NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Building the Ideal 53-man Roster with Jourdan Rodrigue

Episode Date: September 3, 2024

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic as they assemble the first Preseason NFL Daily Platonic Ideal Roster! First our experts address who will be under center and leading their team at quarterback (1:48), following that they decide which running backs they want to have (6:19). Next, they decide on their wide receivers (12:10) and tight ends (18:58), and cap off their offensive side of the ball by establishing their offensive line (23:11). Our hosts then settle on their picks for the defensive side of the ball, starting with the defensive line (28:53) , followed by their picks for linebacker (31:50) and secondary (35:09). And finally, they pick their punter (39:30) , kicker (40:53) and long snapper (41:30).NFL 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.

It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. today by Jordan Rodrigue of the athletic. Welcome, Jordan. It's so nice to see you. Is it? Is it, though? We wanted to have a show, and I feel like we're feeling a little loopy today off different jobs and lack of sleep. We wanted to have a show where we don't bicker, where you don't tell me I'm an idiot for my opinions on the Rams off air and for my behavior. Well, I really think the world of you, Greg. Thank you.

I'm starting out strong. I thought it would be fun to just put a flag down, you know, right before the season starts and decide the best players in the NFL. It's more of a thought exercise that I hope the listeners enjoy too, that we look at this team. It's almost like a mid-season all-pro team, I mean, a pre-season all-pro team, which they only have in college. And then at the end of the season, we see how much it changed.

but it's not a preseason all-pro team because we're building a 53-man roster. We're taking over. If there's any GMs or assistant GMs out there, this is our resume. We're going to build a team. Yeah, our cap space is like $20 billion. Yes.

Because we talked about potentially doing like starters and backups, but then we thought, that's what's the point? And then the mental image of, you know, superstar quarterback is your full-time starter and then two more superstar quarterback. Okay, well, let's just get to it then. Like, let's start with the quarterback. I agree. We should start with the quarterback. See, I'm already doing it.

We are going to agree this whole show. And if not, we're going to be polite when we disagree. I went Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Lamar Jackson. And again, to explain it to all you out there, tell us where you disagree, certainly. Politely. Very politely. 53-man roster. We're going to build it with the best players in the NFL. Who are the best players right now that the guys we would want on our roster? And Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen were an easy one, two for me. And I went with Lamar Jackson as my third. And yeah, I didn't really think about it in the sense of Josh is going to, like,

maybe not be suited up for game day. Because I kind of want Lamar as my backup just as a change of pace. Like, I think it would be harder to deal with Lamar. And you can always bring him in. Like in this scenario, he's totally happy backing up Patrick Mahomes. It's a super team. I would put Josh Allen at fullback. Okay.

See, that's fun too. But it is funny to think of you know that the Tom Brady, the iconic photo where he's wearing like that giant rectangular jacket to keep him warm on the sideline? Like if I just picture Patrick Mahomes is on the field and then Josh and Lamar are standing there just like statuesque. I could see Lamar. Actually, I have seen Lamar look very cold on sidelines.

He happens to look cold. That's actually a good point that Josh Allen would be great to have as a Tassum Hill like option. every now and then. But have they kind of cemented themselves, like coming into this season? We'll see how it's coming out of the season as the three dudes. It's kind of... Yeah, I think so.

Lamar's been a little more up and down throughout the course of his career, but he's obviously coming off an MVP season in a system that I think is going to help him for the rest of his career. They've verbalized, I agree with you on that, by the way, but they've also verbalized what their goal is here with Lamar. And I have also Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, and Josh Allen, We agree. Because we're not building different teams.

We have to agree. We are building the same roster. Okay. So it's official. We're sitting in the same office here. And I do think that these are the three guys. But to my earlier point, they've been very open. John Harbaugh has been very open.

They're trying, they're going for legacy at this point. They're cementing Lamar Jackson. They're not just going for Super Bowls right now. And he needs to get one. But they're going for legacy in terms of the capability and the ability of Lamar Jackson as a player. He was very open about that when he started out training camp. I love that. And, you know, you'd love to see a playoff run, but this is a regular season team. Let me ask you this, because I know you tracked this, and for a lot longer than I have,

you've had your finger on the pulse of the entire league. I'm being so polite to you. Don't you just love this? Please. Please, more, more. What do you make of this sort of flare up every few weeks, months, it's been years at this point of the whispers about Josh Allen or the voters saying one thing about Josh Allen or the players saying. Oh, like the anonymous GMs that or the players saying on the ESPN poll like this isn't overrated 11 players or something said he's an overrated. Like I kind of, why are we debating this? Why are we discussing this? Because I think he has I don't know if he has limitations, but I think he's still been growing as a quarterback. but he's also the type of quarterback.

Usually other players respect the most, which is just like, oh, you can't do anything with him because he's like Cam Newton, essentially. And he's a guy that hasn't always won from the neck up, but I think he's like getting there now. So I honestly think it's just a sign that there are more people and tell me if you disagree in the NFL that really don't know more than like we do.

like me and you. Like, they might know less because they don't really watch the other teams. Like, there's a surprising amount of people that work in the NFL that have a relatively basic level of, like, opinions on other teams. They know their teams,

they know their specific little job, but you hear them talk about other teams, and they kind of say what your average, like, drive time radio host says. This might be, this is a really great story idea for me over at the athletic, kind of digging into how siloed these teams really are from each other. That would be fun.

All right. We agree on our quarterback. is Mahomes, Lamar, and Josh Allen. Oh, my God, we did it. All right, running backs. You know, at first I thought we'd have four running backs. Most NFL teams do. The position's so thin now.

I'm going to try to save a spot elsewhere because I think it's even hard to get to three. There's such a drop from Christian McCaffrey. We're agreed on Christian McCaffrey. We are agreed on Christian McCaffrey. Okay, so I would go Jonathan Taylor and Bejohn Robinson. It's a little bit of a projection with Bejohn Robinson. I would listen to Sequin Barclay.

I'd listen to anyone that you would have to say, but those were the ones that came to my mind. Yeah, and Greg, by the way, great jacket that you're wearing. It is jacket season. I now feel like t-shirt only some days of the week, but not every day of the week.

I mean, this is how we lift you up right before I politely disagree while still being agreeable, you know, with your premise here. But I actually looked at this as building out a room a little bit instead of four best. And I know that's probably

not fair because in some positions, I'm looking at X amount of best players. In this one, in particular, I was looking at sort of building out the room. You know, I know the injury questions are there with Kairn Williams, but he still was the second most productive running back in the NFL while missing four games to injury. I know there's the big Blake quorum question. I know there's a durability question. The Rams are apparently putting him at punt return this season. Sean McVeigh dropped that little take on us. But I really like his ability in the past game. Again, I watch up close to see how involved he can and will be in that regard. They also could do any type of concept with him out of any alignment. And they showed that last year. So I really like

the versatility. I also got to watch Joe Mixon in practice. I think he's going to be a factor for the Texans. And I do think he changes it up a little bit in this room. Again, I'm building out the room, sort of as different pieces with each other. And then James Connor is just steady. He's durable. He's powerful. He will run in your face. This is going to be hard to stay agreeable because this is where we disagree a lot. But you know what? You're going to definitely be able to change my mind on your last two that you have here. Okay. So Bejan Robinson in secret. I feel strong about Bejohn. I agree. That would be my second one I would push because we're picking on

traits, I think, and we're picking on production. And he had it. Like, there's this idea because of fantasy that he wasn't productive. He was incredibly productive per touch. He showed, he can literally do everything. And he's similar to McCaffrey in that way, but that to me is why I want him on the team that he could easily replace McCaffrey. If McCaffrey got hurt in our fictional world. Okay, so we're agreed on. We're pulling, we're taking off Joe. I can give up Jonathan Taylor because he's a little more one-dimensional. I just happen to think he's going to have a good year. But is Kairn really that talented? Is Joe Mixing? He's past his prime. He hasn't been able to stay healthy last few years.

Well, I'm agreeing. We pull off Joe and we put on Bijan. I'm saying Kairn because he fits what they're trying to do. He's going to be very productive and has been very productive specifically. And this is kind of like when we talk about quarterbacks and what they're capable of within the framework around them and both of those floors lifting because of that. I think that we saw that last year. Now, do we see it again this year? That still remains to be seen because, again, he's got a friend now in the room in Blake Corum and they're both going to be getting touches. So we can, you could potentially convince me to take Kyron off. I just think the passing game element

and the versatility, especially of concept that he's able to run, you can pretty much work any type of run game you want with him. And I agree with you that Bejohn should be put on there. But I could take off Kyron if you let me keep James Connor. So no Sequin. So Sequin to me, like James Connor, and this is where maybe we can compromise, has done it year after year, which is really important at running back. It's such a hard trait to find in running backs.

There's just so few. It's why we're only going to pick three in the end. Because to do it consistently, and develop your skill set. And I think James Connor is a better player now than when he was younger and be reliable. And he's had up and down years. And that's what makes me a little anxious

that I trust Sequin's talent like a little bit more overall. But I also think Sequin has probably lost half of a step as well in terms of his explosiveness, which is similar to Connor. Connor just runs so hard that I am willing to listen to him and I would accept him as my third running back because you need some power.

there. Yeah. And I also just think it's a trait that is hard to define, but running hard is like the trait for running back. Now, Kyron Williams has that trait. Yeah. Run hard. Fall forward.

No question. But to run hard year after year after year. Joe Mixin is one of the hardest runners I've ever seen in my time covering the NFL. But the last couple of years, he doesn't run as hard in week 10 as he did in week two. I think it's just a physical thing. It's impossible. And James Connor coming off at one of his best. seasons. Let's go James Conner.

So we're going to go Christian McCaffrey. Okay. James, James Connor. Yes. And Bijon? Yes. Great. I agree. Ding. We agree. We negotiated it. I'm putting Bijon first, though. I'm putting it in order. That's, that's how you get your little wings in, Greg. James Connor. Okay. That wasn't nice. That wasn't agreeable. It was so agreeable. I'm smiling so big. All right. Wide receivers. I think now that we have three running backs, we could go seven wide receivers, but maybe it'll be six. We'll see if we just, you know, what we want to do.

This is a flexible roster. Um, Justin Jefferson, I think we can agree on. Yes. Enthusastically, yes. I, it really hurt me to not take him with my first fantasy pick and I regret it. Yeah, who did you take with your, by the way? I took Sequin, but it's because there's no points perception. No one cares about your fantasy team. But I thought it was an interesting debate, those two, but that's, it's such a running back heavy format. It took Sequent. Uh, Tyree Kill. agree. I actually think that's where the locks end, which is crazy. But I then go...

I politely disagree. I think I'm on Ross St. Brown's also a lot. Wow. I really, the potential and the fit and the way that they scheme with him and the comfort level he provides to the quarterback, the physicality he plays with, he just gets the job done. But to be fair, I also think that a Devante Adams is a lock as well.

I wish Devante could get with a quarterback that could, you know, throw him the freaking ball. Okay, let's put them, let's put them both in. We can agree on that. Let's put him both in. I had Amman Ra right on my cusp, but I noticed, you know, I think you see him as a slot receiver in this. I see him as kind of an F. Like, he's building into what we see Cooper Cup doing. And I know you can move other guys almost.

any of these guys into the slot, but I do like a guy that's a little more prototypical there. Obviously, Devante can move inside and almost all these guys can. They're so diverse. All right, I'll go with those four, which is crazy because I do think Amman Ra is a guy who's complimentary and can fit into any offense where so many of these other guys are just the guy. I actually would have AJ Brown next. I had A.J. Brown third. I weirdly think A.J. Brown is a little underrated because he's a much more subtle route runner than people give him credit for. He runs a slant in such a way, and it's not, it's not like it's

fancy, but that it's unguardable. That's their play. I actually would say if you had to pick one single play from one single receiver in the NFL, the A.J. Brown slant is probably the most unstoppable play. It's just nine yards whenever you freaking want it. And it might be a lot more than nine yards if you catch it right. But I just think, I think he's a Hall of Famer. Like, I don't think people have totally wrapped their minds around like how good AJ Brown is. So he would have been third for me behind Jefferson and Tyreek, but it doesn't really matter. We're not ranking them. To me, I'm pushing hard. All my chips for you to be agreeable are on AJ Brown making this team. There is no argument for me on that. Okay. I'm just making

sure. Because I have eyes in my head. I know, but the other guys are all so good, too, that we have five. And now, to me, it's a little more up for grabs. I don't think C.D. Lamb is as much of a lock as, like, his fantasy ranking would say. I'm putting Jemar Chase in the next spot. Okay. I would too. I don't think we've seen the very best. I mean, you what? I agree. I agree. Why would you put Chase next over Lamb? But I think they, you know, they both. It's not like I'm ranking them. It's just that I would put Jemar Chase there. Like, it's, I'm not going, I'm not doing the rankings thing. Every, you subtly pull, you subtly try to pull. It's true.

We didn't want to do a rankings. We just thought building the best team before the season. Kind of a snapshot of where we think the league is at. And at the end of the year, we're going to be like, oh, yeah, remember when we thought X was actually at that level? He's not anymore. Well, and I'll say this. I guess, you know, in simplest terms, I put Jamar Chase here because I think he's a top five, top six receiver in the national football league. Like, I think he's outstanding.

That's, I mean, that's the simplest way that I could possibly describe it. I think he adds dimension, trustability. He and Burrow, they just, they work. I just think that it just fit. I think he's a top five, top six receiver in this league. You know, he's not as physical as Ciddy Lamb, but he is just so good at the catch point. He's so good as a vertical receiver.

He obviously can make the plays after the catch. But when it comes down to it, Tybreaker, for me, this goes with like footwork. And his footwork is just so nasty. It's crazy. It's Devon, Kim Jefferson. And Devante, maybe Tyreek, you know, it's just crazy. So I think he would work with anyone, him and Joe Burrow make each other better.

And hopefully they can have a healthy season together. All right, Cowboys fans might be annoyed, especially after we dumped on them throughout our NFC preview. And now we're not even putting C.D. Lamas lock. I'm just going to list. Wait, don't we have six? I thought we were going with six. I thought we're going with seven. We don't know.

We haven't decided. Right now, six are in. Jefferson, Tyreek, AJ Brown, Devante, Jamar Chase, in a Monra, St. Brown, in no particular order. If we add a seventh... CD. There's CD. We just got throughout some other options.

Brandon Ayuk, the intermediate king. Big news last week on Brandon Ayuk our long national conversation finally ends. That was exciting. The best receiver on the best offense. Outstanding route runner. He wins everywhere. I'd probably take him over CDLAM just as a pure route runner.

Olave, this is more of a projection. I think he could be on this list by the end, but I understand that it doesn't make sense. You know, I love that. I love him. I remember one of the first shows

I ever did with you, Greg, and if we're talking about agreeable, like, happy, fond memories, like was when I was talking about, it was like Thursday night game and I was on to talk about the Saints with you, and we just gushed over, over him.

I mean, it's just, he is special. I think he will continue to develop into a really, really special player. I would really love another guy. I would love to get a quarterback. Like, I just, yeah. Now, that was a very special memory to me, too.

I totally remember us talking about Chris a lot. I believe you. It is not totally washed away in the sea of hundreds of shows. Tsunami dream, you would say? That we've done, not me and you. Because I do remember it was really fun having you on those first few Thursday nights. That was your debut on the round, the NFL podcast. Puka, he's getting there.

He certainly had one of the best seasons last year. Drake London could get there. Nico Collins could get there. Ultimately, I think it's coming down to CD or IUC for me. I'm close on that one, but I'll leave it to you to pick. I think the receiver position is so good right now. I think they deserve to have seven. Yeah, I'll probably put CD Lamb on.

All right. Let's go CD Lamb. Let's finish up with the pass catchers and let's give the tight ends three positions. Now, we could get weird and like get a blocking tight end, but that would be weird. Or at least someone that can hold up their end the bargain there. And that's why George Kittle is my first pick. Just like, he's the most obvious one, because I do want someone that's going to be a devastating blocker. And he might, you know,

the tapeheads would say he's not as devastating consistently as he was when he was a younger player as a blocker. But I'm not a, I can't even speak to that. I know he's good enough to make my team. Yeah, I have him as my first choice as well because of the, the versatility there. Also, by the way, when I was preparing for this, my, one of my argument, this would when I was preparing like doing my notes on this it was before news of the brandon iuk deal came through and I was thinking to myself oh my goodness George Kittle is going to have a huge amount of targets for this team and I trust him with it and that that in my mind thinking oh yeah I do trust George Kittle not just to to you know do the trench work that he needs to do but also

and to dig out players where he can but also I I trust him if they were going to be missing iuk I'm not saying this offense would be the same at all it wouldn't be It's just simply wouldn't. But I would trust George Kittle as being that super high-volume target, at least in the short term, as they figured their sales out. I would now, after last season, after he showed, he was a little healthier and could make it to the end of the year with some juice, he definitely looked good.

He had some injury-plagued years. But to me, him and Sam Leporto were easy picks. Yeah. And Travis Kelsey just wins because he's Travis Kelsey. And all he knows how to do is win. And it's hard to ignore that he plays his best when it matters. So even if he saves it a little and in the regular seasons hasn't been quite his guy, can I really put Tray McBride over him right now?

I could. I don't think it's crazy, but I'm not going to, at least unless you convince me not to. I think it's fair to do a legacy pick here. And also, he's very talented for Travis Kelsey and plays the best when it counts and freestyles with the best quarterback on the planet. And all of that's great. I did have Tray McBride in here, but it was sort of a dual training. Sam Leporta, just because I also

had sort of Travis Kelsey grandfathered in because how could you leave Travis Kelsey off? McBride is a little more physically talented maybe than Leporta? Man, it's a tough call. I just, that's a tough call. Sam Leporta, Sam Leporta is so,

they both are, I mean, I just think they're, it's like pick your, pick your poison in the best way, right? Like, you would love to have either of them. But I would probably give Sam Leporta, to the edge on this. I think that just, and I guess what I'll say is that offense is just going to be good the entire year. Trey McBride really came on, you know, with the Cardinal, at the last part of last year.

That's the only edge because I do think that they're super comparable in terms of the abilities, the versatility, the sort of master key element of unlocking certain parts of both offenses. It's a hard pick, though. It's a crazy conversation to have because I remember when he was, was like the C story in in season Hard Knocks just as this, you know, second day draft pick that they were hoping would come around, but really wasn't doing much as a rookie like a lot of tight-ins. And now we're talking about them as potentially a top three tight-end.

But I think that's the reason to go with LaPorta that he's that impressive as a rookie, one of the best rookie seasons in Titan history, really statistically, in terms of receiving the best. All right, let's take a quick break and we're going to come back and we're going to fill out the rest of our ideal 53-man. roster getting festive and agreeable what's up everybody daniel jeremiah here and i'm bucky brooks on move the sticks we take you inside the game

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Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Back on NFL daily, we're building our perfect 50, dream man roster before the season. See how it looks at the end of the season. We're on to the offensive line. We have nine offensive linemen on this team. This is a fun group to put together. Let's just start with like the tackles. I think there's probably going to be four tackles on this team. Can I just say too? What a luxury this

would be if we actually got to do this and pick the best offensive lineman? Like I think you and I both dork out a little bit over line play and what a what the mark of pure opulence that would be. This is a preposterous room to build because and I would pay them all. I have a feeling we're going to agree on Trent Williamson-Penaisal being on there. Okay.

The other tackle positions, you know, if you want to keep it even right-left tackle, I would go Lane Johnson and then either Laramie Tunsell or Andrew Thomas. I think I would, because of Lane Johnson

and because of Trent Williams, I actually want to have another young player in there to balance it out. So I'm going to go Lane Johnson, Andrew Thomas, as my other two tackles. I like that. I definitely was thinking about,

youth and I also was thinking about keeping like continuity teammates who are used to playing with each other together. And so we did, that's the reason why we did go in a little bit of a different direction because I had Lane Johnson. I mean, I had your first two. The first two, we obviously agree like 100% on. The second two, I had Lane Johnson and Jordan Milata. Now, I also think that Andrew Thomas is probably a better pick here. Wait, I think I have an even better pick. Maybe we, do we want five tackles? No, that's too many. Wait, Penaisal could be like a receiver tied-in. Yes, we have to have, too.

I'm taking it back and I want Tristan Wirth's. First of all, he's showing he can be a great right tackle, but the fact that he could transition to left tackle and be that good right-of-weight, he can play both sides for us. Then I'm taking Lane Johnson out, sorry, as great as he's been. And I think I'm going Worf's, and then I'll let you choose. If you're with me on Worf's, you choose the other tackle. I'll leave it up to you.

I'm... I'm... Lamontal, Jane, Lane Johnson, Andrew Thomas, pick one there. I'm gonna... I'll probably pick Andrew Thomas then. Okay, so that's a fun group.

Trent, Trent Williams, Panasual, Andrew Thomas, Tristan Worse. The interior, we agreed on Creed Humphrey. We're just seeing our notes a little bit ahead of time. Chris Lindstrom in at right guard.

We're going to get the running game going. So we've now got six. I like Tyler Smith a lot of the Cowboys. I think either of the Cowboys Guards, Tyler Smith or Zach Martin would be options. Elton Jenkins, I think is really underrated and very versatile. Would be a great guy to have, play any position. If we wanted a backup center, you kind of need it. Jenkins could be that or Tyler Linderbaum could.

I don't know. I might be over my skis with Linderbaum this early in his career. So those are some of the interior guys. I liked, I think Jenkins actually makes sense as sort of a Jenga piece. along with this line. Yeah, I would agree he does, but I also have been watching Steve Avila for the last.

First of all, I think he was one of the better, if not one of the best left guards as a rookie already, not just because of pass protection and run blocking, but also so much of what the Rams do in order to be successful and to what they believe,

what they call it, I know we have polite disagreement over what this is termed, but they like to say they extend their run game side to side of the field with their screen game and with some of the sweeps and those types. You think he's that good now? This is not a projection. Yeah, I talked last week about how the Rams are messing around with their offensive lines. Steve Obula is the only reason they can do that because he can play center now and he also, in my opinion, again, is one of the standout guards, left guards in this league. He's super durable. Hopefully I'm not jingsing

him on that. But he is, to me, an ascending young star in this league. He's got the size. And I just, I want people to go back and look and watch how he moves in the first level of the offense, in the second level of the offense, the way that he works the screen game. I mean, it really is predicated on his movement. All right. You've convinced me. So you pick, you pick the other two. Okay.

We've got Lindstrom in there at guard. We've got your boy, Steve Obula, who can play a little center guard. That kind of takes care of. I think that knocks Elton Jenkins out. Then, uh, I like Zach. Martin as the old head, just one of the greatest of all time. You get to put him on a team. There's really no reason not to.

And yeah, maybe along with what you said earlier, have some teammates. Tyler Smith as another versatile guy who's shown he can play left tackle at like a solid level. He really is like Zach Martin. He's not going to be Zach Martin because Zach Martin's like very likely a Hall of Famer, maybe a first ballot, a Hall of Famer. It's tough to put that on Tyler Smith, but he was a guy who showed he's a good enough left tackle, but a great, great guard right off the bat. So I'm going to put both

cowboy guards on there, and we have our group, Trent Williams, Penaise Sewell, Creed Humphrey, Tristan Wirffs, Andrew Thomas, Tyler Smith, Zach Martin, Chris Lindstrom. Is this too many people? And Steve Avula. I don't care. That's it. And by the way,

I would love, like I would, in this concept, we are investing significant amount of money in this team, $20 billion in cap room. Like, it's amazing. I would pay, a person, like great money to just be a fly on the wall of this O-Line room, by the way. But then to hear the stories that Zach Martin and Trent Williams share together. I mean, I can't even, the human mind cannot comprehend.

Often the best interviews, often the best people to talk to. All right, we've got a big defensive line room. So this is going to be some work to get through. We have nine edges in defensive linemen total. Maybe we'll break it up into edge in defensive tackle. So a total of nine between the two groups. We'll see how we want to shake it out. like the top four edges are just obvious. I don't want to just recap what happened last year,

but to me, it'd be crazy not to put in Michael Parsons, Miles Garrett, Max Crosby, T.J. Watt. Yes. I actually can't remember... Four dings. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. In my time, um, covering the league that a position has been so clearly marked by greatness of... These are clearly the four best guys in the league and they all have a chance to make the Hall of Fame. That's pretty cool. We'll see if we need another edge. I'm going to go to defensive tackle now. Dexter Lawrence and Chris Jones, I feel like our obvious picks. Okay,

so we're to six. This is where then it gets a little trickier. What do we want out of our next three picks? Do we want one more edge? We have Dexter Lawrence there to stop the run, but I think Derek Brown would provide a very interesting, you know?

I like him as like a nose. It's fourth and one to win the Super Bowl and the pretend 53-man roster playoffs. You want Derek Brown on the field to stop that run. Yeah, I I like Derek Brown in sort of that nose role. What I was looking at this here is actually pairing rookie of the year candidate Kobe Turner with a really good nose.

So I should have put Derek Brown on with him in tandem, which now I'm going to daydream about for, you know, until the end of the same. Kobe Turner was awesome last year. I want to see it again. This group is a bunch of grown men. And Kobe Turner is as well. But defensive, and it was a credit to him. It's a hard position to get good fast.

it's pretty rare to be that good fast. So potential-wise, you're there. And yet, to me, it's hard to put him on over a guy like Quinn and Williams. Exactly. Let's say that's done it before. So, okay, let's get Quinn and Williams. And Derek Brown, to me, having him on the field trumps any sort of, oh, yay, this, you know, this guy's ascending. Right.

You know, I think. So that's eight. If we, if we, you know, Kobe Turner's out there. Matabweke is out there. Jalen Carter may be a little early for him, but he's coming. Jeffrey Simmons would have been honest at one point, not crazy. Lee McNeil's a rising player. I want to use my last pick on just the best player available,

which is still Nick Bosa. Oh, you're adding an edge. Yeah. Well, we have four of each now. So now we could go either way for the ninth spot. If we have nine defensive line, I mean, Nick Bosa per snaps one of the greatest edge rushers ever. If you get him, like, we're preserving him, right?

So, okay, situational rushes. Fine. Deal. Oh, my God. That was so easy. I mean, Nick Mose is crazy. He's such a good player. And he was pretty healthy last year. So, yeah. Well, I mean, we're going to extend his career. How many linebackers do we want in this league in this thing?

I guess five makes sense. Most teams keep. This one, this was also tough for me to, because I wanted different things from different players, then I overthought it. And this one, this one was tough. Okay, so I'll be easy to argue on this. Red Warner's the easiest guy to put on there. And then we both.

had Jeremiah Ossu Korma, too. Yeah, which... He's great. I don't think it's a projection. I think it's where the league is, you want a guy like that. I don't know if he's the second best off-ball linebacker in the league,

but we both happen to agree with him. He's going to make our team. I think Roquan Smith is a no-brainer as well. So those are the three that I believe just have to be on this team. After that, it makes me almost want to create another defensive line spot and just give it to one of those guys

because there's options here. Levante David's, he's great, but... I know. I always throw him out just because, in a positive way, throw him out among names, because I just think he's been long underrated. Mario Davis, how is this still happening? It defies logic

because we thought he was, you know, getting a little slower like five years ago, and he's still so good. So he's an option. Levanti David's an option, but it shows you where the position is at, but these guys, C.J. Mosley's another one who are getting to their mid-30s and yet...

So this is why I threw a huge wild card to this. And I put Frankie Louvo on here. And I know I see your face. We're politely agreeing or politely disagreeing. The reason I put him on here is because I'm thinking about a lineback room. I'm thinking about the pressure that he got last year. What was it? Five and a half sacks, 20 plus pressures.

there's a, he hits really, really freaking hard, which is what you want, not just from your linebacker, but somebody who's going to be helping you out on special teams, which is the back of the linebacker's room anyway. Okay. Again, that's where my brain went on this. And he's, he's younger. He's ascending. I cannot wait to see him in Dan Quinn's defense.

Now, the devil on my shoulder is saying, you know, okay, we'll give you Frankie Louvo, but that's your pick. And if this looks embarrassing at the end of the year, that's on you. but that's the old me. That's the one that's not as agreeable. The angel on my shoulder is saying, I want to prevent that from happening. Take a shot.

You know what? One of the reasons why I fell in love with this show and fell in love with around the NFL is the propensity to, you know, totally just hammer the table and stand on the table for a guy that you believe in. And I do. And you do.

Watching Frankie's play, I do believe it. Okay. And he's found a home. Let's put him. in there. He's our fourth, and I'm going to propose, this is complicated, that as much as I like Levante David and DeMario Davis. And by the way, they both were on my list too, you know, of potential guys who we would put on there. It's just... I'd rather put Jeffrey Simmons or a defensive lineman. I think it would be Jeffrey Simmons for me or Jalen Carter. Just like, let's just go heavy.

Let's just go deep on the defensive line. You are thinking like a good jam, though, because you are investing in more... I just think the value is there. In high value positions. I think you're investing in a high value position. So you are thinking like a modern GM and I, you know what? I really admire that, Greg. All right. You want to go Jeffrey Simmons? Jeffrey Simmons or Jalen

Carter? Jeffrey Simmons. Okay. He's on the team. Sorry to the linebacker position. All right, moving on to cornerback. All right, we're wrapping we're getting to the end here. We're pretty, we're like really similar on this. We're going to do specialists. Okay, Soss Gardner. Let's go seven cornerbacks. How many cornerbacks are most

teams keep. Is that too many? Five or four, between four and six. Seven, seven if your sub packages are corners. Seven is aggressive, but that was the number I came to. I think it's because I looked at a couple teams as samples and maybe they just happen to go

cornerback heavy. Uh, sauce Gardner. Yep. Patrick Sertan. Yep. Jalen Ramsey. Yep. Still getting it done. This is where now we could have some disagreements. So that's how many that's four? That's three. I think Trent McDuffie has to be my next guy.

I want a slot corner. I think he's established himself as the best right now. So it's crazy, but he's actually kind of in my top four. I'm not ranking him. But I think he needs to be on the team because I don't know who in the slot I'm putting over him. Devin Witherspoon is an option,

and I might want to put him on this team, but I still would put McDuffie ahead of him. Jets Michael Carter. I mean, I think he's one of the best slot corners in the NFL. The only reason I hesitate and I'm going to give you Trent McDuffie, obviously, because he's a great player. But also, Zach Rosenblatt, my colleague at the Athletics, has been reporting this return from a foot issue that Michael Carter's dealing with.

So let's go with Trent McDuffie. Okay. So we have four cornerbacks, Saus, Patrick Sertan, Dylan Ramsey, Trent McDuffie. We both named Jalen Johnson. Yeah. I think he's got to make it right now. Yeah.

I agree. No, the only thing that concerns me is he does fit the profile. It's a very up and down position. It's a very hard position to stay near the top. Some guys pop for like a year and then they're just really good after that, but they don't have quite that season. J. Johnson kind of fits that profile, but I think right now he deserves to be on like A.J. Terrell, who's on my longer list, fits that profile too.

I think he's a really good player, but hasn't been quite as good as he was back in 2001. I actually feel most strongly of anyone left of Daryl Stingley and Devin Witherspoon. And I know Stingley hasn't quite done it yet. We have to put Spoon on there. Okay, Spoon is on there. And I think either Daryl Stingley, Taron Johnson, Legerius Sneed, A.J. Terrell, one of those guys would be on my team. I want a lot of cornerbacks. And you don't want Jair, is what you're saying.

Jair Alexander. In Jeff Hathley's new scheme. He hasn't been consistent enough the last couple of years. He hasn't been healthy enough. I think the health thing is fair to bring up for sure. Yeah. He's great when he's great, but now he's getting to the age where you're wondering, like, is he ever going to get back to that great? I feel, I want to call my shot.

We didn't do a Making the Leap show this year. I want to do that next year on NFL daily. Like, maybe Derek Stringley's like too obvious, actually, for making the leap because I think he's already that good, but I want him on the team. Let's throw him on there. I want him on this team. You gave me, you gave me a guy that I believe in. and I'm giving you a guy that I also believe in,

but that you believe in. That's good. But I agree with your belief, Greg. Thank you. So many agreeas. All right. Let's go to safety at the safety position. We have the same people.

There was a big three last year. It was Kyle Hamilton, Anton Winfield, Jesse Bates. They're all at the age that I think they just have to be on it. They were the big three. Yeah. And you know what? After that, it could be anyone. It could be Xavier McKinney,

signed with the Packers. It could be Brian Branch, who's expected to be a little more full-time safety. That's a bit of a projection. I think Javon Holland for the Dolphins is going to get paid and is an interesting one. Minko Fitzpatrick coming off a bad year, but he's still, you know, not a bad year, but just not himself in terms of making big plays. A lot of options. I want to, I have Xavier McKinney down, but as we were talking and just reading back

some of Detroit's camp reports and all of those things in the preparation for this and ascending player I really like Brian Branch. All right, let's put Brian Branch in as our safety. We have completed 50 of the 53 players. Now comes the fun part.

Now it's the hard part. Man, I'm really gonna... All right, punter. I'm going Stonehouse. Here's how I want my punter for this team. What punter... If I'm watching on Sundays, will I stay to watch the punt instead of, like, turning my attention to the other games that are on?

You're right. It's Thomas Morsted. No. Thomas Morsted, what a career. We got to give this to him. He punted 99 times last year for the poor Jets. And he pinned the ball 36 times inside the 20. And he also got great distance.

And he's doing lots of work in the community. But is he really going to? I'm going with an all-old guy team. This is where my theme is for the... I'll give it. I don't know. I mean, Stonehouse is awesome. He's awesome.

He actually, I think, had the most punts that were down inside the 20, so it's not just like a booming pun thing, which I think he's the best at. Morsted, I'll give it to him just because he was involved in the Saints Super Bowl win. That's how long he's been in the league. Everyone's in a... According to pro football reference,

Thomas Morsted had... eight more punts down inside the 20 than Ryan Stonehouse did. Oh my gosh. I've been corrected. I have punter stats pulled up. Okay. Thomas Morse said it is. He was involved in that same team. Kicker, I think there's two good options. Tucker or Brendan Aubrey. I think that's the choice right now. Harrison Bucker has been extremely consistent year to year, but not as many fireworks as Tucker or Aubrey. I will give you kicker because you gave me punter and we're being

agreeable. But I love, I love the idea of Justin Tucker and Thomas Moore said in the same room together. I mean, come on. Okay, let's put, let's put Tucker on. And then, uh, I think it's obvious who the long snapper is. I've been studying long snapper for weeks, preparing for the show. I've watched all 32 long snappers who has the straightest ball, that has the nicest rotation. It's got to be J.J. J.J. Jansen all the way. 38 years old has been playing since obviously for, you know, well, long amount of time.

I'm not going to do the math in my head right now, has never missed a regular season game. That's incredible. It's incredible. We got a Panther on there. Someone who listens to the show could do the numbers for us and who has the most players from their NFL team on this roster. But I tell you what,

the Panthers might have been the worst team in the NFL last year. They have more players than plenty of rosters on this team because they got JJ Janssen. And Derek Brown. That's incredible because plenty went over. I think that tells us two really, really good things. about the panthers. There we go. We've done it. We've picked the team. And now it's time for the 2024 season. I am so excited for our normal weekly schedule to start. Jordan, you will be back

with me. Can you come back in the Chris Wesleyan podcast studio with Colleen Wolf for a very fun show? I'll just leave it at that. You're going to want to listen to this one. You're going to want to watch this one too. You're going to want to watch this one, too. We're going to put out some predictions for the season. I'll just say that. So that show is going to drop on Wednesday. You guys are going to love that. That's going to be our crew every Wednesday.

Steve Weish will join us some Wednesdays. Not this one. I'm really excited for that. Our preview show coming up, we'll have Daniel Jeremiah guesting this week, which is really exciting, along with me and Patrick Claibon, and then we get to the games. We have the TNF recap. We have the Sunday show.

It's all happening. We'll have some special. stuff on that TNF recap afterwards. It's really exciting that we are here. Wait, I've got this. You ready? Yes. What? Football is back. That is right. My tribute to you. It's been really fun. We started this show in the middle of July and everyone that's been along for the ride. The response has been fantastic, but this is what we do it for for the regular season for Jordan. I'm Greg. She said it. Football's back. Hey everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here.

And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Six, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else. It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast.