NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - DK Metcalf Gets Paid; Fearless Predictions for October 4th

Episode Date: July 29, 2022

A room filled with some heroes - Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler and Gregg Rosenthal bring you all the latest news from around the league, starting with a recent article published by the Guardian ranking the NFL's best analysts (3:54). Kyler Murray's "independent study" clause has been removed from his contract (12:36), and DK Metcalf signed an extension with Seattle (20:42). We cover a couple of training camp injuries (26:02) and players "holding in" (29:33) before wrapping up the news with some Odds and Ends (36:32). Then, the heroes make fearless predictions for how the NFL landscape will change by October 4th (the Tuesday after Week 4) involving Lamar Jackson (41:02), a couple of NFC South teams (45:57), the Houston Texans (57:50), a sampling of Marc's greatest hits (1:00:41), and the Indianapolis Colts (1:03:53). Finally, we close the show with a request for help from the listeners (1:09:25). Note: timecodes approximate.NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet. We've got the insight to help you crush your opponents.

Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. The Around the NFL podcast. Finding creative new ways to piss off Sessler. From the Chris Wesleying podcast studio, it's around the NFL. I'm Dan Hansis, joined in a room filled with some heroes, Greg Rosenthal. And yes, Mark Sessler, Mark, we're starting about 17 minutes later than intended.

18. 18 minutes. It just turned 18. We started at 17, though. So it's 17. And I understand that does piss you off. Apologies, sir. Apology taken, accepted.

I'm not that annoyed by it. You can see it coming from a mile away. Right. It used to be a whole thing. When our schedules were a little tighter. back in Culver City, and Wes and Mark, and it would be like a conversation before the podcast. And Wes, as the money drop indicated,

would delight in Mark getting increasingly upset. Although he would get upset a little too. He was on your corner. I was not on an island on that one. Wes and I very much, you know, time matters to us. Punctuality is important to us. And we were linked at the hip on that one. Yeah, that's true.

Sometimes I feel maligned in that department because just accept it I view myself as the host of this program so while you're doing your little buildup for segments and you're studying I have to do that but then I also have to do all the other elements that go into building out a program

like working with like Justin how long have we been talking building out the show today for instance minutes many minutes buried you there but I technically do not disagree with your point. Were we not in contact all throughout the morning?

Oh, that's true, yes, since about 9 a.m. Very dead at a big... Sure, but you can... It's also in your nature. That's okay. Like, you know... It's in my nature to try to put together the best show possible. But I'm seeing if it wasn't...

If it's not podcast related, it's in your nature to maybe be a little late, too. It's just part of the package. I remember when we first started, and those were dark days in some ways, looking back. But sort of... When you were the boss, yes, those were not good days. Early, early news death days. There was like, it was like hands us a call. You weren't expecting him to be punching in at 9 a.m.

It'd be like 907 or so. Well, if you're going to bring that up, you could talk about Chris Wessling a clock, too, which sometimes is the next day. There was no clock. Well, yeah, we have talked about that. Greg infamously told me during a, I think, one of our last, you know, subject and boss meetings was that I began as his easiest employee and finished as his most tough to deal with. Yeah, though, you know. So it's not all on you. And I also appreciate that...

If you want the truth, you don't just go to the Zeus. No, I appreciate that you put that your heart into preparing for the program, Dan. Yeah, I back down not even a little bit on this. I have no regrets. Like, today is a good show. Today is going to be a really fun show. People are going to enjoy the show. And a lot of it is going to go back to those extra 17 minutes.

Yeah. Because you've got to get it right. You don't take it out of the oven, Sessler, just because... I know, but this is... Now this is becoming... Just because it's dinner. Dinner is served at 6 p.m. No, sometimes.

dinner has to be 617. This is becoming framed as if I have a major issue where all I've said verbally is that I support the effort that you put in to the show. Doug Boat's got a point. We're back in the studios this week. Training camp's getting rolling. We're starting to cook.

It's almost like... I have a point too. We are, you know, we're just husks who try to make meaning out of our lives when it's not the NFL season. Oh, family and outside things. But now that it's training camp and we're being plugged back into the

We feel truly alive because we only feel alive when the microphone is on. Well, that's your opinion. Yeah, I don't even think Mark actually said that, but that is accurate. Greg spoke for all of us there, apparently. That was me. That was out loud? I will speak for all of us in thanking the people of the Guardian, a British daily newspaper. I think it's kind of a big publication.

Yes. Over yonder? It was also written by a trenchant source of news. It was written by Ali Connolly, who's a British. a great analyst over there, too, now working for Gridiron, who we're friends with the people there too. What is it? What did Ollie?

Greg is so tight. He doesn't refer to the man by his pen name, Oliver Connolly. Oh, I didn't know that. It's Ollie Connolly. Ranking the NFL's best analysts. I've never met him, though, or spoken with him, but I've heard him on podcasts.

And guess who comes in at number seven? The boys of around the NFL. Should I read this? Oh, yeah. Should I read it? Please. I should read it. You cannot separate the three main hosts of the Around the NFL podcast and TV vehicle.

Unless it's who's planning the show in the morning. All right. All right. Four John. Blending humor, analysis, and ruthless honesty. The trio have built a true one-stop shop for fans. The show is the number one NFL podcast in the UK, drawing fans to the circus tent with mirth before offering keen-eyed observations. and updates on the league at large.

It wouldn't be an overstatement to say that the show has done more for the growth of the game internationally than the league sending a ropey Jaguars team to London every fall. Hit it again, Justin. Number seven, how are we number seven with that type of rate-up? The write-up is incredible.

and I love to think it's true. I mean, the way that that write-up ended, I was like, that should be a number one write-up ending. Right. I think we need to send that along to the Shadowy League people. I'll take it. Yeah, our friends at Sky Sports will send it to them. They've helped us with a partnership doing work with them.

Roger Goodell, potentially. Yeah, Goodell, I think everyone needs to know. And I think it's important, a couple things. It's important that the American listeners know what Ropey means, because I certainly didn't. You kind of figure out with context, please. You can, but just for the record, it's British informal slang for inferior or inadequate,

slightly unwell below par. Do you feel like you should have been mentioned more in the blurb? You specifically, Dan? You can't separate the three, it's in. No, I think I'm totally comfortable with the entire write-up. Yeah, it was a great write-up. Right. And it's a great list, too.

I appreciated that the quality of the list, I think, spoke well. Let's see, Beaumani. It's great. Jones at one, Mina. We love Mina. Jenny Vrentes is awesome at three. Dominique Foxworth. Don't know Dominique as well. He does Bomanie's show.

He's on ESPN. He does Billy Gill. Deante Lee of the Athletic. I'm not familiar with Billy Gill. But we respect him. Well, you have to. I'm not familiar, though. We don't have to, but I'm sure he's great. I do if he's on this list. Pat McAfee at 8, so we're ahead of McAfee.

It's not bad. That's good. David Samson and Akeeb Taleb. Look at Akeep coming in. You know what, though? So we're ahead of Romo, because if Akeep Talib can make it, and he kind of compared to Leeb to Romo on the list. He compared to him as, like, energetic and a little different, you know,

as a listen, but even better than Romo he thought right now, like in terms of energy. So that means Romo didn't make the list, nor did any other. We're ahead of Jim Nance. And also missing the list was the Dan Lebitard show featuring St. do Gauts. And apparently this didn't sit well with everyone on that particular program. But Sessie made it, Sessler. I mean, how about that guy?

Who is that guy? He's a top 10 football insider. You're goddamn fucking right he is. Why am I taking the bullet in that scenario? I don't think that they were upset. I think the Billy Gill guy is involved in the Lovetard arena. Okay. So they were saying the list

because he's involved with those guys or he works for a lebuttar. I don't have a great... What is that? I understand Mark's point, though. Right. No, yeah. My point was they weren't upset at us.

They were making fun of this guy saying the list was bad. Like, don't be so excited that you're on this list, Billy. Is that how you took it, Mark? I'm just taking the insult. Let's hear it again. Let's hear it again.

But Sessie made it, Sessler. I mean, how about that guy? Who is that guy? He's a top 10. Football Insider. Well, you got that right. I have a Levitart's story. Well, I don't know.

It's Stugats to start it. And then Levitart jumped in, yeah. When we were at Super Bowl Week in Miami before Corona exploded, I was wandering around, you know, South Beach. And Dan Lebitard actually was about 10 feet away. I don't know why. He was sort of wandering around, too. And these Lebitard fans wanted to take a photo with him.

Lebitardians. Yeah. So the Lebitardians actually just pulled me. you know, like a civilian off. I had to take a photo of Lebitard and the Lebitardians. Whoa. It's like, I work in this industry, too, and little do I know that years later. When will the disrespect end?

Well, it doesn't. It does not. Are we in a feud? No. I don't want to be in a, I've heard. I've heard from listeners, I think there's a pretty good crossover audience. I've heard good things about their audience. Good.

They've built it up. And I think there's some that are fans of us both. And I, you know what? It's nice to hear. That's good. Yeah, let's take the high road on this one. And Mark, if you wanted to make a statement, like who you are, Mark Anthony Sessler, Sessie, for short. I am Mark Edward Sessler.

I work for NFL network and NFL.com. And I only wish to extend good tidings to that show and to all of them. Why is it always Mark that takes these strays out of nowhere? I don't know. It is pretty funny, though. Sessie made it Sessler. I mean, how about that guy? Who is that guy?

he's a top 10 football insider it's like we wrote this for him to be a sound drop for us but it's just their show all right coming up on today's show which was put together with tender love and care fearless predictions not for the whole season but for October 4th specifically what is October 4th that is the Tuesday after week 4 we will tell you what we feel the NFL landscape will look like after what used to be the traditional quarter pole. Well, they blew that up. Yeah. Runed it with their greed.

No. Oh, asymmetry. Everything must be asymmetrical now. It used to be 16 games. Now I don't know what it is anymore. Maybe after Thursday night at week five, is that the new quarter pole? If you did the math of it all, but it's not my thing. Anyway, we're going to give you some fearless predictions.

I'm going to call on the listeners to help us out with something at the end of the show. But before that, we need to get caught up with the news. You're full of shit, Sussler. Now it's just... What is that? Where did that come from? Dan randomly said that as we were setting up to tape our TA hits on... What was that? Wednesday.

I don't know where it came from or why, but... Why did I roll out a bit? It kind of snowballed a little bit. But no more critical thinking towards Mark. Again, Greg thinks it wasn't even critical from Stu Gads. No, I was just sort of pointing out the context. It was absolutely critical. Very critical.

My context was that they weren't like mad. They weren't on the list. They were on the list. Like one of their guys was on the list. And they were kind of making fun of him that like, look at this list. It's just you and a bunch of Hammondegger's like Sessie over here. I see. That's all.

Well, nice. explanation um anyway that was what i said was clearly ingest just a lot of the nonsense that i'll spew before the show starts and you know that i understand your vibe okay different than the stew god's fine different than that vibe i mean as i've been noticing and this is a becoming a recurring thing your guys's vibe is is on a different wavelength right now i think you missed each other it's like it's up and down but it's definitely like that's that's what great attractions are like you know what i think i think Craig wants it he wants in you want it on the vibe i want to feel something You want it on the vibe?

I want it, yeah. All right, we'll talk privately after the show. Let's get to the news. And we'll start with, oh, man, the Arizona Cardinals, they make a decision after Rapsheet with the scoopage and Rapsheet was on our show this week, breaking down how it all came to be, the independent study clause that was placed in Murray's huge extension and all the hullabaloo around that. Well, the team now has decided to eliminate that mandatory independent study clause

in Murray's extension. Rapsheet first reported. So rap sheet's been all over this. I also have a statement here from the Cardinals. And then we were going to hear from Kyler, but first from the Cardinals. After seeing the distraction it created, we removed the addendum from the contract. it was clearly perceived in ways that were never intended. Our confidence in Kyler Murray is as high as it's ever been

and nothing demonstrates our belief in his ability to lead this team more than the commitment reflected in this contract. That's a lot of word salad, sizzler. So they take it out of the contract. Kyler Murray, smash cut to Kyler Murray, who calls his own press conference on... Unscheduled. Thursday, unscheduled, and he wants everyone to know, everything's cool, and you should have

given me the benefit of the doubt in the first place. Today, I'm starting out there. I'm talking today because, you know, I feel it's necessary, you know, with what's going on as far as regarding me and the things that are being said about me. It's almost, you know, to think that I can accomplish everything that I've accomplished in my career and not be a student of the game and not have that passion and not take this serious is almost it's disrespectful and it's it's almost a joke and i like this other part of the press conference or his statement really an opening statement where he felt compelled and understandably

so to explain what he's accomplished in his life as an athlete to this point and and i don't do this often i don't talk about myself but today i feel like i have to And so I'm a list of accolades, you know, to go 43 and O in high school in Texas. I love this story so much. Some are going to say, oh, it's high school, that's cool, but nobody else has done it. Go to college, win the Heisman, get drafted number one overall to the NFL, get drafted number nine overall to MLB. Again, no one's ever done it. Offensive rookie of the year, two-time pro bowler.

And, you know, I'm not six, seven, two-thirty, I don't throw the ball 85 yards. I'm already behind the eight ball, and I can't, you know, I can't afford to take any shortcuts, no pun intended. But, you know, those are, those things you can't accomplish if you don't take the game serious, if you don't prepare the right way. And, you know, it's, like I said, it's laughable. I was struck by this. I loved it. I think Kyler Murray is a different sort of quarterback and a different sort of person, and we're, like, learning more about him as he goes. and I love the fire.

And I think it's worth pointing out, like, he's right. You can't be that successful without some sort of intelligence that you see in his game and serious nature with which you take the game and take your career. Then again, and a lot of confidence, which he clearly has too. I think he got this far in part because he picked up the NFL game and being able to read defenses and stuff like that pretty well for a rookie. Now, that all being said, he didn't really address the exact parts of the clause that he had a problem with.

I mean, he sort of brought, you know, I sort of took it as like he doesn't necessarily spend that much time on the iPad doing X's and O's like film study at home. He started talking about like there's different ways to do film study. I like doing it with other people in the room. Like, that's where I get off of it. And I take my preparation really seriously. There's different ways to prepare. There's no way that he's not taking, preparing for the NFL seriously. But he also sort of didn't answer the specific reasons that it was in the contract in the first place.

And then, to be fair, he called the press conference himself. And the second anyone started asking questions about the clause in the contract, he said, I'm not answering questions about that. Can we talk about something else? You called the press conference. Like, that's what the press conference is about. So I think he's very sensitive about that. And you can understand that.

And I appreciate him being as open as he was. But I think it's like you can look at this from a lot of sides. No one's right and wrong in it. And had Ian not eagle-eyed this contract, and let's say none of us knew about this, the bottom line is Kyler Murray and his representation agreed to what was in the contract. It's turned into, I mean, it's grown so incredibly annoying, almost to a delightful extent at this point. but the Cardinals this offseason and Kyla Murray have operated like a circus. I mean, it feels like a team that is in search of themselves on some level.

And this whole Kylea Murray situation is symbolic of that. For me, though, like, I love what he said yesterday, and I agree with you, Greg. Yeah, to be clear, I did for the most part, yeah. It changes how I feel about him. And I do think, you know, maybe it lit a fire under him. And maybe maybe it will change something for him this season. But I have to say that, like, he initially agreed to this. Something about what the Cardinals saw in his preparation in his game.

He acknowledged, yes, I will sign this, and that's part of the contract. He had an issue with it. He should have brought it up before. Maybe the Cardinals, you know, maybe it's not a clown car over there. Maybe they galaxy brain this thing. I don't think so. They've lit this huge inferno underneath their wildly talented quarterback. I'm pretty much kidding.

But it maybe does achieve that effect because now he's going to have a huge chip on his shoulder after being called out in this way. And that's what he was. He was called out by his own team that gave him hundreds of millions of dollars but said you're going to do it the right way. So yes, I think... Why remove it then?

I don't know. That's why the clown music is played, Greg, because I don't know... That's a half measure. It's like you either should have put it in and kept it or not put it at all, but when you do it, you just make it a fresh story again. We're not talking about this with such vigor on a Friday

after this happened initially on Monday or whatever, if not for this. So they've kind of botched this, and I'll give Murray credit. He was smart enough to get in front of the story, and I thought he comported himself well with the opening statement, at least. It's probably the first kind of smart thing

he did this offseason. He didn't have the best off season either with some of the things he did through his agent. But hopefully the team can move past this and start focusing on football now. It's a big part of the story of the agent because his introductory press conference when he signed the contract,

he threw some shade at his own agent. I don't know if it was totally intentional. Mr. Caplock himself. His name's Eric Burkhard, and he said that, look, Kyler said, look, I took a lot of grief this offseason, in part because of my agent, because of that statement. And he just said that. That was before all of this happened.

By the way, Kyler did that press conference, knowing that they were going to take the clause out of his contract, but we didn't know that at the time he did that press conference. There was some speculation, this was from pro football talk, that he might be getting rid of his agent. And that's part of all of this, that they're taking it out, that it's maybe helping the agent to save face. Who knows?

But it was a messy week, I think, for the two people that agreed on it, which was ultimately Cardinal's ownership and the agent, I think are the ones that were kind of at fault here. All right. We're just getting started. Let's take a quick break and then spin through the rest of the news. What's up, everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here.

And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from scouting reports and player development to team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. Every week, we study the tape, talk to decision makers, and share the insights you won't find anywhere else. It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots, from college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow. We break down the draft, analyze matchups, and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day.

Plus, we dig in the coaching strategies, roster construction, and the trends that shape the league year after year. Whether you're a diehard fan or just love understanding the game on a deeper level, we give you the full picture. If you want insight that goes beyond the box score, this podcast is for you. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Matt Jones. Now, I'm Drew Franklin. and this is NFL Cover Zero.

We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts Pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game. What was that? Oh, my. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining. And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen to NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet.

We've got the insight to help you crush your opponents. Listen to the NFL fantasy football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. All right, moving on. Another wide receiver gets paid. It is D.K. Metcalf, member of the superstar club, big time playmaker for the Seahawks. It'll be very interesting to see what kind of year he has with Russell Wilson now.

throwing spirals in the Rocky Mountains. But the Seahawks want him as a part of their future. So they give him a three-year, $72 million extension that runs through $2,025, nearly $60 million of that is guaranteed. So this is a big-time contract for a big-time player, Mark Sessler. Had to do this. I mean, we're months removed from the idea that he could have been traded away out of Seattle.

The only thing that I, you know, the money is great. He's totally deserving. He's a rare, unique type of talent who fits Seattle really well. My one problem is with their quarterback situation, I mean, this isn't his fault. I think you're wasting one of those years with their quarterback situation this season. Well, they're trying, yeah, but I agree, but they're also trying to win this year, whether that works or not. To them, I think it's pretty meaningful to win nine games versus five, let's say.

And, you know, D.K. Metcalf needs to be a part of this team either way. He gets to be a free agent when he's 27 again. so it works out great. It's just, I find it interested with these wide receiver contracts. I think people are going to look at a little differently because, man, the market changed. And I think it makes sense, but these contracts that A.J. Brown got, Debo, Samuel's probably going to get an almost identical contract. He has the same agent as D.K. Metcalf and Terry McLaurin. A.J. Brown has that same agent, too.

So that agent is doing quite well this offseason. All these contracts are basically quarterback contracts. I mean, they're making, like, what Ryan Tannahill makes for the Titans. They're getting $30 million sign, but they're quarterback country. And I think that's fine, but it also gets to this other, like, nagging point that's bothered me for many years, which is the whole, like, well, you got to win on the rookie quarterback contract. You got to win on the, you know, it's like, what an advantage? You got to do this.

Well, it's like, no, now these other contracts are also quarterback contracts. And that was sort of the case anyways. What is this huge difference between having 25 or 30 on the books for a receiver and having 35 or 40 on the books for a quarterback? Going back as far as we can, those quarterback contracts were still only taking up 15, 20 percent of your cap. And that's a lot, but you're also wasting tons of money on tons of terrible signings on the rest of the contract. And I think the receiver contracts and these other veterans getting this sort of money points that out. I think you can absolutely win with big time. contracts on whether it's quarterbacks or not.

Sure. Sure. I think sometimes it gets twisted to turn into a hot take that all those people are wrong. But it is harder when you have the quarterback giant salary on the books. It doesn't mean it's impossible. It's like five percent harder, you know, but you have that corner. I don't know if you can quantify that. Not a math major, but I will also say, and you cannot, you can't sleep on what a huge

advantage it is to have the rookie quarterback who's a stud on his rookie contract. Right. My point is like, you can't argue that. Think of the advantage now to have D.K.K. Metcalf on his rookie contract versus this contract. Or when you're a defensive end, think of the advantage of having Aaron Donald when he was on his rookie contract compared to his veteran contract. And all these are just percentages. Like now it's going from just a couple percent of the cap. Corbex make the most, though, right?

Absolutely. But all it is is like 15 percent of a $230 million cap. And there's money being spent well and money spent poorly all throughout the rest of the cap. And it's only a small percentage. You do go, you do get teams, though, because I'm looking at, like, for instance, what the Browns did with the Sean Watson, that two years from now, he counts 55 million against the cap. Miles Garrett counts another 32. They'll change that, though, by the time they get there. That's not, and they've got you, if you add a couple of their other players, too, I mean, you've got a significant portion of your cap tied up in three or four people.

My overarching point is it's harder to find great players than it is to work around the great player's contract, that it's worth the, they're worth the contract. contracts because you can figure out the rest of the roster if you're smart. I just like that you, you know, Greg, you did your debate club in high school and I just, I respect model Congress how you like slipped in a data point there. It's five percent harder. I just threw that. And it's like, oh, shh. Like if you take Greg on his word, it's like, oh, he won the argument.

It's only 5%. All I mean is like, what is D.K. Metcalf even, even now what is he taking up of the cap? It's like, it's 10, 12%. The quarterbacks are taking up 15, 17%. It's still like a... Stop throwing out numbers. You don't know the answers. Great figures.

Yes, Justin. I just think the last year's Super Bowl is a case in point for everything you're talking about. The Rams pay so many huge contracts go win the Super Bowl. On the other side of the field is the Bengals who have all this young talent on rookie contracts. Right. There's multiple ways to win. There's a million ways to do it. But the hardest part, I think, is finding the great players.

That's the hardest part. There's more than one way to see them. skin a cat absolutely i would also point to that even mean the last seahawks super bowl championship and their back-to-backs are bowl run is when they had the rookie quarterback and they could spend out the wazoo for everyone else it's an advantage it's a huge advantage it's not that huge is my five percent you're right you won i forgot speaking there was good news about the seahawks here's bad news about the seahawks jemal adams is seeking a second opinion on a hand injury he doesn't have a timetable on his return to a friend michael shan dard's msd

MSD for the initials. Anyway, surgery is possibly in play here, according to Pete Carroll. Not obviously a very scary situation for the Seahawks, who really, we all know the story about Adams and how much the Seahawks gave up to get him from the Jets, hoping he was going to put them over the top. He's struggled to say healthy, Mark, plain and simple. This has not worked out at all for them.

I mean, Jamal Adams does a lot for your defense, But this is a team that waved goodbye to Bobby Wagner. You've got Quondre Diggs. Jamal Adams, if he's not healthy, not able to get on the field soon. I just look at this deal and say this was viewed by John Schneider, P. Carroll, as the final move to put Seattle over the top and make them a Super Bowl contender again in the NFC. And it has gone completely backwards. It's discouraging.

I mean, speaking of spending cap resources poorly, this is sort of what I'm talking about. The advantage is having a great quarterback, whether it's on a rookie team, deal or even if you have to pay as worth. Like having the great quarterback is the value. Wasting resources in terms of a draft and then contractual resources in Jamal Adams is how you get in a really tough spot. If you make a couple of decisions like that. Yes.

Hear me out on this then. Back to your point. Once Russell got the huge contract, your line, your margin of error gets almost razor thin with how you construct the rest of your roster, especially the big contract you hand out. So Jamal Adams is. a good example of the dangers of building a roster when you already have a huge quarterback contract on the books. Absolutely. I guess my thing is with these rosters, it's just there's so many, like there's 10 big contracts now. Like the cap has really gone up. Seattle's not a great

example of one that has players with huge numbers on the books. But you look at a team like the Chiefs or the Rams, man, they find a way to put five, six, seven of these huge contracts on the same cap and still have a great team. Speaking of bad injury news early, in camp. The Buccaneers might not have their star center Ryan Jensen this season at all. NFL Network Insider Ian Rapp report reported Friday. Per sources that the team is waiting final word as of right now. But the fear is that Jensen has suffered a season ending near knee injury. He suffered it in practice on Thursday. I carded off. It looked bad at the time. We've, Mark, we've done this long enough when this type of ramp up usually tells you

swelling goes down. You get the MRI, and it's a tear in there, and that's the season. Bad news for the Bucks who are already, you know, a lot of transition on their line. So this is amazing, in the pivot, Mark, in the pivot. Yeah, you've got a new left guard. Shack Mason is a very good new right guard. And it looks like someone like Robert Hainsey might step in and play center. You could go out and get someone like J.C. Tredder, who was with the Browns previously.

That's someone that they've mentioned. This was the 14th Beth Center in the league last year, to PFF. And Tom Brady has, you know, at his age, it's been so well protected behind that line. I remember, I mean, we all do at the end of last season heading into the playoffs when they started to have injury issues along that line. Tom Brady was not the same. And this is a major concern. This is like the leader of their line as well. We're going to have more on this later in the show. So hold further thoughts on this. Let's move on. Holden talk. Greg, you took credit for hold in. I like that. That was a bold move on Wednesday show. So here are some

more. Chargers coach Brandon Staley said that Derwin James, their star safety, will sit out practice until his contract is resolved. The same can be said for Steelers wide receiver Deonté Johnson, who also is sitting out team drills. And Deante Johnson might want to get back to practice because I feel like the Steelers, Greg, don't tend to give out a second contract to wide receivers for the most part. But hey, listen, it's a strategy. No, and it's also like one of these, I like Deontay Johnson a lot, but compared to Debo Samuel and Derwin James and D.K. For a few days, that's sort of the level of player that it's been able to pull off these holdens. And it doesn't sound like Deontay Johnson is going to get a contract out of this.

So he's just going to skip a few weeks of practice, most likely, and then just come back to practice. And that's fine. I kind of like, I think it's telling and I like that these teams are handling this in a way where it's not, it doesn't seem like there's hard. feelings here between the suits. Yeah, like, Derwin James is absolutely getting done. With Deonti, you know, like Mark Cabley, the Athletic, who's covered the Steelers Forever, basically said the team does not have any interest in paying him Terry McClorin-type money or anything like that.

So I'm with you. I think it's just like take a couple of weeks off and go probably get your money on the market next off season. Or get franchise tagged. It's a pittance for these players, even though he hasn't gotten a huge deal yet, Johnson. But if he doesn't get a new deal, is he going to have to pay? all the fines for missing? I mean, it comes to the literal cost.

Now, if I had put in the kind of prep that old, new old blue eyes here did, I could have done a search on pro football reference. I would recommend stathead if you're into it. It's like $7.95 a month, but you can do all sorts of great stat searches on pro football reference. And what I would search, and maybe I'll do it here during the show, it's a little complicated. It's like, who has more targets than Deante Johnson over the last two years combined? 144 in 2020, 169 in 2021.

My guess would be he is in the top five in all receivers. Now the production... Can we give Sean Kelly something to do? Yeah. Well, he'd have to be signed in. It's a little complicated. You've got to put the parameters and fewer receptions off those targets. Sean just threw his hands up.

Like, are you kidding me? Combined he's gotten 2,100 yards. He is a productive receiver. He's very good. He's not quite at the McLaurin or just. Debo type of difference maker level, but I love him. I mean, he also, at worst, he's a great number two. I mean, they've had a tough quarterback situation last couple years, too.

Chase Claypool is a guy. I'm interested to see what his season looks like. All right. Recovery news, David Bakhtiari, the great left tackle for the Packers, whose career has been thrown into limbo because of a knee injury, can't seem to get right from. Basically missed all of last year. We learned now that he had another surgery on the same knee recently.

He's out indefinitely. also the Washington commanders, Chase Young coming off that ACL tear. He looks like he will miss the beginning of the regular season. We don't know how much. Same can be said for Michael Gallup, standout wide receiver. The Cowboys likely to miss regular season time.

All, all vitally important players to their respective teams, Gregie. Yeah, it's just the time of year, and it's hard to know which injuries to bring up on the show because we're getting new injury information. Those ones are good ones. Every day. But yeah, these are the three where it's like, okay, If there was hope that Young and Gallup could be back sooner than expected and back for week one, that's not happening.

When they give out the idea this early in the process, it's usually a bad sign and at best you're going to miss a few weeks. And that's really significant. And then Bakhtiari, between him and Elton Jenkins, who's their second best offensive lineman, who's coming off a torn ACL, and potentially those are their two tackles this year. Jenkins has played all sorts of different positions. but that's like a pretty big X factor here with the Packers going into the season. There are two tackles who are the next two best players on the offense, I would argue, two Aaron Rogers along with Aaron Jones here. It's like that that's pretty massive for them heading into the season.

It's like we don't hear that much details about surgery sometimes, but Bakhtiari essentially, it isn't really even the core ACL injury at this point. It's that the first surgery never sat well with him, had to get a second one with young. surgeons, I read surgeons grafted part of his healthy left Patel a tendon to help repair the injured knees. So it's like you're going and taking part of the

tendon and bone or whatever and putting on to the other one. I mean, that does not sound a lot of fun. Doesn't sound great. I do have an update on the target situation. Is it worth heading back? You know, that's like a podcasting question. It's too late now. I have gone back. You're back.

But just like sometimes it's not worth stopping the flow of the show to go back. And now that you have, let's see if we can figure it out. Let's see if we can figure it out. I'm going to say, I feel very confident that Devante Adams is on this list. He's number two.

Yeah, give me top five. Who else? Who else would be, who is constantly targeted in their offense? McLaren? No, he's 10th. Let's see. Amari Cooper? No, he was injured last year, I believe.

All right, let's hear the list. Stefan Diggs, number one. Devonte 2, Cooper Cup 3. And then Deonté Johnson is number 4 in the NFL. Keenan Allen, Tyree Kill, Justin Jefferson are next on the list. But Deonti Johnson is the fourth most target. Very interesting. All right, we don't have Colleen here to sing her Odds and Ends jingle,

but we do have Mark Sessler. So Mark Sessler, pinch hitting, hit it. How does it go odds and ends? Wait for the music cue. He was ready, though. He didn't know that was coming. Odds and ends, odds and ends. I really suck at singing this song.

That was pretty good. You started great. You lost confidence midway through. You shouldn't have lost confidence. I was already ready in my life. I don't know. I think you might have to replace Colleen take. Here we go.

This time, this time for real. Am I supposed to be doing something with the hands? I don't think you could do what Connie does. I don't want to try it. Yeah, go ahead. See yourself. Just the vocals. Odds and ends.

Odds and ends. Odds and ends. Well, it's getting worse. Yeah. She includes a little bit of. She can sing. You started feeling of the flow. I'll just do the Colleen thing

and then you could maybe do it. Here it is. This is what Colleen does more. It's a mess. She's like this. You ready? Odds and ends. Odds and ends.

Everybody get ready for some odds and ends. All right. Yeah, you got the timing. You got to time it up. I think she says tell your friends. Tell your friends. Yes. Okay.

It's a key line. Oh, maybe Greg should do it. All right, do it. Greg. Well, I just got usurped. Odds and ends. Odds and ends. You want to tell your friend with.

It ends. No. Coming up. No, it's not good. All right, let's hit 8 o'clock to light. It's like, how does she end it? Danny. Well, we need Colleen here.

That's what we learned. Danny Amandola has retired. A Ricky Hollywood favorite. Bill Belichick even spoke highly of him in a press carmets. I love Danny. Good player. Long career. Do you remember the video of Danny Amandola's dad, who was a coach,

where that runaway cart was veering over the turf and he got knocked over and taken out? No. He was fine in the end, but it was, one of the more bizarre football videos I've ever seen. Carlos Dunlop is headed to the Chiefs. Eric Armstead is out a few weeks. Kwan Alexander going to the Jets. Speaking of the Jets,

Mackay Beckton and Carl Lawson, off the Pupp list, good signs. Greg. I think it's been a very positive-feeling Jets' pup season. And Quant Alexander played pretty well for the Saints last year. I think that's a nice signing. A little depth signing and the linebacker. All right.

Justin Ross out for the season. Rader starter, Denzel. Good retires. How about that? That's rough for the Raiders, because their line, I think, is their Achilles heel right now. They've got a lot of shifting new faces, and that was someone they were relying on. All right. And finally, Ward slash Conklin on Pupp.

That's Denzel Ward? Denzel Ward foot injury. Tyler Conklin? Jack Conklin. Former Titan, right tackle. Brown's got some questions, I feel like. Not that so much, but on the offensive line, some questions. Playoff, Danny, by the way.

Playoff, Danny. I got to, you know, they don't win that Super Bowl in 2014, which is probably my favorite Patriot Super Bowl when it comes down to it after the first one. You finally gotten off that Fugazi corner when you said that horrible Rams, Pat Super Bowl was your favorite. That was just to bother you. But he was a monster in that comeback against the Ravens in the divisional round and then had a big touchdown and a big game in the Super Bowl against the Seahawks, too.

All right. We need to take one more break and then get to the Seag. do that. We'll be right back with some fearless predictions for October 4th. What's up everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you

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Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL, visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. You all could have been different, Mr. Walker. You should have allowed nature to take its course. In the end, it was. Well, anyway. So let me the fucking house!

Oh, yes, Mark Wahlberg from Fear. Remember Fear? Oh, I saw it in the theater. You know what I thought was always so effective about that movie, 1996, for the zoomers out there. That actually is Mark Wahlberg. Clearly, Mark Wahlberg probably did that to one of his ex-girlfriend's fathers

through a door somewhere in the suburbs of Boston. Yeah, it feels organic. And that is also the same Mark Wahlberg that left the 28th. three Super Bowl early. So it all ties together. See how it's all connected? When you try to make your like public facing profile like as a sports fan,

like that's part of the agenda and then you have a moment like that, it's like it all coming back. Yeah. It all just seems funny. Anyway, fear, fear. Fear is a terrible thing. Fear is a part of human nature. We eschew that.

We fear nothing. We fear. We go where others. is fear to tread. We are fearless. We are making fearless predictions for October 4th, 2022. That is the Tuesday after the conclusion of week four of the NFL season. Does it all make sense? So specific. I like the Tuesday, October 4th. Yeah. A shoe? It's not as chew. So I just looked it up. It offers both both versions. You're saying that it does

haven't heard the C part so hard. I've always said a shoe. I feel like the word has kind of lost its footing. I think they should remove words at some point. Time to bring it back a shoe. Or get rid of it entirely. Just remove from the shoe. That's the right way to say it. What was the one you did?

What were the boats in the... You butchered the boats in Italy. What was that? I don't recall. Yes, you do. I was in Italy when I did this? No, we were at Vegas. Gondolas?

Yeah. Gondola. You called it a gondola. Right. Right. You got to take the L on that one. I'll take the L in S-chew if you take the L in Gondola. I'll do further research on that.

What about Quebec? Well, that got that one. There's another dub for the old sister. No, it was not, though. It was not, depending on where you go. This is riveting stuff here. We'll cut all this out of the show. Let's get into fearless predictions for October 4th.

Get us going, Greg. Okay. I'm going to make a prediction in the form of an actual. piece of writing that's going to go up on nfl.com that week it's going to be written actually by mark sessler so i'm predicting what you're going to write as the new um helmer the new captain of qb index i hope you don't mind that i guess breaking news i was not aware that i um i thought it was a different column or something no it's going to be your your qb index column which mark is taking of the sceptor Yeah, Mark has taken over.

Wes wrote it at one point. I had started back in the mix. I did it last. So it's great. The bar is very hot. It's a family operation. But here it is QB Index. After week four, Mark's writing, Lamar Jackson number two.

This is his profile. Wow, Lamar is up at number two. Through a 2021 season and subsequent offseason of endless storm clouds, waves of chaos and ill fortune, It sounds right. Lamar Jackson never blinked. The renewed emphasis on Lamar's legs and the Ravens running game has overshadowed how big plays with his arm

left the Patriots, Bills, and Bengals looking like soaking schoolchildren who lost their umbrella. The vultors circling around Lamar now resemble bright yellow chickadees with the only foul carcass in the AFC North lying inert to the north in Cleveland. Send that to me.

I will use that. You absolutely should. That would be a little inside joke just between us and the listeners. Yes. We need the Browns to stink. We need that Lamar to come through strong. I guess you could move the ranking around if you didn't feel that. I did see.

It's realistic. We're full on, you know, Lamar, for a guy that's already an MVP, does have a lot of people in the football cognizante who are deep in his corner and will go out of their way to pump him up. Greg's one of them, for example. Like I saw a report, the latest report. Lamar Jackson throwing incredible spirals this summer. It's like, well, fuck, he won MVP.

I think he was already throwing spirals. Well, I kind of didn't in the past. You're right, though, that there's been some offseason hype for the Lamar lovers out there that like he's fine. That like he's really been focused on his passing. He wasn't happy and that he's added 15 pounds of muscle. And it might all be nonsense. But if you're so inclined to believe in Lamar and they really did kind of focus their offseason on, I think, building that running game, that that was more the idea,

that that's going to be the bedrock. I do think they've got a tough schedule early, but it wouldn't surprise me here, Lamar come out of the game so fast. Their wide out group is problematic. Mark Andrews better stay healthy. Put it that way. If he's beaten the Patriots Bills and Bengals. All right.

So that's something I feel like you really want to happen, but do you actually feel it is going to happen? Yeah. I think Lamar and the, I think Lamar is set up. up for an excellent season and the Ravens are set up for an excellent bounceback. And actually, one of those lines in the article, I lifted exactly from a Mark Sessler write-up of the Ravens from last year.

Oh, geez. Well done. Well done. All right. And let me. It was the storm clouds waves of chaos and ill fortune. No one has written waves of chaos on this site other than Mark. Like, if anybody else wrote it, you would be kind of flagged as a plagiarist.

love you buddy i love you also no that was love through um plagiarism i don't care what stu got says i don't i don't think i don't think stu got if he if he were to meet me maybe he would feel differently you know what even just putting my myself in the mind of mark sessler i think opened me up like that line i said they looked like soaking school children who lost their umbrella that was good i should i should use lines like that why did you walk away from qb index there's you know two big um Columns per week is a grind. I got the picks. I've done QB.

I was really happy with how I did it last year. Just the pick. I'm just doing the picks. Nice. And just timing of the week. We've got a lot. We've got more talking to do this season. And so two big columns.

Getting a little worried about power rankings this year. Bringing it back to one. See, you're on one. That's like four columns and one. What if I get like three weeks in and I'm like, this is not for me? Can you get a back to you? A little like four columns and one. Are you okay with that is a lot of work?

Mark, are you worried about maybe that could affect Mark's performance on the show? If QB Index turns into a bear, that would become not Mark's fault, but yours. No, I think Mark is like Lamar right now. He's in the best shape of his life, and he's going to be cranking, at least through week four. I worry more about, yeah, maybe week 13, yes. Wouldn't it in theory I'd be better on the show if I'm doing more and more work? Right, right. I'm going to circle back to Tampa Bay, as I hinted at earlier.

My fearless prediction is that the buck. are going to be, let's say, one and three. Wow. After four weeks, and there will be panic in the streets. And a lot of it does go back to what Mark said about the uncertainty around that offensive line with Ryan Jensen, most likely out for the year. Then you look at the schedule. Schedule makers. NFC South is typically a pretty decent place to be, but it doesn't start out well for the bucks at all.

At Dallas. Tough. 12 and 5 team in their building at New Orleans. Dang, they might be the only NFL team. team that starts with two road games. No respect. And as Mark has wanted to say, the Colts start at Houston at Jacksonville.

Okay. Out right in there, Bunsen burner blow torch. Mark, you love to talk about how the Saints always take it to Tom Brady. So at New Orleans in week two, that building is going to be on fire. Home versus Green Bay, week three, home versus Chiefs in week four. So for a team with a offensive line, very real issue, it's a you could, we're edging into crisis territory now. Ali Marpet retired.

You have Ryan Jensen, as they said, out for the year, most likely. Who else did they lose? Kappa. They lost the guard there. So the three new interior blockers need time to gel. And I think there's going to be a lot. Another fearless prediction here, Mark Wahlberg, through the people, let me in the effing house is a lot of people are going to take that and wrongly put it on Brady and say Brady is getting old finally.

By people, you mean you? Not anymore. Okay. Listen, you own up and you move on. People will think it's Brady because Brady will be struggling statistically and he's going to be getting hit a lot. And they're going to say, well, without a good offensive line and he's another year older, maybe this is the end. Spoiler alert, it is not the end, but it will not begin well. They had trouble a couple years ago when they won the Super Bowl.

They were a little slow out of the gate. I mean, there were different reasons for that. But I can totally see that. That is a rough month of games. That is fearless, though. I'm definitely not on board. To me, the Bucks, despite losing Jensen. And that's a pretty big one.

J.C. Tredder would be a nice pick up. It takes time for a line. Even if they get Tredder, it takes time for a line to gel. To me, who's an upgrade from Kappa. So that's one guard spot. They did draft the second round pick. You know, Brady makes these guys look better. I kind of, I'm buying into that Julio fits in here as like a nice piece.

They just have so many weapons on both sides of the ball. You tell me their record after four weeks. those that's a tough schedule i would probably if i had to pick go three and one wow well they're very much to me to me i think they're in great shape if they're three and one out of the gate here this year to me i would put them in the bills as like the two best rosters and the two teams i think that i'd have the hardest time seen struggling like at any point do you worry at all about todd bulls oh that was the other thing thank you for bringing it up todd bulls like we all talked about we're happy you got another chance who was

kind of behind the eight ball with playing coaching for the Jets but it is that's a big change for the team as well and you just um you wonder if there's just going to be an early season adjustment period and the team will come out eventually but it'll start slow that's what i predict fearlessly and jensen jensen is the guy they prioritized the most in this free agent class where we didn't know who they'd be able to bring back you know they got godwin back but it's like they really put jensen even ahead of carlton davis and some of their other guys that's how important he was to them Mm-hmm. And you mentioned Chris Godwin.

Not healthy early. Not healthy right now either. So he's been cleared for the beginning of camp of that ACL, but it might take some time. Levante David, that harlot, Liz Frank, also an issue. That's tough. So there you go. All right.

How about you? I feel like I nailed that one. Greggs was, eh? All right. What do you mean? Well, Gregs was based on me. So why would that not, why would it be just all right? I'm going more for style over substance here.

Right. I liked, I think it was a good entry point into it. Graver, who's was better out of the first two? That's a tough call. Just be honest, I won't get mad if you feel it's his better. Don't, do not answer this question, Graver, unless it's me. You can't win this. See, here's the thing.

It's like you can hype up a fan base or you can cast doom and gloom over a fan base. And I do feel like Greg's decision to hype up the Ravens might be better taken. Better energy. Yeah. That doesn't mean anything. But when it comes to accuracy. Oh. That's what I'm looking for.

Probably. Who knows? Who knows? We should be fearless in our predictions, though, not pandering to fan bases. Wouldn't you agree as the producer of the show? That's true. That's kind of our bread and butter, right? What was in the write-up by the Guardian?

What did they say what we do? We are ruthless honesty is what we're about. So not just, hey, I'm going to make you feel good. That's true. Stick to the integrity of the fearlessness of the segment. All right, Mark, how about you? All right, let's stay in the NFC South. I thought a lot about this because this came too.

me, and I'm a little concerned. This is not pandering to anyone. This is a different way to do it. Baker Mayfield wins the job in Carolina. Start right there. Things start swimmingly as Baker throws a pair of gutsy fourth quarter touchdowns to slay the Browns in the opener. We all want to see that happen. The offense stumbles from there, though, as the team drops three straight against the Giants, Saints, and Cards. Baker's killer interception against Arizona, which seals the team's tumble in overtime, propels coach Matt Rule to announce that Sam Darnold will start the team's week five tilt against San Francisco.

Rules master plan goes awry, however, when Darnold is sent to the hospital for observation after being overwhelmed by a gang of children. This is all the rage in America right now. You know it is. He might wait for the second one, but he's in with the first one. Go ahead. Child gangs.

Child gangs. It's huge in America right now. They swarm the streets. They fill the malls. They spin havoc at will. Darnold's prognosis is positive No Dwayne Reed is safe No, Donald's prognosis is positive

Those kids just gave him a shiner and stole his clothing But the misadventure allows Baker to step in And register a stunning upset of the Niners And keep the job Darnold doesn't play another snap in 2022 And struggles to live down the reality That he was snowed under by a flock of agitated prepubescent boys and girls

Wow, so this wasn't amazing I mean, first of all, that's what Sessie does That's like you want to know what Hey, Stu Gauts, listen up over here. Yeah, you want to know what Cessie does. He's got the gang of children. Didn't see that coming. And then you went to the end of the season.

So the fearless prediction is now well past week four. Baker keeps the job all year. I like it. I like that you said like it was nothing. The Panthers destroy the Browns in week one like we all want to see. What world are we living in here? I think if you're like the justice angle of like Baker having revenge would be a sweet storyline. I am still not dubious.

but I'm curious what Mark Sessler's headspace is, week one. He's a top 10 football insider. I know that. Where's not going to be week one or the Browns are playing on Sunday? I don't feel much towards them right now. I'm just going to be more agnostic, as they say. You know, Greg, before I swing it back to you, mine is also Panthers related.

Oh, wow. So why don't we just knock them out together here? So much Panthers. Yeah, you know what? We're all about the NFC South, apparently, tonight. There's always a team, always a team that gets out of the gates quickly and then our quickly, you know, reality takes hold. Like the Panthers last year?

Last year it was the Panthers. This year, it's going to be the Panthers. Back-to-back years. Here's how the Panther season begins. I think Mark might have mentioned some of the opponents, but I'll just go over it again. Home against Cleveland at New York. Giants. Home against Saints. Home against Cardinals. Three home games. Yes, some tough games in there, but also Saints and Cardinals in your building. I like James Winston on the road. I never

have fear about that. Who knows what we're getting with the Cardinals. Destroyed him early last year. Yes, that's true. We also don't know what the Cardinals are going to look like. No, DeAndre Hopkins early. The Giants are the Giants. And until they show that they're not the Giants, they're still the Giants. And the Browns are a middling team. We know, even though, No, Deshaun Watson still, we don't have any answer on that. And there was a report today, we won't get one this week either. So at some point, Deshaun Watson's situation will be made clear, but it's not there yet. Anyway, long story short, I don't know who's going to start.

It'll probably be Baker. I think the fans in Carolyn are all about Baker. Well, I've told you that that's the case. Right. Mark's made his fearless prediction. I know Donald badly outplayed Baker day one of camp. Then I believe it's gone the other way. They are splitting reps.

It was Darnold first team day one. It was Baker first team day two, and they're splitting reps day three. So so far, rule is very much playing this right down the middle. And I see, say with a healthy Christian McCaffrey, now that Robbie Anderson has dropped the Y and is now R-O-B-B-I-E, I think that's going to create some positive juice. And I see them starting three and one and people getting pumped up. Well, I like the I-e move for Robbie. He's right. It does look better.

That was his explanation. It's just late in the game to do it. It feels like he's pivoting off of the Darius Leonard. You don't want to be second to the dinner table on that. I think the offseason is so long that you come around on some teams. And I haven't come around on the Panthers mattering. But I do think that they have a lot of professional football players and adding Baker to a much improved offensive line on paper.

I don't think Matt Rule has been a terrible, offense, like, everyone's like, how is this going to fit with Ben McAdoo? It's like, it's a Matt Rule offense. Rockstar, Ben McAdew. I don't think Matt Rule is going down in his career by handing over the keys to his entire offense to Ben McAdoo. It's a Matt Rule system, which gets rid of the ball quickly. Baker's got to learn how to do that.

But I think for the most part has done a good job, like getting the ball, the playmakers. Like, there are a lot of players here. The defense, while they're like statistical rankings who are overinflated, also have a lot of professional players. Their secondary is kind of fun if J.C. Horn is healthy. I don't think this is a good team, but it's one of those teams that it's not that hard to win seven games in the NFL, and they feel very much like a team that can at least win seven games, and sometimes you win three out of the first four to get there.

I mean, the Falcons won 70 years ago. I also say, like, the Panthers were stymied by the loss of Christian McCaffrey again and the worst quarterback play in the league. And to be clear, I do believe they will have a fast start. but I think just like last year, they'll fade. But that's not what these predictions are. We don't know. Right.

I can only tell you that they'll be three and one and I won't be buying in on October 4th. They'll be like, nice start. Nice start. You won't be caught off guard. I will not. And I will also say I'm kind of down. I'm kind of down with this quarterback battle

because, Greg, as you pointed out, we don't have enough of them anymore. I'm just looking at the Charlotte Observer in the past hour. new colon, Sam Darnold led a two-minute touchdown drive and made the throw of training camp thus far. Wasn't enough to win the day against Baker and Mayfield. Oh, I love that. This is great.

This is going to go all through the next few weeks. Baker has been throwing a lot of picks. He's like. Are you new to the system? He's throwing deep. I love this stuff. I love the Gino lock battles. Supposedly Gino had.

That doesn't sound like a battle right now. No, but Gino also supposedly had like the worst possible day two where he was just like fumbling, like snaps over and over. All right. How about another one? All right. This is another preview of NFL.com content on October 5th, is it? Tuesday, week 4th.

Tuesday, October 4th. Power rankings coming in at number 20, the Houston, Texas. And here's the content. The old Zeuser doesn't know what to do with these three-in-one Texans. A one-point win over the Colts and the opener was all about special teams, and it's tough for Dan Zeus to get excited. when they dispatched the moribund bears in week three, and Sunday's win was a classic case of Chargers going to charger.

Still, the old new blue eyes has to admit a fondness for Davis Mills. It is becoming impossible to ignore the eradicable greatness that Kiami Fairbant has given the world after another game winner, especially to Daddy Rich. Do you get a tech boat in there? Oh, shoot. You can just end it with tugboat out tugboat out

I like the style I think you hit some points I didn't even know one of the words That was in both of years I lifted an actual sentence And the eradicable greatness of Kayemi Fairbairn Was an actual quote amazing

I must have just stolen that from someone When he hit a banger Gamewinner I've never used any of my nicknames Inwritten content on NFL.com But otherwise I enjoyed it Quite a bit It would be funny if you did

Well, it'd also be funny because... Stunctained that you haven't. Right. It'd be funny if... Self-contained in the studio. Because that's only one team that you would have used four or five nicknames if you did that for every team. So the Texans at 20. And three and one, and that schedule, okay, but you're not buying in, really, because they're three-in-one.

They barely beat the Colts. It's like, you can see that happening. They got the Bears early, which is a winnable game. They did beat the Chargers last year. Like, there is a route here for them. I do think their team... They're a little like the Panthers to me. I think they're going to be a lot more competitive than people

than they were the last two years, put it that way. All right. That would be a surprise, and that is fearless. A lot of veterans. They're not a young team. They're one of the older teams. They signed a lot of like Jerry Hughes and Mario Addison. And I actually kind of believe in this coaching staff to get these guys to play

respectable football and just be a respectable team and win some games. That's right. They hired to love you, Smith. around the NFL guest yeah he was he was a wonderful he was a wonderful guest enjoyed talking to him he seemed to have a really good perspective about where he was in his career back in February

maybe that's changed since then well that's what David Cully thought a year ago which I hope you know they've got to have a little more consistency there David Culley should have never lost his job but that's neither here nor there I'm tapped out do you have another one Mark I have a couple quick ones okay I kind of struggle to come up with I just wanted to be honest about things that came to me

and these could be able to see this will all happen by week four We will be deluged with a controversy that becomes known as Bountygate 2.0. Oh, no. That's probably. That's going to be annoying. Okay, say, yeah, you got to save some of these for the sandwich props before. Oh, these are different. These are different.

Erica Tamposi will become a national figure of interest when during the Rams, 30 to 22 victory over the Niners on Monday night football in week four, she rips across the field during the third quarter to tackle a burly male streaker. Wow, that would be a great. hero moment. So like security. She's on security for the Rams? She just feels it's in her purview and abilities to take the sky out.

This unclothed man. People would love that. People I think would find that. I think they would. They might find out later that it was all set up previously to make Erica a national figure by Erica's own power. I'm not sure about that one.

This one, I always feel whether things. We'll be at Rams Camp next Friday, by the way. Yes. And we'll see. We'll see her. We'll see her on Mike if she can. Right. She's not busy tackling drunk strangers.

Right, well, no, that will happen to week four. One NFL game will be postponed by week four by either A, an earthquake. I've mentioned that before because I really feel that I'd say one of those things that might be happening a year or two later. Or B, if not an earthquake, a highly unusual weather event involving birds turning on humans. One NFL coach will be fired by week four due to a scandal involving MDMA secret raids. It's just like Sessler's greatest hits right now. We're getting the coach fired through scandal, the natural disaster, the person running on the field. What else do we got?

I nailed it last year. But we got kids attacking people earlier in the episode. Now it's birds. That's happening in our society. You know, the Rolling Stones, they play the hits. They're going to play satisfaction, start me up, give me shelter. Save some for, I guess it's endless. This is the last one.

We're enjoying them, by the way. I understand. Learning to really lean into it. Kyler Murray introduces a new end zone celebration where he pretends to sit on a chair like on an air chair, right? While flipping through a book and screaming, independently study this be a f***ches.

Ooh, I like that. He should do that. He just leans into it. I really liked his yoga pose. I feel like that actually is one of the most underrated touchdown celebrations going the last few years. And if he pivots to something like this, that would be exciting.

You know, it would be kind of cool, too, just to show that he's got more edge now and he's pumped up. He could start in the yoga. pose and then when the camera the fox runs in with the camera guy he like explodes like mark walberg in fear he's like let me in the fucking house the house is the end zone i feel like that the culture reference is a little dated but it might cause some of the again the zoomers out there back what is he what is he referencing all of a sudden fear is number one streaming on

netflix it's good strategy for for netflix apparently the yoga pose was a nod to baby Yoda in Star Wars so I'm sounding like a boomer not really even understanding what the reference was? It was? Dan doesn't understand that I did. Baby yoga? Baby Yoda it was always doing that little pose. Oh yeah, digger.

That's it. Oh yeah, you've got one. He had one I do have one Mark asked me to come up with one when we were doing the text thread on this. Yes, Sean we see you on camera. Mark, you ask for a Titans prediction, but to honor the segment, I honestly, like, fearlessly cannot, I'm distracted by what's happening behind me.

I can't fearlessly predict something about the Titans because it fills me with fear that I'll either be right or wrong. It has to be fear less. It doesn't have to be Titans, let's go. So I have a Colts one, and this tracks with the Houston prediction, too. I say Colts start one and three. First four games at Houston, at Jacksonville, versus Kansas City, and then against the Titans at home.

You know, those division games are always tougher than you think. Houston, Jacksonville. Greg says Houston can beat the Colts. So, you know what's crazy is the Colts have started one and three twice in Frank Reich's four-year career. They're kind of a team that gets better as the season goes on. Do you guys know the last time the Colts won their week one game? Oh, wow. 2009.

Andrew Lux's rookie year. 2013, Andrew Luck's second year in the league. It's been a long time. That's random. But that is true that Reich's, including with Lurke, luck has started slow a few times. And last year, they certainly had to dig out of a hole. You have the 0-3 in the division potentially out of the gate.

I don't know how fearless it is to have a host of a Titans podcast predicting doom for their arch rivals. That doesn't strike me as fearless. That's like me picking on the jets or something like that. Pretty good, though, because nobody, everybody thinks, you know, the Colts were a winning team last year, even as badly as things ended. and a lot of people think they could be, you know, in the driver's seat in that division. Well, they're acting like Jesus has returned with Matt Ryan's play so far.

I believe they are the Vegas favorites. They are the Vegas favorites. Not by a ton, but they are the favorites over the Titans. The implied odds there, if you, like, convert the plus minus whatever to implied odds, it's like 55% for the Colts, 35% for the Titans, which is kind of a big difference. That's pretty disrespectful. Bigger than you'd expect, at least. Good nug there, Grave digger.

Before we sign off, good seg, we're all done, right? Yeah. Developing news here out of Buffalo Bills training camp. Nothing too concerning. Nobody, don't get worried. Bill's fans. But Greg, this is one of your making the leap candidates. Elena Getsenberg reports,

Josh Allen went to the ground after Ed Oliver ended up near his legs on a play. Allen got right back up, but Sean McDermott immediately kicked Oliver off the field. Okay. Do not dive at the kid's legs. Okay. Not that kid. Sounds like everyone's healthy, though. Yes.

Does this concern you, Greg, from making the leap perspective. I was, I thought Ed. In the doghouse, Ed Oliver goes. I thought Ed Oliver was maybe going to get injured during this. So I'm happy that everyone's healthy, but he has learned a lesson the hard way. Do not go near the kid. No, you may. may not keep practicing in 95-degree heat with pads on against other 300-pound men.

You will be punished. Very good. Hey, one last thing before we go. I had an idea. It might be a bad idea. But the good thing about this idea is that if it turns out to be a terrible idea, it will just be something that we won't go on. It won't moving forward.

It will never be brought up again. It's kind of like that segment we did a few. times with Baker Mayfield. Shoot, I wish I had to remember them. What is Craig talking about? You've lost me. Launching him into the sun. No, this off season, we were doing the spotlight, you know, someone's spotlight.

Wait. We could edit all this. I know, but we nailed that. That was a home run sag. I know, but then it went away. We never heard about it. We can't even remember the name right now. What's it called?

Well, you described it so poorly. Yeah, I did. That it was Flashpoint. It was the Flashpoint series. guess. It's going to go away, like, flashpoint focus. Oh, that was a bad segment, Greg? It was such a home run.

You always say the right thing. We just did, like, two of them, and then they were gone never to be heard again. Do you remember that whenever we flashpointed someone, within a fortnight, they were the centerpiece of NFL News? And you don't force it. Right. There wasn't a flashpoint that really came into focus for us,

and the world moves on. But trust me, the flashpoint will be back. Okay, it'll be back. It's never gone anyway. It never went away. Right. It's just waiting. It's like a cobra waiting to strike.

I was just noting that I think it had two appearances and it hasn't been mentioned since. Well, because you kind of took the L because you thought it was going to be a bad sag and then it was a good seg. And then just because we went away from it, you thought, oh, I got the W that's gone. Right. It was a runaway hit from another P. It was like a huge hit. Just go back and listen to all over a crystal ball of sorts. If you're just joining us and came.

This is what I want to do. Listeners. We have an assignment for you, a gravedigger. You can help fill in the details. The Washington commanders, you know, they got a lot of branding work to do because they're not the Redskins anymore. They change their name. They're now the commanders.

Everyone knows the famous fight song, Hale to the Redskins, also now irrelevant. It's defunct. They eschew it. Put that record back on the shelf. Put it on the shelf. Now we still have the music of the song. Which sounds like this. I think this is it?

Yeah, it sounds right. Grape Digger, what are the commanders asking their fans to do? So basically they put out a tweet. They're going to change the lyrics to their fight song, obviously, because the name of the fight song was their old mascot. And they basically just put out two options where they changed the line that used to be hailed to the word. Right. The offensive mascot.

Now they have two other options. Fight for our commanders is one of them, which will be said twice, or leaders on a mission. You got to say in context. Say there are like four lines around it. Hail to the commanders. Hail victory. Fight for our commanders. Fight for old D.C.

Okay, now do the other one. Hail to the commanders. Hail victory. Leaders on a mission. Fight for old D.C. So it's either fight for our commanders or leaders on a mission. I don't know. Neither of those are great options to me.

Why isn't it getting ready to take command? Like, they've been cultivating that for months. We're trying to maybe sometime take a little command. How they lock in as those are the only two options. They both are non-pleasing to the year. Ron Rivera said he liked leaders on a mission. I think that just is strange. I would just repeat commanders a couple of times.

Just take command. Well, I was going to say if the listeners wanted to submit a song with their own lyrics, Maybe it'll be better than what they're trying to get. I think, right, tap into the creative resources of the fan base. Yes, if you get your creative juices flowing, Grave digger, if you could send somewhere, whether it's on Twitter or on the subreditor or whatever, give them the bed music, and then write your own lyrics to the song, stay within it melodically, take it easy with some of the certain things.

Use some discretion because you understand we can't play if you go all in on certain figures. not to protect certain figures, but we can't play things about certain figures if you go too on the nose with it. Does everybody know what I'm talking about? I think so. Well, I believe you're maybe referring to the owner who spent 12 hours being deposed

by the United States Congress on Thursday. I'm just a factual statement. You can include facts, of course. But just stay within reason or we're not going to be able to use it, even if it's tremendous. So keep that in mind. Those are the guardrails.

Listen, you have to operate within the guardrails that we have to operate within if you're going to be on our airwaves but send in something graver is it what's our Gmail the ATN podcast at gmail.com what's going on in that when you go into that mailbox right now

what sort of action's happening? I have never checked it so I would find it again say it again for everyone the ATN podcast at gmail.com now I don't want every song version to include this because then it would be too repetitive but personally I probably will

give a little extra pop if you can seamlessly weave in maybe we're trying to start to... As we all know, excited to really go ahead and start to take command. Yeah, I think it's safe to say. You could somehow work that in a way in a fun way. I'm glad you said it, but also we didn't have to say it.

I hope not because you understand what we're looking for. That's what's important to us. That needs to be a major part of the rebranding. So if you could find a way to work that in, either with that sound drop itself or within the lyrics, those both work. What are they going to do when someone, you know, listening to the show creates a better option than they've offered.

We'll send it. We'll send it along. You never know. If we can, if we feel like we could send it along without getting fired, we will send it along. And if it's just funny, we'll play it on the show. That will be that. That's a great. Unless it goes too far, again, if you go off the guardrails, we'll listen to it privately

and maybe chuckle, but then you won't hear it and the listeners won't hear it. Or it's so good that they make it the song. Right. I'm saying there. So the ceiling is high. This is a team that, frankly, hasn't gotten or deserve much positive media coverage in a while. What a way to change the narrative, then align with us, align with the song. It's a happy, feel-good story.

Why is this the idea coming from our show? This should have been their idea. They need some help sometimes. No. A lot of commanders in Washington, D.C. in the Pentagon. Working in anything Joe Thaisman helps as well. The Pentagon angled, I guess that's where they were going with leaders. If the Pentagon is not in your song, I will not support it.

Give me a break with the Pentagon business. Every time with them, like, lauding the Pentagon. Mark hates the Pentagon. No, it just looks like, the guy, go in a different direction. Listen, I know a lot of unsavory things happen in the Pentagon. It is the home of our defense center, essentially, of this nation and our armed forces. But the fact that you're so defiant about it, it strikes me as funny. And Greg, I know agree.

I'm having a weird day. All right. We'll be back. Big week next week. Connor Orr, Team Slogans will join us Tuesday. And then we're at Rams Camp on Friday. Thank you for listening. We're back.

Till next week, heed the call. Hey, game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies coaching trends and how front offices construct winning rosters we study the tape talk to decision makers and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else it's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on sundance don't miss it listen to the move the sticks podcast on the iHeart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL fantasy football podcast.

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