NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - NFL ATL: Aldon Smith, NFC risers and fallers

Episode Date: April 14, 2014

A room full of heroes -- Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, Marc Sessler and Chris Wesseling -- delves into the biggest headlines from around the league, including the developing story surrounding San Francisco 49ers linebacker Aldon Smith’s arrest.  Elsewhere, the gang continues its “Roster Resets” across the NFL, breaking down which teams have seen their stock improve or diminish in the NFC East and NFC South.Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

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Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. The Around the League podcast supports jogging with friends. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the League podcast. My name is Dan Hanzas, and I'm joined by a room filled with heroes. Chris Wessling, Mark Sessler, and Greg Rosenthal. What up, boys?

Hey, Dan. You forgot to mention the fifth member of the room, which is like a 1992 piece of massive electronic equipment that does some service and was buzzing when we walked in here. And we should not make any jokes about this, and we'll get to that later. But it did not, it felt, it didn't feel safe walking in this room. There was a, as the gold standard behind the glass put it, a low, what did you call it? I think it was a low droning noise. A low droning noise emitting from the machine, but it looks like it's not doing anything anymore. I think we're safe.

Well, I turned it off. Mark disabled it. Oh, you disabled the machine. Which wire did you cut, the red or the blue? I didn't look at the color, but I did that and press a button at the same time. It looks like something out of an early season episode of Lost. And if you're interested In what this device looks like

Because I'm sure you are I did tweet out a picture of it At Dan Hansis All right gentlemen Before we get into anything We need to talk about The box office of Draft Day We had a high octane

Wager on the line Not even a wager Just to the Victor go the spoils Each of us were going to guess The opening weekend of Draft Day starring Kevin Costner And Jennifer Garner And the winner

Would get food and beverages at the expense of the rest of the ATL team. So the gold standard, how are you, by the way? Doing great, thank you. All right, let's go through this because I'm in my hand right now. I have the estimate, it's not official, but these are typically pretty spot on. The estimate, fair to say, Greg?

Things change. Things change. They have the numbers from Friday and Saturday. For now, they're estimating Sunday. Right now, the estimate of the weekend for draft day was 9.7.7. $1.5 million take, which rounds up to $9.8 million take. So our wager was the closest to that figure without going over, gets dinner and drinks. We'll start with Chris Wessling's wager.

And Chris, you picked $22.2 million. Sorry, Wes. Whatever. Wes was never in on this one. The 90s are over, West. Costner no longer a big box office factor. I wouldn't have any idea how much they make in an opening weekend regardless. Wes to this game is like me to win Wes's toaster.

No, this is actually legitimate. All right, Mark Sessler, you said on the opening three-day weekend of Draft Day, $18.8 million. I assume that this was going to be a major. major magnet for like a Friday night date night scenario and a lot of guys did not take women to this that's my draw that's what I take away this movie needed more no more Joe Namath we could have used some more Joe Willie Dan hands us of around the league he picked wow I just that is the first in many times Dan's going to start using the third person

in the next decade I feel like it's only got to increase Dan Hanzas of Around the League, guessed 12.7 million. Wow. So that's 0 for three. And, you know, my point, my point of contention is beautiful weather on the East Coast, obviously always beautiful on the West Coast, kept people outdoors in the fields, in the parks, out of the multiplexes. And that takes us to Greg Rosenthal. It looks like a win for Greg. The three of us all got it wrong.

So Greg Rosenthal. And, of course, $9.8 million is the estimate closest to that figure without going over. Greg Rosenthal, $9.9 million. Wow, that was close, though. Wow. So you're hoping for like you wake up in the morning. There's like a Dewey Beach Truman headline. These are estimates.

That's what I'm saying. There's still a chance. There's three days in the weekend, right? The first president of our lives. Three days in the weekend. Fact or no. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. One of those days is missing.

That's a pretty big part of the estimate. So I'm not so sure. It's not over. That it's over. It's probably over. This is the equivalent here is imagine your fantasy championship. You lose by half a point and you go to sleep and you know your only hope is that they pull a sack off the board for your defense or a pass goes as a last. That's where Greg's at right now.

He's hoping for the lateral. Where did you fathom up that example? It seems to be a lot more relevant than Dewey Beach Truman. Why do you say that much? Because I was telling you this morning that that exact thing happened to me. Oh, you say I'm taking credit for your analogy? There was a night where this is why I think Greg still has hope because real quickly, I went to bed at the end of some football season and the commissioner called me up at like 11, 45 p.m.

After some Monday night game, he's like, it's yours, baby. No, like a low-level, a friend. He's like, the trophy's yours, baby, you want it. I'll bring it over tomorrow. And then I wake up the next morning on some, you know, pre-NFL.com Yahoo system. And they had added a yard to my opponent, Adrian Peterson, give him a yard back on Monday football. I lost the championship by like 0.25. I'm a big fan of at the end of Monday night football or whatever.

Fantasy football scores are done for the week. You're not getting extra points on Thursday. day just because they changed their role. Thank you. Yeah, that's absurd. Sorry, guys. By the way, Dan, you stole that Goodell joke for me this morning, too. You just take it all the material.

This guy is just all over the map. I didn't hear your Goodell joke. I did steal that one from Mark. Well, a lot of people, this draft day thing got a lot of response on Twitter. And look, I was very confident on Friday, and I'm still confident today that it's going to be right on the number. It's going to get adjusted, and we still got a chance. One thing that there's no denying is that Kevin Costner's days as a star are over.

Greg, I know you love box office results, so I'm going to read something to you. Kevin Costner came out with three movies this year. Draft Day, three days to kill, and Jack Ryan Shadow Recruit, their first weekend grosses totaled 37.5 million. Captain America, too, and its second weekend of release made 41.4. Yeah, sorry, Kev. Am I to understand that the plot from Captain America is that a soldier from World War II was thawed out of ice and comes back to avenge something or another? That's Captain America. That's the origin story.

There's millions and millions of people going to see a story about someone thawed out of ice. Ted Williams' son tried this. It's not possible. Wow, it's a little different. I mean, Captain America is a famous comic book. And to put that in perspective, $159 million has been sold. watching that terrible story, and yet Draft Day couldn't crack 10. These people...

It's not good. People were born with malfunctioning willingness to suspend disbelief. We heard some suggestions leading into Draft Day that the power of the NFL is going to raise the profile. I know that's why you bumped up your estimate a little bit. I bought in on that a little bit. But we have reached the end point of the power of the NFL. And it's Kevin Costner's career. It's movies in general.

It just doesn't jump over. Some movie named Oculus had 12 million this year, this weekend. Mark Cuban is a happy man. All right. So with that settled, that means no one gets dinner or drinks unless Greg somehow gets his Tuesday morning fantasy miracle. We'll see what happens with that. Big show today. We're going to continue our roster reset series.

We're going to get Kevin Patrick coming at you on the phone. Today, he got Matt Damon, of course, on Friday, but today we will definitely speak with Kevin. We'll also look at the NFC East with Mark Sessler, who wrote up a very fine piece, which I enjoyed Mark on the Around the League page. We'll go through that as well. Totally didn't read it. I did. I enjoyed it. And I find myself to be more knowledgeable about the NFC's Eastern Division now.

But before any of that, Gold Center, let's do some news. Let's do it. Weird story out of LAX where San Francisco 49ers, that's, you know, term for Los Angeles International Airport for people that aren't from the region. How about that? Throwing it out there. All right, thanks, guys. Correct.

San Francisco 49ers linebacker Alden Smith was charged with a false report of a bomb threat at LAX on Sunday. Smith posted a $20,000 bail and was released Sunday night. and Niners General Manager Trent Balky released the following statement and we are disappointed to learn of the incident today involving Alden Smith as this is a pending legal matter

and we are still gathering the pertinent facts we will have no further comment Alden Smith what's going on sounds like he what he got a little upset because they singled him out and probably said something to the effect of it's not like I have a bomb or anything that's what the police report essentially

says he was quoted in it as saying that he had a bomb. Who knows? But he was the last guy that could really afford to have an off-field issue this year because he's still waiting to hear from the league on potential discipline for his felony charge for guns and arms. And, you know, he also has a contract issue coming up. He's just the last guy that needs another arrest. This is one time when you could say He does have a laundry list of offenses And they're quite varied and colorful Well he also

Missed five games last year Of course because of substance abuse He's had a few things Yeah dry DUI He's had his problems So he has a And correct me if I'm wrong A fifth year option

That the Niners have to decide If they want to pick it up By May 3rd his rookie contract Do you think that it's getting to the point now where there's enough issues in Smith's Pass, and let's separate that from the player where he's a top-rate pass rusher and, you know, a key player on their defense, has it reached the point where you think there's a good chance or a chance at all that the Niners might not pick up that option and start thinking about life after Alden Smith?

I don't. I think the fact that there is an option helps the 49ers. They don't have to worry about going long term now. I'd agree with Wes 100%. I mean, a fifth year, it reduces what would be the gamble of a longer-term deal entirely, and you hold on and see what happens? It's a PR decision, I think, and an ownership type of decision that within weeks of Smith having another off-field incident, and everything that the 49ers have said about, you know, their players off the field have to be held to a certain standard, which Jim Harbaugh has been on the record talking about, whether they want to set. the message just weeks, you know, just minutes, weeks later that, hey, we're going to pick up

this option on his contract for $9.4 million. It basically throws all of that talk out the window. The timing makes it rough. One thing with the option, I think that's important is to know that none of that money is guaranteed. So it really is a PR option. There's almost no downside of picking it up. They could pick up the option and then at the end of this year cut them. It really doesn't make a difference. Interesting report regarding the New York Giants. Dan Graziano of ESPN.com reports that within the Giants front office, there's a question about whether Eli Manning is now a player in decline at age 33.

We know Eli was terrible last year through a career high 27 interceptions. Is it fair to ask two years removed from a Super Bowl that he's on the way down now? It's not only fair to ask. I think you have to ask him. He hasn't played well. I don't know if he's in decline. I tend to think of this as like Brett Farrv around 1999-2000 when his offensive line was gone, his receivers were gone,

his surrounding talent wasn't there. Of course he doesn't look as good. The difference in this case, Brett Farr's one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history, Eli Manning's always been one of the most overrated quarterbacks in NFL history. So Eli Manning isn't really in decline. He's just playing like Eli Manning with no surrounding talent. I agree on that point that the idea that Eli was ever some type of great all-time talent, which he wasn't. He's had some all-time playoff runs.

So when his play declines a bit, all of a sudden his numbers don't look good at all. But, you know, I also look at the bloodlines and I see that his brother, Peyton Manning, who's obviously a superior quarterback, still plays in an elite physical level at age 38, I guess it is now. So I don't think that Eli physically is breaking down or anything like that. I kind of side with you, Wes. Well, I think it has a lot to do with how good Hakeem Nix was two or three years ago. I think he was the key to that offense, not Eli Manning. Eli Manning's gotten a pass. I mean, he threw 27 interceptions last year in 18 touchdowns.

He was well below average in yards per attempt. It was his worst yards per attempt in six seasons. Of course, he was in decline last year. It was terrible. Any other quarterback that doesn't have a couple rings that were mostly because of the defense anyways would be getting killed. He'd be on a year-to-year basis. And it's also you've got the ankle surgery coming fresh off that,

and it's a team that hasn't had to be concerned about having a backup quarterback to do anything, essentially in a decade-plus. And they have nothing behind him, and they were going to bring in Freeman, and they have Ryan Nassib who essentially we know nothing about. It's like, yeah, you've got to plan for the future. And if Manning goes down, there's nothing behind it. But also, how long is this guy really going to play? We don't know.

I guess the question, the bigger question then is this, was the 2013 season the beginning of the end for Manning. And I tend to think that if they build a better team around him, he still has good seasons left. So I don't think he's a player that's going down. But if he does have another year like he did last year, then you have to do something.

He's going to be turning 33. He's got two years left on his contract. They have not approached him about redoing his deal. And why would they? With two years left, they can see what happens this year. Next year at this time, they're going to have to make some decisions about possibly drafting someone, but they'll see if he bounces back.

But what's the upside? I mean, at best he's going to bounce back to the 12th best quarterback in the league. I don't think he's ever going to be that top five type of guy. Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton has been to the playoffs in each of his first three seasons in the league. Of course, he's been bounced out of the playoffs in the first game in each of those years and also not played well in any of those games. and now new offensive coordinator Hugh Jackson acknowledged this week or last week

that Dalton has to start playing better when the games matter the most. Here's the quote from Jackson. Obviously, that's the hump that we're trying to get over and I think the guy has the makeup to do it. Wes, you are our expert in all matters regarding Andy Dalton. You did invent or at least popularize the Dalton scale. Your thoughts?

I think, I thought it was interesting that Hugh Jackson, I mean, obviously he hasn't played well in big games, Bengals had kind of, like, avoided talking about that. Hugh Jackson isn't avoiding it, and he also said he's basically going to tear down Andy Dalton his mechanics from the ground up, like he's going to change his footwork, how he takes the ball from the center, his arm, he's going to change everything about Andy Dalton and just attempt to remake him getting rid of, I guess, Jay Gruden's influence, I don't know. I think Jackson has the chance when we were in December and we look back and say, what

coordinator came in and really, really turned the volume up on a team. I think Jackson has a good chance to do that. He's proven to be a great play caller. I think of the year when he was in Oakland and he had parts around Jason Campbell and he turned what we know is a very vanilla quarterback into before he got hurt. He was quite effective. He ran that offense well. Dalton, I think you take some of the stress off of Dalton have to make these key throws. You use that running game and it's a guy, he's for better or worse. is a game manager. People can come at you with all the stats they want about how many touchdowns he's thrown and stuff. It's not a guy that if you center the attack around him,

it's going to work. It just doesn't work. We heard a week or so back that the Eagles were reportedly looking to acquire Dionne Jordan from the Miami Dolphins, the 2013 number three overall pick. Now we have another report from CSN Philly's Jeff Mosher on Monday that the team reached out to the bills in the hopes of trading for Buffalo's explosive running. running back, C.J. Spiller, after the bills said they weren't interested, the Eagles then and completed a deal to land Darren Sproul's. Interesting bit of info there, Greg. I like the Eagles keep doing the Fantasy League move where they're just trying to get trade everyone. Why not ask the bills for C.J. Spiller? That would be fun.

I think it tells me that they, you know, this whole Deshaun Jackson thing, that they were looking for a way to replace touches and explosiveness far before he was out the door. Yeah, I think that's the most interesting part of it. It sounded like the bills basically hung up on him and said, no, we're not trading Spiller, who is entering his walk year. So I can see why the Eagles would pull that move and say, hey, we want this guy. Maybe you don't want to re-sign him.

I think it makes a lot of sense for the bills to hang on to Spiller. Last year, I feel like it was kind of a washout because that ankle injury that never got right. But if you remember what he was doing in 2012 and he's still a young guy, I still think he's the future there. as a centerpiece of their offense. All right. There are several teams at the top of the upcoming NFL draft that are in dire need of quarterback help.

But according to Peter King of Monday morning quarterback, there are at least four teams with questions under center and the teams are the Texans, the Jaguars, the Browns, and Raiders that are, quote, strongly considering passing on a signal caller in the first round. Could look to the second and third round to get their quarterbacks. Who knows what to believe at this point of the year right now, Is that possible that these teams that need quarterbacks would not draft a quarterback?

I think they're going to draft them. It's just when. And at some point, we're going to hear every possible iteration of what's going to happen in the top 10 from someone. So that could happen. But this one makes sense. I don't think any of these guys are the type of quarterbacks that we know teams are going to fall in love with. I have a hard time believing all of them would fall out of the top 10, especially Oakland. If Oakland could pick their quarterback, it's hard for me.

me to believe that they wouldn't take someone. It makes me think of 2011 when Jake Locker, Gabbert, and Christian Ponder all got overpicked, I think, where they were. And two of those three teams, at least, have paid the price for that big time. And, you know, this talent, this draft is considered so talent-rich that I think that front officers are thinking, listen, we can't just, we have to go with the player that can help our team the most versus reaching for a quarterback win. There isn't much difference between some of these guys talked about one, two, and three.

And four, five, and six you can get in the second, third round. I think it's a problem specifically with this draft and where all the teams are located in the draft and how talented this draft is. So it's a lot of things coming together. There's so much talent that it's hard to pass up these guys in the top ten. And all the teams that need quarterbacks happen to be in the top ten. If a few of them were 11 to 20, then you could stomach it a little differently. But when you're passing up guys that you're really in love with,

uh jadavian clowny obviously is the most obvious example but the tackles uh sammy walkins whoever it's hard to make the case that we're going to pass on these guys it's odd that we're always told that these uh private workouts and pro days don't mean as much not to pay as much attention that the game film means everything right by november and december teddy bridgewater was the consensus top quarterback now everybody's talking about him falling out of the first round altogether it just seems odd to me that people would forget everything they saw during the season and then worry about the ball not coming out of his arm not great during his pro day. I don't know. I feel like Gino Smith had a similar situation last year where

there was a time during the college football season or right after it ended where he was seen as first round lock and the best quarterback and then things started to slowly chip away from that veneers being a top level guy and now Bridgewater is going through the same thing. I can't wait until early May when out of nowhere this Tom Savage guy goes number one to the Texans. My impression of Bridgewater and none of us are draft experts is that I don't buy the fact that he's going to fall this far because Gino I think is a little more like Brady Quinn and Aaron Rogers at least for how that year worked in that I think just draft experts

and people talking on TV didn't know what they were talking about in terms of ranking him as a top five guy. I don't think he was ever that guy. Gino probably was never really viewed in the NFL as that guy. Woodwater seems like he's got everything that you would want in the top quarterback, which is why it's hard to imagine him really slipping. All right, gentlemen. Let's move on with our roster reset series. It is time to hit the NFC East, which, of course,

Philadelphia Eagles are the reigning NFC East champions, and they still seem to be the best team on paper, but the Washington Redskins recently made a big splash that might have changed that a little bit. Mark Sessler wrote up our great piece on NFL.com. Mark? I actually put the Giants number one in terms of the team that improved themselves most because the Redskins, as Washington is wont to do, went out and spent a lot of money on a lot of, I think some, they added some more middle-tier talent.

But for me, what I thought was the most comprehensive positional upgrade was New York refurbishing their entire secondary by adding Dominique Rogers Carmardi. I love the addition of Walter Thurman. We talked about that. In a division where you've got to deal with Chip Kelly's offense, you've got to deal with RG3 and the skins that now have Deshaun and Tony Romo consistent quarterbacking. New York went out and patched up their secondary

and has a chance to do that. They still have some holes. All these teams outside of Philly to me seem to have some real weak spots too. Well, all right, so let's stick with the Giants. So what do you think, so their secondaries a lot better? Hakeem Nix is gone. What's next for them? Like, what do you see that they need

or something that will be taken care of in the near future? It's like Wes hit on before. When they had Hakeem Nix playing the way at his optimal quality, it affected Eli Manning positive. It helped Victor Cruz be more the kind of wide receiver they want him to be. They're missing that guy right now.

They have a, you know, Coughlin likes Ruben Randall, but we haven't seen Ruben Randall really shift into that role. And I think they're missing a wide receiver. I think they don't have a lot of talent in terms of a pass-catching tight end. So that's why I think this report of Eli Manning is concerning because I don't see prospects of him really improving

with what they have there at the moment. This is a sea change for the Giants. You know, Jerry Reese has said publicly, we're in a win-now type of position. This is usually a relatively patient team, and they've signed more people from other rosters than any other team in the league. You're right.

But I was a little surprised you had them as the most improved. Then again, I don't know who I would. put above them because I'm not sure they've signed a lot of guys but I'm not sure if they've improved that much. They didn't sign a lot of guys that get me excited and if you think about the players that they lost, a lot of people that were valuable for them, Justin Tuck, Linval Joseph, Hakeem Nix, even though he had his ups and down, certainly down last year, Kevin Booth, these are guys that played a lot for them so they had to replace them. I think for me I struggled to say there's a clear cut one team that really did the most work because you know,

Immediately it's like, oh, it's Washington. They added Deshaun Jackson, and I like what they did on defense in terms of adding Jason Hatcher. But honestly, Washington signed a bunch of blah prospects as well. And they went on and added a ton of guys, too. I think the Redskins are not just the most improved team in the NFC East than the most improved team in the NFL. Hoosah! And what's the other, I mean, Sean McVeigh for an offensive line? The receivers weren't good beyond Pierre Gerson last year.

they added Deshawn Jackson, one of the top 10 statistical receivers in the NFL last year. Andre Roberts, who was one of my favorite signings in free agency. Jason Hatcher, all pro-level defensive tackle last year, not just a small guy. Like, the Giants signed a lot of role players. My problem with Washington, and the reason... Hold on. Look at the Redskins. Look at their departures.

The Giants lost a lot of guys. The Redskins lost Josh Wilson and Darrell Tap. They actually gained from that. Actually, you forgot about J.D. Walton. Come on, Wes. They gained him. Didn't they? My problem with Washington in terms of being an improved team is that their defense was at such a disastrous level last year that outside of Hatcher, I don't see much added that changes the landscape there.

Philip Thomas, a guy they drafted last year coming back at safety. He wasn't able to play last year because of injury. They had Ryan Clark. They had some role players. They had some role players like Darrell Sharpton, who, if he's healthy, can be. being upgraded inside linebacker for them. I just, I think they're improved in a lot of areas. Do you think that his teammates call him Reverend Darrell Sharpton?

But no, but seriously, isn't there a little bit of stink with free agent signings with the Wedskins that you always expect something's going to go terribly wrong? And they really opened up the piggy bank and they brought in all these guys, but there's no guarantee that's all going to jive and create a playoff contender. I love Roberts, but the second they signed Hatcher for a lot of money in that first year, I mean, they're paying a guy with some injury problems that's up there in years. I immediately thought, oh, well, the Redskins signed him, so this is not going to go well. And, Mark, we have not talked about the Cowboys yet.

So what's going on with them? They didn't seem to be very active at all. Well, you know, it's been tough for us to write about teams that just don't go out and do too much, but they didn't have a lot of money. Obviously, they lost DeMarcus Ware. They lost Hatcher. That's two major game-changing defensive forces off your defense right there. I'll ask this to the whole group.

How big a loss is DeMarcus Ware in 2014? Is that a devastating blow to their defense, or is it, you know, they'll survive, they'll draft and find somebody to build in that role? I would answer it this way. It's a devastating blow to what they thought their defense could be. It's not a devastating defense to what their defense was last year because he didn't play that much. Yeah, but the best part of their team two years ago was Spencer, Ware, and Hatcher,

and none of them are there anymore. Yeah. And you're counting on Sean Lee that, yeah, I love Sean Lee, but is he a guy who can play 16 games? They're also counting on Henry Milton, who's coming off in injury. So questions there, too. So I don't think they lost much when it came to Hatcher. I like Mel.

I'd rather have Melton than Hatcher, especially at that money. He's younger. He's had just as high a ceiling, if not higher. Scientists squabble. Two years ago. Henry Meltin will never have a year as good as Jason Hatcher had last year. He did a couple years ago. Not even close.

Mark, watch after flying beakers. Hatcher was dominant last year. I mean, just like one of the best, he was your mid-season right now. I know, I loved him. I loved him, and he was dominant for about 10 games. He wasn't unbelievable down the stretch. 12 sacks for a defensive tackle. Yeah?

That's crazy. I just can't believe we went through this whole roster reset so far. We haven't even brought up Colt McCoy. Not sure that really landed on anyone's radar. That's the game changer of Washington. Oh, RG3 goes down with a week one injury. Sessler probably will have a Sessler, that and in comes colt mccoy he's going to leapfrog kirk cousin yo yeah forget cousins

the weakest sister ever right there and you're not even talking about the biggest signing of backup quarterbacks in the nfc east what about mr brandon weed i don't think he'll be on the roster come the cowboys don't typically hold three quarterbacks in the active roster and the whole thing was that orton might not come back and he's coming back from what we know name an illegitimate son after brandy leader illegitimate son no I don't think so I think you're confusing me with potentially Wesleyan or someone else

The NFC East used to be the power division It's you know these teams with great traditions that have played Now it's the division where failed Brown's Quarterbacks go to die Or live Stay positive

You are a factory of sadness All right fellas let's keep moving And now we get Kevin Patcher on the phone And we're going to talk some NFC Rastor Reset. Kevin Patra? What's going on, fellas? It's finally warm outside. What's going on?

By the way, I wondered on Friday's podcast if you have ever been in a fight. Have I ever been in a fight? Yeah, I think that you have. You're a man of bronze. Yeah, I'm not going to go in any details, but I've been in more than one. Let's just put it that way. Frankis. If we're a hockey team, Kevin will be our goon.

The enforcer. Yeah, for sure. How did she do against you? How did she do? Oh, wow, Hudson Burner, flow torch material. You know, she got a good punch in. All right, so Rasta Reset, NFC, South. You know, tell us a little bit about the division.

What are you thinking right now, Kevin? Well, I mean, if you look at my rankings, how I ranked their off-season, the exact opposite of how they finish this season. Interesting. Exactly. Well, almost exact opposite. The Falcons and the Bucks were right together. But I thought the Buccaneers, Lovie Smith, kind of funny how he came in and he praised everybody, Mike Lennon, you know, a good young quarterback. You know, we can find a place for Dorel Revis. And then he cuts Dorel Revis and signs Josh McCown as his starting quarterback this year. And they just read it, though, you know, they added a lot of pieces to a pretty good already solid roster, especially on defense.

adding Michael Johnson, I think, was big and revamping the offensive line. So I think they're the ones that made the most improvement now that whether that gets them to the top of division, I'm not willing to give them that yet. I have a feeling because of this movement and because of the talent that was there and made Mark Sessler fall in love with them a year ago, I remember.

Yes. This is going to be a trendy team. I think you've got to look for some teams to make the playoffs that weren't there a year ago. I could see some people picking the Buccaneers. Absolutely. The one concern I have is the quarterback situation. Lovie Smith has never been a great – he's never had a great quarterback play on his team.

And Josh McCown is a good fill-in for now. Is he the future? No, I don't think so. Actually, they've admitted that he's not obviously at 35 years old. But I'm worried that with Vincent Jackson being the only main target in a bunch of number three and fours, is if they don't have a number two, Josh McCown lived last year in Chicago, So off throwing it up to Alshan Jeffrey and then Brennan Marshall being there as well. And he doesn't have that.

So will he have the same success? I don't see it right now. The biggest story for the Bucks was releasing Dorel Revis. Do you think they did a good job replacing him? I think Alchram Berner was solid. I was loving him all last year. I think he fits perfectly into that system. It becomes much cheaper.

They were allowed to do a few other things. So I think at the end of the day, while it wasn't a good PR move, on the field, I think with the way that Lovie wants to play, I think it was a good swap. You know, new regimes often make a lot of changes, and the Buccaneers made more changes than any team in the league. They added

the most players from other rosters, so it's got to be a lot for them to deal with, a totally new defensive system. It's tough to add all those pieces right away and make it work. Mark Dominic deserves credit for their ability to make all those moves. He left

them in very good salary cap shape. as opposed to the Raiders situation where Reggie McKenzie came in and had his hands tied. How about the Atlanta Falcons? What did you see there? You say they improved the line. I just wanted to point out that West in this conversation still couldn't help but bash the Raiders. Part of every program. Actually, that's a defense of Reggie McKinsey.

I know, but at the same time. As far as the Falcons go, I think we talked about a lot. They got a lot tougher up front. Paul Soye immediately upgrades the run defense, adding Tyson Jackson, re-signing Babineau. I think they become more multiple. I still think they need to add a young outside pass rusher, but they become much tougher, which is something that Arthur Blank spoke about this week, how that that was clearly one of their points of emphasis.

I think adding out some more on the offensive line is a step. I still think they need to get offensive tackler to help keep Matt Ryan upright. But I liked what they did up front on both lines. if they pick up Jake Matthews or Greg Robinson in the first round move Sam Baker to right tackle and then get an edge rusher in the second round this could be one of the most improved teams in the NFL

they've really plugged a lot of their holes and are getting much tougher which they needed to do they still have a lot of the same pieces that have won a lot of games we did a post on Friday looking at what teams have been the most stable since 2011, what players that were on the 2011 roster are still there in 2014. And the Falcons were still near the top of list.

Despite all the changes this year, they were in the top five because they have a group of guys that they drafted and developed that have won a lot of games. So you're right. They're in position to bounce back right away. What's the biggest need there? I look at free safety. I mean, they don't really have anybody. They cut Thomas Day coup.

They swung and missed on Raphael Bush. who the Saints match the offer sheet there. They really don't have anybody in the back end. That's something else they'll probably have to address in the draft. And you also think the offensive tackle, they need an upgrade there. Right. Absolutely. Exactly what was –

West said, I think it makes perfect sense if they stick at number six. All right. How about the Saints? Well, I think – I mean, considering their lack of cap space and the Jimmy Graham situation, which still has to finish playing out, I mean, I think they made what I consider the best move, the best signing, especially in this division, with Gyrus Bird. I think that he will change that way that Rob Ryan can play that defense,

and I think he's a huge upgrade, and I think Champ Bailey adds another element at cornerback. How did you say that free agent name? We're still getting them wrong after all this time. We should know by now. Jarus Byrd. Those are also acceptable. What about Champ Bailey adding him to that secondary?

Absolutely. I think that that adds the upgrade the cornerback position. They still need to the third one. I think he still has some play left in him. They're not going to play him at safety, but I still think he does have a year or two left in his legs. Maybe. He's very old at this point, coming off a bad foot injury.

Well, they've talked about playing. Yeah, well, listen, it's all relative. Maybe not being asked to go out athletically on a field, but they've talked about playing a lot of three safety, which they did early last year, to some success. And this is a team that's had a ton of turnover

over the last three years. Among teams that have had the most amount of turnover since 2011, they're one of the most winning teams. Despite having very little carryover on defense, they've had three defensive coordinators in four years. They've gotten rid of

so many of the players that have won the Super Bowl for them. They cut a number of players this year. You think of the Saints as a stable franchise because they've had the same GM, the same coach, the same quarterback, but this has been a roster completely in flux over the last few years. They needed that roster churn.

Yeah. They were getting so old at wide receiver and their defense is a lot tougher now. And they stuck with a lot of those same offensive pieces for a long time and they need to start finding the next Marcus Colston's. They found these guys in the next Lance Moors

and Jiree Evans and all these homegrown prospects that they really got in 2006-2007 they haven't had those guys coming through the pipeline And who's the next Darren Sproul's? I know he's not a homegrown product but he was a guy that did a lot, helped them a lot, now he's with the Eagles.

Traveris Cadet? There is no next Darren Sprouls. How about Cadet? Patrick, I know you're a fan. Why not? I do, but I think he hasn't really proven anything at this point. I'm not sure that Sean Payton has the same face.

at this point that he did and being able to line up there and scrolls anywhere around the So potential another draft need for the team Let's move on to the Carolina Panthers finally I think everyone is kind of in the same boat A little down on the franchise It's been a tough off season after last year's 12 and 4

You say they took a step back Yeah I think I mean with When they franchise Greg Hardy I think that signaled What Gettleman was going to do And that he was going to go cheap everywhere else they do have one of the best front sevens in the NFL and losing a couple pieces on the back end, I think that they're just going to plan on

rushing the passer and running the ball, and that's what their plan is next year as he gets their cap space in order. I think personally that losing Jordan Gross, which they have not replaced yet, and if their plan is to replace them with a mid-to-late round, first-round pick, I just don't see that helping Cam Newton, especially coming off ankle surgery. I feel like Gettlement, you talk about McKenzie, who inherited a nightmare, in terms of the books. Gettelman has had to come in and be like the Harvey Kytel in Pulp Fiction.

I mean, he's done a good job, but he keeps preaching the same message. You're not going to like what I have to do, but I have to do it. I can't spend money on these guys. We don't have it. Or how about Michael Clayton, the George Clooney movie, the fixer. He comes in, he fixes the dirty problems. I like both analogies, fellas. I went with the common man.

Greg went with like the semi-arthouse film. That was nominated for Best Picture. I go with the person that got into. a Mazda Miata with Julia Sweeney. That would be the wolf. All right. Nailed it. Poor Patra.

Home run. Patra, tell us more. So who... Let's get me out of this. Help me. Let me throw an off-the-wall suggestion at you. So Ron Rivera has come out with this money ball, as West wrote about a couple weeks ago, money-ball idea where they only need to replace 10 catches a game.

So what if Gettlement and Rivera look around the league, And with the CBA, nobody tackles anymore. They can't practice, so they don't practice tackling, especially the start of the season, tackling is awful. And they just decide, you know what, we're just going to run the ball 45 times a game, and we're just going to go back, split veers, bring it out, old school football, and we're just going to run the ball because none of these teams can tackle. What would happen?

They win three games? Yeah, I don't think they don't have the offensive line, and they don't have... I'm not saying I agree with that. I'm just saying... Sounds like the last year's chargers down the stretch. I don't think the 16. Nebraska game plan is going to work in the NFL. It would work, and it's definitely not going to work with DeAngelo Williams and

Jonathan Stewart, who are good but not great at this point, and they're banged up, and a bunch of offensive linemen that have retired. Kevin Patrick. Like I said, I was just off-the-wall idea. He's throwing it out there. Just spit the mess on. Anything else before we get out of here, Kevin? What do you want to know?

I want to know. I know why you feel like you must raise your fists? Why can't you solve it with your mind? and your mouth. Why are you angry? I'm angry? It's not your fault, Kevin. It's not your fault.

There's a good Billy Joel song from like 1976, angry young man. You should listen to that. All right, I'll do that. You are the young gun of the ATL team, so we're just trying to give you some Big Brother type advice right now. And if you haven't given another fight,

we'll be there for you. Okay. Really? Yeah. I got your back. I don't get into fights anymore because before, you know, it's funny the next day. Now you get, I'd have to go to jail.

I feel like we're sending a mixed message now. It's like, don't fight, Kevin, but if you do, we got your back, buddy. That's what brothers do. That's fair. Can we expense that trip if we have to fly out there? I can't afford that on my own money. You're going to have to check or try it. They won't let you put it in the plane. All right, Kevin. Thank you for all that info. It was beautiful. All right, fellas. All right. Thank you to Kevin. Patrick. You know, Patrick could be the guy if calling back to an earlier news story today. The ATL member, we were talking, talking about this downstairs, most likely to kind of fly off the handle in a big public setting.

You know, think Michael Douglas and falling down, that type of public meltdown where just the world is against you. And now it's time to fight back in a way. Some men just want to watch the world burn. Patra. Patra, you know, we know he has a fighting history. He might be that guy. It's got a tension of burning inside him. Especially when he discovers that not able to be here and defend himself, we selected him for that role.

One last thing before we go. There was an angry Bon Jovi fan of the podcast that reached out to both the ATL page and to my Twitter account. I felt like maybe the Bon Jovi thing, it got a little personal. Do we really hate Bon Jovi? I don't think Bon Jovi fans are really our target audience. See, I think our target, I'll take whoever wants to listen. Hate him? Did we say we hated him?

Not on any level do we hate. It's skewed negative. And when I listen back, it was like, this skews a little negative. Well, they put out crappy music. Yeah. Well, it's just an opinion. I will throw two out there. Midnight and Chelsea, great naps, they're fine back in 99 off John Bon Jovi's solo album.

That's about 12th on the list of songs with Chelsea in the title. And always the ballad, power ballad, crucial slow dance, Pearl River High School, Homecoming, 94. We can't please everyone, Dan. You know, you want to get to the top. We might have to ruffle some feathers along. the way. Maybe a Bon Jovi fan or two will get outraged. I'm just saying there's so many worse fans than Bon Jovi. I'm not

even a Bon Jovi fan, but I'm just, you know, because Bon Jovi doesn't have enough going for him. I'd agree with that. All right, whatever. We'll be back on Wednesday. We'll finish out the divisions of roster reset on Wednesday and, you know, of course, talk about the NFL news and any draft news coming up. We're going to start getting more plugged into that scene as that

approaches. Until then, this is Dan Hanzas signing off. The Mailman, the Sizzler, the boss, and the gold standard behind the glass. See you. Oh, Wes, what are you doing here? Hey, hey, everybody. Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Six, we take you inside the...

game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies coaching trends and how front offices construct winning rosters we study the tape talk to decision makers and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else it's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on 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 F. 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.

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