NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Cousins, Taylor & Power Poll rankings

Episode Date: August 31, 2015

A room filled with heroes -- Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, Chris Wesseling and Marc Sessler – review the latest headlines around the league including Kirk Cousins being named the Redskins starter over RGIII. Plus, Preseason Week 3 takeaways & the “Power Poll” debuts.Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. The Around the NFL podcast might return punts this season. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansis, and I'm joined by. room failed with heroes. Mark Sessler, Chris Wessling, and Greg Rosethol. What is up, boys? Hey, Dan. What is happening? Bang. We're taping this show at 9 in the morning, and we've already

had three breaking news items across the network on the website, 10 posts up. It's that time of year. Kevin Patrick just sweat pouring off his brow in his Chicago bunker. Just like typing away. It is afternoon in most of the country. Well, whatever. Well, the way our news is, the way our news is set up. It's basically us and Connor and Patcher that write the news. Conner's off. So while we're tucked away in a studio for two hours, Patrick gets banged with every article of news from the National Football League. We got to either, we got to get Patrick here. We got a facility Patrick at L.A. Bring him out. Because Patrick is one of those like like fun guys to hang out with because he's very much he's very salt to the earth. He keeps it real. He has like a certain

way of things. Very gruff in his manners. You know, we miss Patrick. He's like 28. Going on 45. Yeah, exactly. So, Kevin Patcher, come on out. Wes has nothing to say. They have secret beef, I think. Patrick? I always enjoy hanging out with Patrick.

We are brothers and gruff. What is the, what's the beef about? That's true. We have no beef. I made that up completely. There is no beef. Mark, how is your throat? You requested water behind the glass.

You know, a bottle of water, by the way. I don't, no, I'm going to, you know, listen, it's going to be fine. We don't present ourselves as talent. We don't. We're just a couple of dudes. times two. Yeah, times two, got it, saved it. But you needed some water this time, nothing this time.

But maybe next time it will be some waters for you. But get more famous also, that would help you. Well, yeah, no, I think it's the first time we've ever asked for any sort of a beverage in the four years this show has been running or whatever it is. So our producer's response was to not only not get you water, but then mockingly sip his water. Antagonize you. Yeah, it's pleasant. It's pleasant.

You know, it's pleasant. today's edition of the Round the NFL podcast. And you know why? And you know why? Because we got a lot to get to. Long gone are the days when we are just, you know, trying to figure out what to talk about. Yeah, what are we going to talk about today?

Can't even do it. Flops wet breaking up. But no, a lot to get to. A lot of news. There are people getting jobs, losing jobs. Some people, you know, getting a lot more money than they used to have. A little payday. Not talking about you either, Mark.

No. bottle of water, no raise anytime soon. All right. It's a special time for the players. But, you know, the rest of us, too. There are no raises coming. We got to get our profile up higher. Water and money will come.

We'll talk about some preseason takeaways. A ton of action, week three. Of course, most teams play their starters, at least the first half. A lot, you know, a lot of teams do any. Anyway, so there's a lot to get to from all the games, especially packed Saturday. And then, you know, you guys did this while I was on, quote, paternity leave last summer, the around the NFL power pole. But we're going to be, we're going to stick with it a little longer this season. We're going to keep it going on.

You know, we're going to check in periodically on our power pole. But this is our preseason power pole, one to 32, where we all have our own list and then we combine them. Mark, again, some mathematics early this morning that you put together to make the list sing to use. use one of your terms. Well, look, I mean, I made some late changes based on some stuff that I watched over the weekend. Is that allowed? We'll get to it.

Mark fell in love with something and the preseasoned. Well, we'll get to all that. Maybe so. I was just setting up that Mark did the math to make sure everything worked out. One to 32. So all that, the power poll, news, preseason takeaways all coming up. But before that, TD, how about we do some news, baby? I like this kind of party.

All right, we start in Washington, a huge hubbub building up over RG3, who was not cleared for Saturday's preseason game after it was apparent that he was cleared. Jay Gruden, I guess, misspoker, was misinformed by his independent neurologist. The whole thing was a mess. The team sent out in a statement from the neurologist, RG3 is cleared, and then the next day they send a statement, he's not cleared. That is a all-time first that's ever happened. communication internally, externally.

All this leads to a big opportunity for Kirk Cousins to start Saturday. He shows some things. He plays fairly well. I'd give it a solid B performance maybe. And that was enough. The Washington Redskins have announced that they will start Kirk Cousins week one. Jay Gruden confirmed it on Monday morning to the media. He told the players in a team meeting earlier in the day that it is Cousins' team.

Robert Griffin, the third status, remains up in the air. It's unclear, Greg, what's going on with him? What's going on with his health? What happens next with the former second overall pick? A big old mess in Washington. What's new? Jeff Darlington reports that Griffin will get tested again on Friday. Now, the question I think becomes,

is Robert Griffin the third on the team come Friday or next Friday? Is there a chance that he gets traded? Because now you're going into the season with him as the backup, his health is up in the air, and you just wonder if the coaching staff and the GM is ready to just change eras, basically. I'd be surprised if he gets traded. I mean, I can't see anybody giving up something for a guy who forgot how to play quarterback

or has yet to show he can play quarterback from the pocket. And really, the last two and a half years has been one of the worst starters in the NFL. And Cousins people talked about like he had some great performance. We're watching on video for those watching on NFL now. His one touchdown was off of deflection. He had an interception. He dropped a fumble. He made some okay reads and went to his second receiver, but he didn't look accurate.

I think it's that they prefer him over what RG3 has been in Gruden's offense. It's not that Kurt Cousins is suddenly a top 10 quarterback, but there's a lot of praise for Cousins in terms of his preparation. The players have issues with RG3. We keep hearing that. So it's more like Cousins is better fit for this team. I wouldn't be shocked to see RG3 at some point kind of completely swept off the roster somehow because with the $16 million bonus, it is guaranteed if he's injured,

If you put him out there, right, then you're stuck with him for another season. That's a good point. We're not saying Cousins is a world beater, but you can't watch the Redskins. And, I mean, it's obvious that he moves the offense and RG3 doesn't. That's the only conclusion to reach when you watch the Redskins. I agree with you. I'm not trying to say that Cousins is an inferior option. I agree.

When you watch them play, at least he recognized who the free blitzers are. He gets rid of the ball quicker, and that's what he's better than RG3. No sacks. No sacks taken by the Redskins. And that could be Trent Williams playing. That could be just a different. defense that they were up against, but that should be factored in in West. One thing I'll say, you made the point, yeah, he forgot how to play football or a quarterback, and you're probably

right, but people will still remember what he used to have, and there must be somebody out there that could be like, I can fix this guy, I can rewire him, and so there's still that there's still only 24 years old. When he's available for free, I agree. But he's not that expensive right now. He is the price of a backup quarterback. I think it's what? But he's got an option for 16.1 million. That's not guaranteed at all. For injury. And I think that's That's a reason for this quarterback change. You can't play RG3 and let him get injured when he can't play quarterback. I think the under the radar story here, which is weird, is the concussion issue because he supposedly, he was cleared than he wasn't cleared.

Now you're talking about making a change for the entire organization in their quarterback this season because he has a concussion, which he might be eligible to play all we know by Friday. It's just weird. It's like they're using this as a reason to make another change. I think it's a very convenient way for them to put cousins in early. They do believe in them. And if he plays well, then Redskins fans are going to be calling for Griffin. And I don't think the coach wants Griffin. I don't think the GM, although he did back this bonus for next year.

But maybe the thinking's changed, and it's the owner that does. That's why this team did not get high in our power. It's the best case scenario, really, for everyone involved. Even if Griffin can't see it now, he doesn't want to, they need to start over. Everybody needs to start over. RG3 needs to go somewhere else and hit the reset button. The Redskins need to move on from what turned out to be an organizational mistake investing in them so much. And that's just the way it is.

The worry if you're a Redskins fan is that what Wes said that he can't see him trading, it might be the most likely thing to happen. So that means in two weeks we're still going to be talking about this, that he could be the backup. Maybe Kirk Cousins coming off a bad game. He goes up against Miami in week one and St. Louis in week two. That's not going to be easy with that offensive line. And then Griffin's back in and this thing just goes.

on forever. So your point, Dan, I'd love to see Chip Kelly get his hands on him, but he's not the same guy. I mean, he can't beat linebackers to the corner anymore. So what are you going to do? You can't run that pistol offense with a guy who's not dynamically dynamically athletic like he was as a rookie. That's fair. Moving on to other quarterback news. So Kirk Cousins has a week one job starting. Also, Tyrod Taylor's got a job in Buffalo. That race is over. Rex Ryan told his team on Sunday that Tyrod Taylor had won the team's quarterback competition. Rapsheet reported Monday that it was definitely official.

So here it is Matt Castle, E.J. Manuel fall short. This is after Tyrod Taylor performed very well again on Saturday, 12 of 13, 12 12, 12 yards. He ran for a 20 yard touchdown. E.J. Manuel played lights out too. Actually, the whole quarterback team, 30 for 33, 395 yards, and three touchdowns against the Steelers. So that perhaps is a little foreboding it for Pittsburgh. Yeah, it's a preseason who cares.

But the point is, Taylor deserved this job, Mark Sessler. This was a guy that played well all three preseason games, and he was the right man for the job. Well, a couple days ago, we were, and I think rightfully questioning Rex Ryan for putting E.J. Manuel out as the starter in your third preseason tilt. Because I think if you look at what's happened, when you have three guys, you arguably, as we say, you have no one. But Tyrod Taylor seems like the high ceiling guy.

And I think they're going with someone that it gives them the most options. Greg Roman has worked well with mobile quarterbacks before. He showed enough the preseason for me to have no problem with them picking him number one. I believe we had this in April or May. You did. Tyraud Taylor will win this quarterback team. You had Tyrod Taylor. I thought my boy Matt Gassel is liking him.

That's where it comes. We predicted he'd be starting it as well. That was well done by Wes because he says we predicted it and then it makes you correct West to say he was correct. Very strong. Very well done, Wes. I was trying to give Greg credit. No, he was trying to help me out. You know, I could have let us. I thought you were on the Castle train.

I was, of course. And poor Matt Castle, he goes out there, one in completion, and he just gets forgotten about. What a weird setup, though. As much as Taylor, I thought he was almost perfect in the preseason. I mean, the things he did that were impressive where he was very accurate and he went through his reads. He looked very comfortable. I mean, he looked like a little like Colin Kaepernick in Greg Roman system back in 2012, which got everyone excited.

You know what? Then again, it was only eight series. It was like seven series. You make all these adjustments, and we haven't really seen them against a real defense that's game planning for him. He only played about three quarters, so it's still on limited basis. I think some quarterbacks should sit the way that he did for years in Baltimore that are not ready to play, and all we do is rush them out year one, year two. We're done with these guys.

We're going to judge him right away. I think Taylor, who did not get good reviews in Baltimore for a couple of seasons under Harbaugh, that helped to get that time. I'm not even saying Tyrod Taylor's going to be a good quarterback. I'm not predicting success. I'm just thrilled. I don't have to watch Matt Castle. I am too.

I think it could be a fun offense to watch. They put up 30 for 33 with Marquis Goodwin and Andre Davis and who was it easily as their top three receivers. They were missing their top five receivers in that game and they still did that way. Let's go pie in the sky and I'll base it off. I wish I remember the Twitter user's name. But he said this weekend, you know, if Tyrod Taylor turns out to be good, the bills are a Super Bowl contender. That was Stamacheck. That's ridiculous.

No, maybe, did he say that? No, no, no. This is somebody else. But it's ridiculous, sure, but let's just say, pie in the sky, that Taylor really is good. This is a really good Bill's team, if that's the case, if they have strong quarterback play in addition to a solid defense in LaShawn McCoy and a nice backfield. Mine just refuses to go there. I get that.

That's too big an if for me. I don't want to put them in, you know, I wouldn't put them at that level, but I think they're a playoff team. We'll talk about that later with the powerful. Connor, or, for what it's worth. predict them as a playoff. I think it's fair. They were nine and seven with no quarterback last year.

I think Taylor will be benched by Halloween at least once. Yeah, I'm still not buying in. By the way, Ian Rapport reports Castle or Manuel. One of them will be off the roster by the start of the season. So they'll probably try to look to see if they can get a late round pick and trade one of them. All right. In other bills news, in other bills news, the Buffalo Bills have surprisingly released Fred Jackson, their longtime running back.

He spent the past eight years of Buffalo. And this is why it was really surprising moves. To me, he finally got a preseason carry, busted off a 41-yard run in his first carry. He looked great. Everybody was talking about it. The crowd was going nuts. They love Fred Jackson. Gets cut.

He's gone. That's it for Fred Jackson and Buffalo West. Next stop, New England, right? One of Bill Belichick's favorite players ever. He does love guys who play well against his team. That's one reason. Let me read you this. One reason why Scott Chandler's on the team.

Let me read you this quote from Bill Belichick 2011. There's really no weak points with that guy. He does everything well. He's really outstanding. One of the best backs in the league, I would say no weak points. I don't know what the weak points would be. And the year before he said, Fred Jackson, I have as much respect for him as anybody we've ever played.

But he's 34 years old. That was in 2010 and 2011. You know what? Reggie Wayne is on the Patriots because Bill Belichick continues to believe in these veterans. I think you're right. Get all these old guys on the pats and watch a shit go down. They need a running back. They need a third down back.

Fred Jackson. It could be the reverse bledso. You know, they cut bletzo. And so right before the season and the bills dropped the 31-0-0 week-one hammer. Maybe Garoppolo goes up to Buffalo with Fred Jackson and rips the heart out of the bills. We too. Wow. Don't think so.

So let's track that. Maybe we'll get that one right. Also, some big contract news in Atlanta. The Julio Jones train will stay with the Falcons, a five-year, $47 million in guarantees deal, $71.25 million overall. It's a deal that makes Julio Jones the highest paid wide receiver in football and guaranteed money, Just edging, Des Bryant, and Demarius Thomas. Greg Rosenthal, is he worth the money? Oh, yeah.

I mean, all these guys are all worth the money. And I like the fact that Julio got just a little more than those two guys, because I think he's just a little bit better, a little safer. If I could pick one between Julio Demerius Thomas and Des Bryant, for the next five years, I'd take Julio Jones. I would too. Not by a ton, but I think he's a little better. His history of foot concerns is less of an issue to you than Des Bryant's off the field concerns.

Is that why? That's basically the math. That's why it's close. I think he's a better player. Than Des? Just a little bit. Just a little bit. Des much better in the red zone,

but I'd take Julio between the 20s. I like Julio Jones more than those other guys. Part of it is Julio Jones was better faster than Des Bryant. I mean, he was fully formed in year two. He was one of the top five receivers. That's true. These contracts are non-stories, though. We know they're going to get signed, right?

We'll get two weeks from now when it was AJ Greenwill, too, next off season, whatever. Have a nice time. If we're going to talk about our favorite of those guys, Dez is my favorite because he's got that killer instinct. He's a beast near the end zone. He just gets angry. He's going nuts on the sideline.

He's just kind of a crazy person. I appreciate it. He's got a killer instinct too. Does he? Oh, ever hear that story about when Dimitrov and the Falcons go to scout him at Alabama? And they ask him, they talk about blocking a guy. And he said, coach, I will beat the crap out of that guy on this block. I don't think he said crap.

That the Fred Jackson news, big surprise. Not a surprise if you read at the beginning of camp, possible veterans that could be cut. and a Bill's fan in this build and told me that was crazy to put that on there, Fred Jackson. You know who you are? Andy Levitra next. Yeah. Greg, cut, he's a seer.

Side off. Greg, you really got that in there. Good job by you. Yeah. Greg was, anyone in the newsroom knows what that story is about because Greg wouldn't stop talking about it. All right. So let's now get into the preseason, some takeaways from a busy week of action. And let's start in Philadelphia where, oh, my goodness, the Eagles look great on offense.

Bradford, by the way, daddy's got some sandwiches coming from the two guys on this side of the table. Sam Bradford is playing great right now. On Saturday, he went 10 for 10 for 121 yards and three touchdowns, just slicing up the Packers. Bradford has played in four series now, four touchdowns, Mark Sessler, for the Eagles first team offense. This team is clicking. I mean, yes, I understand even earlier in the preseason and there's no game planning, but I take note of what Philly is an offense in general. has done they completely overwhelmed the ravens a couple weeks ago

sam bradford's west pointed this out on twitter you know and everyone else has as well that sam bradford's throws his accuracy we've not seen this before so you gotta give it to chip kelly and i don't know if it's the way they practice the way they prepare these players the tutelage with the quarterbacks have a little pat shirmer heat he's the guy that worked with sam bradford is a rookie and love bradford no he loved bradford and it's like finally he's back with shirmer much more so chip kelly and things

working. It was only 10 throws, but I never saw this guy in St. Louis. I mean, his ball placement was impeccable. It was a perfect game. Not even just the passing. He was fired up on a few plays. He took a hit and still delivered a touchdown. That play right there. That wheel route to Sproles. He seemed more excited, like more into the game, more passionate. He just looks like a different player. Chip Kelly rewired him. It was only about four impressive throws, and I don't think he really made any big-time throws in the first preseason game. So it's all a very limited sample size. The thing I liked was that he got hit and he's delivering and everything. It was as good as- He's hitting guys in stride like Kurt Warner on The Greatest Show on Tour.

You have to hit guys in stride and he's doing that. Yeah, the touchdown pass was fantastic. I mean, listen, the whole offense has more energy than anything he ever dealt with in St. Louis. Part of the problem with the Rams was just that team seemed so morbid and so dead as an offensive unit. You're with Philly that does things completely different than any other team, and he bought in. Chip Kelly liked what he saw in college with Bradford, And that offense is probably closer to anything. But part of it was they were just the Packers weren't ready.

They were snapping balls before the preseason broadcast can get done with their previous highlights. And the Eagles defense just doesn't know what to do. You would think in the regular season they'd be able to slow it down a little bit. If he stays healthy, this is one of the best teams in the league, I think. I mean, they're going to score points. Get to that later. I think Chip got destroyed all offseason, like criticized. And it seems to me like every move he's made has worked out well.

Yeah, that's true. I mean, they look perfect right now. Who does not look perfect right now? James Winston, who is, you know, after a tough opening preseason game, had a solid second game on Saturday against the Browns. And Mark was getting excited. I was watching them across from me. Winston struggled had just 21 yards through the air

in his first four drives through an interception, or in Sessler Parlins, unfurled a killer interception. Winston was lucky not to throw more picks, according to Mark Sessler, a tough game. for James Winston against him. Although, this reminds me of last year in Tampa, because you can't really just look at Winston alone, especially so early in his preseason career as a rookie, without looking at an offensive line that could not protect the pocket. They looked just as bad as they did last year. Allie Marpet, the rookie, was absolutely dominated. And if you're Winston,

all you're seeing is guys coming at you, what can you do? This was my concern. This is why I think the Bucks will be one of the worst teams in the league. And I don't think James Winston will have a good rookie year because of their offensive line. It's the worst or the second worst in the NFL. Nobody gives a second thought anymore, it seems, now to you draft a guy with the first picker or a first round pick and he's immediately the starter.

No one seems to be concerned that this could mess up James Winston's career if he ends up going into a buzzsaw this year. And from every indication, it seems, so far in the preseason, let's not get too worked up. But that could be the case. For what it's worth, I take what Eli and Peyton Manning have said about

their careers. And they think that if you're going to be a great quarterback, putting them out there as rookies and getting beaten up, it's not going to matter. It's not going to affect you long term. You're going to learn things from that experience. And they think if you've had what it takes to get better, that playing and having the experience

that Eli did, for instance, when he was absolutely terrible. I don't agree with that. That's what they think. I don't think everybody's built the same or wired the same. I think I just disagree with that. I think it all comes down to situation in coaching and talent, obviously. I think if you were scouted and you were correctly picked

is the number one quarterback. You should have the traits to go in like the Mannings did and get it done. But we are talking with other quarterbacks on the show that need more development. And Winston, I don't think it's a good experience to go in like Tim Couch did, for instance, a decade and a half ago to get shredded and wrecked behind a team with lacking line and bad. It's an interesting discussion because Bruce Ariens has said that he swears up and down that Tim Couch would have been one of the all-time grades if he wasn't ruined behind that offensive line.

And if you're behind that offensive line also increases a chance of entry. Tim Couch had a bummed shoulder after that. So while Winston struggles, Marcus Marriota again plays very well against the St. Louis Ramsey completed seven of his final eight passes, let a pair of scoring drives, beat some blitzes on a seven-play, 43-yard touchdown drive. Before the half, and there's a completion percentage, guys, over 70% through three preseason games. Again, these are vanilla defensive schemes. Let's not get too crazy. But the Titans have to be feeling pretty good right now. Oh, they also had three points halfway through the second quarter.

points. I don't think they had moved the ball at all. So he started slow. I'm looking forward to this Winston Marriota week one game. As bad as Winston's looked in the preseason, he's been up and down. These are two lousy defenses. So I think these rookie quarterbacks at least get a nice soft landing for week one where they could both look pretty good. If Mariotta's going to struggle too, but the Titans have to be really impressed with his poise. He's shown in every game so far. And their offensive line looked bad the first week. They put rookie right tackle Potosi, I think is his name. And he's been done. The last couple of games, he's been great.

They bench Lovitre. This looks like a much better line. I agree he's going to struggle a little bit, but you have to be impressed with it. He's just been unflappable. Favorite moment of that game for me was after his worst play, which is that he held on to the ball too long, and Justin Houston ran him down for a sack

when he could have gotten rid of the ball. And Houston did a little celebrating kind of on the top of Marriota, and Marriotta just jumped right up and got right in Justin's face, which, you know, it's, you know, it might not be the smartest thing in the world, but he kind of likes to see. He kind of like that fiery side out of him. Like one of the best players in the league.

He's like, get off of me. He was great. The combine is kind of a ridiculous thing, but there were people writing serious stories and tweets about his body, his body language on the field at Lucas Oil Stadium. How he just seemed to be not really plugged in, a little laid-back Hawaiian dude. That's good. That was exactly what I was thinking of. Let's do it.

We talked about some young guys. We talked about an old man, an old geyser, Peyton Manning, who is trying to, like, fit into a new offense in Denver. It's still a work in progress. He finished 14 of 21 passing for 124 yards and a pick. Couldn't get Denver in the end zone against the 49ers and a 1912 win. I should mention the final score because it's very important in preseason games. And then afterwards, Peyton had this to say, we're still very much figuring out who we are

and what we're going to be as far as things we can really hang our hat on, trying to develop an identity. Mark, are you nervous about Peyton Manning? Well, it's not just this game. It was the one previous where you get in the past with Manning, and the arm has been a problem for a while in terms of the arm strength, but he just was so at home in the offense he played in for years and years. To switch it up now, I trust Kubiak and I trust Manning to pick it up.

I think he's right. They're working through it. You know what he is physically. There's not a whole lot of difference. Hasn't looked better. They said that his arm was better. No, that's not. It has not looked good.

It's his throws even into the flats and stuff. It's like, what's going on? I think you notice, I've noticed in his last two games, a lot more defensive backs and linebackers are getting their hands on the ball, knocking it away, which means he's not able to squeeze throws in a tight window. The biggest problem for me is he was sacked three times

in four drives. He was not sacked three times in a game all of last season. So to me, that's pretty telling. That's pretty telling that free rushers are coming through. It's a new system. You have new starters there. Mathis isn't ready to play it? It's like that would be the problem for me.

Isn't part of that, though, calling protections, which he's so good at the line and adjusting your offense. And maybe if you're in a completely new scheme, some of that's not getting done. That's part of it. but it's also when the older a quarterback gets, the less he's able to avoid pressure.

Also struggling the Seahawks offense, who, listen, again, let's not get too crazy about this, but they're not moving the ball too well. Six drives Saturday only had 137 yards, went three and out three times. Russell Wilson completed less than half his passes. Afterwards, Pete Carroll said, we're all a bit, a little bit frustrated with it.

I'm a little bit frustrated with it, but I'm not worried about it over the long haul. Neither are you, Greg, are you? No, I'm not. This is one preseason story that I don't care about because it's the same offense that they've had. It's Russell Wilson. It doesn't matter.

They're trying to fix things online. I think it's different than the Manning thing. I don't care about these. I don't think the Seahawks. I want to see it in the regular season. I don't think they're showing much of their offense either. And they've struggled out of the gates, though, to be fair, in the last couple seasons offensively.

They stunk off. The line's an issue, but it was also an issue last year and they went to the Super Bowl. It might not be quite as good as last year. So that's an issue, but I still feel like Jimmy Graham's going to be a stud. Well, I think there was a little bit of chemistry still building with Graham and Russell. He was targeted five times. He finally caught a bigger pass in the second half, but they weren't on the same page.

That just takes time. I do wonder if the Max Unger removal to New Orleans will affect this team. I think it will because the line, that is one thing. You've got new players playing together. The line did not look good. All right. Now let's look at some personal or individual performances from this week. And we'll start with Navar Bowman, who it looks like he's.

is a major front-runner for comeback player of the year. Coming back from the nasty knee injury suffered in the playoffs a couple of years ago, just dominant against the Broncos. He was supposed to play about 10 snaps. He played the entire first half and went nuts. A game high, nine tackles, two sacks, and then one five-play

stretch, this according to Kevin Patrick, who's just cranking out the stories. He sacked Peyton Manning twice and added two more tackles. Just a dominant performance from a guy that hasn't played in over a year. It's the best quarter, quarter and a half of football by any player, I think, in the preseason.

I mean, it was insane. Every single plays in the back field. I like a guy who just, you can tell. He's a great player that's so fired up that he doesn't care if it's a preseason. He's going at regular season speed. I'm happy to see it. I questioned his knee was so torn up and he's been missing for 18 months. I question whether he be the same player.

He looks like it. And the week before, he played three plays and had three tackles, almost all of them behind the line of scrimmage against the Cowboys. He looks like the real deal. I mean, if you're in Vegas this weekend, I hope, you know, I know we're not allowed to talk about that. I'm just saying, you mentioned Bowman comeback player of the year. That seems like a... I'll take Sam Bradford.

That was a good one. What are you talking about Vegas? Well, I'm just saying, I hope people were there and saw the options early on before I'm just sitting around hanging out with their buddies talking about who might be comeback player of the year. That's what Greg was talking about. I'll throw some Vegas advice out to our listeners, our young listeners, for bachelor parties. It's not going to go where you think it's going to go. Good. Or you're there for a fantasy draft.

Do not splurge on the suite because you're not going to spend a lot of tin there. Splurge on the cabana. Get the cabana. That's some Vegas advice for you. Some better advice. I'm an old man. Who knows better?

Get Vegas and go somewhere fun. Oh, please, Wes. Vegas is great. Oh, it's the word. You went once and you went with the wrong people. That's what you did. The people were great. Khalil Mack also dominant, by the way.

Speaking of linebackers, Wes, you know, Vegas. Come on, baby. Vegas, baby. Vegas, baby. Fair, have fun. Khalil Mack, dominant for the Raiders again, the second-year linebacker, two sacks, just abusing the Arizona offensive line,

darting through that defense. This is another guy who we've talked. I think he's a making-the-leave guy, right? He's our number one. Yeah, I wasn't invited to be a part of that series, so I wouldn't really know. He also didn't want it before. You were doing campaign ranking.

Yeah, but, yeah, but the point is, Khalil Mack, ready to make the league. You can have all of my guys next year. Looking good. All right. It wasn't just Khalil Mack. I think Dan Williams is a good addition on this team. Like the Raiders, again, we have to kill it.

It's the preseason, so nothing means anything. But they shut down the run. They were not getting pushed around the way we've seen over and over from this team. And Mack is the real deal. The defense looks like an NFL, on paper, it now looks like an NFL defense for the first time in a while. That either side of the ball for the Raiders kind of looks like an NFL caliber group. Everybody doing pirouettes do about the Cardinals and, oh, they're a Super Bowl favorite, down 153 at the half to the Raiders.

Let's calm down about the race. Raiders, next time they play against somebody not named Bradley Soul, we'll see how they be. That, well, that's fair enough. All right, moving on. Hey, by the way, Steve Smith. Oh, my God. Chris Culver has done stupid things in his life. He's said things on radio shows that he shouldn't have said.

I think he's gotten in trouble with, I don't know. It's been suspended. Multiple groups. Multiple groups have been... Multiple times he's messed up. Thing is a mistake ever. He tried to get into a fight with Steve Smith this weekend. Went after Smith after this happened in the, of course,

the Ravens Reds. Skins game, lineback for the Redskins, Kenan Robinson, pile drive, Camer Aiken in a W.W.E-type throwdown led to a big scuffle. Culver and Steve Smith start going at each other. It becomes a glorified, you know, pushing match between the two. Both Culliver and Smith get ejected. You know, a lot of fun at a preseason game right here. This had a little bit of everything. Steve Smith bows to the crowd after he gets kicked off. But to me, the most noteworthy aspect of this were the coaches was John Harbaugh running across the field,

apparently to get his players out of it, and then Jay Gruden says something to John Harbaugh, and Harbaugh goes after Jay Gruden. Then he goes after his own sideline reporter later in the game. John Harbaugh, also running across the field like Kirk Gibson in the 1988 World Series. There are new rules now about players not involved in the original fight, now jumping into the fight.

They're going to be penalized. and find, like, I'm wondering if John Harbaugh gets fine for this. I mean, how is it a good look for the NFL for you to go running across the field and then John and the coach was arguing afterwards? Yeah. Hey, look. He was a Snapchat, by the way, for people watching the video. He went to the stands afterwards and got to pose with his son in the stands.

Yeah, Jay Gruden, when your linebacker pile drives someone on a really dirty play, you ought to expect the other coach to be a little peeved at you. That's certainly fair. Not a good weekend for Jay Gruden. Another takeaway, Steve Smith looked like early season last year, Steve Smith. Well, his speed. He was moving. It looks spry. It's incredibly fast.

And he threatened to, what, damage, wound, and puncture everyone? I think Culliver had it. If you're the Redskins organization, you definitely don't like the Ravens because they came in and stole a big chunk of your regional fan base. How about that? Well, that's fair. Well, it's true. That's money.

What do you seem to care about? John Harbaugh, you know, we watch this before we started recording today. Also, the Ravens that take a lot of pride in their team brunt. They have a little, the production value is very high. They have a guy on the sideline that it's his job to interview people. He's just a team employee. He asks John Harbaugh about what happened between Smith and Culliver. And Harbaugh kind of goes off a little bit on the poor sideline or part.

As you say, La Raville Magnifico. The little different side is John Harbaugh. Not a good side. Not a good side. La Raville Magnifico. That is, for those that are new to the. the show when somebody doesn't have to be sports could be like somebody that you're getting to know you're at a party they say something that reveals either let's say in ignorance of sports and they're

pretending to be a real fan or they say something that reveals themselves to be an or just you know something just comes out and sorry guys behind the glass and and it's in your mind you don't even have to say anything to them you just in your head you go la raville magnifico the great reveal and you know it all about them they never knew that you figured it out I see I I always thought, and that's pretty much what you're saying, that it meant, like, here is the little kernel that's giving you a window into their soul. Essentially. This is the true John Harbaugh coming out.

All these other people in this group probably didn't pick it up or maybe one or I know everything I need to know about this. So it always skews negative for you, though. It's never, oh, well, there's something about this person that made me see a very... It could be good, but in practice, it's always been, yes, bad. This is how people get removed from your Christmas party list. And it's happened. Yeah, it has. It's happened.

It's happened again. That holiday party, the invite is getting increasingly tougher to get onto the list. I don't like inviting people into my house that I don't like. It's a fair stance. That's just how I feel. People have felt that way for thousands of years. Yeah, but some people like say, oh, yeah, let's invite him in and try to be a nice host. Get out of my life.

How I feel about Twitter. I'm on pins and email. That's why I've been kissing up to Dan lately trying to make that list. You've been at the party. You're in. And once you're in, it's hard to get out, but you can get out. Oh, yeah. All right, let's talk about the power poll now.

And listen, this is not the power rankings. Do not, please, Jesus, do not confuse us with the power rankings. This is a different... Not the power rankings. This is a different entity of NFL media. It's our individual. We each, and we'll do this four times. We're going to do this preseason.

We've already done it. We'll do it at the, basically, at the poll points. After the fourth week, after the eighth week, after the... 12th week. And then at the end of the regular season. Hard's done enough math today. Yeah, that's true. Thank you, Greg.

So here we go. We've broken into tiers, and we'll start with the elite tier here. And then we'll dig into it a little bit where we differ, where it gets a little saucy. The power pole, the elite tier, Seahawks 1, Packers 2, Steelers 3, Broncos 4, Colts 5, Eagle 6, and Patriots 7. So we'll start there. How do we feel about it? Again, this is not, this is all of our picks averaged out by mathematicians. Let's start with the Eagles, who are sixth year.

We definitely like them as a heavy NFCE's favorite. We'll show you where the Cowboys are a little later. I found it interesting, Mark, after the preseason events of the week, you bump them up a few spots, up to number three in your poll. Yes, it came after the preseason events. But when I did this poll, it was when I had slept for about 10 minutes and spent. Well, just tell me why you like them so much as the third best team in the NFL. Because when we do this, I find myself initially going block and tackle with the teams that approved

it year after year. But if there's going to be a jumper in this group, I think it's Philly. I mean, everything that we've seen from them and the choices they've made look positive. Did you look at the other people's power poles before changing your power poles? He didn't know. Absolutely not. I'm just asking the question. I got to ask the question.

Some of the stuff I saw from the other people made me think that you guys didn't sleep for more than 10 minutes. Well, we'll get to all that. I would have put them at number three. Got those wild eyes there. Because I think it matters that Sam Bradford looked good. Because the quarterback's that important. and now I feel like they have their quarterback. Well, the interesting thing to me about them,

and really this top seven in general, is there was a huge gap after the Patriots who were the number seven team and the next group, which we'll talk about, and that every single one of us, okay, you had them at three, that was the highest, you had put them with three. But no one had them below seven.

Everyone in the group sees the Eagles as the NFC East champions and sees them as a legit contender. And I agree with that, obviously, because I think the defense also has a chance to be better than it was a year ago but to be, maybe it's not a top five defense, but maybe it's 10th or so. And they're pretty deep.

Only the offense is getting talked about. But one thing in game to game with the Eagles, their secondary is playing aggressive. It does not look like the preseason for them. They are going after the ball. I think they're going to be better on defense. Maybe we'll look back at this and, you know, rule it as a case of us getting sucked in

by overtly positive preseason. But how could you not get sucked in by this team the way it's playing right now? I'm cool putting them high eyes. The best running back duo in the league. I don't think that's really. And Spurals is great, too. And Sproles is great, too.

It's not even an option. One thing I saw interesting out of this group was, Wes, you have the Colts number two. Your number two team in the league. I don't know why that's a surprise. In fact, what surprised me even more... They get beat by like 50 points every player. You're the only one actually that didn't have Packers, Seahawks in some order as won two.

People have this thing about the Colts where just because they match up so poorly against the Patriots, they can't be a good team. I think it's crazier that the Steelers are third. how do the Steelers have a better defense than the Colts? That surprises me. And I've heard Greg say he thinks the Colts who have the best offense in the league. So if they have the best offense in the league

and a better defense than the Steelers, why are the Steelers ranked ahead of them? Well, if you look at the numbers, we honestly all agreed on these teams so much that there isn't much difference between the Steelers, Broncos, and Colts. I think what we showed is that we see them and throw the Patriots in,

although they were the fourth team there, as really the four AFC powers, and that would be kind of stunned if any of them didn't make the playoffs. It's not like I didn't like the Colts. I had them fifth. The difference between them is slight. I mean, I look at the Steelers and I have no problem. I put them fifth, and that's easy for me because you've got Big Ben with more talent around them than he's ever had.

I think the Steelers of all these teams, and I put them high. I had them third, but I think they're the team that could make us look the dumbest of all the teams. Like you could see things going wrong in a very tough to be. All right. Let's take a look at the second tier now. What are we calling this tier? Greg. Well, this is a frisky tier.

The tier of briskiness. Ah, feeling frisky tier. I think I said a tier where friskiness is involved. All right. Okay, I like that. Number eight, the lions. Nine ravens, ten, dolphins, 11 Vikings, 12 cardinals, 13 saints, 14 bengals, 15 chargers,

16, the Cowboys, right at the Dalton line right there. And 17, the Bills. I find it interesting that the Vikings and Cardinals to a team of ATN candidates, 11 and 12. to back. And if you're scoring at home, that would mean that we have the ravens and dolphins as our group AFC wildcard picks. And that

would mean the Cardinals just got edged out, right? It would be the Vikings and the lions. And I think Sub-O-West's stumping for the lions helped sway the room. It swayed me a little bit. They're strong. I think I helped push them up a little bit. You know who had them the lowest of anyone was Kevin Patrick and Connor

or. I found that interesting. Were you kidding me? The four of us agreed a lot more than Connor and Kevin. They were kind of the ones that were either the highest or the lowest. Kevin is a Lions fan and he's been snakebits so many times. I think that factors in. He never buys in too hard. Yeah. That's a wise policy, but I feel like the Lions are just as strong as they were last year. We disagreed on the Cardinals really in this room more than any team. You guys, Mark and Wes, what's this side of the room called? We used to have a name for it.

Oh. Oh, yeah. Confrontation Corner or something like that. Whatever it is. The wrong about the Cardinals side of the room. room, overrating the Cardinals in the top 10. We have Bruce Ariens on our side over the weekend. He said this is the strongest roster he's had in Arizona. So he's there every day seeing them up close. You got to buy that coming from a coach right before the season starts. Bruce Ariens, is he or is he not a straight shooter?

NFC West is, I think, weaker than it was a year ago. And I think Arizona's record could be better. And they're not going to lose their quarterback for half the season this time. So you guys have them as playoff teams. Hansis has them 17, so a little worse than a net below. I just am starting to feel like they're going to be a disappointment. And I'm not sold that Carson Palmer is going to be that great this year. I'm not totally sold on them.

And as things have gone along this summer, I've kind of fallen off their bandwagon big time. I'm with you. I like the lions and the Vikings. I like the Rams better, too. I like that division. It's possible the NFC North gets three playoff teams. The other thing that stuck out to me here is the Saints, I guess, are our consensus.

Even though they're only 13th. They're well ahead of any other NFC South team. I think I was the only one who had a different NFC South champion. We'll get to them in a little bit, but you guys have the Saints. Well, we had to pick the top 12 teams are playoff teams, and I think that the Saints got number 12 consistently because of that dynamic. They would have been lower from some of us. Yeah, you can roll the dice on that division.

But I think, to me, the biggest surprise on this entire list is the distance between the Eagles and the Cowboys. That's true. Only Connor Orr has the Cowboys in the top 14 teams in the entire league. That's pretty crazy. I thought when I said last week, I think the Cowboys are going to fall off, that there would be more disagreement. No one here has them. A lot of disrespect for the Cowboys in this room.

It is. We're on point. We're on message, though, because we've been all kind of feeling, or most of us had felt that a fall is coming this year. Kansas has them 20th. Really, all of us have. We all agree that Philly's come into bloom, right? The Giants have more weapons on offense and could be dangerous to tough team to deal with the Redskins stink. We know that.

But everything went right for Dallas last year, and they rarely feel. follow that kind of a season up well. And if you look kind of how all the numbers play out, I mean, the Chargers, I have the Chargers as a playoff team, but everyone likes the Chargers as a contender. We still have the Bills and the Bengals. Those, we all see as teams in the next. Greg, as the Bills, it's the 12th best team in the NFL. I got them 21st and everyone else is across the map in between. We should know if there was no team we were more wrong about last year than the Cowboys. I think that's fair. We should point that out. We could be dead wrong about them.

I know, I was the highest on him last year. And even I had them under, I'm surprised everyone likes the dolphins. All right. Next tier, this is the Alex Smith tier. And that means you are a mediocre team. And fittingly, it starts with the Chiefs at 18, 19, falcons, 20 Rams, 21 jets, 22 Giants, 23 Panthers, 24 Texans, 25-9ers. You guys drunk on preseason narratives, burying my jets at 21.

Bad job. Oh, come on. Dan has the Jets as his... Why should they be high? The 10th best team in the league. No one else hasn't been in the top 20. Listen. Defend your Jets.

I will defend my hero. And the reason why is because I thought that the Jets have one of the best defenses in the AFC now. And I still believe, despite all the distractions, that they have a really nice running game, an improved passing game. And I think Ryan Fitzpatrick is even better than Gino Smith. So I'm happy about them. Now we're moving away from the controversy with the jaw, and we can start getting back to this, just being a regular team.

I thought the Jets had a chance to win nine or ten games and getting to the playoffs. I thought that in June. And I still feel that way at the end of August. So basically, wherever you rank the Jets, they're a wild card team to me. You have them 10th, double the number, and that's where they probably will be

with the rest of the room, having them around 20. I don't see a huge difference. In fairness to Dan, even though I have them 20th, too, it's not like I think the dolphins are that much better or the building are that much better. I do. How do you bend your mind around the fact that Ryan Fitzpatrick's never won more than six games?

games in a season. Well, it's also not just him. He usually gets benched. We always float with this, whether wins and losses are on the quarterback or not. This is a better team he's around. We know who Ryan's what Patrick is. Perhaps. It's not a playoff quarterback.

I think that this team could win nine to ten games, and I think they could get a six seat in the playoffs. If they're the 10th best team, they're going to have to probably win 10 or 11. Yeah, I think they could win 10 games. Yeah, one of the way, I'm also a Jetsman and I'm out of course. So whatever. One of the takeaways here, I think there's a lot of, there's not a lot of bad teams this year. I don't think on paper going into, I think the NFC is really deep, especially eight or nine

really good teams in the NFC. I mean, a team like the Giants, no one has as a real contender. We have them 23rd. We basically are saying the Tom Coughlin, Eli Manning, you know, Reese era is going to end one way or another at the end of this year. Because if they're the 23rd best team in the league, it's over. Well, I like their offense, but how can you get past how poorly their defense not only looks on paper, but in preseason. And is injured. And no team in this group got a higher rating than the Rams at number nine from Greg. They also have a number 30 from Patra. Yeah.

That's pretty tough. Whoa, that's got to be the biggest difference, right? Well, yeah, I think it is. I box myself in the corner with the Rams. I'm sticking by it. I just have a feeling that they'll have a good season. They're obviously a boomer bust team. It's like it wouldn't shock anyone if they were seven to nine.

But I do think a team's going to be able to rise up and that division's not as good as it used to be, and I think that defense is going to be great. Their owner's got a foot out the door. Their coach would love to be in L.A. I don't like that whole factor for this team. That's a fair point. But there are teams down here, like the Panthers and the Rams,

and those are talented teams. They could make some noise. Also, I'd have the Chiefs hire after watching their third preseason game. I think they're a little underrated here. I know what Greg's talking about, getting box in a corner with this podcast sometimes, because I was going back, we were working on an assignment for this week

where we were making our predictions for awards. And I went back to, like, Coach of the Year, Rod Chudzinski, by a couple years ago. And I even wrote, I wrote at the time, like, I'm championing Brandon Whedon right now. I was like, you know what? If I'm going to think Whedon's going to be good

and they're going to win nine or ten games, give Chud the trophy. Sometimes it happens. I didn't believe it when I wrote it, but I had to do it. You got to be more like Cessor. Don't worry about what you said previously. Just, you know, go totally off.

Oh. Ship like the wind. Look, three weeks ago, you were making fun of people that liked Chip Kelly too much. You should say what you believe. Mark says what he believes. Shift like the win. You have to be flexible.

Our beliefs change. I feel bad for the former team of ATL. A team is still close to my heart that I do root for and I will continue to root for. The Carolina Panthers just buried. Third place in the lousy NFC stuff. An exploding ACL will do that. Let's look at finally, the

final tier. There's always next year tier. We could have done a little bit better with that title. Well, they changed it. Mine was the rest. The rest is not much better. We could have done something better comedically there. How about this always next year? Okay, that's another option. Number 26, the Titans, 27, the Jaguars, 28, the Raiders. Moving on up, Oakland

Raiders. 29 Bears. 30, the Brownies, 31, the Bucks, and no surprise here. Number 32, the Washington Redskins. Congratulations on winning that quarterback job, Kirk Cousins. Well, but it's interesting. They're the number 32 team, but I mean, they do have some good things about them. They do have Andre Roberts, Pierre Garsohn, Deshawn, Deshaun Jackson, Alfred Morris, Jordan Reed, and Matt Jones. That's a nice little six-pack of skill position talent. It wouldn't be that crazy. If I knew if Cousins was going to be their quarterback, I'd have ranked them quite a bit higher

Really? How much higher? Probably mid-20. Didn't you assume Cousins would start a bunch of games, though? I wrote this list right before all the RG3 stuff came out. I have the Bears is the worst team in the league. These are, I think really the only truly bad teams in the league are the Bears and the Bucks, personally. That's me.

But you guys think the Redskins are right there. I thought the RG3 Redskins were the worst team in the league, not the Kirk Cousins' Redskins. This group, though, I mean, it's just a lot of it's like, listen, we can't stand what we've heard for the last three months, or you've not shown it to us in a decade plus. So you're going to get stuck down here. I don't love our, I know it's not all wins and losses,

the team of ATN, but I don't love the Titans tied for 27th. That's true. That's where we're going to champion. Well, in the end, we had a hard time actually saying they were going to be good, even though we're excited about it. That's a pretty big bump from being non-existent.

That's true. They now have a number. We only did 31 teams last year. By the way, Jags fans, I got them at 21, the highest of any team. I just feel like they're going to be that team that's not very good, but wins seven games just because, you know, it's their turn.

So there's the, around the NFL power pole. Again, not the power rankings. I cannot make that more clear. It's important. So, yeah, we'll check back into that. The Raiders moving on up, too. I think we actually see some signs of life here. Six and ten, maybe.

I'm not even joking around. That would be progress. Exactly, exactly. By the way, we're going to have our season preview team by team. It's going up on the site. We'll also put up this power pole this week a little later. Yeah, we're going to really start rolling into the true regular season preview.

We're going to talk about the awards, as I alluded to earlier. What Greg just said, we're going to check in on our training camp preseason sandwich wagers and all that. So a lot more fun coming up. Around the NFL podcast. We've got another show on Wednesday. So be sure to tune in for that. That's it. This is Dan Hansis, signing off for The Quiet Storm, The Mailman, the Boss, TV, and all his friends behind us.

the glass. Until Wednesday. Hey, everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 6, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies. To evaluate team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters.

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