NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Around the AFC

Episode Date: April 30, 2019

A room filled with heroes - Dan Hanzus, Chris Wesseling and Gregg Rosenthal are joined by Patrick Claybon to go around the AFC in 48 minutes. With only 3 minutes allowed per team, this spin around the AFC is sure to get you updated on where each team stands for the upcoming season.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 has the best rated mock draft. Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansis, and I am joined in our first rated. room filled with some heroes. Patrick Claibon,

Chris Wessling and Greg Rosenthal. What is up, boys? Hey, Dan. Claibon, he's our utility guy. It's around the AMC time, baby. What a slight just to start. It's not more than that. It's not a slight.

A utility guy in baseball, if you have a really jack-of-all-trades-type talent, that makes your roster so much better. And it's an unsung hero of any championship squad, Wes. I back you 100% on this. It sounds like a bad term. That's fair. But in reality, you're not winning championships without a super utility guy who can plug a lot of different positions.

I mean, if I was trying to pump myself up, I was kind of a utility guy for the shield, the year ago. Absolutely. Integral. And who was celebrating at the end of that season, the shield. Well, when we win the podcast championship, just, you know, let me be in the orbit. Like, when you guys were jumping up and down on the mound, like, I'll be that guy that's high-fiving. You know the security? That's true.

You're allowed on the field. This is our, it's a tradition after the draft are around the AFC and around the NFC episodes. And Claibon, not his first rodeo here. If one of us is out of the studio, we could plug Patrick right in. Plug and play guy. Now we're going to switch to football. Plug and play. Next man up.

Everyone loves plug and play. That's what you look for, a plug and play guy. Well, he's been sharpening his iron against other men's iron for a lot of years. What else we got? Plus he's joining, he could join us for our up-to-the-minute hits, which we might do on Wednesday and Thursday. It might be a little pre-tape, a little peek behind the curtain. Tune into that.

You don't have to tell them it's a pre-tap. Well, they would maybe somehow put it together. Claibon's here. There was a hint that one time where I was here, and then we did the show, and I was also hosting the show. Yeah, that's next level. That was meta. Yeah. Anyway, so Clayvon's here in the Mark Sessler chair.

Mark is wandering Los Angeles somewhere. I hope he's safe. I hope he's watching out for trains. That's a little call forward. Keep an eye out on. Mark's been watching out for trains for like 25 years now. Hopping on them occasionally. Yeah, a little nail soup.

So yes, the draft is in the rearview mirror. Free agency is in the review mirror. We have some off-season workouts to come. mandatory mini camps, then the summer break and then training camp. Listen, it's just, it never stops. But after the draft comes a chance to reset things and take a look at where these teams are.

And that's why we pick this time of year, this time of year and also right before week one, Greg, to do the around the AFC and around the NFC around all of these teams, get an idea of what's going on where we think they are right now. Some of my favorite shows of the year. I like stopwatches.

Like, I like the timed element. I like the fact that every team gets covered. So Jaguars fans, hey, not a lot of pop lately. We got you covered. And this is a studio that's prone to bloviating. But guess what? When the clock strikes zero,

three minutes on every team, what happens, Ricky Hollywood? And that doesn't mean celebrate or party or fist pump. Not to mention, this will be the first episode in months where we don't spend at least 10 minutes on Dave Gettleman and the Giants. So that's like a positive. Well, we think that.

He could find his way in the midst. For sure. All right. Do we want to do it? Do we want to dig right in? Please. Starting? All right.

Patrick, are you ready? I'm ready. Do we want the takeaway at the top or at the end? At the top? You spin it however you want to spin it. Okay. For me personally, and I'm just going to say, I will build to my kind of takeaway.

Okay. But you feel free to take it. It is your three minutes. Well, really, it's your, you know, 30 second preamble, 45 second preamble. So, and you're going to start. Yeah, which is different for the utility gap, bad and laid off. Yeah, I'm all about it, baby.

There we go. Look at that money. Plug and play. Utility guy. What else we got? Six men of the year. Another sport. Give us something hockey.

I don't know. All right, Ricky. Are we ready? You're on the clock. Important role for Erica, too. Got some butterflies here. She sounds confident. All right.

All right, here we go. When I say around the AFC in 48 minutes and then I'll say go, that's when you start, Patrick. And that's when the clock starts. Okay. All right. It is time to go around the AFC. Go. The Tennessee Titans, when I look at the Tennessee Titans.

Oh, wait. Wait, wait, wait. You chose an order of your own making. Why? No. No. No. No.

This is why you don't have the utility guys on top of the order. You're going to be demoted the seventh in the batting order. Like, take a few pitches, Clayvonne. Let's see. Come on, I was a parraza. We want to see the starter. Let the guy in the on deck circle get used to the action here. We're going to start with the AFC East.

And I could have made that more clear. I certainly could have. But that's kind of tradition as well. Okay. Okay. Around the AFC in 48 minutes starts now. Go. It's new.

It's a new day in Miami. the Dolphins have a plan and I see Christian Wilkins going to them in the first round and then of course nobody's paying attention to that because everybody's wondering what the quarterback situation is going to be they are able to use a pick in the second round to trade with New Orleans get a second rounder back they just move back so they have they still have their two they have 13 picks next year in the 2020 draft which everybody was all excited for and now they have Josh Rosen and now they have a future and I'm sorry my takeaway to the Dolphins fans who were so all about tanking, the Miami Dolphins are trying now, and I'm glad

because tanking sucks. That's my takeaway. I never really believed that they were tanking in the same kind of full-throated, totally committed way that the media seems to believe that they were. Like, I believe, yeah, they're stripping down and they're trying to play for the future. But I even think the front office and the coaching staff is trying to win games right now. what are the moves that they made that are really trying to lose? They're just trying to be smarter than they were before

and get rid of the old mistakes that they had. Looks to me like they backed into not tanking. Right. They planned to tank as much as any NFL team can tank. It's not the NBA. You can't really tank in the NFL like you can in the NBA. Right. It doesn't even help that much.

But then the Cardinals came calling with like, we'll give you Josh Rosen for a deep, deep discount. They're like, maybe we won't tank after all. Rosen is... Rosen fits with tanking, though. I mean, not tank. There is no tanking in the NFL. There's playing for.

for the future and setting yourself up as best as you can for 2020. And Rose is that. He's the fascinating part of this now because I think they were on the track to 3 and 13 and perhaps they still go 3 and 13. But if Josh Rosen shows signs that he can be the guy and he's

under contract for three years and I think 6 million total, which is great. That is a great spot for the team to evaluate him. But he's really going to have, Rosen will have a challenge. He's got to knock the socks off the Dolphins to not use a high pick on a quarterback. I think the The takeaway that I got from so many fans was we've been in purgatory for so long,

and we've been decent and halfway decent. The only way to make this work is to tear it all up. And you have all of these fancy names like something ball and all this other ball. But it all equates to tanking. If losing is the goal and it helps you accomplish what you want, then you're tanking. I'm glad with a new coach that they're not tanking because we saw the Cardinals do it last year. We saw no plan. It didn't work out.

Everybody got fired. We saw the Jets try to do it with Todd Bowles. He messed around and won. won too many games, almost messed up the bag. Yeah, lucky. They're able to get Sam Darnold. It all worked out. I don't want to see this with another coaching staff and another team.

I think they might understand that they have to take a step back to eventually get out of that seven and nine. But if they have a good coaching staff, it's the NFL. It's not the SEC where there's that big of a difference. I mean, I know it's not a great roster, but Devante Parker, Kenny Stills, Laramie Tunzel, Kenyon, Drake. There are less talented teams out there. That didn't sway me in any way to take. The Buffalo Bills, Chris Wesley. What an offseason.

This is one of my favorite off seasons in the NFL. And the reason why, when I look at all of the teams and what they've done, I think this is your offseason champion in terms of net talent acquisition, projected snaps lost and snaps gained. Wow. Who have they lost outside of Kyle Williams who they didn't want to lose? I mean, he retired, but every other person they lost, they cut because they didn't want him anymore.

And they've gained, by my count, about 20 players who will make the team. Probably 10 to 12 starters. That's an aggressive rebuilding of the roster for a team that showed on defense, certainly, and the quarterback position, Josh Allen, in spurts, that they could be trending in the right direction. Do we trust management there, you're saying? I trust what they've done in that they had one of the most barren rosters in the NFL and were winning games because of good coaching and a pretty good defense. But their offense was incredibly, what's the right word, Spartan? Yeah, scattershot, like their quarterback.

On the verge of being historically the worst offense in the history of professional football, they were able to salvage that late in the season, but they were all-time bad. And as, you know, Dan said, spurts of Josh Allen made things better. I think you see an organization where the GM and the coach are on the same page. And McDermott, if nothing else, I think he has a type of player, a type of defense. He has an idea of what he wants. It's whether they can do it on offense because they have Brian Dable there who did some okay things. The offensive line looks so much better. I mean, Mitch Morse, Cody Ford, who was a good value in the second round,

Quentin Spain was a free agent pickup. Ty Nishiki from Washington's had some good moments. It's like that's a whole new offensive line. On paper, it looks pretty good. And we saw it play out in the top 10 of the draft where we knew that the bills wanted Ed Oliver. So many teams were interested in Ed Oliver, but they didn't make the trade.

And they traded up in the past, but they were able to hold steady, saw some turmoil at the top, and the guy that they want falls right to them at that ninth pick. So, yeah, I'd like no pressure. And they needed someone to kind of build the defense around, and maybe he's that talented. I'd like to see how this running back situation shakes out.

Lashon McCoy obviously is right now the starter, but they go and get Devin Singletary in the third round out of Florida Atlantic who's supposed to be a really good player. You already got T.J. Yeld and you have Frank Gore on the roster. It feels like the other shoe's going to drop there soon. Yeah, I wonder about Lashon McCoy. He's a big factor if he's on the team. And I know they say they're not cutting him,

but he didn't play well enough to keep his job last year. Where is he at this point as a player? I think he played pretty well for much of the season. I actually thought he was explosive. What did he average? 3.2 yards per carry? Yeah, but when you watch them, I think he looked pretty good. They haven't invented an explosive 3.2 yards per carry.

I'm sorry. Did you see Trent Richardson in the AF? Horrible. The offense was miserable. All right, my New York Jets. Quinn and Williams, they stay put put and they pick him number three overall in the draft. And it was a safe pick and potentially one that could pay off big time because Williams can really be.

ball. He's not the only Williams, though. So you got Leonard Williams also on this defensive line. He was the sixth overall pick in 2015, I believe, 14 or 15. Henry Anderson, a guy who was really impressive last year for the team was a difference maker on their defense. They brought him back. You also have Steve McClendon there. He's kind of like a hold the fort veteran guy. But you added, especially with the two Williams and then Greg, you referenced it on our draft recap, the new Williams wall, the potential of this Williams wall, this interior defensive line. it could be potentially dominant. And it works on two fronts.

Quinn and Williams has this great monster potential. And Leonard Williams, who's been a steady producer for the Jets, but maybe has not reached his full potential. Well, now he's with a real stud next to him. What can that do? And the last thing, Greg, is it gets me excited because we know it's one of the tropes

around Tom Brady. He doesn't like the pressure in his face. Well, now the Jets have a potential to have one of the best internal defensive lines in all of football. And 42-year-old quarterbacks don't like 20-something guys chasing them down and giving them the ruckus.

And yeah, maybe they can figure out how to, you know, make him hold on to the ball because he gets rid of it so quick and their line is good. But the Jets do get the Patriots twice early in the season. That's the time to play the Patriots. I think they play them twice in the first six weeks. And the Jets do look like a team if they can get the offense on track quick enough.

Greg Williams starts fast. Like that's kind of the Greg Williams M.O. his defenses start like a house of fire and then they slowly collapse over time as maybe the message wears off. I don't know what it is, but they often start pretty well down the stretch last year. Last year, that's fair.

I'm trying to figure out why they didn't add more at cornerback and outside linebacker to this team. Those are like that and the right side of the offensive line are the three questions I have about the Jets. I normally have a lot more questions about the Jets. Yeah, they didn't address center and we'll see if that's one of those pickups that happens in the next month or so.

So Maurice Claiborne, who's still out there, by the way. Right. And the door is open for him to return potentially. So this is by no means a finished product in New York. But I'm just talking about, I get excited about this defensive line. And it would have been nice to have that guy off the edge to go nuts. And maybe the third round pick does that for them. But the Williams Wall, Patrick Claibon.

I like it. I like the Williams wall. There's a lot to be excited about. There's also a lot to be worried about between Greg Williams and Adam Gase. And just the potential. The potential for disaster. I've embraced headlock watch. And people, they play up the New York thing as if New York has different air or people consume calories differently.

But if it's, if it goes south, it can go south anywhere. It can go south in Jacksonville. It can go south in Miami. We've got a triple on your jets. It happens sometimes. We go more south than me. Every defensive lineming you draft interviewed after the draft says, I can't wait to sack Tom Brady. 12 and 4

Patriots Go Greg My big thought and takeaway after this draft is on the side of the ball no one's talked about off season. There's no defensive coordinator

and there's not a lot of juice in the front seven. I'm torn because on one hand they're coming off arguably the greatest defensive performance in Super Bowl history by some metrics. But is there secondary

good enough to kind of make up for a ho-hum front seven which lost Trey Flowers. They drafted Joanne Williams in the second round. They love these big corners who can play multiple positions. They have Duke Dawson, who didn't play a snap for them last year, their second round pick, added to McCordy, Chung, the other McCordy, Stefan Gilmore. It's a great looking secondary. There's some sort of analytics, you know, talk bubbling up that the way to build the defense is actually the secondary first is more valuable and that you can

scheme up pressure and that can be less valuable. I don't know if that's why the Patriots are doing this way, but it's very rare that they've had this little juice in the front seven. Wait, you're worried about the defense on this team? I mean, I think they're going to have to have... How are they any worse than last year? Well, that you lost tree flowers. You got Michael Bennett.

You got Michael Bennett. You've got Dante Hot Tower is a year older. You're bringing Joanne Bentley back, who missed almost all last year? You know, if you're telling me Dietrich-wise, Larry Guy, Mike Bennett, Dante Hightower, and Kyle Van Nuoy is like an above-average front seven, I'm not buying it. So, and what you're painting here is that Trey Flowers is better than Aaron Donald. That's the picture you're painting to me.

No, I'm also, you know, mildly concerned there's not a coach or not many coaches on that side of the ball. I don't, I think they want to play things a little closer to the vest. And they're going to be a little bit more of a running team. You can't expect their offense to be nearly as dominant. And by the way, they weren't nearly as dominant a year ago. So you need the defense to be really good. Is the secondary that good? It actually might be the best second day. Outside of Trey Flowers, what is a concern about this

defense? They played really well. Pass rush. Pass and run stopping. Neither which they were great throughout much of last season. They finished super strong. You sound like a man whose underpants are so dry, so arid. It's a desert down there. And you don't even know what to complain about. Well, we've talked so much about the offense all offseason. I'm just not buying the sky is falling on the Patriot defense. Oh, I don't think it's falling. I have more wanted to introduce the idea. Can you win with like a dominant? secondary and a ho-hum front seven. It is kind of the way the Patriots have done things.

Didn't they just do that? Yeah, it is. So where would you put the front seven? Like? Just pure talent? 13? No, not in the top 20 and pure talent. If you give that defense to a random team, in a random game planner,

I'm not trusting that front seven. I mean, concerns about the Patriots coaching staff is something I would never hear. Thought I would hear on the show. I'm not concerned about the past, like who's their best one-on-one pass rusher? Michael Bennett. So just if he named anybody Defensive Coordinator you'd feel better

Just like a name just person I want some people Patrick Claibon Kickoff the AFC North Division Let's do that with the Baltimore Ravens A team that people Now you got it Concerned about the order

It's all about the order In terms of Well what's the future with Joe Flacko Where are we going to be And now there's a plan There's a plan for the Baltimore Ravens And it seems like speed itself Is the plan

They're able to get Hollywood Brown In the first round a guy a lot of people thought was the best wide receiver of this group. He can fly. And they lose Terrell Suggs on the defense. That sucks. That's not good. This guy has been a big part

of the franchise, a cornerstone. So they lose one all-time NCAA sack artists, and they get another in Jalen Ferguson. They're able to get him in the third round. And Jalen had horrible workouts. I went to his pro day at Litech. It was bad. He couldn't turn. He gained a lot of weight to try to

prove that he could be a certain thing. it didn't work out. He couldn't move at all. I don't think that that's going to be a problem long term. And for the people who were concerned about Baltimore trying to run triple option and single wing all last year, it's like, what can Lamar do? That was something Lamar had never done either.

And so he was in his first year in that situation. And they take two wide receivers right off the top. They get Miles Boykin out of Notre Dame, as well as Hollywood Brown, guys that can move, play different spots. I don't think they're going to be the same team they were last year. It's almost as if and this was Eric DeCosta's

like first, this is my show draft. It was almost a shot of critics. I know it wasn't. But it feels that way that you guys think this Lamar Jackson, he's not somebody that can light things up with the arm and be a big time passer. Well, this is how much we believe in them. We're going to invest the top of our draft board

in giving him weapons to build that part of his game. I mean, if he does develop as a passer, look out. this guy is going to be legit. They have about, what, 25 years of history in which they're the quintessential black and blue bruising team, and I think it's interesting that they're going with speed now. Playing on a grass field, that's going to be interesting.

And, I mean, they were a different team a year. I mean, when Lamar Jackson took over, we haven't seen a team quite like that. And I still think they're going to be very run-heavy, but run-heavy in the way that any one of these guys can take at the distance. That's what stuck out about Boykin, and then Justice Hill, their fourth round running back. If you're into the whole spark score thing

that Roto World loves right about, these guys are all like top two percentile spark scores. Boykin, I think, had one of the best combine workouts in history, and Justice Hill wasn't too far behind. I don't want to blow up the rest of this. What is spark score again? I'm seeing this a lot. It stands for something, but it's basically a measure of freakish athletic.

It's essentially a combination of all the different combine athleticism scores into one big number. Did you know that Terrell Suggs' sack record was broken by Ferguson? So it's not just... I did it. Yeah. Wow.

Yikes. Okay, we get it. Your nerds. Move on. Spark is an acronym that stands for speed, power, agility, reaction, and quickness. I did not know that. There we go.

You learn things. You already know things. It reinforces things. Wes, your former love. The Cincinnati Bank. You know about the Dalton scale, but there's also a Dalton mirror. What? Tell us about this. He's the one quarterback who's perfectly reflective of his surrounding talent at all times.

Wow. When it's the best in the league, like when John Harbaugh and Bill Bullion said the Bengals had the best roster in the league in 2015, Andy Dalton makes his way to the periphery of the MVP discussion when he's going well. when the roster is depleted, the entire team and the quarterback is simply an afterthought. And I think you could say

their surrounding talent now if Jonah Williams can stick at left tackle or if they stick Glenn at left tackle and put him at right tackle, if he can stick at tackle, this has a chance to be their best offensive roster since 2015. Can it approach that level of success, you think?

I just think there's too many question marks. the 2015 roster had answers. This one just has a lot of questions. Well, to me, AJ Green's not a question. Tyler Boyd's not a question. Cordy Glenn at left tackle, if he's healthy, it's not a question. That's a huge question because he hasn't even played well. That is, but at least it's a talent.

Tyler Eifert's a big question. And then Mixing and Geo, that's not much of a question. This is a pretty locked and loaded. I'm with you, skill position group. Yeah, the offensive line is the question. A lot of people, when you see John Ross and his lead-up. That's a question. What he's had.

People said, even still, if you put him in this 2019 draft class, he probably, he might have been one of the first wide receivers off the board just based on the things that he could do, not just based on speed, because there's plenty of people that could run. Seeing glimpses from Ross, but just the surroundings, as you mentioned.

Around. Surround. It hasn't worked out. It's just a bad situation for other people. And did they have a plan to address that? Here are the John Ross truthers out there that say he can run routes that they saw. And he's an actual receiver

and not just a speed merchant. The Bengals don't seem part of those truthers, though. It didn't seem... This is year three. Totally in love with keeping him necessarily this off season. Well, it's just, what are they in love with?

Mm. Zach Taylor? I mean... The Bengals? Duke Tovin. Chili? Where are they committed to it? It seems like they have...

Loyalty? They have AJ, and it's just like, well, AJ is so good. Like, I guess we just keep him. I think they're defining trademark as loyalty. Their backfield is interesting. They have Mix-in, of course, and Gio Bernard's been there for a while now.

They added somebody in the draft in Trayvon Williams. Is everyone safe there, the current cast? I think so. They had to cut Mark Walton, the guy they drafted in the fourth round last year to play running back because they got arrested three times between the end of the season and, like, the middle of March. You can't do that. Loyalty is a good word for it. They have more drafted players on their roster than any team by far.

There's more homegrown guys. I think it was 39. It was like six or seven more than any other team in the NFL. Andrew Whitworth throws his phone. All right, the Pittsburgh Steelers. So, all right, Pittsburgh, as we know, did something very un-Pittsburg-like on Draft Day. They traded up. They got Devin Bush, a 10th overall.

It is their first pick inside the top 10 since who? Troy Palomalan? No? They moved up to get Palomah. I don't know if that was like that time. He wasn't that high, was it? Plaquesco Burris. All the.

years ago. Anyway, so Bush, he's supposed to be the Ryan Shazir replacement. And God knows they've been looking for that since Shazir went down with that terrible injury. They've used seven straight first round picks on defensive players elsewhere from that draft. So they turned Antonio Brown into Deontay Johnson, Toledo wide receiver, and a tight end Zach Gentry. We'll see how that all plays out. It doesn't jump out at you on paper necessarily. But here's my question. Have the Steelers done enough after last year's disappointment? And disappointing for Pittsburgh is relative because 9-6-1.

I'd love to see a 9-6-1 for my team. But with the Steelers, when you miss the playoffs, it's bad. And they were quiet and free agency as usual. They trade their best player. I ask, is this still an AFC powerhouse? And if that's a fair question, it's the first time you could ask that in quite a long time. I don't think they're a team that you put. put it in ink that they're going to make the playoffs.

Whereas I think in the last six, seven years, they were that team. I think they're, I would put them in in pencil so it can be erased. But a guy like Deontay Johnson, I read that the Steelers had a first round grade on him. And I'm sorry, I trust the Steelers wide receiver evaluations over any draft Nick or anyone else in the football community. The loss of Shazir was something that they never were able to recover from. And during this entire run of dominance, it's been this offense carrying things and as bad as the relationships were on that side of the ball. They still produced, and it was still the defense that was chiefly responsible.

I mean, Blake Bortles goes in there and they score 45 points. Levion and Ben and Antonio did everything they could. They couldn't overcome a Blake Bortles-led offense. And so my question is, is Bush enough to get you there? And they've gone so long that Dan brought up without picking highly in the draft. If that's enough, the defense is better, but is that enough to overcome the fact that they lose a guy that potentially go into the Hall of Fame? if he didn't make too many writers mad.

He's going either way. Yeah. They've done terrible drafting in the secondary. They feel better about it now. They added Mark Barron, who we haven't talked about at all, but it's probably going to start for them. At what position? Inside linebacker along with Bush.

They, to answer your initial question, absolutely they're a contender. I think they were last year. I mean, they were last two games of the year. They beat the Patriots and lost by a play against... I said powerhouse. Against the Saints. That's fair.

To me, I would, yes, I would put them, I would put them with the Chiefs and the Chargers and the Patriots as the teams where I'd be surprised if they don't make the place. Okay. And Mike Tomlin, this is a big deal for him too. Let's move on. Next up, Greg, Cleveland Browns. All right. We've talked so much again about the offense on the Browns, and it was a quiet draft for the offense of the Browns. So I just wanted to look at the defense and think how happy Steve Wilkes might be.

I feel like not a lot of Wilkes pop coming off a pretty, tough season. If Wilkes can come to get, you know, if Wilkes can coach up this team, and he's been a good defensive coordinator before, like, where does this talent level match with the rest of the league? Because to me, Miles Garrett, Ogunjobie, Sheldon Richardson, Olivier Vernon, they added, you know, Greedy Williams in the draft. Four of their first five picks were on defense to a group that had Kirksey, that had Denzo Ward, that had a pretty solid secondary, a nice trade they got with Demarius Randall, T.J. Care, like, this is deep. You go out. up and down, and you don't really see a weakness out of this defense. And to me, there's a real

chance that their defense is as good or better than their offense with Baker Mayfield. They're feeling the moment. You can tell the John Dorsey, the O'Dell Beckham trade, he's feeling the moment. He's got the quarterback. He's got the city behind him. He's got the football world behind him. And now he's trying to get Gerald McCoy, too, for his defense. Right. That would be something else. And I think he would make sense on that team as kind of a one year that, like if I was trying to find some sort of weakness here. I don't know, I guess their safeties and maybe their secondary is not

offensive line. Oh, you're talking about just on yeah, yeah, just on the deal. You're right. Greg, well, Greg Robinson starting at left tackle stands out. I agree. I think the biggest challenge and this is not insignificant will be expectations and what and what's going to be expected of a team that for years and years

was a total laughing stock. And even last year, entering the season, you know, hard knocks and all that. People were still laughing at the Browns. This will be a totally different experience. And Freddie Kitchens, I think, is a huge piece of this, too. How does he handle it in his first year? But I agree with all you guys.

This is such a good roster, and everything's pointing in a very positive direction. But it's a new coaching staff. Even though Kitchens is there, it's a reminder. It is a new coaching step. The elephant, I mean, they added Todd Monkin to Freddie Kitchens. To me, that's a huge win. Defensive coaching staff, who knows? And perhaps that might be it.

at a certain point you have a lot of chefs and you got some really good ingredients. Well, that was the problem with the last regime. Well, yeah, that was a lot of chefs like trying to use the same night. Trying to poison each other. But there's a couple of them are successful. I see a team that, on the topic of expectations,

these guys are expected to win individually. From Odell to Miles, like a lot of guys across the board, one-on-one situations you expect them to win. And so I don't think expectations are a problem. It's just how they're going to execute and what the results might be when they do. And whose fault is it going to win? No one's five because they're going to win. Whose credit are they getting?

Right. How much is better Baker going to be? This is Colleen Wolfe, and I endorse that statement. Now, move on. All right. All right. Let's pause. Nobody sees the Jarvis Landry, O'Dell Beckham Jr.

Friendship fallout that's coming over targets. Nobody sees it, but it's coming. coming mark my words all right well you see it's coming how does that all right i am right currently marking your words mark the words it will get awkward they're not going to like each other anymore no they're going to hate each other and it will tear the locker room apart um wow i want to talk about something serious though guys uh you know a little pause here it can be a little frustrating especially if you're in a hurry or running late to find yourself at a railway crossing waiting for a train and if the signals are going and the train's not even there yet,

you can feel a bit tempted to try and sneak across the tracks. Well, don't ever. Now, I want to show of hands here, and including Erica behind the glass, has anyone done that? The gates down, the train, you know, acceptable time for the gate down train. 30 seconds for me.

You start going past that. You hit the minute mark. I'm sitting there like, you know, this is my time you're messing with here. Who's done it? Be honest. Done what? No.

I just said, you go, you drive through the, around the gate because you can't work for the train around it around a lot of times there's not even at least the ones i'm thinking of that i go through daily that you can't even get around those i've made a lot of bad decisions in my life incredible string of bad decisions all throughout my 20s and 30s but not once was i attempted to gamble on a train smart west because that's a bad thing to do trains are going a lot faster than you expect them to be they can't stop did you know Patrick did you know that when the conductor hits the brakes on a train takes how

long to stop give me a distance days well i mean three miles 1800 it takes a mile bro straight up wow whoa that's a long way intimidating anyway so don't do it don't be cute if the signals are on the train is on its way and you you just need to remember one thing what's that stop just like jarvis langer no del beckham when they're sniping back and forth over targets the freddie kitchens stop Because you know what? Trains can't. Right. I see you guys at the 17th Street station in Santa Monica

jumping over the tracks and making my son want to do it. It's not worth it. Bad example, buddy. That is a terrible example. They need a stern talking. I'm there every weekend. From Dr. Money.

Thousands of tons. Dr. Rainmaker. All right. Let's now dive back into it. Let's go around the other half of the AFC starting Patrick Claibon with the, yes, AFC South. I'm all fired up about these Tennessee

Tighten. All right. Starting right off with that first pick, Jeffrey Simmons. It tells me something about John Robinson and Amy Adams Strunk and what this team Strungo. And how this franchise is going to position itself. They're playing the long game because Simmons might not be able to play in 2019. This is a guy that might not even get on the field until 2020.

He injures himself at the start of offseason preparation, getting ready for the draft. He tears his ACL. and they're committed to the future. That's only something you can do if you feel confident in your ability to still have your job. So they're able to get A.J. Brown. They've got an opportunity to get Amani Hooker, a guy who a lot of people felt could have gone higher. They get him in the fourth round, a defensive back out of Iowa. So they have value in this draft, and people think, oh, you know, the same old Titans.

Well, it's hard to win. It's hard to win football games. they've been in contention late in years, and there's just that little something. And Jeffrey Simmons might be that guy. Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks said five years down the road, if somebody says that Jeffrey Simmons was the best player in the 2019 draft, they would not be surprised.

I think that they're committed to the long game in Tennessee. Well, they won five games over a course of two seasons in 14 and 15. And they've won nine per season since. But you look at the defense and you don't see other than Jarrell Casey guys that make a huge. difference. So Simmons hopefully can be that for them, even if it's not this year. When I look at that offense, like you said, they went nine and seven. And out of necessity, they leaned really heavily on Derek Henry down the stretch. They just didn't have the firepower

in their passing game. And since the end of the last season, you welcome back Delaney Walker, who's a Pro Bowl tight end and missed virtually the entire season. You add an excellent slot receiver in Adam Humphreys. And then you add AJ Brown in the second round as a playmaker. And this, Mariotta's got probably more weapons than he's ever had. I think there's no doubt about that. We've talked about it a lot. T-minus one minute. Marioita, how important this season is for him with Ryan Tannahill right behind him.

I wonder if Mariotta can afford a slow start in September. How long would his leash be if Tennessee got off to a slow start on offense? I can't imagine him getting benched while healthy almost at all, maybe in December, you know, unless things really went off the tracks. But that, that's just me. Because I just don't think they'll see Tannahill as like some savior. And nobody does. It's not like there's going to be some massive fan clamoring for Ryan Tannahill anywhere.

To me, it's more just a smart plan for the eventuality of Marietta missing a game, which seems to happen at least, you know, once a season. Well, it sinks, it sinks their playoff chances when he misses a game or two because they traditionally had some of the worst backup quarterback play in the league. He might be playing for a new contract, though. I'm not totally sure he'll be on this team next year. This is the final year of his contract. It's going to try extra hard now.

That's on your radio. We are overdue for some more trash takes with Patrick Claibon. All right, let's move on to Chris Wessling and his favorite football team. I know you're going to, this sounds like homerism and it sounds like I'm biased. But when you look at the rosters in the NFL, I can point to the Colts as the only one where I can say, I don't see a weakness. And not only do I not see a weakness, I don't see an important player who's not in his prime.

They don't have a single player in decline. Margus Hunt is their oldest starter, and he's coming off a career year in which he flashed dominance for games at a time. That's an interesting way to put it. Jabal Sheard, you know, but you're right. Jabal Sheard also coming off one of the best seasons of his career. It's really interesting to me that you're now not only just embracing being a Colts fan,

you're like getting ahead of us accusing you of homerism. Like you're from Indianapolis, you wear the hat. I thought it was ridiculous that 10 minutes ago you called the Steelers a powerhouse team and did not name the Colts as an AFC powerhouse when the Colts have a much better roster now. You're in there. Just Colts pride flowing from Ms. Leslie right now. West is like pulling up the banner like wild card winner,

2018. Tell me what's wrong with the roster. You were feeling different definitely when they scored three points. in Kansas City or whatever. And since then they've added, let's see, Justin Houston, Devin Funches, about six incredible athletes on defense. They're a force to be recommended.

Well, that's the thing about having great success in your first season is it's so hard to get continuity in the NFL that that's like instant continuity. You have the same coaching staff. You have almost all the same players. And that's like a great window to go make some noise before anything gets broken up.

Our boy, Evan Silva, the big fish over at Rotow World handed out one A grade for the draft in the AFC and it was two, our friend Chris Ballard. Sylva's a tough grader. What's your favorite type of frog? And you know what? That tells you two things.

One, that somebody is plugged in as knowledgeable as Evan saw the moves that Ballard made, you know, moving up and down the board, maximizing his assets and pulling in a great hall, including Rocky Sin, come to Las Vegas, the second round pick at 35. and also how Ballard's stock is just so high.

People give this guy the benefit of the doubt because of what he was able to do last year. Especially the way that those draft picks played out. And so a lot of the guys, you look down the list and it's like, oh, well, Rocky Asin, I'd like him somewhere else, but Chris Ballard likes him. Right. Oh, well, yeah, this is great.

This is a great draft. So there's plenty of reason. So, Wes, a team with no, and it's way too early to do predictions for the season and all that, but a team with no discernible flaws, you have to be looking at them, Even in a very competitive AFC South, you see them as a heavy favorite to win that division, right? I absolutely do.

I think the Texans are just treading water, and the Colts are getting a lot better. And I think the Titans got better than the Texans got. It's a really good division. I think they really hope the second round pick, Banagu works out because they don't have edge rushers. I mean, Justin Houston should help there too. They could add a running back too, a veteran running back. Spencer Ware added today. Does you like sports? Real original.

Next. Lashon McCoy, perhaps, so us? That would that hurt you? No, I would not root for the Colts if LaShawn McCoy was on the team. All right, well, just that is a human being I cannot root for. All right, let's move on to the Jacksonville Jaguars. I finished last place in the FC South last year. But everything is looking great now for the Jags.

The Raiders made that surprise move it for taking Clee-Clellan-Farrell. Cleland-Farrell. Cleland-Farrell. I'll keep forgetting the name. The Giants, of course, take Jones. And so then the Jags get this absolute stud. Josh Allen falls into their laps at six. They grab them. It was another positive in what's been a big season of positives,

offseason of positives for Jacksonville. Everything about this team, Wes, and this is where we need to talk about this. To me, everything about this Jaguars team screams big bounce back season. Alan joins the defense loaded with talent. Nick Foll should stabilize things behind center. The offensive line is very good. The running back, maybe there's some things to work out there.

I think you and I do not see eye to eye on their offensive line. Okay. Which I think is easily the worst. I don't, maybe not easily the worst because of the Texans, but it's one of the worst in the AFC. Okay, barring injury or some type of internal discord or Wes's viewpoint on the offensive line is correct. This team to me screams 11 and 5 and a hard out in January and an absolute competitor for that AFC South title. I think the offensive line is. an issue and I think playmakers in the passing game is an issue. They had some of the worst

wide receiver play in the NFL last year. Show me the tight end who's going to make a play on this team. They need a little juice and you're counting on Foles and Di Filippo to generate it. And that's the most important part of any team to me is their passing game. And so that's the question. I'm not worried about the offensive. Kim Robinson's a great left tackle. No, he's not. He got hurt. Where is this great left tackle coming from? He's a he's one of the 10 or 11 best. I think that doesn't have many left tackles. He's solid. Juan Taylor at 35 overall from Florida. That's another guy you can

plug in play. I'm a little worried about their someone's going to be a huge disappointment in this division. Last year was the jet because they're all have a lot of reason to believe their playoff teams. Cam had a solid rookie year. He struggled in the playoffs. He had that shoulder injury. James Harrison was

giving him all kinds of work in the Patriots game. But there was a noticeable drop-off when Cam had out last year. And so now they They had J-Wan Taylor. A lot of people thought he was the best tackle in the draft. They're able to get him at 35 overhaul. And rookie tackles almost always struggle before they turn it around.

Yeah, but he doesn't have to play. He doesn't have to play on the left. Cam can handle that. You can start out on the right. There's, you know, reason to feel better about the line than last year. Fournet is such a big, big factor because, you know, you take a guy that high. You think he's going to give you a huge advantage. And he was not even league average.

You know, he was below average as a starter. So it's like, what Leonard Fournette are you getting? Normally, I'm not that concerned about the running back situation. Figure, like, the team around it's more important. But in this case, like, he's such a wild card. Absolutely. So you're trending everything negative for the Jags and everything positive for the cult. It'll probably be a mix for both.

No, I'm not. The Jaguars have a very strong defense, and I like the quarterback. I just don't, I mean, like great. That's a question mark. What do you like at wide receiver tight-in an offensive line on this team? I had answers for everything you just said, but we're out of time. Sorry, Wes. Moving on to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Oh, no, we... Excuse me, my mistake. What a fool, the Houston Texans. You know, I just said that one or two of these teams going to have to be a letdown. It's a tough, tough division, tough out-of-division schedule. Could it be the Texans? My biggest concern is just how important Titus Howard

and Max Sharping, their two first picks in this draft are to this team. So this is just a team that needs their first two picks, both on the offensive line. Howard will play one of the tackle spots, sharping the guard. They need to come in and solidify it. And I don't have a ton of faith in that

just because the coaching has proven to not be able to coach the offensive line five years running. So you're counting on rookies and you're counting on guys like Will Fuller to stay healthy and Lamar Miller. And there's just a lot of questions where if something doesn't go right,

right at the top, then it gets ugly fast. This seems to be the popular pick. When you are saying, who's going to be the disappointment, people seem to be pointing at the Texans as that team. They've been fairly consistent in the Bill O'Brien era. They've been really consistent. They had one bad year. Yeah, of kind of playing up to their potential or near their potential.

So it would be a break from how they have been under this current regime. He has four, in five seasons, he's at a winning record four times. and they're coming off in 11-win season. So I don't blame them for, you have Deshawn Watson. You're going to think that you're in the mix as a big-time contender. Well, I think when you have the Sean Watson and DeAndre Hopkins, J.J. Watt, Gedevian Clowny, those guys can carry the team. If they get hot, they can carry the team for weeks at a time.

So I don't write them off just because I think the Colts got better. I just think the Texans are about what they were last year, and it might not be good enough in an improved division. And we've seen them hurt so many times that I think, that aids in the perception that they're thin. And it's like, oh, they're always one injury away from going to the tank, whether it's Fuller, to an extent, Kiki Kootie going down, really hurt the offense last year. Well, they are thin at the skill positions.

You know, they have Deshaun Watson and DeAndre Hopkins. And then after that, Fuller's the third best skill position player, and he's heard a lot. And then who's their fourth? A lot of teams right now, I guess it's Lamar Miller, but a lot of teams right now have four, or five, six different kind of weapons. They don't really have that sort of depth. And looking at the tackle, they take Howard out of Alabama State early, and people see him as a project tackle. What if they don't see him as a project tackle?

I don't think they do if they have a plan in place for him. He's not going to do a whole lot outside of his... The perception was that Howie Rosen banged him by trading right in front of him and taking... Andre Dillard. So Titus, and he's from a small school, maybe not the same level of prospect, but maybe he's a stud. If he's backing up Shantrell Henderson, they're going to be disappointed. If Matt Khalil is starting week one, that's a disappointment. Just in general.

Take care of that quarterback. He's special. Almost a little bit forgotten how special he is with all this emergence of young quarterbacks. All right. Last division in the AFC, Patrick Claibon, get us going with the hometown chargers. All right, I'm going to paint a picture for you guys. Paint it. A weathered Phillip Rivers sits on the field months after a loss in Gillette Stadium.

the eventual Super Bowl champions already celebrating yet again as he watched from the field. Thinking of his actual vengeance plan, an army of his own children set about on the destruction of all of New England. He's in the Sessler chair. Waiting for one button, his signal. He'd soldered it onto his helmet communicator months ago. He could usher in a new age, an age where the chaos was replaced with order. Injustice purged in the pursuit of honor. A ledger of failure wiped clean in a sweeping success.

but as he reaches for the button, a hand reaches down to him. It's Tom Telesco, standing there with Thomas Davis and the Seer Adderley. He says, one more job, Phil, one more ride. And that's what this is for the 2019 Chargers. One more ride.

Interesting. Let's do it. So there's, you believe, and that was beautiful, by the way. I mean, I have to give you around. Was it? You believe there is an urgency in that building. And I feel like urgency would be something Patrick Claibon is not big on

the idea of this team knows this is the time that can end up a trash take but is there an urgency around the rivers led chargers at this stage? I feel through the acquisitions and the guys assembled on the team that this is the shot.

This is a legitimate shot. I believe I think everybody has seen what this team can do. There's no reason not to believe and what's the future. It doesn't matter what the future is. The future is now. Their O line was their biggest problem down the stretch. last year and they really didn't address that at all. They took a third round pick.

Trey Pipkins didn't do much in free agency. And so that's my fear. But to what I was saying earlier about continuity, it's hard to keep teams together and you're right. There's a lot of talent on this team. And this feels like last year and this year is their prime time to get it done before all these contracts come up

or Rivers gets too old or Bosa gets, you know, whatever it is. There's a lot going on. To that same point that the Chargers are bringing back a badass nucleus. 12-win team. 12-win team. And then you look at the other superpowers.

The Chiefs are going through a lot of stuff. And we're going to get to them in a minute. The Patriots, obviously, they're trying to figure some things out. The Steelers, the window is there. The Colts, obviously, Wes, are on the rise. But I'm saying the window seems to be there. Chargers know all about the Colts, believe me. Yeah, the window is there for this Charger team.

There's no doubt about it. Well, I think the defense got quite a bit better in the offseason. The offense is questionable. They do get Hunter Henry back, who, was having a very promising start to his career before he missed last season. Then they also lost Tyrell Williams. Maybe that's a push. But I agree with Greg.

The right side of this offensive line is the issue, and it was a major issue down the stretch last year when they went in the tank. And circling back to the River's children, I guess just as a representative, someone that grew up in New England. I say bring it. You know, wait, you got none of them are over 18. Most of them are under 10 years old. We'll take you on, Rivers Children.

Greg, those are the children you know about. Bring it. Famous last words by a man about to be overrun by a bunch of elementary school children. Wes, move us into Denver. John Elway was up against it. He's been up against the last two years where it looked like he had to nail the last two rookie classes in order to avoid a full-scale rebuild, reconstruction. And after the 2018 draft class was one of the most impressive in the NFL,

and this one looks to be pretty promising as well. I think he now has a chance to pull it off, like driving a tractor through a needle. I think he might have done it. It all depends on lock and flacco, but the roster looks much better now to me than it did a couple of years ago. How about on defense? That's what I'm saying. The defense isn't an issue at all. The only thing that needed to be reconstructed was the offense.

The offensive line looks better to me. You picked up Joanne James and the center guard they got in the same. second round, Reisner, I think. To me, that looks much better. Hopefully, he's able to navigate Chris Harris' desires to pay to the level of his ability. Because if he's able to be back potentially a long term because he's being one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL not getting paid like it for several years, that'd be my only concern.

It's a great point because we haven't really talked about Chris Harris's trade request. They sounded like they wanted to trade him. I mean, it's very rare that John Elway, that a GM is talking on the podium about how he's looking for offers and he didn't really get many calls, this or that. They sounded pretty open, and I think it's to their credit that they're not going to give Chris Harris away. And it'd be crazy to, and he's coming off a broken leg, and I think that's probably why teams didn't jump on the chance to go get him. And I mentioned this Saturday, I'll say it again, though, that I really like the lock move, Drew Locke in the second round, going up to get him and gives them a little bit of flexibility. Maybe Joe Flacko is revitalized in a new surroundings and has a nice year. And this is a playoff team, probably if that happens.

But if he isn't good or if he gets hurt, which has happened as well in recent years, you now have a kid you get turned to and maybe he can play a little bit. So you kind of doubled your chances. You're not boxed in at quarterback. Interesting team, the Broncos. I feel like they have a wide range of outcomes this season. It takes the draft, and this is very true of the Broncos in this case, for me to, at least now that I'm older, like,

It's the time when I'm first excited, like, I want to go see this team. Now I'm excited to go see this team next year. Like, the draft is that moment where, okay, the rosters are together. Now I'm, like, starting to get ready to say goodbye to my family and enjoy the 2019 set. Does Joe Flacco light that fire for you? No, it's not really Flacco so much. Although I'm curious. Like, I'm certainly more curious to watch him with Keenham.

I'm with Wes. He was playing fairly well at the beginning. I don't think he necessarily is a bum if he's supported. Any other thoughts? I want to know what you guys think to Broncos. Are they going to be an 8 and 8 team? Are they going to be a 10 and 6 team? That's what I mean.

I could see 10 and 6. I can see 6 and 10. I'll see too tough with the position. I see a squad that's looking for 1. I'm giving them 8 wins. All right. Let's move on to the defending division champion, Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs survived the loss of Kareem Hunt.

They even thrived without a hunt. hunt but Tyreek Hills possible slash probable slash inevitable exit from Kansas City will really test Andy Reed and that entire organization then again there's this this other side of it and a lot of it starts with Patrick Gajon's his greatness

and are we just scraping the ceiling of how good this guy could be and perhaps he turns the Georgia wide receiver Hardman maybe he is instantly a pro bowl producer Maybe that's how good Patrick Mahomes is. Maybe they did a good job in their scouting and bringing in a guy that can make an instant

a plug-and-play, Claibon type. The defense has undergone a very public makeover. The offense is shedding playmakers. But I still feel good about the Chiefs. And I know there are 100 reasons that you can point to why you should be down on the Chiefs right now. But Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, outside of Belichick and Brady,

there isn't another head coach quarterback combination I trust more to see things through rocky times and uncertainty. And that's why I still think the chiefs should be very much viewed as a powerhouse with Super Bowl winning potential. I agree. I mean, and I would take in terms of schematic advantage and quarterback talent, there's no one bet anywhere.

I'd take Reed and Mahomes over anyone. I mean, Reed, it's just so clear has provided a game playing advantage against his opponents the last couple of years. And Mahomes, listening to him at the owners meeting, you get the sense Reed feels like he's just starting that process of what he can do.

The most important skill position player, the most important non-quarterback in the NFL, according to Sean Payton and Drew Breeze last year was Tyreek Hill. And the spacing he gives this offense, I have no idea what Mikul Harman's going to be, but

Tyreek Hill is, if he's not playing, that's a devastating loss for them. As far as an offense and being explosive, that was kind of the pinnacle, right? Like, it's tough to think that they would be better than that in any capacity, especially if Tyrick Hill's not there.

But if they're anywhere close and the defense is better, then they're a contender. And so that's the question. The defensive rebuild is going to have to take and it doesn't have to make, they don't have to be a top 10 defense, but they have to be a middle of the road offense.

And then it's up to Reed and Mahomes and the rest of the coaching staff and who's there now to make it work on offense. I just, I guess what I'm saying is it's one of those popular buzzy subplots of every offseason And this one to me, one of them is, oh, the chiefs are in trouble now. And I get it.

And Wes is absolutely right. How important Tyreek Hill is, I just think this team is going to figure it out. It might take some time, but I just trust them too. So panic is not on the menu for me. They need Sammy Watkins. They need Sammy Watkins to jump up, make a impact. I kind of like some of the defensive moves they made, the very quiet ones, the Okafour and Emmanuel Agba and Bashad Breeland,

just like getting guys into that are okay enough for very little money. Keenan Allen still laughing at the second to see how important. The scheme is. All right, close it out with the Oakland Raiders. Greg. A lot of times you hear people talk about, okay, this is a big year for Derek Carr. They put a lot of weapons around them.

It's the new regime. He's got to prove himself this and that. How about it's a big year for John Gruden? I want to see, can John Gruden adapt and be a 2019 difference maker? Because to me, the roster that they have, there shouldn't be any excuses for them to be a bottom-tier offense. Antonio Brown, Tyrol Williams, maybe a ton of Renfro, their fifth round pick as a slot receiver. That's a lot to ask of a fifth round pick.

But either way, they're deep enough at receiver. They're deep enough at running back with Josh Jacobs, their first round pick. You have a guy in Derrick Carr who's played a lot of games. Now he's in the prime of his career. He's getting paid like it. The offensive linemen that they brought in are highly paid Trent Brown or highly drafted Colton Miller or like all pro type guys. Like Rodney Hudson, Gabe Jackson's a very good. Like, you should be a good offense, John Gruden.

And I do have questions whether John Gruden is an advantage, is an asset in 2019. I think this year will give us a good view of that. I think this offensive line could be sneaky trash. I worry. If I was a Raiders fan, I would. Say sneaky or stinky. Sneaky trash. If I was a Raiders fan, I would be worried about that too.

But they certainly have a lot in- Are we sure Colton Miller can play? No. I mean, he struggled last year. Are we sure Denzel Good should be starting that guard? no i mean that's one spot that is definitely a weakness there and i think this defense too was not one draft away from being good they were two or three drafts away from being respectable they've they've put a lot into the drafts on on defense you know they get cleveland feral

they get jonathan abe and they get trevon moll and that's three of the top 40 picks in the draft on one defense so like they're looking for an instant impact this is not a one year rebuild or maybe even a two year rebuild a question i guess i guess I have is what would define success for the Oakland Raiders in 2019? To have an offensive identity would be enough for me. And that might even just be in middle of the pack, but that would be a huge improvement. And I think seeing some of these young players come through. How about finding out that Derek Carr is, in fact, a franchise quarterback?

That would be a good year for the Raiders. Which would be crazy to have somebody be anointed as a franchise quarterback twice in their career. He needs to be re-enointed. We need to know. And if he does not take it to the next level or he regresses, the Raiders are going to make a big play for a quarterback next year. So it's something to keep an eye on.

I was thinking he's, he is a candidate for the Dalton scale right now. Because I don't think you're looking at Derrick R and saying. I think we made him the Dalton line one year, didn't we? I don't think so. It's always been Dalton. No, one year. It's a scale got in there one, or Alex Smith.

It's always been you, Andy. But Dalton is the one and true hero. I will mention a hero. He's a man whose opinion we respect. Move the stick said during the draft telecast that he sees Hunter Renfro as a guy they can plug in this year and catch 70 balls. Wow.

Whoa, bros who like sports? Real original. Next. There is no next. Will you please shut the fuck up? All you guys do is f***ing talk and you just ramble on about bullshit that no one gives a flying fuck about.

Just shut up. That's fair. Why do you need to play a recording? Why can't you just say that into the mic? All right. Good job. Great job. That is it.

We just went around the AFC in exactly 48 minutes. It was a fun show. It was a fun show. Patrick, you came in here. We plugged you in and he played. That's what I am. He did more than play. He played well.

I would like to think so. You got on base. You went first to third on a single. Scored three runs. Just let me be six man of the year. You swung at that first pitch of the game and popped out to second. Yeah. But then after that, you got him base twice, even a nice play in the field.

Stolling base. A shortage of bodies. They didn't have anybody else to put in. So I had to stay in the lineup and, you know, I produced later in the game after the initial failure. Your regular Zach Duke. I mean, that didn't work for a variety of reasons, but just in flame and rage, Wes. It's just some Cincinnati Reds relief pitcher that, that I'm, like, worried about his safety. Zach Duke's safety, not Wes is.

He's not going to be on my radar soon because he's going to be. Cut. I'm going to tell Emily to stay home for Wes and Lukusha's wedding, which is, you know, this month now, well, effective tomorrow, and bring Zach Duke as my date to Tybee, just to see what happens. I don't hate the man. He just doesn't belong on the Red House. And then I'm going to get Zach nice and drunk. He's a middling relief pitcher, former top prospect of the pirates way back when. Like 15 years ago. And now he's a hot and cold middle reliever that Wes hates with the heat of a billion burning sun. He just turned 36. I don't hate him. But the. man is carrying like an ERA of about 11 and the league is hitting 360 off of him. He probably belongs in the minor league. This is what I would do. I would bring for the no one wants a Reds podcast. I would

bring him to Tybee. Matt Caps was the best man at his wedding. Who? Matt Caps. Matt Caps. You don't know Frank Capp? I remember Rat Caps. Oh, he's another reliever of a national's fame. But bring him to Tybee. Probably a very nice man. I have no ill will towards him. Team you up with him.

Get you nice and liquored up after the wedding, which I imagine will happen. I think Zach Duke would like hanging out on top. And then you and Zach Duke team up in Cornhole. All right. And then you'll change your opinion on the man. I like him. I just don't like him on my team's roster.

I mean, you got to find a good partner after the losing streak that you started on. Oh. I'm not worried about it. Sessler not even here to defend himself. And you know he won't listen. I don't think he would have defended himself. I think there would have been a barbed shot back. Which is my prediction.

All right. Patrick, thank you, buddy. Thank you, guys. We'll be back on Thursday with Colleen Wolfe. Yes, the great Connie Fox sitting in the Mark chair to go around the NFC. A lot of pressure to live up to Patrick's. Plug and play. Is Terry Rozier a good enough?

No, no. Let's do it. He's played well in the playoffs when he's been needed. He plays for Boston, though, which sucks. But, you know, he's more like a Vinny Microwave Johnson, just instant offense. AC Green. I think late stage the microwave. is unlike my six-man Hall of Fame.

Yeah. All right. That's enough. This is ridiculous. All right. This is Dan Hansa signing off for Patrick Claibond. Patrick Microwave Claibon, the mailman, the old boss on Ricky Hollywood behind the glass. Till Thursday.

I'm welcome I had a lot going on there I had a burp that was coming up and I couldn't get rid of it so stuck there and then the frock the burp and the frog The burp and the frog, that's a false start. You can survive one or the other.

Wow. Both at the same time. Yeah, I would take one. Tough to deal with. Got in a crossfire there. Can't do both. 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

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