NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Davante Adams’ Future, All-Clone Team and Nick Wesseling

Episode Date: July 16, 2024

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by Patrick Claybon to get you caught up on news from around the NFL including Jordan Addison's arrest (01:59), Davante Adams' future with the Raiders (05:06), Kyle Pitts' new usage with the Falcons (12:06) and take some time to remember Monte Kiffin and Jacoby Jones (15:45). After the break, the guys draft a team, an all-clone team, that they think would win with the same player playing every position on the field (20:59). The show is wrapped up with a special visit from Nick Wesseling to tell you what the mood is like around Cincinnati with the return of Joe Burrow on the horizon and give you an update on the Wesseling family (38:16). Note: time codes approximate. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Welcome to NFL Daily, where we're a little too excited that the Texans veterans are reporting for training camp tomorrow. I'm Greg Rosenthal. Beyond lucky today to be joined in the studio by my friend Patrick Claibon. That's right. Football is back. It's back. And a lot of people are back on their consoles for the first time in 15 years, celebrating college football returning.

But yeah, we're here, Greg. And I'm excited. Coming up later, we're going to do some fake football stuff, which is a perfect off-season thing. But yeah, this is real life. I got travel schedules coming up. This is all escalated very quickly. It is all happening.

And yeah, you mentioned EA, the college football game coming out. We have shook on later. He is the video game expert at the company, so we might have to talk a little college football later. You mentioned fake football. It's not fantasy, although you are a fantasy expert, and we're definitely going to hit fantasy.

I was back in the day. Brick Bob. And I'm back in the fantasy game. I am in an actual league for the second time. I took about 12 years off and joined a league with a friend of mine last year. So, yeah, we'll talk fantasy throughout the season, but this isn't really that kind of fantasy. This is an important moment on this show's history

in which we're going to determine if you were going to take one player in the NFL and clone that player and put them at every single position on offense and defense to win the most amount of games. Which player would you choose? We're going to have a little draft later. It's going to be fun.

I also am excited because the news is starting to pick up and today, not all of its great news. I have to admit, but every day this week, we're going to be starting each day with the news. And let's get going. It would take you six hours to download this podcast if you were doing dial-up. Shout out to anybody who remembers that, by the way. I do.

That was like late middle school and high school for me. And yeah, it's a little jarring to hear Joe Buck. I have to get used to that, but I do like it. I don't like what we're starting in the news today, but it really was the biggest football item to happen over the weekend and into Monday, which related to Jordan Addison, the Vikings wide receiver, who was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence on Friday

near LAX here in Los Angeles, the California Highway Patrol police confirm to our website, NFL.com. They revealed that there was a disabled vehicle blocking lanes on uh i 105 and that that was what they told us that an officer arrived to the scene a white rose royce was spotted uh with addison asleep behind the wheel and then he was arrested shortly thereafter the vikings released a statement saying they were aware of the arrest and this is the second consecutive offseason addison's uh encountered a legal issue on the road last july he was cited for speeding and reckless driving in minnesota for going 140 miles and a 55 mile an hour zone um it should go without

don't drink and drive I think I think that's the easiest and most responsible reaction that a lot of people have right is anger and frustration or we lose people every day and this is again as you mentioned the second incident the first time it was just speeding he was driving 140 miles an hour Jordan Addison has got to figure out how he's going to comport himself in a vehicle I would make the case that he shouldn't be behind the wheel of vehicle at all at this point not just from the standpoint of, you know, protecting himself. It's from a standpoint of protecting everybody. And we have seen time and time again that these situations, not just with him, but with so many

people keep reproducing themselves, that it gets past a point of personal responsibility. It's kind of on everybody else that's in the vicinity of these people. If you're serving these people, if you're around these people, when they're drinking, let's do everything you can to keep them from getting behind the wheel of that car. It's really frustrating. I really don't know what else to say. Yeah, there isn't much to say other than this is where the NFL will begin to look at the situation and we'll see if there's any punishment. There was not last year off of that incident. Now this is two different incidents.

And it's heartbreaking for it to happen just days after Addison's teammate Kyrie Jackson, a fourth round pick, died along with two high school teammates in a car accident where they struck by another car. That was a situation where the investigators there believe alcohol may have been a contributing circumstance in the fatal crash, and that remains under investigation. So RIP to Kyrie Jackson, and we'll see what's next for Jordan Addison. But just considering where he is in terms of his importance to that offense, that really was the most noteworthy thing to happen, less noteworthy, but very interesting, has been

Devante Adams' summer really weak of just kind of getting out there, which I appreciate as we're getting into training camp. he's given us a lot to talk about. Let's listen to him on the Up and Adams show with Fanduel with K. Adams. Oh, he's in that ear, that's for sure. He's in the ear, but, you know, it's not as easy as it, you know, obviously we can get together and talk about the old times and potential of doing this and that.

But like I said, I'm a Raider, and he knows that. So we'll maybe in the next lifetime. So people picked up the first part of this quote, which is about Aaron Rogers. And she asked him because there's just been a lot of conversation with these two ever get back together, even at the golf tournament over the week and the celebrity golf tournament,

is this going to happen? And if you watch Adams on Receiver, which I've only seen clips, but it didn't seem thrilled with how last season was going, but it just doesn't feel like it's something that could realistically happen, whether Aaron Rogers wants it to or not. No, and there was a couple of moments in that interview and you heard it in that clip where DeVon,

I said, as I said, it's a thing that he's saying, it's a refrain, I am a raider. He also said, you know, there's nothing I can do about it if they ship me off somewhere, but I am a raider is the Devante Adams quote. And if you do watch the receiver, I think, did you see the clip that I saw because I haven't watched

the show either, but it's Devante, again, playing a lot, he's running a lot of routes. He is absolutely by himself on a corner route, and Jimmy G. air mails him, and he goes to the sideline, and he's like, this is ridiculous. I've got to get out of here.

I think seeing those moments may make you feel that because DeVante playing the football game is different than him thinking about and making decisions. I think the whole team was frustrated. It's a different situation. But in terms of her union,

I don't think Devante needs Aaron Rogers. He just needs competent offense and quarterback play. I don't know if he's going to get that, but one of the most fascinating clips from that show was he was quoted saying, I signed off on that when Jimmy Garapolo gets benched and that's just the reality of it.

I mean, I'm sure they're just keeping him in the mix. They're making that decision, but he said, I love Jimmy. He's a great guy. Something had to happen in order for us to have a chance

down the stretch and for me to remain a raider in all honesty. And that's not in the moment. No. That's later that week. So that's for me, he said Jimmy Garoppel had to get benched

him to remain a Raider, that's kind of cool. Anybody with eyes, right, could see that it wasn't necessarily working out with Jimmy in Las Vegas. And it just makes sense because Devante has been a very productive player. The only season he's played more snaps in his career than last season

was his first season with the game. Like he's playing a lot of football and the Raiders have been bad. So yeah, it's frustrating. But you can see a reason that he wants change. I think that would be obvious. Yeah, on a positive note. He seemed like a fan of Aiden O'Connell. on that show from what I saw.

And then he was on FS1 speak last week as well. And he said he thought it was Aiden's job to lose because he was there before. And that's the way it was. He was running with the Ones more talking about OTAs. He says, until Gardner comes in and takes it from him, I think it's Aiden's job. I'm sure that's true. But him even saying that to me says, he likes it the cut of Aiden O'Connell's jib. And I'm not surprised that Aiden O'Connell is a little more impressive in the offseason

environment. And if he was in a fourth round pick, if he was like a second round pick, we would have looked at his rookie year and been like, yeah, that was pretty good. But the red lettering to me on that quote is until, right? Right. It's like it feels like he feels like it has a chance at least. Well, he knows it's not up to him. And Gardner Lynch is making a lot of money, also making a lot of money, but maybe not as much as he hopes is T. Higgins. He did not sign his long-term deal by Monday. So July 15th is normally a note. day in the NFL calendar because it's the deadline for franchise tag players to sign their long-term

deals. And he did not get a long-term deal. He's due to make $21.8 million under that franchise tag, which, you know, not bad considering what he made over the last four years, but not great compared to what other receivers out there are making. The crazy thing, Patrick, with this deadline, was he was the only franchise tag player who's still on the tag. Shout out to the NFL, like, front offices. Like, I've always had a problem with the franchise tag that these guys are getting short change. It's really not free agency.

And yet, Josh Heinz Allen, we covered with Mina that Josh Allen for the Jaguars has changed his name in honor of his mother's side of the family. Josh Heinz Allen, Justin Matabeeke, Michael Pittman, Jalen Johnson, Antoine Winfield, all got long-term deal and Brian Burns and LaGeri Sneed got traded and got long-term deal. So it's like, okay, maybe this, if this is the new norm, that's good for NFL.

Yeah, it feels kind of shifting in between because it's always going to be a cost control metric, right? And a tool to kind of... Right, they would do better if they were just free agents, to be clear, a little better. But it seems like it's reaching a midground between like, oh, this is purely to keep players from making more money.

And, hey, we ultimately do want to keep these guys around. And I think the way that this played out, it kind of feels obvious that the Bengals would like to have T. Higgins this year. They're not going to have them after that. And T. recognizes that. And this was the most kind of obvious way for it to play out. Yeah. I saw a national reporter suggest this week like, well, it's not as easy for the Bengals to get a deal done now after all these other receiver deals happened out there. And I'm thinking they knew where it was going. T. I guess this has been on the Bengals for some of you. Right. They knew where it was going.

Questia Dova Mentsa said at the Combine, we are going to make Justin Jefferson the highest paid non-quarterback in history. They knew all these receiver contracts were going. They don't want to pay it for them, which is their right. And he will get that money like Jesse Bates will elsewhere. I think there are Bengals fans out there

that are hoping something else possibly happens. Tagging him for a second straight year, if you were the Bengals, actually isn't that bad business, but would be unfortunate for T. Higgins. but he just needs to stay healthy and he will get a crazy deal next year. More than he probably would have if the Bengals were going to give him a long-term deal this year. And also, if they were going to do two consecutive tags,

then you could have packaged together an offer, right? Right. That's two years that makes sense for both parties. Right. They didn't. It's what they've done in the past and it's one of the difficult things with the salary cap. It depends which team you are, but we're seeing this in the NBA too. You do have to make choices, and Jabar Chase is going to get that big contract in my mind,

I believe he will, and it is tough to fit it all in. Some Falcons news this week, I thought this was an interesting quote, got a lot of pop. Zach Robinson, the new offensive coordinator was quoted saying Kyle Pitts is, quote, basically learning two positions, wide receiver, and tight end. Is it finally the year for Kyle Pitts? I think it's the year. And I know that there's people who are delving into the lineup stats, and they saw how much Kyle Pitts wound up wide last year is 29%.

and things didn't necessarily go great when he was lined out wide. But I think the important context there is Kyle Pitts was hurt for a majority of the season. And when that's your body type, a big physical, fast guy and he's out there doing something that people his size normally don't do,

when you're hurt, it's more difficult to do that. And then we go back to year two, and he had more uncatchable passes than anybody in the entire NFL. And so it's more, I think it's easier to see rookie year 1,000-yard receiver Kyle Pitts than it is to see the guy. that we've gotten in the last two years.

The outcomes, because it's clearly the same person, but he was hurt, and then the team was kind of in disarray. Yeah, he just needs to be healthy. Because he also wasn't yet that mover on the field last year. And that's partly why I think it didn't go well. But this got popped for like, oh, wow, he's got to be more of a receiver now. I just did the calculations while you were talking, Patrick, although I was paying attention.

He only was an inline tight end 22% of the time last year. He was in the slot, a good chunk of it. and out wide even more than he was an in-line-tentist. So he is a wide receiver and I'm excited. I'm excited to watch him in that offense with a better quarterback who loves

to throw the ball, two big targets who loves to throw the ball inside. As long as he's healthy, to me that's just it because he just wasn't moving the same as he did. But it already did happen. It happened his rookie year. It's one of the best rookie year tight-end seasons we've ever seen. A little bit of broadcast news before we talk

about Jacoby Jones and Monty Kiffin unfortunately passing way over the weekend but I did want to just hit you with a couple little things Bill Belichick is joining inside the NFL that's wild it's going to be Ocho Cinco

Chris Long and Ryan Clark and then the Fox announced their broadcast teams we weren't like huge headlines here but we know Greg Olson moving down to number two he's going to be with Joe Davis Adam Amin bumped up to the three spot

with Mark Sanchez so Mark Sanchez bumped up a little disappointed for Kevin Coogler I liked him on the play-by-play. He's down at five now with Daryl Johnston. So they're moving guys around Kenny Albert and Jonathan Vilma still at four. I'm into this stuff.

So I just wanted to point that out. Little love for Sanchez, who was on the show here once. He got bumped up a spot or two. They contextualize the way the most people in the world engage with football. And so it's important. It's important to them.

And it's also a depth chart, which I just kind of like that broadcast teams like have to tell the last group. they have to tell Chris Myers and Schlerath, you're six, you're number six. You moved up or down. I don't know if that's necessary, but I know. Yeah, why do we have access to that?

And yeah, it seems weird. It is weird. I love that Belichick had to, like, be part of this kind of like funny social clip. I'm curious how they'll use him if he'll be actually in a studio with them or if he has a deal kind of, because NFL films produces that where they just throw it to him and he's doing a really cool film session somewhere else, which would be awesome. I will watch inside the NFL. I was not a regular viewer last year,

although I did kind of want to see how Jay Cutler was doing once at least. And I guess he's not on the show anymore. So Belichick is replaced. Bounced for Bill. That's too bad. Finally, I did just mention it. Some sad news in the NFL this season

lost a couple great individuals, Jacoby Jones and Moniquef. And let's start with Jacoby Jones, who died peacefully at the age of four. His family released in a statement through the NFLPA. He played nine seasons, four different teams, including five seasons with the Texans who drafted him, and then three with the Ravens,

where he was an all-pro and a Super Bowl and playoff hero. Yeah, three days after his 40th birthday, Jacobi Jones from New Orleans, Louisiana, had that kickoff return for a touchdown in his hometown in the Super Bowl. Of course, the miracle in Denver. he was such a big part of that Super Bowl run and a joy for everybody to talk to. And it's kind of a reminder that, you know, no matter how invincible we feel, we've, you know, people've got to stay up on everything. Not sure, not sure what happened, but it, we were robbed of a lot of years

of Jacoby Jones. Andre Johnson, his former team, he just called him the life of the party. And that dude was so Nola. He's so New Orleans. I rewatched this. series. It was called Untold Stories with Master Tesfatian on Bleacher Report. And he did an episode where he was playing pool with with Jacobi Jones. That was every episode where he played pool with him. And that dude is just so New Orleans. And you can see how everyone just love that dude. And just for any listeners who don't remember that run, just quickly putting it in context, divisional round, Ravens are down seven with 40 seconds to go. They have 70 yards to go. They need a touchdown. Jacoby Jones' speed is such that he just busts right through bracket coverage.

I'm not going to call out those defensive players. I know who they were. But if they don't misjudge just this incredible speed, they very likely win that game. The Raven Super Bowl run never happens. Joe Flacco with a beautiful ball gets it to him. 70 yards. They win in overtime. Then you get to the Super Bowl. Jacoby Jones in his hometown. This is a performance I would win MVP most of years. I get why Flacko got it. I don't have a problem with that, but it would normally win MVP. He's so open in the first half.

He's able to fall down, making sure he catches his pass that Flacko couldn't get everything on because he's getting pressured, falls down to catch it, to make sure he gets it, gets up, and then makes a couple guys miss

on the way to a 58-yard touchdown. And that is before the 108-yard touchdown. And that's just an incredible run. That was the last touchdown. They scored in that game, by the way. It was 28 to 6 at that point. They almost did not win that game. If they did not get that touch on,

they do not win that game. And all the memories of him and John Harbaugh had a great memory of remembering Jacobi talking to his mom in the end zone during a snowstorm against the Vikings. And right after he talks to his mom, he takes one to the house. He was a legend.

And Monti Kippen was a legend too. Didn't want to miss this, that he passed away at the age of 84. Just one of the most influential defensive coordinators of my lifetime. Football Outsiders has been measuring defense for, I think

they've gone back at least 30-something years now and the 2002 bucks were the best defense they've ever recorded. Here were their rankings, by the way, in efficiency and DVOA

during that stretch. Second, fifth, second, first, that's the all-time year. Third, a couple more top tens, couple more top sixes. I mean, that is a long run

and everyone that played for him just spoke of what a fatherly great teacher he was and just what a presence. And he definitely changed the game. Like only so many people change the game. I think he could be, should be a Hall of Famer for what he did. Yeah. Like Tony Dungey kind of laughs it off, right? When people credit the Tampa too.

He's like, you know, Bud Carson and Chuck Knoll kind of brought it to me. And that's where me and Monty came up with this thing. But for most of us, like we hear Tampa too and we think Monty Kiffin and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And so just in the way that, you know, going through the seasons and communicating with media, communicating with fans, it brought a greater understanding of football. Like, it wasn't just coaching the team.

He was a part of coaching us as well. And it's just a legend. And a guy, I always just appreciated from Dungey and Kiffin when Dungey left to go to Indianapolis because Kiffin stayed there, of course, with John Gruden, that wrecked that number one best defense of all time was with John Gruden as a head coach and Kiffin at really running the defense. I just appreciated that they could handle

one of the most personality-filled locker rooms on earth. They weren't afraid of that. They embraced it. Sometimes it got too much. But Simeon Rice, Warren Sapp, and John Lynch, and just that whole crew, Randy Barber. They welcomed everyone. They did a great job coaching them up.

So rest and peace to Monty Kiffin and Jacoby Jones. We're going to come back after the break and we're going to do one of the most important things we will ever do on NFL Daily. It's back on NFL Daily, and we needed something regal. We needed something that said, your life's about to change. We're going to solve one of the greatest questions. You can ask, what player would you join? draft of any NFL player right now if you had to clone them and put them at every

22, every position on the NFL field and win a game. 22 times. One of them is going to have to kick, perhaps punt, depending on your offensive strategy. And that's the beauty of this completely preposterous hypothetical idea. Disregarding all the moral implications of cloning people? No. Yeah, we don't want to think about that. But essentially, and because, you know, I don't want to run afoul of any massive corporate entities, I will call this the prefaced, right?

Because, again, apologies in advance. I celebrate the entire fictional universe surrounding books, movies, television shows, and Star Wars. I think people know that. Okay. So this is the large-scale conflict between replicated individuals. Okay, large-scale conflict between replicated. Because you could call it a war, right? You can call it clones.

Just like the Super Bowl, we're the only people that can say Super Bowl and you have to watch a cringe television where they call it the big game. I'm going to be extra safe because that's where I am right now. We are going to draft. I'll give Greg the first overall pick. Wow, you're just making that decision that I have the first pick. I like you taking charge. And this was Patrick's idea.

And I thought, I want everyone to come to this show with ideas. And it is a perfect idea this week. and I okay I am going to go first I kind of wanted you to do because I was very curious where you go but I am going to go first I should hide my draft board

from you and again you're going to line them up on the offensive line you're going to line them up at tight end you can look you can go to tight ends if you're offence is up to you but you're going to have to have some line play you're going to have them at quarterback

and so my first pick in this clone draft replicated individuals draft, whatever, Josh Allen. And so here's where I started. Number one, quarterbacks are still important in this game of football, in this game of football. And so to me, the ultimate player here,

and I'm not going to pick all quarterbacks because that would be boring, but the ultimate player here would be a quarterback that also has size so that they can hold up. they're going to have to play defense. They're going to have to play the offensive line. And they're going to need some want to, I'm going to say. They're going to want to have to get dirty.

And Josh Allen's going to have to want to block for Josh Allen. And Josh Allen's going to have to, and I'm not talking about Joshua Hines Allen. No, Josh. Josh Allen's going to have to get off through the quarterback. And no matter what clone team you put against him, he's going to have to cover. And I just thought of all the possible options. And I went through different quarterbacks. And maybe you'll draft one.

Maybe you won't. he wasn't the first one I thought of but the more and more I thought about it I thought he would have the desire I thought obviously he can play the quarterback we're going to need to run the ball quite a bit and I think he could handle the other positions better in aggregate

than any other quarterback out there he's my number one overall pick when we initially did this exercise right it was I believe in 2018 okay and from 2011 to 2019 Cameron Jarrell Newton was the obvious answer yes the obvious answer

to this exercise, I think, all time. Cam has a very good case. Josh Allen is it right now. So you've taken my number one. Yes. Because it took me a while to get there. Look, the dumbest thing I've ever said on the show, maybe not that dumb because I was like,

I said a lot of dumb things. But the first couple of years, I kept saying, oh, Josh Allen could be a poor man's Cam Newton if he ever got there. And so I was thinking that way. Now, I have to admit even as a Cam Newton fan, he has gotten there and excelled and exceeded whatever I expected, but very similar players.

I think the most similar to Cam of any player that's come along since. Yeah, and hopefully the bills don't run him into the ground and he's, you know, got a busted shoulder. His durability was part of it too. I thought of other potential physical quarterback, Jalen Hertz and Anthony Richardson and stuff. And I thought, you know what, Josh Allen, I've seen him out there year after year and he's just always that dude. Okay. And I had the potential, again, to have multiple quarterbacks. Yes.

On my board. But I think for the sake of playing out this large-scale conflict between replicated into individuals. I'm going to have to take a defender off the board. We see him in multiple sports, right? The athleticism is there. It's clear. And I think our offense may suffer, but our defense is going to be very difficult, specifically for the Josh Allen teams, right, your Anthony Richardson teams to deal with some of my, with the second pick in the large scale conflict between replicated individuals. I would like to take Miles Garrett, the Cleveland Browns. Yeah, he's on my board. I think if you're running, and I think you're going to have to, on offense, a triple option type of offense. I mean, three miles Garrett's would be pretty crazy.

If you're hiking it to Garrett and he's got Garrett next to him and then Garrett on the other side, and you got to have a lot of faith in your coaching, but this was going to be my pitch because Garrett is on my board. It's funny, we went in the same place. I just think, because he's going to be almost impossible to score on, but I do think that. offense could work.

The offense could work. Clearly, we're going to try to slow the game down, depending on the matchup, right? Because you go up against one of these O.L. Teams, things get very dicey. But I do think we're running the ball, and it's man across the board. We're just going to try to out-athlet you.

If you watch the Miles Garrett basketball highlights, it's terrorizing. It's fear-inducing. And so that's why, after you took my first pick, I will go with Miles Garrett at number two. I think the two scariest positions, most impressive, in real life when you see them, in our defense, ultimately a great edge rusher, and then actually a great tight end. If you see them in real life, you're like, those are the two scariest best athletes. And so you pick the scariest and best athlete of them all at that position.

I want to watch that team. I'm sad. He's off my board. I'm scrambling. But I'm going to take Penae Soule with my second pick. We spend too much time together. We've seen him. I mean, this guy can move.

You mentioned the offensive line teams. There's a couple options. But Pinesuil is my first tackle that I would choose because the hands are silky. They're soft. We've seen him move in space. Five Penae Sules on the offensive line is just preposterous. We're going to be able to run the ball.

And I think Penae Soule could run the ball. Yeah, and it creates difficulty for, my potential cornerback teams because I did think that there were some big corners. I don't know that they can compete with the Penae Sewell team or the Miles Garrett team,

but it becomes that much more difficult considering run scheme and versatility and it makes me think about the absurd arm length conversations. If the rules are the same in the replicated individuals league, you know, you throw the Josh Allen team. I don't know if there's a cornerback

and wide receiver team. I mean, it's still going to be tough for Penae to get, you know, hands on those wide receivers. Now, can the, can the Panay quarterback have enough time to, you know, it's going to be an issue? Yeah, well, is he throwing the ball? Is our second question?

I guess he's not much. It's probably not. And so it's one of those things. And styles make fights. But some of these teams aren't just good. They're just not going to be able to compete. And that's why with my second pick. Okay.

And I believe it's probably going to be on your board as well. I will take George Kittle of the San Francisco 49ers. because again in this league the run game is paramount because there are several teams that just aren't going to be able to throw the ball I don't know how much we've seen

there's social clips of George Kittle throwing the ball I think he could get it out there to George Kittle I love the research you did very well but I also think it provides us with a well-rounded team that may not be able to beat everybody but they will be in games

I agree the want to will be there I think he would embrace this challenge and him as a clone would also, like his clones would embrace this challenge and yet a lot of injuries coming off a core muscle surgery injury even right now. I don't know if that's part of this world. He is older.

If you're giving me year two, George Kittle, just some miles on him. I don't know if the speed is going to be there for you. I actually am going to go to one of his teammates then. I'm going to go Fred Warner. So I did want to have and I want a pretty heavy offense,

but I wanted to have one team that just had the best chance of locking you down on defense. I don't know if that's Miles Garrett. I think if you had 11 Fred Warners, what aren't you stopping? He's going to get to the pass rusher. We know he's going to be good in coverage.

We've seen that. His end-to-end speed is just insane. He has sort of solved a problem that about 28 teams have out there of like, what do we do with the entire middle of the field. If you have Fred Warner, you've solved it. Imagine having 11 Fred Warner's.

I don't know what he can do on offense, obviously. But he's kind of in that middle range like a Josh Allen where like he's big enough that he could protect for Fred Warner. He's fast enough. He could move with the ball. And yet it's all about the defense. I think this is the number one defense in the replicated individuals league. It's a tough bet to argue with.

I had a linebacker that was all my. board as well because the play recognition for Fred Warner is when he has 10 people who are not Fred Warner on the field. What's it look like when Fred Warner's are just doing their job? Right. And not covering for everybody else. What does it look like when all 11 know what you're going to do? It's it's preposterous. Yeah. Oh, Miles Garrett. Yeah, you're going to fool me 11 Miles Garrett's. Forget it. Fred Warner knows. But that's the beauty of that's the beauty of the triple option and and just how perhaps perhaps miles throws an option pass in there the fred warners do have to score um as well which which makes things difficult um and leads me to and you could say i'm

cheating right and people say that it's cheating in the fantasy world i think this discussion would be silly to not include one tasem hill of the new orleans saints did i get you did i snife you i actually which i took them earlier i just figured there's no way this tasem hater is going to go with what's an obvious choice. Some of what might have felt like, he might have gone higher. Perhaps some latent frustration wanting Alvin Camara to get that seventh touchdown

and Tassum for some reason, scoring it might have leached over a little bit. That's a great pick. But I think in terms of what we're doing, we are replicating individuals. Tassum Hill has done more in more spots than most people. Gotta have him on my team.

I've loved the Tatham Hill journey. He's a player we argued about around the NFL. Like, the minute he came out, Chris just thought he was changing the game. He was the most valuable player on the Saints, like in that playoff game against the Vikings. And he was up there. And I was like you, I was maybe pushing back against some of the hype. And I got to say, like, as the years have gone on and you've seen him do more and more. and yeah, he was never going to be a quarterback.

The only thing I was mad about was Sean Payton selling us a bill of goods that this guy wasn't. But what he is is freaking incredible and a guy that is unlike anyone else in the league and we see him as a gunner, we see him as a return man, we see him as a tight end. He's pretty darn effective in all those. Why not put him on defense?

I'm mad. He maybe should have gone higher. I just thought I could slide him through to the end. I'm going to take someone that I don't want to fall any further. it's Derek Henry. Yeah. Look, it's going to be a running league, but you want to at least have the option to pass.

You know who leads the NFL in completion percentage with at least nine throws over the last eight years? I got a guess. Is it Derek Henry? It's Derek Henry. He's seven for nine. Fun with stats. Four touchdowns. I mean, that's unbelievable. He's thrown a touchdown in almost 50% of his passes. he's hitting 77%

and I think he's still got the juice I think we're going to be able to run the ball and I think he's got the agility he's gotten better at receiver that he could hold up on defense and again it's the want to yeah it's especially the way that the draft board has shaken out

I think some of your concerns with Derek Henry on defense are kind of alleviated and the offense the potential right is just a whole lot of different especially if you're coming off a win against you know against Penae Sewell

and you're thinking oh yeah we could stop the run it's a whole different situation playing 11 Derek Henry so it's again it's one of those situations where four years ago oh my God

right now it's he might have come back a little bit but not that much I think Derek Henry still has some mileage left I with this pick I don't know how many more picks we're going to do you're going to have one more

one more this is my last one after this Oh, after this one? Well, then I'll take... We're taking five each. Okay, I will take my offensive lineman. I will have Tristan Worf's, who ran that 480 at 326 pounds. I'm taking it. Yeah, I think this league is going to be a lot of fun.

Again, the last picks in the large-scale conflict between replicated individuals' draft coming right up. But I love just how O-line Twitter would really embrace this league. they would believe that they would come out on top, and I think they'd have a better chance. Like, their over-under is six and a half wins, and people might be sleeping on the Penae Soule and Tristan Worf's teams. I'm wrapping up my draft.

You really have taken a lot of my board. But who are the best athletes? I think it might be cornerbacks. So I'm just going to go with athletes here, and I'm going to go with Jalen Ramsey, and I wanted a physical cornerback that can hold up at least enough and obviously the weakness is going to be on the lines

in going against some of these bigger teams, but in a league like this, you have 11 of the best athletes on the field. If I had to pick one position that's maybe just pure best athlete, I think it's a cornerback. Plus, it'd be a little crazy. I just feel like the cornerback teams would be fun. I'm going to Jaylen Ramsey as my last pick.

Yeah, and it makes so much sense. And I do want to address like a travesty from last season where Will Levis runs into Jalen Ramsey and goes absolutely nowhere. His, I'm going to say it, his momentum completely came to a stop. And the conversation was like, oh, Will Levis trucked Jalen Ramsey,

go back and watch. He didn't go anywhere. He went down. He went straight down. And so, yeah, Jalen was on the board, and I'll follow up with my last pick because I do think defensive backs need love. I was going to take Jalen Ramsey,

but I'll take another Florida State defense. back in Derwin James and because it kind of gets slept on kind of forget about Derwin out here in Los Angeles considering the way that the defense is gone but you just a big fast versatile defensive back it's we got to have them in the league and I believe it's good for the league I agree Patrick Peterson maybe when he was younger would have been a fun one he could throw the ball a little bit I was trying to find guys he could maybe throw it I don't know if Jalen Ramsey can do that I don't care this is going to be an important exercise that we track throughout the season.

Yeah, come at, come to us. Let us know which large-scale conflict between replicated individuals' team. I'll stick on all the shorter name. That you think did better. So we'll put that maybe out on social. We have the email address, NFLdaily at gmail.com. It's been a pleasure, Patrick.

I'm going to welcome in Nick Wesseling to finish out that show. A little surprise, a little nice, fun little after dinner. So I'm going to say goodbye to you, but it's a big week for Patrick here on the show. You will be back tomorrow, so looking forward to that. I'll be back. We'll be back with Nick Wesleyan after the break. Welcome back to NFL Daily.

so excited for today's after dinnerment, just that little something special to finish the show out with my friend, Nick Wesseling, Nick wearing the FC Cincinnati, Jersey. I don't know, we're taping here in the Chris Wessling podcast studio, Nick, and you're obviously such a big part of around the NFL that I just wanted you to be part of this show too. And I knew it's either you or Phil and I love Phil, but I love having you on because you're going to give Phil a ton of grief for the fact that you're on and he's not. Well, yeah, I'm supporting the FC Cincinnati jersey because Columbus, third place right now, you know who's at the top of the table.

No. The real hometown team FC Cincinnati. Nobody knows. That's not fair. MLS has a lot of fans. But, you know, our focus has been on COPA. It's been on Euro. It's, let's be real, it's been on launching the show and my family and Wimbledon.

And I don't know. It just, it makes me happy to see your face, Nick. And we've talked over the last couple of weeks. And so I wanted to talk to you on air because, yeah, I want you to be part of this show. And I know you'll be sporting the hell out of Dan and Mark, too, with what they do. And it's cool to just see your face.

I thought we'd talk a little bengals because like Chris, and look, if you're a new listener or you came along late in the process, obviously Nick's brother and my great friend, Chris Wesleying, is no longer with us made a dossier giving up his Bengals fandom more than 20-something years ago and like Chris you pretend

you're not really a Bengals fan but your wife is a diehard fan and you have the second coming and Joe Burrow and he's arrived what is the Bengals feeling and will you admit that you actually do care? Well I mean I do care I would call myself a casual fan

and I wouldn't insult the real fans by saying that I'm a fan because I wasn't there through all the tough times the way a lot of people in Cincinnati were. Now, there's a lot to be excited about. I wonder how Chris would feel about this theme. You got all the talent in the world, but they haven't been able to keep Joe Burrow up right. They get him killed every year. It's frustrating to some extent.

So you wonder, are they going to be able to protect? they've invested a ton of money into the offensive line. You know they have the talent around him. You know, he's the guy. So what are we doing here? Is this going to be the year or not? You tell me, I mean, they have invested on the offensive line. They've tried.

And I don't think that was really the reason he was struggling last year was all offensive line played. Just a couple injuries didn't play well. And once he was playing well, I got hurt again. But you gave a lot of money to Orlando Brown Jr. You're bringing Trent Brown. you draft a Marius Mims. Those are three monster tackles.

The thing that worries me a little bit is something we talked about earlier in the show. It's like, you're doing the Bengals thing where T. Higgins is playing one last year. Not really many teams do that sort of thing anymore. And it does give you a little bit of old Bengals vibe. But this year also gives me a like, okay, this crew is together for maybe one last year vibe.

Get it done now. We left SoFi Stadium on the night of the Super Bowl, Nick and you were in a great mood that night and the feeling is like oh they'll be back and I think they will be with Joe Burrow but this is the last time I think they'll be back with this particular group especially Jamar and T together

yeah it's disappointing you would hope they could have gotten a deal done but you know financially it doesn't always work out you got to pay chase obviously Burrough signed the big deal do you have room to sign T. Higgins it doesn't look like it they drafted Burton

in what the third round a mega talented guy maybe wasn't always the most popular guy in the locker room or with the coaching staff. So we'll see how that works out. You know, you wonder if they have a guy that can work underneath the two awesome receivers. Is that going to be Burton? It doesn't seem to fit any of the other guys. Trent Nerwin did it a little bit, but I don't know if he's the real deal or not. You had Tyler Boyd, he's gone.

I don't know what the offense is going to be the problem here. I meana kimes kind of stole my thunder a little bit last week as she does about the angle defense um and last year it was a mess for most of the year um early in the year they were making plays uh the defense was to uh keep a minute even though they were giving up a ton of yards i think you said it um Logan Wilson and Jermaine Pratt looked a step slower last year but they still made a lot of plays uh I mean you look at their stats, and you're like, wow, they made a ton of tackles. They made a ton of plays. They played almost all the, every game, every minute, every snap of every game,

almost. I wonder, you know, there was a lot of reports of them both being banged up last year. That could have affected it. We know the defensive line is banged up last year. We'll see how all gels this year. I'm still worried about the secondary. The safety's got burned a lot. You know, can Taylor Britt looked apart, but outside of that, there was. wasn't much in that secondary to get too excited about. So we'll see. I mean, that new year,

you know, you always say it's hope season, right? So I think the Bengals, you know, they'll be in the mix for sure. You know, tough division.

Who knows what's going to go on with Cleveland? You never know with Deshaun Watson in that offense. Sometimes they look like, look lights out and sometimes they look terrible. You know, their defense is going to be there. They look great against the Bengals. That's where they look great.

They take care of the Bengals. They take care of the Bengals And not everyone else Yeah, it's Look, Joe Burrow changed the city And change the team And I gotta imagine the buzz is high Just because it's gonna be right now

For every Joe Burrow year They're still the third Most likely team If you look in the desert To make the Super Bowl Out of the AFC Feels right It's gonna be tough

But it feels about right Yeah, I think it's a look It's pretty wide open this year You look at seven or eight teams that I think could be there at the end. I'd have to go down the list, which we don't have time for. But we have, you know, there's going to be seven or eight teams in the mix, I think, again, the AFC's deep. A lot, you know, for years it was just top heavy.

And then I think the bangle showed a few years back that, you know, if you just play smart football, good defense, and make big plays when you need to, you can get there. And that's what they did in the playoffs that year, made kicks, made enough defensive plays and just enough offensive plays. plays that year to get there. And they were a couple of, let's be honest, there were a couple of plays away from winning that Super Bowl. So the margins are thin in the NFL. We know that. Let's see what happens. Yeah, I think they, I think they have a good shot. I also wanted to bring you on just, you know, I appreciate you, Nick. Like, we talked a few weeks back when all this was happening with around the NFL and I told you about, you know, my family situation and everything. And you were a great person to talk to.

and it was a difficult time because in very wessling fashion, you were just like, well, I guess nothing, nothing lasts forever. You know, that, like, it was great. And sometimes this is life, but you got to make decisions. And I always just, you know, appreciate you. And I know how much this podcast means to, to you. And obviously, to me and Mark and Dan and Chris and just wanting to hold on to that. But you also were like that that's, like, that's,

life and you can't. Sometimes things are out of your control a little bit. Yeah. I mean, I think it was a special thing you poor created. You know, Jordan hit on it a little bit the other day and, you know, made me tear up a little bit that day thinking about what Chris meant to her. And I've had other people reach out over the years on social saying some similar things. Yeah, and it's very sad to see it go. And I think it was Mark on some podcasts I listened to outside of the era on the NFL that would talk about, you know, we know this isn't going to last forever. At some point, we are going to, you know, it's going to come to an end. Obviously, I wish you guys had a few more years running. But I'm excited to see what Mark and Dan have coming for us.

So exciting. You're off to a good start. You've had some good guests. I think probably number one on this list is talking right now. Oh, yeah. We'll see how that goes. We'll see how it goes. And obviously, I'd love to contribute to whatever you're doing in the future. I love it. The unbridled confidence is why, look, hey, the reality is when it came time for best man, there's Nick Wesleyan, and I think it was just because for people that don't know, not only that you look the most like Chris, you know, you're very different from him because he used to love you.

You created your own, it was like you created your own alternate universe, Nick, that you live in, and it's a beautiful world, and I just like to be part of this alternate universe. I know your brothers probably have mixed emotions about being part of it. Even your wife, maybe something. But I know Keisha loves it. And it is really cool. You guys went to the Reds game recently with Keisha and Lincoln and all six remaining Wesleyan brothers.

So, man, when I saw that picture, reminded me of the Super Bowl picture. Of course, your brother, Mikey, wasn't there. Eddie wasn't at the Super Bowl, I don't believe, either. And so it was all the brothers. Eddie made it. Oh, he did. That's right.

Yeah, Eddie made it there. And it was all the brothers in Lincoln and Keisha. And so, man, I just know at a Reds game, man, that I know you must have felt Chris real strong that day. And it's awesome that she's coming to visit you and that you guys come together like that. Absolutely. Yeah, she's got a home anytime she wants right here in Cincinnati. But she's doing great. She's killing it with her job and what she's doing with some of the media and editing.

so I'm happy for her. Obviously, it was great to see her in Lincoln. Lincoln's getting big fast, and he's a little athlete. I can't wait until you're talking about him. Post game on Sundays, you know, 15 or 20 years from now. That'll be pretty awesome. Or maybe he'll be wearing the badge here right here. Okay.

One day. He's a little soccer player. So let's hope he can keep that little athlete in him and we'll see what happens down the road. Built like a soccer player like you, like, like, like Wes, who was great. And, yeah, when I saw him doing some baseball drills, that just that hit hard is beautiful. It's hard to put into one word, all those feelings because it's bittersweet, but it's, uh, it's amazing as well. Not bittersweet, though, to talk to you.

I, I love the unbridled confidence, not just in your soccer team and your great looks, but also in your ability as an analyst. So we're going to try to tap into that more. throughout the course of the season, Nick. But it was great to have you on. And yeah, that's it for this show. I want to thank Patrick Claibon for helping me out drafting all the clones, the large-scale conflict between replicated individuals.

And thank you again, Nick. Absolutely. He'd the call, Greg. He'd the call, for sure. Till Wednesday. See you next time. This is an IHeart podcast.