NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Announcer Power Rankings & Coach Openings with Peter Schrager

Episode Date: December 29, 2020

A room filled with heroes - Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler, and Gregg Rosenthal recap the Monday Night Football matchup between the Bills and the Patriots (7:15) but not before discussing the Browns chance against a Mason Rudolph lead Steelers team. Peter Schrager stops by to discuss the looming Black Monday and which coaches and GMs could be shuffled around (20:31). The heroes rank their play by play announcers and color analysts... well, Gregg and Marc do (47:01).Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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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. The Around the NFL podcast is enriching themselves in bath salts. Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansis. I come to you from a virtual room filled with Samiris. Mark Sessler.

Greg Rosenthal. What's up, boys? Hey, now. Hey, buddies. Greg and I still have not figured out the machinations of how to open the show off your intro, minus Wes. I mean, I just lean on Greg to say something at this point. Yeah, I mean, I could talk about your beautiful Christmas present, you're wearing Mark, a nice star-trust. Trek Star Wars shirt.

Whoa, I'm getting in trouble there. It's okay. You were the one who, it's a Millennium Falcon shirt, got it from the family, and you were the one that famously claimed to not know what the Millennium Falcon was when I had in previous Millennium Falcon shirt. So, I mean, you got as close as I could expect right there. And I don't like to, like, come after you with this stuff, Mark, because it's not your fault that it's such a saturated cultural force.

But, like, is there a separate type of Twitter where you guys could talk about the Monda I don't think I've tweeted about that once, so I don't know who you guys are. It's like Parlor. You guys know about Parlor, the new social media app. It'd be like that, but for people to talk about the Manalorian and really any Star Wars stuff. The Mondylorian. You're not even saying it, right? It's like, look, and I saw your comment in. Oh, look, Joe's a baby now. Let's talk about it. No, I saw your comment that you, you jumped out of Star Wars after seeing only the Phantom Menace. Can I just let you know that like if that was all that I

all, I would never watch another minute of it. That was not only the most disappointing film from that franchise. I think it is one of the most disappointing films ever made top five. So I, you know. If I ever get the invite to your new house, and I understand there's some pandemic

issues going on right now, I have on more than one occasion laid out the situation, if it interests you, and I said this to Jason Zamulta as well, a Star Wars nerd in his own right, I would definitely sit down and watch

these other Star Wars that you guys are so fond of. Because I haven't seen them, and I do have, as someone that likes to consider myself somewhat plugged in on pop culture, although it's starting to fade as I get older, I want to have these context

these context touchstones. And I've been making an effort of it recently if you follow me on social media. I somehow had missed I hard. I check that out. I do follow you on social media. I checked out planes, trains, and automobiles. of the big comedy hits of the late 80s. I have some blind spots in the film world, strangely.

I don't know why, just the way it was when I was a kid. And I'm trying to fill in those gaps. But sci-fi in general has always been something that I've not been into. And that's, I think, more than any other reason why I haven't got into your realm. Well, I don't like the genre either outside of those films. And I saw them when I was a child. I think if I saw, if all this bum rush of content came at me now, I'd ignore 98% of it. So I get where you're coming from.

And you're working for. And you're working very hard to work on these blind spots. We're talking about Star Wars again on this show. Why are we doing this? In other Mark Sessler News, they came down officially. Mason Rudolph will start at quarterback for Pittsburgh in week 17 against the Browns. Mike Tomlin opts to sit many of his key starters, it looks like. They're not locked into their spot in the postseason, but they can't get the buy.

And after a long season without having a natural buy week, they're going to use this for their key. guys can't blame tomlin we'll get into really the flip side of that argument maybe a little bit later on the thursday show when we preview all the week 17 but i just want to check it check the temperature of cessler obviously uh bitterly disappointing the loss of the jets uh on sunday how are you nervous that mason rudolph is in the picture here right now with the with the season on the line potentially of course i mean where's your pea scale let me ask your piece scale it's it's totally dry 10 Soaked, got to run home to mommy. Soaked, running home to mommy.

I mean, there's nothing about any of this that makes me confident. And I don't want to hear about numbers and stats and analytics. This is no different than coming into this year, a team like Buffalo, figuring out how can they could possibly slay the ghosts of New England. I mean, if you go over to the AFC North, there are a lot of parallels here. And I don't care. It's not like Big Ben has been lighting the world on fire. Part of me would rather actually, as a Browns fan,

face their entire starting lineup and get into the playoffs because you earned it. I think that this is a team that's still doubted by plenty of people. And people have already forgot the circumstances around the Jets game. Now it's just the Brown's loss to the Jets, which is utter madness.

I'm not listening to a word of that, but P-scale raging. P-scale raging. There's no reason to be comfortable. I do think they'll be prepared, but I'm not comfortable. Mason-Brudoff's P-scale should be raging with Miles Garrett coming off a nice game

coming around the corner. That's all nice, Mark. I would feel the same way that, like, it feels weird to go against their backups, and it would be especially heartbreaking if they lose to the Steelers' backups, which is certainly possible. That said, I like your chances much better with Mason Rudolph out there. So ultimately, if I were you, I think that's a good thing. Right. And that's, yes, just the teaser. We'll check it on the P-scale on Thursday. Maybe it would be a little better off, but I kind of doubt it. We have a big show today. We will have the great Peter Schrager joining us with Black Mondays that's known in the NFL coming up

that is the day after the regular season when the Axe falls on head coaches and we could, you know, we could try to sing Dixie and pretend like something bad is not going to happen on Monday, but coaches will lose their jobs. Entire staffs will be scattered to the wind. It happens every year.

We talked about it a few weeks back when I did the hotbunt, hot butt tears. There's usually about five to eight openings. Right now we have three officially, and there will be more to come. So Pete, who's as plugged in as anybody, is going to talk to us about what he's hearing, both who could be going, who could be coming, hot names on the market, all that good stuff, looking at it as a primer for Black Monday.

Also, I like this one. This one has been percolating for a few weeks. I kind of had to, like, draw it at Rosenthal because I think he worries about. about, you know, what happened with the previous play-by-play guy for Monday night football and a certain attack that went down at a coach's breakfast. The play-by-play power rankings going through Greg's interpretation of the best to the worst or the worst to the best play-by-play guys. And, you know, Sessler, you want to throw Sessler. He's in the dog pound. Throw him a bone, too. Mark is going to give us his own interpretation.

color guys top 5, 10, whatever Mark came up with and I will just be here to enjoy it all. But before any of that, we wrap up week 16 with a glorious edition

of Monday night football. Off the play action. Alan hit as he throws, able to complete its diggs and tail lights time. Diggs is looking back. Touchdown and he stumbles into the end zone. It's a 50 yard.

Pass play from Josh Allen for the Buffalo Bills. Oh, my goodness. Stefan, and nobody cares about your fantasy team, but I will tell a real quick story here. 40-point lead last night I had in my championship league. My opponent has Stefan Diggs. He gets 39 points before they sit in the balance of the fourth quarter. As close as you can come to one of the great Monday night collapses

in a fantasy championship. Thank you, Sean McDermott. You are a special man. Stefan Diggs, three touchdowns. Josh Allen, four touchdown throws. Again, the bills raging out of control, 38 to 9 over the Patriots in Foxborough. In Foxborough, it is the changing of the guard.

There is no question anymore, Greg Rose, at all. Not that there was entering this game, but it did feel like a coronation. The Patriots now are losing record for the first time of 20 years, first time they get swept by a division opponent in 20 years. It's all the new world now and one that Pat's fans like you are not too familiar with. No, it's reminiscent of the early 90s or late 80s

because that was when the bills were great too. You know, once we got into the 90s, this offense and Josh Allen, you can't say enough that right now they're playing better than any team in the NFL. I don't think that's, I mean, it's almost too obvious to say in terms of consistently doing it week to week that Josh Allen has had a better December, I would say, than Aaron Rogers and Patrick Bahomes. Now, that's just December. Allen had, I think, too many off weeks in the middle of the season to be the MVP, but he would be my QB3 for the year after those two, which is amazing. And some of the throws that he makes where he has to place the ball above. the linebacker but in front of the safety or cornerback are just amazing to see him with that

sort of touch and accuracy while he also is using his arm strength on those throats. The reason Diggs had such a big day partly was because he's not going to get man coverage many weeks, but this time he did against J.C. Jackson, who's, you know, one of the best cornerbacks in the league. But there's no one that can cover a perfect throw from Josh Allen and a perfect, you know, route from Diggs. And then you combine that with a defense in Buffalo that is sixth in DVOA since week eight. So that is the biggest change, and it's why they should be viewed as, you know,

the top Super Bowl contender behind the Chiefs. And if they were in the NFC, I might say they're the favorites in the NFC. That's how good they are. I'm with you. I think they could beat the Chiefs. I really, I don't think that. I think that feels like an obvious thing to say

that it would be a great game. I mean, Alan, his fourth appearance with 300, plus yards, four plus touchdown passes, and a skyrocketing passer rating. Only Tom Brady has done that since 1950 back in 2007 in a single season. So, I mean, it's real. This team is real. There's something beyond the game itself because the game was largely non-competitive. The Patriots ended. The game was six punts. I mean, they were a fizzled mess. And it to me was kind of like, and I'm not equating it historically, but from a football angle, like watching the Berlin Wall come down back when I was in middle school and not quite knowing what that was. And a younger

fan might say, well, what's the big deal? The bills are great. But it's been so long. And the Patriots have been in their way for the entire century. I mean, this is changing the face of the NFL right now. They were terrible house guests. I thought, I was great to hear Jerry Hughes say, I've never had this feeling at Foxborough. Sean McDermott is the only Bill's coach since 2000, who has not only beaten the Patriots twice in one season, but twice at all in his coaching run in Buffalo. It's been that dominant. I mean, it's just incredible what Bill's fans have gone through against this team. And Dan, you know it well as a Jets fan. There's going to come a day when they drop a bomb on this team, too. And it's just we're watching the AFC change before our

eyes. It's been happening all year. And last night was a beautiful exclamation point. Yeah, I thought, you know, as a Jets fan, I've said on this podcast, That's my favorite victory, really, and maybe any sport, but certainly NFL is when the Jets knocked off the Patriots in the 2010 playoffs in Foxborough. And it wasn't just because they got them to the AFC title game and all that. It was because it was in Foxborough. It was against Brady. It was against Belichick.

And it was just, that's become a house of horrors for all AFC East teams and really the AFC in general for 20 years. So to see this new reality that we're living in, if you have been, following the sport for decades. It is striking, even though none of this is surprising because we knew entering the season that the Patriots were no longer an elite team. They just didn't have the parts and maybe they will after whatever they do, whether it's a reload or a rebuild. But in the here and now, they are not a very good team. And the bills, I mean, it's talk about catching a team at the wrong time. It's the Patriots kind of limping to the finish line. And the bills just

achieving this level right now where, you know, if they would have left in Josh Allen and Stefan In addition to me losing my fantasy title, that's a 50 burger. So Sean McDermen actually showed restraint, but not too much restraint, Greg, because even when they were in full control of the game, I think 31-9, he's thrown an 80-yard bomb downfield that doesn't complete. There was a sense of not that Sean McDermen has bad blood for Belichick and the pages, but this idea like, this is over. Like this era of New England Patriots nomination is over.

This is the new reality. That was a message game. I mean, it's been over this season, and I think they were just doing what the Patriots would have done and have done. And I think Belichick totally respects it. He went out of his way to, and I do, I don't think it's performative. But I think he pulls, he picks the spots to do it to have that sort of long hug and talk with McDermott right at the end kind of telling him. Telling him how impressed he is and everything. and, like, he gets it.

They're throwing deep when they're up 52 to 7 on the Titans in the snow, like, you know, back years and years ago. Like that, that's what they do. I think they know they're bad. The Patriots are a walking example of how little the running game matters in the NFL. I always think about that watching their offense. It's like everyone who talks about how important the running game is like, yeah, as a compliment. Because you know who's great at running the ball this year?

The Patriots. You know who has the third fewest touchdowns this year? The Patriots. the Jets and the Giants have fewer touchdowns this year than the running game just doesn't do that much for you if that's all you got. Especially when it's this passing game. I mean, the running game works zero balance. That's what I mean. Like, it's actually possible. They have a top five running game to have that good of a running game without a passing game. And it doesn't matter. You're the worst offense in the league despite that. Whereas if you, like,

flip it and you have a terrible running game, like you can, you know, you can still be great and their defense is bad. And who knows? Like, they're, they're going to. going to be a very different team next year. All these teams are, and the bills should get their eating while it's good, but there's no reason to think this Bill's team in particular is going to be going anywhere. And by the way, they get to add John Smokey Brown, their best deep threat to this offense in the playoffs. It's pretty amazing. And if I'm a Browns fan, and that's the slated matchup right now, that is not who I would want to see in the first round or a Ravens fan bills rate like the bills are the team you do not want to be facing if you're a wild card in the

AFC well they're not pulling a Texans flop this time around they're not losing whatever team they face totally different and to your point the Patriots had a 288 passing yard differential last night 288 yards differential the worst in franchise history they can't throw the ball they're inept and I'll let one last little thing when we sat with Sean McDermott at the owner's meeting two years ago and you know we had a lot of We had a nice time with him, and he seemed like a guy we liked him. He liked him. He was a good coach. But when we asked him about the Patriots and this obstacle in the way, he sounded like every other coach, you know, listen, we get it. We're going to have to do our thing and get them out of the way. And part of me is like, cool, I don't, I simply don't believe it will happen anytime soon.

And it's happened very quickly. And it has to do with Tom Brady being out of the mix. I get all that. But the Patriots have one of the biggest rebuilding jobs to do in the league this offseason. It's pretty crazy. I imagine Tom Brady's enjoying this as well, not just because maybe there's bad blood, although I know, Greg, you don't think there is, but there is this whole chicken and the egg thing with Belichick and Brady, and this does not mean that Belchick's not the greatest coach ever,

but it does not, I'm sure it's a little annoying to Belchick. He'd never tell you that Brady is again playing great and surging back into the playoffs while the Patriots now go into this deep abyss, and rebuild in the first year that Brady is out of town. I think that's been another kind of element of this season that's been interesting to watch. Brady continuing to stay at that high-end level

while the Patriots crumble. Well, he's not going to be viewing it as an abyss. I'm sure that they're going to be planning to compete next year, whether they can figure out a way to do that because this is a team that I think was lucky to get the six wins, seven if they can beat the Jets. Jets might be favored in that game at this. point, you know, they're going to be looking to compete right away, but good luck with that.

I mean, it's tough. I like the moment when Belchek got bad advice from upstairs on the challenge. And then, of course, ESPN and ABC cameras capture him screaming at some poor bastard on the phone and slamming it down. And then there was a reporter, and you could hear in the voice, a fear to ask the question. but as a reporter, you had to do it. Let's listen to Belichick being asked about that incident on the sideline. There was a shot of you throwing the phone on the sideline.

Huffin and the challenge. Seardi. What did you? I'm assuming you didn't see the play before the challenge, but what went on that play? Yeah. Obviously, he made the catch. It was a good catch.

Maybe that, yeah, Giardi actually, you know, he comported himself fairly well there, actually. Well, he asked the right question at least. Yeah, he did. He asked the question. And a better lost 700,000 on the Patriots last night, went all in on two wagers at B.MGM. And I just have to ask, Greg, I know they're your favorite team, but you can't be reckless with money like that. You have a family. Like, that was just a bad decision.

That's true. That's true. I was more confident, I'll just say, and this bill's, you know, winning this. game by a lot than any pick I made all week in game debut. So I will tell you, I felt like a bad fan kind of rooting for that to be correct last night. Well, it's a better draft pick. That's a sure. And I would think that there's really no reason for Cam Newton to start week 17. You'd think it should be Jared Stidham against the Jets. But who knows with Belchick? You just never know the decision he's going to make. It's not going to come from any outside

influence. All right. So the bills, by the way, bills number two in the power rankings, I actually gave it a little bit of thought. Should I? Could I? The Chief's kind of sleepwalking their way to the playoffs. The Bills are just not just a good team. This is a great team. And when you look at the Bills, the Chiefs,

and I'm going to throw the Ravens in there personally, like those three teams all in the playoffs together, you can make a case for any of them right now, if you ask me. Yeah. It's going to be a lot of them. Ravens got a lot of holes there. But you're right. The Bills are actually ahead of the Chiefs.

Chiefs and weighted DVOA. I think the Saints are too for that, you know, but like waiting the end of the season a little heavier than the very beginning. So I don't think it's crazy. I think they're the two best teams in the league, the Bills and the Chiefs. I put the Ravens right there. If they continue to play this way, man, you guys are, you guys are buying into them beating some, I love the Ravens and man, they have, they've had a lot of injuries that those guys aren't coming back. That's all I'm saying it. And they haven't played. That's all I'm saying. We will track. And of course, it must be said that they haven't had very good performance as the last two januaries we're going to get to all that we got so much

coverage of the playoffs coming up both on this podcast and on nfl network it's going to be good all right that is monday night football all right let's now get to our special guest and we are a big fan of this man he is the co-host of good morning football a program that i am lucky enough to have a weekly guest spot on he is the senior your national writer for foxfords.com and GQ and of course the co-author of the New York Times bestseller, Out of the Blue. Do you not have Out of the Blue yet? Let's bring him on. He is the great Peter Schrager. What's up, Pink? What is up, guys? Thanks for having me on. I was on over the

summer. I had a blast with you guys. And here we are to end the season, Week 17, nothing better. And not to take the show by storm here, but I got to tell you, Greg Mark, Dan is great on our show. We have the best time with him on the power ranking segment. I think we need a Sessler and a Rosenthal segment if you guys are willing to get up so early in the morning next season. Listen, I mean, the answer is yes. I'll get up at any time. I won't go to sleep. I want to just do like a dramatic reading of out of the blue by Victor, you know, by you and Victor Cruz. I actually, I have it and I have like a little football library all my football books back there. It's back there. And just like each week, I read a couple more pages. Great TV. I was going to say, just because you have the book,

it was in the newsroom and you grabbed it. That doesn't mean that you get credit for it. You have to read it and, you know, pay for it too. I think it was said. I know Pete Trager from back. I think it was sent directly to. It was sent directly to my apartment in New York. I remember this.

This quarantine, there have been some books that I really want to read Lonesome Dove. Like, it's this long, like, I really at some point want to read Dune, like the original Dune, now they're making the movie. Out of the blue, though, should be number one on everyone's list. I think it's that good. classic, yeah. Do an engineer's second. So we haven't been on because Pete is plugged in as anybody.

And now as we enter week 17 here, it's time to take a closer look at what's happening with these job openings. And we have obviously open gigs in Detroit, Atlanta, and Houston. And then there are some jobs that should be opening up. But let's start. We know what we know with those three teams. What are the teams that you feel very confident about will be searching for a new coach,

effective Black Monday? I don't like doing this before Black Monday. And I know Black Monday is not a great day for a lot of coaches because it's not only the coaches, but there's like assistant coaches and these families basically are told you're out of work. Now you've got to go hustle and scramble for another job. So I never like doing this in, I think a couple years ago.

I didn't say it on air, but a lot of people did. They fired Chuck Pagano. They said he's going to be done in Indianapolis. And then Pagano won week 17, kept his job for one more year. And he and Chris Smith. So, like, I don't like saying, here are the things I think. Here are the three teams we know about. And then I would say, with a strong conviction, I think the Jets and Jacksonville most likely will be.

And then there's always a wild card. I don't know on the chargers right now. I really don't know on the charges. I think Anthony Lynn has done a lot to help his case. And I think they like the locker room, the feeling right there. So I'd rather not go down that road. But Atlanta, Houston, Detroit, probably Jacksonville, probably the Jets. That's what I would say at the moment.

And there's usually one or two others that we didn't be coming. And again, you're right. This is not a celebration. What's going to happen to some of these guys and their staffs? But are you saying there's a chance that Gace can hold on to his job? Let's say, all right, let's just say, because the Jets are locked in now at number two. Now you've got Dan Panic. Yeah, he got me.

They're locked in at number two now, even if they beat the Patriots. And normally, I was thinking about this last night while the Patriots are getting destroyed. Since I'm not getting Trevor Lawrence, let's kill the Patriots in week 17 and go out with three straight wins. But that is like, do I trust this ownership to not put too much stock into a three game winning streak after an 0 and 13 start? I don't trust them, Pete. Should I be worried that there could be a way that they could sway, Adam Gays can sway ownership with a third straight win? I would say this. I know the guys in that building fairly well.

they at no point in this season were tanking they at no point wanted to lose they had been wanting to win every single game coaches players and i assume the owner and of course the general manager joe douglas no one ever thought about the draft pick the way that you dan or some of the other jets fans or at least the local market that i'm in we're thinking about it i would say this adam gays can finish the season with three wins i would assume that there's going to be a long conversation about his future and i would assume that there might be some and chairs being removed on the deck as far as the coaching staff goes for the New York Jets. There we go. I don't fire anybody. I don't do it. I hear you.

And I have a few things I want to ask you about, but you mentioned Lynn, and I read something that made some sense to me that one reporter close to the team thought they're going to look for any reason to keep them because they like them. And because this year was weird, and it's like they have Justin Herbert playing so well

that there's actually kind of a thought, which I think makes some sense that you at least have to consider the fact do you want to change his offense after he plays so well? I also thought, like Tom Telesco, who's, you know, in terms of drafting pro bowlers, has done as well as any general manager in the league practically,

but doesn't, you know, have a lot of wins. And sometimes, you know, they don't let the GM, you know, fire multiple coaches, and he's already fired Mike McCoy there too. So if they changed Lynn, it could be, I don't know, like, would you keep Telesco and change another coach and let Telesco pick again? Do you think like the chargers, especially with the stadium and knowing their ownership history, I think makes a difference to me too, like knowing if they're an ownership, they might just lay back or if they're going to be super active, whether that would factor

in, especially if they go ahead and win this game here at the end and like feel like they have like a nice winning streak to close the season. They had a brutal loss a couple weeks ago where they called the Audible on fourth down and the running team was out there, but remember that play? And I think everyone thought Anthony Lynn might get fired then

and then, you know, I got folks in Los Angeles I spoke with and they said, we're not making any changes this week. And that was the key thing this week. And I was pushing back with my folks that I know there and I'm like, okay, this week but does that mean next week? Does that mean the week after?

Does that mean that he's safe for the off season? And I couldn't get a straight answer. They love Anthony Lynn. They love them. And like you said, Greg, great guy. The players love them. And the only issue, they haven't won many games. They did win a playoff game in Baltimore a couple years ago.

But then you start trying to make justifications in your head. You say, okay, well, look, Derwin James was injured before the season started. It's COVID. It's a weird deal. They have played in front of an empty stadium. They haven't even got a chance to open that new stadium. They really haven't even got their footprint settled. And Herbert's had such great leaps over the last few.

he's going to be offensive rookie the year. Do you really bring in a new offensive coach? I'd be really interested to see what they do because there's a lot of reasons you can justify it. Now, I always get into like the coaching stuff and it's all right, if Anthony Lynn were to be fired, is there a line of teams looking to bring him in next year? I always think about the marketplace and the value of the coach. So if Matt Nagy was fired, I think there might be a line of team to say, hey, bring in Matt and Aggie for an interview. You know, like, Mike McCarthy was fired. Teams were like, all right, let's bring them in. He didn't get the job right away, but let's bring them in.

Of course, Adam Gase was fired by the Dolphins. Jets were like, let's hire Adam Gase. Whoops. I don't, sure, but at the time, it wasn't whoops. Everyone was like, all right, there's an established coach. Anthony, I'm not sure. And that's what I think is going through a lot of people's heads right now. I wouldn't be shocked if Anthony Lynn kept his job.

I'll just say that. I would look at, you know, if you go beyond the NFL and kind of like what David Tepper did last year going out. And, you know, meeting Matt Rule and becoming enamored with him and signing into that kind of a contract, which, you know, for a college coach is that's a little, that's unusual in the NFL, there's the Matt Campbell's out there, Lincoln Riley, Jim Harbaugh's name has come up. Urban Meyer. Urban Meyer, I think of, you know, David Swinney and the Jaguars who are going to get Trevor Lawrence. Do you see college coaches having a chance to crack in this year, or is it more, we're exploring these guys, but we're probably going to go with the old NFL club. We're going to pull someone that we know and have more familiar information on.

All right. The word I got this year is that college coaches might be more willing now to make the leap than ever before because of just how screwy the NCAA is, how uncertain things are, how there was such a lack of leadership across the board as far as conference. Like college football right now is the great abyss. No one knows what the future is, if it's ever going to get back on track, what's going on with amateurism and sports in general. And after the way the COVID situation was handled by a lot of these schools,

and conferences with no real direction. I think guys that forever have never listened might be willing to listen. And, you know, I mentioned the name David Shaw to a source because for years we've heard, David Shaw will never leave Stanford. The Pac-12 was weird this year, and Stanford has not been good the last few years. Is this the year David Shaw listens? The word I got back was, nah, probably not. But for the first time, it wasn't a slam dunk, no.

Pat Fitzgerald in Northwestern, who you guys didn't mention, who might be the number one college candidate right now, he's got kids that are both, I think, in high school at the moment. I think the word I got was that he's going to wait until they're out of high school before he leaps. But like when the Bears or the Packers or the vacancy two years ago in the higher level floor, I was told straight up, no, like he will not leave Northwestern. He's got a great situation there. So I think things are opening him up.

Matt Campbell, not short. Harball, I don't know if there's a market for Harbaugh right now after the season Michigan's had. And the third name was Davos Swini. I don't think he's leaving or Lincoln Riley. How about your co-worker, Urban Meyer? Urban's fascinating. Urban's fascinating. He's been out of this for a while.

You know, you've been hearing the Chargers for a couple years now. And then recently Jacksonville's been coming up a bunch. He's got a very good situation at Fox. I know he's very happy there. They love him and they believe their show is up there, if not better, than the one on ESPN. So, like, Urban is a huge key cog to that. And he's got a long future with them. Question is, the Shad Khan or in this case, the Spanos family or one of these teams

or even the Jets, hand him the keys and say, you're the personnel guy, you're the coach, you hire whoever you want, you've got an unlimited budget, go for it, and does it tickle urban enough to say, I've got to get one more shot at this. I think Trevor Lawrence might play a bigger role than any of these guys as far as the owners and everything. Maybe Urban is tempted by that and saying, all right,

Shot Khan, here's an unlimited check, here's the freedom to bring in my own staff, and I get the first overall pick. that might excite me. But I will tell you, he is happy at Fox and they love him over there. I don't know if Fox could pay him with the Jacksonville Jaguars or the Jets or the Chargers can, but it's a much easier life for Urban Meyer

doing those Saturday hits and giving Pep Talks into a computer screen. Being your co-worker, I think that's a huge plus. That's a great, I mean, that's probably the biggest perk of all. Is there any coaches that are back to kind of the recycled ranks in the NFL, Jim Caldwell, a Bill Cowr, even, any of these guys that might pop up and have a serious chance to get a job? The one name, and I thought maybe Bill O'Brien would get another look, haven't heard much on him.

Marvin Lewis apparently has a lot more love in the league than... Has he already interviewed with Houston? Was that right? I believe he did. I believe Ian and Mike reported that this weekend. And it's not just a, hey, Marvin Lewis deserves an interview. He's been a coach for like... Well, Marvin Lewis is beginning to reveal themselves that, gosh, Marvin Lewis took that team.

to the playoffs with that limited budget scouting staff and some of the things that plague the Bengals historically to the playoffs five years in a row and built a winner. And yeah, they didn't win games. But like there's a lot of lessons to be learned from this season. And I think having a leader of men, and that's such a, I roll my eyes because I think all these guys are leaders of men, they wouldn't be getting where they are

and they weren't. But like an authoritative voice with someone with the skins on the wall, some of these teams after what has been going on over the last 18 months might say, let's just hand over the keys to Marvin because he can not only coach football, but that's an adult in the room. Right, and he can hire a good staff. I mean, who's going to be excited

about that, though? No one is. With all due respect to Marvin Lewis. No one. No, and I feel like it's an uphill battle, but you look around the league and you see a lot of his assistance, you know, with coaching jobs and that that's part of it too, that he has this long roller decks. You mentioned the thing about Fox's college show is maybe better

than the ESPN. You know, you work for Fox and it has gotten a lot of buzz this year, and Reggie Bush is part of that show. And it just occurred to me, how much do you think that show doing well is directly related to the lessons Reggie Bush learned while he did our digital show last year, the around the NFL type digital? I think those moments were memorable. And I think, you know, when he was lulling the opportunity to leave NFL network and to go to do Fox's Thursday night NFL coverage and their Saturday football main show. I think it was probably a difficult decision for him. But he certainly

learned a lot from you guys. I mean, the intriguing aspect to that is he said goodbye to none of us. But I just think there was a lot of... One day, he just wasn't there for the show. But that wasn't totally out of character. So it was like we didn't even know that he was out of the company. I guess it is a little weird for us to be expecting a Dear John letter from Reggie Bush. Two more things from me before we say goodbye and boys feel free to chime. I want to go through my list though. I want to go through my names for you. Oh, you got more. Let's hear more. Let me rattle them off for you because here's what I've got. Honestly, this is my favorite thing to do as opposed to, in addition to the draft, is get the gossip on the coaching stuff because I feel like I'm as plugged in as anybody with this stuff and I talk to all the teams and a lot of the agents of the country.

And it's, pound your chest. I'm pounding my chest, but it's, this is like the one niche. Like I don't do injuries well. I don't do free agent signings that well. But like the coaching stuff, I love the machinations behind it. And I talk to all the presidents and GMs. And, you know, it's going to be really interesting. So I want to go through some of the names and some of the processes that are at stake here because I think this is the most unique year that there is no slam dunk candidate. Like I don't see that.

The enemy. Josh McDaniels in recent years when they're coming off another playoff thing. It's like, oh, McDaniels is the hot name or Kyle Shanahan took this team to the Super Bowl. But Bienomi, is he the hot name? I feel like he was around last year, and I was going to get another opportunity, and I do believe he will get one of these jobs. But I don't see teams jumping up and down or fan bases jumping up and down saying, gosh, even as good as they've been, I just don't feel the buzz around Bienemy this year as I did last year.

I think Eric's going to be a premier candidate. I think Robert Sala, the defensive corner of the 49ers, everyone is linking him to Detroit because he's got Detroit connections. and he got a graduate degree from Michigan State, and he grew up two miles from the Lions facility, and both his parents still live in that town, which is, I believe, Deerfield, Michigan. So there's a lot of, like, local routes there,

but I think Sala could get some offers from other teams, and then it's his decision, what he wants to do. So Sala, B. Enemy, are two big names. Daibol up in Buffalo is a big name. Arthur Smith, the offensive coordinator for the Titans, is getting a lot of buzz right now. and those are like the main guys and I don't know if any fan base is doing flip

like if you're a Jets fan are you like oh my god we have a chance to get Arthur Smith nothing against Arthur Smith but like it doesn't feel like there's that home run and I don't even know if Urban Meyer does it for fancies like Urban Myers many years removed from college football let alone never done it in the pros like I don't know if there's that home run pick that everyone is like oh we got the guy

yeah it doesn't seem like there's that the high sex appeal guy I don't know if that it makes sense like if Dennis Allen is the head coach of say the Chargers next year like our Chargers fans like oh my God let's go the Dennis Allen era you know what I mean like there's nothing against these guys Dennis Allen could get hired Dennis Allen could get hired defensive coordinator of the Saints they had a great year this year but look at like Sean McDermott and the bills last year I think a lot of people thought that was a solid hire when it happened and now you look at it four years later it's like oh my god what a home run so I think if you're if your team is looking for a head coach coach, don't give up hope because there isn't that slam dunk guy. And maybe I'm talking to myself as much as I'm talking to the audience. I'll give you a name. I'll give you a name because, Dan, I know you're invested in one team specifically. And I think they're going to be a really interesting situation.

They probably don't have Trevor Lawrence. Let's just assume they don't. So there's not that giant carrot there. They've had years of, you know, just unsuccessful, no playoffs, ineptitude if you want, whatever it is. Does a name like Wink Martindale, the defensive coordinator of the Ravens, who's in his 60s or late 50s, but it's like a super high energy, beloved guy.

Like, does that get you? Because I don't know what the Jets fan even wants at this point. Yeah. No, like Wink Martindale, that would be a shrug your shoulders higher. Marvin Lewis would be a panic higher. At least the fan base would look at it that way. Yeah, I don't see any. Jim Harbaugh, like there are, as you know, Pete,

the Johnson family has danced around Jim in the past, and I just wonder if they're going to want to make a splash higher and go after Harbaugh, and that I feel like has a boom-bust reward at a high level. Yeah, the wild card, like, dazzling, like, ooh, higher might be if someone was to actually bring in Joe Brady, who's 30 years old. But I don't think the Panthers did enough for me to be like, yes, that's the guy. And then the other one is the defensive coordinator out in Los Angeles, Brandon Staley, who's 38, he's not 30, but last year he was an outside linebacker's coach.

And now you're saying, okay, well, he ran the best defense in the league with the Rams. It's such an interesting year. And we didn't even start talking about the GMs, which. Well, I want to, yeah, tell me about Riddick, if nothing else. Like how, I'm just fascinated that, and they didn't mention it once on the broadcast, even when the teams come up. Hey, you got to mention it. And we interviewed.

We asked them, we're like, Scott, you interviewed for the lion's job. What was it like? Like, you have to ask. Right. What, do you, he's interviewed for at least two jobs. Was it three? I don't know. You think he has a legit shot to get one of these?

Yes, it was an interesting deal this year because they're doing it over Zoom. So, like, you know, you come in and you're sitting on a Zoom for several hours. And, you know, take the Detroit one, for example. He's got the owner in one box. He's got Chris Spielman in another box. And he's like, you know, it's tough. Like, it's on Zoom or you're really good at presenting over Zoom and you can do it. And you've had practice at it.

It's so weird. It's really weird. And it's, you know, it's a difference between being in some guys' cases. making six figures to making, you know, mid-seven figures in some of these GM positions. So it's a huge life opportunity and a huge, huge leap for some of these GM candidates. Back to Riddick, though. I've heard he interviewed really well at a couple places. I think he's got a good shot this year.

There's going to be six, seven openings. I think he's got a good shot this year. And it's as good a shot he's had this year than he's had in any of the years prior. How long till Daniel Jeremiah is a general manager? I mean, his name's been thrown around here and there. I mean, is it, it seems like star rising on that front. You laugh. I mean, absolutely.

If DJ wanted one of these jobs, he would be a top candidate because he exemplifies it every day and he lives and breeds it and he's actually plugged into the NFL. He's more than just a guy who does the draft. The fact he does those Chargers games might seem like a nothing Sunday thing. But like, he sees the league. He sees the league in person. Like he gets it and he's got a great track record. If Daniel wanted to leave the NFL network to do that,

I think there would be a lot of teams willing to listen. So far, all the things that I've heard. And he actually came out last year, I think, and was like, I'm staying. Like, there's been rumors, but I'm staying. I think it was to be an assistant to Joe Douglas in the Jets. That's when he came out and said that. I think he's made it pretty clear. He's happy with where he is at the moment.

At the very least, he should leverage all this knowledge into starting a podcast or something. I think he went pretty well. He never tried that. Hey, any other names you want to throw out there, Pete, before bringing in for a landing here? Yeah. GM is going to be really interesting. And the team I would circle that could be fascinating for this group specifically, you know, for years, the GM position is the best scout in the building

or the best player personnel guy or the guy who just, you know, grinds on the college tape. There was no real traveling for college football for any of these guests here. The pastor, yeah, you got to get him in there. But he's not the GM, by the way. I actually want to do a great. defense of Jack Easterby. I feel like someone brought his name up. Sorry, I shouldn't have interrupted you.

He just got buried by everybody and it was like, poor Easterby. I don't know at all. I don't even know. I never met him personally, but it's like, you found your whipping boy media and it's like, all right, let's go. Right at Sessler, you know. Have you been? I was told by someone

in our company to stop discussing him, so I've been silenced. So he, you know, there's someone somewhere sensitive about it. Yeah, I'm not sure. I mean, that guy, do whatever. I would look, I don't know, I would look to the Carolina Panthers in just the way Teper does business. You mentioned them.

I don't think you're going to get a run-in-the-mill hire. And if you do, it's because that run-on-the-mill hire, and I don't mean to dismiss whoever they end up do hiring, if it is because he impressed Teper and bloom away in the interview, I just think the way David Teper does business. And I've got to know him fairly well, not, we haven't talked about like the general manager position or anything, but like he views this. as as a competitive environment where he is a, I don't want to, he's a killer. I mean, he's a killer on Wall Street.

This is a guy who looks at things and says, how's everyone else doing it? How can I be a disruptor? How can I be asymmetric? I'm going to get it done. With the rule hire, everyone thought he was going to the Giants. He's like, he's not leaving the house that he lives in if I get there first. And he didn't. He paid him the most and convinced him to bring all his staff and he had it.

The GM hire is not going to be, all right, here's the best player personnel The GM hire for the Carolina Panthers is going to be very well vetted and is going to have to earn that position. And I wouldn't be shocked if they did something that is a little bit spin this league on its head because new CBA, lower salary cap. The draft is a crapshoot anyway. And this guy, he's not doing this because his family's family's family has passed this onto him and he doesn't want to upset the fan base. He's already fired Ron Rivera and cut Cam Newton. And I think the Panthers fans are like, whatever this guy does, I guess at the time being, we'll have to believe in it. And so far, I think the Matt Ruhle hire was the right call.

So I'm fascinated. This is the first non, you know, football coach hire for David Teper. And I'm really interested to see who he picks to run this organization as far as rosters go. Awesome insight, as always from the great Peter Schrager. And before you go, Pete, it was about 18 months ago, I'm going to say, that you made, I think it was your first. appearance on the show, but the first one where we were all together, the poolside pod at the NFL Media Talent Summit, has anything changed on this front? You can keep it to one word.

When you look around the circle here at the four of us, which one do you respect the most? Greg. Which one do you respect the most? Which one do you respect the most? Greg. Greg. I love all you guys equally. I love Wes.

I love Ricky Hollywood. I love all you guys equally. you're all equal to me only one of you though was on the weakest link that I happened to be fun didn't even know it was happening was watching the television showed up and then a day later it's like

here's Mina Kimes winning someone a million bucks I'm like yeah I don't I don't Mina Kimes needs more love let's give Erica some love here she was on an actual show and was great thanks Pete

that means a lot you got a supreme hoodie on you're like you got swag yeah love you bro yeah you got You know, Pete, I'm glad you said that because it wasn't just that Mina, who's great, it wasn't just that she was on another game show.

She was responsible for the million-dollar winner. And then poor Ricky Hollywood, she's doing her best. She gets savage by, I thought, unfair questions, allowing the worst player in their history of the weakest link to be victorious. It just didn't feel fair, ultimately, for Ricky. And it's like, Jane Lynch was not all that warm or nice. Like, there was a lot of things that I had, problems with, Mina Kimes helping out millions of small restaurants and maybe keeping hundreds of

small businesses alive, that might be for some people. That might be some people's thing. I was more into the weakest link and what we saw from our friend who works on this show. Awesome. Understandable. You did it, Pete. Thank you for giving us your time. You're a very busy man.

And congratulations every Thursday night football telecast this year for Haykman singing your Phrases of both you and the entire show. That is a thrill as well. Can I make a request for tomorrow when you're on Good Morning Football? This I'll be like, can I get a, can I get an album cover from you? Can I request one? If I have it. You have to have it.

I was going to request the cars, Rico Kersick and the boys. If you have anything from the cars. Okay, maybe not tomorrow, but I am absolutely going to work on that. Let me know which album you're thinking of as well. Okay. I can go with Rush. Rush works too. How about Zoomop?

Could you replace it with, the Hanson brothers. Hanson. Hanson's great. Yes. Middle of nowhere. Middle of nowhere, I believe. Yeah. Good stuff. Peter Schreger, you're the man. Thank you, buddy.

Oh, there he goes. Shregbaum. Great guest. He's one of our best guests because Pete, here, I think, you know, we'll get 10, 12 minutes with Peter. He wants to dig in. He wants to go deeper. I try to bring it in for a landing and he said, oh, no, no, no. I got a lot more to get to.

And I feel like we're all smarter and more prepared for Black Monday as a result. Yeah, I also thought that it's pretty clear that I'm not going to say that Greg has lost esteem in Peter's eyes, but the rest of us have clearly been raised up to some degree. I thought his answer that he respects us equally was honest. It's when he gave an actually honest answer before. He's gotten in trouble for it. He's gotten grief.

You guys couldn't handle it. Well, it's 18 months ago. The world was a totally different place. It would be easier to respect Greg 18 months ago. Things have changed. You know, it is. There are parallels to the chiefs and the bills. Greg's the chiefs with Schrager and who he respects.

But here we are, just firing up the power rankings. And now the gap has been narrowed, it seems. And perhaps Greg will get overtaken. Just keep an eye on it. All right. All right. Things have changed since we were a poolside at that villa. Well, that's for sure.

That's for sure. All right. I also after that day had, like, 35 days off. I run by there fairly often and do think of that moment where Schrager was wrapping a towel around the microphone that he was holding. If we ever did an unsolved mystery with this show, I wanted to be about Schroger wrapping the microphone with the towel. I remember after it ended, I said, Erica, what, why? What was happening with that?

And it was just a total mystery, total mystery. All right. Here we go. I'm excited. No, I'm excited. I love power rankings. I love ranking things. I love when Greg gets passionate about the booth and who he likes and who he doesn't like. It's a major topic offline on text and in conversation. And, you know, Cessler, you know, he's got his sardonic wit.

And when you could weaponize that into a listicle excited me, I'm just going to, I just made a tactical decision here not to have my own list. I don't have to worry about anybody coming up to me at a coach's breakfast. I prefer to sit back and just watch the inferno. Some men just want to watch the world burn. It's not an inferno. I see what you've done here. No, in all seriousness, this is all done with respect. We're not trying to destroy people here, right?

Of course. Right. Well, that's the thing. The other week we're arguing about, you know, the booth and thinking about play-by-play. And it's part of that. It was more talking about, like, this is the hardest job in sports being play-by-play guy, I think, on an NFL game. Play-by-play in general, but, you know, NFL's our area. I'm totally with you.

In fact, we are, I guess, on some level, quote-unquote broadcasters. We talk into a mic for a living. And I marvel at how these guys do with the play-by-play dudes, just the recall to know who just fell down in pursuit on the defensive line, who came out of nowhere to make the tackle, which slot receiver, Or wait a second, was that the guy in the outside? Who came across the middle and made that catch? The guys that are really good, the way they can do it without missing a beat is something that is easy to admire. I would be in a nervous panic.

I love football, a whole bunch. But if it was like, we've got a thorny, like, rough situation with 18 seconds left to go. And people all over, I would run out of the booth. And I would run to my car and drive home. I'd love to see Zach to do it. So, yeah, we're like understanding that. But then again, you think about it. And you're like, well, you're stepping into the arena.

And these guys are talking about who's a better quarterback, who's a better wide receiver. They're criticizing the head coach at times. Maybe that's not the play-by-play guy as much. But it's like if you're going to step into the arena, it's a high standard. And we were arguing in particular, you know, about Monday night. And I would, and I've got my, you know, opinions. And I thought, well, it'd only be fair, you know, if you're going to say this, like, all right, let's actually rank them. Let's make a list of the play-by-play guys.

And we watch a lot of game pass or you do it on shortcuts, I know, Mark. And so it's like, I'm hearing these guys every week. And so you form opinions, and I decided, okay, I'll put it on paper. I just looked, who were the 15 play-by-play guys the previous weekend? And I just put them down, one to 15 for myself. I did not think this is going to be a pod bit, but I just wanted to see how it shook up. I think it makes for good conversation. If it makes for good conversation, then why not?

not say it on the show. And I don't understand why you need to take a shot at Mark there and say he takes shortcuts. I mean, this guy, he puts in the work. You can hear it when he analyzes football. It's called DirecTV shortcuts. I just know that Mark prefers that over the GamePass version. Well, we could get into that another time. I will not believe it, but they do something that Game Pass editors have chosen not to do often. Let's put it that way. Okay, here we go. That's too far down. Let's start with the play-by-play guys. Then we're going to move to the Sessler list. And how do you want to do, Greg? Maybe it'd be better to start with the, when, so this, you're essentially basing this off, week 16, who we saw, who we heard. Yeah. Want to start at the

bottom of the list or make our way up? No, let's start at the top. I don't know, because I don't want to like, see, you heard Schrager being diplomatic on the last segment. You're like, wait a second, I need to be that way too. Because the top is, the top's more interesting to me. And frankly, more people are going to know who we're talking about there or have opinions. And after the top six or so, there was a lot of blending in. But I had, I had to go Joe Buck number one, Mike Tariko number two, and Kevin Harlan, three, Al Michaels, four, Lion Eagle. Wait, I'm just going to break, this is the top tier. Okay. I and Eagle five and Nance six. And to me, those are the big six. And I've got, you know, they're all great. And you could argue any one of them should be higher or

lower. That was my sixth. Hit me that year. You got buck one. Yeah. Tarrico would be one if he had more starts, but availability, you know, it's not his fault, but availability is a trait here. And he's not given me, he's not out there enough.

I'm getting buck twice a week. I'm getting Tariko, you know, a handful of times every year. So he would have been one because he's got the, he does the things that bother me the most in the ones that are towards the bottom of the list. Tarika. A command of the rules. A command of the rules is very important. to me. And you don't think Tariko has that as much? No, I think he does. I think he's number

one. That's what I'm saying. It's like a command of the rules, a command of the players and the coaches, the personnel, like knowing everything and being able to paint that picture. And of course, all these guys at the top have a sense of the moment. You know, they have a sense of what matters and painting the picture and all that stuff. But that's where Tariko is amazing. But yeah, Joe, Joe Buck and Troy, I think they'd be my number one group right now. Yeah, so you got Bucket number one, I think, hard to deny, five years ago even, I feel like there'd be a lot of pushback on that because people didn't always like Buck

and thought he maybe came off as a little smug. But I think there has been a general greater appreciation for him. I have no problem with that. Tariko, too. We love Tariko on the show. Harlan, I like a lot, not just because he's a pro and he's been on our show and he's a great dude, but to be able to do TV and radio

and do it as well as he does, that's something. What do you think, Mark? I'm in it my list is very close to Greg's with one major alteration oh no I was asking because I want to hear more about no no I'm talking about play by play I'm talking about Greg's list my my play my number one guy is Kevin Harlan I put Harlan like squarely number one for me because I think because number one you mentioned it doing radio color guys I was this I'm counting I'm counting TV but that's fair I mean I you could you could tell Harlan is maybe more fun than anyone else I did rank color guys but I have an opinion I on play by... Are you asking for that? I ask, okay. I do want to hear your opinion on everything, Mark. But are you saying that you made a list for play-by-play guys? I did on my own, but the presentation part of this will be the color commentators.

The list of record for today's podcast is Greg's play-by-play, your color. So I just know I want the segment to be able to be clear and concise to the listener. If you also have a play-by-play list, I just need to know that as host. and then I'll adapt that way. I am simply saying that I thought Greg's list was pristine minus one change that I would make. Okay, you'd put Harlan turned stuff. Well, we've blown past concise. And look, Al's an all-time great.

He's in an interesting spot with another all-time great in the same building as Toriko. So, you know, I still love listening to Al. I and Eagle, very underrated. And Nance, like, you know, it's not my, like, favorite flavor of tea. You know, you got your different flavors, but... Not a vineyard, vineyard yards, man, whatever it is. But top shelf, you know, A quality, you feel like you're watching a big game. You spent a lot of time with him.

It's all good. That's why Al Michaels, for me, is still number one. Even though he is up there in age, I haven't seen a slippage that maybe you guys see. And when I hear Al Michaels on the mic, and this goes back to being a man of a certain age now, it's like, okay, this is good. That's why I love, you know, even though we're at the games, not a humble brag, just the truth. So we're not hearing the Super Bowl telecast like most people.

Like, if I know that Al, Chris, and Michelle are on the game, it's like, oh, that's the number one Super Bowl team I want. But opinions vary obviously with Al at this state of his career. And he loves it. I think he loves all sports, but that is, that's a big part of sort of separating out this top tier. Like Harlan, you can just, Harlan, you can just tell love sports. That goes along with me.

Tariko, beneath all the intelligence and, like, knowledge, you can tell how much he loves it. He's just like a sports junkie. Totally. All right, let's hear the bottom half of what you want to share with us, Greg. And then I want to hear Mark's Color Guys list. All right. I'm just going to go through it.

This middle tiers, you know, it's hard to separate them all. But I'm going, the next I'm going, Kenny Albert, Kevin Coogler. Amin on Adam Amin on Fox all really good Joe Davis is good Andrew Catalon we're getting to Steve

Levy Monday night Spiradetus Greg Gumbles and Chris Myers rounds out the list right there I see I got it out of you that's good

is he got Myers buried in last place you got Steve Levy way too low Steve should be higher in my opinion the rising star for me is Kevin Coogler

I thought he did great work this past week I texted you guys about it he was a sharp as attack. In fact, that was when I was just saying why I admire good play-by-play so much. I was really impressed by how quick he was and being spot on every time there was a play happening or a skirmish or a guy missed the tackle. He knew every time in the moment who it was.

Cougler, a rising star for me. Your thoughts, Sessler? I'm very... On Greg's list. No, Greg and I've talked about these things so much that I have some shit. I have shared feelings about who's near the bottom. And I think the lack of, there are people that are into football. And there are some that I think are just play-by-play people on a contract. And there is a difference between these types.

I have no argument. I would put Steve Levy a little bit higher because I thought, you know, put into a challenging position. He's gotten better. But I wouldn't put him a lot higher. I think that your list is cool with me. Well, here's the thing. Yeah, a lot of the other guys are play-by-play guys for everything. You know, that's what they've been doing their whole life.

That's what they've been trained to do. And there, I think, are some technical parts of the job that has to do with rules and knowing the player and everything. It's a certain part of your mind. Some guys like Joe Davis, who's getting a lot of pop at Fox is the MLB number two guy behind Joe Duck. Joe Buck, he's definitely a rising star at Fox, can just slide into football, which is maybe not even his main sport. And they just like, they got a handle on it, you know? They got a handle on it. Yeah, I like him a lot.

I think he's got a lot of ability. And Greg, maybe you will tell us at some point what happened with you and Steve Levy. Maybe it goes back to your PFT. Was there something you wrote a PFT that has created this issue? It feels personal. It feels like a little score settling. Some men just want to watch the world. It's not.

It's respect for all these other guys doing it. And that he's in a big, that's where I'm talking about the spotlight. It's, you know, he's on that Monday night football game. And so, you know, The rules, I keep hammering that, like the situation, the two-minute, like, promptier guy to talk about, like, this fourth-down call that's coming up instead of, like, with three seconds before it happens, be like, oh, and they're going for it on fourth. You know, those are the little things that I noticed, personally. All right, that's fair. Let's now move to the color side of things.

Mark, let's start with your top three. Give us your top three. My top three, and I think that this job is a little bit different, obviously, than play-by-play. think there is many good ones. I'll start there. But top three, Troy Aikman. Second to Troy Aikman, Tony Romo. Chris Collinsworth number three for me. Okay. This is a good, this is a good start because right off the bat, I knew you would have Troy first. I know you love Aikman. I think Romo is the best personally, but Aikman is very close to 1B. So I'm cool with your list. And Collinsworth, geez, I love Collinsworth too. Just going back to my original thoughts about

it's a big game when Alan Chris are behind the mic but I can't really quibble too much with your list that's a nice start no I was I'm with you too and I think Aikman is uh Tony Romo is my like he's my Patrick Mahomes where he is the best but for this season this is like Troy Aikman's you know Rich Gannon MVP year or yeah I should think of someone even better than that you know like Russell

Troy Aikman's Troy Aitman year right 92 like uh like I take Mo to build the frame franchise, but I think Aikman is the MVP this year. What a year. All right. So that feels like, Mark, the clear, like, top three guys? Who's in that middle tier? For me, I go number four. I had Charles Davis. There's something that I really like about Charles Davis. I think that he has, he kind of knows where every player went to high school and college, has a lot of added extra, I think, information that other guys don't. I think he's technically good. I think he's good observations. and we know him personally, and I think he's someone that puts in a ton of work.

So for me, that's four. This thing gets messy for me because I don't have like a huge fascination in some of these other guys. But this guy's barely appeared. But I think Nate Burleson could be better than almost anyone on this list based on the few games I've seen him do. I had him as like a potential number five. I go, Dan, this is I'm not doing this to serve you at number six, a dish that you will like. but I think Brian Greasy has improved over the course of the season tremendously. And there's something else that three-man booth is not, I don't think three-man booths really work.

I think that they keep trying to recreate magic from the past. And I think it drowns out Lewis Riddick a little bit, who I think could be great if the table is set for him. He may be not a booth guy as much, but Greasy has worked really hard to build chemistry in that booth. and I think he's shaken off a little bit of his inability to critique. Last night, I thought he critiqued, you know, in the last couple of games, he's been a little bit of a heavier hammer on things, which I needed from him. Yeah, I think Reese's had a nice season overall. I thought, you know, I think he speaks with confidence,

and I was admiring his work yesterday as well. I think he's good. I think Moose Johnson should be in that second tier. like the moose what i think burkhard and moose with pam oliver is a really solid team i think he should be in that he's next to my list this is reminding me of dr z paul zimmerman uh used to do a yearly rankings of all the broadcast teams and like they all hated him because of it basically like you know i mean the ones that he liked like he always was big on ron pitts so like ron pitts loved him um but like yeah he would like he would like he would give them like zero out of

five stars and pretty I think he hated the early like Buck and Akeman like he would bury them with like one star I mean that's what I want to get to as I keep getting keep getting older is really not care when these people hate you because

everyone cares they don't there isn't a lot of criticism of these guys because everyone's like not criticism but there's not a lot of ranking of these guys because everyone works with them and you don't want to deal with it but you know what Greg I think one way to look at is like we take criticism too not on the scale of these guys, but on social media and things of that nature.

I mean, what we do for a living. So, but I will say that Trent Green, having Trent Green and Rich Gannon in our lives feels duplicative. Oh. I think I'm going to, you know, Gannon is much higher for me. I think Gannon's fine. I kind of like Rich Gannon. He's fine.

Some men just want to watch. What do you think, Mark? Anybody else you want to talk about? Is there somebody that you really don't need to hear you don't want on a Browns game? Let it read. I would say the next little quick tier was Daryl Johnston. and Rich Gannon. And for me, it moves into, you know,

for me, it's like I need to feel the chemistry between the play-by-play and the color commentator. And a lot of the lower groupings, to me, are just the early slate games that don't change my feeling one way or the other. James Laugh and Trent Green are probably rounding out my list. I'm sure they put in a ton of work. I think that part of describing football,

what we've learned through some of these teams is just because you played, the ability to communicate what is happening and to teach fans who are savier than ever is a skill and I think some of the guys that are lower on the list they're developing these skills but you can't

I don't know I just feel like there's some of these people that feel a little folksy a little basic and I need to be delighted put names on it I said I think I think like he said he was routing out his list I mentioned the bottom of my list Like, I look like, you know, Mark Slareth, James Loft, and Trent Green. They know more than I do about football, but I'm not learning from them the same way on Sundays.

And I don't need to know that on third and 11, you need 12 yards. That part I get. Well, that, you know, that's really, yeah, it's well said. Just saying things that like are, are, but that's it's just their person, you know, sometimes it's just their personality. It's one reason why I love the Vilma, Jonathan Vilma and Kenny Albert booth. Jonathan Vilma, like he's not as technically polished, I think it was his first full year. But he loves it.

And he loves defensive football in such a way that most of the color guys, I think, are offensive. And it's almost all he talks about is defense. And he's just so fired up and is so excited when things happen that that carries me. I love that booth. I love the Charles Davis and Ian Eagle booth. And that's kind of the, that's maybe one of the problems. And it's unfair, but it's like Monday Night Football, you're on an island and stuff. If I'm thinking that other networks have better, their number two booth is better than,

then your primetime booth, like an Ion Eagle, Charles Davis booth, which is pristine. And then, then, you know, you get some criticism. I like that, like, four times a telecast, Jonathan Vilma, says something that makes Kenny Albert deeply uncomfortable. Like, I give bonus points for that. Like, he's a little loose with his lips, Jonathan Vilma, and he'll say certain things that you don't hear. And I think that's good.

Akeep Taleb, he is a guy that got a lot of buzz both ways on social media. He's kind of a prospect to watch. And a little shout out to Kurt Warren. who does really good stuff. Oh, my God. He's excellent. Of course. He would be top four.

When Warner and Tariko are together, that's another one. I love Kurt Warner on games. He is one. And it's not because we work with him. I mean, he is so, he is so. That's another one. It's like, okay, put that one in prime. I kind of, I kind of forgot about that because he's strictly radio.

But it's funny to me because I think he shines, absolutely shines on radio as a color commentator. And then you put these guys on sets to talk generally about games. And it, and it was a little. little bit less of Kurt Warner for me. Like, he's so much better analyzing a game as it's happening. It's a really special skill, and you have to have the right personality and flare. All right.

Now, again, if anyone is listening to the show that is directly connected to today's analysis, it came from Greg Rosenthal and Mark Sessler, and you could reach out to them on Twitter. And also, they are, once we get out of this pandemic, they are at most of the 10th poll league events as well. as well, feel free to address any concerns. And ultimately, small men compared to average. I mean, especially me. You mean physically? Physically, yes.

They may think it's the other way as well, based on some of the shooting behind bulletproof glass. But listen, this is just part of the gig. Well, I don't need to be, you know, at the top of their podcast sidecar rankings either. Can you tell the, Greg, can you tell the story? Have we ever talked about the story? No. No, you've been weird.

You are asking for a lot today, Dan, in terms of, you know, Greg and Mark burning every bridge surrounding them off the island. We can't talk about the breakfast story? You already have done enough. All right. Listen, I just had to ask. Like, as a journal, you know, when you want to get, you do not leave until the chamber is empty. That's for our behind the music that we're going to do about the podcast in five years.

Fair enough. I understand that. Okay. Erica, how are you doing? Doing great. Erica could not be more bored of us, by us, like, breaking down the difference between Joe Davis and Kevin Coogler. That was like the football version of the Mondalurian. You're saying it's so weird.

Yeah, you do say, why do you say it weird? Intentionally, I guarantee it. I don't know. I have no idea. Erica, do you have a favorite play-by-play color team? Or is, and I say this like not mocking or in any way, or do you just watch a game and not plug in on that way? Because that's the way most people are.

A little bit of both. I do like Tony Romo and Nance, but I do think Kevin Harlan's the best. He's awesome. And he was a great guest on the show. Exactly. He was so nice. Yeah.

And remember he said he'd sit in his hotel room, like in Green Bay and blast NFL films music to get ready for that kind of stuff. Like, I also think he's creative. He's not just a technical dude. like he'll go into these poems and poetics that no one else can do so he's and he does basketball too right he's like one of the he's a big and then radio and and yet you're yet cbs is sometimes sticking him on like the fourth game come on cbs well he's out of position he should be doing the best of the best very good very good all right it's an interesting who they paired him with

but i'll i will stop speaking achman bugs me oh please you don't like achman I can, it's fine. Interesting. He's uncut this year. I think it's partly because he's doing it twice a week. And he said something about they told him make the Thursday nights a little like more punchy, a little more wherever. And now you're traveling around during a pandemic.

It's like I'm out here sweating for you flying all over the country during pandemic. What the fuck I care if the special teams coach doesn't like me? And he's just flying off the hip. You know there's been moments of season where like Jera's. yelling at his screen. What are you doing, Troy? I thought we had an understanding. He was, he was burying Jared Goff the other day. And to the point where Jared Goff's, had some, you know, people, media support us being like, why his choice, why is Troy being so hard on him? It's like, come on him. It's funny, those two guys, Goff and Wentz, who went at the top of their draft class

together, are punching bags this year. Everybody getting there, getting their chance to tee off on those two struggling cubies um all right well they earned it but just feels like there's been some extra zest in the criticism toward those two guys this year um my opinion all right that's the only opinion i shared today i let everyone else handle the the heavy lifting i appreciate it boys um thank you again to peter schrager who's a stud watch him on good morning football five days a week and on Fox, where he does great work as well. And we will be back on Thursday when we will preview, yes, week 17. And that is the biggest preview episode of the year for us in terms of pure gamage.

Because there will be 17, excuse me, 16 times 2, 32. That's how many teams there are. There will be 16 games to preview on Sunday. So make sure you tune in for that. And as a little tease, Dan. for that. Obviously, we've got some news around Gough, but another star from the Rams placed on the COVID list that you're going to want to, you know, hear about. Are you teasing that for a Thursday show?

You're teasing Thursday. So don't check your phone. You probably know this if you're a big enough fan to listen to our show by now anyway. But don't check your phone. Don't check the news. There is a Rams star associated with third down that is, uh, has now gone onto the COVID list. Just wait until Thursday to find out, okay, guys? That's an industry term known as a cliffhanger. You will find out which Ram's star went to the COVID list in two full days. All right.

This is Dan Hansa signing off for my storm. The old boss, Ricky Hollywood, behind the virtual glass, until Thursday. Thank you. Hey, everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Six, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else.

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