NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Deepest & Thinnest Position Groups

Episode Date: July 18, 2019

A conference room filled with heroes- Dan Hanzus, Chris Wesseling, and Marc Sessler bring you all of the latest news around the NFL including a big new deal for Deion Jones (5:23) and sources saying that there is a 40% chance Gronk returns this year. (7:37) Dan holds a seance to summon the football gods (12:28) , Wess goes through his thinnest & deepest position groups (19:14), and the heroes answer some dotcom mailbag questions. (32:35)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. The Around the NFL podcast has a great swing on the softball field. Oh, yes, we do. Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hanzas, and I am joined in a conference room filled with some heroes. Mark Sessler, Chris Wessling. What is up, boys? Hey, Dan.

Can you turn me up in my headphones, Ricky? Turn me up in my headphones. Does that sound natural when I say it? That was extremely organic. That's good. Now it sounds good. Cool. Thanks, Ricky. You got it.

Hi, Erika. Hi. Is this our last show in a conference room on the NFL media compound? It is, it is, yeah. Wow. So make the most of it. What an experience it's been. This would be where the montage comes in,

and it's just us talking like schlubs for like five different, like, camera shots and me lugging equipment back and forth by myself plugging in all this stuff yeah you've had the worst of it you don't have anybody what about it any spaghetti yeah no strapping young man he can't be helping you yeah i'm an independent woman who don't need no man i believe it rickie uh this is the thursday edition of the round the NFL podcast um this is the final week of the summer where we just have two shows that's it summer summer vacation is over for the boys. Greg Rosenthal back Monday, and all four of us, heroes will be together three times a week, starting next week when all the training camps open. In fact, we're talking

about on Monday, Wes, some camps have indeed opened this week, including the Denver Broncos, your boys, Wes. And don't think I'm not noticing, Wes. I don't think they're my boys. Don't think I didn't notice this. They got to camp early. Oh, yeah. It all is checking out on on your ledger in terms of you believe them to be a powerhouse and look who's already practicing. Their try-hard has gotten my attention because that's a try-hard move. Let's just get there before everyone else.

Newer people, newer listeners of the show might not be aware that our podcast has been way ahead of the curve tracking teams that report to whether it's organized team activities in the spring or training Cape in August. The teams that report earlier are almost always the true powerhouses of football. The teams that report later cough, cough,

2017 lions cough cough usually fall by the wayside i think that in detroit's work speaks for itself what a disgrace show up late and you you know you spit out another hideously dull season speaking of which the seattle seahawks saw this report they've decided to come to camp a week early this year but it's just the rookies right still it's it's never done that under p. Carol before and this is a playoff team last year I don't have to ask you to connect the dots You're on the case, per usual. Coming up on today's show, the mailbag is back.

I forget about Jay Glazer or whatever competition is out there. I don't even track the competition. It's one of those things. There's no side view mirror. There's no rear view mirror. And I think Jay Glazer feels the same way. My mailbag is going up on NFL.com on Friday, and we will discuss some of the same.

of the questions that were in said mailbag and perhaps a couple that were not a little later in the show also wes he's back to grinding summer breaks over that that is using the word grinding liberally all i see is two pieces on his um archive have been added in the last several days really all you see lights are back on uh so west as you know a man that knows the rosters of the NFL. He shared his thinnest and deepest position groups as we enter 2019, so we'll take a look at that and talk about some of the teams and units that jump out to us. But before that, let us do some news. But all of them were sharp and right where you wanted to throw them. Do you know that in warm-ups that they're going to have a day like that, like a starting pitcher

or something? No. Warm-ups, not really, but when I woke up this morning, I was feeling pretty dangerous listen to the kid Mark Sessler that's what I call him the kid well I don't think it's an act with him I mean he is just he is who he is so I'm on board 100%

great piece on ESPN this week a long form or feature on Baker Mayfield by the great Mina Kimes and guess what Mark a little early birthday present for me to you or late depending how you look at it on our show next Wednesday

Mina Kimes to talk about her up close and personal look at your hero. I love it. She wrote, I would just say, go read this thing because I learned a lot about Baker-Mayfield, and I think that has a lot to do with the way that she gets to know her subjects, frames her questions, so an all-star guest. No, Nina did fine, but what about me? Oh, you. You.

Well, no. Setting up this interview with me. I mean, I was saving that part for now. What you've done is the Lord's work, Dan. And again, it's just your... That is for you, buddy. I appreciate it to no end. Let's get going with the news.

The Falcons doing business again, but not with Julio Jones. Dion Jones, the playmaking linebacker, had been set to enter the final season of his rookie deal for Atlanta. Well, they like them. They're keeping them around. They Inc. Jones to a four-year, $57 million extension, $34 million guaranteed. That is confirmed by the team, turning 25 in November. This is one of the top linebackers in the game when it comes to pass garbage. and I don't need to tell you, modern football fan,

that you need your coverage linebackers to succeed on defense in the modern NFL. Wes, the Falcons, we know they can score, maybe not as prolifically as they had a couple years ago, but they can always put up points. It's the defense that you want, so you want to keep a guy like this in the building, and they do. Well, you mentioned he's sort of the new breed of linebacker.

This is what defensive coordinators want. It's what a lot of people are calling a moneybacker, where you are a linebacker with safety level speed, probably closer to safety level size, and you can cover tight ends out of the backfield. They don't have to hide you too much in the run game. And I think this is where linebackers are going in the NFL, Dion Jones. And we saw the difference on that defense when they lost him for a big portion of last year, along with their other injuries. This is the Falcons to me is this is the team that is set up.

for a major bounce back. I mean, I just, I picked them for the Super Bowl last year, and that obviously went completely south. I wouldn't hesitate to think about doing that again. It feels like it's one of those teams that everybody is sleeping on just because of the injuries last year, and then I guess everybody's got questions, and their one question to me is can those rookie offensive linemen step in and not be liabilities right off the bat? And I think if that's the case, there's no reason this cannot be a playoff.

If that works out, they have a deep line, if that works out. And yes, Grady Jarrett, that deal got done on Monday, as we said. Julio Jones, they're looking to get a long-term deal done there with the greatest wide receiver in their franchise history. So this team remains kind of a model of stability in the NFC. And let's see if they can get back to the playoffs this season. In other news, Wes, you and I, we got a sandwich proposition locked in. And you know Nick Fortier, he does the damn thing.

I'd go get my lunch.org tracking every. wager that we make on this show and I already have as I look at it first of all of course Nick has it updated because that's what Nick does I'm already locked into two bets excuse me sandwich props already I got when Mark

when you and I were going at it a few weeks ago apparently Jets will beat Browns in week two that's out there as a sandwich prop I don't remember that but which side did I come down on that one I mean you have you took me on it so I guess we have a sandwich on that I don't remember that at all I don't either but that was a

heated back and forth. It could have just been, it was all blur at that point. Also, Rob Grunkowski, I have a wager with West, is playing for the Patriots by December. Mike Floreo of Pro Football Talk reported this week that a source close to Gronk pegs his potential for a first annual unretirement at 40%. Oh, Wes, you are so banged. It's July 16th, and there's already sources putting it at 40%. And you can point to, oh, he's down 15 pounds. all he has to do is gain like 7 to 10 pounds and he's fine

you banged and you know it West I'll let you get out of the prop right now Here's why I'm not worried You want to get out of the prop right now? No, no, no, no. Here's why I'm not worried. If I'm Rob Ronkowski, I'm not dialing up my good buddy Mike Florio to tell him what percentage chance I might play in December

How does Mike Floreo know this? Grank has an entourage. It's a leaky entourage. Gronk doesn't even know what percentage chance he's playing this year. It's a weird thing to put a number to. It's gross. Yeah, that's unpleasant. Why'd you look at me?

You have a leaky entourage over in West Hollywood. That becomes grosser when you put it in that sense. You guys are my entourage. And we are leaky. Absolutely. So, Wes, I'm giving you the chance to get out now, put your tail between your legs, and just acknowledge that you were wrong.

Who am I talking to? First of all, I can't be wrong before it happens. I mean, we don't even know what's going to happen here. But that's what we do. We look into the future as analysts and we predict things. Right. I'm sticking, I have just as much confidence now as I did before. Rob Grancowski told Mike Floreo that he might play 40%.

I mean, at the core of this, are you concerned about your side of the bet? And you're trying to put this on West to get him to get out of a bet that you don't want to be a part of. I'm resigned to it because as a Jets fan who perhaps delusionally is harboring thoughts of competing in the division this year, I don't want this guy coming back, even if he's not the same guy he once was. You know he would provide a spark to the team if they had him. I just acknowledge it will happen. The first thing that concerns me, though, is player X retires, then immediately loses. I know it's not, he could gain some of it back,

but the mentality behind that tells me you're not thinking about coming back a month from now just to skip training camp. I mean, he's grok. You know he's in the gym seven hours a day and then partying the next nine hours after that, then sleeping and then repeating. I mean, he's not reading books, you know. He's not in wine country, you know, just smelling it and doing the thing where you sip the wine and then spit it into the metal thing. None of that's happening.

He's not enjoying retirement. He's not traveling, you know. Well, he's quark. Anybody else want to take me up on it? I'll take you up on it. Yes. He'll be back. You believe he will be.

Yeah, for sure. And wait, what is the perimeter's by December? Is that December 1st or December 31st? By December. By December. By the first minute of December, it needs to happen. Get them signed by December 7th. But that doesn't mean it happens in December.

It could happen in November 12th. Just as long as it happens before the calendar flips to December. I'll take you up on that. He'll be back. Okay. And I don't mean back on the field, signed with the team practicing. Don't try to catch me in any type of loophole there. I know how you people operate on the other side of the table.

How we operate? Wait, why would there be a loophole? either playing for the Patriots or he's not. No, it can't be like, well, he didn't play, though, until, you know, December 2nd. Signed. Signed. Got you. No, that's fine.

All right. Moving on. Yes, the Broncos began training camp, and already there was an injury scare. Multiple reporters at the practice reported that linebacker Todd Davis had to be carted off with lower body injury. James Palmer of NFL media reports that Davis injured his calf. He'll have an MRI, but the initial feeling is that. He avoided a serious injury. With that in mind, I'd like to perform right here in the Beast Quake conference room.

I wish we could lower the lights. But join me in a seance. Dear football gods, oh great, mighty and powerful football gods, please bestow. your mercy on the players of the National Football League this summer.

These young men represent the apex of what the human body is capable of. How cruel it is for us mortals to see these fine specimens struck down

in their prime. if you must injure please focus on petty thieves bagel boss guy certain political leaders the divisive ones perhaps show your greatest

mercy to men in green who play in New Jersey and say it's New York The Browns team. Thank you, oh, great and merciful football gods. We put our faith and trust in ye. We are but specks of matter.

Don't know. Pretend you to notice that. I would get him mad if he said something. I think a football got the last guest. We are pawns in your wondrous game. Show mercy. Show mercy. Yes, Wes, you're on this show mercy.

What are the odds we'd have a seance on this podcast and it's not led by Mark Sessler. I think Mark has rubbed off. That was powerful. I mean, I, you know, I'm sure that will go according to plan. No injuries all season long. Just, it doesn't have to be on these men, these young men. These specimens.

Specimens. I'm going to vote for, also save that for the religious podcast. Theology pod? Theology pod? Theology. Coming up later this summer, perhaps. Finally in the news, Mark, I wanted to get your thoughts on this. Have you heard about this Area 51 thing?

I have, yes. The Internet going nuts. They're talking about a mass invasion of Area 51. More than one million people have signed up on Facebook with the plan to breach the gates of the famous. And some people, a lot of people that listen to this podcast are not from this country. Maybe they don't know what Area 51 is a famous top secret government facility, perhaps in the world. And for decades and decades, there is the general belief that, in addition to military testing of various warcraft, et cetera, et cetera, if you believe in life beyond this planet, that there might be spacecraft, alien spacecraft, that is being housed and studied at Area 51. Roswell, New Mexico, of course, back in, what, 47?

Yes, correct. Anyway, the event called Storm Area 51 They Can't Stop Us All is set to go down on September 20th, Mark. And I ask you specifically, are you in? I don't know if I'd be allowed time off from work to go do. I think it's going to lead to... Tough time a year for us, September 20th.

It is a little bit of a rough time schedule-wise. I think it would lead to many deaths if they attempt this. The military is not going to fly. fold the tent and just allow people to roll in off a Facebook campaign, I think it would be an ultra tragedy if they attempt this. This is just a joke, right? I think it started that way, and then it's picked up a lot of steam. It started kind of as a joke, and now it's got some heat to it.

A million people. No, this is totally a joke, and this isn't, like, that's never going to happen. I predict that not one person will march on Area 51 on that day. No, but people are crazy. See, I bet there will be some idiots that do it. But the government has contracted out defense forces that roam the grounds in big, like, white, like, dodge trucks and, like, submachine guns and things of that. What kind of hellscape is that? And they're allowed to shoot on site.

Yeah, you're not just rolling up to the front door of this place and catching them by surprise. It's viewed as... Front door. It is viewed as essentially a fortified military complex of the U.S. government, so you kind of forfeit your right to live if you choose to, quote, quote, invade it. Here's what I would do as a side mission to this is get a large group of people to storm Antarctica, because I believe that the number one hotspot for alien technology is underneath the ground in Antarctica, in the Arctic territory. Forget this. This is a diversion. Forget Area 51.

We all know that there's probably something going on there, but this is the part of the earth that no one's investigating. Global warming could affect whatever's going on. Not by September 30th or 20th. That's fair. That's what's happening in the news. Remember? Yeah, go ahead.

No, you go. No, I was just going to say, you seem to know a lot of people that are a little bit out there. What? Do you have anybody that signed up for the Area 51 rate? No. But remember those kids in, like, middle school that they'd be, like, at, you know, 1155, when the clock strikes, we're going to start a food fight. And then 1155 rolls around.

And then, like, everyone's sort of, like, tense and, like, look. And the teachers, like, heard about it. So they're kind of on watch. And then, like, one, like, jackass stands up and throws, like, a bag of chips. And then he just gets in trouble. Yeah. That's what's going to happen with Area 51. Like, one...

Area 51 analysis. One dumb person's going to show. You're not buying it. But instead of getting sent to the principal's office, that person will be shot 17 times. They will be scattered by multiple gunfire. And face. Can't put him back together again. All right.

That's what's happening in the news. Let's get to, yes, West rode a double-banger. I mean, you want to talk about a guy putting in the work. Let's calm down on that. This dude gets it. Wes rode two pieces. Thinest position groups and deepest position groups. I read it, of course.

It's the stuff that makes Wes one of the top NFL writers. Trademarked West. Exactly. I'm going to start with you, Mark. Why don't get us going? Why don't we pick out some things, some teams, some units that kind of jumped out to you and, of course, Wes, pipe in wherever. I like the deep, thin aspect of this. I like to call it thick or thin. I like that. T-H-I-C-C. Some of these teams have a lot of juice here. I come away with further, I know everyone thinks that the Denver Broncos are your ride or die. It's just Wes. Oh, you're saying I thought you were saying

I think we're Bill No, the West has been pushing hard for the Broncos It's been a theme But I don't think nearly as much as Your belief in the Dallas Cowboys Because they show up twice On the thick list

Woo THCC A part of that is I can't believe that somebody As smart as Greg Or anyone else following the NFL Does not see that the Cowboys Are an absolutely loaded team

And they're a playoff team I just don't see why people expect them to come back to the pack. Well, so you have their linebacker crew, which I'm not surprised at either because this should be evident, but also their offensive line. Yeah, like the linebackers, to me, just think of how much more successful Jason Garrett would have been if he had depth at linebacker behind Sean Lee for the decade he's been in charge. Every time Sean Lee went down during the prime of Sean Lee's career, the defense fell apart. and now he's a luxury, none of necessity. In fact, they're better off when he doesn't play because then you've got Leighton Vanderess and Jalen Smith out there.

So you have, if one of those guys go down, you've got Sean Lee, you plug in there. I think that's a great insurance policy. Offensive line, I like this one because if you remember back to Zeke Elliott's rookie year, a big part of the discussion there was not only did they do the move, which a lot of teams are afraid of, which is take a running back early in the draft.

they then put that player with an elite offensive line. We didn't hear that as much last year, and I think a part of that was what was going on with Ball Pro Center, Travis Frederick. That is, I think people are sleeping on that a little bit, West, which you're not obviously, that if Frederick comes back and he's strong and these other pieces, Tyrant Smith, if he's healthy and is who Tyrant Smith is,

and these other strong players, of course, Zach Martin, that the idea that this offensive line, can be dominant in addition to having a dominant running back, and that's scary stuff, especially when you factor in that they went and they got a premier wide receiver on the outside now, and Dak Prescott is fine, good to very good perhaps. That's a great offense.

And I don't think also it helps that the emergence of Kellyn Moore is their offensive coordinator. They talked about this team entering modern football after not really having one of the more imaginative attacks in recent years. The prediction from our last show, the one that I was wavering on doing instead of the last one I did when I went super negative was that the Eagles and the Cowboys at that date, what was it, October 15th or so, will both be 6 and O and prepare for a Sunday night football showdown in week seven, and I think that

you cannot sleep on the Cowboys with all the changes they've had. And the better drafting of this team has put forward in the last couple years. What I like about their line is even when two years ago they were. celebrated as one of the greatest offensive lines of all time, the best position group in the NFL, and they didn't rest on their laurels. They went out and drafted Connor Williams in the second round. Then

they went out and drafted Connor McGovern in the third round. And they've got Joe Looney, a guy who played 16 games at center last year. Now he's just valuable insurance. And for what it's worth, Mark. This is the week every summer where EA Sports and

Madden drop all their ratings and people pay a surprising amount of attention. A lot of annoyed people. Yes. The Cowboys and Eagles ranked one, two in terms of overall team strength by Madden. So they're with you. It's all lining up. And by the way, your brownies just five points away.

That was what I... Minus the offensive line strength. There's some of issues there. Well, I'm just talking about the Madden rating. But when I was a kid, the Jets were always crummy, typically. But whenever they had a decent team, that's always when I would get the video game. Because then I could play with a decent jet team. If you ever, Mark, Mark, go back and return to your roots as a video.

game football video game player this is the year what a loaded browns team to play as a video game how much does all that cost if i were just to go out and splurge you you have a sister you don't have an xbox or a ps4 no i presume all right so that's you know about 300 bucks i'd say 275 to 300 the game the game maybe you can get some type of code or something because you're in the industry get that game on the arm as my dad says that kind of thing i'll just go throw on the wife's credit card and we'll pick up the pieces later don't your sons like use your credit card to get $300 worth of They have attempted that

and they were successful and we returned divert those funds I'll throw one out there on Wes on your thinnest list the Packers running backs and that gets

as again many of us Mark not you as much but many of us want to see Aaron Rogers return to glory just because it's football's more fun but there is a lot to be nervous about right west about this offense we've talked about whether there's enough around devante adams when in terms of the skill players on the outside and in the passing game but the running back

situation is hardly settled i think fantasy football players have been arguing for erin jones to get more playing time for a while and i've made the same argument but he he really hasn't done himself favors by playing at a bigger weight than he should have been playing at he hasn't been in the greatest shape. He's at MCL sprains in both of his first two years. The coach, and you can rip on Mike McCarthy all you want, but he knows Aaron Jones' strength and weakness is better than we do and decided not to play him much on passing downs because that's not his strength. On the other hand, their passing specialist, Jamal Williams, just isn't a good runner. He's averaged almost two yards per carry less than Aaron Jones. So if he, if Jones goes down, you're left

with a very pedestrian rushing attack and not much depth behind the two of them. I think another is that when you read about Jamal Williams and how he would fit into a Matt LaFleur offense, that Matt LaFleur is a zone run scheme type coach, and Jamal Williams is not a perfect fit for that on any level. Your biggest concern on your thinnest list is the Giants. And while we've talked endlessly on this podcast about the relative worth of Eli Manning, what you're talking about here is their defense. And it's hard to disagree after you get rid of.

of Olivier Vernon and Landon Collins, what's left here, West? How are they going to stop anyone? Forget about who's playing quarterback. How are they going to not be giving up 28 points a game? Well, this is what happens when you rebuild. I mean, I guess you could say it's a necessary evil. Some teams don't believe that you have to rebuild all the time,

but the Giants tore it down. And you're hoping that the young guys can eventually be as good as Snacks Harrison and Olivier Vernon and Landon Collins and the guys who've been playing at near a Pro Bowl level for a few years. You hope that the young guys eventually get to that place, but I would be shocked if it's this year that all those young guys started playing well. Another case for Daniel Jones entering the lineup sooner rather than later is that eventually Gettleman's going to have to put something on the field

to convince Giants brass that he should be around beyond beyond 2019. And if the defense is in a full-blown rebuild and the old quarterback is, obviously not the future. Jones has to play to show management that this guy is doing something right. Like what, I mean, otherwise, what are we staring down the barrel of 3 and 13 and no hope? And I mean, Gettleman created, for obvious reasons, a bit of a radioactive situation for himself. But it's almost like the defensive side of the ball has been not noticed or talked about as much because it's all about Eli Manning all the time.

But then suddenly you're going to put a lot of pressure on a broken down Eli Manning or a rookie quarterback to probably score a lot of points to win games. Wes, during this exercise when you're going through the rosters and doing your process, which on either side of this thinnest, deepest, what surprised you, what team surprised you, what unit? You know what, and some of this doesn't even make the list just because there might be some deeper or thinner units than I wrote about, but some of it is what's compelling to write about.

So that's how you end up making the choices. But I'd say the Ravens, how they are so stark, they have a, I think the deepest position group in the NFL might be their secondary. They are just absolutely loaded there. Number one on your list. But then they lost thick. They're pass rushers. They lose Suggs, Zadarius Smith, Urban from up front.

And those guys have more sacks, hits, and hurries than the rest of their defense combined. So you're asking a lot of unproven guys. guys to do work there. And I really thought about having their wide receivers on this list for thinnest too, because their only proven guy really is Willie Sneed, who's a slot receiver. Seth Roberts, I guess, another slot receiver. I just don't see the depth there. So you're talking about a team that has some very strong, strong points and some very weak, weak points. When you went number seven on the thin list, Chicago Bears kicker, was that sort of a little bit of a tidbit for Dan? Oh, yeah. You've got to keep it. Dan-oriented entry. Wes gets it. That's why.

You got to keep the kicker fans. interested. West totally gets it and people shouldn't sleep on how important it is to have a solid kicking foundation. Just to ask a $20 million man Robbie Gold how important kicking is. Well, Ricky, you were a little young when Adam Vinutieri was a hero, but... In New England, no, he was the best. He sure was.

Still kicking. Almost unbelievable. Did you know, he's still in the league? Yeah. But he's, you know, not my problem. He's regarded as the best. I think so. I don't know if you got...

I did not involve myself. in it and now there's talk that Russia is stealing everyone's faces this this face app that everybody went crazy putting uh i did your picture though so thank you that was a very tedious 24 hours on twitter by the way i took a screenshot of your instagram just to see what yeah total violation erika i like that uh now i'm in the system as well but uh kudos to the colts who did a nice job they did like a a four screen of like luck whomever whoever and then the last one was that a bit of there was no face app done it was just him with the white beard the stunning lack of that was a good one but a stunning lack of creativity by all 32 team Twitter accounts by

doing the exact same social media post with their players turning old what would you have done if you were in that position I'd be the one team that said we're not going to do what every other everyone else is doing no content and by the way all in the course of 15 or 20 minutes they all drop the same tweet I mean slightly ponderous isn't that their function? I mean, it is, but I mean, I have issues with that too. Anything else, Mark, Wes, anything that jumped out to you, and you could again check this out, NFL.com slash Wessling. The archive is bustling. I don't want to throw two, I don't let them go read it, but the Patriots being on the thin list

and for at this point in the off season, that wide receiver group with your kind of praying if you're a Patriots fan that Josh Gordon is brought back into the mix because there's not a lot going on there. I mean, we've seen Brady carry offenses with the leading leading receiver as Jabar Gaffney or Danny Amandola or Malcolm Mitchell as a playoff hero. That's a lot to ask of a 39-year-old beating father time. It's a lot more to ask of a 42-year-old who showed actual signs of decline last year. Very fair. All right, there you go. Check it out. Wes is back. Yes, the Infinity Stones. Put them into the big power glove

explosions everyone dies lives do you live or die when there's these stones are collected uh i mean there's malt i don't i'm not the expert on this but it's you're 20 something yep do you live or die when the bad guy or the good guy gets the stones in the power glove i

don't watch that they have they make the decision probably die a bad guy wore it wiped out like i believe it was like 40% of earth what about the other planets aren't there like other stars and I'm involved. Then we're going beyond what I know about at that point. Yes, the mailbag, live NFL.com, Friday morning.

Check it out. It's the only mailbag that matters, and Jay Glazer knows it. He knows, Mark. Oh, I think he's, it's on his radar. There's no doubt about that. A bunch of questions. You guys are great. You always do annoy me, listeners, no matter how much I try to make it clear that these

This prompt I do on Twitter is for my column, the mailbag. And then I get inevitably 14 questions about which one of us would survive in an island or is Mark happy or is Erica like, you know, on Bumble or whatever. Like it's just, you know, I it's not always about the podcast. But since we're here, I'll go through some of the questions that I mean, what you endure, Dan, is just, you know, remarkable to. us. I appreciate their interest in our show and my social media account. Has there ever been a mailbag without that who would win on a deserted island? Never. Who would? It's a Lou Gehrig streak. Well, Wes, it's interesting. Wes, I noticed in my mentions, clicked favorite when someone said Wes would prevail. And I really, honestly, you just, you know, you caught me on a day where I really

like waffled on whether to click like on this or not. I'm like, no, because I don't want to encourage the narrative that that this is what I would be like. We don't like to talk about these things. But I clicked like just because it was somebody trying to connect with our show, and I was like, all right, nice. You threw a bone. Yeah. I saw it. And, of course, what I'm going to see is Wes is agreeing with this person.

And perhaps you do believe that you would survive. Right. That is a distinct possibility. I don't think it's ever been a part of me even before cancer to be a divide and conquer person. That's what that. I don't play politics enough to do that. Yeah, like I'm not Richard Hatch. It's not happening.

Oh, I know I would not be the one to survive. Like post-cancer strength. No, I have mental strength. That's for sure. Did you see me trying to run around the bases last night? Yeah, I didn't want to bring that up. Ten and two division champions, baby. We, yeah, we came from it.

We knocked off a team that was in first place all year, and now we have the best team that the shield has ever had going into the tournament. It is a juggernaut. We go into the ship. What? Some people, we heard through a source that some members of the opposing team believe that the first basement of the shield. number 23, Dan Hanzas, was taking the game too seriously. In what manner were you?

Let me tell you some of that. Oh, is that because you argue with the umpire? You literally were like, who can say it better, ref, me or you? Blue. You probably said blue, not a ref. It was a blown call by the umpire. Let him know about it. And I'm never going to apologize for being competitive.

Yeah, but you were like, I'm right on top of it, ref. I'm right here. So you agree with the other. A lot of stick here. But it was like, it was like, it went on for a little while, and then Dan was like, bro, I'm right on top of it. He was like, who can see better, me or you? And the ref was like, you're two seconds from being out of here. The best part was, the best part was.

And I'm never that guy, but I was very frustrated at that moment of the game. I said, that's bad. That's bad. And he goes, you're bad. Love it. Yes. I was like, all right. We're mixing it up.

Anyway, we're 10 and 2. We won the division. and one more win for glory. Well, we're streaking, as you pointed out last night, we have played, well, now they're the second and third place teams in the league in the last few weeks, and we beat them by a combined 37 to 9. Yeah, we've been rolling through some good teams. You don't want to look past anyone, especially in the playoffs,

but this has like an 85 Bears feel to it. There was a time with a previous team where I thought you had an 89-9-9-Ners vibe, but maybe we didn't even realize how good you could be. You're peaking now. This feels 85-9ers, 13 Seahawks. Well, our girls have never been better. Our girls are carrying the guys now sometimes, and that has not happened off. Yeah.

And I didn't even get mad at you when you had that embarrassing baseball weekend. Yeah, I really did screw up last night. I was just standing on first, and I, like, hit a really nice, like, a slammer right down past the third basement. And so, like, ran it out. It was so good. And I was like, yes. And then something happened where the next person hit the ball, and I, like, just, like, stood there. Like, I didn't move.

I don't know what happened. I was, like, often thought, but I was paying attention. I don't know. You were, like, just daydreaming about your hit the previous minute. Yeah, I was like, I hit a slammer. Understandable. Total slammer. Anyway.

I had to use that during next week's game. Hit a slammer. In the mailbag. I open the mailbag with a question I do get every year around this time, but I always answer it because to me, there's no better way to end an NFL season. besides the Jets championship, then a team winning a Super Bowl for the first time. And the way history has it,

it's been happening now going back to the beginning of this century. Like every three to four years, a team is winning a Super Bowl for the first time. So you go back to, of course, you have the Pats in 01, and then you had the Bucks in 2002, then the Colts in 06, the Saints in 09, the Seahawks in 13, the Eagles in 17, okay? All right, Ravens fans, I remember you.

You were in 2002. But anyway, so that tells us that it's going to happen again. Maybe not this year, but soon. So there are 12 teams that have never won the Super Bowl. I put them in order of Super Bowl win probability this year. Tell me if you have any disagreement. Cardinals, Bills, lions, Bengals, Titans. Panthers,

Browns, and now the top five. It's a pretty good list. There's some real contenders. Jags, Falcons, Texans, Vikings, Chargers. And I think those top three teams are actual legit title contenders. I think the Falcons and Jaguars, if a couple of things go the right way, are absolute title contenders.

And even the Browns, with all the talent they have, if they get on a crazy run, you never know. I think that Titans, Panthers, and Browns have better rosters than the Jaguars and Texans. Yeah, the Jaguars are the one that stood out to me, too. I know that your stance on the Titans in general is not favorable, but I might put them ahead of the Titans or on the Panthers depending on quarterback play. You could flip-flop them. I think they're kind of in the same window.

I think only Cincinnati, Detroit, Buffalo, and Arizona are kind of completely out of the conversation. at least winning this year. I'm just, I'm not convinced that the Nick Foles experience, as much as I like the person, is going to translate. I don't doubt him. I just, I don't want to see it first. I don't like anything about their offense, really. Like, what excites you other than if you believe that Nick Foles is going to really turn that offense?

Other than the quarterback, what excite you about it? What about the Vikings, too? They're kind of, after all the hype going to last year, you almost hear nothing about them right now, which I think is a good thing, and it's good for Kirk Cousins. This is still, I think, a loaded team And if Cousins can just Play at a high level Why, am I doing too much hand stuff?

No, I was, well, that You were mocking me. Kurt Cousins is just going to hand off the ball every time. Well, one of the biggest... He throws the ball a lot. He's not going on this year. We don't talk about assistant coaches enough Except Mark, he does.

But I thought Cubiac was one of the biggest additions of any coaching staff all year. And I really like the Vikings issue. I mean, that line needs to be better. Chargers, everybody agrees, is the most likely team to break the Super Bowl jinks of this group? I would... I would put them in the driver's seat.

I'd agree with that. I mean, if anything, they've not lived up to their talent. They find a way to crumble in January. I also think we've been talking about their offense for the last few years, and their defense is probably better than their offense right now. Here's one. from Justin Brill, he asks, if you could choose any team from any year

to be on Hard Knocks, which team would you choose? I'll tell you who I went with, the 85 Bears. All-time great team, of course, 18 and 1, arguably the best defense ever. He had a ton of interesting personalities, McMahon, the Fridge, Singletary, Buddy Ryan, Walter Payton, and then you have Peak Ditka.

And I think the cheat code for Hard Knocks is if you can get an engaging, interesting, funny personality, a head coach, the series is going to fly. And Ditka in 1985 was one of the more famous sports figures in the country. And with his mix of, you know, a very confident man, a huge ego, a big star, I feel like that would have been a great, like, centerpiece of the show to have 85 Ditka. I like that a lot. I, the name that came to me was the Oilers, the 93 Oilers, the team where Buddy Ryan and

Kelvin Gilbride had a punch-out situation. The only reason though I'd go with maybe even an earlier Oilers team is because you lose Jerry Glanville because the head coach was Jack Party. I would love to see Jerry Glanville. As much as I despised him, because as a young Browns fan, the Oilers were always an annoying team to deal with, but I would love to see them on Hard Knocks. They had a lot of characters, too. You'd have Warren Moon and the whole crew. You could go love you, blue oilers. Get some bum Phillips action in there. I would look for the 70s as a sweet spot because the NFL hasn't gone so overly corporate.

The money is not as much of a factor. It's more personalities involved. There's more people being themselves, less political correctness. And I think you'd have a lot more interesting stories. I would choose, like, the John Madden era Raiders when they're just full of like. Oh, Al Davis would be all over that show. I want Al Davis coverage. Definitely.

We do, I mean, we get Mark Davis this year. Is that a closing of maximally? An interesting man in his own right. A gentleman from Los Angeles named, what is his name? Mark Sessler asks, will Brown's Jets Week 2 national television end our enduring friendship? You know, no, it won't end it. But it will get dicey if they both be. become contenders legitimately.

I mean, I just, I think the one time that we really hit on this topic in our studio, it went very poorly. Explosive. It is an explosive topic. I mean, it would be a great problem, Mark. I think it'll be fine if Cleveland were to win. I'm much more concerned about if it doesn't go well, what's going to happen to Dan. I mean, I could throw it the other way.

I believe that you would potentially not do well if I were. crowing about the Jets beating the Browns in the AFC title game I don't think I would do well at all I'd be probably steaming about it at home I know I wouldn't do well with it I mean I believe maybe you should admit to the same though I think that at least half the problem is me

so that's too much no it's probably a 65 35 issue on my I mean I think I can go back and forth I can easily become the 65 I just want one of those teams to be good for the first time in our podcast The problem is it needs, it's not crazy, it's never happened. Like a hand-in-hand situation.

They almost need to be duplicates of each other in terms of their success. If one of them were to totally take a dirt nap, then we're in bad territory. But wouldn't that at least keep them off each other's radar with stakes being high? No, because if Cleveland went three and 13 and became one of these worst teams money can buy Bobby Mena-Mets type situation, it's going to be awful. I'd rather be on a deserted island. and I'm not to talk about it three times, four times, 25 times a week. That's fair.

Negative. That's fair. Let's see. Let's see. A couple more, and then we'll get out of here. Area 51. Question. We hit Area 51 pretty hard today.

I mean, this is what I'm talking about. This guy in Missouri, who of the four is most likely not to help someone in need? I believe we would all help someone in need. I don't think there's a standout candidate answer to that one. I think we're all on balance, decent people. I don't know about Ricky. Ricky might run the other way. Well, she wasn't, I mean, if you want to expand it to five,

I think she's, you've got a candidate right there. Would you help somebody in need? Are you kidding me? Of course not. Let's see. That's why your dumpster gets lit on fire. This from Doc West is for you. Since Chris Wessling is a recovering Bengals fan,

and what miraculous event would have to occur to get him to join Bill's Mafia? I feel like that's a team that maybe you could fall in love with Wes. I like their fan base quite a bit. What about their quarterback? You like him? I don't know yet.

I like watching him because I don't know what he's going to do and he's pretty fun to see run around. He's a dynamic athlete, but no, I just don't see, like, I'm one of those people, if you're a fan, it has to happen organically as you're growing up, as you're a child, and I don't think anyone would ever replace, like, the late 70s and 80s bengals for me. Mark Benedict Morton asks, how does Mark's family cope with him being vegetarian? Are they also off meat?

If yes, have your kids ever tried it and liked, disliked it, Mark? They eat anything. I mean, they have a very, my kids are not, I don't restrict them in any way with what they eaten. I'm quite appalled by their diet on some level. So it's like I'm not lording my ways over anyone. Tyler asks, do you guys still talk to Kay Rich? Also, when is Spice

Wreck coming back? No, and soon enough, maybe draft time. I'll hear from Kay Rich every once in a while. She sent me some very positive messages when I was going through cancer. She's been nice. Good girl. A definitive no makes it sound like we've decisively shut her out of my life. We're not interacting on it.

We had a former producer, Erica. Yeah, I was going to ask who is this for new listeners. She's in Philadelphia now. Yes. Very successful. Seems to be doing well. All right. That's about it.

Did they tag her in the tweet? I don't know. The other question? Behind the K. Ridge question. There were two questions? The meat thing. Have your kids ever tried not eating meat? That wasn't the same tweet?

No, spice rack. Oh, spice rack. Oh, spice rack. Spice rack. When's he going to be on the show again? Didn't we try to have him on and just didn't work out timing-wise? Timing, he got caught up with something with work and it was around the draft. So, yeah, he kind of missed his window, his annual window, but it doesn't change anything.

Our feelings about Spicerack. We love Spice. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. All right. That's it. Summer breaks over. Back on Monday.

Yes, Mina Kimes of ESPN will join us on Wednesday. We also, it appears to be on track to happen. a visit to a NFL camp coming up that we'll do a show from said headquarters. We look forward to that and all the other stuff that you've come to expect from the around the NFL podcast as we head toward our seventh season together on the show. How about that? Wow. We started in the July of 2013 and here we are.

I didn't think we'd get the seven episodes. And Ricky, is that true? Yeah, I worried at the beginning that we'd be terrible. I mean, I thought my voice coming from Tybee was like, nobody's going to want to listen to this idiot. You were right. Ricky, I've asked you also to track when our 1,000th episode happens. That's coming up.

It's coming up. So we want to celebrate that in some way, maybe with a live show. Who knows? We're trying to do some different things this year. Maybe our Sunday night show we might have. have some fun, a new wrinkle to that as well. So behind the scenes, you know, we're cranking. Mark especially.

Oh, I mean, I have been about as lazy as can be the last couple weeks, but I'm back now. Flip the switch, baby. All right, let's go. His Dan Hads is signing off for Quiet Storm, the mailman Ricky Hollywood. At the table. We're back in the studio next week. Three times. Here it comes.

Till Monday This is an IHeart podcast.