NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - NFL’s Best-Kept Secrets

Episode Date: May 31, 2016

A room full of heroes -- Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, Chris Wesseling and Marc Sessler – break down the latest news from the NFL including the Pro Bowl moving to Orlando and Rob Ryan’s comments on his time in New Orleans. Then the heroes discuss some of the best-kept secrets in the NFL and share which players are poised to have a break-out 2016.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. Before your show, this is Alex Gellar from the Fantasy Live podcast, telling you to check out our latest episode where we're joined by special guest Liz Loza of Yahoo Sports to talk sleepers and busts for the 2016 fantasy season. Check out the episode on NFL.com slash podcasts, iTunes, or your favorite podcast app. Now enjoy your show. The Around the NFL podcast is familiar with the human resources department. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast.

My name is Dan Hansis. And I am joined by a room filled with heroes. Mark Sessler, Chris Wessling, and Greg Rosenthal. What's up, boys? Hey, Dan. Welcome back, Mark. Thank you. Thank you.

Your long journey into the wilderness. Wilderness came to an end on Monday, actually, when you returned to work. But in the time away, you were a little bit off the grid. It's the one week you have to ignore Twitter. There was like a heavy collection of volatile tweets about Connor or on the podcast. So I've got to go back and listen to whatever happened there. But I'm not just talking about social media. I mean, Playboy was off the grid.

Life. Tell us a little bit about it because you happened to drop it. I'll just get us going that way. before an NFL now video hit this morning that you picked up a hitchhiker on the way to a mountain, which has not been done since 1974. Well, this is great because Dan made a joke

what, you know, you're picking up vagrants off the street and you were like, well, actually, I did pick up a hitchhiker. Like, he nailed it before you even said it. Well, you guys were categorizing the person site that's seen as some sort of hobo slash drifter. The way you described her, it sounded like she had a bindle stick over her shoulder. Well, it was, I was driving up to Big Barron. If you don't live in California, it's basically about two hours away from Los Angeles,

and you've got to go up these windy mountains to get to this little town. Think it's shining. Yeah, there's a ton of pullovers, and I pulled over, and I saw this older woman, like, far away, walking up the street or this highway with a bunch of carrying a bunch of stuff, and she seemed tired. And so I just asked her, do you need, like, a ride? I was really close to Big Bear itself, and she said, yes, would you mind? And so she got in, I drove her about a mile.

She had to walk a mile and a half uphill to her little home. Why was she in these dire straits? I don't, she sounded like she got dropped off by some mountain bus. I don't know. I didn't get the full story. Did you get any idea that it was perhaps a felon and heavy prosthetic? No, she did not have a felon vibe to her. She was like a homeowner who was probably like early 70s.

Not a dangerous character. I'm not saying it was like your main reason for picking up, but was there a 5% part of you that when you came picking up, you're like, well, this could make the day? more interesting. It's more like, let's say she were at the end of her life and she would say, who am I putting in my will? Maybe this guy would be someone

that I'd secretly drop like $300,000 on down the road for helping me. When you dropped her off, did she tell you to make sure whenever you get to your final destination to tell the people that Large Marge sent him? Very little conversation. She did not

speak a lot of English, though. Basically, what I'm saying is I'm thankful you're alive because first of all, it's illegal, I think, did. We won't report it to the authorities. I don't think you could pick up hitchhikers anymore. I think that's because what happened was in like the 70s. Maybe we should get familiar with the HR department again. Back in the 50s and earlier, decades earlier, it was very normal to go hitchhiking. But then people started getting iced on the regular between the Manson family killed hitchhiking.

And you should know that better than anyone, Mark. I know, but I think part of anyone who's going to pick up a hitchhiker, you want to use your judgment and she seems safe. and I was correct. That's what a lot of people said who were killed at the hands of Ted Bundy. Please don't make a habit of it. That's all, Mark. I don't want you to perish. I'll use my judgment.

I know what our Twitter quote's going to be for this show, though. People were getting iced on the regular. Ash, Dan Hansa. Who is not clicking on that? That's true. All right, this is, so welcome back, Mark, and safe and sound back in Studio 66, and we're happy to have you back today. Nice show.

Nice show coming up. We have a lot of news to catch up on. There's not a lot of news going on. in the NFL, and shockingly, and much to Mark's great relief, usually Memorial Day weekend. We have about 17 DUIs to talk about, maybe a club assault, you know, somebody goes missing. Everything was pretty much even keel this weekend on Memorial Day weekend here in the U.S. There was a period where I spent about an hour writing as Chantrell Henderson, Bill's tackle goes missing, and then four minutes after I published it was like, oh, no, wait, he's fine.

We found him. So unpublished it, wasted my time. Everybody was busy watching great basketball over the weekend. Yes, yes. Of course, the Golden State Warriors are the big Game 7 victory. The Game 6th quarter was phenomenal. We watched that at Hansus Manor. We did.

We had a nice get-together. I thought Greg and several others overstayed their welcome, personally. I woke up a couple times, and I opened my eyes on the couch, and there were people still in my house. And I was like, guys. Uber. You got to know with Dan. Yeah, when Dan has people over, you've got to know that once Dan starts to shut down,

you've got to get out of there. It's over. My wife is jealous of me because I could fall asleep instantly at any time. There's no insomnia. I know, Mark, you battle insomnia as well. But once the old Zeusers ready to move on to the next day, it's gone. Yeah. That day's gone.

It was alarming when Dan suddenly woke up, had a hot take on Believe Land, which we were watching at the time and then passed back out. I've known to do that as well. like mid-snore. Yeah, I've been known to do that as well. Anyway, but it was nice having you guys over. Thank you for having us. And great photography work on the cornhole with Wes and I, Mark.

Again, I'll just use my talents to make the party better. Yeah. Today we're going to talk about a segment called NFL's best kept secrets, colon, making the leap sneak peek. And then there was some discussion downstairs whether it should actually be called, making the Leaf sneak peek, colon NFL's best kept secrets. I don't know. Where you come down on this West, you weren't around when this discussion was going off the board.

Post-hype breakout stars. I don't know about that one. Anyway, so we'll throw out names that could have surprise breakouts. Did you like Wes's suggestion? I do, although that would, my guy would not fit the making the leap version or the post-type breakout. stars necessarily. Mine is a football player.

Mine's a best kept secret. This segment's doomed, but we're going to do our best to power. Dan has never been on board with this segment. No, I like it. I don't know where it's going to go, but I'm behind it. And we have a lot of news to get to, like I was saying, even though there wasn't a big news week, we haven't had a show since Thursday, Wes.

Pre-show grade? B. Irishman behind the glass. What's up? I went to Denver this weekend to visit my brother Todd, and we went to a dive bar. And I want you guys to guess the name, but I'm give you a hint of the name, all right? Pawn.

Nailed it. Wow. Yep. Yep. You guys follow me everywhere I go. Wait, let this play a little bit. Can you turn it up a little bit? Oh, yeah. Go, go, bang.

All right. Pond. Is that the name of the artist or the song? I always get that confused. The song. Yes, it's the song. Who's the art? Greg, you should know this.

Who's the artist? I don't remember. Greg, famously married to a Japanese woman. It's crept into the famous territory. All right, let's get to the news, Irishman. What you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. All right, let's start. Listen, this is the news that's rocking the entire nation.

The Pro Bowl's moving, guys. The League's All-Star game, which has been. held in Aloha Stadium over there in Hawaii every season or nearly every season since 1979 is going to be calling Orlando home in 2017. Ian Rappaport reported that is the first year in 2017 of a multi-year deal to play the game in Central Florida. Listen, whenever you have a chance to move the game to Central Florida,

you've got to do it. There will be a press conference to dig more into, but there was a report that came out. on Tuesday from Pete Schreger, Shregbaum, over at Fox Sports, that they will be ditching the draft that they've been doing the last few years, the last three years, and going back to conference play, AFC versus NFC.

Mark, you're shaking your head. Well, none of us in this room think that the Pro Bowl has a lot of tangible value, but it's especially concerning. just three years after the league made a huge to do about the fact that they have found ways to make the Pro Bowl more competitive, more compelling.

We're going to draw everyone back to the mothership to play this game. They're going to want to play this game. We'll get Peyton Manning to talk to him beforehand and get them riled up. And then just three years later, they're saying everything that we came up with is bunk.

We're going to go back to the old method? Well, you could, I mean, you could argue that they tried something and they were at least smart up to realize that it wasn't really flying so now they're going to go back to it i'm more surprised because this is a multi-year deal i thought this game was done close it down apparently they're they're going one last shot at it moving it to a different site and going back to the old i don't know if it works but they're going to give it a more shot Orlando rivals lost Las Vegas as the

armpit of America oh whoa I mean come on Orlando have you been there what about our listeners I have driven through there oh you haven't even been there of course not why would I go to That's just showing some ignorance. I haven't been there really either. Well, actually, that's where you and I jogged together during the owner's meetings, and it was delightful. I think that's true. That hotel was nice.

The Pro Bowl and Disney World are aiming at the exact same audience, so it's probably a good move. People watch the Pro Bowl. I mean, we say it every time that it gets huge ratings. You do worry about players. Are they more likely to show up for a Pro Bowl in Orlando than they are in Hawaii? I don't know. Hawaii was a vacation where you could bring the thing.

But it's a lot less cool than you would think. Well, also factor this in. Yeah, it was a vacation. Everybody loves to go to Hawaii. Wes is Hawaii on your radar? I would love to go to Hawaii. Okay, good. But what about guys like Tyler Eifford?

You see Tyler Eifford mess up his foot and now he's the beginning of his season's in doubt. You have to factor that in, too. I mean, I don't know, five years from now is the pro ball exist, Wes? Yes. Mark. No. Greg. I only know, because Goodell really has been.

the one leading the charge, I would say, in terms of the negative. That's what I thought until today, until we learned this. The game's not going away this year, so they're coming up with another way. I'm sure there's revenue stream. Can they make money from it? Then it's not going away. Yeah, well, the TV networks do. I've got one very quick fix that would solve the Pro Bowl.

Yes. You vote people in the way they should, and you have Aaron Rogers and Tom Brady, and if they refuse to go, they will be suspended for the first four games of the next season. You ensure that you have your all-star roster out there. No boxes on. What if they're playing in the Super Bowl? That is the only group of people. That would be frowned on.

About a two-game suspension for those guys. Yes, they should still be playing in the Pro Bowl. That suspension would make as much sense as a Tom Brady suspension. I can't believe no one's brought up the real losers here. Oh, we're still talking about this? We're going to have to do winners and losers. We're going to do a big podcast special and article about it. What about all the Team Sanders fans out there?

I've been out there. I have my team Sanders jersey. I've been building up this roster. I've been excited to see it year after year. Now it's nothing. They're just giving away. This is like when the Browns left Cleveland. It's right up there for me.

Well, you know I've always been Team Irvin, so I can't get behind that sentiment. Moving on to all my New York Jets and their quarterback issues. You know, to this point or as of the end of last week, we didn't really know much about the negotiation. between the Jets and Ryan Fitzpatrick, only that they weren't going well. We got a little more insight and clarity on the situation, started leaking to the media. I wonder how that happened.

NFL media insider Ian Rappaport reported Friday that in March the Jets offered Fitzpatrick a three-year deal that includes $12 million in his first season, according to a source of knowledge of the situation. The other two years of the deal, it's a three-year deal worth $24 million, and then with with escalators, the type of escalators and incentives that are impossible to reach, from what I understand, it could get up to $36 million. So really, one year, $12 million, which still puts him below market value for a veteran starting quarterback, but it also, to me, or obviously to everyone, a lot better than the $8 million offer that we heard floating around.

Fitz should take the deal, right, Wes? I mean, honestly, I'm looking through all of the teams. How can there be any other alternative for him? what other team would have him. Well, here's, and then you have Beniche Mehta of the New York Daly News reported on Tuesday that Fitz is, quote, amenable to spurning the Jets on principle and taking less money elsewhere, citing sources including Jets players. That wouldn't shock me if he was so miffed at the Jets for treating him unfairly that he decided to,

out of spite, sign with another team. I just can't think of another team that would, where he makes sense right now. doesn't exist he's counting on a few things he's counting on an injury would be the only possibility i don't know what injury that would be exactly but a team that he could somehow fit with that a guy gets hurt in many camps and maybe a better offer comes along it doesn't exist right now the other thing is he's in his mid-thirties these are voluntary workouts he doesn't want to be there lots of players don't want to be there so why be there if he doesn't like it does seem though that not even just based on the the latest thing from miniche but

but that Fitzpatrick and the Jets, obviously not on the same page. And maybe at his point in his career, he does feel disrespected. And it wouldn't be shocking to see him wind up somewhere else. I'm sure he does feel disrespect. But at a certain point, you're cutting off your nose to spite your face. I mean, you're not going to get a starting job, most likely anywhere else. The Jets are a team that can fight for the playoffs. We saw it last year, so it's a good roster to be a part of.

And $12 million is okay. $16 million is kind of the average, but that's not terrible. The $16 million is the low point because Colin Kaepernick's making more than him. Ryan Tannahill is making more than him. But I mean kind of like an average starting quarterback. Yeah, for the very average starting quarterback. But what is the Jets other move? He also, as much as criticism as Fitzpatrick is taking, the Jets have no backup move either.

If they go into the season with Gino Smith as their starting quarterback, that's a disaster for them. And they'd get killed by their own fan base. And I can promise you now, and I've seen it in a half. happen enough with this franchise that if they start one and four, guys like Brandon Marshall are going to start chirping and the whole thing can go up in flames. Just get the deal done, guys. Moving on.

Rob Ryan and Rex Ryan had a Q&A with Jenny Vrentis of the Monday morning quarterback website that really was entertaining, to say the least. It came out on Friday morning. And instead of a story that you would think would focus, on the two brothers working together and moving forward together. As Greg, as you put it in your piece, a lot of it, at least, especially on Rob Ryan's side, was about settling scores and kind of trying to clear his name

after what happened in New Orleans. Rob Ryan had this to say about the Saints' struggles that led to his firing last season. Oh, we are dead last in defense. Well, yeah, you're going to be dead last pulling this bull-ass defense. But it is my fault because I didn't say anything. I never stood up and said, I ain't coaching this.

I promise you, I'd say it now. And then Greg, and I'll let you take over after this, although there's many quotes that we could talk about. He threw poor, poor, Jaris, Bird under the bus in a big spot. Byrd. Maron. Iris. Byrd.

He said this, a bird. I think everything starts with a head coach and gets higher than that. They signed players. They signed a free agent safety, that's bird, and said, we are going to keep him in the middle of the field like the goalpost. Well, that's great. He's not going to make one playback there, and now we have changed the entire defense for one signing,

and it ruined us. And that was just the beginning, Greg. Right, and he followed that up right afterwards. He's a great guy. You know, nothing against Jarus Bird. You could understand the frustration, but that he was basically not a part of the Jarus Bird signing, for instance, that he has to change to this three-deep look

that's not really what the Ryan Brothers does. does and he just feels so insecure and so sick of everyone burying him that he wants to just throw the blame on Sean Payton even though it's in the middle of the off season. But it just was crazy to hear both him and Rex Ryan just talking about last year. Like they cannot get over it. I mean, it's just such a Rob and Rex Ryan type of thing. It's a fascinating article. And you don't hear NFL coaches bear their souls like this. And it ended up, you know, there were some gems in there, but it was also a lot of just relentless blustering and excuse-making. Well, he also said at one point Rob Ryan called Rex Ryan,

the greatest defensive coach in the history of the NFL, just check the numbers. Go look at the stats. If you look at the stats in terms of rankings, he's higher up. And I'm like, what rankings are these? Can you be more specific? Because they mentioned Belichick by name and everything. He's like, this is the greatest defensive coordinator in the history of the NFL.

If you look at the rankings, I want to see, I'm sure some PR release for the bills. put together something where Rex Ryan comes out on top, but I have no idea what those rankings are. It bothered me. The Rob Ryan stuff is he's a satellite who's protected now by his brother and he can sort of say whatever he wants. These guys have one speed and it's burn bridges.

Because when Rex Ryan conversely was talking about the fact that, oh, I think there's still people inside our own building that don't believe in me. And I'm just thinking if you are a fan of the bills or if you're a fan of any team and your coach starts special. outing off like that and shows an utter lack of control. Yes, they're entertaining, but it is completely unhinged, and it's just a higher speed of what we saw from Rex Ryan last season. I was reading this thing in a youth hostel,

and I could not believe what I was seen. It was almost like a fictional interview, because they were both so far off the rails that they've just become a caricature of themselves, and they're taking shots of just like the people us saying. No, I mean, they just are an embarrassment to me. We had a little bit of a debate in the newsroom last week because, you know, you can take the stance, and I believe this is Dan's stance, that the NFL is a more fun league with a colorful character likes Rex.

I agree. But I'm with Mark. Like, to me, he's no longer colorful. He's just ceaselessly blustering. It's the same stuff over and over and over again. You're the CEO of your team. You're the voice. You're the person that has to go out and represent it.

And so it's a risk if you do this. This is more a Rob Ryan thing. Although, what's Rob Ryan? There's plenty of Rex in it. It is more Rob Ryan, but there is plenty of Rex in it. And it's showing to me, has this guy learned anything about how, yes, when they were with the Jets and they're going to the AFC championship? Does he strike you as a person who even wants to learn when it comes to this issue, his own blustering? Right.

Well, the thing that bothers me is they always talk about taking responsibility. They want their players to do that. And they're always coming up with excuses. Even Rex Ryan said that wasn't really the Rex Ryan defense we were running until the end of the season when some players. where and that's when that's when I really started doing it and he started saying well I had players Terrell Suggs and all the old Ravens players they would drop into coverage they would do whatever I didn't have the right players when it came to Mario. I get what both Wes and Mark are saying and it is sometimes it's exhausting but give me Rex

and Rob Ryan over Jim Caldwell any day of the week. It's just like this is supposed to be fun following the sport and you have these guys it makes it fun to root against them if you choose to or you get behind it because you like a guy that likes to talk with bravado. So I think there's two ways to look at it for sure. It's also like the Bennett brothers. It's the fact that the media treats these guys like if a word comes out of their mouth, we have to act like it's the most dynamic explosive statement of all time.

No, it's just Rex Ryan being Rex Ryan. I want to circle back to one of the explosive statements said in the last three minutes, why were you at a youth hostel? That's where I stayed when I went up to the mountain. You were trying to get murdered this. No, I found. There was a youth hostel. Do they check IDs there?

Isn't there, like, a limit for a youth place? Youth? Well, no, it's, that's the term that could be used. It's basically a youth hostel slash mountain hotel. And for $39 for one night, I had the entire floor of a house. Because it's a ghost town up there. This is all connecting the dots now because Mark also. You have two kids.

You shouldn't be considered a youth at that point. Is this like some kind of band camp for hippies? There was no one there. You got hitchhikers. Hostels? It sounds like more than it is. By the way, being picked up as a hitchhiker or picking up a hitchhiker and staying at hostels is like benchmarks of horror movies through the decades.

And you did it all. I mean, it all, I'm connecting the dots now. Yeah, you've done a good job. There's a sneaky death wish vacant. Well, I was not attempting to die. Oh, is it adrenaline you're looking for? No, these, it's like the picking up the person felt peaceful, as did the youth hostel, until I read this article.

What was more dangerous? What do you think was more dangerous, Wes? The staying at the hostel, the deserted hostel up in the mountains, or picking up the stranger? Definitely hitchhiker. You don't know what you're bargaining for when you pick up a randot. No matter how old or kindly. Walking up a mountain. Well, you've got to assess the person in live time.

And, you know, I was seeing what I was seeing. She was not a threat. She was in need. Never changed, Mark. Let's move on. Dionne Jordan. You may remember him. The Dolphins once went insane and traded up to go get the supposed pass rusher

with the number three overall pick in the 2013 draft. He struggled to make an impact. He wasn't big enough or strong enough. And then he got into some trouble where it failed a drug test, which triggered an indefinite ban. He felled multiple drug tests, a ban that started in December 2014. He is eligible to apply for reinstatement on Wednesday, and that's what he's going to do.

This is what he told Tom Pelliserro of USA Today's sports. I'm not about to waste it. I can't waste it. And I bleeping love doing it. Who doesn't love running out in front of 30,000 plus fans? And you can get that rush. You like the rush, Mark. We know that.

30,000 fans. Where are we playing the game? Yeah, not a good friend. Well, it is Miami. That's fair. Miami late in the season. He's only 26 years old. His agent said that Jordan hasn't missed or failed a drug test since

His band began last April, and he's been working with a trainer named Tariq Azim, whose holistic program strives to, quote, maximize humanity, Mark Sessler. Well, in this Azim character, who's worked with Marshaun Lynch in the past, according to this article, he confronts his teammates, in quotes, with the inevitability of death, what they need to be content when it arrives and the way their fears are preventing them from reaching their ideals. This connects to your vacation, too. also Jordan here has lost 12 to 13 pounds of fat he's trimmed down he's not failed a drug test

since he was obviously since the band started all I'd say is if this is legit it is at some point this clicked in with him because there's a lot of Justin blackman's out there there's you got I mean give me a break got Josh Gordon hanging out with Johnny Mansell if this guy who I thought would have been the last of the group to come back maybe he's getting serious I want to give him the benefit of the doubt. Wasn't he the same guy that inspired post last year? Dionne Jordan's muscles look like they're bulging out of his... It looked like uniform, and then he failed a PED test right after that.

The description was it looked like somebody inflated his shoulders. And then he legitimately disappeared. Well, and that's how that all came to be. But, I mean, do we... I look at this. I read it because I wrote it. I see some effort. I see some effort.

Sounds like Tarek Azim here. The personal trainer needs a job with Ricky Williams. Well, I like, I like the whole Zeme thing is more fascinating to me that it's part of your physical training to confront the inevitability of death. And this guy works with MMA fighters. He works with 49ers CEO Jed York. He sounds nuts. I've always wanted that to be part of my managerial status, you know, strategy. Like confront death, guys.

We're only here once. This is it. So if you're not having a good time, make it happen. One employee review I had with Greg was just 20 minutes of them yelling at me. you're going to die you're going to die you're going to die I couldn't figure it out but now I know it all goes back to the great sage Tarik Azim I buy into him sorry

you're in so you buy it into Azeem or Dionne Jordan I think the Azeem thing if someone if I could like go for a hundred days and hang out with this guy I think there'd be something good would happen on the other end the same would go for all of us you would ditch P90X to hang out with Azeem well I essentially did not do P90X since I've last been in this studio really

No, it was my vacation. I believed in you, though. You don't have to stop. Isn't your vacation? Well, I guess. No, no, no. Vacation was, anything I was doing, I'm not doing anymore. P8X.

So you're back on P90X. Back on. People forget. I mean, Dian, that was kind of a disastrous draft, so there were no right answers. They traded up for it. But he was the bell of the ball with Mike Mayock, with all the draft Nix who liked his versatility. He was a guy people didn't really know that well. And the Mayawks of the world helped push him super high in that.

draft so who knows the dolphins are hilarious uh moving on oh and they also just drafted a guy with a weed uh gas mask uh moving on walter thurman is hanging up the old cleats you had a nice breakout season uh last year at safety with the eagles uh people wanted him to play but he's deciding to retire according to rand getlin ESPN first reported the development uh the eagles have known this for months according to rap sheet uh he had turned down offers of four million Plus, has pondered retirement. He missed almost all of 2014 with the Torn Peck, but he started 16 games with the Eagles last season,

put up some nice production. But he decided to move on with his career, Walter Thurman. He's got other options. He's already produced three films, and he's making a documentary with Eddie Lavert, who was the lead singer of the OJs from the Philadelphia Soul Sound. Wes, you'll remember that when we were in New York for the Super Bowl, we got into a cab that Walter Thurman had

just been in and he just wanted to drive around and learn about the city and I don't I think we're in the time period now when more and more of these players have other options we're going it's not going to be unusual two years from now to see seven or eight good players in their 20s retire I don't maybe it's not just a flash in the pan I think that the plane for 15 years is not a thing now because the money they make and a lot of these players don't need football it's different also the passing up four million dollars when you've only made let's say I don't know what he's made in his career but Certainly. A lot more money than you and I.

Certainly. Under 10 million. You add another $4 million. You know, you can make some more movies. That's true. I think that's worth pointing out. What if you wouldn't play for two or three more years? Earn some bank and then go make some movies.

And finally, the saga of Trent Richardson, Mark, you and I have sandwiches on the line about whether he makes the team in Baltimore. This counted as a point in my favor, I thought, the latest news. Ravens coach John Harbaugh, believes that the reason Trent Richardson missed the first week of OTAs with a hamstring injury was because he is not right in the conditioning department. Here's the quote from John Harbaugh.

Trent just needs to get healthy. I think the workload and the amount of work it takes to be a world-class conditioned athlete still is something that he's working on right now. That's what he needs to understand, and that's where he needs to get himself. And I don't think it's funny. Well, it's shocking to me that a heartwarming comeback story about him truly getting back in shape that was highlighted by a trip to IHop, Popeye's double header and him getting eight pounds before his first weigh-in isn't working out.

It's shocking. Yeah, if he ever plays a snap again, you owe me two meals because I've already paid up. And I'm happy that I've paid up because to me the drama is over. It ain't happening. If I knew what I knew now, I would never have made this gamble with you. Because let's, I mean. We don't gamble. Well, the thing about him, the knock and him coming out of college was never he doesn't care about the game.

It was completely different. So now I thought he's young. He's going to get a chance. He's going to get healthy enough and play one more snap. I did not realize how little he cared about his football career. I thought we all kind of knew that. That was part of that. Not to this degree.

I didn't see that he was this much of a head case where he wouldn't. He was so young. One more snap was not a crazy. thing to think, but now it is. He stands out when we entered the 1990s. There were still a few players who would get fat all off season come to training camp and use that

to get in shape. But since players started making this big money, part of that is you spend your offseason building your body fine-tuning it to play a game where you're playing against all these other guys fine-tuning their bodies. You can't do it when you're in Trent Richardson's shape. That's fair. That's what's happening in the news. Speaking of Food, Mark, you were

upset about what was going on in the huddle. office commissary with the salad bar, which is really your lifeline when it comes to nourishment. Well, it's call what it is. It's a disaster. There was a salad bar structure with a, you know, it held about probably 18 tubs of different things. You know, that was a variable quality to begin with, depending on what day it was. But now there's not even the actual shield guard slash, you know, set up for this thing. They just put the salad out on like a folding table, and it just sits.

sitting there in the middle of the room, and it's basically a shot at anyone that doesn't want to eat. What is their special today, like roast beef made from a cat's body? What? No, it's a roast beef sandwich. Well, we would never stop selling the roast beef sandwich with, like, the curdled milk on the side. But what about someone that just wants to eat something healthy? It is obnoxious the way they're operating. Has it been confirmed that the salad bar is gone for good?

Well, there are conflicting reports. I'm digging to this. We did hear that it's coming back. I'm sure it's coming back. But it is a concerning situation. It felt personal toward you. You're a big, you're very anti-cottage cheese, too. That's what you're angry.

I am more than anti it. Wild eyes here. It was great. Mark's last day of vacation, we had a golden opportunity to get away from the office on Friday. And we were trying to figure out, do we want to go to, like, what was that? It was like a Korean-type joint or a new restaurant that opened up in Culver City called cannibal. It was fantastic.

Meat related fair. We got to take advantage of this opportunity. Good time to strike. Well, Sessler's not there. Let's get some cannibal. Well, you know. Good food. With apologies to Jackson Market, they have now been replaced by the cannibal as our

go-to high-octane sandwich shop. That's fair. All right. Here we go. Let's talk about it now. The NFL's best kept secrets, colon, making the leap sneak peek. Or making the leap sneak peek, colon, NFL's best. kept secrets.

Anybody at home playing along, you decide what the name of the segment is. So choose your own adventure scenario. But what we'll do, and if you read our content on NFL.com, which we hope you do, and we talk about it on the show. Every summer we have our Making the Leap series where we highlight and identify sometimes correctly, sometimes incorrectly, players that are ready to take the next step in their career progression and become either outright start. or big-time contributors where they weren't before.

So this is our little look ahead. That series doesn't roll out until later in the summer. But right now, let's throw out a name or two of a guy you have on your radar as someone who's about to have a big impact for their team. Mark, we start with you. I am going with second-year Raiders tight end, Clive Welford. I think we saw him come on strong down the stretch last year. He completely outshine and replaced Michael Rivera,

who they were trying to trade this offseason. Deal with it Rivera. They've talked about Walford as someone who's going to have an expanded role. Del Rio called him a complete player. I think he's a red zone type target and an offense that's got what used to have no weapons. It's now got different options. They've got a good line. They can run the ball.

They've got Amari Cooper. They've got Derek Carr. I think a young tight end fits into the mix. And I think he's going to have, he's going to make the leap. You also see tight ends in year one. And he actually did a lot more than a lot of tight ends do in year one. If you take the second half of his season and factored out over 16 games, impressive. But a lot of these guys need year two or year three to do it, and Walford's in a good situation.

Do you think you're perhaps overlooking fourth string tight end, Gabe Holm? That's the risk that I've taken. He reminds me a little bit of Dwayne Allen from the Colts. There aren't many guys. We heard Steve Kime talk about this at the Combine. Most receiving tight ends are terrible blockers. and most blocking tight ends won't make plays in the passing games. I think Clive Walford can handle both of those rules.

He's about 6'4-260 built to handle kind of the poor man's gronk rule. And now that we're talking about it, I think he is going to be a strong candidate for making a leave because we all like Clive Walford. That's why it's a sneak beat, Greg. He's a big guy. Well, not everyone fits that definition. We'll get to that later. He's a big guy, but he gets vertical.

His most famous play was about a 25-yard touchdown from, From Derek Carr, I remember that's over-the-shoulder catch. I mean, he can make a 30-yard play. He's done a little bit of everything. He's not just a big buy. He did a lot more of that in college, though. But only five players, only five Miami Hurricanes exited their college career with a higher yards per catch than him.

But he needs to improve that because he had to think it was about 11.8 last year with the Raiders. All right, Mark, over-under game for your man, Clive. Ah. Excuse me. Look, isn't it, Walford. 50 receptions. Over. 700 yards or seven hundred yards over five touchdowns over but all in well he's not if i would have said 2,000 yards and 100 touchdowns would you have kept on saying over he's

going to have 180 catches if he needs to be he might need to be their entire offense i thought you just said they have weapons around him i'm kidding he does not need to be the entire offense they have other parts it's all clive he did have an atv accident dan wrote in the right up to the show that i was reviewing clive owen so i think british actor all right All right, Wes, you're up. Underrated, Crupier, great Clive Owen movie. Crupier. All right.

I don't know what that was. All right. It's a real movie starring Clive Owen. Crupea. Great movie. Is that how you pronounce that? The French word. Cluapia.

Yeah, the guy at the casino. Constantly showing up on my Netflix. Really? Well, I don't watch it, but it's there. You should watch it. Well, the reason I call this the post-hype breakout stars is because it's usually what you get with making the leap candidates. It's also, at this time last year, the Colts, if you remember, PEP Hamilton was talking about this as the greatest shoe on earth that they were going to be the best offense in the NFL.

Ian Rappaport on this very podcast said in August that Philip Dorset, they think they added a superstar. And when Rappaport asked the coaches, were they surprised they didn't go defense or offensive line? The response was, no, because this guy's that good. You famously had them number two in your preseason power pole. I did. And I think their defense has major issues, but people are sleeping on this offense. I think Dante Moncrief and Philip Dorset are both big breakout candidates. I have been thinking about the Colts offense more lately because you're right.

I don't think people are expecting a lot out of the Colts and yet they still have Andrew luck. They're a team I'm just fascinated to watch basically. Can they just run it back to 2014 when they're scoring 30, 40 points a game? Last year did a lot to, I had them going to the Super Bowl last year so you weren't alone. And everything we thought about the Colts was kind of ruined. by the end of the year because Andrew Luck did not have when he was playing his best games obviously

and then the whole thing became a completely boring soup of football after that. I think I watched like five Colts games down the stretch on Sundays and they were painful. And that's why Moncrief ended up with 770 yards or something like that. He would have had 1,000 if Luck Hagen got injured. I don't think Doris had a bad, totally bad year

when they could get him the ball and when they got him doing some things. He won that Titans game for him earlier in the scene too. There's a best kept secret, guys. former seventh round pick at a Saginaw Valley College Guy everybody forgot about

didn't even realize he was on the roster most people until the 2014 NFC divisional playoffs what happened Jeff Janice went off for 7-1-45 and 2 and proved that Mike McCarthy had overlooked a potential gem on his roster for months upon months

in fact I will cite guys somebody that's respected I know deeply within the round of the podcast Bob McGinn over at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel who had this to say it has been quote 25 years or more since a coach in Green Bay made more errors in allocating playing time than Mike McCarthy did this year it's time to get it right Mike and I know they drafted Trevor Davis in the fifth round I know that because I looked it up before the show I know they got Jordy Nelson coming back from an ACL you got tie Montgomery Devante Adams

Randall cop a lot of guys on that roster but Jeff Janice deserves a shot and I think he showed enough in the playoffs that he'll get it. Damn it. Aaron Rogers didn't trust him to be where he was supposed to be. I think that was a big issue. But I think it's fair for Bob McGinn and Dan Hansis to raise this point. Like, where is the Dean's scream on that? Irishman.

Come on, baby. Coaches, I mean, it's not unusual for an NFL coach to spend 18-hour days crafting these game plans. And they want things to go according to script. So when a player like Jeff Janus, who can make plays? And if you just play them and make a few, let him make some mistakes and let him learn on the job, you're going to do better than playing James Jones. And I think that's something McCarthy, NFL coaches need to kind of, it's natural when you're spending that much time and you're crafting these game plans to try to

control everything. Sometimes you just have to let kids make mistakes. And he's not going to have a thousand yards. There's too much offense. And I think Jordy Nelson comes back healthy. We're going to see a totally different Packers offense this year than if Eddie Lacey is fit and doing Eddie Lacey things. But I think he can have a big role on what I believe will be the best offense in football.

Well, it's crazy that he was so good in the playoffs, and he literally doesn't have 100 yards in his career as a receiver in the regular season. That's how little they played him. I put him number three as their number three receiver in the projected starter series, which I didn't think was overly bold. But I did get a lot of feedback from Packers fans that don't think he's going to be the one that wins that job. That job over Devante Adams and Ty Montgomery. Montgomery looked pretty good a couple years.

They love Montgomery, and they loved Devonte Adams. last year until they got his chance. If he had one of the worst seasons I've ever seen by a wide receiver, we're going to give him another chance instead of giving this guy a shot after what he's going to the playoffs? So if you don't agree that he's the third receiver, you don't think he's going to break out? Because if he's the fourth receiver, how many opportunities are going to. As of May 31st, I would be skeptical that he's going to be the number three receiver.

A lot can happen still in training camp. I mean, you're doing a, I hear you, but you're making the leap with someone that's probably the third wide out barring an injury and maybe the fourth and maybe fighting for a roster spot if he continues to show the inconsistencies he had through his career. He's been a Roto World Wonderboy for a long time, but at some point, you know. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. I think he's going to step up big. That should be a good fantasy football team.

The Roto World Wonder Boys. I just remember them. They were all over him. Wonder Boy is another great movie. Yeah, Michael Douglas. No, Kirk. No, Michael Douglas. Katie Holmes, 1999.

Toby McGuire. Tobes. B-minus. All right, finally, Greg Rosenthal. A plus. Watch it again. A plus. Oh, yeah.

B minus. My top 20 all time. All right. Finally, Greg, you have to give us either an NFL best kept secret or someone that's a sneak peek of making the leap. It was a hard thing to think of a best kept secret. This is not a guy, is not a making the leap guy, but I think of him as a secret.

KJ. Wright, in one of the most integral parts of one of the best defenses of our lifetime. Oh, by the way, the leading tackler of the Seahawks the last two years when you got big names like Earl Thomas and Bobby Wagner. KJ. Wright's making a lot of plays. Seven Force fumbles over the last two years. And if you hear Pete Carroll and some of the Seahawks coaches talk about it, they all call Wright the glue that kinds of holds that group together. He's good at covering tight ends. He's not a guy that's going to rush the passer. He's going to get to run stopping and he's going to stop guys and tight ends in the passing game. But that's the kind of guys that get overlooked in the NFL, guys that don't rush the passer.

So to me, he is a best kept secret. Only 26 years old somehow still, KJ. Wright. he make your top 100 list? He should have. Pitch of money wear your mouth. He's the best kept secret even for me. Well, he does fit as a secret because that team has played more national prime time and playoff games than anyone. He's probably still the player that half our newsrooms never heard of.

Right. And he's a guy, that position, that he plays weak side linebacker, but he's a guy who ends covering, you know, receivers and everything a lot. They don't get a lot of attention because they're not going to get a lot of that. Ronk worked him in the Super Bowl. True, but I can think. of a game that at least comes to mind, and I'll probably get it wrong, Jimmy Graham against them when they blasted the Seahawks on Monday Night Football a couple

years ago, and they have K.J. Wright covering Jimmy Graham, and he had his worst game of the season, essentially. That's the type of thing K.J. Wright can do. By the way, no single person on Earth can cover Gronk. That's true. Not at this stage of his career. That was a great feeling being at the game. That's where being at the game is nice. You get the quote-unquote all 22. The massive humble brag. what you're talking it's an experience that none of our listeners will we're at work i'm just saying i think

someone even pointed out before the snap they're like oh there's grog and cage right all by themselves i pointed out that out that's nice if we ever if if we ever get um successful i would like to have like a trivia show type thing like francesa like where we can give away super bowl tickets to our listeners wouldn't that be fun you know we work for an eleven billion dollar company it seems feasible they run that event think well we can give our You know, we get a couple. Let's try to get to London first. Give up Greg's Super Bowl tickets.

That's the contest. I ain't given mine up. What a test, what a test, by the way, of the might and common sense of the shadowy league figures when it comes to sending the heroes to London. If they don't do it,

they clearly don't know what they're doing. That's a law reveal if they don't. Yeah, a total la Raville. He was magnificent. Alexandra. Alexandra Fragola downstairs with the vocal there. All right. Some people thought it was Colleen Wolfe.

Some people did. They made that mistake on Reddit. We corrected it. Got to give Frags to credit. Oh, I should, speaking of Reddit, and everybody should go to that because it has over 2,000 people on it now chatting it up.

I want to give credit because that idea that we just came up with, we didn't really come up with it. A listener or a Reddit user It was a Reddit sourced idea A Reddit sourced idea, thank you Mark I'm trying to find because I want to give the proper credit Let's just keep it a best kept secret

Whoever it is. It is from Brousen Over on the Reddit page, a subreddit Had the idea for Best Kept Secret so that was kind of Pilfered off Bruce and thank you Bruceon. One note on the Reddit board which is fun to read Every time I go up to Greg's

desk or her's workspace to ask him a question Always on the Reddit board Well that's Greg That doesn't check out That's a complete and total lie. Greg has probably been to that site twice. Oh, stop. You know, you don't have to.

Almost 2,100 people now on the Reddit board. So everybody go over there, again, around the NFL subreddit. That's it. By the way, making the leap sponsored this year. Coming in July. I know there's a lot of making a leap fans out there that have been asked. Where is it? It's usually mid-June.

Are you guys getting ready? This time, it's sponsored throughout the month of July. Mark's dream of killing this whole segment has been rendered usually. Well, we once did 40 players. It went down to 20. I'd say let's get it down to four or five, and we've done our job. I used to get excited.

I used to get a little tingle when I found out something that either I've written or the group or the podcast was sponsored, and this is sponsored by no one famously. But then I realized ultimately it doesn't, you don't get anything. Like McDonald's, the fast food giant sponsors my written end around.

Old Zeus are not getting any pop on that. You couldn't even roll into a McDonald's and show them that and get even like a free coffee. The only thing that means is the old Zeus are now essentially under contract. to write it every week, no matter what, during the summer, without fail. You're getting job security out of it. You are more indispensable to the company.

I hope so. All right. Wes, thank you. You know, giving me some calm. Also, for the pride of a good job, well done. You're an excellent company man. West, company, man. We'll be back on Thursday with another show.

Maybe we'll get a guest in the studio. We'll see. But you'll have to wait to find out. Until then, this is Dan Hansis. Signed off. Four. Quiet storm. Welcome back, buddy.

Glad your life. The mailman. The boss. And the Irishman behind the glass. Down Thursday. I can get my timer out. I must time the show to make sure he doesn't run too long. This is an I-Heart podcast.