in today's game. Wow. break no Greg you've done very well this season I just want to make that clear but it's more I'm watching the entire team okay that's it we'll be back I mean I'm out here sacrificing for this team I see a gnarly bloody picture oh yeah like Greg Greg's earned his keep we'll be back on Tuesday with another episode of the around the NFL podcast Dan Hans is signing off for the sizzler the mailman the Boston sally behind the glass

till Tuesday.