NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Bunkercast XXIII: Around the AFC in 32 minutes

Episode Date: April 14, 2020

A room filled with heroes - Dan Hanzus, Chris Wesseling, Marc Sessler and Gregg Rosenthal go around the AFC in 32 minutes. With only 2 minutes allowed per team, the heroes quickly take you through each team and where they should be looking to fill their holes with draft needs.Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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. Hey, everybody. Today's episode of the Around the NFL podcast is presented by Rocket Mortgage. Join Rocket Mortgage and saying thank you to essential workers by posting a video to everyone knows a hero.com.

Everyone knows a hero.com. and we all do. Let's get to the Tuesday show. The Around the NFL podcast. Likes Dirty Motel Roos. Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansus, and I'm coming to you from a city filled with heroes in bunkers.

Mark Sessler, Chris Wessling, Greg Rosenthal, what is up, boys? Hey, Dan. Dirty motels that might have been connected to the Airbnb, Mark, that you landed at the start of all this. Have you guys done any more of that, any of that COVID-19 Airbnb stuff? Is that still an option on the table? A little bit, little bit.

I mean, I don't take offense at the labeling and it's dirty because it's not my place. But, A, I left it and so did Simone when she said. they're in pristine condition. And it was a small, very, very clean place. So I don't know through the game of telephone with our listeners where this crops up where suddenly I'm staying in a in a flop house in like downtown L.A. somewhere. That's the answer to the question. Hourly fee.

Are you still using it, though? Yeah, I said we've used it occasionally. But not not, it's only once or twice in a pinch because, you know, the cost becomes slightly prohibitive. It was not in our budget when the disease landed over the entire country. Is it okay to mention what you had mentioned on text that you have some in that particular Airbnb some active neighbors upstairs, active and healthy human ways? It's been mentioned now.

So whether it's okay or not to mention, I don't know who they are. I've never seen them. But yes, the second time I swung around there, I did not hear them. But the first time, and maybe they were celebrating immense time at home, that was a male female and they were doing what some males and females would do in a lockdown situation. I'll leave it at that. And they weren't

baking a cake. Oh. Seriously. Why am I on this episode? Why am I on this episode? Like he's Bill Belichick out of Prescott, for instance. We're on to the AFC.

Today's episode around the AFC in and King in We're still on the air. That's two. 32, come on.

16 teams in the AFC. Got a little lost. Wait, that was just figuring out the amount of teams in the AFC. Yeah. I thought we were doing the minutes that this was going to take. Got there. Oh, wait, that might have been what I was doing originally. And then it got a little fox.

and I came out of there with how many teams were in the AFC. But let me do that now. Okay, so 16. That feels like why do you get as memorized by now. You should know just 16. Oh, wait a second. That's confusing because times too.

It takes you back the amount of teams. 32 minutes. We're going to do two minutes on each of the 16 AFC teams. Seems a little tight. The guys seemed in on the two-minute idea, but I went along with it as a good teammate. It'll be a bit of a test.

in word economy from the fellas, which not always our strong suit. So right there, a challenge for the round of the NFL podcast. Well, if you really wanted to be, you know, in it in support, you wouldn't have just mentioned that like, hey, I'm not totally in this just so that you guys know. This doesn't go well. It's on the other three guys.

I wanted to pull back the curtain to let the listeners know that even as I say it, I worry that two minutes is too short for each team. Three would be better. But again, I like the challenge. I got down last time previously, Dan. I think there was one episode where it might have been two and a half, though. Okay. Well, maybe my fears will be unfounded.

I mean, you've spent a solid five minutes doing math equations in your head already on the episode. Hang on. I'm washing my hands of the episode. Get the cuticle. Go away. Just go away, please. The webbing. No, yeah, this will be good.

We should be able to do this. We just got to, we're each taking a team from each of the four divisions and a quick setup. a discussion. And this is going to be totally connected, of course, to the draft, which is now just over a week away. So it's been through the AFC and then either later this week or next week we'll hit the NFC. We will definitely get both conferences in before the draft, which is a week from Friday. So this will be fun. Connected to the draft, but also sort of recapping where the roster stand after free agency, the first wave of free agency. Okay, that's news to me as well. Mine will be all focused on the draft.

Hang on one second. And just so you don't miss it, Dan. Just so you don't miss it, Dan, the job does start on Thursday, which I believe is your birthday, too. It is my birthday. Oh, that's right. Not a lot of honking about the last remaining days of the 30s now that that big 4-0 is staring you in the face. It's more about, I feel like I've made my point how much younger I am than you guys that I don't want to rub it in. But I am keenly aware that this is the end of the road for my 30s.

And it is not great that it's happening in a deep quarantine for society. There's not many things that I can do in terms of bucket maneuvers at the end of my 30s. And on a super busy workday. It's on one of the busiest work days of the year. One that tends to stretch deep into the night. Yeah, I don't know how this is all going to play out. I don't imagine it will play it. Well, is the draft being held at the same time and everything like that

in terms of hours? Yeah, same as every year. I would say if we're doing it in Rogg's basement, just start the thing at 1 p.m. What are we doing? I mean, it's already, you've stripped the popping circumstance away. Just make it a daytime event so everybody can have a nice night. I mean, it happens to be my wife's 40th birthday that day as well,

or I should say her birthday. You can strike the age from it. But she, you know, well, we've mentioned she was born within minutes of Dan in different hospitals. So it's not, I'm not. earning any points for the 80th year in a row with the draft falling on that, that date. What are you going to do? All right.

So, yes, so it's going to be an overview of the team where they're at, where they're heading. Let's get into it. Let's start with the AFC East. Ricky, you know the drill here. You're in charge of the countdown. When you hear that air horn, it is time to move on to the next team. There will be no talking about your team after the air horn.

We move on quickly. I'll try to keep things moving. And again, this is two minutes for each. each team. I will also be tracking on my clock. We'll see how this goes. All right. Let's start in the AFC East, as I said, with the defending AFC East champions, the New England Patriots. Greg Rosenthal, get it going. There needs in New England are familiar, I think, to a lot of people. Tight end, playmakers, quarterback, certainly. That's the first time in a long time. And they're front seven. They don't have any real pass rushers. And with all that in mind, I,

am wondering, do they take a quarterback in this draft? It is not really their MO to move up in the draft. They're already without a second round pick because of the Muhammad Sunu trade. And you look at where they're drafting in the early 20s, which is earlier and they've been for a while. And man, this receiver class is loaded. Like, I can't imagine a scenario where Denzel Mims or T. Higgins, like, these guys are exciting. And the Patriots aren't going to take a receiver there. I can't really imagine them loading up to trade up for a quarterback unless they traded Julian Edelman. He feels like the one guy on the team that makes most sense to trade. Do you guys think Edelman is on a team going into next? He makes so much sense to go to Tampa, but Tampa's pretty set up at a wide

receiver, as we know. Detroit would be another one. They wanted to call old Matt Patricia. Like, I think they have problems on defense. At least they need to get some difference makers up front. So it might not be receiver, but it feels like a perfect class to take one. Remember those, the chatter about the Patriots years back on being interested in moving up? for Baker Mayfield, and there's been other little whispers here and there. I mean, this would be the year to do it, and they don't have the, they have a lot of draft picks, but like, you're right, not up high. So maybe tough to pull off.

And who's going to want to let them waltz in and get a quarterback number one overall or something, but I feel like Belichick might have something up asleep. If 2FEL, he's Sabin's guy, that just feels like a Patriots type of thing, although you're hearing a little Justin Herbert's stuff. One thing Belichick has demonstrated, when the Patriots suffer in AFC playoff loss, it's back to the drawing hand and sort of pivoting to a new roster strategy like he did when he drafted Bronc and Aaron Hernandez together, when he's gone running back heavy and other drafts. So we'll see. They don't have a lot of huge needs though. I mean,

it's a pretty good offensive line, good secondary, solid defense. The New York Jets, it's a tackle. Tristan Worf's, Jedrick Wills, Mackay Beckton, or a wide receiver. And we have, have Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks. Both have Alabama star C.D. Lamb going to the Jets at 11, giving them, we talked about this last week, a premium young wide receiver to pair with their quarterback, they believe is a franchise quarterback. It's frankly overdue considering Donald's entering year three. Charles Davis is Jerry Judy going to the Jets as the first wide receiver off the board.

So at least the football cognizante, wasting seconds here, is thinking wide receiver. receiver now, but tackle wouldn't surprise me. One thing, one potential curveball. The Jets need a lot of help in their secondary. Greg Williams did a good job coach and then up last year. But this guy, Jeff Akuta, who everyone loves and is projected as a top 10 pick. If he ever fell to 11, would the Jets be tempted to get a young cornerback, O-line, wide receiver, cornerback as a curveball?

What don't they need? I mean, this is a team that it's like, Joe Douglas is inheriting. a lot of the same problems, a lot of Jets' GMs have, which he spent the first year just trying to, like, overcome the previous mistakes. There's not a lot of big strengths on this Jets roster. It's a big year for their draft. Go ahead, Mark. I feel like we've mentioned this every time we talk about the Jets and Jets' needs,

edge rusher for like the 400th year in a row. I mean, I think they seem to have a very tactical approach to free agency, which was not blow you away with big name signings, which is fine. But there has so many holes to fill that I don't know if you go get the wider C. and not an offensive tackle. What does that mean for Sam Darnold on the, you know, pass protection front? Well, they did make moves the free agency at offensive line and there will.

Well, I know. We've discussed those. And they're just saying they didn't go get like. They probably missed on the guys they wanted. Well, they wanted Conklin. That's the guy they seriously wanted. But I would say none of us should be diving in too deep on whether an offensive lineman could play or not until we see them, right?

Anyway, moving on the Buffalo Bill, Mark Sessler. I kind of like the Stefan Diggs trade. It was expensive, and unlike the Texans, I thought that the Vikings got good value in return for Diggs. But it gives the bills a chance to go address what I think they'll do defense early on. And they could use an edge rusher along with the Jets. They could too. Shaq Lawson went to the Dolphins. If you read a lot of Bill's writers, they're talking about cornerback as well, even though they got Josh Norman.

I think Sean McDermott would be fine having like 50. seven cornerbacks on his roster. There aren't a billion needs on offense. I think they would have been a key to get a wide receiver if not for Diggs, but maybe a running back to pair with Devin Singletary just because I like him, but I don't know if I trust him as a lone feature workhorse guy. What do you guys think? They've done a good job the last couple of years at wide receiver.

They still don't have a proven playmaker at tight end. They've got a couple guys they drafted last year who showed glimpses. I'm with you. I'd like to see another running back to go with Devin Singletary and I think they need help at guard which isn't very exciting but they need from guard help.

I'm going to have to rank Brandon being pretty high on these GM rankings coming out later this week. There's an annual exercise that's back. I feel like this roster, he's three years into it. Like it's perfectly set up where he can go almost anywhere in this draft and they don't have a lot of needs.

I feel like defensive end, they can't feel good about Mario Addis and Jerry Hughes. They don't really have like a future pass rusher, but man, this is like the year for the bills to push. And the Bill's fan, the Bill's mafia is all got to like expect it. But like this is their year. Like they should have high hopes. This should be

one where they think they can go far in the place. Are they the Browns of 2020? I kind of think they are. You know what they are. But to Greg's point, I think that McDermott and Bean have showed such an ability to work well together that they aren't the Browns on that, from that angle. They're a well put together organization

for a first time in a while. They are actually coming off a season where they had success. So it's different in that way. West, finish out the division with the Dolphins. Well, they spend a lot of money on defense and free agency. So, you know, they're going to be looking at offense. And, of course, quarterback, Armando Salgaro, who's been pretty plugged in since we've started covering football with the

dolphins, has said pretty strongly that Tua is not their guy. And it's lying season, so you never know. But I don't think that people will be burning their bridge. with Selgaro because he doesn't seem to fall for the false report. So that's something to note. But outside of quarterback, don't forget how lousy this team is at offensive tackle. They've got Julian Davenport and Jesse Davis, two of the weaker starting tackles in the NFL. So to me, it wouldn't be a big surprise if they end up going tackle early.

I think Brian Flores got everyone excited. But when you look at this roster, it still looks like a team that's pretty deep in a rebuild. and the schedule is going to get harder for the AFC East. Like, they could win five games again, and that would be a good coaching job. Again, I'm not buying the fact that they're not in this field, like, draft smoke. I mean, he was the guy that we heard Stephen Ross, like, literally two years ago. I do wonder.

I mean, I loved the end of the year's story for the dolphins, but in a way, I mean, the whole quest, and it was Salgaro who gave us the first mention of the organic tanking, And that's really exactly what, at least parts of the organization tried to do. But wouldn't they be so thrilled? And I think their owner would be two at number one with Joe Burrow. And it seems to be just conflicted about any of the other quarterbacks. But how do you go anywhere else than quarterback?

You have to. Bucky Brooks and Daniel Jeremiah have Justin Herbert of Oregon going number five overall to Miami, to Miami, Charles Davis, and Peter Schrager. So, yeah, quarterback makes a lot of sense. But is it to us a slender? Shrager dropped this nug last week that they might not be into them. Pass on them, Dolphins and let them fall down to 11. An old Bill Belichick comes up for it.

All right. On to the AFC North, the defending division champ Ravens. The Ravens. I think they're going to move up potentially in this draft. They have two second round picks. They have two third round picks. They're at number 28. And they're pretty loaded except for in the front seven.

They are so old up front. They ended up signing Derek Wolf. when they couldn't ink Michael Brockers, which was a nice move. And they have Calais, Camel, and Brandon Williams. But all those guys are over 30. They really don't have any edge rushers or linebackers, except for Matthew Judon, who's a franchise tag guy and probably won't be there next year. So they feel like they used to always have guys up front,

and they don't really have any young guys up front. It feels like they are going to just load up at that because they're pretty well set up everywhere else. I really wanted them to get Emmanuel Sanders or someone of that ilk, where I think they could use another wide receiver to bail them out at times on that side of the ball. A veteran. I mean, well, it would be a rookie, so not a veteran, but

maybe draft a guy. I'm leaving. Going back a couple of years ago when they bypass... The clock does that to some people. Yeah, the clock is... How are you feeling about the two minutes right now, Dan? So far, so good. Go ahead, Wes. A couple years ago, they bypassed Derwin James,

so they traded down and they added offense. They really went after Hayden Hurst. They got Orlando Brown. So they have really plugged into the offensive side of the ball. And now it's time, like Greg said, to go defense. Maybe a couple offensive linemen, especially on the interior, but mostly the front seven on defense.

Year two, Lamar Jackson, or year three, excuse me. He'll be a fascinating guy to track. Can he do it again? Does he have to be that good? Well, I think he'd have, he's going to have to be different. I don't think they're good. Just like we talked about last off season, they're not going to roll out the same exact offense.

I think they had in in 2019. They're going to have to do different things, but I expect them to be ahead of the curve still. We'll have a lot of pressure on them in January if they get back there. There's a bit of a narrative emerging there. Moving on to the Pittsburgh Steelers. They do not have a first round pick, make a Fitzpatrick trade took that away.

So they pick at 49th overall, six picks overall. I'm very interested to see how they attack this draft from the offensive side of the ball. The offensive line is getting a little up there. In years, they have three guys over 30. They don't have a lot of depth there. Ramon Foster just retired. Then you have quarterback. The 38-year-old Ben Rathesberger just missed the full season.

Currently looks like a long-haul trucker. What's going on with him? And running back, you just keep on hearing that James Connor is now kind of on the outs of that organization, which surprises me. But you know what? He also was hurt and couldn't do it last year. So where do they go? I think this is going to be an offensive draft for them at the top of the draft.

starting in the second round. Would they take one of the top running backs on the board? That would be not surprising to me. I don't think they're in the market for a quarterback at this time. But one other position to watch is wide receiver, Juju Smith-Schuster, surprisingly, going into his contract year. They hardly ever give out second contracts, the wide outs, and they also don't have a ton of depth there.

So that could be an area they address. Somebody's been doing a Steelers homework. Look at that. Now it is around the AFC. James Connor, I'm not sure if they want to replace him. I think they want to compliment him with a guy who's a little bit more explosive than Benny Snell. And I agree there has been talk that Juju Smith-Schuster

might not be the big priority contract-wise that we would have thought he was. He's just, him and Connor, very similar that they were supposed to be the man and then they were banged up and didn't do a lot when they were on the field. So kind of a really bad season of 2019 for Pittsburgh. Everything went wrong.

It's like a lot of times you look at like Pittsburgh's needs heading into the draft, and then Kevin Colbert just goes and drafts the best player available. I mean, I've seen them do that too many times, and I don't know if they'll go for one of these needs or not. It's the best defense Mike Tomlin had since 20, like, early on in the Mike Tomlin era. Is it Colbert or Colbert? It's Colbert. Kevin Colbert.

It's rock my world there. The time is really, has Mark on the end. I don't know. This is like a, you know, this is not a classic All-Star Day for me so far. Mark, you're Cleveland Browns who are reintroducing their new uniforms tomorrow. I, you know, it's every single mock draft mostly says Cleveland just grabbing the best available left tackle at their spot. And some even saying moving up for one, I think you have to do that at this point just because your other option right now is Chris Hubbard, who we know what he is. Nothing in the cupboard.

Yeah, we don't need to see another year of that at any length. linebacker's a big need. You didn't re-sign Joe Schobert. Christian McCricksie, I have no problem letting him go. I think he was too, his durability was too much a concern for the money he was making, but they need to address that position. They continue to get run on at big clips last year, and that's not good. And safety's been a revolving door, and they signed Carl Joseph, they signed Anderson Dejo, but both to one-year deals.

And a lot of their free agent pickups were one year, at most two-year, little, what I viewed to be patches, veteran patches, to get some of the defense in order. Outside of tackle, I think it's a very defensive heavy draft for Cleveland. I wouldn't mind them seeing in another world taking a shot at one of the better wide receivers where they are, but I just don't think it seems a little risky not taking the tackle. It seems crazy to take a receiver if you're in the bracket. It does, except couldn't you imagine a world where, like, for some reason, Landry or Beckham is not there next year and you have no one besides one of those guys. Their roster is good. Their roster is good right now. You've spent so much on that that when there's a tackle there that there should be. I mean, now is the time. It's so hard to get those guys. Daniel Jeremiah has Isaiah Simmons, the Clemson linebacker going to the Browns. Would you be upset about that, Mark? If you pass on. I've seen that in a couple places. And I, you know, I know as much about Isaiah Simmons as my mom does at this point. But I would say this. What I keep hearing is he's a tough fit. Where do you put him in certain defenses? And does he fit cleave?

defense in and will he fit their defense when they have a new defensive coordinator next year or the year after is he that kind of a player i like breaking down the game film seven i like that they're connected to ezra cleveland in the second round of boisey state tackle go with the name cute feels too you call her bertha isn't a barb yeah my mom's name is barbara it sounded like a name bertha cessler i know that is not her that is not her first name. I can assure you. Bab Sessler is her name. Next up, Chris Wessling, your Cincinnati Bengals. Growing up in that city and living there for over 30 years, my take is that Joe Burrow

fits this franchise and city better than any quarterback they've had since the late 60s when they drafted one of the great might have beens in NFL history. Greg Cook out of the University of Cincinnati. Joe Burrow is an Ohio guy. He seems to personality-wise, that city. And now here's where we get into, they get their quarterback, but they had 38 sacks attributed to their offensive line last year, the highest figure in the NFL, according to pro football focus. This organization has been downright inept at picking offensive linemen from

Cedric Abouye to Jake Fisher, Billy Price in the first round, Michael Jordan, a guy they drafted in the fourth round last year, really struggled. And Jonah Williams, they took in the first round, didn't play a snap because he was injured. they really need, after they get Burrow, to upgrade this offensive line. I like the offseason they had, though. Their roster, you know, I was doing the AFC kind of power rankings type of thing. I don't know. They look like they could be an 8-and-8 team if a few things broke right

and Burrow was actually good. And maybe if they weren't in that division. Like, they really aren't a bad-looking roster at all. I agree with that. They should source out their drafting of offensive linemen to another, front office, just as a favor, can you pick the linemen for us? Because we've shown we're not good at that.

That's a good call. Is any franchise good at drafting offensive linemen? The Saints, I guess? The Cowboys than others. Cowboys? What's the boy head coach's name? It always slips on my mind. The Boylehead Taylor. Report out there today that he does not anticipate Cincinnati

trading out of the number one pick. And they better not. West, the West Sider is going to burn the place down if you don't bring this kid in to save the day. If there was any potential to burn the place down, it would have happened in the 1990s or the early 2000s or last year. I don't know if it's going to happen now. All right. Let us move on to the AFC South Greg, starting with the Jaguars.

Do Jaguars have like one of the worst rosters in the NFL? I mean, it's crazy. Dave Caldwell took over in 2013. Only one team has lost more games since then. That's the Cleveland Browns. And they're not in that much better shape the Jaguars than they were when he took over. And it was a train wreck. But they do have a very interesting draft.

They have the number nine pick, the number 20 pick. And they have Yonnik and Gakwe, who everyone thinks is going to get traded in the next week or maybe on draft day. Like, it's really interesting. And I think they do believe in Gardner Minshu. But if it wasn't for Minshu, it's like everyone would be assuming they would be the team that would be moving up. And they, man, they have the assets to do it, 920 and Ingakwe. and if you were looking for like a totally crazy thing to happen on draft day, I feel like them packaging and them taking a quarterback

and this whole Minchu stuff was garbage would be a big surprise they could drop on everything. Minchu as a smokescreen is kind of brilliant. If they really want a QB, they're lying in the weeds. I think they're more likely to trade down from number nine. A team might want to get in front of the Jets and Browns for a tackle or maybe even a wide receiver. The Broncos have been mentioned as a team that could trade up there. I look at them and I don't actually think they would do that for a quarterback because I think

Caldwell is they have to be feeling the heat and thinking we need to compete this year. We need Minchu to just be the man and we're going to be better off. Maybe they get a second round pick for Ingoquay and they just have five picks in the first two rounds and hope they hit on it because they're going to need to have some sort of progress this year or you would think that they would finally blow things up, although we've said that before. Yeah, I'm just not convinced anyone making any of these decisions is going to be the right person to be there when the players they pick are heading into year two. They've got, they've shown the ability to tear down a team, not build one.

Five, four, three, tough spot there for Caldwell's finishing last on the GM rankings. Bill O'Brien doesn't get the last spot. Well, yeah, he doesn't qualify. I do a whole thing. They need to have already done like one draft in charge and, you know, that sort of thing. Got it. Got it. Moving on, the Houston Texans, they have six picks. They also like the Steelers without a first round pick, so their first draft pick is a 57th overall. DeAndre Hopkins out the door.

They did bring in Randall Cobb, and they brought in Brandon Cooks. I still wonder, and we keep being told that this is a historic draft class, will Bill O'Brien draft a wide receiver early in the draft? I don't know. But that makes some sense. But there's also areas of concern. Let's look at the defensive line. DJ Reader, he's out the door.

He signs the big deal with West's Bengals. And then, you know, eight months before that, Clownie goes out the door. So suddenly a lot of guys that were mainstays on that defensive line are history. J.J. Watts, another year older. So they got to rebuild that line a little bit. And guess what? No first round pick or second round pick next year.

So better hit on what you got here, Billy OB. They're desperate for edge. ushers, especially young ones, and cornerbacks who can play. They've got some cornerbacks with pedigrees, and none of them can cover anything. I mean, I'd say the trade, the under part of the trade that was not picked on enough was the David Johnson side of things. You might need a running back in this draft at some point. I'm not convinced that isn't that player's anything more than a question mark.

You got Lamar Miller still in the building, right, coming back from the news. Coming off a major injury, I don't know. I mean, if anything, does Bill O'Brien need to, you know, extend an olive branch? to Deshawn Watson with a wide receiver, number one, just as a message to the locker room? I mean, they have the number 40 pick. It's a deep receiver draft. They've got four wide receivers. Right.

But you also think they are about as likely as any team to trade out of their pick because you would just assume they are going to try to need to pick up extra picks, especially knowing they don't have their first two picks next year either. It's a disaster. Well, Fuller obviously is the other guy. He's missed 20 of the last 48 games, and he's in a contract year. So I'm just saying from like a long-term draft plan, but I'm sure Bill thinks he needs to get better right now

because the heat's on. One. Tennessee Titans, excuse me. Marks. Almost. I guess if you're the Titans, you could look in a, you can really look in a couple different directions. I mean, you got you lost Jack Conklin along a line that was meant to be your identity. And you've got Dennis Kelly filling in. So right tackle is an option. It depending on where you are. You know, Jarrell Casey was given away for a song to the Broncos. And I just see a defense that also needs help at cornerback. Logan Ryan's gone. Dory Jackson is entering his fourth year. Malcolm Butler.

I mean, I'm not sure Malcolm Butler is what we thought he was a few years ago. And, you know, there was whispers of them going after Judevian Clowny. And I'm not saying I want Clowny in Tennessee on a long-term deal. But he'd give them a little bit of spice and a little bit of identity. So I think that the next move for Tennessee is adding someone to, the defense that kind of keeps offensive coordinators up at night, and then maybe a running back to pair with Derek Henry, because do you really want to run them completely into the ground unless he is, you know, a short-term option here?

A.J. Brown was such an important hit for them at wide receiver because that position has seemed like a need for them for so long, and now it's so far down on the list. I agree with you, Mark, they're going to have to concentrate on defense just to replace some of the guys that left, and especially if they don't re-sign Logan Ryan. Yeah, they signed Vic Beasley. which it was a one-year deal. It's only so much risk, but you don't expect him to turn things around. They've been pretty generic. They have a personality.

They're like a big physical team that's a little bit better than the sum of their parts. But you guys said it, that there's no one on defense, I think, that worries the opposition. I might have missed this, Mark. Did they plug in a Jack Conklin replacement? They have a guy in their roster. Dennis Kelly. I mean, I think he's been there a while. He's not Jack Conklin.

Dennis Kelly. Kelly. Swing tackle. Swing tackle, Tennant's Kelly. A disgraced cop. It's funny how this is the Titans are the first team that we're like. Really tough to talk about. I mean, it's not something in the DNA.

The weather is great in L.A. this week. Oh, yeah, beautiful. Riding the bikes a lot with the board. Oh, Titan Fends are going to be so mad about this. Not my fault. More partly my fault. Finally, the Indianapolis Colts, Chris Wesley. Well, this guy, I mean, you get Brandon Bean props.

How about Chris Ballard? I don't see a glaring weakness on this roster in any way, shape, or form. The biggest issue to me is whether Philip Rivers works out or not. If he's washed up, then quarterback, you're back to square one with Jacoby Brissette, a guy you see more as a high-end backup or the perfect backup than a solution. But I can see them going left tackle, wide receiver, tight-in, running back, edge-rusher, developmental quarterback. they have drafted so well in the mid-rounds

and they could go any of those ways, but there is nothing they desperately need. Wes is still in on the Colts. He kind of got Rob left here. To me, disagree that they have a glaring weakness. No, I kind of like the Colts. I think if I had to pick an AFC South team, it would be the Colts.

Although it's got to be the most open division, maybe in the entire league. Do you like giving away the 13th overall pick for to Forrest Buckner when they have, I think they have a few distinct needs. They could use another wide receiver. But DeForest Buckner will change that defense. Yes, because they have all the cap space in the world.

In a best case scenario, you hit on DeForest Buckner, you know, with the 13th pick. And that is a great scenario. And you've got to use the cap space. Yeah, it's really hard to get more chip players in free agency. They got one in Buckner. And if Rivers works out, that's another one. I know we talked about the idea of Jake Brisket maybe reassuming a starting role down the line, but I think it's far more likely that they'll bring in a young quarterback that will be the Phil Rivers successor.

That's not Jake Brisket. I wonder if they're laying in the weeds since they don't have a huge need. If they have a quarterback they love that falls to them, would they pull the trigger? Or I guess they'd have to move up since they don't have. I mean, just know first come back. What about Chad Kelly? I love Chattie Kelly, but, you know, he's a disgrace cop. But I love Kelly that's a disgraced cop.

I have good feelings for, but they don't seem to love him in that building or set them free. They took a step back on defense, too. They need some difference makers on defense, too. I mean, that's why they got back. Three, two, one, zero. All right. Finally, the AFC West starting with the Chargers. Got a little rough there.

Dicey at the end of the AFC South, but we're going to come on strong. Wait, what do you mean it was rough? I felt like we ran out of things to talk about the last couple of teams, but we are going to fire away. You're trying to time it to the two minutes. You don't want to start into some other big point. Mark knows what I'm talking about. We can talk about the chargers all day long.

I mean, who doesn't love this? Who can't we? They've got the number six overall picking. You assume that they would take if he's there. What is that? We're done? You assume they would take Justin Herbert if he's there. Or maybe, who knows, maybe they love, just love.

But they could go another route. I mean, their roster looks so good. If they really did believe in Tyrod, and you already added, like, an all-pro and tray turner to the offensive line, you added Brian Bulga, who's better than any tackle they've had. And you add another tackle? Forget it. I mean, suddenly they got a great offensive line.

Right, but then they're one of these teams that's like, look at us. We're very talented except for a quarterback. And the whole Tyrod Taylor's song and dance, that's nice. I think that they like him as a player, but give me a break. How do you walk into a new stadium and try to sell Tyrod Taylor as your starter in this BEMTH gigantic, fresh new Los Angeles playing ground scenario? No, you've got to get a quarterback. You got to do it.

They have to decide one way or another. If Tyrod Taylor is your guy, then you're not drafting a quarterback at number six. You go win with Tyrod Taylor, build up, get another big running back, run the ball, because that's what you're going to do with Tyrod. If he's not your guy, if he's just a Band-Aid, then you need a number three receiver behind Mike Williams and Keenan Allen, and you need to draft a quarterback at number six. They got a lot of people that got to pay coming up to Bosa

and eventually Derwin James. That's in a few years, Keenan out. I mean, they actually almost have too good a roster. They're going to have to start paying these guys. Didn't this play out exactly the same way in Cleveland, where Tyrod was positioned as a starter, then they draft someone at the top of the first round. Anointed a starter in March.

It all feels highly familiar. All right, the Las Vegas Raiders. That's right, Las Vegas. Secondary needs a ton of help, ranked 30th in past defense, DVOA, last season. So that makes a lot of sense. They had Eli Apple on the hook on a one-year deal that fell through. Again, I'll throw out Jeff Akuta.

I think he's an interesting guy. at the top of the draft, not as a prospect. I'm not here to tell you whether the guy can play or not, but where he falls, whether the Raiders. Some people think the Lions might take him at three. Could go as high as three? I'm seeing him go in the back half of the top 10. Could the Raiders get aggressive and trade up?

Can they pass on Akuta if he was there at 11 or 12 in good conscious? I don't know. That said, they also will have a great wide receiver on the board at 12th overall. And the current group includes Tyrell Williams, Nelson Aguilar, Hunter Renfro, but they still have that Antonio Brown-sized hole on the depth chart. So it makes so much sense that a wide receiver goes. Yeah, I see this with two of their first round picks. I think wide receiver and cornerback make the most sense.

LSU, C.J. Henderson, if they don't get Akuta. I've been reading that some people actually like Henderson better than Akuta, and he's a better cover corner. So we'll see on that one. and they are screaming for a playmaking wide receiver. So that has to be priority number one, I would think. Because Tyro Williams is nice, but he's not a true number one. And Aguilar, I don't think he's a number two. Hunter Renfro, Greg, is exactly where he should be right there,

locked in the slot for the next decade. Yeah, and this draft should set up well for them. Most people think it is really a top three receivers, that Henry Ruggs is right there with Judy and Lamb. And, like, physically he's about as imposing and just seems like a guy that John Gruden and Mayak would love. So one of those three should be there at the very least for the Raiders to take. I'm going to the Raiders could be frisking in 2020.

I just noticed Mark's wearing Rob Lowe's NFL hat right now. Well, that was blue over white, but I hear you. There's no overt logo from a distance. Mark Sessler, the defending Super Bowl champion, Kansas City Chiefs. I mean, the Chiefs to me, compared to what's happened to the Rams over the last couple years, like walk into defending their crown with so many people intact already on offense. I guess for me the question would be

you're going to have to focus on defense, I think, and they've got a couple issues at cornerback. Kendall Fuller's gone. Mo Claiborne, who I think appeared in eight games last year, but was important for them at periods is gone. They could use help there. They're pretty patchwork at linebacker right now. And I would say the other,

if you wanted to hit offense, your offensive line, you've got guys like, and believe me, I'm no Cam Irvin fan, but they did a better job with him than the Browns did, Wisniewski's gone as well. So you could use a little help there, but I would never put it past the Chiefs, depending on who falls to them, just to take another, the fastest player they can add to their offense and keep dropping bombs on a division that I think is in a lot of trouble as long as Patrick Mahomes is healthy. Yeah, they draft McCull Hardman in the second round last year.

here, and after re-signing Watkins and DeMarcus Robinson, he's still the number four guy on the depth chart. They have speed coming out of their ears. I know Dan wanted Damian Williams to be the Super Bowl MVP or something, but they could use a running back, too. At some point, uh, weren't you, Dan in the, you know, I was, like, are we sure we going to want to give Patrick Baham's? I cleaned up in sandwiches on Patrick Baham's.

Okay, maybe it was, maybe it was you guys, Wes, uh, no, I just were ever, yeah, he should have been the MVP. I stand by there. But you mentioned taking a playmaker, like they're, you know, running backs aren't going to go early in this draft. Maybe they take one of the top one or two running backs even wouldn't shock me at the end of the first round. I mean, I'm thinking, though, cornerback linebackers where I think they will go. But the chief sometimes zig when we're thinking they're going to do, everyone thinks something else. I kind of don't think they're going to re-sign Chris Jones long term, too, just because they have to sign Mahomes.

They haven't even really tried to sign Chris Jones long term at this point. So that's a whole They did bring back Bashad Breeland recently on a cheap contract He hit a nice Super Bowl Pretty good run for them I mean they're going to have to pay Mahomes soon

And it's going to be the biggest deal In the history of football $50 million I heard of maybe he's asking for Worth every penny And that's it We went around No we didn't

Oh Yikes Oh my gosh It's another West pet team Oh no Finally the Denver Broncos This is a team one of my favorite off seasons, and I know I'm higher on the Broncos always than I should be, but getting Drell Casey, like Mark said for a song, adding a good lineman like Graham Glasgow, bringing him Melvin Gordon to pair with Philip Lindsay, your defense, I think is pretty much set. It's the offense. And I think the one caveat is, even if you think Drew Locke has a lot of potential, that is a, that is such a what if, it's such a question. market quarterback, and especially with nothing behind him, I would like to see them get

somebody, probably a veteran, but the glaring hole there is at number two wide receiver behind Cortland Sutton, and I think you still have some work to do on the offensive line. As I mentioned earlier, it would not surprise me if they moved up to somewhere like number nine in Jacksonville slot for one of the big wide receivers there. You've seen Elway trade up before. I mean, he's not as scared to do that. Hmm.

I'm not scared of anything. He shouldn't be scared of, like, upsetting Drew Locke's, like, fragile, you know, psyche or something by bringing in a veteran. Just bring him in. It's called value. Just go on. And a hand holder. That was not two minutes. Ricky, that was not two minutes.

What was that? It really was. No. No, that felt. No. Ricky. We were having. So much fun at the time shot by.

Yeah, the time flies when you're having fun. If Ricky had that off by so much, it makes you wonder about the accuracy of all of them. No, I've been tracking him on my phone. So how long was that one? 103. That was about one point or something and came back and was like, I guess it's been two minutes.

That's about one minute and 24 seconds. The poor Brock goes. They're already upset with everyone but worse. They can use a wider receiver too. right. I think you mentioned that. Until they start winning games, they don't have any right to be upset with anyone

except their own front office. That's a fun division. I feel like any one of those teams could be a surprise playoff team, other than the chiefs. All right, there we go. Around the AFC in 32 minutes, I thought, you know what?

Two minute, perfect. Perfect amount of time. Some teams that could have been around the team in 90 seconds, it would have been great. A little more confidence in our leadership next time would be appreciated. You know what? you're right when you're right you're right west uh and i will say that west if you are going to

pump up the bermuda triangle of the nfl we're going to have to beef up those a fc south teams in the back end of the two minutes next time that's fair that that is fair i think uh we're all making good points here all right uh we will be uh returning with the around the nfc in 32 minutes i don't know do you guys want to do it this week or do you want to maybe push pause in this because I don't know. I feel like that's a lot to do back-to-back shows. We don't have to make any promises. It's too much football for Dan in back-to-back shows.

I wasn't quite as fun as usual, but it was nice solid football talk. Let's do it next week. It's like, let's go back to Roosevelt Nix and the old Gravian. For me, that's a better show. Yeah, but weren't you guys doing this like off-drafting stuff? What's that? We could squeeze it in next week.

Yes, we'll do it next. Well, we have guests lined up. So we'll have to see how that all works out. We could do it next week. We could do it Tuesday or something next week. Who did the cults, by the way? I did. Who?

I did, Wes. Rosie Nick, did he come up in your two minutes? I didn't think he did. No, we don't spend a whole lot of time on a position that only gets three snaps a game. The graveyards have designs on a major fullback presence. I didn't cover the long snapper either, just so you know. all right good stuff good talk i like the football talk right i do but let's you know let's not you know totally nerded out every show is what i'm saying you mix in the fun the mirth with the

analysis i think we've had that covered yeah this feels like a topic from our first year or two of the podcast how much should be football and how much should be mirth right finding that bounce gregg's like i need peter shregor to respect me so all analysis and then i'm like all mirth because I'm the fun guy, you know? It's interesting how you see that. Yeah, I definitely struck a chord here by bringing this up. I think a nice 2278 split, football, 22, the rest of the nonsense, 78. There is so much more to life, Mark.

It's fair. All right. That's it. Good stuff. We'll see you guys tomorrow. Reminded to the Twitter show. It's back on Friday. So don't miss it.

Do not miss it. That's an order. Eric, do you have anything to have before we say goodbye? Again, the program didn't have as much time for you. Yeah, no, it was cool. I just took myself out and I just watched the clock and, you know, flew some graphics. I'm legit. Arrow down on equal rights.

Until Wednesday. Hey, 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 Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever, get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast.