NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - 40s and Free Agents: The AFC West’s 5 Impact Additions and Rookies

Episode Date: August 8, 2025

Gregg Rosenthal and Daniel Jeremiah are back! On the latest episode of 40s and Free Agents, the duo looks toward the new season and shares their picks for biggest additions to the AFC West. Find out why players like Omarion Hampton, Josh Simmons, Dre Greenlaw, Evan Engram, Ashton Jeanty and more will make a major impact for their new squad next season!NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Welcome to 40s and Free Agents. I'm Greg Rosenthal, joined as always by my friend, Move the Sticks, Daniel Jeremiah. Can I call you a friend, DJ? Yes, you can call me a friend, and I can tell you that I thought you did a wonderful job after having to retape this open six times. Greg's a little rusty.

That is not true. I've retaped it one time, and I knew you would bring it up. And it's fine. It's a podcast. You can re-record things if you want. speaking of which everyone that signed up for the 40s and free agents feed this week

we noticed you we saw you we appreciate you if you are listening to this show and you are not yet signed up for 40s and free agents on iTunes Spotify wherever you get your podcast do us a favor and please do that and you'll hear all of our big takes

what's up can I also add on to that throw a little review and a little radio yeah give us that little that action it would help as we're as we're launching this thing into the sun. Let's go through the five rookies, DJ, in your division, the AFC West. You cover the chargers as their radio voice, so you know this division very well. You're going to give us five rookies that are going to make a big impact this season.

I'm going to give you five veterans that were added in the off season, but you can get us going. Yeah, sure. And if you missed it, go back, listen to the NFC West episode. On that one, we had a lot more mid-round picks. You know, I just felt the way it shook out that there. was more guys in that range of the draft that would have an immediate impact. And this is what we're doing on this study is, again, I'm looking

for these guys, step on the field, impact right away. And this division, it's a lot of chalk. And I'll start, first of all, with the team that I cover in the charges. Amarion Hampton, their first round pick. This is someone, the size, speed, you know, can catch out of the back field. All those things are there. There's the two things that I would say

that have stood out in terms of talking to coaches, being out there at practice, seeing him in the preseason the other night. this is someone who, in past protection, coaches rave about him. So what's the biggest hurdle for young backs, get on the field, stay on the field, is pass protection. He's really, really good in that department.

So that's going to bode well for him getting a lot of playtime. Number two is, you know, talking to Coach Harbaugh before this last preseason game, he's been really impressed with his vision, which was, you know, some of a question mark with him coming out, was like, okay, he's got the height, weight, speed, he can catch it, he can block, do all these things, how is the vision?

And he said he's been very impressed, even in practices where they aren't patted up, which can be a little bit difficult for running backs. It's a lot of mud. You don't see it's a lot of walls of people, and there's not a lot of seams that create. Harbaugh actually uses those periods to kind of gauge and see how these guys are seeing things.

It's a nice job. Now, in the first preseason game, there's a run to the left outside. I would like to see him square shoulders get north and south and plow through. I believe it was a rock Yassin. I'm going to ran through him for a touchdown. He tries to stretch it.

doesn't get there. I think that's a learning experience for him. A long way of saying he's going to play an awful lot, Greg. And I think behind this offensive line, I think he has a really nice year for the Chargers. Yeah, Najee Harris coming off that eye injury. Not that I thought Najee would be the 1A to Hampton's

1B anyways, but it's just giving Hampton a longer runway to be the man. And I love hearing that. I love that you're there at practice hearing that, that you're literally hearing it from Jim Harrod because fantasy football, I am going big on a Marion Hampton.

Like, reality, I'm going big on a Marion Hampton. I hear you. Wait, are you, are you sticking your guy, Keandre Lambert Smith, in here? Because you said, you know, you're mostly going with chalk, and that was a fifth round pick. He was a young receiver for the Chargers

already making some noise, who I couldn't help but notice. You had higher than just about anyone. You know, you had them in your top 150. People are like, I've prepped for 40 wide receivers. I never even heard of this guy. And then the Chargers take him,

and it really supports the accusations that you are a shadow GM of the team that you work for. Would you like to answer those accusations? What's the last thing we're supposed to be doing here? We're supposed to be doing a wild card. Yeah, a wild card. But, well, I guess should I just do my wild card now

and you want to just steal the rest of the rundown here? I mean, we don't have a rundown. That's, you know, I didn't know who you're going to pick. How about some faith and trust in your partner here? We could share the rundown ahead of time or you could just go along with it and have a nice charge. conversation right at the top of this is like we talk about in scouting we use a term

fbi i okay football intelligence it's instincts it's awareness it's an understanding gregg's podcast fbi i atrocious just no feel whatsoever you knew i like the guy going into the draft he lights up practice he scores in the freaking hall of fame game you think i'm not going to mention come on dude like just a little faith and confidence in your partner here bud okay so if I was like a football player you know obviously physically talented but just not really with the instinct you can't find and play the ball I mean it's like

oh you're in great coverage down the field but like hey let's locate the ball you just you know ball's just getting completed I'm like Jeff Okuda in my first three stops although there is some good positive pop that he's turning it around with the Vikings all right go on with that Chiodre Libertsman yeah yeah look he's been he's been really good and he's explosive.

The one thing that was great to see in the preseason is I go back through my notes. The speed was there. He's a Penn State transfer who then goes to Auburn. Big plays down the field. I mean, he looks beautiful. He is a big, just physical, fast dude. The question was press. Like there were some times in college where they got up into him in press coverage

and he struggled with it. So we go to this preseason game and he ends up, it was Rakeastraw, Ennis Rake Straw from the Lions. He lined up nose to nose, and they're a press man. team Detroit is and and the first time I'm I literally that was I told the money as we're calling the game like ooh they got we got press coverage down here Lambert Smith excited literally boom right he beats wins right off the line it's like a 29 30 yard completion on a fade to from tray Lance like that's a great sign and then a couple more times they get press including on the goal

line he jabs him hits a slant touchdown I'm like okay like this is if he's getting off press coverage with all the other skill set that he possesses he is going to get on the field and have an impact from the charges. But there you go, Craig. I'm getting excited. You mentioned doing the game with money. And I can't help think back to last weekend, Canton, when Antonio Gates gets inducted. The very last thing you hear before Antonio Gates walks on the field is Matt Money Smith's fantastic call of him setting a touchdown record. I think what you need to do, DJ, is you need to start shoehorning in on some big time calls of stepping on him, stepping on him. Like if Khalil Mack, I'm trying to think who could possibly

Kaleel Mack if he breaks some sort of record or Justin Herbert as his career is developing. You want to get into that spot. Don't let money get all the shine there. You know what I used to do? This is sad to say. But when I first started doing these games, the times where you would hear that,

I don't, you know, I don't does, who does inside the NFL? Because you'd show the clips from the game and they would have some audio on there and stuff. I didn't have, I don't have HBO or any of the stations that was on. So that was not my jam. but my jam was when this top 100 list would come out because the top 100 list would come out and then they play some of the radio calls as they're, you know, they're going over those players.

And then I quickly realized this is a play-by-play sport, man. This is not a color analyst sport. This is a play-by-play sport. And so you're going to get money. And that's what the people want and that's what the people deserve. Yeah, that was a big diversion there. But I want you getting in there. And look, we play you on NFL daily.

We're doing highlights each and every week. So if the Chargers win a lot of games and Keandre Lambert Smith is scoring touchdowns, then we should do it. Let's, I'll throw out my wild card just to keep us on the same page now and it is a former charger. It's Christian Fulton with the Chargers.

The reason I point that out, and I mentioned this on our AFC takeaways and I kind of forgot about Fulton, to be honest, because he hasn't been on the field, which is something that's happened a lot for him throughout his career. He really hasn't been on the field consistently enough. He was for the Chargers a year ago,

but he's a cornerback that I think they're counting on a lot. Because if you look at their problems in that Super Bowl, they really just didn't go deep enough at the cornerback position. He's with the Chiefs, not with the Chargers anymore, by the way. That would be good. He is with the Chiefs now. So he changes places in the division.

I think he's a good player. And you can tell me what you think about him and what you saw to the trip. I think he's a really good player. And so to me, he's kind of a boom or bust player for them because after him, it gets pretty thin, where it's Shamari Connor and Nasey Johnson and some of these guys who were getting torched

in that Super Bowl. Well, McDuffie's pretty good. Right, but you need three cornerbacks. You got Jalen Watson as your two. I think in today's NFL, you need four. And I think it falls off pretty steeply maybe after McDuffie and

Watson. So to me, Kristen Fulton is my wild card. That's a good one. Look, he can play, he can play any way you want to play. When he's healthy and on the field, he can play plus, he can play off. He's got good eyes. He can play the ball. He's a good player. He just had to be able to stay healthy. That's been, that's it. I mean, that's it, but that's a good one. All right. Give me another I'll stay with the chiefs. I mean, Josh Simmons, you know, and this is one you've already heard

all the buzz. He's the left tackle. Like, he just plug him and play him. The talent was never a question. You know, he got hurt at Ohio State last year, but his tape when he's on the field is good or better than anybody else in the draft. I mean, it literally is the, he had the best left tackle tape if you're just going to go off of the tape. So how did the league let the chiefs get him? Because you had injuries and you had immaturity and it was that combination that scared people off. So

look, Drew Rosenhaus brought him to the senior bowl when he wasn't playing in the senior bowl because he knew there was concerns about him and he wanted him to be around the team so they could get to know him and get more comfortable with him. That doesn't happen if you're sitting there knowing you're the most talented

tackle on the draft and there's no cause for concern. You're not parading him down there to the senior Bowl. So that was where the league is. And the ability was never a question with him. Now it looks like he's come back really, really quickly and strong from this injury. And

so far, so good. All accounts, he's doing everything he needs to do. But there's guys like this every year, Greg. And what happens is there's, some of them will go on and have unbelievable careers and you say the whole league is stupid. Why were they worried about this? And then what happens is those are the ones that are remembered.

The ones that aren't remembered are the guys who a year or two in like there's some things that pop up or there's immaturity or you know this and then the guy kind of fades away and it's like nobody ever gets an apology for why they for why they passed on someone or you know with injuries and all of a sudden that injury ends up being a major issue year two or three I'm just telling you we talked about it in 40s and free agents before the draft about the gift you know how gifted he is and how talented he was this was not one of those issues with him I hear all that and I do wonder if the teams overrate the injury at the time of the draft.

Like you want everyone to be 100% pristine, but this is a four or five year commitment for first round picks, and you've got to have the long view. I do think sometimes team overrate like a guy coming off an injury a little bit. Now, the immaturity stuff, I would like to ask, like, what does that mean? I've never traded in that information.

So I've always just kind of put it under that umbrella. It just serves no. purpose for me to get into that. So I've never done it with any player. It was just, it was enough where I call around to people and say, is there, you know, anything, are there any issues or any concerns? And with him, there was some, there were some concerns. So I put it under that umbrella. I don't want to be an investigative reporter and I don't want to ever trash anybody. So I don't ever trade in that. This is how DJ plays the long game. He just keeps, he keeps his hands clean. Everyone likes DJ. And I want all these guys to do great. So I mean, that's, there's no,

There's no winning in that. I'm just saying... That's rap sheet's job. Like, everyone can dislike rap sheet. And that's fine. And that's literally at the draft. I'm sitting here. Ian's there to serve that purpose.

Why is this guy still there when he's really, really talented? That's why. So I could have gone with Jalen Moore. I was thinking about him. If you're not familiar with him, he was the backup to Trent Williams. He was a left tackle for the 49ers last year when Trent Williams got hurt.

And they gave him $15 million a year, T.J. And now they've got what's called a great problem where he is now battling at right tackle with Juan Taylor and at left guard with their former second round pick, Kingsley, Sue and Matea. It's a lot of Chiefs offensive line talk, but to me that that's a bonus because he'll probably wind up starting one of those spots and there's injuries and you're going to need him. So now after not having enough offensive linemen, somehow they traded away Joe Tuni and they might have too many, which is a great thing. So forget him. Let me ask you this question real quick on this topic before we keep it moving.

If they had, I don't know, it's in a pretty extreme. vision of this, but like if the Chiefs had Maillada and Lane Johnson in the two Super Bowls, they lost, did they win those two Super Bowls? Wow. Well, do you take it away from the

Eagles? They'd have to go both ways in the I was going to say, because if suddenly the Eagles have their tackles, then yes, I think the answer might be, yes. That Bucks night was, I think, even more than just two players. That was too much. Oh, man. Jack Barrett and those, they eviscerated

them on the edge. Then again, like, The Eagles got it done on both sides of the ball. It is really crazy to think two of them. I would say that one-sided Super Bowls of all time were quarterbacked by Patrick Mahomes, at least in the last 15 years. It is crazy. But, I mean, I think you would say that if that, what was the biggest weakness of those chiefs teams that didn't seal the deal and didn't, it was the tackles.

So not surprised that they addressed it in a big way here. Am I up next? No, that wasn't even one of mine. I'm going. I'm going, Evan. Well, I just was saying, like, you know, I just wanted to mention that he was, It doesn't even count as one of you. You just did all that and he doesn't count as one of your guys?

We're going to have to ask our producer, Drew, does that count as one of the guys? He says no. So I'll do it very quickly. Evan Ingram is added to a Broncos mix at receiver slash tight end that to me needed a little more juice, a little more after the catchability. It's a pretty big drop from Cortland Sutton, who is a great guy on the boundaries. But we need some guys who can make some plays after the catch. I think Evan Ingram could be very important for this Broncos team,

who to me does need a little more juice in terms of their skill position players. Yeah, he gives him some explosive plays. I want to say, I have to go back and look, but I want to say the Chargers had him in, and he was in the mix. And then they ended up pivoting from him, I think, to Conklin. So they brought in Conklin from the Jets. But he was coveted by a team in the division as well.

And it does give him some explosiveness in a dynamic piece of that offense. So I know that was, you know, was made about Sean Peyton saying he wanted his Joker, which is going to get me to my next guy that I'm going to mention here in a minute. But all the great Sean Peyton offenses have had middle of the field mismatch players, whether that's backs, H-backs, tight ends, or whatever you call Tayson Hill. So having someone like that, I think, was definitely on his checklist in the off season. Wait, so who's your next player? R.J. Harvey, second round pick who is like a Darren Sproles clone, you know,

just a bolt of lightning out of the backfield, big time speed. You can, he can separate and win one-on-one the past game. So to me, that's every offense of Sean Patens has had a back that can do the things that R.J. Harvey does, and I think he is a great fit there.

Yeah, I think, you know, fantasy football players were alarmed when they add J.K. Dobbins deep into the offseason. It's like, no, J.K. Dobbins is there to upgrade what was, I guess the Adrick Estimase spot. And those two guys do different things. And they're not going to count on Harvey, you don't think,

to touch the ball 20 times a game or anything, do you? Doesn't need to. He doesn't need to. He's going to have some 100-yard games, like combined yards, 100-yard games with 10 to 12 touches. Like, that's always going to need to get 100 yards. He's going to make some explosives. I think it could be one of the best defenses in the entire NFL. They're a good team, man.

And we'll get to them and their defense actually right after this 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 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 to NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the Guy 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 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 Sixth podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Fulrio, 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. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Oh, back on 40s and free agents, and you heard it before the break.

DJ loves the Broncos. Jordan Roderig loves the Broncos. Everybody loves the Broncos. My theory on that, just a little bit, DJ, is everyone just likes Sean Payton and his buddies with Sean Peyton, so they're rooting for him. Not in your case, really, but I think the rest of the media. I can honestly tell you, I'm trying to think of who all is in their personnel department. I have one friend in their personnel department, but he's a friend that I'll talk to him and see him twice a year with the Chargers. Don't have Sean Payton's number. I don't think he would know who even know who I'm. am so come on he knows he knows the game he's coming the booth he's come in the booth a couple times at the combine but i've never had a one-on-one conversation with him he knows he knows the media game and yeah i understand all the broncos buzz because they have a lot of continuity they have a rookie quarterback who really played better than you could have possibly expected i still worry that they don't have quite enough juice on offense to really battle with the big boys but then you look at that defense dj after adding my pick

here, Drey Greenlaw, and you just think, man, what can't this defense do? It is rare to see a defense that at every level feels loaded. And after adding Drey Greenlaw, who to me is a tone setter, who can rush the passer, certainly is great and run defense, just a tough guy. And you get Alex Singleton back from an injury. You had this kid Justin Strunard last year, who they were using to Blitz, who actually played quite well for, uh, for, them as kind of a fourth or fifth year player. And I think that's no longer a weakness either.

And I just love everything I've heard in terms of what Greenlaw has added so far to that mix. He's got to stay healthy. He's been a little bit in and out of practice already this off season. But when you look at Drake Greenlaw, what kind of impact do you think he can have on this defense? I like him. I mean, you touched on his skill set. I'm going to tell you that I think you picked the wrong guy. I think you had the right side of the ball. I think you had the right former team. I think you had the wrong player.

I had to go one to represent it. So yes, I could have gone with Talenea Hufunga, who's playing at safety. I mean, he, talk about it, not staying on the field. Hufunga, and I'm just throw out a number here, if I told you that we looked up at the end of the season behind this front seven, uh, Hufunga has seven picks next year. Would you, would that shock you? No, not if he, uh, not if he stays on the field, because he, He is also, he's a safety that's going to be supported by some excellent

cornerback play around him, which will give him a little bit of freedom. He's going to be freed up. And he's, that's who he is. Like he is to me, he's not height, weight, speed guy. He is all instincts and all feel. And instinct feel guys don't work great when you need him as helpers. Like when you need him to help cover someone that you're not capable of stopping and he's got a shadow, what those guys are at their best is when you say, hey, you're free.

You're going to end up over here, over there. Up to you. whatever you see and feel, go do it. And if that's how, and I think that is how he's going to be using this defense, he is going to touch a lot of footballs. Okay. I hear that. Part of the reason I didn't choose him was their secondary was already very good.

They also add Jaday Barron. Maybe he's on your list. I don't know. I know you liked him a lot in the draft. How is my football instincts here? Wrong. But I do like him. I do like him a lot.

You add him as like a top 12 player. But that was partly why I didn't pick who fought. was I thought you might pick Barron and their secondary was already good. My first three guys that I went with, I mean, I get to the third one here because I jumped out of order. But as I was composing this, we're all first rounders and I'm like, I don't

want, it's not a good show if I'm just doing six first round guys. I mean, if we're getting the great move the sticks analysis, one last thing on this Broncos defense and on Greenlaw specifically, one thing I'm hearing this off season is like, because linebackers are killing defenses. It's like the

difference between a great defense and not? Are your linebackers killing you or not? I'm talking about a guy like Trey Greenland. And what I think a lot of teams say they really need now is they need a linebacker that need to be part of like the rush package. Why is that so important

now do you think compared to maybe five years ago? Well, it's, you know, running cover has always been a big thing with linebackers. We went through the era with the plugger. Like that got eliminated. Those guys no longer exist anymore. So was a big emphasis on coverage

and then what's happened is it's become so hard to get to the quarterback by traditional means and they can know where your big as rush your premier edge guy and they can direct attention so you're seeing a lot of these kind of mug fronts and then you're trying to just find one-on-ones and can you win with a back and you know there's the old saying that backers on backs

equals sacks like there's that's the best matchup in terms of pass rush is going to be a linebacker on a running back so those guys are valuable when you can when you can win inside It's in the face of the quarterback, and it's a favorable matchup on a back. So that's kind of where it is. The other trend, I would say, is we're hitting a little sidebar trend topic here. Used to be talking to teams around the league this time of year that bad teams wanted to get better was always, you know, we got so much faster.

We're so much more athletic. We're more explosive. I feel like this year because, and we talked about this on move the six other day, because everybody's playing shell coverage, everybody's playing with two high safeties. Everybody I talked to is like, man, we're a lot bigger. we're a lot bigger and stronger up front now like it just ebbs and flows how the league goes and what you're looking for but it's like everybody has tried to get bigger up front

with their defensive line and it all makes sense and yet if everyone's doing it you know do you get the advantage that you need it's the teams that can obviously do it the best that have been doing it the longest that hardly have a year head start like your Jim Harbaugh Chargers all right give me give me another rookie so the one that I had which was the third one

when I bounced around the order a little bit here was obvious Ashen Genti with the Raiders. I mean, the offense is going to run through him. Pete Carroll has a style. I mean, I know he's a miniature version, but, you know, the Marshawn Lynch, the battering ram, the tough, you know, he's an identity back.

There aren't many backs, a lot of great backs, but there's not many backs that literally provide the identity to an offense and to the team. This is what Pete Carroll, every, you know, good team he's had, has had this style of players. So I think they feed him early and often. I'm curious to see how this offensive line comes together. They get some good young people.

pieces. I like Powers Johnson is a good player. But I think as that offensive line kind of gets going, I think you're going to see Ash and Gentie a really good year. Moving Powers Johnson to guard, which is very surprising to me. Looks like that's going to... I like him better at center, but... Yeah, I was surprised by that. Maybe it's just about getting the best five and they didn't feel great about Alex Kappa, who they brought in as a free agent. We'll see. Yeah, all the reports on Genti so far are really encouraging in terms of his past protection. and his pass receiving, which, you know,

wasn't the thing he majored in college. Right. And they're saying they just didn't know, like how he would adapt and so far, so good. I mean, I might as well go with who is clearly the biggest addition in this entire division. It's the guy who's going to be throwing

some swing passes, some screens. It's Gino Smith. I mean, they're counting on Gino to do a lot because you could say that the offense runs through Ash and Jenny. And I would agree with you, because he doesn't have a lot of outside receivers. He's got maybe the best tight end in the entire league. Forget just young tight end,

just tight end in Brock Bowers. That's their number one. Jacoby Myers is an inside guy as well. Michael Mayer is a good young player and he's inside as well. So it's a lot of inside receivers. And Gino Smith has won over the middle quite a bit throughout his career. It's a big year for Gino Nation, DJ, because this ride that we've been on

where ball knowers know that he's even better than you realize and just throws a beautiful football and was held down by the Jets way back in the day. It's been amazing, but this could take it to another level. What, your DJ is now on the phone. I'm sorry.

You're saying I'm talking too long. Hold on one sec. I'm just calling my brother. I was going to meet him for lunch in two hours. Can we push it back? Can we just, yeah, he's talking about Gino Smith. Can we push that back just probably another hour and a half? I mean, what are your thoughts then?

I'll be there. I'll be there. Sorry about. I just had to make a change of schedule on the plans. Go ahead. Anything else you want to add on Gino? I know it's tough because, you know, your kids are getting old and they're moving out of the house and stuff until you don't have a place to use all your dad humor. So just bring it, bring it here, forgive it to me. There's nothing better than dad humor. Have you settled into your dad humor yet? Are your kids old enough? Yes. Do your kids think you're funny? No.

Smart kids. Yeah. They're 13 and 10. and I have settled into it. I mean, I think I'm funny, but they definitely don't think I'm funny. Did they ever think you were funny? Yeah, back, I think, I think when they were younger. Not like, ha-ha, like, tickle you,

like, but like, really, like, they made you, you made them laugh. Yeah, back in the day. Sneaky funny, you know? I think you bridge just bring Jeslnick over to the house. I was going to say, I did host a long-running, successful comedy podcast, the Jessnick and Rosenthal Vanity Project.

I mean. Yeah, and that's like Jim Sororke. George, saying he was part of a very successful quarterback room with the Colts. DJ is sneaky funny, but I don't think your kids ever thought you were funny, did they? Well, yeah, I think you disagree with you on that. But what do you think about Gino? Like, for real...

No, I like Gino. I like Gino. I don't know if they have the pieces on the outside for this to be a prolific passing offense, and I think Pete Carroll's going to want the identity of this team to go through the ground. So I don't think he's going to post, you know, wow numbers, but I think they're going to be competitive. I think they're a team that's good enough to be in a lot of games. I don't know if they're good enough to win a lot of games, if that makes any sense. Well, the talent on defense, and we'll get to that, is just not there, at least not on paper. So I do feel like it could be another season where Gino is better on film

than he is in terms of just his stats, which is the last thing that I want to be litigating again in 2025 as the Seahawks give up like the fifth highest pressure rate in the entire NFL. I'm just going stay with the Raiders. I don't want to just keep talking though. Malcolm Coons to me is so important for this team who they brought back and I don't think a lot of people know about him too much but was on fire before he tore his ACL a couple years ago and

I put him here just because you know after Christian Wilkins was cut and you look at the back seven of this event like just not a lot of talent. They need him to kind of help provide an identity with Max Crosby. Yeah that's a that's a Mike Mayock special there. He's got

speed and he's got burst. you know, the question's going to be because Max can freelance a little bit and then he's kind of an up-the-field speed guy. I think there are going to be times that they're going to get gashed a little bit with those guys getting up to field, but he is going to be a pressure player

in a division with the three quarterbacks that they're going up against in Mahomes, Herbert and Nick's, like having somebody that can win off the edge is going to be big and I think he's proven he can do that when he's out there and healthy. I'm going to go just because we are just so Raider-heavy right here because my last one is another Raider.

It's Jack Besh, who, you know, talking to guys out there, the expectation is he'll emerge as the third wide out. So, you know, see how he settles in there. It sounds like in camp, he's just kind of getting better and better and better. But someone who, man, he's got such an incredible story. The adversity he's been through. He's a easy guy to root for first and foremost. But he's big.

He can win in the middle of the field. He can win on 50, 50 balls. So, Gino, I think he'll get Gino's trust. You know, whether he's in the slot, you're trying to hit fades within there or whether you're down in the red zone, I think he's going to be someone you feel okay, putting the ball in harm's way

because he's either going to get it or he's going to get it away from the defense. He's just too competitive. He's not going to lose many of those situations. It's interesting you hear that, and I think Raiders fans will be excited to hear that, that there is the expectation that the hope that he gets up into that third spot.

You've actually been hearing more about Dante Thornton, and this is why I like hosting 40s and free agents. We can have a structure. and a bit. But I just want to know something about Dante Thornton, not a guy I know much about and a fourth round pick who has a real chance to be the starting X for the Raiders.

So I'm just curious if you had any takes about whether he could be a guy that contributes right away. Supposedly, he's impressed that QB room there that Gino made a comment that he can trust throw into Thornton on the outside to win. Well, he's ginormous. So he was 604-5, so almost 6'5, hundred and five pounds. He ran four three flat. So he's got big, big speed. The way they used

him at Tennessee, they have those super wide splits. So he's way outside. He had a lot of bang eights. So, you know, those are, you know, those skinny posts. Think about the old school cowboys, Michael Irvin, you know, he lived on that, on that route. So those skinny posts, he was excellent. Lots of vertical winners, tracks the ball well over his shoulder. You could get him the ball out on some of those RPO slants in that Tennessee offense. Now, the thing was he just didn't have a lot of wiggle as a route runner. Telegraphed his routes a little bit, which by the way, that probably

falls into my antiquated scouting terminology. Telegraphs his routes. Like, I don't know if many young folks know about telegraphs, so but he's he's not great in terms of the nuance of the position. I mean, it's just a word that over time no longer really meant

how it was originally meant. I think everyone knows what telegraphing a pass would be, like in basketball or football. I don't know what they do. I think maybe our generation does. I don't know that. It's not like we were sending telegraphs to each other. Maybe you were. No, but I know, but I don't, I don't, I don't, I, our coaches said that to us. I go to my kids. My kids have made it through the high school process. My youngest is a senior. I've been to some practices that I don't remember with my kids then hearing, don't telegraph. I'm just saying it's

not all about the technology staying up to date. Like lithograph. I think the time is just kind of drifted away. That's gone, but telegraph. We've talked about it. Yeah, phone booth. Can't get open in a phone booth. It's funny you talking about Thornton you know who he sounded exactly like uh DJ who's that every single wide receiver that Al Davis used to draft so uh that sounds like a great Raiders Hayward Bay is that where you're going yeah just just like size weight speed you can go back to the 80s 90s so uh yeah to bring it back to Irvin uh they're not losing recipes there no with the Raiders there you know that's a good phrase that that's held up I really do feel like

Michael Irvin losing recipes is the number one moment in the history of NFL network but I think maybe me and you DJ we could top that at some point in this little buildup Do you have another one?

Is that it or do you have another one? That's it. We did it. Next week. Can you encourage the folks to subscribe to this bad boy and then leave us a little rating and review? You just did it.

I mean they'll listen to you more. You're more of an authority, but yes. What's the Reddit thread going to have to say? say about this thing coming back is my question i just like as we're texting and they must have heard it through uh through nfl daily i just got a text uh from a friend a listener just that says yeah 40s and free agents the people the people are excited and and they'd be even more excited i think

if you don't need to see it in your feed multiple times so i'm trying to convince the i heart our bosses that we don't need to do that anymore 40s and free agents can live on its own so for that to happen everyone needs to subscribe and then yeah hit that five-star review write something nice about DJ's polo and for those that don't have it as Greg was just mentioning a listener at Texan him so if you don't have Greg's number it is 310 no sorry anyways I still got that six four six give out your phone number to listeners I love my New York I mean is that's that's that guerrilla marketing is that what we refer to that he's a friend a friend a friend and a listener but I'm you know I'm I'm a businessman I view everyone as a listener you're

a listener to me, DJ. I hope. I hope you're checking out NFL Daily. We will be back next week. AFC North, NFC North. We'll see you there. The NFL is rolling. That's right. And you should be listening to NFL Daily as we march along to Super Bowl 60. It's in the name NFL Daily. So you'll have fresh content in your feed all season long. Join me, Greg Rosenthal, in an all-star cast, a co-hosts for previews and recaps of every single game. NFL Daily will keep you up to date with everything you need to know so you can sound smarter than all your friends.

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