NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - 2022 NFL Offseason Glossary A to Z

Episode Date: June 2, 2022

A room filled with some heroes - Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler, Gregg Rosenthal and Colleen Wolfe bring you an updated NFL Offseason Glossary, going through each letter A to Z to keep you informed about everything you need to know for the 2022 season. The Amish Rifle announced his retirement (6:00), the Falcons are hoping the Arthur Smith-Marcus Mariota reunion works out well (29:00), Lamar Jackson just wants to be Lamar (48:00), the Jaguars should be better this year (1:02:00), the Broncos have Super Bowl or Bust expectations (1:10:30), and 21 other terms are defined. If you only listen to one offseason pod this year, make it this one. Note: timecodes approximate.NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Hey, everybody. Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 6th, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else.

It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Around the NFL podcast opted for a one-year prove-it deal with a guaranteed bag. Welcome from the Chris Waus. All sorts of issues. From the Chris Wessling podcast studio. Welcome to Around the NFL. I'm Dan Hansis.

Coming to you from a room filled with some heroes. Mark Sessler, Greg Rosenthal, and I only now just realize Colleen off the hook. I like doing the intro where you kick the door in. Really good content, and yet I forgot this time. So congratulations. Colleen Wolfe, to my right. Thank you.

This is a huge moment for me. I didn't get kicked out of the studio after I set myself up only to have to come back in and do a whole thing. And it's been a little bit of a rough start with the time. going awry here for Dan's little timer, yeah. It's a pretty cute, an all-time piece.

You do have an off-season vibe about you, though. Oh, thank you. Quite great. I sense it. I feel great. It's a summer of Connie. It's the summer of Connie, and we are thriving.

We're doing a lot of great stuff and having a really good time. And, yeah, I wish that the summer never ended. An endless summer would be perfect. When you're saying we, is it the royal we? What is... It's Colleen and Connie. We're both working.

concert. Like there's got Gonzo's in the mix there as like a... That was the question. I just want to make sure John was still in the picture here. Yeah, and John and Blitzen and Dasher and the whole gang. Those are the dogs. Yep. What is Gonzo's vibe in the current day?

Oh, he just got a haircut. So he is feeling great. Went to the barber, got a fade, getting ready for vacation. Where is Gani and Gonsa going this summer? We're going to Greece and Cyprus. Nice. Leisha joining you for part of that. That's pretty exciting.

Really? Yeah. Well, that's cool. We have a group of like 30 Greeks that are going to Greece. So I'm sure what could go wrong, really nothing. Well, that sounds like a lot of fun. Right now you're in the, what Mark refers to is the cell, the prison cell. The studio.

What's up, Mark? How are you? Why would I, I have never called it that. I am proud of this studio. You do seem strangely nervous, though, about this particular show. I think we've probably done about 1,400 podcasts, most of them in person. On the sale. Many where we're kind of flying by the seat of our pants.

And yet this one, it has you tense on June 2nd. We will get into why, but I was told minutes before we kicked off the episode that, you know, a certain amount of planning goes into these things. Some more than others. Right. And that if my messaging is usurped by someone before I go and do my turn, which you'll see how that works, that I have to pivot and come up with something out of thin air. Oh, I just got that message.

I just got that message now. So now I'm feeling a little honest. You do you because Colleen and I come from the sort of the family of preparation, maybe over preparation. And so when you're told like just. Well, Colleen famously has taken improv classes. So I think Colleen's going to be okay. And I believe you, today we are doing the glossary of NFL terms for the offseason A through Z. We divvied up the alphabet.

And yes, obviously, because we don't talk about what we're going to talk about beforehand. That's for all those bogus TV shows that you watch. That's right. Never on this network, of course. but on so many other television shows, they have these pre-production meetings and they are just filled with exact beat-by-beat takes of what I'm going to talk about.

Here's my take. Here's your take. And then there's no mix-ups. You know, everything's covered. No, that's not what we do. Boring. Very sterile. Snore.

We are going live here. And if someone hits on your topic that you have later in the alphabet, you've got to pivot, baby. And you've got to be quick on your feet. So I understand you're a preparation guy. Absolutely going to melt down. And I absolutely respect how you go about your process for this program.

Thank you, Dan. But only if it doesn't get in the way of his process. Well, that's all so accurate. Well, I believe it's very important to let the tugboat take us where we need to get. So I mean no disrespect by that. But just follow the tugboat and it's going to be fine. I do trust the tugboat. So far we have Colleen going, what is the Royal We?

Is that second person? I don't even know what that is. And then the ongoing third person. This side of the desk is really on fire. It's the summer. It's the summer of this side of the desk. I love it. All right.

So we're going A through Z, hopefully in under three hours. That was another source of consternation for Mark, the idea that this show might go a little bit long. We're going to try to keep it tight. I feel that we're painting certain pictures than not. I just, I think we were told by our, by Justin, our producer, the Gravedigger, that last year when we did this, it did stretch on to a, an inordinate amount of minutes.

And are we concerned with maybe tightening it up just a little bit or being focused on that? Something to keep an eye on. And we'll pull back the curtain in the tugboat's captain chamber. And when there was initially a new segment on today's episode, I said, no, let's kill that. Let's streamline it a little bit. I love what you did. I try to tighten the show up. That's a good captain.

I mean, it's not coming from a place of critiquing you or your leadership. And I'm not critiquing you. I was just stating simply what was happening before we started. rolling today, a sense of anxiety emanating from you. I mean, it wasn't hidden. I told you that's not how I like to do this particular show, but let's see what happens. I'm not critiquing you is a lot like, no disrespect, but because you are, you are critiquing it.

It is complete critique and disrespect, mixed together, matching. It's going to be a great episode. I can feel it. So let's get it going. Gravedigger. Yeah, I guess try to keep us on, on task, but really don't. Good luck with that. Yeah, let's just roll through it.

I'll get us going with the letter A. And again, this is, I know some people like to listen to every episode during the off season, our favorite listeners. Some football fans disconnect a little bit and then they jump back in. Lesser listeners. Those are lesser people. Lower tier. Yes.

So if you are one of those people and you happen to see this in our social media feed and click in, perfect, perfect decision because this is going to give you a. general idea of where we are in the NFL, what you need to know is training camp approaches, just the general vibe of what's going on in our league. So let's get into it. It starts with A, and it starts with a man who's one of my favorite players in the history of the NFL in my time watching Our League, a man that some people call Fitzmagic, but I prefer his original name, the Amish rifle. remember that i do totally forgot about that as greg would say the real ones no right i'd say that

i don't remember that i got to be honest i would have put that into a number of early nfl dot com stories do we have a fitzmagric clip or omish right at that fittspatrick throwing over the middle touchdown mike gaseki ah yes the famous ryan fitzpatrick mike gaseki eight yard touchdown catch Can't say enough about the way Ryan Fitzpatrick has stayed today. He stayed in there, taking heat all day with the hits he's taken. Well, when you can get Trent Green's trenching. We're playing a joke on ourselves here at this point.

It's still playing. It's still. At about 11.07 this morning, I told Grave-Degger, hey, it'll be good to throw to a great call of Ryan Fitzpatrick. Now, that's not a big window to dig up the call. So the fact that we ended up with Trent Green, partially on tugboat as well. But, yeah, we got it. That one, yeah. That was, uh, week 17, 2019, Brady's last regular season game as a Patriot.

Last second touchdown. I also, that's a fair point. That might be the last. I took us into shallow water there, actually. I wouldn't say that that was the great, the last great moment of his career, though. You could have gone. I would have went with the face mask. I would have done that as well.

I mean, it was a test. It wasn't well called. They didn't even hardly mention the face mask. So I was like, that was the play I looked for first. You picked a good moment, but the call did not resonate. with anyone here or probably any of the listeners. Anyway, so Ryan Fitzpatrick, the Amish rifle, Fitzmagic. I mean, he's not Amish if he uses electricity, which we know he does.

But I get where there is a beard bit. Out of Harvard, of course, played for nine teams across 17 seasons. He announced his retirement on Thursday, such a popular player and a productive player who seemed to get better in the tail end of his career, 39 years old. He suffered a bad hip injury in the second quarter of the Washington football team's season opening loss to the Chargers in September had to have surgery. So unfortunately, Connie, that's how his career ended. But it was almost fitting because he was kind of a fearless dude. He was never the fastest guy, the strongest guy.

He didn't fit the profile of a starting quarterback in our league today. And yet he was fearless and he was a lot of fun to watch. Fearless. And he had this personality that every. Everyone was attracted to, whether it was his teammates or us, the media. I always loved him so much on Thursday night football because he constantly gave us a good moment, whether it was post game, whether it was in the game. I forget what year that was when he came out with the Hawaiian shirt on, unbuttoned all the way

with his like chest hair hanging out. And he's like, honey, I'll be home. Like, stay up and wait for me. He was just the best. It's because they were going to bang. That's right. They have a lot of children. That was the message to the imagination.

There's some people who aren't as good reading between the lines. I was trying to. No, you did a nice job too. Also, the crude manner in which you, I was uncomfortable with the whole thing, Greg. But go on. I love how, like, he was, he came in. I always remember as a Mike Mart's greatest show on turf in its later days, like seventh round pick. It immediately was like a fantasy guy who threw a lot of yards in that first season as like a seventh round rookie.

And you mentioned, Dan, how he sort of got better and better throughout. out his career. And that's true. But he did get that payday back in 2011, like, for the bills. That was the Amish rifle era. When he got the, when he got the big contract, and then he led the league in interceptions that year. Like, it was midway through the year, but he was always going for it. And I think there's a lesson there for some backups and some maybe like medium talent guys that, like, especially at quarterback, you're better off playing like a Brett Favre or a Ryan Fitzpatrick and going for it. Because you're going to have some highs and then you're going to get contracts based on those highs.

If you just play it safe, which he never did. He led the league in yards per attempt in 2018 as a member of the Buccaneers, which is an era I feel like people forget about with Fitzpatrick. Well, that buck's period, I think, was a pivot point two where for me, Ryan Fitzpatrick is someone who just became more and more comfortable in his own skin as his career went on, more enjoyable, more at ease, more filled with joy. I thought he got better looking as his career went on. Like, if you look at him early, he just became like, he became more and more Ryan Fitzpatrick-esque.

And I really grew into himself. Yes, I enjoyed the entire journey. His 2015 season with the Jets was also a perfect snapshot into his career because he put that team on a magic carpet ride to get, got them to 10 and 5 on the doorstep of the playoffs. And then through three interceptions in the last game of the season against a bad bills team to keep the Jets out of the playoffs. And like, that was kind of him. Like, you lived with all those, like, daring throws he would make. And when they went well and when he got hot, he'd be hot as a pistol and be like, this guy is amazing.

But then he could, like, flip it. And all of a sudden, he would be a guy that turnover is over and over. Where are we on the clock there? Just let me know. Oh, yeah. We get 12 minutes here. We're one letter through. So we're doing great.

What's the math on that? 12 times 26. That's not counting. You know, the intro, but we've been out a couple minutes. That's 312 minutes. Yeah. Also, I do believe that Ryan Fitzpatrick deserves the respect, Mark. So, well, we're going to get you out of here as soon as possible.

But Mr. Fitzpatrick, whatever happens next. But I do enjoy broadcasting with you. But I really just, you know. Under 67 minutes. Well, yeah. I'm with myself also. I get it. All right, B.

Okay. Happy trails, Ryan Fitzpatrick. Yep. And I guess this means he's going to Amazon if he retired, right? Or maybe not. Who knows? Why everyone is doing that? So you've got probably inside information we don't, but that was good.

Well, no, it's been mentioned that he's linked with Amazon and he will be, you know. Got it. Yeah. Pivoting on his own front. This came out in a group text. It hasn't even been, which I like. I'm just playing along. I didn't know if Colleen wanted to share more about what she had as a scoop, potentially.

No scoop. Just connecting dots. All right. Well, there you go. Okay. And I bet he'll be good. Go ahead. Yeah.

All right. Here we go. B is for Blitzen. Yeah, that's the name of my dog. But also it's what the Giants would like to do. next season a lot of, a departure completely from what they did the previous season with Patrick Graham, a more conservative approach he had. But I don't know if they have the personality to pull it off all of the Blitzin that they want to do, especially without Gibral Peppers. We know Don Wink-Martindale.

I don't know what to do with this name because do I just call him Wink Martdale? It's just Wink. It's just feels like maybe we're not there yet, me and Wink to do that. That's what he wants. Okay. If Wink wants that, then Wink gets that. He's asking for that. Well, Colleen is basically saying she's considering declining. Yeah, the option.

And that's fine. I mean, I think that's respectable. It is his parents given name. I think I, well, if everybody else is doing it, I think I have to do it. So Wink is going to go to work and training camp with a lot of different, new, his vision that he has here. Because last year with the Ravens, the secondary was completely ravaged and he couldn't really do what he wanted to do. So we'll see if they do a lot of blitz in next year. Our buddy, Kavon Tibido, you know,

we'll see if he makes a instant difference on this defense. Now, Connie, you famously hate the Giants. I mean, you're a Philadelphia fan and you guys are nuts and you're passionate. Are you concerned about the Giants at all in 2022? No, they're always on the radar because they're right there in the division, but not concerned. There's a lot of changes. That's some brash confidence from you, just a flat out no.

The G-Men do not exist in your world. Their defense looks terrible on paper. It looks like one of the worst defenses in the league. Yeah, they added Kavanaugh-Tibado. That's nice. I like when you add a guy like Wink Martindale, though, to a defense that doesn't have as much talent. It's kind of like college football.

It helps. You need a little scheme craziness. Like, that's the type of team that you want to wink Martindale. You might not want them with the Ravens anymore. They kind of didn't after last year. It was a mutual parting of ways, but he was probably getting the boot. But I think he's someone that can cook up pressure

because in the back end, their secondary on paper, I would say, is among the worst in the NFL. Well, and their biggest move of the off season was cutting James Bradbury who weeks later winds up with the Eagles.

That's not how you operate in his months. I could see it working, though, for him. Like, he has a lot of experience, Wink Martindale, and cooking up some pressure. And he has Thibodeau. He has Leonard Williams. It's like they're not terrible,

but on the back end, it looks pretty rough. my little behind the scenes, B, behind the scenes. My wife works in the entertainment industry and she was speaking to a high-ranking person with a storied in a storied comedy realm of the entertainment business.

Okay. And they were having a conversation. It came up that I work for this company and we do this podcast. And the person that my wife was conversing with was like, oh, is there anybody out there in the NFL that maybe it would be interesting on camera and immediately the one thing my wife has listened to on our show was the cave on tibodeau

interviews because i said you're going to be interested by this guy this a few weeks back and then emily relayed this to the high-ranking entertainment official and they're like whoa okay i'm putting him on our radar on our list a career builder now it now if they actually make that call i think you should find a way to let kavon tibodeo know we will that's where it started because we're we could move from we went from what? Not friends. Not friends to acquaintances.

So this is like... Now that's friendship. Yeah. Partners. Potentially commission there too. This is a great step before we move on to see about the Giants and how bad they were last year. This is from Jordan Ronan. Renan from ESPN.

The Giants were... I used to work with them. That's the only reason I know. Nice. B for buddies. The Giants were outscored 79-0 in the final two minutes of the first half in 2021. That's a real step. They're going to be way more watchable.

Greg Roman is going to make them more watchable. All right, C. For Greg Rosenthal. Brian Davel. I always mix up Brian Dable. It said bang, B for bang earlier. Well, they don't look alike.

A lot of bees. C, ceremonial. And that's the type of one-day contract that my guy, inconvenient truth, Frank Gore, signed on Thursday. Now, Dan sent me a text about a month ago when Gore initially retired. I was in Massachusetts. He wanted me to send in, like, a voicemail message. And it was like, no, I don't want to.

I mean, I'm here. He's like, all right. That was a bit of a reveal. It was all for show. Here's the reveal. It's not worth it. It's not going to be that great content. And I was like, at some, at some point. I mean, I mean, Greg was sending it in.

He's probably right. Right. That's what I mean. It was just going to be awkward. How am I getting banged for, like, nonstop commitment to the show issues? And Greg's like, nah, I'm too busy to like send in a two minutes. It would have been way too self-conscious recording it. And he would have been able to hear it in the file.

I wasn't in the mood. Plus, I think we could go stitch back many times where we've probably half-retired. I don't know why I'm doing this. But I don't care. I'm really glad that he signed back with the 49ers because I think him and that team, you think of them together. And I think back to his rookie season when he entered the league coming off at Torn ACL as a third round pick. And my whole thing with that, he was a Hall of Famer. And Wes and I would argue about this like six years ago before he was ever in the top three of rushing.

And now it just seems inevitable. He was a Hall of Famer because his peak was better than people realized. He was one of the five best running backs in the league immediately. He was in all pro in the second season that he was in the league. And he is the best running back I've ever seen in my entire life at Vision, which is just like such an important part of a running back, which is he's behind the line of scrimmage. He's looking at what's in front of him.

And he somehow knows, I don't know how he does it, where the hole is going to be, seeing steps ahead. And this was a guy people got on him like, oh, his wonder look, because it wasn't how he had a learning disability. And he was one of the smartest running backs because of that. He always knew where the defense was going to be. He always knew exactly where to run.

And I'm glad he's getting his flowers. And now he's in the front office in San Francisco. Would have been a great voice memo? Yeah. But it would have ruined right now. We've just gotten it right now, though. I mean, you mentioned Greg Roman. He was the perfect pairing with Greg Roman in that Harbaugh offense.

I mean, he was so fun to watch, highly physical, a punisher. I'll never forget one night watching him on like a Thursday night football game at Irish Times our place and there was a Seahawks fan in there who was they were destroying the Seahawks and this guy was just like shouting at the top of his lungs because he was alarmed by what the Niners' offense

was doing behind Frank Gore. And I just laughed at that man, I giggled at him. I am always sad they didn't win that Super Bowl because people forget he had a monster game in the Super Bowl and he is the one with a long run that set up the first and goal which ended with that Colin Kaepernick pass that will forever be remembered by 49ers.

Not a great play call. Michael Crabtree, not interference. Niners fans. Jimmy Smith forever. All right. Mark, are you ready? Yes. D.

What letter? D. All right. D is for dead presidents. You had like a flash of panic and then a side glance at great. And then you're like, no, I have it all right now. It's all highlighted.

I've prepared all this. Did we get that panicked side glance for Mark on camera? Okay, maybe we can bring that back at some point. I'm having a weird day. Okay. That's a drop. D is for dead presidents, not Abe or J.F.K or George Washington of George Washington even existed, speculation, but dollars. Big, bad green, rectangular dollars.

D is for dropping dollars from the sky. That's what the dollars will be doing. On to the lawn of Debo, the destroyer. D is for Do It Soon. D is for don't F this up. D is also for Dan Hans as a truly professional broadcaster who I've learned to carry favor with

during segments of this nature. That was perfect. Good. Pay Devo. Keep him happy. Is he an OTAs? Yeah, he's around. But they expect that he will be

at the mandatory mini-tamp. John Lynch basically said there is literally no way we're letting him anywhere else than San Francisco. One thing I've learned about John Lynch, too. When he's in front of a microphone, talking to the media.

Always the truth. All the time. Do you think there's any chance? Debo's on another team? He's not going to allow Debo to go in the way. These guys are professional liars, all these dudes, for the most part. It's fair. Remember what Pete Carroll said about Russell Wilson, like seven days before you're straighted.

Remember what Mike Grable said about A.J. Oh, sorry. How you doing with that? You're all right. That's all good. Graved digger. Oh, but Brable said that. Like, why are you guys making this AJ Brown thing a story?

It's so obviously not a story. Remember Gravedigger's live Instagram session, like seconds after? Oh, yeah. He was in his feelings. Sad for you. We gave him a little pass there. All right. E is for extension as in the around the NFL.

Agreeing to an extension to remain at NFL media. and its related subsidiaries. Look at us. Nobody's going anywhere. Wait, you chose this as the theme of the song? That's awesome. Turn this up a little bit. Everybody's got a price.

We definitely have a price. Everybody's going to pay. There's a million dollar man. Hallway. It's his way. Ted DiBiase, he isn't stared in a scandal right now, Brett, we were talking about. I'm not sure I want to be associated with Ted DiBiase, who, like Brett Farr, has been implicated in stealing money from welfare in the state of Mississippi. But it is great.

It is a great moment. This is great. It's been such a long ride with the NFL. Mark, you and I starting 2010. Greg, a couple years later, the podcast started. starting up with Wes, a year after that. And we've been very fortunate, mostly, because of a loyal audience that we've built and held through the years to get in a position where our conversations with the NFL and other places were interesting to us.

But at the end of the day, it just, the NFL came to play. And we felt like this was the best place for us moving forward. And I'm really excited, Mark, because, like, this has been a home to us for a long time. And the way the last few months played out stressful, some anxiety, some of us more than others. I was dealing with anxiety behind the scenes about how this was all going to play out. But it played out in the end exactly how I think it should have for us and for this show. And I think the audience will be happy how this all plays out as well. I hope so.

I mean, the audience is a huge part of it. It's been a wild journey, and I can think back to when Dan and I started at the NFL, a different location than this one, like a hollowed out sort of Death Star type office that was barely looking like a newsroom, that Dan and I were working three days a week and making essentially what a high school person would be making at like a... Like a paper boy. Yeah, a paper boy, essentially, you know, throwing papers at someone's driveway in rain or shine. And the lockout occurred, and the only reason that Dan and I weren't whacked, because there was a lot of people that got let go was that our salaries essentially probably did. didn't even appear on the payroll. So, you know, fortunate. And then Greg arrived and Wes arrived and Colleen arrived and everyone else.

Yeah. Sometimes you hear NFL athletes and, you know, when they sign like a contract, they said, like, that's often the biggest day of their career. It's a big deal to them. And I don't think we need to like deny that. This is one of the biggest times of our career. Like, it really is meaningful that, like, we've been together this long and we really were close and thinking about, like, what are we going to do for a future? And it's like one of those moments you think that you just got to appreciate.

And you mentioned Wes, and one of the reasons it's great to be here is every show, Dan's going to start it by saying we're here in the Chris Wesleying podcast studio. Now, there was a part of me that if we were going to leave, I thought, well, Wes would actually kind of like that. that studio is there and then I don't know if he was exactly a loyal company man but it was it's an amazing thing and and I'm sure we all thought about this yesterday when we really you know knew that this is what was going to happen was you know it is one of the days where you really miss west because west came out here and I had that relationship with him before Rota World and I always felt like him and I coming out here together I had been working for the NFL for a year before him was at least a little bit I felt responsible. Like he was taking a chance on this and taking a

chance on my word too, that this was all going to work out. And obviously, I know how, like, amazingly proud he was about, like, what we did as a podcast. So we all know that that came to fruition. But you wish he would be here on a day like this to, like, really enjoy all of it with Keisha. And people have different feelings about things like this. But, you know, I've kind of felt like Wes, wherever he is, is aware that, like, this all happened so systematically after his passing that it changed everything. And he would have been very proud of this for us and for himself. He would have been proud.

It's one of the great things about him is I think he appreciated what he did have. And he was proud of what we had accomplished. And he would be really proud, I think, of this moment of getting rewarded. We'd probably go get a beer somewhere and talk it out. So, yeah, definitely. A beer. I'm so glad. West we're talking about.

Like, congratulations. I'm glad you're here for this too because you have been as big a part of this as anyone. This is one of the best days for me too because you, thank God you guys aren't leaving. I can't deal with any more change selfishly. Like I can't lose any more people. Nobody is going anywhere. And you guys were my first friends when I moved across the country and started working here. So this show is like so much more to me than just work.

It doesn't even feel like work. I would not be coming in to do the show during the summer of Connie if I didn't actually like being here and sitting with you guys and hanging out because it doesn't feel like work ever. And you know that absolutely factored in for all of us as well, like the idea that we'd be able to keep working with Colleen and Graver and everyone behind the glass and Matt Schneider and all the people behind the scenes that have made this... Go see Henry in the UK. Yep. Henry's leaving us here, but he's still in the company and so we're still together with

him as well. So we're keeping the ship moving. I also just on Friday got a new company cell phone. And so that kind of... Well, you're in too deep now. That steered my decision because it's like I'd have to go turn it back in and then go figure out to get another one. Do you keep the same phone number?

Too much work. So, and again, thank you. Thank you, thank you to the listeners because none of this is happening in our lives and our careers if you guys weren't along for the ride. Even the lower tier ones that skip some of these off-season episodes. They don't hear this. Right.

But that's fine. Whenever you pop in, we'll take it. All right. So anyway, that's what's going on with the show. Good, good, good news. Let's take a break and continue in our three of the around the NFL offseason glossary. Hey, this is Matt Jones. I'm Drew Franklin.

And this is NFL cover zero. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game. What was that? Oh, my. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining. And twice a week, that is exactly.

what you're going to get. Listen NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. What's up everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from scouting reports and player development to team building philosophies, coaching trends and how front offices construct winning rosters. Every week, we study the tape, talk to decision makers, and share the insights you won't find anywhere else.

It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots, from college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow. We break down the draft, analyze matchups, and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day. Plus, we dig in the coaching strategies, roster construction, and the trends that shape the league year after year. Whether you're a die-hard fan or just love understanding. the game on a deeper level, we give you the full picture. If you want insight that goes beyond the box score, this podcast is for you.

Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, let's move, let's roll. Here we go. We got that business out of the way. F. Colleen. Okay. So I wanted to go with French fries, but I just, like, couldn't figure out a way to work it in.

And so instead, I'm going to go with fantasy, as in the one I'm imagining for Marcus Mariotta. Now, I love a redemption story. I love a reunion. And this has both with him with Arthur Smith and Atlanta after their time together in Tennessee. They desperately needed to add a wide receiver. The Falcons did after losing Calvin Ridley for the year and Russell Gage. So they drafted Drake London. That's great.

They have Kyle Pitts. but guys, the roster is like the lightest on talent in the entire league. So this is a, I fear what's to come for them, another F word, and I don't think it's going to be good. I can think of another F word for Falcons fans watching from the stands this year. So it is truly just a fantasy. I don't think it's going to have it. They did unveil a red helmet throwback uniform.

Oh, good. Is I going to help them one games? That's early period Dion that makes you think of. That's all. They look beautiful. I do like them actually. Yeah. A.J. Terrell is the one that did it.

AJ Terrell, who I really like, was a Pro Bowl quality cornerback. But it does say something about the Falcons right now. The AJ Terrell is kind of their guy they're going to to be face of the franchise guy. You took one of my. I was going to make, oh, Olamidi, Zekees. Oh, you've got to be quick on the feet. You got to change it. But yeah, it is a little concerning.

This is the time of year you want to be excited to watch all 32 teams. Surprise us, Arthur Smith. Make this Mario, Mario, Drake, London. Pitts thing watchable because on paper I mean Arthur Smith essentially was part of the reason that Marriota was benched for Ryan Tannahill in Tennessee so I don't know

how long the leash will be when you have Desmond Ritter sitting there but Arthur Smith last year I know Dan you disagreed a little bit where Greg and I were coming with the Falcons at times he coached them up to wins they would not have had under a coach that was a three win team that they won seven I don't know if that's what you want but yeah I disagree that they were any good I think you know maybe we got caught a little

little bit up in the... They weren't. They were like the worst. They should have... They easily could have had the number one overall pick and they managed to win seven games. That was a certain sort of...

Okay. Speaking of the Falcons in their defense, we talk about Dion Jones, who was a bit of a mystery character, a former star, a young star for them in their Super Bowl year. And what's his deal? Well, he's missing the team's off-season

workout program after undergoing a procedure to fix a shoulder injury. So... Well, I think they want to dump that salary. Right. So that is, and, you know, obviously, If he's got shoulder issues, never good, especially if you're a tackler of the football.

Let's move on, well, the football carrier. Sure. Tackle the football. You could jump on a fumble or something, but. Let's keep moving. Greg, G, fitting. I know. And you gave me the letter G, and I just thought I'm going to hit the nail on the head here.

It's about me. I'm just going Greg. There it is. Where are all the Gregs at these days? Once a great name, and that would be the definition here. Like, you know, what's your interpretation? Actually, I've always hated the name, Greg. But like, once a prominent name, a common name, it's about me.

Now it's fallen totally off the radar. Like, G is a great letter at the very least. Like, return of the G, G unit, 60% G, nothing but a G thing. Like, are these all your nicknames? I don't even know. All the other ones were famous pop culture references and then you threw in your own nickname. Well, I, pot, meat, kettle. But I also think that's a great nickname.

I mean, if nothing else, it's a good rap name 60% G. I'm not a rapper. The point is, G is for that clarification. What is the point? G unit is such a good nickname. G unit, LG, just G alone is like a nickname. Not many letters that works with, but it does. True.

My point is we got to start bringing back the Greggs. We have Greg Newsom, who's on the Browns. But there's almost no Gregs left. Greg Olson in the booth. Greg Olson's in the booth. Yeah, Forrest Greg was a great player. but I just think after a while I looked, Greg is not one of the

the thousand most common names right now in the United States. It's not even on the list. And so I think it's time to start bringing back Greg. Don't you feel like the people I've told you how they feel about the concert of bringing it?

I mean, if it's not in the top 1,000, they've kind of... I actually felt the same way pretty much my whole life. Never liked the name. But now when I think about the versatility of the G... Like me and Greg Williams

are kind of the 60% Gs in the NFL sphere with the third G on the end. We need to pick that up. We need to improve on things. I like it. I like how it ties into the off-season landscape of the NFL. I think Greg's fine.

I think it's a fine name. Now, names are cyclical. They fall out. Right. The picture. Mark's not going anywhere. Mark with the C. That's got a little edge to it.

Well, it's like when you know you go to those little... I want to see your birth certificate. I want to know that it's Mark with the C for sure. I can deliver it. Deliver me the birth certificate. Like, why would I lie to my... Edge. Edge, a little edge to you.

I think it's got a French flair to it. Ooh. That's what I've been told. Mark's a French boy. Yeah, well, he's really British. I don't know if you know this, but he's spent his formative... British roots?

Colleen's not a very popular name. Damashek attacked it at one point on Twitter, saying it was a weird name. Maybe it's not connected to the off-season... It's got songs about it? Yeah, because it means girl in Gaelic. So it's not very original. Mom and Dad.

All right. What did you say that, Greg? It's not connected to the off season. I just want to bring it back. I just bring it back. I think you're going to have to do more, though. I don't know. Greg Olson.

Greg Olson's a good call. He's in a prominent spot right now. Greg Abbott? There are Gregs. I think we, that is established. That's a tough situation for the Greg community right now. It's a dizzying campaign by you, Greg. Like, who's your worst name?

Like, who's the worst, like, for Greg? It's Greg Abbott. Like, who's like the worst, Colleen? Who's the worst Mark? Who's the worst Justin? I'm going to think about the worst Dan. Let's get back to it. Okay.

If you are stumped for your letter, you could substitute it with the worst version of your name. But that also takes thought. Well, I'm just giving you options. All right, let's move on to H with Mark Sessler. All right, H is for Hackett. First name Nathaniel, the rare first year coach,

who I think will catch flack if his team with a new quarterback, Flack. New offensive scheme and new defense. If his team doesn't roll into the AFC title game on fire, I like his cute little crush on Ciara. I like his past exploits as a hip-hop instructor. I dig everything about Mr. Hackett's overall vibe. But I am slightly concerned about his ability to meet expectations in year one in a hostile rough-and-tumble AFC West. It's funny you used him because I was thinking of using him for G. Maybe it would have been better

for the word garrulous, which would be defunders. find as excessively talkative, especially on trivial matters. And I don't know if that's Nathania Hockett in real life, but I feel like he is a guy when he's in front of the microphone, maybe the way his nerves come out, is he just keeps talking a little more on things that don't really matter. Oh, I think that's absolutely true. Yes. And I love the word garrulous.

I mean, I think it should be used more. I got a really good word coming up, too. So for sharing some, like, good underrated words. Oh. Like for future letters. Yeah, it's coming up in a second. This is a big day for vocabularies everywhere. Yes. Are we, are we?

Well, where are we on the time? 36 minutes. Okay. Okay. That was H? Yes, that was age. Also, is she here? Because you specifically requested, I say it on the podcast, a happy birthday to Christy Stapleton. Yeah, she's not even back there right now.

She went to get a little lunch, birthday lunch. We did wish her. She came in here and we all wished her happy birthday. I will let her. She's aware. When we did a show, as Mark and I, Dan was gone. And I referred to, like, people that just were clearly checked out not paying attention to the show and were bored by us, like, visibly.

Right. That was, it was Christy. Christy. Right. Well, that's happening again behind her last year. She's a jersey girl, though. So I like her. Randy Chavez, he's behind the glass too.

He's always paying attention. I consider it more on us. Like, if we were better than she would have been enthralled. Right. It was our fault. All right. And she turns 25, by the way. She's literally out to lunch right now.

She's a kid. That was for me. I was five years away at 25 from taking the paperboy job with the NFL. And that didn't happen to me until I was 36. So there was another full decade of lunacy before that's setting. I think I was hosting a golf show. Oh, you were. And someone, I'm not saying who.

Someone got in touch with an official on YouTube and put that behind a private wall of some kind. So now no one can access that archive. But inside golf? Yeah. Did you have anything to do it? No, because that requires like a lot of effort. L for liar. Way too much effort for me.

All right. I and J are going to be together. You know why, Connie? Because I got a little peak of your screen and we're talking about the same thing. Damn. That works out because it's the same stuff here. So I, then this is the word I like, intransigence. Ooh, that is good.

It's for those not in the no. You know, those who know, no, Greg. You know, you know. It's a noun. Refusal to change one's views or to agree about something. And Connie, what is Jay? Janky, like Seattle's offseason. Yeah.

I hate what they did, shipping off a star quarterback and then thinking that. In transingence. Drew Locke and earmuffs, Greg. Earmuffs. I mean, we're wearing big things on our ears. Gina Smith, that is concerning. You have to put your hands under the ear, the headset. I think that they probably have had the worst off season.

of any team in the entire NFL? I'm with you. That's that's a loaded question considering what's happening this last season. But I will say that the refusal to change one's views for Pete Carroll, who's 71, 72 years old, it's one thing to say, all right, I'm done with this Russell Wilson marriage and given the state of ownership and the sway having the organization, this is my chance to get a clean break. I'm actually okay with that. Like if you think you've seen the best of Russell Wilson, you think you think you're. you get a bounty back for him, which they did,

maybe not as big as some people thought they would. Send them to Denver, start over. But I just don't see the logic, Greg. It's the intransigence of the idea of saying, all right, now we're going to roll with these two, just the guys, a couple jags. And it's like you're going to give away another year of the team and some expensive players on your roster

and the remaining prime years of certain guys. I don't know. Well, number one, the team building process hasn't ended. I'm going to leave them a possibility that someone else will be on their team at some point at quarterback. But I would really push back on both of you guys, especially Connie, saying that they had one of the worst off-season because I like their off-season. Really? Like, I don't like what they're doing at quarterback. But I think if you put Russell Wilson on this team and what they've added, I think a lot of people would be saying, I like this off-season.

The two players that they added that are veterans in that Russell-Wilson trade that are going to be starting for them, Shelby Harris and Noah Fann are good players at what are now good positions. positions for them. You have Will Disley as the backup titan. That's fine. I like their defensive line. Like, I think they can do some things. Daryl Taylor. They bring in Shelby Harris. They have some young players that they like. They bring in Quentin, Jefferson, puna Ford, out in Robinson.

The secondary, I think's okay. I thought the new Oso signing was a great one. Like, he was the best player on the field in week 18 in that Chargers' Raiders game that was not named Justin Herbert. If he hadn't gotten banged up a little bit during that game, I think the Chargers might have gone to the playoffs. I like what they did in the draft. I think Kenneth

Walker's going to be good. Do you think that was too high for a running back in the second round with all the other things that they needed to address? You can get a running back late. I can live with that. Like, I know that's an analytical thing and they had an extra pick. But if Kenneth Walker is the beast that a lot of people think he is on that team, I'm not going

to be like, like a lot of the best running backs in the league are second round picks. So, like, are the Bengals regretting taking Joe Mixon or anything like that? The offensive line, I think, also has promise, is what I mean. They did some other things that I have. think gives them a chance. This is all fine, but like from a bird's eye view, you're essentially handing in the season if this is what they do a quarterback. You cannot pitch Drewlock to us as this. We've seen, we've seen Drewlock. We know what he is. I mean, next year. I agree with all that, but like teams and Pete Carroll's living in another era, but he's seeing like, yeah, teams

do okay sometimes with lousy quarterbacks. Like Mitch Trubisky made the playoffs a couple years ago. They could win nine games with bad quarterback. But that's the point, though. Yeah. That's why it's a bad offseason because you can make a bunch of moves that make the roster better. But when you essentially ignore, you trade away a franchise hall fame lover quarterback in his prime and then don't have a really a replacement plan other than we have a philosophy that we believe will work. I struggle to get on board with that. And maybe it does work out. But even if like, let's say everything works out. And also, I know you like Gino more than other people. So I'm sure his party that says, well, can maybe work. The high level of Gino would be like, you know,

he's the 23rd best starter in the league. Under the Dalton scale, but is okay. The whole, like, what's the point angle? Like, if the best you can do here is nine and eight, maybe? Like, are you really doing what you need to do as an organization? Or is this fully a transition year, and they have a bigger plan in mind, and they're churning through this year? But I don't get the vibe that's what this leadership's about.

There's the chance you could get Baker Mayfield. I'm not saying he's a top 10 quarterback himself, but there's a chance that they're not done at quarterback. Was this, like, an either or Russell, Wilson or P. Carroll, because isn't, can't you argue that it's a lot easier to replace a head coach than it is a top tier quarterback at the sleep? I was banging that drum all last year. And I think a lot of this is ownership. And there's been more reports coming out recently that this team could be sold sooner than later that the Portland Trailblazers, which Jody Allen, who took over for the deceased, Paul Allen, is supposedly going to be selling. And they're like denying this public. But usually when this starts coming out, it really felt like ownership didn't want to shake things up. And they chose Carol over Russell, Wilson.

Well, Wilson wanted out too. You said deceased. That's heavy. It's a heavy word to use. I mean, it's right. It just like came out. Why is that? Why is that heavy?

I just was pointing out, you know, probably people aren't totally on. He said the late Paul Allen. Yeah, that would have been better. Ultimately. Someone's like a, I'm doing a football show in a corner or something. Yeah, it feels very physical. All right, let's move on. Craig being shamed.

I don't feel shame. I mean, he can try. I don't feel shame in this case. It's up to me whether I choose to feel it. In this case, I'm not. All right, Greg, you are up on K. All right. The undertaker, Greg Rosenthal.

I'm going to go with kerfuffle. Ooh, another good word. Great word, underused. And I think it's going to describe a little bit of what might be happening behind the scenes between Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch. And you know, you were getting on me for sources, you know? Not really.

I was just shining a light on the story. And I'm just saying there are other sources out there and some are maybe more reliable than others. But there's some buzz going around from a different source of the tension here between Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch. And some of it is playing out publicly. and some of it is a little more under the radar

like Mike Shanahan's been hanging around a lot more which is a little strange and the John Lynch almost went to Amazon thing which seemed like it might have been coming from the John Lynch side not the Amazon side necessarily they're dead last in cap space they still have Jimmy G there Nick

Bosa in addition to Debo Samuel could be looking for more money And I just feel like if things don't go well, there's a lot of tension. Curfuffle. And I think there's going to be a kerfuffle here that could play out publicly a la Bill Walsh and some of his bosses over the years. Kyle Shanahan came from that tree. Mike Shanahan came from the tree. I mean, no one fought more with their owners and their GMs than Bill Walsh.

Like that was happening all the time, even during the good times. I don't see Kyle Shanahan losing a power struggle. Me neither. No. Me neither. Well, because so first of all, I mean, I think you pegged this. the Trey Lance situation on John Lynch. I don't, there isn't a lot of evidence.

I'm not ready to go down that road. Everyone's ready to just call that a bust and a mistake. It's so early in the process. I'm not saying it's a bus. I don't think it's a bus. They were maybe on different sides. If it doesn't work out, it's not, I think it gets pegged on Lynch more than, more than Shanahan.

Because I would imagine that Shanahan was as high on someone like Mack Jones or a different quarterback altogether. And so far, it's not a bust, but the development of Trey Lance is going very slowly. And the fact that Jimmy G is still hanging. around and his salary is somewhat insane. It's also not going away. It's like a reminder. It's like they're in a marriage, basically,

and they both had their sides, and one got their way. And like the reminder of that decision is with him every single day. Also, just for context, they came, you know, within a fourth quarter meltdown of going to the Super Bowl last year.

So this team has also had a lot of success. Absolutely. Right. Which I credit to Kyle Shanahan more than anyone else. I mean, he seems to be the guy that is, the golden child. So anything that good happens

is because of Kyle and then you can pin everything else on the GM. That's just the vibe I feel that it comes eminent. It's from this room and from Twitter, but is that really true? Do we really know?

I don't know. There's just like... Shanahan's obviously a brilliant offensive mind. There's so much uncertainty with Tray Lance and then the new, there's a lot of new faces on this coaching staff too. So you have a roster

that is otherwise pretty stacked with talent. So it's kind of a weird situation. Let's move on to Elle with Mark. Sessler. L is for Lamar, Mr. Jackson, if you're nasty. Okay, that was dumb. Looking to some like he's disengaged.

By the way, he did write down Mr. Jackson if you're nasty. Can we tell people you're a Gen Xer without telling people you're a Gen Xer? I acknowledge that it was very stupid. That is a 1980 song, 1986 pop song by Janet Jackson, I believe. I'd assume most would know that. No, I don't think so. All right. Well, I'm not 12.

I'm not 26 years old. to, you know, looking to some, Lamar Jackson, like he's disengaged by not attending OTAs, but this broadcasting vehicle has taken the POV that OTAs don't matter for guys like Lamar and Aaron Rogers. I agree with that. And we do not wish to be tis tist by Mr. Jackson the way he went after Chris Sims this week. Have a nice day, Lamar Jackson. We wish you peace and joy, ride into the sun. Yeah, this story is less interesting to me than maybe some people.

Well, I really knocked that out of the park. Well, no, no, I'm saying, that's good. I'm glad you brought it up. I'm saying that we don't care about this. Yeah, like, that's, that's, I don't need, like, the Chris Sims, Lamar Jackson back and forth on Twitter. It's just like, it's a nothing burger. I mean, it really is.

Lamar Jackson, we'll see how his contract plays out, but it's not like he's going to disappear from the team for mandatory minicamp, right? Like, isn't that the only thing that would be a red flagger? Like, I can't wait to get back and hang out with you all and work with you. I do like the part where the, the. The tweet started with quote, Lamar wants to be Lamar, Chris, which I just reading that right under the name Lamar Jackson because that's his Twitter handle is just fun. I just enjoyed it. So, yeah, I guess get back to me if all of a sudden mandatory camp starts.

When's mandatory camp? That's in a couple weeks. It depends on the team. It's either next week or the week after. The coaches are putting on a little more pressure, though, about it. Greg Roman mentioned how like 20% of the playbooks knew it would be good for him to be. here. So they're putting out a little pressure.

Your wide receiver group is new. I mean, I don't want to go down that avenue, but if he skips mandatory, it's the situation is a little strange. M. For Mike Trout, Los Angeles, Angel Star Mike Trout is trying to stay out of the fantasy football league issue between Tommy fan and John Peterson. Listen to this. You know, we hit this on Monday, and I was going to let the story go.

But you should understand if you're not a baseball fan, Mike Trout is basically the modern Mickey Mantle. That's the level of. player we're talking about. And he's stuck on an Angels team that's bad every year. So it's kind of depressed. His national viability is a popular athlete. But I will say this. When we find out that Tommy Fan tells reporters on Tuesday that Trout was the commissioner of this league. Remember the take I had on Monday about the slap, the kerfuffle. Yes. I was like, the guy who was wrong, who was in the wrong, was the commissioner of that league for not setting the IR rules strongly. And

not allow, which allowed people to circumvent and get cute. And I've seen it a million times in leagues I've been in. So it's on Trout to me. Fam told reporters that he is the worst commissioner in fantasy sports because he could have prevented the dispute by the two outfielders. The same thing I said. And then he's at Yankee Stadium Trout for a series this week. And they asked them about it during a rain delay.

And Trout wanted nothing to do with it. I ain't talking about Facebook. I don't even know, you know. It's just one of the things that, you know, everybody's competitive. Everybody loves fantasy football. Who doesn't? The rule here, I think the lesson here, Colleen, is commissioners get your S in order. Have to.

I mean, you are the ones that are leading the entire league. Even if you're the modern Mickey Mantle, get it together, or don't be the commissioner. That's what I did. I walked away. Step down. Yeah. I mean, it's too much. It's like the most thankless job there is.

Beyond, like, youth league umpire or referee. That's actually even more thankless, and they deserve our thanks and respect. Commissioner, that's a tough spot. What about in the ancient times when the commissioner actually was in charge of, like, tabulating stats before it became? Oh, yes, I remember those days. I never did that. But, yeah, that was not so long ago, although very long ago. Mike Trout follows me on Twitter.

That strikes me as odd. He's a big football fan. Wow. Big time. Maybe this is your chance to get in there. I'm not trying to brag. I just, I'm surprised by it. How many people does he follow?

2,534. That's pretty good. Doesn't follow me, not a fan. You know, he's a Philly guy. He is. All right, let's, uh, I'm actually more suspicious of that than I am, uh, uh, uplifting. Oh, he follows me too. Oh, so he's not going to end well.

I think it will end well for you. I think it's got to be great because I'm going to be the only one left out here. Does he follow you? No. All right. Good. Come on, Mike. The Mickey Mantle.

Today's Mickey Mantle. Come on. Come on, Mike. This is the most... What's the result? It's not a good result for me. I could ask him to switch following me and switch you to follow you instead.

You're a huge baseball guy. He's just like a... He just launched football. He doesn't want anything else. You know, when you throw that throwback podcast, he's just like you unfollow. When he sees my courts of thunder, just unfollow us, you know? He just wants a straight football.

His Twitter account is not good, by the way. He'll just put the name of the city he's flying to. He's hitting out. And then like four. emojis of a plane. New York, Anaheim, Texas. Oh, wow. This is a thing he does. Oakland. All right. Oh, my gosh. That's funny. All right. Baseball players, you know, not known always for their gift with words.

Not always. I'll throw in one more M on a more serious note. And this is a, again, I hate to see these things, especially so young. Former Dallas Cowboys and Bears running back. Marion Barber has died at the age of 38. The Cowboys set in a statement on Wednesday. At this time, the cause of Barber's death is unknown. Police in Frisco, Texas, said in a statement that they responded to a welfare concern Wednesday in an apartment. They believed to be leased by Barber. And they found his body. 38 years old.

He was drafted in the fourth round, the 2005 NFL draft out of Minnesota. It was a pro-baller. Had some really big moments for the Cowboys, released by the Cowboys after the 2010 season, played one year with the Bears. and we lose him at the age of 38 tragic. And again, we've had too many of these stories, any of these stories. You don't want to ever have to talk about it, but we've talked about three now in the space of a month. Former players losing their lives or current players far too soon.

And, I mean, there were, you know, he's dealt with mental health issues, and they don't, they haven't, as of this taping disclosed sort of what happened in all that. But you just worry about a lot of these players in their post-playing careers. I mean, this is a pattern that we obviously have been established that this game of football can create major issues post-rear. What a player. I mean, you know, it is so tragic that we lost them for listeners that weren't around when he was at his best.

He had three straight seasons over 1100 yards, but his running style was electric. Like, I remember talking with Wes, like back in 0809 about Marion Barbaugh. He really was very similar to Marshawn Lynch before Marshawn Lynch. A little similar to our friend Maurice Jones Drew. The way that he could run and bounce off people was just so much fun to watch. And he was great in the passing game. He was like a perfect modern back where he was great on the goal line,

great on third down. And there was just something about the energy that he ran with that, yeah, I know he only made one Pro Bowl or whatever. But if you talk to like ex-NFL players, he was often one of their favorite players. He was kind of one of those if you know you know guys that just like real players respected his game in such a way. He was just a ball to watch at his peak.

He was so gifted. Like fourth most rushing touchdowns in Cowboys franchise history. He had such a specific style, Greg, that you just kind of described there. It's just so tragic that he was so young, 38 years old. I mean, it's just a really sad ending to his story. And if you want to watch one clip that tells you so much about what he was as a running back, he has what's known as the most famous two-yard run in NFL history.

It happened in a game against the Patriots in 2007, where they were backed up in their old goal line. Romo hands it off. Immediately, he's in a swarm of trouble. He escapes through the back of his own end zone, rolls back out, breaks about five different tackles, including junior seow, another player who lost way too soon. and then ends up getting out of the end zone and getting past the line of scrimand. Check it out. It's all over the internet after the sad news. But Marion Barber, dead at the age of 38.

Let's take a break. Hey, this is Matt Jones. I'm Drew Franklin. And this is NFL cover zero. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that. What was that?

Oh, my. We think NFL coverage. be informative and entertaining. And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. What's up, everybody?

Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from Scouting Reports and players. development to team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. Every week, we study the tape, talk to decision makers, and share the insights you won't find anywhere else. It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots, from college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow. We break down the draft, analyze matchups, and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day. Plus, we dig in the coaching strategies,

roster construction, and the trends that shape the league year after year. Whether you're a diehard fan or just love understanding the game on a deeper level, we give you the full picture. If you want insight that goes beyond the box score, this podcast is for you. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, here we go. We're back. We've got to start moving now, everybody. Connie, N. N. All right. So nebulous is where I was going with the Jimmy G. Nebulos. With the Jimmy G stuff earlier, that his future, it's very...

Nebulos. There you go. It's nebulous. Got it. Cool. Great. Got nebulous in there. Nailed it. I was south dancing for a second there. Greg. Oh. It's a nice one. I'm going to go owners gone wild here. And... Love it. I mean, I don't because there are serious topics. I think it's the old around the league editor in me that I just feel like if we're doing this show, we sort of have to cover this stuff, even if they're not fun to talk about. And at least just mention what's happening with owners in this league.

I feel like it's been an especially bad year for owners. Yes. David Tepper, the Panthers owner, is filing for bankruptcy or at least his real estate. company is filing for bankruptcy after this story that I've been tracking and it's been interesting to me and it's very complicated so I'm not going to go on and on about it

but basically they started building a facility in Rock Hill, South Carolina and it was half built and because of an argument with the local government and that he stopped building it. So it's like literally sitting there it's like half built.

Oh no. They had already started it. The new team facility. The new team facility. have been undergoing construction for a while and it's just there now and now there's lawsuits and I'm not going to speak an opinion

on all this stuff but it definitely doesn't look great. I mean, if he was a different owner that's a little more high profile, like imagine the New York tabloids how much fun they would be having with an owner that started building a team facility

and is advertised as the wealthiest owner in the NFL and then stops and then declares bankruptcy. I wish I was... In one little note, Like, it's not tied to his, the bankruptcy declaration. It's his real estate holdings company. It's not his personal.

It's not his personal money. And so it actually doesn't affect the Panthers at all. But it's kind of like, what a rich guy move to be able to go do what he did, declare bankruptcy and get out of this whole thing. There's Naria financial expert in this room right now. No. But it's a famous, like, super rich guy move to declare bankruptcy. And you just think, oh, that must be really bad.

It's like one of his holdings. And it doesn't even affect his day-to-day life on any level. But still, it's not, Greg, I guess the optics. No. Well, and meanwhile, they don't have, they've been talking about how their facilities need an upgrade for a long time and not enjoying their training camp setup. And so they're still kind of stuck in nowhere. So we heard a lot of great things about when they changed ownership.

And they've had quite a few hiccups in the last five years. It's been a rough couple years for the Panthers. And then the other ownership story, which, again, I don't think we need to discuss. but it's pretty compelling is that the U.S. House Oversight Committee on Oversight and Reform has invited Roger Goodell, our boss, and Dan Snyder to appear at a hearing as part of an investigation into the commander's team workplace conduct. And there's been different talk about whether Snyder could lose his job, whether he could be voted out. Well, the fact that they're asking Roger Goodell to appear in front of Congress in front of this. As part of this, basically as he's partly responsible for what's happened with everything going on there, I don't know. We'll see how it goes and if they actually show up and what happens.

We should send Mark over there to be our like George Stephanopoulos. Oh my God. Wake me up. Wake me up. It's like late June. So that's a perfect time for you, right? Yeah. We're locked in. There's no way they could get rid of us now.

You know, like the outside the courtroom guy that just has to live there. Remember like when the lockout was going on and they just had burp rear like sleeping outside? This is like a much lower off-teen version of that. You'll get that, but you're going to be on the duty of like Snyder, Goodell, litigation, constant updates on the show. A lot of legalese. It never ends with this team. This could be a permanent beat. This team, there's always a story with this team.

What if we decamp you down there to D.C. surrounding territories? I do. If it ends up that an owner is essentially removed because of this whole thing, that is a shifting point in the NFL. No, but certainly you personally. You personally. I'd be on that story. Honestly, if you're telling Mark, he's got to go decamp into the D.C. Virginia Wilderness for a year or two, I feel like he might embrace that.

Right. I come out of it with a very boring book about the whole process. It's quickly on age. On next, Mark, on P. All right. P is for. I'm pissed off, Angelo. Yes.

All right. A feeling that Dougie. That Doug Peterson no longer needs to feel after taking over a low expectations Jaguars team with a potentially brilliant quarterback in Trevor Lawrence and camp reports of Travis ETN operating as a super juicy X factor. I'm not saying worse to first in the AFC South, but I feel like this team has been aggressively ignored this offseason. And why can't this Jaguars team? I know last year was an absolute disaster. Just to not be in that situation, you'd think they're already five or six wins better. They blew up the bills a year ago. They ended the cult season.

There is some talent on both sides of the ball. Why can't they have a little bit of fun? 22, 22. Why are they being ignored? Well, because they're the Jaguars and they've had the number one overall pick two years in row, which is a disgrace. So they don't deserve a lot of pub. However, I've been like gently tapping the drum on this. Oh, yeah? This off season. Doesn't Doug Peterson feel like the right coach at the right time for this team? Yes, I think it was a smart, sensible hire. Rick, I know Connie, you are someone who has a nice relationship with Doug Peterson. I love Doug Peterson. So you get a room for him. Yeah, we all hung out.

He's a biographer. Yeah. He's a Super Bowl champion with the Eagles. He's the perfect head coach to take over for the Jags, especially after what they just came through. I mean, I can't. He's an author, too, an author. A biographer.

Exactly. Bestseller. Well, maybe in Philadelphia. He's a word smith. Right. I'm pissed off, Angela. I think the roster is a lot better. I think that they went into the last two years with the bottom three to five roster.

I think that that excuse might be gotten. Like, they look legitimately frisky, like in the front seven. And then you kind of go through. each position group, other than the secondary, they all look like average. Like, I don't think this is the 31st best roster on paper. I think they're getting the upgrade and coach. And I think the expectations should be higher. And it should also be said something we brought up a couple weeks on the show a couple

weeks ago that they've spent wildly trying to reconfigure the roster. And they're putting themselves in a difficult cap situation down the road. So we got to, we got to see some results this year. and then you need the front office to be smart. And I don't know if we trust what's going on there. But yes, I feel like they are in a much more, much more better situation to be frisky than certainly last year with that joke of a coach.

Right. Peterson taking over for Urban Meyer reminds me of what Bill Parcells like to do. Like he didn't want to be the guy taking over for the guy. He wanted to be to the next guy. Not that the Jaguards have had many guys that succeeded. You want to replace a coat type. Right. There's some coaches in this offseason that are inheriting pretty good situations.

There's more immediate pressure. If they win six games, I think, and Trevor Lawrence plays well, everyone's going to be happy. That's the expectations are manageable. This connects to yours, Mark. Q for questions or queries on second year quarterback south of Quebec. Wow. Look at you. Wait, say Quebec again.

Quebec. You could say Quebec or Quebec. I say quiboubec. We should get Bonnet on the line. The real ones, as Greg would say, no, it's Quebec. I just like the word. The word smith here. You would think, you know, coming off, a big contract extension would start phoning it in here.

But Dan is going the extra mile. Are you texting Rachel right now? I'm also not saying that I say it right. I'm just saying that's how I say it. I don't want to get into some sort of Canadian clash. Yeah. Hang on. We could just call her and put her on speakerphone, not let her know that she's on speakerphone.

That would be better. All right, here we go. I'm going to call, Rachel, everyone should know, is from our northern neighbors. Let's see. Hey, Rachel, what's up? Hey, we're taping the podcast right now. And we just brought up one of the provinces up there in your native land. Q-U-E-B-E-C, correct pronunciation we're looking for.

Q-U-U-E-B-E-C, Quebec? Quebec. That's how I say it. But what about the theory that's... The real ones. Some have the theory that the real ones call it Quebec. Quebec. Quebec. She's on the mark side. I think it's pretty clear.

So Quebec? Quebec. Case closed. All right. Well, Rachel, we'll get together after the show and have a conversation. Okay, I think she said you're both. Thank you, Rachel. Bye, Rage. I'm team hands us on this one.

Believe it or not, a third of my family. The Chavez clan lives in Montreal. No way. Yes. They say Quebec. It's clearly, though, that's another Canadian we just spoken to. Clearly, not everyone's on the same page here. Well, I mean, if they grew up in the area, so they have that accent, they speak French.

So it's just Quebec to them, you know. I'd like to go. anchor back to the point that I wasn't saying, look at me, I'm saying it right. I'm just saying that's how I... I didn't say you were wrong either. No, but Dan pretty much did say the real ones said it the other way. Right. So you just assumed that out of the gate. Can you repeat that line because it was impressive?

Oh, cute. For questions or queries on second year quarterback south of Quebec? Like it. Feels like a warm up, like a vocal warm up. Trevor Lawrence. Dig into this. Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, Justin Fields, Mac Jones, Davis Mills. I'm going to throw him in there.

He deserves it. Deserves to be in the conversation. Who do you think, who do you most confident in makes that year to leap? Where are we standing right now? I think Mack Jones is the one that makes the most sense because he was by far the most promising, but we can't ignore the Joe judge, Matt Patricia. And there's no Josh McDaniels, which I think is notable.

The supporting cast is better. Do you still think, Gregi, that, or do you think at all, that Mac Jones is the guy most likely to have a nice year to jump? Well, the way the question is phrased, I think Trevor Lawrence is the most likely to have the biggest jump because he's coming from the lowest point along with Zach Wilson. I would say they were comparable, although I would take Lawrence's. It's pretty ground up right now as well.

He is, although I really think Justin Fields was at a higher level for his start. Showed Moore had better. Look at statistically. Some of the metrics that measure the play. That's fair. So I think Lawrence is the safest bet that way because I think Mack Jones's ceiling is much higher than people realize. I think he can absolutely be the best quarterback in this class this year and have the best

career. But this season, in terms of a second year leap, Lawrence, you have a lot to work with. I just, even if he's like a little better than league average, that's a monstrous jump from where he was. What about the boy? Yeah, Zach Wilson, and you talk about where you were last year and where he could go. There's a good environment around him. They did a good job.

They've now supported him surrounding cats. He's got another year in the same offense. If he doesn't take the next significant leap this year, they should be in the market for someone else next year. I feel that's how I feel about that situation. If Mack Jones takes a significant leap, I mean, he'll be one of the best eight quarterbacks in the league or so. And I think of him a little bit as a poor man's Joe Burrow.

And I think they had similar rookie seasons. Obviously doesn't have the mobility. Like he already was like a league average quarterback. So if he makes another jump, He's like a top 10 quarterback. I kind of wanted to be Davis Mills just so this year is crazy. He had a lot of votes last year. He never gets talked about.

He was better than Zach Wilson a year ago. I mean, his last. Not just Zach Wilson. Right. If you just look at the last terrible team. Right. If you look at just the last five games of the season, which is a random sample size. But he was the best rookie quarterback in those five games.

By then, Mack Jones was taken on a little water and going, had some ups in his downs. And Davis Mills flashed, man. He doesn't look like like an under talented guy. that's like try hard guy. He looks like it could have been a first round pick. All right. Connie, how much time? You have a hard out at one?

One. We have 11 minutes with Connie. We're going to finish this. We got it. We got it. We got it. All right. Okay, here we go.

Quick. Rad. That's how Devante Adams is going to look in his Raiders jersey. I'm really excited about him with Derek Carr. It's good. Josh McDaniels will constantly get him the bar, the ball. And maybe they'll be at the bar. Who knows?

But I just think that Adams proving everyone wrong who thinks that he's not going to be as good without Rogers is so perfect. Like, 29 is the new, 21. Everyone's thriving in their 30s now. El Problemo. That just blew up one of my later letters. I know all the pressure's on.

I'm going to go Super Bowl or bust. That's what Broncos receiver, Tim Patrick, said about this Denver team on Wednesday. And this is a situation where a new quarterback, a new head coach, a new. defensive coordinator and a team that hasn't had virtually any success is super bowl or bust. That is asking a lot, but if they're, they're going to be led by one guy who will take it calmly. It's the coolest guy in the room.

It's Russell Wilson. Just put my jersey on for the first time. Broncos orange. Let's ride. That's not how he talks. Green screening it with my boy. Let's go. We're in the orange, baby.

Let's go. Let's ride, baby. We're too clean right now. No cat. There's a different. This character he's playing. Well, it's different in every video. That's the thing.

There's the teammates one. That was one. There's the Sierra one. I just had sex. I just had sex one. But there's the one with Sierra in bed, but there's also the Sierra like more in a public place. And that has its own tone.

Family, family. Then there's press conferences answering questions, which is totally different. There's just a lot of different ones. And platforming new slogans, like there's that version, the corporate Russ. can I just hear him again It's just like It seems like he's just acting Yes

A veneer Just put my jersey on for the first time Blanco's orange Let's ride Green screening it With my boy Let's go We're in the orange baby

Let's go Let's ride baby Ooh We get too clean right now We know what we're done He is the coolest guy In the NFL Now what if I

What if I had a theory It's just just isn't it possible at least that he's acting the rest of the time and this is the real Russell which one I think there's the rest of the time I think that like the press

conferences I guess it's a corner to be is more where I would be there for I'm just it's definitely a corner I don't know Super Bowl or bus by the way I agree they could win the Super Bowl or they could be six and 11 I think they have the biggest

variance of maybe any team in the NFL like there could be a bus Is your theory that that's the most authentic, Russell Wilson, is true self? That's the one. I think there's a possibility of that, that that's more Russell. I know you don't believe what you're saying right now. No, but that he's been presenting outward in a predominantly white world at NC State in Wisconsin for a long time. I think also there's the athlete brain.

Like I think I've told you this. In college, there was a baseball player that lived next to me. And he left for a week and he had a plants. and so he asked me to go in and water his plants and all around the room I mean not kidding there were like 150 self-motivational phrases put up all over the place

and it always makes me think of Russell Wilson who seems just like slogan after slogan yeah because you want to get on him for being you know the cornball and all this stuff I think ultimately what it is but he got Ciara in the end we can see that he's not his true self

like we could see that there he's putting something on it's not mean spirited honestly toward him or it doesn't mean he's not a good guy because by all accounts he's, you know, an upstanding citizen and a good dude and a good teammate. It just says there's a try hard aspect to it.

I think that's with all the voices. All right. Let's, where are we at? What was that, Greg? That was letter one. That was ass. All right. We are running out of time with Connie now.

T, Mark. All right. T is for Ted is in Ted Karris, Alex Kappa and Lail Collins, the completely rebuilt right side of the Bengals O line. A reconstruction, I don't think that has gotten enough attention.

and turns the sexiest team in the AFC North into a squad with no overt weakness and an absolute badass flinging touchdown darts to and fro in Joe Burrow. T is for talk more about the totally unknown ceiling of the AFC's most interesting team. That's right. Remember when I used to say this

and we'd get on the TV all the time? This is the most interesting team in the AFC. Stick it in a commercial. Did you say it into your one? This is the most interesting team in the AFC. see. We don't have those cameras available. Are you a Bengals fan now? Is that? What's happening? We're due to tape these new ones, so let me get one too.

Man, this football action, it keeps getting better. Greg? I think the win. That's the actual things that they say. They always take the most innocuous, can't be specific about anything. Is this my camera? Yeah, that's your camera. I'm on the edge of my seat. That's a good one.

I like that we're all talking to the cameras aren't lighting up. There's no, the cameras aren't lighting up. aren't working. It's just our own vanity show. They're ingesting. They're speeding. They're just tell us that. None of this is actually being recorded.

All right. I like that theory, though. I like that theory. They could get better. That they're interesting. Their big weakness got completely short up. They also, that was a magical run, a magic carper ride, the kicker and everything.

But there are different types of teams that go on magical runs and they're actually sort of better than next. Like they have a chance to be better. I'm with you. I'm not taking down the Bengals. They're a team. A fun team. Here we go.

Moving on. You? Are we at you? Yes. All right. I don't have much here. I was kind of stumped here. So I'm just going to move quickly on usage trends at tight end.

This from Rich Hart Barbar at sharp football last season NFL tight ends. Pass blocked at their lowest rate since at least 2013, aligned inland inline at their lowest rate since at least 2013, gained their largest share of league-wide receiving yards since 2015. It did make me think about when we were doing our fantasy wide receiver draft. and we had Phoebe coming out with Kyle Pitts. Just like if you're a team and I was rooting for a team for so long that was punting on tight end as a receiver. It's just like, no, you're behind the league. These guys are big part of what they're doing.

And it's not just, it's not good enough anymore. Just like, oh, he's a good blocker. It's not where the league is. Right. Yeah. Move on. Okay. All right.

Here we go. Connie. I can give you like 10 more minutes just in case. I think we're going to do it. I think we're going to do it. I think it's going to do it. V is for vacillate, and that's with Brady's relationship with football and retirement. He just keeps vacillating between the two.

And the only reason I bring up this tired storyline is because he talked about it again on TNT last night after the match. I don't know if you guys watched this, but it was fascinating. Tom Brady, Aaron Rogers, Josh Allen, and Patrick Holmes. I want to watch the interview at least afterwards with Ernie Johnson. That's what I mean. I didn't actually watch the match. I don't do golf, even though I hosted that golf show. Ernie Johnson did such a good job with facilitating the whole conversation.

It was awesome. It was really cool to have them all together and really revealing. But Brady talked about retiring next year and it's obviously going to be a thing that continues on for the rest of our lives, it feels like. But he was even kind of talking through the process of deciding to come back. And it seemed like he was spinning a little bit as he was talking. And so that in and of itself was really, really revealing, I thought. He seemed like it was. Like he was taking us through how he started to sort of panic a little bit when, and he didn't say this, but you could tell in the way that he was talking about it, like when free agency was about to start, that he needed to make up his mind.

And then as soon as he made up his mind one way, he felt like he made the wrong decision. And it was just kind of interesting to see him bring us in. It gets you to think, too, that like there probably is no. definite answer on what's going to happen next year? Because I don't think he has a definite answer yet. Even if he has a plan now, yeah. Also, I think the football season itself will dictate whether he's angry and must come back or they win a Super Bowl and he's like, I'm out, you know.

There was a moment that I just saw mentioned on Twitter, which I just loved, which is he, they asked him about his TV deal and he said, like, he looked at that as his chance to give back to the game. And Aaron Rogers respond, you ever get paid so much for giving back? It's just like the perfect. I mean, there are times when Aaron Rogers is annoying, but I feel like he would be the perfect guy in a group of friends for that to be like,

to call your friend on his bullshit. Oh, yeah, you're giving back for $37 million a year to talk about football. There was another clip they were sitting in the round and someone at, what's Josh Allen's the thing he fears most or hates the most, and then Patrick Wilhelm's like piped. Josh's biggest fear. Vegetables.

A coin toss. Yeah. That's a tough. He was like, and then it happened to me next week. I heard Mahomes was fantastic on that, by the way. He was so good. I highly recommend watching it. All right.

W. Greg. Okay. I'm going to go wobbly. And that would be how I would describe the status of Isaiah win, also at W. On the New England Patriots, first round draft pick from four years ago, who's been up and down. PFF always loves them, but the Patriots coaching staff never seems to. and he doesn't stay healthy.

He's been skipping OTAs. And I would put wobbly to describe a few different little parts of this Patriots roster, but also Nelson Aguilar's place on the team. I think this team has some team building to do between now and September. If there was a team that I think will look a little different than they do right now, I think the Patriots are high up there. They just seem like they have some big roster holes. They have some guys that don't quite fit.

I don't know if Wynn is going to be on their team. I don't know if Nelson Agler is going to be on their team. I think maybe Dante Hightower will be back on their team. It just feels like there's a lot of weird spots. But that was going to be their left tackle of the future. And there seems to be some issues. And they moved Trent Brown over there. Right.

John Brown has been playing there in practice. Right. I think about that report where, you know, not to harp on the who's going to call plays. Like these coaches can probably figure it out. I'm not overly concerned about that. It didn't work for the dolphins. But there were players saying that practices seemed super discombobulated. And they were like, what on earth is going on?

And so when you look at Mac Jones, who does need to be set up to succeed, you've lost Josh McDaniels, who I don't know about him as a head coach, but he's a great O.C. There is a sense of hubris here where it's like, we're going to run into an NFL season with six coaches on our staff and no clear designation of who does what. Good time. A big part of why Mac Jones stood out from the rest of the rookies last year is he was by far put in the best position of those other quarterbacks. So once again, the track record. Again, this is Bill Belich. So I still side on, like, this is going to be all worked out. But yeah, it's notable that things seem so clunky.

And they were, they won 10 games last year. It really seems like Belichick is the guy right now. He's got to find up. It seems like he's kind of the offensive guy. I feel like there is, and I've been guilty of this in the past, but there's sometimes a rush to throw dirt on the Patriots. And then it's like there is too much talent. They throw it right back.

I agree. I agree with that part. They usually find a way. Especially the guy in the big chair. But their roster looks, they just have some weird spots in it, defensively, offensively. The Aguilar thing is they actually have enough good receivers. Maybe they don't need them. Wobbly.

Wobbly. Wobly. X, Mark. This is the one that I've just recrafted and rethought about because it was deep six earlier. X is for X-O. Well, it's not very good. X is for X-O-O-O-C-N-C-N-C-E-N-G. Kirk and O'Connell sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.

First come love, then comes marriage. Seems nice. But what happens when the games start? Are we buying this romance? You let us to the end though You needed a rhyme there He was on a fly I ran out of time

That's still pretty good First comes love Then comes marriage And then the game starts A whole bunch of cabbage I don't know Is it a broke How about this

First comes love Probably about that Then comes marriage But what happens when the games start A broken carriage There you go It's fine I mean it

What happens when you lose grip Of the baby carriage? Which, well, that would be a problem too. You know, cousins mentioned how, like, this is the first off season where he's had to truly learn a new offense in seven or eight years, which I hadn't thought about. He's really been in the same type of system. And even then, it's not that far off of where he was with Sean McVeigh

back in Washington and everything like that. I mean, it's very Rams-esque, right? Right. But he at least was saying it felt different. Maybe that's good. Maybe he was too comfortable. They'll go seven and 10 or 10 and seven. Oh, God.

And nothing in between and will not make a deep playoff. Oh, you could work in despair. maybe. Ooh, I like that. I'll keep working on this and maybe it has sent an update at some point. At the very end of the episode, we're almost there. No, no, no, no, no. Why for you need to calm down.

And I would say that in reference to OTA reports on struggles and success. You know, we've talked about this before, so we don't need to dwell on it. But I don't care. Some Jebrony sent me a tweet today. I don't care. Zach Wilson went one for five in, Oh, my God. Doesn't matter.

So I guess you've got a bust on your hands. Come on people. Anyway, another reporter that I respect was reporting on an OTA goal line drill last week. And the reporters were stationed in the opposite end zone. And if you've ever been at a football field. And they're playing seven on seven. There's no attack. There's a hundred yards away at field level.

You might as well be a submarine. Like, there's no viewpoint on what's actually anything. And yet you're using that as a reporting and you're writing about it. Anyway, it's not on them. And they're there because football's so effing popular that it will be consumed by readers and viewers and listeners. So I get that. But just if it don't get too caught up in it, neither good or bad. Like Tua, for example, went in front of the media today and was kind of bragging about a bombing through to Tyree Kills.

Like, you guys weren't there for that. You should have seen it. It's like, I hope you could throw a bomb to Tyree Kill in a practice where there's nobody can touch you. Like, everybody just, you need to count down. This is just reps and guys getting ready for a long summer and season to come. That's a good PSA. I think that everyone needs to absorb that. Right.

I feel like that's a young reporter's thing that they put too much on the OTAs. Because you want to feel like your time is valuable. You're there. And I used to write these like winners and losers of OTAs, like whose stock is up and stuff. And then you realize, especially now, because the practices are different than they were 15 years ago, too. It's not even practice. Just like teaching sessions, there's nothing, nothing there. Everything is a trope alert.

Closing it out with Connie and the letter Z. Z is for Zamboni. Of course it is. The machine that's used to clean and clear the ice at a rink. Yeah. And it got run over by one when I was covering high school hockey. How? That doesn't make any sense.

Man, that would be dangerous. Right after the game, literally, right after a game ended, I had to get across the ice into the locker room. On sneakers. And I was looking at my notepad. I swung the door open and took, I was just about to take a step and the thing on,

oh my gosh. It would have been a rough way to go. We would not be. There would be no show. There would be no contract extension. Yeah, it would be, yes, it would not be good. Put it that way. Wow.

That's a sliding door scenario that I get run over by a Zamboni at age 23 for the journal news. Death set by Zamboni is probably the worst. I can't think of the worst way to go. Because it feels avoidable to start. Ultimately, like, people are counting the days till they can make little jokes about it.

Zamboni is, like, super loud, though, too. Like, it's not like it's a Prius. This is not like an EV vehicle. The stands and you're busy and you're scrambling and you just go ahead. Okay, so anyway. I made it. Wait, listen. There is the feeling of having fresh ice, like, all to yourself.

There's nothing like it. If you are a skater, I'm sure it's the same thing for, like, hockey players, too. And I feel like Maddie Ice right now has a completely clean, fresh slate in Indy. And the Colts are going to the playoffs after the Zamboni cleared up all of the Wents mess. And if Matt Ryan goes down or gets hurt, then Frank Reich has Nick Foles just waiting right there in the wings. It's perfect. I've talked about this on Monday. This all feels overly pat.

And I get it, Nick Foles and Connie and Eagles fans. You love that man. I get it. But like, it's like, oh, we got the quarterback. And if that doesn't work out, we got Nick Foles. You know, and we know what happened last time. It's like, you still need a lot of things to break right for this team to be better than it was last year. And break Reich.

I know. That's what I thought you were saying. I don't know. I like Matt Ryan. I don't know if this is, they're going to be that much better. Like, who's. I was ready to be skeptical. They were one of those teams when I went through the projected starters and looked at the whole roster.

I was like, you know what? I think Chris Ballard's done it again. Let's overhype the Colts. Who are you like? Michael Pittman, obviously. Like, who else do we like? Jonathan Taylor? On like, in terms of past catchers, guys that are different majors.

It's a concern that Paris Campbell is your number two or, I mean, number three. And Alec Pierce, they love the rookie second round pick. But it's like a rookie vertical second round pick your county on to be your number two. You got a couple tight ends with Moe Allie Cox and you drafted Jolani Woods. But you're right. It's a bad receiver. They might not be done. at wide receiver because, like, there's the O'Dell Beckham situation sitting out there.

You could add someone still. And Matt Ryan can pretty much put it wherever he wants. And then they, there's been, yes, it's true. That's what Michael Patman said. They signed, uh, Stefan Gilmore. There's no recovery. No, there is. Stefan Gilmore, the unique and Gakway trade, I think I'd forgotten.

Nice little group up front with Quitty Pay who would look pretty good and Buckner is there. That's just like, it's pretty good. Things are gone really well for that team until they weren't anymore. But, uh, you know. You need Matt Ryan to still be Matt Ryan. Manageable division. All right. Gano, we've taken over your extension.

That's okay. You're going to be late. What do you need to do? Pick up John from his barbershop or swaying outside the barbershop for 90 minutes. No, I have to take the dogs to that appointment. But it's like, logistically. Is there an illness? Are they just, it's just a checkup.

They have to get like blood work done. I thought when you said Blitzin, Blitzin at the beginning of the show, I thought you were saying blitzin. Right. Your dog, who I slept in a bed with, just last month. Oh. We still do sleepovers. I do love how authentically those dogs are your children. Oh, my God, they are.

They are great dogs. They're going to give them stickers when they get back from the doctor's office. Oh, my God. They get certificates of bravery when, like, they have surgery. I was sleeping on your couch, and, like, one of your dogs that was so dark, I couldn't tell, came and licked my nose and then, like, left a little bit later. That was probably blitzy. Maybe so. Yeah.

Friendly. Thank you, Colleen. You're welcome, Dan. For all that you do, for being part of the team, both now and yesterday and tomorrow. Congratulations again, guys. This is a huge day, a huge announcement for you guys. I'm so happy. And we celebrated it with a bloated 90-minute episode of around the NFL.

But now you know what's going on in our league as we head into the darkest part of the offseason. Thank you again to all the listeners. Thank you, Chris Wessling, wherever you are, our friend. Thank you to Graver, Ricky Tamposi, I see it, all the other people that have helped us through the years. He'd the call. You know, I'm going to A little chunky.

I call that a little Josh Alleny. Hey everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move to Six, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else. It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast.