NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Baker Mayfield Traded; Superstar Club 2022
Episode Date: July 12, 2022A virtual room filled with some heroes from all across the globe - Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler and Gregg Rosenthal bring you the latest news from around the league, starting with a brief catch-up after t...aking a week away from podcasting. Baker Mayfield was traded to the Carolina Panthers (10:00), Jimmy Garoppolo might be traded by the end of the month (22:30), Heinz Field has been re-named Acrisure Stadium (25:30), Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens are closer to a contract extension (28:00), and Zach Wilson is making headlines with his personal life (30:30). Plus, Dan reveals the newcomers to the Superstar Club for 2022 as well as those who were bounced to make room, starting with the quarterbacks (37:30), then moving to the running backs (51:30), next explaining a rule change with the wide receivers (56:00) and finally hitting the tight ends (1:05:40) before finishing up with the newest position group to be included in the club (1:10:00). Note: timecodes approximate.NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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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
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The Around the NFL podcast.
Thank you for saying that.
Welcome to another.
Another edition of the Around the NFL podcast.
My name is Dan Hansis.
I come to you.
We come to you from various points all around the world.
This is history.
Okay?
I want everyone to understand what you're listening to right now is history.
I, the old Zusser, I'm coming to you from the northeast coast of the United States.
The New Jersey Shore.
The New Jersey Shore.
sure to be exact. Okay. So that's where I am. Okay. And I'm enjoying it. I am. I was at the beach with
the, with the kids and my sister and her children. It was a nice time. Got spotted by a fan at the
at the little snack bar. He went, Hansus? I went, yes. I like your stuff. I was like, all right.
He went with Hansus. A little surprise, but that was nice. Okay. And then a nice time at the beach. I'm
enjoying the family time, and now on the opposite side of the coast.
You have the great Mark Sessler.
You have the man, the myth, the legend, holding it down in sunny California.
How you doing, buddy?
I'm doing great.
You know, we had the very rare week off, and I enjoyed it to its finest potential.
I can tell you that.
Great.
Are you getting some tasty ways?
waves and all that? I did not go into the waves per se, but I did what I normally do,
which I found in an excellent hotel up in the Hollywood area to spend a couple days at
and got up to some adventures that I would describe on a different podcast, potentially other than
this one. We have so many questions. How many stars for the hotel?
4.75.
Oh, wow. He's got that new contract money. Well, he doesn't, but that's another story.
Finally. Let's go over the Pacific. Let's keep going. Keep going. Keep going. Keep going. Keep going. Keep going.
From Japan. Greg Rosenthal. 7 a.m. in Japan. 3 p.m. in California, 6 p.m. in New York.
Greg, how you doing, buddy? Welcome back. I'm a whole day ahead of you. I'm telling you the future is beautiful.
Life better in the future?
Because I don't know.
How is like our home country doing?
No, Japan's a mess too, you know.
Unfortunately, some bad news.
Give us one nugget that happened between now and tomorrow, between now and tomorrow, from the future.
Your life specifically, Mark, is going to be disrupted significantly.
In a positive way, for the most part, depending on how you look at it.
That's how life is.
But this music in the background does get me thinking
Like whenever you're at like a museum or a restaurant
I do find the background music in Japan is fantastic
They always have like a nice tracking music in the background
That just sort of soothe you
Not quite like this but you know
Great ambiance
Yeah
And yeah there was an unfortunate assassination in Japan
And I did send you another news item
Of unsavory crime in that country
And I was just wondering if you were involved
but I just have to say, I assume you're not.
I asked Graver to do some digging, or is Grave-Digger?
Is Grave-Digger in Texas?
That's four.
Did we get the central time zone covered also?
No, unfortunately, I'm back in L.A., so we did not get the central time zone.
Okay.
I did some digging.
Okay.
Is this history, what we're doing right now?
Podcasts across the world.
It is not technically history.
I did find a couple of podcasts, something.
I can't imagine they have anything close to the reach that around the NFL podcast has.
Enormous.
You know, no disrespect to the Impact podcast, who did record across three time zones in November 2021.
There's also a podcast.
What a braggy title for a podcast, by the way.
Right, but are the time zones as far apart?
Dan and I right now, I think, are 16, maybe 9, I don't even know what it is, hours apart.
So I tried to apply for a Guinness World Record for longest distance or furthest distance between podcast hosts.
And unfortunately, it takes 12 weeks to apply for a Guinness World Records.
So my application was rejected.
You know, some bits take a little while to pay off.
Yeah, that's worth paying off.
So we can get that because we've basically been shut out of the award.
game since winning best new podcast of Apple in 2013.
To get that one would be a nice little trophy to put on some other producer's
wall mailed directly to her apartment.
That would be cool to have a Guinness World Record trophy.
That's cool.
And to find out like right around week six of the NFL regular season, whether or not we've
made that accomplished or not in the Guinness book, that would be.
That'd be a nice little shot in the arm, I would think.
You know, the grind of the season.
Once you get past that initial adrenaline shot, you're in week six and you're in the grind.
Oh, you're the Guinness World Record holder for longest distance between podcast hosts and a single episode.
All right. Cool.
Great.
We just take off.
We take it to the next level.
Probably a new category, I would imagine.
All right.
We've also set, you know, personal boundaries.
I met up with our old producer, Zach Goldman here in Tokyo.
The gold standard?
That just shows grave digger.
Like, you know, once you're a producer here, you're.
part of a family, unless you're not.
Maybe if you're as internationally successful as Zach Goldman and you just happen to be in
Tokyo working for the Japanese soccer league, what?
You can just like go meet up at a baseball game.
So that was delightful.
We just got hit with a Greg Watt.
What?
That's when you know Greg's back.
He started telling me about his business.
He's like a consulting.
He runs a consulting firm.
And, you know, he's a humble guy.
But I'm impressed how much more successful.
he is than us already at a young age it's wild he's I mean does that surprise you though
with the gold standard not a not a total shock but it was it was delightful and I love a I love a good
Japanese baseball all right anyway we do have something to catch up now we pick a good time to
go dark and thank you to everybody for being patient while we were enjoying time with our families
and you know enjoying the summer we hope you're enjoying the summer too not a ton going on in the
right now during the dark period but there are a few things that popped up including a very
notable quarterback transaction which we'll get to in just a minute um but there is news to hit
there's some news involving my quarterback and when i say my it's capital m capital y because i don't know
if this thing's going to work out with zach wilson but i'm enjoying the ride i'm enjoying this one
not the only one you could say that again um we also
are going to once again, open up the doors, pull back the curtain, and take a walk around
the superstar club. Yes, Ali Bunpari, our features editor did get me, he hooked me for an article
a couple weeks back, last week maybe. It is the latest class, the superstar club of
2022. And Greg, you'll be annoyed by this. And trust me, it annoys me as well because I always
thought it was a good hook, zero-sum game, Superstar Club. Somebody comes in, somebody's got to go out.
One position group made that impossible. The conceit was impossible. And I had to make,
I had to admit extras in this year. It's just the nature of where the sport is headed. I don't know
if you can take a guess, but we're going to get to it in just a little bit. Do you guys know what
it is what position group it would be i do because i spent um you know i i like to research our segments
ahead of time and actually read the article and it was a very enjoyable read and i think you were left
with no choice dan you had to do what you did all right good but if you if there's criticism to be
handed out i want that as well that's an important part of the cross the process but before we get to
superstar club let's do some news tonight april 26th 2018 the future of the jets and the
Browns may have changed forever.
And so, too, the fate and future of this very podcast.
Oohie.
Mark?
Very possible.
We might not be the doormats anymore if we just get a little help from these young
quarterbacks, Baker Mayfield at number one.
And my boy, scam for Sam Darnold, number three overall.
Ooh.
Well, that was.
was then, and this is now.
And it should be stated that Sam Darnold and Baker-Mayfield have taken different routes
to where they are in their NFL's career.
And NFL careers, Baker has actually had tangible success, for instance.
And yet, here we are on July 11th, 2002, and Baker-Mayfield and Sam Darnold are teammates
battling quote of quote for the starting job in Charlotte last Wednesday the Browns agreed to
trade quarterback Baker Mayfield to the Panthers for a 2024 conditional draft pick.
The Panthers will pay nearly $5 million of Mayfield's salary while the Browns will pay
$10.5 million.
Mayfield agreed to convert the remainder of his salary to incentives to make the deal
happen.
It's pending a physical.
I'm sure it went down by now.
And Mayfield can make back that money based on team performance.
The Browns get fourth or fifth round pick in 2024, depending on Mayfield's playing time in Carolina.
So here we are Mayfield and the Browns officially know more.
Mark Sessler, your takeaways.
Well, I mean, to start with what like the intro was that I cannot remember a scenario like this
where you have two quarterbacks that will in theory battle in camp that were first round
picks first and third the way they were. And this soon after, their destinies, we never would
have understood that night. We look like Rubes for being as hopeful as we were, but that's the way
sports works. For Mayfield, I just, all off season long, I've wanted him to land somewhere where
we had a chance to play and redeem some of the, I think, sort of, you know, hate, rather, rather like
negative hateful reports that the Browns have sort of floated out there. I mean, even this week
after the trade, there's a report saying that the Browns widely viewed Mayfield as childish and
immature. That comes on the back of something similar a couple months ago. So it's a chance for him
to go in win a camp battle. I think he's clearly the better quarterback than Sam Darnel. I know,
Dan, you think a little differently about what they went through in their careers. But Baker
Mayfield, to me, the Panthers said, we need to upgrade from what we have. Matt Rule is on the
hottest seat of any coach in the league right now. And Baker Mayfield gives them a better chance.
He's got an all right surrounding cast around him.
I don't think it's a great position to be in for any started quarterback compared to where he could go elsewhere.
But this is a chance for Baker Mayfield, too, who is, I think, taking the high road this off season with the Browns and the way he's been treated to start in week one by beating the Cleveland Browns, dropping five touchdowns on them right out of the gate maybe.
That would be justice.
We'll see how it unfolds.
Man, I hope he plays week one.
He has to.
You do wonder if, like, Darnold has any advantage because he's been there for a year
and the fact that maybe they would almost want to avoid that weak one.
But you would believe that Baker Mayfield would win any fair battle just because he's been a better player.
And I think this offense on paper should be a little better than last year.
If McCaffrey's healthy, they put in some investment into the offense.
line. When Teddy was running it, we sort of thought this was a quarterback-friendly offense,
but some of the precepts of it was like get the ball out of your hand quickly. That's not what
Baker Mayfield does well. I would say that's his biggest weakness, making decisions slowly.
It's also Sam Darnold's biggest weakness. I think Baker Mayfield is just a more talented
player. He's obviously shown that he can be a mid-level quarterback at very worst when he's
playing well. So you would think in a fair battle, he's going to be the week one start.
That is what I expect.
But the money of it made me wonder.
I mean, they're only paying him $5 million, which is crazy.
The Browns had to pay $10, as you mentioned, Dan, to get rid of him.
And at least that puts Darnold on some footing here, where it's like he's making a lot
of money from the Panthers.
The Mayfield's not.
And I think they'll be open-minded to Sam Darnold winning this job in a way that maybe
I wouldn't be or the outside wouldn't.
That would be, we all like drama.
and we like the subplots, especially going into week one.
Nobody wants to see Sam Darnold on that field.
It just makes too much sense from the perspective of just juice and fun to have Baker Mayfield against the Cleveland Browns.
It won't be Baker Mayfield.
Well, we don't know for sure, but we are still waiting.
It won't be Baker Mayfield versus Sean Watson.
It will be Baker Mayfield versus Jacoby Brissette, barring an injury over in Cleveland or some type of move that we don't see coming.
And that is, that's an interesting.
thing side of this. I know it was never logical or possible how things had changed in Cleveland
that Baker would somehow end up being there while they were waiting out this watch Watson
suspension, whatever it's going to end up being. But it is notable that the Cleveland Browns
that have big time players that have a lot of invested in star players on that roster that obviously
give up all those assets to get to Sean Watson. It is a bit a punt of a season now because we
know who Jake Briscuit is and we know what he's not. So you have that situation. And
Carolina to me, this is a good move for them. I think it makes sense for them. Donald had
an opportunity last year. He failed. And now you get Baker. And if this fails and both guys
struggle, well, that's not the end of the world because that means you'll have a bad record.
You'll have a high draft pick. You're going to sweep out the coach. You're probably going to
start over. And then everybody gets to start over on the same page, most likely if it plays out
the way I think many think this will. But who knows? Maybe Mayfield surprises us. Yeah, I think also,
I mean, the money side, I'm with you, Greg, that like, yes, on paper he's getting much less than
Darnold, but they know who Darnold is. And that's why they went and found someone else to actually
be their starter. And they talked about the fact that the Browns, Andrew Barry and Scott Fitterer,
I've been negotiating this for not just this past week, but for like up to two months. So all those
reports where the Panthers are in, they're out, that they have been talking this entire time. And I think
that whoever acquired Baker Mayfield was always going to demand that the Cleveland Browns
who were over a barrel pay for a big chunk of that salary. So I don't know if the money part
here with a coaching staff who are on the brink will play such a big role. I think it's if Baker
Mayfield outplays Darnold, and I presume he will, that he'd be the weak one starter. And you
wouldn't shy away from having him go in against Cleveland because that is a schedule maker's
acid tab. That is a fantastic little nugget to how this could start for them. Right. I, you
came at me i noticed it was like because of the time difference i had already slept you know
it was like 15 hours later by the time i saw you uh tweet back at me clap back at me dan about
the difference between darnold and baker you know why do you think that was a clapback that was just
me that was my opinion that was all that's all no you were saying you were saying like if darnold
i i think um you know was in a worse situation or if it had been in a similar situation and i
agree the jet situation uh was bad baker's such a a weird player because
Because what he does well, which is just like throw the football where he aims it if he's protected, he does quite well.
Like he's an extremely talented thrower of the football.
And like I said, like I thought it was a quarterback friendly offense with Teddy there.
They have Robbie Anderson now who they have DJ Moore.
Is Bobby Anderson retiring?
I mean, probably not, but he's tried to like back off the whole he wasn't a fan of Baker thing.
But, like, if anything, Baker could prevent them from finding their next quarterback because this NFC South is not great.
I guess Saints fans would disagree.
But, like, maybe Baker is going to be good enough to make this team competitive.
And then you don't get the quarterback.
I think if nothing else, like, it's for all the people who like to, like, read into the psychology of Baker and everything and it's like, he's better when he's like the underdog and backed against the wall, like this should be a good spot for him.
He didn't handle success too well, but he's not coming off.
My prediction, they each start eight games and then some other Hemanegger starts one game.
Interesting.
I mean, it is a new offense, by the way.
It's Ben McAdoo's offense.
It isn't the Teddy offense or the offense from last year.
So I don't know that Darnold intellectually has some big leap over Baker-Mayfield at this point.
And I don't want to hear any about it more as Matt Rule's offense a little bit, but you're right.
I saw a press release and a flowery quote.
quote from the Haslums and Andrew Berry about Baker Mayfield
and how important he was to the organization.
Get off it.
Get off it.
Don't even bother.
Again, so tone deaf, this organization.
You smeared the guy.
I mean.
No, but you smeared the guy.
You made him, you without even, like, I thought in a really short-sided way,
torpedoed his trade value with some of the things that you leaked to the media.
You made him seem like he was a really bad team.
and a guy that was not a true leader and all this stuff.
It's just like you're talking out of both sides of your mouth.
And it just, to me, it is what it is.
And it's not a good look.
I am with you.
I think that their, their press releases, their flowery press releases are mingled
with whisper campaigns.
And it's interesting.
I saw NFL.com had this annual article that basically asked which fan base most
deserves a Super Bowl.
And the Browns, you know, for 30 years in a row, would have been locked into the top one or two
of that.
And right now, and it's not their fans.
fault at all. But you just simply can't project them as deserving anything right now. It just
feels completely different. The energy is really damaged. The crazy thing is I heard that clip from
you guys on draftator, like maybe these will change our destiny as the bottom dwellers. And if you
just looked at the records and kind of what Baker's Browns have done in the four years so he was drafted,
if you had looked at that before he was drafted, you would have been like, I think Mark would have taken it.
Yes, I would have.
One playoff win, competitive, you know, not, you know, the way it went, obviously, was disappointing.
But he did help to change who they were.
I just don't know if his weaknesses, which have been, like, terrible in the fourth quarter, whether he was hurt or not, he's just been terrible in late game situations and just not making decisions quickly.
I don't know if you can solve that, but if he's talented enough to solve that.
but I think he's talented enough to, like, get them back to mediocre quarterback play,
which they could use.
In other quarter, in other mediocre quarterback play news, this from Tom Pelliserro,
I'm going to read the whole tweet, just because, you know, I like how it opens.
Team execs are just starting to come back from vacation.
Most training camps open to two weeks, and the expectation within the league continues to be
that Jimmy Garoppolo is traded M-Dash.
I like the M-Dash.
In fact, sometimes I find myself.
in the writing capacity to be overly
reliant on the M-Dash,
but it's such a great tool.
Anyway, somewhere, close M-Dash,
by the end of the month.
So we'll see.
I know he started throwing again,
and that was a good sign after the shoulder surgery.
So Jimmy G could be on the move.
Where would Jimmy G go?
So now Carolina's out.
All these other teams that we've talked about,
mostly out.
The Seattle Seahawks,
and Greg Rosenthal all about saying we're all set where would Jimmy G end up we shall see
there was some buzz though that the Seahawks could be interested I I've heard the idea
it's like well they would never trade him in the division really I don't know if they care
that much of course I mean I don't buy that the whole reason why they're open to trading him is
because they don't think he's that good right like isn't that a big part of this like he's
going to kill you then don't trade him it's not trading Joe Montana back in the day now
but like Baker they're not going to get much for them either I was just surprised by this report
just because expected by the end of the month does that mean they have that that would say
to me if that's really the belief that they've at least had an offer on the table and they're
not really expecting it to get much better and they might just pull the trigger because that's
soon the end of the month that is not waiting for the end of the preseason that right that's not
waiting for most of the precinct. I don't see, there's no logical fit for him as a starter.
And so it's just trying to figure out where he would be as a backup, unless it was Seattle.
Well, and so Don Yee, the agent of Jimmy G., knocked down the, and Tom Brady,
knocked down the rumor that he was maybe going to be sent to the bucks to be Brady's backup,
which is not happening. But the one thing I've always thought the Niners should do.
Number one, they have to pay Debo Samuel at some point here. So if they cut them,
they can still get like $25 million, no problem. So you don't have to trade them if you get
into that kind of a jam. But if you want to get value, I have always thought you just wait
until disaster and tumult strikes some other offense where a quarterback goes down with an August
knee injury and you need Jimmy G just to float through the season. Where are you going to get?
What are you going to get for him right now? Like they've waited all this time to get, what,
a conditional fifth or six because they know the Niners have no other way to get rid of them.
I just don't like that plan. The whole plan has been murky to begin with.
The Panthers should get them and just continue to add to the room.
Matt Corrales there.
I'm like, what the heck, guys?
This is bogus.
Did you guys hear this report?
It was Mike Silver, our former colleague, speaking with Colin Coward.
And this, well, it's from Coward directly.
Lance's delivery, the 49ers are kind of rebuilding it.
He gets arm fatigue.
It's not an easy throw.
He needs days off and they're worried about his accuracy.
I don't know.
And here is Mike Silver, an actual reporter.
No disrespect to Coward, but he's more than the personality zone.
with you, buddy. Yes, there were some concerns about
Trey Lance's accuracy and arm fatigue during his rookie year. That said,
here are some things to get excited about. Elite intelligence,
arm strength, athletic ability, relative lack of experience suggests high
ceiling, high ceiling, we shall see. So that's just something I was
floating around and connected to this situation as well.
It's also July. I think that, right, the Pellasero report,
and mostly how they've acted, actually does indicate to me that they understand
keeping Jimmy is thorny. And I think they are.
are fully, like, going full steam ahead with Tray Lance.
I don't think there's anything to it.
All right.
Let's pause right here and take a break.
We'll be right back.
What's up, everybody?
Daniel Jeremiah here.
And I'm Bucky Brooks.
On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game
from scouting reports and player development
to team building philosophies,
coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters.
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In other news, you know, I'm still not recovered from, as I'm sure many Seattle, Seahawks fans would agree, Century Linkfield, the Klink becoming Lumen Field.
Like, I'm still not totally cool with that. And now we head to Pittsburgh where Heinz Field is no more. I know I shouldn't get attached to the corporate names because they're still just corporate names.
but when they're when they work, when they're good corporate names, you just, you want the
corporate name to stay where it is.
So the 21 year run of Heinz Field in Pittsburgh is no more.
They are now for the next 15 years, this building is known as get ready to say it a trillion
times, drummer roll, please.
What the hell is it?
I don't know.
Acre Shore Stadium.
Let's go, baby.
You don't want to go.
go to AccraShore in December.
And it's at the point where I immediately went to see what Dave Damashak, long time,
lifelong Steelers fan had to say about it.
He seemed nonplussed if you check out his tweets.
AcroSure is a, I went to, because I mean, you cannot tell from the name what's happening
there.
A fine tech leader, financial tech leader, they provide essentially intelligence-driven financial
services solutions for insurance, reinsurance, real estate services, cyber services.
An asset and wealth management, that does not scare the Baltimore Ravens.
And the name also is the opposite of rolling off the tongue.
It sounds, it's weighty.
It's, it's unenjoyable to say.
Jacoby Brissette is licking his chops.
Yes, he is.
Ready to go into AccraShore.
They just got a free plug, though, a free plug from Mark.
I do feel like at least half of these new stadium-right deals are just for companies
that need to explain what their company actually is, so they need more attention on it.
Like, just come up with a name that would have helped us out in the first place better.
and you could avoid having to spend all that money.
There you go.
My favorite bad corporate stadium name is the Chicago White Sox.
It's a guaranteed rate stadium or field.
And then the logo is a like a stock arrow pointing down.
So it has the name.
And then it shows it's like a stock market thing like shooting down.
And it's like, well, that doesn't, I feel like you don't want to connect like the arrow pointing down with your professional sports club.
but that's what's happening over there.
Hey, whatever happened to Fenway Park, Yankee Stadium, like when we were kids.
All right.
In other news.
So that, that sucks.
But who cares?
Yeah, that's filed out.
That's one of those categories.
Like, that sucks, but you know, who cares?
That's pretty good.
That's pretty good.
But it falls under that category.
Let's see.
Lamar Jackson is hoping a deal gets done before training camp.
A little bit of a change there.
Greg from the idea that he might wade it out and go the Kirk Cousins route.
Now maybe it's taking it on a more traditional feel, the negotiation.
Yeah, he said this at a charity event, I think his own to Safeed Dean of USA Today.
And he said they're in the middle of negotiation.
So I think that's noteworthy.
This whole idea that Lamar was going to like wait it out and I had this whole idea,
he's going to like break the system.
I believe I even said on this podcast, I had heard some whispers that that
wasn't true at all. This was just like how he was negotiating. And in the end, it's probably
going to end up being more typical than like every quarterback. And it now sounds to me like
this thing is probably happening. Are you disappointed in him, Greg? Because you were getting a little
hot in the pants. I was getting kind of fired up. I thought it'd be interesting as like an
intellectual, yeah, exercise. But the man, the man deserves whatever he wants to do. And it sounds like
he wants his money. He also, in terms of a physical body update, has gone from 205,
pounds to 220, the thickest he's ever been in the league. He's been working on tightening his
motion. But I would ask this from a contract angle. His arms were big. Did you see that? He really
did look like it because you think of him as a skinny guy. He had 15 pounds of muscle. It wasn't like
some flab around the stomach area. He's looking fantastic. His biceps are. What happens to
a money wise though? You can't like does the Deshaun Watson contract honestly operate as like a bar
or a bar for these other superstar throwers,
because I don't think you can pay him that.
I think it's somewhere maybe closer to Dak Prescott.
It just seems like the Deshaun Watson scenario
threw a real wrench in the works for the rest of these guys
and their agents.
Well, I think he'll get top, top shelf money.
The only thing about Watson that I'm curious with these other quarterbacks
is like, are they going to get fully guaranteed contracts?
Right, the guarantee side.
But otherwise, I don't have much doubt that Lamar is coming
in right at or near the top of the shelf.
And I think the Ravens are just going to do that.
On another show, it would be the whole next 20 minutes would be a segment about, yeah,
but Lamar Jackson with a thicker build, will he lose agility and speed?
Was this the right move?
I like it.
Is this the right move for Zach Wilson?
Damn right.
It's the right move.
I'm taking this straight from the New York.
post the paper of record in this house down at the shore by the way i don't know what's going on with
the post by the way i think the post got a different vibe now than it did when i was reading it on the
subway in the 2000s is that what's how it always that way what sort of direction is it taken what
the ownership was always the same and it was leaning the same i think uh like a lot of things
it might be leaning even a little more uh hard but i don't know it was always that way i don't
i think i think yeah it's it's pretty wild what's going on in the post these days but
But anyway, here's the lead.
Zach Wilson's ex-girlfriend appears to be dating his college roommate, Washington
commander's wide receiver, Dax Meline, after she seemingly accused the Jets quarterback of cheating
on her with his mom's best friend.
Wow.
Zach.
Well, let's get graver in here.
Grave-digger.
There is a significant age difference between you and your paramour.
Have you found?
And we don't know if this is true.
Of course, Zach Wilson isn't going to comment on it, at least not at this point.
Here's another quote before I actually do bring it to Grave-Digger.
In a sense deleted comment, someone connected to this said that Wilson was, quote, sleeping with his mom's best friend.
That's the real homie hopper.
I don't, that one, I don't know.
Okay.
Graver, your feelings, is this situation?
And we know the boy is still a boy.
He's a little more girthy now, but he still remains a boy.
Do you think he can handle this?
The idea of dating a woman several years older, not everyone could do that.
Now, you did it easily.
No, I know that's not accurate, actually.
No, my girlfriend is.
The age is similar.
I think we're of similar age, the two of you.
Yes, I'm three years older than her.
actually so it's not really like Zach Wilson at all but um really good for Zach yeah this keeps on
getting more interesting uh-huh um no I don't really need your input on this because I had the
right I was miss I was mistaken I'm sorry well I think I think we go we come to Graver for two things
on the show Titans analysis and like relationship stripe for like stealing other people's
significant others so I think this is his lane
I think he might say he didn't steal.
I think he can't, he swooped in.
Oh, there he goes again.
I mean, the table was set for you to sound.
The listeners should know he just did a little thing with his hand like,
well, yeah, I did kind of steal her away from a married man.
No, your swoop in is a good way to put it.
That's opportunistic timing.
So like, let's say like the relationship was on the rocks and you had the opportunity to
push their ship back out to sea or just drag it over the jetty to the shore.
kill the other guy on the boat
and then jump back in the boat
and push yourself out with an oar.
And now it's smoothed.
Yeah, that's a pretty good description
of metaphorically speaking what happened.
But yeah, back to Zach Wilson.
You know, I don't know if this is like a relationship
or if it's just like a little one-time thing he did
the cheating on his girlfriend.
And like, was it, is he exploring a relationship
with the person he cheated with?
Or was it just like,
How does the mom feel about it?
Because I believe this 100%.
I mean, the reporting is from the ex-girlfriend.
She's trying to defend herself that she's now dating one of his best friends.
And she's coming with the fire of saying, like, I had good reason for it.
Well, the mom had, and Dan, you asked if Zach Wilson could handle it.
I think he's already handled it from a certain point of view.
He's got that dog in him.
Well, he died.
And it's funny because, like, the first thing that started to happen was NFL players
from every team past and present coming out of the woodwork to essentially praise him.
So I think it's maybe helped the Zach Wilson brand on some level.
But you guys were excited about it.
This popped up on our group text with a bunch of friends.
And it was as fired up about the Jets as Mark and Dan have been in a long time.
No, like I think it's definitive proof that he's got that dog in him.
And now he's added the weight.
he's beefed up he's a he's the little thick boy now and uh now you have this this is going to make him
his path to manhood is even you know he's going further down that road and it's only going to lead
to greatness on the field i think all this when we look back at where you could pull this for a
news drop for next year when we look back at everything that happened in the last six months
around zach wilson um and then what happens in the season to come it's all connected to
what's happened here with the change to the bod, now this new relationship, the Stifler situation.
He's got that dog in him and it's just, it's going to translate. And he is the guy.
He's the guy. It's finally happening now. I don't know if it's a relationship though. I'm not,
I'm not, there's no hard evidence that it's a ongoing relationship, Dan. But they have related to
each other in some form. There's no question about that. His mom being an influencer, which is kind of a
wild sit for Zach, but she posted according to the post, an emotion.
nearly 30 minute long Instagram video Sunday decrying the evils of social media and online predators.
So if you want to check that out, please do.
That was also just a P.S. That was largely about her daughter, Zach's sister,
who encountered a rather nefarious character online and she claimed to have lost her influence
over her daughter due to satanic influence. So there's a lot happening inside the family
from what I'm from what I read. I think there might be something here for you, Mark.
Is Wilson's mom married?
I don't know.
I've tried to keep myself.
I've got my hands full as is.
I'm fine.
All right.
Don't forget, Zach, went to BYU, which is the Cougars.
So it's all fitting.
Just everything works out.
It's got that dog in him.
It's got that cougar in him.
This is either the best or worst time for Zach Wilson for this story to pop up is this week.
Like he's pretty much front page of the NFL right now.
Justin Houston back with the Ravens, Eddie Goldman to the Falcons, and that's what's happening
in the news.
Let's take a break and then the Superstar Club.
What's up everybody?
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Plus, we dig in the coaching strategies, roster construction,
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This guy is looking to become a major superstar.
A superstar.
All right.
Here we go.
It's time every July.
Every July.
I promise you, every July, this will be on the docket.
And I will write it as long as I'm with the company.
They will say to me, it's July.
You know what that means.
Now you write this.
So I write this, the superstar club.
There is a finite number of superstars in the NFL.
Do you know how many of there are?
Take a guess.
You're a superstar.
29. 32.
No, way more.
But I only talk about
quarterbacks, running backs,
wide receivers for the most part.
Okay?
Tight ends.
Those categories,
there are 28 superstars
in the league, okay?
And one bonus one,
which we're going to get to,
I'm very excited to talk about it.
But let's start
by again introducing
what is the superstar club.
Yes, it is a
club where only the best of the best reside, okay? And in every other year I've done this,
without exception, it's a zero-sum game. If I add someone to the club, and I've been doing this
for about five or six years, I need to take somebody out. And you'd be surprised, and this is just
the natural, so maybe you wouldn't be surprised. It's the natural flow of sports. Guys,
ebb and flow, careers peak, then they come down. And there is a natural order in which
Guys fade out while new guys come in.
And it's interesting to see in this type of exercise, who are those guys?
Because this is right, by the way.
Sometimes these things are framed as opinion pieces, but this is it.
This is the definitive superstar because it's on NFL.com.
And it's scientific.
It's not just your opinion.
There's a lot that went into it.
The reader could tell that immediately.
Right.
It's not go betsports.org.
you know, it's not some other Fugasey sports site, ESPN. No, this is NFL.com.
So just think about that. If someone's writing this on NFL.com, it has to be right.
This is the top. This is a $14 billion company. How could it be wrong? Think about that.
There's a real gravity to NFL.com. You're right.
Never been wrong about anything. Very, very savvy. Also, this is a perfect time of year for the
Superstar Club. I see a lot of a lot of news stories about the Superstar Club. Home fans getting
excited or angry. And I, you know, I again, for all of us, maybe some more than others, but certainly
for me, I'm trying to enjoy these last few weeks before we really dig back in. And I went and I pulled
up this article a few minutes ago. And I was stunned by some of the decisions that were made.
I don't remember writing this really. So we're all going to kind of celebrate.
this together and dig in and and debate what was right what seems wrong but is not because
it's on the website of the national football league let's dig in superstar club 2020
let's start with the big quarterback position okay and we have some new names let's see we have
two new names and I hate when I hate when I'm a year off but I was okay
So Joe Burrow is in the Superstar Club.
Congratulations, Joe.
What a moment for you.
Welcome.
His year two, obviously incredible.
I don't need to give you a rundown of what made year two for Joe Burrow so great.
But coming back from the knee injury, taking the bangles of all teams within one drive of winning the Super Bowl.
He's in, I have to take somebody out, zero some game.
Matt Ryan.
It's been a hell of a run for Maddie Ice.
An incredible player.
dumping on Maddie Ice on this podcast this offseason.
But I really like Matt Ryan.
I've always liked him.
You guys know my frustrating relationship I've had with him because I always draft him
in fantasy because I just liked him.
I just liked the dude.
And then when he threw exactly 26 touchdowns for 10 straight years, other than 2017,
that did frustrate me.
But I like the man.
He's got to go at 37 years old.
I think he is going to be an asset for the Colts.
But I think the days of him being an MVP level gunslinger are over.
so he steps out of the Superstar Club.
It was a great run, no shame, and leaving because everybody does eventually.
Disagree on Ryan?
No, those two are easy.
I feel like you're looking for layups as a Superstar Club bouncer, and you got a few
there at quarterback, which I think is the toughest position on the board.
And from a zero-sum angle, like I don't know, you'll reveal who else is on it.
I don't know how else you would have pulled out.
Ryan was the only overt easy choice there.
And you were a year, I don't think you were a year late on Burrow.
I think you were a year late on this next guy.
Burrow at this point a year ago, it makes, you're right.
I kind of swapped him in my head just now.
Yes, I am a year late Justin Herbert because he put enough on tape year one with the
charges to show that, whoa, this guy is special.
And yet I went with the old, ooh, that was a nice season, but I want to see more.
And then he was even better.
And he just showed that, you know, he is a.
Absolute superstar.
That is the word he is,
I wrote in the piece,
the master of the 35-yard turkey hole shot.
He's the king of the scramble and 60-yard heave,
the expert of that 10-yard sandwich coverage dart.
If you remember in that crazy drive at the end of the season
against, I believe it was the Raiders.
That's it.
He's in a golden age of the position,
we have a kid here that has delivered more wow plays
than basically anyone the past two seasons should have done it last year.
He's in, out.
This one, just to get Gregi fired up from Japan.
It's going to shake Tokyo.
What's the New York City you are right now?
Hokayato.
I'm in Tokyo.
Oh, you're in Tokyo.
Yeah, my in-laws live in Tokyo.
Right in the heart of it.
I love it.
Look at you.
From New York City to Los Angeles to Tokyo.
You are a big city man.
I only go big.
I don't know what that is.
Kyler Murray.
I put him in last year and I reserve the right.
Everyone's on a one-year probationary period in the Superstar Club.
And I think I have to take a step back.
I'm sorry, Greg.
I know you disagree with this.
But there have been elements of the last two years that have bothered me,
but especially this past year with the injury again.
And then the way things went in the playoffs and then what happened after the playoffs,
which I'm not going to get too.
hung up on that side of the drama, the, uh, obviously the back and forth and the contract stuff.
But I think maybe I got sucked in with his flair for the great highlight play and maybe
looked past some of the other elements that could hold them back from being a superstar.
So now I'm taking them out.
And again, would I take him out if it wasn't a zero sum situation?
No, I think it would have left him in.
But that's not the rules of the game.
And maybe that means the rules are flawed as hell when we're in too deep to change it for the most,
for the most part, Greg, tell me why I'm wrong.
Well, because quarterbacks are superstars, so it's more about the game.
I think when I look at the list of quarterbacks that are on there, there isn't one that I would
put behind Kyler Murray in terms of being a superstar and earning his spot.
So I actually don't really have a huge problem.
It's just I guess quarterbacks have to be a bigger group because to me, he's a one-name guy.
Like, people know Kyler Murray.
Like he's such a unique, he has a particular style too to his game.
Like even all the contract stuff this offseason, I think that showed just how much people know and are aware of Kyler Murray.
I thought you were saying I was mad here from Japan because, you know, Kyler does represent the Asian American community.
Well, of course, part Korean.
Wow.
And so that even expands his reach.
But then again, the Super Bowl champion, Matthew Stafford's not on this list too.
So that's two quarterbacks right there.
that to me are superstars, but in the zero-sum game, there is no other quarterback on your list.
I don't know if you want to go through all 10 of them that I would put ahead of those guys.
Actually, if you're sticking it at 10, I agree with you, or whatever the number is.
I agree with you.
I just think those guys are superstars compared to these other positions, you can't tell me
that Kyler Murray and Matthew Stafford aren't superstars versus some of these running backs or
tight ends, if that makes any sense.
Mark Sessler.
Yes.
I know Matthew Stafford had an incredible playoff run and a really good friend.
first season in Los Angeles when you think Matthew Stafford is that a superstar quarterback
with this situation um there's a quarterback I would flip out that remains on your list with
Matthew Stafford or someone I would take away I think I know who it's going to be let me hear what
you're going to say at Dak Prescott yep that was the one I saw the article I was like
oh hmm but I'm with Greg though the thing is it's the zero sum part of
of this. This is a club. The bouncer has to make tough decisions. Um, there's obviously chaotic
environments occurring and the bouncer has to go with his instincts. So it's not an argument that
Matthew Stafford for me isn't a superstar, that Kyler Murray isn't, that Dak Prescott isn't. But
if you're talking about taking one guy out to put someone else in, I would have been comfortable
flipping DAC out and putting Matthew Stafford in with the idea that that could change down the road.
The idea of what Greg, you were saying, how the quarterback is the superstar position, really in all
of sports.
And I think he, for me, and I would imagine for a lot of other people as well, one thing you
have to say, the Cowboys do things differently, they're viewed differently, and it felt
to someone with Tony Romo in a lot of ways.
Like, I think he gets a little bump because he's the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys.
And I think there's something that comes with that.
He's box office.
So even though he took a little bit of a step back in some ways, and I know he was coming
back from injury.
I felt comfortable given it another year and didn't really think too hard about it,
actually.
But I understand when you start doing things like, well, if Kyler's out and Stafford's out,
then you're saying they're less superstar material than DAC and it gets a little
tricky, but I'm standing by it.
I stick to my story.
Well, put Stafford sneaky good cell phone commercial with your girl.
That's a great commercial.
Miriam.
Did a nice job in that.
He did a nice job.
He didn't even get the Super Bowl MVP.
Like he had the best four-game stretch of his entire season to go win a Super Bowl in incredible fourth quarter comebacks against the best teams in the league beating Tom Brady along the way.
It's like, if I'm Matthew Stafford, he's like, what more do I got to do?
I'm not allowed in the club.
Oh, who's that going to?
Oh, Darren Waller.
Oh, yeah, Darren Waller.
Like, what?
Well, Darren Waller was at the broadcast boot camp.
No offense.
I'm just saying.
When we were sharing with all these star players, how to have a successful podcast.
And I could just feel the electricity in the room to be around to Darren Waller while he was zoned in on every word we were saying during that particular event.
Dan, my one argument, though, because if you talk about Dak Prescott getting a bump because of the Dallas Cowboys, and you're not, I get it.
especially in a club environment, that matters.
But the league would want you to acknowledge that Matthew Stafford winning the Super Bowl
with their precious Los Angeles Rams.
And I literally don't even mean that in a negative way.
But the Rams have been set up to become probably Cowboys 1B to some degree.
I mean, it's like that's what they want them to be.
And he won a Super Bowl with them.
The plan went absolutely perfectly according to plan.
And that's where I bump.
I think he has those start credentials.
It's a good point.
You know who I am in this?
exercise. I'm John Harbob, the Ravens always throwing out rules changes, and I'm like just
trying to change the structure. Because like, again, Kyler and Stafford are standing outside.
They're like, you've got to be kidding me. I make $30 million a year. We're on the biggest games.
Who's that going to? Oh, it's Nick Chubb? Nick Chub just walked by? I mean, I want to change the
structure and I want two more quarterbacks in it. All right. Well, it's something that's, I'll think about,
well, if you remind me next summer, I will think about it. Otherwise, I'll completely forget.
You're really going to add a lot to this party.
I would love to see you tell Nick Shub that to his face
because he could probably squeeze the life out of you with his right hand.
It's Matthew Stafford doing it.
The updated QB membership of the Superstar Club, Josh Allen.
This is outfettled quarter, so don't read into it.
Everybody's always reading into everything.
Take a seat and relax.
Take a puff of the piece pipe.
Josh Allen, Tom Brady, Joe Burrow,
Justin Herbert,
Lamar Jackson
Patrick Mahomes
Dak Prescott
Aaron Rogers
Russell Wilson
I had a poll
to Sean Watson
because all these
fun little
offseason articles
he ruins everything
I can't
you're just
off this conversation
I think you can
if the NFL can suspend
him
you can certainly suspend
his privilege
from the superstar
club
but anyway
that's never been a better list
there's never been
a better list
there's never been a better list
of superstar
quarterbacks
in NFL's history
I'd like you to come up
with 13 names
or
or whatever it is, 12 names that are as good as this.
Running back.
This guy is looking to become a major superstar.
A year late.
Jonathan Taylor, welcome.
Unbelievable.
Don't need to get into how incredible he was.
And I will say this.
He's entering his age 23 campaign.
He has a better quarterback.
Most likely, if you believe in regression or just luck,
a blocking front that will be healthier and better,
given Frank Reich's tendencies.
I think a run of 2,000 yards rushing, especially in the 17 game season in play.
He is a superstar Jonathan Taylor out, Sequin Barclay.
And I wrote last year that I left him in, even though I had misgivings coming off the knee injury and a slow rehab and obviously all the other things.
But this was obviously a no-brainer.
He averaged just 3.7 yards per carry last season did not look explosive at all.
I hold out hope that he's going to bounce back in a better situation with Joe Judge and Jason Gaines.
Garrett out the door, but at 25 years old, he has to prove he's not kind of the next,
I hate to say this, but the next Todd Gurley type guy who goes from superstar player to
out of the league by age 28.
Hard to argue with that.
Heath Lake doesn't even come up that quickly when we talk about the Giants.
So I think that's a clear sign of where he's at.
Maybe he'll bounce back.
But we talk about the Giants a lot.
And, like, Sequin doesn't even come up anymore.
He should.
He should, if they're going to be interesting this year, he's going to be a big part of that.
But he is not a superstar anymore.
There's too many running backs, though, I guess, is my issue.
I guess if, I mean, it's nothing personal against Chubb.
But it's more just, like, not a huge, he deserves it in terms of how good he is.
You're just saying that because he has, you know, kind of a bad name.
Like, you're down on him because his name is Nick Chub.
I love him as a player.
I think his global.
or, you know, American influence as like a big name in the sport right now.
It's, you know, it's not close to the Kyler Murray and Matthews.
Well, one of the reasons is Nick Chubb does almost no public endorsements that we know of.
He barely speaks.
He's sort of a silent warrior.
But from the angle of his actual play, he is a superstar running back in my book.
I take it back.
I've always been a huge fan of Chubb.
But the other names, you got the names right.
I don't think there's any question at running back.
I think you got the names.
It's like Nick Chubb's name.
was Kyriaco's P champion, you'd be like, oh, yeah, put him in, keep them in forever.
But you're ding, I think you're giving a little Nick Chub.
I think you're right, Dalvin Cook, Derek Henry.
Those just sound like guys that like, oh, of course, welcome, Mr. Henry.
Welcome, Cook.
You know, you're coming into the club.
All right.
I do question, though, how do you assess injuries on this?
Well, why don't you read the list?
Because I have a question of one of the guys on this.
Running Back membership.
Nick Chub, Dalvin Cook, Derek Henry, Alvin Kamara, Christian McCaffee.
Jonathan Taylor.
How do I, you just got to keep an eye on it.
You just, you know, like McCaffrey, obviously you could.
If I was in a tough spot and let's say, for instance, Joe Mixon was, who was great last year.
But let's say he was otherworldly last year to the point where he had to be in the club.
And I had to pull somebody.
You know, I'm starting.
McCaffrey is a guy you can make a case because it's basically had two straight years ruined by injury.
But because the natures of the injuries,
it's not the type of injuries where oh he's not the same guy anymore they're more a lot of like
soft tissue issues things like that i think that mcalfrey i'm i'm okay with waiting it out another
year i could regret that next year but i felt like that was the way to go the other guy obviously
is derrick henry who you say man he's got a ton of mileage you look at his where he's at now in
terms of career totes and you start to you look at the data points and apparently this is where
a guy goes down. And he has screws in his feet now and all this other stuff. But I'm not going to
take Derek Henry out of the Superstar Club right now. I'm just not going to do it. I'd rather wait
a year or two long. It feels like the group with the most year-to-year variance where two or three
guys could come in and guys could exit too, just based on age. I mean, McCaffrey's to me, he's right
on the razor's edge because he's not available. And that's not that different than Sequan,
no matter what the injuries have been. All right. Let's move. So wide receiver, I had to do it.
I had to add two spots because it's just the frequency and the rate of these guys coming into the league and blowing up the league.
It's outpacing guys that are coming out of their prime.
So you could tell me that I failed in this project because I didn't make it zero summit wide receiver,
but I needed to make a change.
Maybe I'll feel the same way about quarterback next year, Greg,
when your boys go off and make me look bad next year.
But we shall see.
I have Cooper Cup.
Now people are going to say, hey, jackass.
Why wasn't Cooper Cup in the Superstar Club before this last year?
Look at his career and then look at 2021.
He was always good to very good to maybe great.
But becoming the Triple Crown guy,
becoming the unstoppable force in the Super Bowl,
when all the chips were down,
like all that stuff was a progression with a different quarterback
that obviously I didn't see coming,
but he's an easy in for me.
Is that fair?
Like it was a bad thing.
I think it's totally fair.
went to like just to look at the numbers and it's a good reminder he didn't have a thousand yards
in 2020 grant a little hurt 1160 yards in 2019 was his peak so i i think the superstar club
isn't a predictive service it's a validation it's the crowning achievement of a career that's a
i think it's also but it's another argument for matthew stafford too because it was it was their
connection as well that's right so i'm just going to i'm going to tell you the the four guys that
in. And then I'll get to the two guys that I took out. So you got to put in cup. I'm not going to
be cute here. Jamar Chase is already in based off his rookie season. I mean, these guys, when they
hit the ground running as a day one superstar, they're not going to turn into a pumpkin. That's
who they are. Barring injury, this is going to be a great long career. Easy. So, and by the way,
Cincinnati fans, congratulations. Like, you have your quarterback and a wide receiver entering the
Superstar Club before their age, you know, 25 seasons.
And Chase's case, I believe he's 22.
My goodness.
And then Justin Jefferson, I should have put him in last year.
That's a bad job by me.
But I didn't make, I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice, which is why I did put in,
why I did put in Jamar Chase.
I said, listen, I don't need to see more.
I didn't need to see more from Justin Jefferson last year.
He just did the same thing again.
He's in now.
Debo Samuel also in
Now you could push back a little bit on this if you are
Maybe
But I'm just not going to do it
Because he's a unicorn
He's a type of guy that any team would love to have
And oh by the way we brought him up a little earlier
He hasn't rescinded his trade demand
From what we're hearing
Just throwing that out there
But some good stats on Samuel from PFF
He averaged nearly 11 yards
After the catch per reception last year
after the catch 11 yards best in the NFL he broke 14 runs of 10 plus yards in the season
had 14 touchdowns for a nineers offense that would have been lost without him so you add
debo as well now you guys good with all four of those guys going in yes usually this is the
position where I push back the most and I like all your receiver decisions all right I'm
taking out Michael Thomas and I know this is Saints fan Central now the show but
I have to take out Michael Thomas too many injuries and the fact that we're getting some weird reports about his availability even now, that ankle, I don't know what's going on with him.
He could come back and be a really competitive, a really productive player.
He could be a star again.
He could be a superstar again, but I need to make some tough decisions here.
And I just don't know without Sean Payton, without Drew Brees, missing, you know, the better part of two years with a lower.
body injury at age 29, I just can't say he's going to be that guy anymore. Where do you
guys come down there? I feel like this is where you need a very strong hiring process for
your bouncers because I don't want to be the man to tell Michael Thomas he has to leave
the club. He surprisingly was there a lot like throughout his rehab like and he was in the cast and
everything but like he never leaves. No, he loves it in the club. Right. To tell him to go, I would be,
I would be fearful, but I think it's the right move.
Have you ever had someone get, you know, deep six from the club?
Then they're allowed back in down the road.
Let's say Michael Thomas produced two monster seasons.
Yeah, the humiliating Tom Brady situation.
Sure.
Which is a stain on a Superstar Club that is something that doesn't wash out.
But it is what it is.
Thank you for bringing that up.
I do want to mention an article on zonecoverage.com entitled,
Dan Hansis finally puts Justin Jefferson in his superstar club
where they say you know you own up to making a mistake
and then I'm going to just read something from the last paragraph
despite it being a silly sort of club
Jefferson's induction into the superstar club
has given the Viking fans legitimacy in their arguments
this past off season when they told everyone else special days
I mean so that he's now saying like this is ultimately
he said it was silly, but then he ultimately said it was validating.
It meant a lot to him.
NFL.com.
Yeah, I think he unspooled his own argument.
You can't call the club silly, then turn around and say it's changed the complexion
of the fan base's verbal arguments.
It's about like 600 words on it, so that alone.
If I could give people content to work off their blogs, that makes this even more rewarding
to me, whether it's complimentary or not.
Before we move off, Thomas, I just want people to remember, and this is, it didn't give me
pause. I thought this is the move that had to be made. And I personally will not be handling it.
I have like a Patrick Swayze and Roadhouse type bouncer who's going to handle this. He's
going to be cool until it's time to not be cool. But he had 274 catches for 3,130 yards and 18
touchdowns in the two seasons before he got hurt in week one, that ankle injury. That's basically
it makes Devante Adams look pedestrian.
now a Packers fan will write an article saying,
well, actually, Devante Adams has better stats over those past two years.
Oh, he's in the club.
Well, I think you're doing, you're, all right.
You're churning out content just with your words.
So I also had to take out Julio Jones.
Probably should have done it last year, but I was just giving them respect.
That's just respect for one of the greatest wide receivers of his generation and Graver.
And, you know, I'm sure you were Justin going into last season thinking, okay.
We know he's older.
We know he battles injuries, but I'm sure there was in the back of your mind this idea that maybe he would be a monster for you.
And that wasn't a crazy thought last summer, even in a run heavy offense.
It just never really happened.
Obviously, he had some moments, but was no longer the same player.
It's true.
You know, we Titans fans last year were like, oh, he only played nine games for Atlanta because they had no shot at the playoffs.
So why push him through a soft tissue injury?
But that was not the case.
he is his hamstrings are probably not suitable to play football anymore he also doesn't have a
job right now yeah which is wow for sustained period i mean i just hang it up hang it up enjoy your
life be able to walk forever that's what i say i don't know usually we don't like to tell people
what to do with their jobs but that is maybe that's that's that's a graver giving uh
Julio Jones, the old Adrian,
you can't win, Rocky.
He's in the Adrian role right now.
Anyway, updated wide receiver membership,
Devante Adams,
AJ Brown,
Jamar Chase,
Stefan Diggs, Tyreek Hill,
DeAndre Hopkins.
Ooh, I gave a little thought, too.
Justin Jefferson, Cooper Cup,
D.K. Metcalfe, Debo Samuel,
some close calls.
I took out Mike Evans last year.
I caught,
I catch heat for that.
still, C.D. Lamb, not quite there yet. I thought he would be in this year, but he's not.
That's about it, unless you want to get hot in the pants about T. Higgins or Terry McLaurin,
but thoughts. I'd like to see where we are a year from now with Tyree Kill. I mean, I think
he's super star ability, but the exercise also, let's say the environment isn't right and his numbers
fall off and things go a bit south there. I mean, you can, in a one world, you could see
that happening, how does that affect his club membership? I feel like this has been a big
off season for him, though. He's, you know, he's been doing this podcast, which is getting
attention. I feel like every time he talks about Tua makes national, it's almost like he's
been the supporting actor who's now going off for his own show. I feel like he's the biggest star
in Miami. I just, he makes sense. He's box office. I think he does protest too much about
Tua on some level. I just, there's too much backing Tua. It's like it just, and then knocking down
Patrick Mahomes, it's like, what are we doing here?
I mean, I don't know if he was knocking it down too much.
But the nuke thing, the DeAndre Hopkins mentioned you.
I was thinking the same thing that he, when he played last year,
he wasn't quite the same nuke and he'd missed time.
And so he's someone to watch.
But I've agreed with almost everything, right.
And he's going to be suspended to start this year.
I agreed with almost everything.
And I think you nailed the receivers.
And I think you should err on keeping a guy who has that name value.
DeAndre Hopkins one extra year if they're still young enough and you did. Yeah, that was and I wrote
in the piece, you know, are you the same guy, Newk? It's a guy to keep a close eye on when he comes back
from the six game PED ban because Kyler Murray needs him to be that guy. Tide end, I didn't
make any additions. Greg mocked Darren Waller. Despite everything that he's overcome in his life
in the heights of his achievements on the field.
You believe he's a man that doesn't deserve to be here.
He deserves to be if there's three tight ends.
He is great.
I was making the positional value argument that like I would rather even have an extra
quarterback than a third tight end.
I also think you're adding capacity, you know,
at a time when the COVID cases are picking up.
So it's just an interesting decision for you to make to add capacity.
I have one question about your tight-end scenario.
Where's Mark Andrews?
Oh, it's over, Greg.
Don't you know that?
Where is Mark Andrews in this?
I think he had like the sixth most receiving yards in the league last year.
I know they don't.
I know he's featured dominantly in that offense, but that's true of these other three guys, too.
Okay, I'm going to ask you a question.
Sure.
Just answer the first thing that comes in your head.
When I ask this question, all I ask for you to do is not to overthink it.
Just give me the first instinct you have.
Mm-hmm.
Is Mark Andrews a superstar?
Kitty cats.
You said the first thing that comes into my head.
I think in this tight end exercise, I think he is.
He's a great.
Waller does have kind of that value.
Like, his story was so good, and he's their main guy that he does have that sort of
star wattage value.
And I hate to say it because Mark Andrews is just as good, I think, as Darren Waller and last year was as good as Kiddell for just last year.
But you say, what's the first thing, like in a big spot?
You think of Mark Andrews?
I think of those drops in the playoffs that he's had, which are totally uncharacteristic.
He's got great hands.
But in a big spot in the game that the Ravens blew against the Titans, you got to catch the football.
I'll say as well on the subject of Waller, tremendous athlete and has it all.
He took a step back last year, put him in the club and then he took a step back.
So I don't know, maybe he's partying a little too hard in the club.
Well, I don't want to make light of that.
He's had issues in the best.
But I think he's a guy.
I want to see where he fits in.
Obviously, he's going to be a key part of that offense in Vegas.
But now Devante's Adams is there.
It could be better for him or he could kind of become.
I'm not going to say wallpaper, but is he going to be a dominant, big producer stud in that offense?
It'll be interesting to see.
Tight-end membership, Travis Kelsey.
Keep an eye on Kelsey.
Maybe he lost a step last year.
A step?
That's what I thought until the last month or so.
And then he took over, including in that Bill's game.
And he's the other direction because Tyreek Hill is gone.
So you have Waller gets.
a superstar wide receiver coming into the building.
Kelsey loses Tyreek Hill, which I guess means more targets,
but also the field all of a sudden is going to get a little tighter for a 30 plus tight end.
So keep an eye on it.
But Kelsey, Kittle, Waller, but people should know.
Kyle Pitts is knocking on the door.
He's not there yet.
Thought about it.
But you can't make, you can't take a leap of faith for the superstar club.
Yeah, he's not in there yet.
I think that's, you made the right choice.
But I'm looking forward to adding him.
the bus there.
I can't wait to put him in next year because I think it's going to happen.
And Ravens fans who were upset about the Mark Andrews thing and I heard from them,
well, I got good news because you got Lamar and you got somebody else.
For the first time ever, the superstar club and then like the X thing and the kicker club combined for the party of the century, baby.
Justin Tucker
You're coming in the door
You're a superstar
buddy
You did it
Picture him
I'm wearing a full-length
white mint coat
No shirt underneath
But a huge gold chain
In the shades, the whole thing
I put him in
You know why
You know why I put him in
You know why he's the first
superstar kicker he's one of one he's an automatic all pro he's an indispensable piece of a
legit aFC contender he has an unmatched resume he has mastered the sports most pressure-filled
and relentlessly scrutinized position i know quarterback you could say too but it's different
he should be a first first ballot hall famer when his time comes which isn't even close
And, oh, by the way, like, just to remind everyone of what I, you know, I've been talking about for years on this show that this guy is a god.
He hit a 6,000-yard field goal last year at the gun to beat the Lions and almost kill Dan Campbell.
This is a superstar.
And I know you, by your test, Greg, it's about swag and, like, that charisma.
He has that too.
Yeah, you sent this out on socials, and I said absolutely.
yes he is a a superstar this does give me sort of visions of like those 80s movies where like at the end of the movie the popular kids kind of welcome in the nerd and you know it means a lot to him like you're all right Justin no it's like you're all right Tucker like part of it's like what took so long but I think he always has an eye on the bigger kicker community and wants to represent and knows knows what it means to be the first kicker to break new boundary
So he's not going to be like a TO not showing up for the Hall of Fame.
He's going to love this.
And does the Superstar Club, I mean, this is a thriving operation.
They were aware of the kicker club and that Justin Tucker was a regular there
and, you know, keeping that business alive.
So now he's working with both.
I mean, but was that, did that delay his entrance into this?
Because he was already part of another tavern to say, so to speak.
It just got to a point.
And I really do think the kick at Ford Field.
That was it.
put him over the top to me.
That just was like the reminder.
This is a different dude.
And I did, as I do every year for this, when I'm writing this late at night,
I'll send out a couple tweets to the people, a poll tweets just to see where people
stand on certain things.
So I'll start with, well, I'll start with Justin Tucker.
Is Justin Tucker a superstar?
Almost 6,000 people voted.
73% said yes.
Same question.
Is Kyler Murray a super?
Star.
5,100 votes.
81% said no.
Matthew Stafford,
same question.
The other one I really struggled with.
5,700 votes.
57.4% said no.
Still not getting that laugh.
The Kyler one tilted
heavier than I would have imagined,
but I would go no also.
He's had a tough offseason in the
court of public opinion, I think.
So I didn't put a huge amount into that, but I guess it was confirmation-wise.
He did a tough post-season.
I think that's most of it is that he had the worst game that I think of his entire career.
He has the worst social media game, too.
So it was just like, that's a toughie back-to-back.
I mean, that was one of the worst post-season starts by any quarterback,
much less one trying to be a superstar.
Oh, you were letting them off the hook.
hook the day after I was just saying it was one game I you know but there was no like
defense it I don't think one game like defines who he is the fact that it came in the
playoffs and all that that's it's unfortunate what about his gaming addiction does that concern
you Greg no if anything it raises his uh popularity with the kids you know
my son harrison my five-year-old son is very uh very athletic and he was playing sports but
you know they they watch youtube occasionally i try not to but they love it and they you know it's a
good sometimes it helps us when we're just trying to survive um so they get into some of these
gamers and then uh i asked him like we're talking about like oh what what would be your nickname
and he looked at me he's like gamer harrison uh so maybe i have a concern so maybe i shouldn't
judge i'm dealing with a potential addict oh i have two um like raging gaming addicts in my house so
if that's already begun to harrison you're in deep water i can promise you that um there it is
that's a superstar club and if there's someone out there that thinks this is silly or trite because
i didn't dig into the offensive line or the defense line or the defense in general um i i guess i could
just say to you it's july and that's what i was open to doing and i thought those
are the most fun positions to talk about and eat it.
Take another puff of the piece pipe and just move on.
I don't know.
I didn't have to get so confrontational there at the end of the segment.
Did you get a lot of heat for that?
I mean, do you get a lot of complaints?
No.
People, you know, people get fired up about the, you know, the selections.
But no one is ever like, this isn't complete, which is maybe a fairer.
If Greg was still the boss back, you should probably have the whole thing.
I did not.
I mean, maybe I was when this started.
I don't even know.
It's been around so long.
I think it's savvy.
It's well-time, too, to get attention.
Another headline I found Terry McLaurin close, but not yet a superstar.
So you are the definitive, like, they don't have any opinion.
That has weight.
It has a legitimate weight.
It's just a fact that he's not a superstar yet.
That feels good.
That's that NFL.com, pop.
You know, we're pretty lucky to have our.
jobs. You got a Bengals SB Nation website Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase enter into
superstar status. Beautiful. I remember grinding it out as a younger man writing one to two
posts on my Yankee blog a day for the whole year and getting a few hundred views and a couple
comments. I don't take the platform lightly. Just like this podcast, I'm being sincere. This is
awesome that we could have these silly conversations and people are into it. It's awesome that we can do it
from three different time zones. And I'm pulling this off while getting an extra week with the
fam. So what's what happens in the future, Greg? Yeah, share with us. Well, my kids are starting
to make some noise here in the future. That will happen for you.
let's see everything is cleaner it's technologically it really does feel like the future here
because they're just like a little ahead in technology like we went to a like a museum almost like a
digital zoo it's like it's like once climate change just ruins animals this will be the types of
zoos where we were walking around indoors and it was like almost like virtual reality digital
animals that you would have to like find you know it felt very something that will be won't be
wow in the state so that is that is very futuristic i mean i like slightly depressing it was
that's what i thought it would be but the kids the kids loved it was sort of like almost being
inside a video game you had to like what Greg what would you when you emerge from this room that
you know that looks like it could be just in west los angeles behind you um what do you eat for
breakfast in japan typically what would be your good question pretty
The same stuff, cereal eggs, the same, same stuff, personally.
If I went out, you know, they ate a lot of fish for breakfast, but, you know, at the house, it's, it's pretty simple.
You're going to come back with some of your brand new Japanese shoes when you love those Japanese shoes.
What the own eats?
I mean, you can buy those in the States, too, but yeah, I probably will.
I will because the exchange rate's looking good.
I was talking to my, I caught up with my cousin, Mike, who you guys have met at the Miami Super Bowl, Big Dog,
and we got lunch
and he had a pair of those
and I was like oh yeah
he said like oh yeah
your friend Greg he has those as well
I noticed him at the Super Bowl
and I told him I liked him
and I said how did you know about them
these onitskas
is that how you pronounce it?
Sure I mean they're everywhere
yeah and he's like well actually
they first got on my radar
because it's the character
played by Uma Thurman and Kill Bill
that's what she wore and he liked them
And he looked them up, and sure enough, they were affordable and plentiful in the mail category.
I mean, we're just giving out free ads all over the place.
This and Alley Shore, or what is the Steelers thing?
I don't even know.
We've already forgotten.
Yeah, they got theirs.
Anything else?
Greg, from Japan?
No, no.
We'll miss you.
I think you're off the next program.
We'll be back Thursday.
be taking the family to Yankee Stadium to see the Yankees play the Reds.
So Chris Wesley always, always near, even when it feels like he's far.
So that will be nice.
So while I'm at that game, you guys will knock out another pod and then we'll slowly start
to ramp things up.
I think we'll maybe have one more two show week next week.
And then I think we might be back on the three train the week after.
Back in the same studio, too.
To get rolling and another season to come.
So very exciting times.
All right.
And Mark, you just take it easy over there.
I will be.
You don't have a good time, but also just, you know.
Let's keep things under control also.
They are under control.
I don't know.
Have I suggested otherwise with my appearance today?
They're very much under control.
I believe there was a throwaway comment connected to the hotels that you're visiting
that suggests that something was going on.
I just want you to pace yourself
and we want you around for a long time.
I will take that advice.
I don't completely agree with the analysis.
If things are fine, they're mostly good.
Excellent.
Bye.
All right.
Thank you to everybody.
And I would say Graverd, please,
maybe a long game that Guinness Book of World Record situation
because that would be pretty nice.
That'd be pretty sweet.
What we've done today,
to somehow end up with a world record for podcast.
And we've achieved so much with this show
to have that honor to do something
that no one else has ever done before.
Just keep working behind the scenes on that gravedigger.
And I'm sorry that I thought
that your girlfriend was older than you.
I'm sorry about that.
All good.
I will follow up on the Guinness book
and no problem on the other thing.
All right.
All right. Thank you to everybody for listening. We're glad to be back.
Until Thursday, heed the call.
Hey, everybody.
And I'm Bucky Brooks.
On Move to Six, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects,
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