NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - 2025 NFL Awards Predictions with Nick Wesseling

Episode Date: August 27, 2025

Gregg Rosenthal and Jourdan Rodrigue look ahead and make their predictions for the 2025 NFL award winners. First, Gregg and Jourdan get caught up on the news from around the NFL post cutdown day including Adam Thielen getting traded to the Vikings (01:45) and an update on Micah Parsons' back injury (15:05). After the break, Gregg and Jourdan tell you who they think will win MVP (19:00), Defensive Player of the Year (22:30), Offensive Player of the Year (27:00), Coach of the Year (30:20), Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year (34:40), and Protector of the Year (41:20). Finally, the show is wrapped up with a special visit from Nick Wesseling (43:00). Note: time codes approximate. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Welcome to NFL Daily, where we are celebrating Shohay Otani, 50. 50-50-Bobblehead Day, also known as my brother, Dean Rosenthal's birthday, also known as Nick Wesleying Day here on the show, joined by Jordan Rod Rieg. And yes, Nick will be coming up a little later to give some award predictions, 2025 season predictions, after we go through all the awards, Jordan, and reveal for the first time who's going to win every single one of them. Yeah, because we are totally, we're going to be so right on all of them. You never know.

look at this exercise as one where you can kind of like, like, okay, who are some underdogs that maybe we're not picking, but that if you're into those sort of things, you could circle. Especially the rookie ones. I love doing these rookie projections, too. Like, this is so fun for me. It's also a great feeling because we have been previewing the season on some level for six months. Eric is just nodding his head back there. And now we're at the point. where it's like, okay, we actually have reached the final prediction predictions of the season. So, yeah, we're going to have a couple episodes next week on 40s and free agents where we go through the teams most likely we think to win the Super Bowl and talk about playoff teams and all that

sort of stuff. But we'll start our preview, you know, just conventionally today with the awards. And then next Tuesday, it's going to be very unconventional when Colleen Wolf joins us again. The dark arts. What are we calling it? The dark, darkly chaotic award season. I love the darkness that's going to come. But first, we do have some news.

So we did the show. It feels like just a few hours ago with all the cuts all around the league. It really was just a few hours ago. But there have already been waiver claims all around the league. So those claims come quick. They were at noon Eastern, nine here on the West Coast. There were 29 waiver claims throughout the league. Everyone's putting together their practice squad.

And it was kind of the deadline for teams to get some trades done. we did finally get that Adam Thielen trade done. So we'll get to the waiver claims, but Adam Thielen is going back to the Minnesota Vikings for a couple pick swaps, like a 7th to a 5th and a 5th to a 4th, ultimately not a huge price. And he gives that receiver room so much needed depth.

Yeah, I mentioned on the show that we just taped a few hours ago that it's very clear that Minnesota was stockpiling some of these late middle and later round picks in current and future years to pile towards someone. something. And obviously, this has been in the works for a while. You mentioned it, whether there's smoke, there's fire. We did record that so, um, like, close to the recording of this episode. We still had enough time for somebody to get personally offended that I did not claim ownership of Adam Thielen and messaged me about this. Oh, you're underrating Adam Thielen. I'm like, I think he's a good player. I think he, I think he works really, really well with the Viking. You guys are getting a lot of Adam Thielen heat. Maybe it's the same guy. Eric noticed. on the YouTube, someone was very fired up that we're giving Adam Thielen too much coverage and ultimately, uh, what's the Adam Thielen

Meridian zone for us? I don't know. People are really, what do you want from us? Fired up. Here's why I would talk about him slightly more than a normal aging receiver who is, I think not a depth piece. He's going to be their number three receiver when Jordan Addison is back, but he's absolutely their number two receiver and it's a cliff. I really just, and I know Jalen Naylor's not healthy right now, but I think he is much better. He was great on a per snap efficiency level basis last year.

Like, if you watched him, he was outstanding. And he was really good the year before. We'll see what the contract adjustment is. And yeah, the Carolina Panthers are the ones, though, that are moving up in the draft here, to be clear. But the Vikings didn't have to give up any draft capital, really. They just give up a couple moves down in the draft. So they keep as many picks as they had before.

It tells me they like, obviously T-Mac being their tete, they really, really appreciate that he's going to emerge as their one. This to me also, the Panthers showed the Panthers confidence in like a Jalen Coker, for example, who they really like in the building. And comfortability enough to move on from a player who was really solid for them, who was trustworthy, who was a great presence to have for Bryce Young. But this is the right thing, I think, for both sides. Because he, not only is he from Minnesota, and he's moving back.

and there's a really great video circulating right now that I think the Vikings shared out of him learning the news of this and telling his family and it's like the things you love to see and he fits right into this offense immediately and they needed immediate help there because of their depth issues and this is a low pressure role for him like you mentioned Greg

because he'll just go back to being the three and the safety net once once you know the injured guys and suspended guys come back. And I do wonder just in terms of where J.J. McCarthy wins like if JJ in terms of Jefferson is going to have as much volume this year

because I think JJ McCarthy is at his best throwing the ball short, throwing the ball over the middle that's where Adam Thielen can win and you mentioned Jalen Coker, an undrafted rookie last year will now be their starting slot receiver. Hunter Renfro did not make that team. It sounds like they're trying to bring him back to the practice squad. He was a little banged of a man that is a really young

receiver group for Bryce Young. I like that but I'm a little wary that Teteroa McMillan first round pick and then Xavier Leggett and Jalen Coker two second year players are the starting receivers for Young. Let's move on to the other big item that wasn't a trade this morning.

Rishie Rice got to spend it. Have we given Adam Thielen enough time? Do you think? That was maybe too much time. Okay. We missed our meridian. Damn. That I would believe would be too much time. But as always, never read the comments.

Rishie Rice suspended six games. There was a report earlier. in training camp that believe that this might get delayed. In the end, I think he ended up taking the six games suspension or they came to an agreement. So it will be the first six games

of the season, which is a very difficult part of the schedule for the Chiefs, but add some certainty for them. They will be playing the Ravens early in the season, and they will be playing Kyle Hamilton, who just got a big new contract. Five years, $25 million

on average. on the extension of the five-year extension and $82 million guaranteed. I love it. I love it. And you could see with his movement last season how much that impacted and affected that defense. He has been a plus two, plus three player for that defense since he got there,

but inclusive to what Zach Gore did last year, the defensive coordinator of the Ravens, moving Kyle Hamilton around and really maximizing his talent, his savviness, his knowledge of the game and also the way he can manipulate space really well. It just was a win-win and I love this for him. I think

this is awesome. He's one of my favorite players in the NFL. I know a lot of us who love football, love watching Kyle Hamilton. Yeah, one of those guys that fell further in the draft and it was like, oh, how do you let him get to the Ravens? Well, if you knew he was so good, why didn't you just take him? Everyone loved Kyle Hamilton coming out and then he really did become that dude. I knew I was struggling, like coming up with how long

the contract is, because it's a four-year extension. Yeah. But it's a, he already, you still had two years left on his deal because he had the fifth year option left out of deal. So that's actually a six year contract, which means he's signed through 2030. Just big picture, I have noticed after the league was getting into this trend of these compressed contracts against a lot of the big name players lately, uh, they're getting extended back out to the old days in which it basically means the Ravens are going to control Kyle Hamilton's entire career in his rights. With this contract, he is giving up. basically any freedom in terms of ever leaving the Ravens.

And he'll try to renegotiate at some point for the idea of getting paid earlier and sooner and a very fair contract. So win-win. Let's go to another trade. Tim Patrick is going to the Jaguars for a sixth round pick, which means it is Isaac to Slah season in Detroit. Little surprising though that they gave up on the receiver depth there. And Liam Cohen gets his Robert Woods circa like 2019-20s era.

Like this is exactly what the. Jaguars are trying to build out with this offense. And I think that's a perfect fit. And yes, it does pave the way for Isaac Tesla to truly emerge the way that Brad Holmes and company believed that he would when they, you know, spent the draft pick on him. A little wary. And but Tim Patrick is going to go there as a guy who's like adding depth. They had a big cliff after Travis Hunter and Parker Washington where they didn't love like their wide receiver four or five and Hunter's not a full time receiver. He's going to block. I mean, Liam Cohen once is blocking. I mean, And this is very clear to me what offense, Liam Cohen is trying to run.

The only red flag would be, I listened to Colton Pouncey, your colleagues podcast. Welcome to Detroit. You know, they mentioned maybe he hadn't had the best training camp in the world. And sometimes you do assume that these guys just stay the same year after year. He is 31 years old. He's had some major injuries in his career. Like, it's possible he's not the same Tim Patrick he was a couple years ago. But to me, this was more about Isaac to Slah just needed to be put on the field. So if Patrick wasn't going to get as much playing time, then you might as well deal him away. One thing I wanted to note, there was nothing new that happened in the last 24 hours, but like Quinn John Junkett's, the second round pick, who was accused of domestic violence

and eventually the charges were dropped, still has not signed a contract with the Browns, and there's no clarity from the league or the Browns or anyone with Judkins, what is happening there. But he is technically, there's unsigned and we're waiting to see. So I just wanted to say that going into week one. They only had a couple running backs on their roster after 53-man cutdown, but they did claim Rocket Sanders from the Chargers. The Chargers had three players claimed so that they added a running back in Rocket Sanders from the Chargers.

The bills brought back Jordan Poyer, just kind of like good vibes. You know, guy was like a cornerstone piece of it. of everything that they have done. You know, not the same player he was years ago. Struggled a little bit with the dolphins, but he's back with the bills. And I mentioned the waiver claims. Yeah, 29 of them.

And we can just run through a few quick. Tommy Cullets is a member of the Patriots. Wow. I don't know. Who could have seen that coming? I mean, I couldn't have. Why Tommy DeVito? He stays in the Northeast, you know?

Like, that's kind of where I'm my mind went. It's a tough, my mind went immediately that. Mike Ravel has a fun guy get beers with. He's going to be one of the most popular players on the Patriots. And I feel for Josh Dobbs, you don't want to be the pastor dot. You don't want to be the backup quarterback in New England specifically when Tommy DeVito is the third stringer.

Like Josh Dobbs is not going to be a popular guy there. The Patriots also released Kendrick Bourne, which is really interesting and released Javon Baker, which is interesting. So they had eight receivers make their initial 53 man roster, which is. is a crazy number. I think they were just saying if someone would come get Kendrick Boren via trade. Specifically, I think they were in a stare down with the 49ers trying to get like a conditional seventh because there is already reporting that the 49ers are interested. But they were like, we can live without them. Honestly, if you really are going to hold out, like we're just going to

call your bluff. And it worked. A Vrable Shanahan stare down is like walking on the surface of the sun. Like, not for me. I don't, yeah, I would not want to be. part of that, just the amount of intensity. I do think Kendrick Bourne is probably better than some receivers on that roster. I think he can still play if he's healthy. It was partly a contract thing and he was not going to be part of their future.

Javon Baker should be back on their practice squad. Marcus Valde Scantling, by the way, who he mentioned one, that unofficial award for the most guaranteed money not to make his actual team is joining the 49ers as well. I don't know if it's going to be MVS and Kendrickborn, but it's definitely MVS.

Juju Brent's went to the Dolphins. Second round pick, no surprise there. So they've added Razul Douglas and Juju Brent in recent days to what was a pretty bad cornerback room. Trey Palmer, the former buck, went to the Saints. The Titans claimed four players. They were the team that claimed the most. I think the only one over two.

Which makes sense. They're rebuilding. Yeah, the Rams had the most players claimed. You don't really want to be that team with four players claimed. Yeah, because you can't, you couldn't keep all your players that other guys wanted, you know, and there's not enough roster spots, none of practice squad spots. And other teams had high grades on some of these guys who ended up signing. The reason why undrafted free agents to sign with the Rams is because they play them.

You know, at least one makes the roster every year. And that guy usually plays meaningful snaps. And so other teams who may have had them high on their boards in the undrafted free agency process are now coming to get them on waivers. I think it's great for those players. It's great for Willie Lampkin, going to the Eagles. The most quintessential. Like, we could have seen this coming a mile away. Well, I think if the Ramsaw coming, they would have kept them because I just have a feeling that this one hurts. So it's, it's an undersized center who looked great in the preseason,

but got hurt. And they tried to pass them through waivers because it's tough to keep an undrafted guy who's hurt at the time on your. active roster and the Eagles of all teams claimed them. And we're just going to have to like say it with me. You got it. Howie did it again. See, we got it this time. We'll see if he actually did.

I'm saying we all, it's like we're screaming into the void watching this guy hit waivers. It's going to be the Eagles. It's going to be there. Someone will come to get this guy. Don't expose him to waivers. But I will say kind of had to because they brought back. Coleman Shelton, right? And then Bo Limmer started for them last season and he's still on the roster as the backup. Right. And he was her Lampkin. So it just would have kicked someone off that

actually would have had a role. And that's tough. Jalen Armored Davis, by the way, who I think is a pretty good cornerback from the Ravens was one of the Titans claims. It is interesting looking like who gets claimed the most. You would think it'd be like the best rosters in the league. So the Chargers had three people claimed. The Ravens had three people claimed. The Broncos had a couple. The Chiefs had a couple, but then there were some wild ones. Like, what's going on in New Orleans? Like, something's wrong that two of your players are getting claimed around the league. And the Colts and the Jags had two players claimed as well.

Okay, that's what I thought was enough of news. But as we're taping, we do have some breaking news. At least as we're taping. Jane Slater reports that Micah Parsons is getting a second opinion on his back, per source informed with the situation. It's just like the next little step. I don't know. Breaking might have been.

So does that mean he will be away, like away from the team through that process? Because he's been there this whole time. Does that mean he's trapped? Like, that's my question. Is he traveling somewhere to go see a specialist? So that would mean he's away from the team at that point. There is a picture of him in the airport.

He also was not seen, according to Cowboys reporters, at practice on Tuesday, which was a change and people were wondering and previously Cowboys owner Jerry Jones had said you know the back's fine

you know the back it checked out fine and now he's getting a second opinion it's all very tiresome there was a report by pro football talk that had a source that said there's some level of interest

from the Packers and Michael Parsons but you know qualifying saying that it's nothing too much we'll see My colleague, Matt Schneidman, a great follow on social media, is having so much fun with this today. You guys should just go check out with posting. Yeah, there's some funny. Good plug.

Yeah. Let's take a quick break. And when we come back, we are going to go through all the big awards, the MVP, the defensive player of the year, the offensive player of the year. I've now kind of turned around and now I appreciate that award again. Back in a few. And then we'll have Nick Wesleyan at the end of the show. It's 5.23 p.m. One of your kids is asking for a snack.

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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,

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score. This podcast is for you. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sixth podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL Fantasy Football podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL fantasy football podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet. We've got the insight to help you crush your opponents. Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen to NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the IHeart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. back on NFL daily. And yeah, taping relatively early because I got to get out in those traffic-filled weekday streets downtown and get to that Shohei-Otani

Bumblehead day. It's a big day. But the teams are starting to announce the practice squads. Like, I know they're bigger, but there's something crazy when I just see, like, the Steelers announced 16 guys to the practice squad.

It is great because you are keeping not only some young players developing, but Robert Woods, for instance, like staying in the league. Getting a decent check and you might get the call up. So he was among the 16 guys there. You see a lot of familiar names if you're into that. Do you know, this is like a little inside baseball,

but do you know what's really great for guys on the final years of their career who know that they are not going to maybe contribute so much? They're going to be on a practice squad as like an emergency depth option in certain areas. So when you play a game in another state, you're taxed by that state. You're on a practice squad and you're getting the check. You're taxed in the original area. So, like, he's kind of, he's saving, you know, he's saving on some taxes here with that, with that minimum check. Couldn't it cost you more, though, too, if you live in, like, California and you're playing in Florida.

Exactly. Like, so, you know, it's a, you know, but for him, I mean, I don't really know what the taxes in Pittsburgh are. Why would, I don't know. Taxes are a very confusing thing. The awards are not. They're the same every year, just about. But we've added one this year. We are going to go through all the awards that the Associated Press votes on. MVP, defensive player of the year, offensive player of the year, coach of the year, offensive rookie of the year, defensive rookie of the year. And now, protector of the year, that's an official award helped along by Andrew Whitworth and lots of offensive linemen who just wanted more attention.

And maybe I'll ask you for an assistant coach of the year too. That's my favorite one. Because I looked at the odds for these. We're not sponsored, so I'm not even going to say where or who. But just for context, like where people were ranked and stuff. I was curious about the odds. But assistant coach of the year

is the one that they don't list anything for. So it's like they, I don't know if they just don't care or they don't recognize it, but they do give out an award NFL honors. Your MVP for 2025 is. Patrick Mahomes. First of all, because I don't think

this little microslump that he's in lasts much longer, something's got a break. I really believe in some of the moves they've made along their offensive line. We'll talk about Josh Simmons here in a couple more. but I just think this can't he can't sustain like in this cage that he's been in right in terms of his passing and and all of that and on the run so often and I just think he just goes sicko mode this year in some cases now I don't know that the chiefs are going to be that Super Bowl team or that that deep playoff run team but I do believe that Patrick Mahomes something in him will snap Travis Kelsey kind of being slimmer being back into like kind of his maybe this is his swan song you know

a nice little life waiting for him at the end of all of that. I just think there's something about this that feels like that he's going to break back out this year as the quarterback we know him to be. We did it separately and we ended up on the exact same page. And I know people are a little sick of Patrick Mahomes. Now, he is only the fourth favorite to win MVP, but they're all pretty close. Lamar, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow are just ahead of him.

Lamar is like a slight favorite. I just think there's just a vibe. I shouldn't let the preseason matter, but I had it already. The offensive line is better. I think the weapons are better. But I just think he is ready to remind everyone who he is. Stop being not an efficient, effective player,

but an exciting player. Like one of the best players that we've ever seen. And I just think this is the year that'll happen. Now, you mentioned you're not sure if they're going to win the Super Bowl or go far away. Well, they have to have a great record for him to win the MVP. Almost every MVP is from a one or a two seed, and it's almost always a quarterback. Oh, yeah.

I'm not burying by any means. I just mean, like, a lot of times it comes down to who has, what team has the best record? Now, it didn't happen last year. Obviously, the chiefs and the lions were at the very top, and they weren't in the MVP mix. But you basically have to have, like, a top two or three seed to get there.

If I was looking at dark horses, and yeah, like, when you look at Aaron Rogers' career, by the way, and Tom Brady, these guys who have win it four or five times, which I think can happen. And Brady only won it three times. But I think that can happen. It's like, yeah, it doesn't happen every year. Like you have to go in these little dips and then you pop back up. And I think the narrative of Mahomes this year becoming exciting again, becoming a big playmaker. And it just makes sense to me that people will be ready to vote from. If you were looking for some longer shots, plus 2000 right now, only seventh on the list, but Jalen Hertz is a pretty strong one. If you're looking for a team that

would have a good record, he was very close to winning an MVP. just a couple of years ago. And then Dak Prescott is buried around like 14th, 15th among players plus 4,000. You know, last healthy season, he was right in the MVP mix, literally came in second. So I think he would be another one if you were like looking for value and looking for someone maybe not as obvious. Yeah, but you're talking about team record in the same breath as like Mahomes and all of that stuff. I assume that's why he's being buried is because people are really skeptical about the cowboys overall right. Yeah, they would have to surprise.

You would need like a 12 and 5 season in Dak Prescott, just having crazy numbers. But I think there'll be a pass first offense. I don't think it's crazy. I do think they will get a big award, though. I'm going to Michael Parsons' defensive player of the year. And this is part of my strategy is I've picked him defensive player of the year every year for the last three years, basically since his rookie year.

And I just think he will win one. And I will be right eventually. How did he, he ended up finishing in the 30s of the top 101, top 100 players on the NFL network. That was crazy to me. I could not actually... See, underrated? People don't like them, I think.

Maybe that's it. It's like his colleagues. That's who's voting on those awards in these locker rooms. That was kind of crazy to me because these guys, the football players, no football, obviously. So there's something, there's some other, maybe they wanted to give other veteran players more priority or whatever. The mic of thing is interesting to me. I like this pick, but I have to say I'm, because this is still unresolved, because he hasn't

practice because of all this, I have no reason to believe that he won't need a little bit of a ramp up period. Now, he could be playing dominant football by any metric by the time voters are having fresh in their head. So that's why I think it's a solid pick. And he probably has pretty good odds. He did miss four games last year. And you never know when these ballots go out. So maybe it was like Jerry Jones said. Maybe it was like a lot of ballots were out like while he was out. And then those people, they just don't vote for him there. He finished second as a rookie in defensive player of the year, which is crazy. 21 rookie, was a first team all pro, was second in defensive player of the year as a second

year player. So I was, you know, I've been close. And he was third in his third year. Last year was the one time, you know, he really didn't get consideration. But I've said it before in this show. Say it again. The best pure pass rusher to come in the league, I believe, this century, like of the last 20 plus years. I think von Miller would be another one that pops to my mind. But just pure pass Russher. So I think he'll get it eventually. No matter what team he's on. I'm willing to entertain it's on another team.

Who do you got? Yeah, I was torn because I wanted to pick Micah Parsons, but all of this still being in flux to mean unresolved. I just, I went another direction. Riding the wave of his defensive rookie of the year award, I think Jared Verst has a real shot. Whoa. Defensive player of the year.

When you watch his tape game over game and you see the amount of pressure he got, but the number of sacks that he left on the board, And knowing, you know, his personality, knowing the group around him as well that is quite literally built to set him up for success. I just think that this guy is going to have another dominant season and he's going to be in the conversation. I don't know what his odds are, but I know that he's going to be in the conversation. Shockingly, hi. I would not have expected this because you, to me, I heard that. I think that's, that's wild. He's actually the sixth favorite. Now, it's still pretty long shot, plus 1,500.

Micah is the favorite. So I didn't know that either. Aiden Hutchinson, T. T. Watt, Miles Garrett. A lot of times it is a pastor. I think Aidan Hutchinson has a shot at this too, honestly. I think. But, you know, we, rightfully so, are not doing the dumb award, comeback player of the year that nobody can seem to agree on because a guy literally returned from death and still did not win the award a couple of years ago.

But Aiden Hutchinson is probably going to win that award. And now, did they even define that it's just coming back from injury? We're not going to bother with coming back. earlier. I just find it weird because it's like a weird sliding scale of like who was the best, but how hard was the injury? It's stupid. Jared Verst, that's interesting. Looking at some longer shots, I don't know if you like anyone. Jalen Carter is ninth on the list. If you were looking, it's pretty hard for a defensive tackle to win the award. That's some good respect though. Unless you're Aaron Donald. We were writing the table for Dexter Lawrence for a little bit last year

because his production, despite being on a terrible team, was absolutely in the conversation early on, especially for a defensive player of the year. You know, I think Max Crosby is a guy who, you know, he's listed as eighth, basically tied with verse plus 1,600, isn't that crazy? And then we'll get to Abdul Carter. But if you wanted to go crazy,

if you were picking a position where a rookie can come in and possibly win an award like this, Michael Parsons almost did it. We have seen, you know, Von Miller was out. standing as a rookie. We have seen pass rushers come in. He's all the way down at plus 5,000 tied with Kirby Joseph. I mean, that's crazy. Like 15, 20 players down the list. He would be an interesting one, but we'll put it in that. Let's do offensive player of the year. An award that I used to refuse to answer on NFL.com when we have to submit all of our picks. By the way,

that you'll be checking them out on NFL.com soon. I did answer those questions this year. But now I'm, I'm back in because it's basically the non-quarterback award. I just don't like it when they give it to the second best quarterback, which is what happens a lot of times, too. Yeah, but it's turned out to be really handy, especially when you have a season like Sequin Barclay had last year. I think it's unfortunate for my pick to win it this year that he happened to win the Triple Crown last season, the same year, Saquan Barclay quite literally made history as a running back. Jamar Chase, I think, is my offensive player of the year pick this year. I think that sometimes we see voters sort of correct things in advance.

I'm not saying it was incorrect that Sequin wanted, but I know that Jamar was frustrated he didn't get more votes. That was sort of a headline a few months ago. And I do think that he is someone who is deserving and should be on pace to have another incredible season. Yeah, it's, it's tough. I mean, like winning a triple crowd doesn't get any better than that. I know.

It's like, the odds of them doing that again are very small. I know. And it's one of the best, it's like in history, so few people have actually done that. But Steve Smith, and then it was Cooper Cup in 2021, and then Jamar Chase. And it's just crazy to me that these receivers are able to do this, first of all. And I don't want to hear about the, oh, there's an extra game. Oh, my God. Like, I don't want to hear about that. And that doesn't affect the Triple Crown because you're just, it's all, it's production.

And it's production. And so that's where I'm like, okay, I, I think that Sequin was so deserving of that award last year, 100%. I know that even some people were arguing that he should be the MVP, especially because what he did for the entire Eagles as an organization, and certainly as an offense. But it's hard when you are up, your Jamar Chase, and you have literally an historic, like one of only a few people have ever achieved what you achieved in history.

And you finish second in offensive player. You finished third. Lamar Jackson went ahead of them. That's right. That's why I don't like this award. That's right. That's why when I was looking at the odds, if I was looking for some of the longer shots to do it,

like I would love Jalen Hertz for offensive player of the year because he could end up being that like second quarterback gets it. Josh Allen is like plus 6,000. You know, Patrick Mahomes is way down there below like Ladd-McConkie or Jackson Smith and Jigua and Jonathan Taylor. I could easily see them coming in second. At the top, it's the guys from last year, Sequin and Jabbar Chase. I'm going to take the third favorite to win it.

as my pick, which is Jemir Gibbs, I just feel like he's gotten better at football every single season. And the situation is not as good in front of him overall. So that's a little bit of a concern. But I just think in terms of his skill set, this is to me the year in a running back's career that I can just see it all coming together in him having a 24, 2,500 yards from scrimmage type of banana season.

That's a lofty. Friend of the show. But maybe even 21 yards of scrimmage. That would do it. So, yeah, if you were looking for a really deep sleeper, Travis Hunter is way down there. Just saying, people like voting for that. All right, let's do Coach of the Year.

This is giving away maybe a team that you think is going to be good, but it's time to do that. It's the week before the season. Yes, and this award, I want to be clear, usually goes to coaches who outperform expectations. I think we can agree that, like, the Andy Reads of the world should win this award every single season. But that's just not how the voters think.

about this. And so I'm going with Mike Vrabel here. Not only because he does have plenty of friends in the media, but also. I like this angle. But also because I believe that he as the head coach of the Patriots will lead that team to vastly outperforming, if not at least extremely outperforming the expectations entering the season, especially relative to the disaster that it was last year, the absolute like destruction that the roster was in that he inherited. And the fact that they have to rebuild basically three draft classes. And so you're going to have to out-coach and outperform the talent that you have and the depth, especially the lack of depth that they have. And I think if Mike Vrable can do that, I'm not saying that this is a playoff team per se, but I think that if he can do that,

they got to be a playoff team for him to make any chance to win this. I'm just saying, I think that if they look good, if they lose close games and they win enough of them, I think he is a front runner for Coach of the Year. Their expectations, though, are sneaky high. like they're over under's eight and a half. Everyone's predicting them to make the playoffs.

I'm a little anxious when I see that. I've seen some of the predictions coming out this week. I think on average, they are probably going to get picked to make the playoffs where they're like a consensus six or seven seed. If some team had to, obviously a lot of people disagree. But I'm seeing them get there. And Vegas is there with them too. And they have on paper one of if not the easiest schedules in the entire league.

So to me, for him to win this award, they'd have to win at, least 10 or 11 games, maybe more. And that would be the only way to vastly exceed expectations. The expectations locally and nationally are like 9 and 8 at worst, you know. I'm really not talking about the expectations that like Vegas is placing on them or the the consensus odd. I'm really not talking about how people think, the voters, you know. I'm talking about what this team will look like relative to what it looked like last year. I don't think he has to win 10 or 11 games to be a front runner for this job. I do. I do. because I just think the expectations from the voters

are going to be so high that people think that they're a playoff team or at least a borderline playoff team. I went for a more under the radar guy in terms of the odds, but not much more. Rabel is the second favorite. Aaron Glenn is the fourth favorite.

I could see it. He's someone where if they just won nine games would have a chance at this award. Call it the Dick Geron like Memorial of like, you know, just a guy who like, what? The Bears won that many games.

Actually, he won a ton of games. He might have won like 13 when he won coach of the year. But just totally exceeds expectations because the Jets are expected to be one of the worst teams in the league. And when I'm saying like the Vegas odds and using that as a framework, I think it is useful because it's ultimately just a reflection of the average person and how they're seeing it as well. And ultimately how the media is seeing it as well. And everyone has the Jets buried. And so I think if they come out and they're just competitive and you can see the fighting spirit that they have

and they just look so different from an offensive perspective and then just play hard on defense and they win nine games. I could see him winning. It's funny because that's literally what I just said about the Patriots, except the market is so different. I agree. I think they should be the same.

I am with you that I think they should be closer. I just think it's funny. That tells you exactly how different the expectations in the markets are relatively. Part of it was the Patriots spent a ton of money in free agency and the Jets didn't and people just pay attention to that but I think they don't realize how much

they had to overcome. Ben Johnson is the favorite right now for coach of the year. Liam Cohen is up there. It is often a guy in the first year of his new spot. Pete Carroll is up there as well like Canales, Mike McDonald. We can be the change though. I want that freaking AP vote.

Give me the vote. I voted Andy Reid last year to end the season. I thought he was my coach of the year because I did not think that was like a great chief's team and the way they got through that regular season was like an absolutely incredible coaching job. Let's do offensive rookie of the year and defensive rookie of the year. You might be surprised by mine, actually. This is a volume pick.

I think that this player is going to be needed and utilized so immediately that his volume of catches, of snaps, of carries is going to be so significant that he'll just stay in the collective conscious for the entire season. and become a true weapon for this team. It's Trayvion Henderson. Wow. I think that the Patriots rookie running back, Trevion Henderson could be the offensive rookie of the year.

And that's because, in part, he will be so urgently needed that there is no choice but for him to have to produce. Remandre Stevenson's out there and's like, hey, I'm one of the highest paid running back to league. In every phase, I think this guy's going to be on the field way more than maybe people expected when he got drafted.

I think that's right. and I think he's a great value, too. I'm surprised he's sixth on the list. He's plus 1,400, if you're curious. Gentie, with the Raiders, Ashton Genti, and Cam Ward are way ahead of the pack as potential favorites, which makes me way happier to pick Travis Hunter, who's fourth on the list. I wanted to pick him so bad, because I believe so much in him, and I wanted to pick him so bad, but I thought about volume and I thought about how much, you know,

all of this is going to maybe be in Trayvion Henderson's favor in terms of having to produce. And that's why I need the season to start because I just keep making the same points where like I don't buy that long term but that is the logical assumption like he's not getting that many snaps.

They're going to work him in slowly. That all makes sense to me. I believe in his talent enough that like by week three or four which is basically the whole season he can be getting that volume that he's a better prospect than Brian Thomas Jr. was a year ago.

Like he can have a better season. He can be better than Brian Thomas Jr. is right now. So I am not only taking him for offensive rookie of the year. I'm having him pull the daily double. Let's go defensive rookie of the year. He wins him both. He blows absolutely everyone's mind. He's a much longer shot to win defensive rookie of the year because...

Because he won't be playing all the defensive snaps and he won't be rushing the passer. Right. It's going to be very tough. But it is a narrative award sometime. And if he goes out there and he gets four or five interceptions and he's a baller and people just get swept up in the magic of the baseball, Shohei Otani. He's actually only fifth in terms of the odds of defensive rookie. They are way behind the favorite Abdul Carter.

But he's plus 1,300. So it's not that crazy as he. I'm doing the Travis Hunter Daily Double. I love it. I want this to happen. I really want badly for this to happen. Colleen. I still picked up.

Abdul Carter to win defensive rookie of the year. But the story that you're the picture that you're painting, Greg, I want. I partially didn't pick him just because I figured you were picking him and he is the most logical pick. Probably the right pick, but it didn't. But I like what you did. It didn't feel as fun. And on a real level, like if I was just looking at value or whatever,

like Abdul Carter is favored to win defensive rookie of the year more than anyone is favored to win any award, which it does make sense. to me. But that's, that's not as fun. And if you're into these sort of things, and I know you're not, you know, there's, there's less of a return there. Yeah. And I'm obviously not, but we are allowed to pick games and pick guys like this. You know, we have a whole show game debut where we where we pick games and pick scores every week. The list that defensive rookie of the year is crazy. Jalen Walker is second at plus 950. He's like fourth on their edge group. So that's terrible. Michael Williams just doesn't seem like a guy that is going to be.

put up numbers is third. Mike Green of the Ravens. I guess he's a pass rusher is fourth. Like Jihad Campbell would maybe be the other one other than that would be my sleeper because I am there. There's some magical potential of Jihad Campbell in this Eagles season. He's plus 1,500 and he's sixth on the list. And yeah, these awards usually go to pass rushers and linebackers. Yes. So Jihad Campbell could absolutely get that quickly on assistant coach because we've got Nick Wessel. Yeah, I'm ready to go. I'm going Jesse Minter on assistant coach. the year because I think he's going to take this Chargers defense and from out

coaching maybe a little bit of a talent dearth and getting them to produce to a second year of this system doing things a little bit differently than others in that coaching tree do. And he's getting a lot of buzz already in these sort of circles that talk about who might be head coaching, you know, on the head coaching radar in the 2026 cycle. So I do think that Jesse Minter would be a top choice of mine for assistant coach of the year. I think that any of these like chip on their shoulder coming back to try to

show what they learned defensive coordinators who were helping first time offensive head coaches might be candidates for this. And then I also think our sleeper is you know, King Grizzard down in Tampa Bay. Oh, what is his actual name?

Josh Grasard. Josh Grasard. I love that. You know what's shocking? I'm looking this up while you're talking. Like, Jesse Minner did not even come in the top five last year for assistant coach of the year. Which is crazy.

What group exceeded expectations? Look, I love Ben Johnson and I love Brian Flores, but if we're talking about exceeding expectations, doing a lot with a little, those were the top two. And then you had Aaron Glenn and Vic Fangio and Joe Brady. Oh, great, of course. Well, yeah. I mean, I love Vic Fangio.

I think Jesse Minter would have been a better pick for all them last year even. Yeah, and I think, again, we talk about markets. and eyeballs on teams and coverage of teams and all that stuff. And so I think that's part of it. And I also think some of it is, you know, even players like Dion Henley, who he really maximized out into being one of the better linebackers in the NFL right now, like the way he was moving,

Derwin James had like a renaissance last year. All of that kind of flew under the radar, just saying. So I do think it's time to give those guys a little bit more love. And in light of being the change we want to see, my pick is going to be Titans Offensive Line coach Bill Callahan. Because everyone is eligible for this award and they only vote for coordinators. I know. So let's get it going.

That's a good offensive line. Maybe Cam Ward has a surprising season. But if Jeff Stoutland didn't even come in the top five for voting last year for the Eagles, it's probably never going to happen. Finally, speaking of offensive linemen, the protector of the year award, tough to really handicap this ahead. But we'll try anyways. I know Tristan Worf's is hurt to start the season,

but I'm going to say he's going to come back and he's going to look so good by the end of the year and their offense and Grisard is going to cook so much that he wins it because I think he might just be the best offensive alignment in football. Yeah, I really debated between him. The injury factor took him out of consideration for me. I was looking at Pinesuil.

I really think that because of Penaesul's like body of work that he's built up to this point, maybe the first one that they give is like to somebody who's deserved it for a little while. I also want to know Joe Alt, moving over to left tackle. If he plays well out of position, that's somebody to look at for here. And my sleeper pick is if Patrick Mahomes has a MVP season, we have to talk about Josh Simmons at left tackle for the potential of like surprising

everybody and getting this award because if Patrick Mahomes is protected, the way that he should be protected, that would mean Josh Simmons as a rookie is doing his job at the top level. and that would mean that he should be in the conversation here. That would be wild. And I wonder what his odds are for offensive rookie of the year because... He's probably not even on there right now. Like, nobody's talking about this guy.

Nobody ever votes for offensive linemen for rookies of the year. So it would be tough to pull off. But yeah, I can't even find him there. Like, he's literally not listed anywhere. I love that they called it Protector of the Year. That's just good branding right there, honestly. I would love him. I'm winning that word.

I don't think it's going to happen. You know what else I love? The entire Wessling family. We've got Nick Wessling ready to join the show. I don't know if he's had to listen to us honk about the awards. We're just going to roll right into it. The drop. Yes, he is a member of the Cincinnati Zoo,

which is all the Wesleyan brothers. So if I sometimes forget about new listeners, Nick, but I do want to just bring up who you are as we get you. How are you doing, Nick, by the way? Doing wonderful. Outstanding. Spent a couple of weeks out of town on the West Coast a few weeks ago, feeling relaxed and ready to rock and roll for this football season. You look relaxed.

You got the Cincinnati FC. I know you're a big soccer guy, the shirt on. But yes, we are in the Chris Wesleyan podcast studio. That is Nick's brother. and it hit me today coming in that we're coming on five years this Super Bowl when Chris died

and we love having the connection with all the Wesleyan brothers but Nick is the loudest of all of them the one who just kind of is a self-appointed spokesman maybe to the annoyance of all the other brothers but it's been extremely

effective Nick, I think. It even got you to the best man status at Chris's wedding. I got to give it up to you for that. And so we love to have you on to talk a little football and just have a little more whistling in our life.

Well, some people say loudest. Some people say best. Either way I'll take it. I was the middle child, three older, three younger, so I didn't get paid attention to unless I yelled and screamed. They taught me it at a young age to

Go ahead and be heard. No, you kept it all together. Although I, to me, not best. You know, I love you all. And I think Phil's probably the only one that's actually going to listen to this. And it's also the week that we do our fantasy league. My kids do a fantasy league,

which his son Mackey is in. And love Phil, love Mackey. So no favorites here. But I know you have the hottest of takes, Nick. So let's get into some football. I gave you some prompts going into the year. I wanted some Nick Wesleyan predictions. I have no idea where you're going to go with this.

But we just did a bunch of awards. Do you have like an awards prediction for this season? This is going to sound like a homer take, but Joe Burrow will win the MVP this year. With this awful defense that the Bengals look like they're trotting out there, they're going to have to put up 50 every game. And I think they have the ability to do that. So I think it's his best year yet.

I think the people get a little tired of voting for Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, and even if they have similar years, I think Joe Burroughs numbers out through all of them, and he's your MVP for this year. Nick, what is your take on like the internal rage that Joe Burroughs seems to be managing at all times when he's on the sideline watching this defense? I know you are locked into this as a storyline. What is your take on just his, I would say, rage management would be how I would

call that. I tell you what. I think that's the reason people like him so much is because he keeps it cool, even though you can tell he's furious. I think it was about midway through last season when he was given post-press conferences and people were asking him questions and he's just like, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's terrible. Yeah, we got to do better. And you're just thinking like, man, he wants to punch the guy who asked that question. Obviously, he's not going to do that. and he's always been a class act.

This Bengals offseason has, I don't know what the right word is, tumultuous, might be a good word for it. They seem to, at the last second, get it together and realize that they needed Trey Hendrickson, you know, even the Shemar Stewart saga earlier. People have forgotten about that because the Trey Hendrickson went all the way through the preseason that, you know, they just didn't seem to have their stuff together. What do you think, what do you think West would think about where, where they're at? Because on one hand, this is the best era.

They're back in a winning era for the first time since you guys were kids. And they have, they found the quarterback. I mean, he's going to be, if not already, the best quarterback in the history of the franchise. And yet they seem very like Bengalsy. What, like, where do you think he would be at? Where are you guys at? It's such a weird, complicated relationship. The Wesleyan family.

as with the Bengals. Yeah, it's, I mean, so I'm more similar to Chris. I think he was more vested and hated them. I was more indifferent. I don't know, hate, hate's probably the wrong word. No, I think hate, I think hate was accurate for a long time. But I always felt like that was the flip side of love, right? You know, he cared.

Right. Yeah, yeah, if you want to go down that street, yeah, they, indifference would be more what I was for 20 years. Obviously, him working for the NFL. And then even though the Andy Dalton years were frustrating, at least they were competitive for most of that time, even the Carson Palmer years. So it was very easy to get invested again with this team

because they're a lovable team. They got the receivers, they have Joe Burrow. You know, even the coaching staff is a little vanilla, but they seem to put their best players in position to win. So they were an easy team to root for, but then the organization does things like they did this all season, and even last off season, not signing Higgins and Chase when clearly they wanted to do it all along

and they just had to pay an extra $50 million to sign the two of them. It seems counterproductive to me, but obviously I'm not running the franchise, so I don't really get a say in that. By the way, Jordan, congratulations on the new gig. I love listening to you and love reading your work. Oh, no, I'm going to cry. When I heard your voice, I was trying not to cry.

You sound so much like Chris. You sounded like a lot like Chris. Let me go ahead and say Chris would be really proud, too. He like you a lot. He really wouldn't. He was and he was a fan of Jordan's writing big time. And it is one of those things you think about like, you know, the takes that we're missing from him. And it is interesting because Burrow got hurt in that rookie year.

And that rookie year was the last year that Chris was with us. And then, of course, that first year where Burroughs starting, we finish it. Nick, you and all the brothers. at SoFi Stadium, and, you know, you're watching it with Keisha. Keesha's got the jersey that she made special for the day that was half Rams, half Bengals, and unfortunately it felt fitting that the Bengals came up short, but it was a crazy day. I am curious about your reflections of that day.

I'm also curious how you think this team's going to be this year, but let's think about that day for now. Well, we'll do the Super Bowl. It still seems a little surreal. that year was a wild ride, obviously. They seemed just like an average team until the last few weeks of the regular season, and then they turned it on,

and that defense kept making play after play after play. Unfortunately, Joe Burrow was, had me, you, Jordan, and the production team blocking in front of him that year. So there wasn't much chance of him putting up some of the numbers he's been putting up last couple of years. years. Yeah, that was a rough. If you ever want to be entertained, go back and look at the starting five

offensive linemen in that Super Bowl. And you'll see three guys that never played again. And another guy that barely played again. And then one who had a decent career. The second half of that game is brutal to rewatch because the Bengals defense dominated Matthew Stafford and the Rams for so long. And they just bailed them out. And oh, yeah, you're lining those guys up against Von Miller.

and Aaron Donald, you know, like, yeah, what could go wrong? Yeah, they decided on the most important play of the game to just go ahead and let Aaron Donald go and destroy Joe Burrow, who, you know, a half a second before Jamar Chase is wide open I got to say that we got drinks like afterwards at your, at your Airbnb that you had nearby and the Wesleyan brothers were in plenty good spirits afterwards. It was, we were feeling a lot, obviously, that entire year and we still do in that night, especially, but you guys were enjoying, you were living

in the moment. I'm curious what, okay, if you have Joe Burrow winning MVP, what do you think this team's going to do this year? So we'll know after week two, I think. If they're not 2 and O, they're at the Browns and then Jaguars at home, before they go, I'm going to have to look at my cheat

sheet here, my notes here, but they have the next five games are absolutely brutal. I think they have at, who was it, at Vikings then Broncos at home, I'm sorry, Broncos on the road, Lions at home, Packers on the road,

Steelers at home before they, on October 26 they did. Oh, that might be. You're the Bengals. They're all looking at your schedule and saying, oh, no, we got the Bengals that week. Well, oh, no, we've got the Bengals offense that week. Yeah, there you go. But if they're not 2 and no,

I can't take them serious this year. I think if they're, you know, somewhere five and four going into the, end of October, early November, I think they're a legitimate contender for the Super Bowl. I just think that Joe Burroughs is that good and this offense is that good that they can carry him. You saw it at the end of last year. They almost snuck in somehow.

I think it's what they win. Five straight games at the end. They make it interesting. It gets frustrating watching this team and watching the organization, but I can't take my eyes off of them. It's a crime if they are five and four even, or if they don't make the game. play out like the heat needs to be on Zach Taylor. It's it's an

organizational failure the way Joe Burrow is playing to not be winning like 12 games a year. I don't know how I feel about it like on paper that the defense is not going to be good but defenses are more unpredictable. Nick Wesseling are you going to like

text your brothers and brag about this appearance or how are you going to handle it? No we're going to find out which ones are still listening to you. I know I know Phil does regularly. I mean, you guys were the only one, you guys were the only two that ever did in the first place.

Who else? I don't think anyway. No, no. Tim was an avid listener and loved listening to the old show. And I know he occasionally listens now. And so does Mike. Eddie was listening. By the way, I don't know this is public.

It's all out there. But Eddie, my oldest brother, Ed, had a battle with cancer. And he's doing very, very well. He's in remission. Everything's going well. He's gaining his weight back. so he looks good, looking strong. So if he's listening, we love you,

and good to see you healthy again. Yeah, love Eddie. I always remember meeting Eddie at Chris's wedding down in Tybee and being like, wait, this is a Wesleyan brother because he just, it's just different than the rest of them. Just a little different. Love you, Nick. Love having you on.

And yeah, the season wouldn't have felt right to start with a little Wesleyan on the show and hope to get you back for one of those Bengals primetime game recaps maybe down the line. Anytime, Greg. All right, that's it. We're done for today.

We're not done for this week. But Nick, by the way, you made Jordan's day one year here. I'm like, I'm blotchy because I was trying not to cry. Nick, it is such an honor. Thank you so much for joining the show when I am on the show.

I listen, I've heard your voice and all of that and man, you sound so much like Chris and I just, it's an honor. Thank you so much. Nick, it was a pleasure. It was definitely not an honor to have you on. Don't listen to Greg. Don't listen to Greg. I mean, that's a little, that's a little much. But it was a pleasure. It was an absolute pleasure. Honor to be on with Jordan such a fantastic writer and analyst

and, well, it's always good to see you too, Greg. I guess. was Nick Wesleyan. Hit the music. Let's get out of here. We will be back on Thursday. One of my favorite annual shows of the year. I mean, imagine if Nick Wesleyan picked the right over-underers in a draft for four straight years, undefeated. He would never freaking stop talking about it. That's what I've done for the last four years. Can I make it five? Nick Wright on Thursday. We'll see you. In the heat of battle, your squad relies on you.

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