NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - OVERLY ESOTERIC DIVISION POWER RANKINGS

Episode Date: August 5, 2021

A room filled with some heroes - Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler and Gregg Rosenthal are joined by Colleen Wolfe to talk about training camp and Colleen's potential broken finger. The heroes did their homewo...rk this show and we created OEDPR (pronounced Odd-per) (29:30). Each team in each division has a score and we break down where they stand. The Athletics' Matt Barrows joins to talk about the 49ers and Trey Lance for a halftime break before we finish the rest of the OEDPRs (48:39). Gregg leaves abruptly and it causes some major friction (1:14:29). Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 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.
Starting point is 00:00:25 It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet. We've got the insight to help you crush your opponents.
Starting point is 00:01:01 Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. The Around the NFL podcast. Can't do any TikTok dancing. Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. Dan Hansis, I come to you from a virtual room filled with some heroes. Greg Rosenthal's here.
Starting point is 00:01:37 Mark Sessler's here. Someone else is here. She's carved out some time. She travels across these great United States of America. Back on the ATN podcast. You know who it is. The wolf. I'm about 7% here.
Starting point is 00:01:56 A little worse for wear Not on air today Colleen and it feels like you're feeling the effects Of whatever happened last night This song though is getting me ready Connie, Connie Fox is definitely here Colleen Wolf is not I don't even know where she is
Starting point is 00:02:16 Can I offer some unsolicited advice Colleen And we know and we thank you so much Because Colleen is in Philadelphia Her hometown As part of her spin across the country for training camp coverage with NFL network. And I understand it. You've been meeting up with friends.
Starting point is 00:02:35 You've been getting a little loose. Connie Fox has tagged in for Colleen Wolfe today. What I would suggest is when Tugbo text you and says, hey, do you want to come on the show? Just say no. Just say no. And just assume that whatever you have going on later in the week is going to make today very difficult for you.
Starting point is 00:02:56 and nobody's going to have an issue with it because I hate to see you like this. I feel ready to go, ready to rock. I'm in Philly, yes, and I got two free days between Inside Training Camp shows. So I met up with some friends and let loose a little bit. And now I'm picking up all of the pieces this morning. So I'm ready to go. I will offer to you that, you know, for behind the scenes, we do a lot of texting, sometimes not a lot, before the show to plan it out.
Starting point is 00:03:30 And I would say that Connie got pulled into one of the heavier nights of texting and planning and questions around the show ever. And you could kind of just feel the aura of like, why the F did I say yes to this potential non-paid assignment? Well, I thought that, like, I was just going to pop on. We're hanging out. It's light. It's training camp.
Starting point is 00:03:48 It's like still, like, not crazy busy yet. And then I realized that I was going to be in like 17 different cities. and this was my one off day, and I woke up this morning to do a lot of math. So thanks, Dan. Well, this is, yeah, you picked a really great episode to accidentally say yes to because this episode will be covering
Starting point is 00:04:09 the overly esoteric division power rankings, which, what is that? Emphasis on overly. What's that? It's an emphasis on overly. So that is odd per, odd per. if there can be DVOA and all these other words and abbreviations. CPOE, that's a big one.
Starting point is 00:04:33 All these things that everybody's pat themselves on the back. Look how special I am. I made my own little thing. And now it's becoming industry standard. Well, guess what? Adper is here, the overly esoteric division power rankings. And yes, I did, I did somewhat of a homework assignment. I gave each of the heroes here.
Starting point is 00:04:51 And I did the same work. and then so. So it's not like I'm just the teacher who's checked out emotionally and then you do all this work. And then you come in and I'm like, all right, we're watching a movie. And you pop a video in the in the VCR and I take a nap at my desk. That sounds so nice. I mean, we wouldn't have had a problem with that. It's just to, you know.
Starting point is 00:05:09 I asked team for team. I gave you a whole list of how to break down each team. And then I took those numbers that you sent back to me. And that's very dangerous because you put a lot of math in my hands. And I figured out the division power rankings in the NFL. entering 2021, and we will get into that later today. I'm excited, and I was really interested, the results, some interesting stuff. Math, usually not your strong suit, famously, you know, struggled in a state-mandated test.
Starting point is 00:05:37 I did. I got a 39 once on a state-mandated math test in 1996. But here's the thing about the old Zeus are in numbers. I kind of love them. I have a difficult relationship with numbers because they don't love me, but I love them. And I love what they tell you because they kind of reveal a lot, not just about these teens, but I learned a lot about you guys by studying your Excel spreadsheets. I like that you're wielding around a mug right now as you talk about math.
Starting point is 00:06:05 And I don't really believe any word you're saying about how much you love math. And I honestly have a lot of mistrust in this segment now, considering that you've added up all of the scores. Yikes. How is your first week on the road, Colleen? Because I know, you know, we've all, we've heard this from our. listeners like it not having west here has been on everyone's mind kind of as a season is cranking up today today's actually the six-month um you know anniversary of him dying um and that that stuff
Starting point is 00:06:36 i know we like sort of felt that weight going into it like feeling like a little ambivalent maybe going into training camp of like what is what does this mean right now we're not totally feeling up for it i i'm curious like how you uh how you're doing because actually getting in the flow i i feels good i think i think i think i'm thinking of west last year he was never more like ambivalent about football in his entire life and talked about it a lot uh going into the season but once once it started it actually sustained him quite a bit like and he was totally happy to sort of lose himself uh in just the season which we are all like such seasonal people at this point we are seasonal people uh you well so it's it's interesting you bring this up because i
Starting point is 00:07:21 had texted you and I think I texted Sessler too. I was texting Keisha and I was just really um there was a part of me that really felt anxious about coming into the season and I think it was a lot of it was just like not having Wes here and coming into the it just like after everything happened I've I felt like I just wanted to take my hands off the wheel completely and unplug and check out. And then as each week went by and it got closer and closer to training camp, I was just going through team by team. And it just didn't feel as important as it had before. And like after losing West, it just kind of felt I was like none of this is like it just felt like I wanted to spend more time with you guys. I wanted to spend more time like hanging out. I wanted to spend more time with my family.
Starting point is 00:08:22 I didn't want to just sit around and be pouring over every single team like I normally do every year. But then once I finally got to the training camps and started getting into every single doing the shows and going through all of the stuff that you have to do to put these shows on the air. I got it. I got more excited about everything. And now that I'm in it, I feel like I'm just, I've completely jumped in and immersed myself in it. And it feels a lot better. It's a lot better now. This is us hanging out right now. I mean, Kisha, I know wants to like thank all the listeners and she will when we can can all get together. But I appreciate the listeners reaching out and telling us like they're thinking of them. I mentioned on the TV show how I listened to
Starting point is 00:09:11 this podcast. It was the DFS rise and fall podcast. And Keisha, like, encouraged me to listen to that. And it was, it was Chris. And I hadn't mentioned it on the pod, and he had really pointed it out that it was this meaningful pod to him. And it was, it was hard, it was hard to listen to it, of course. But it also, like, Keisha's taught me a lot throughout this whole process, you know, like celebrating him and keeping his name alive and hearing his voice was, was honestly, it was, It's like beyond words, like what it meant. Like you feel everything at once, but it was also nice. Like it felt like being in Tybee and felt like being close to him and doing the football
Starting point is 00:09:49 and us, like that's part of the reason why I'm really looking forward to getting back together, like all four of us inside a podcast studio and doing, like it's going to be hard, but it also like, I don't know. That's how we keep, to me, like celebrating him and hearing his words and stuff was a great way to sort of keep him alive and close to us. I don't know. I think it's on all our minds, isn't it? It really is.
Starting point is 00:10:15 Because we're going through this all for the first time this season, really. We're starting over. That's how it feels to me. And when you start over, it's just like when we began the podcast together in 2013. And I'm only speaking right now from a show perspective, but in a lot of ways, like just our relationships together, it's kind of a reset and that that comes with some bumpy times and and also it's you know this is this is tricky stuff without west here we went through last season without chris for the most part with the exception of those Sunday nights that he gave us which were you know let's face it heroic and I'm so happy that we had those last shows together with him but of course this is totally different this is to do to go into a new season without Chris at all.
Starting point is 00:11:11 It's weird. And it's one of those things. And texting with Keisha last week. There's nowhere to go but forward. You just got, you can't, you know, you remember Wes, but you also know that you can't, you can't just stay where you are and stay looking back. And that's,
Starting point is 00:11:26 that's kind of where I'm at right now, where we're trying to figure out the next step for the show, um, without West. Because frankly, and I think, you know, we've all had this conversation or thought. but we don't know what the show is without Wes.
Starting point is 00:11:41 So part of what this spring and summer has been about is just trying to figure out how this even works anymore. And then there's the, obviously, the human friendship component, family component of him not being around anymore, which is still very strange. And I'll catch myself at numerous points every week where I'm just like, wait, he's actually gone. It's part of this whole process.
Starting point is 00:12:05 I mean, I would just say briefly that, For me, it's like, it's completely starting over from a football angle. And, you know, like most of my memories, football-wise, are not with my family, for instance, because we're always together during most of football stuff. They're largely, like, inundated with Wes and Wesisms and West comments. And I mean, even with the preseason, his disdain for most of the preseason, I remember sitting beside him, you know, in NFL. August was not his time. No, and like, but we would sit there for seven straight hours, like,
Starting point is 00:12:38 covering these games. And like, it was mostly just him and I talking, you know. And I, like, I don't think we're all in the same place in terms of our verve. Like, I'm just being completely honest. And as you have to kind of fake it until you make it a little bit. And I don't have like a tingling in my loins to watch like Cowboys Steelers tonight. But I think once it starts, then it starts and you just get back into it. But it just won't be the same without a friend. It just never will. It's like, you know, you talk to people who spent their whole lives watching football with their dads and when they're if their dads are suddenly not around like the sport will never be the same that's what i would compare it to yeah it's honestly like it's hard to even like talk about him
Starting point is 00:13:15 without completely falling apart still so that's been like really hard it is and and i and i only want to bring it up in some level because like i i do we do hear from the listeners and i think like that's important just to let them know like of course we're thinking about him the time and we we know that you guys are too like not only listeners that had all these DM conversations with them and believe me there's a lot and somehow like really you know had meaningful relationships in that way but just listening um that's a meaningful relationship and like we we know like they're going through it too and it's on everyone's mind and and especially yeah i think with with the season started with training camp starting um it's kind of i i told you
Starting point is 00:14:05 Tisha this like her kind of sharing like on her IG stories and stuff like that like it's helped me because I'm not someone who it would be my inclination to like share that sort of stuff but her sharing as like helped help help me a lot too just hearing about it because it's totally normal what we're you know what we're going through we're going to continue going through it's starting over but it's also like he will always be with you know as you mentioned like he'll always he built this podcast up with us. And that's part of it. And we're never going to, it's not like we're ever going to forget him, like on the shows that we don't talk about him. He's always on our mind in the best ways. Damn it, Greg. I'm so fragile today. Sorry. I know. I can't handle it. I really want it to
Starting point is 00:14:50 know. I think you took us all by surprise with that left turn, Greg, but it's good to talk about it. This is our time together. Honestly, our time on air, we, you know, on some level. That's, that was such a big, a big part of it, too, especially with the listeners. I do think about the listeners, too, because, look, a lot of them ducked out, I think, after West died, too, and maybe you're coming back now, or that's just like a natural flow of things, too. And so I just, you know, we see them out there, too.
Starting point is 00:15:19 We know it's not easy. We do, and we love the listeners because they've been so supportive of us during this whole process, and it's been a difficult one. There was one listener that on our subreddit, that I look terrible in a baseball hat. I don't know if I love that. I don't know who that was. I don't know if I feel total love for that person.
Starting point is 00:15:39 I'm still processing. This is why I never read the Reddit. That's my rule. I ever, ever, ever read the Reddit. I responded to it on the subreddit too. You did. Yes. You responded.
Starting point is 00:15:47 At a certain point, a subreddit graduates to it's not something the people that are the focus of the subreddit should be looking at because it becomes the fans. And anything that you look at and you upsets you becomes it's kind of on you at a certain point. Like a guy saying you look bad in a hat, I mean, you're not supposed to see that. Dan, the way that I'm built, like, I understand what you're saying and you're correct, but that will affect me. It was like an arrow that got shot into my eye. Like I'm walking around town. Dan had to call me. Dan called me and was like, you need to stop looking at the Reddit. Number one, they all hate you. Number two, it's not going to help the show. I did not say they all hate you, but, you know,
Starting point is 00:16:29 but they do. I mean, on Reddit. Yeah, I'm like, talk about, you. You look bad in a hat. Like, try, put on my hat for a day, Mark. No, I don't doubt that. Why are you coming at me now? That feels unnecessary, but. Just because you guys are all being emotional and I just, like, love you and you're my family. And, like, I'm so thankful for Wes.
Starting point is 00:16:48 And I think, you know, he's brought us even closer than we could have ever been. So, Mark, I love you and you look stupid in a hat. Like, I am honestly asking that question now. Like, next time we're hanging out, I'm going to wear one. I think you look good. I think you've been looking different lately, and it's like a new fun mark. He's like a little wild. I know you guys have been like watching the White Lotus.
Starting point is 00:17:12 It almost reminds me of the hotel manager and the White Lotus. Like you don't know what's coming next with this guy. Yeah, I see a lot of the very interesting comparison, Greg. I'm very pro baseball hat. So I think you should continue doing that. Do your own thing. Who cares? My favorite Mark Sessler baseball hat is the one that he went to like the promenade in
Starting point is 00:17:32 Santa Monica and got his initials monogrammed on the hat and then wore for two straight years. I lost that hat, but you're right. That was, well, what an odd move. All right, let's do some news. Hello and welcome to the new West Coast home of the NFL. I'm Colleen Wolfe, and it is my sincere pleasure to introduce you to the future. They made me say it. I had no choice.
Starting point is 00:18:04 And they made me do it like 27 different times. I can't. All right. For the listeners, though, did they make you do finger bombs pointing downwards at the same time? As you said, welcome to the future. Everyone needs to know that this is a couple of months ago, a promotional, I might have been in-house. I've never seen this. Promotional video introducing the new Hollywood Park facility to, I guess, people that will be working there.
Starting point is 00:18:30 And it got sent my way. way and immediately I wanted to play it all on the show. And I believe Eric was like, yeah, let's just hold up because I don't know if it's for like public consumption. And I still don't know if it's necessarily clear, but it's, it's so amazing in so many. Ricky, hit me with more. I just can't get enough of it. Colleen. And that's sofi stadium. And it's about the coolest thing I've ever seen. Yes, yes, yes, yes. I knew it. I knew this was going to happen. I kept saying, How don't we do it this way? And then they would let me do it my own way.
Starting point is 00:19:03 And then they just kept all of the lines that they wanted that where I was like, this doesn't really work. And I wouldn't normally say that. Yeah. Where are they playing this? Is this on a video like bored of everyone and our workplace? He totally buys into the message. So he's going to just play this on the news in the house.
Starting point is 00:19:21 This is a terrible day for me. You know what? Colleen, I won't, I won't play anymore. No, just kidding. Give me another one. No. Almost magical. the possibilities for brand partnerships almost endless.
Starting point is 00:19:35 So, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so everyone out there needs to know that I hate, hate, hate, hate, seeing myself on TV, and I hate hearing the sound of my voice. So this is like a double whammy because, like, I know that that's cheesy and you're giving me watch it and listen to it. So this is horrendous, Dan, all right? No, no. It had to be from like middle management corpotypes, right? Right, no. You're saying it was horrible, but honestly, I've never been more excited about brand sponsors.
Starting point is 00:20:05 Hit it, Ricky. No, please. Oh, and Super Bowl 56, which works out great for us and you, because 255 feet away from SoFi Stadium, right here is the new headquarters of NFL media. One more, Ricky. Hit it. Fans will fall in love with football in a powerful new way, and they'll do it right here. Only question now. Where will you be?
Starting point is 00:20:32 Why did I say yes to doing this show today? Why? You give your permission just to log off at this point. That's been enough. The last two felt gratuitous. Like at that point, it felt like too much. On the other hand, you know, for our listeners, at one point they showed Colleen was on a big screen over our entire workplace. On some level, it is, you have to admit, it's cool that Colleen is the person that they chose for that.
Starting point is 00:20:57 She is. Like you, you are the face. You're becoming the face of NFL media. They're not having, they're not having me do that. You know what I mean? They're not, they're not, they're not, they're not, they're not, I don't know why they wouldn't have picked you, Greg. That's, that is.
Starting point is 00:21:11 Every person who has seen this since has given me so much heat about it. So you guys aren't the first and you won't be the last. So I'm glad we're doing this here. Let's just get it out there. Let's just get in front of it right now. So, I, Colleen, I sincerely apologize. I just could not help myself. Great work, Dan.
Starting point is 00:21:30 Let's get into the news. Philip Rivers. Remember a few months back, maybe it was like two months ago. There was that clip of him working with his high school team. Where is he? Alabama. Yeah. St. Michael Catholic High School in Alabama.
Starting point is 00:21:47 And he's the head coach there. And we saw the clip of him doing his thing on the sideline. And we all reminisced about how great it was to have Philip Rivers in our lives for so long. And it just seemed like he. He was in a great place in his life. Well, he already hates high school coaching. This is how I'm spending this, Greg. And he needs to be in the spotlight.
Starting point is 00:22:04 He needs more money. So that's why Phil Rivers has said he does not rule out returning to the NFL in December or January. Greg, I mean, when is enough enough? I mean, this is so disrespectful. So not just to Philip Rivers, which of course it is. You're twisting his words, but to Sam Farmer, the Los Angeles Times reporter, the venerable Sam Farmer, who pointed out repeatedly how much Philip Rivers loves coaching high school football, how Rivers He hates those little snotts.
Starting point is 00:22:36 But the season's going to be over by like December. You know, you got the playoffs around Thanksgiving or whatever, and he could be free after that. And this happens with a lot of guys who retire. Training camp starts and they start feeling that juice again. And I just say, bring it on. Like I feel a little bit of anxiety about it because I thought he ended about as well as you could have. But bring on Philip Rivers, taking over for some injured quarterback. Hopefully it's in Indianapolis.
Starting point is 00:23:03 It's perfect right at the end of the season. Ending his career with the first round playoff loss was pretty perfect. Okay. He outplayed Josh Allen in that game. He played a terrific game. It was just, it was kind of a perfect ending for him where he played well. And it's like he had a good season. It was about as good as you normally go out.
Starting point is 00:23:19 I just kid because I know how much you love him. You love Philip Rivers more than maybe your own children. so I just needed to give a little tart with the sweet, that's all. That's all. It'd be cool if he showed up again. I don't know, Connie, do you think Philip Rivers showing up in December or January for a team that is in an emergency quarterback situation? How would that even work?
Starting point is 00:23:42 And by the way, he's already said he's lost a bunch of weight because he's not in that training schedule. I see where you're saying, Greg, with the anxiety. Would you like to see it happen, Colleen? Do you think he should stay where he is? I'm picturing, like, for anyone who watch. is Ted Lassau, Roy Kent, who retired and now he's coaching like a kids, I think he's coaching a girls football team. So he's like a very ornery character. And I'm picturing
Starting point is 00:24:09 Philip Rivers, like a different side of him that we've never seen before is coming out now that he's not in the NFL anymore. And he's coaching at a high school level, St. Michael Catholic High School and Fair Hope, Alabama. But I think that, you know, But bring him back. I love a little bit of drama. Let's see what he can do. He said that he wouldn't have made weight if he reported last week and that he's lifting and running now. So let's see if you can get back at it. I would like, let's say Justin Herbert like stubbed his toe. Nothing serious, but out for the wild card round. Rivers comes in, Drew Bledso like the year they won the Super Bowl, and wins a playoff game for the Chargers and then hands it back off to Justin Herbert.
Starting point is 00:24:54 it comes in for one game. I don't think we need seven weeks of Philip Rivers, but just comes in and does something heroic and then really rides off into the sunset. I can see it. Like he's the type of guy, especially last season, you would think maybe the wheels are going to come flying off
Starting point is 00:25:08 and maybe he throws a couple of ducks earlier in the game and you're like, oh boy. And then all of a sudden, flash forward late in the fourth quarter and it's 24, 21, and he has the ball at midfield. Like, I could totally see Rivers doing something special like that. I feel like the Colts probably won't be around by December, though,
Starting point is 00:25:24 at this rate. I didn't trust them with with Carson Wentz. And now if Carson Wentz is limited, Quentin Nelson since we last tape is out for five to 12 weeks, somehow with the exact same bone injury, which is bizarre that supposedly he's had since high school or since birth, perhaps. They both have the same bone defect and have the exact same surgery with the same bizarre five to 12 week timeline. Weird things are happening in Indianapolis. I feel like your season could be over by. One little thing though, Greg. there is a report and it's it's not jacobeson it's sam ellinger at this point according to stephen holder has people within the organization buzzing oh my god stop it you never know you never know what could
Starting point is 00:26:05 happen also that's like such a big window five to 12 weeks right i mean that's problem that's a lot and it also uh screws the eagles over too because if wence comes back at the back end of that you know timetable then the eagles don't get that first round pick it reminds me of those cable guys, they tell you they'll be there from 12 to 6 p.m. Can you be a little more specific, please? I love him Greg does voice work. I love him Greg does voice work. Hey, Connie, are we okay, by the way? Are you mad at me? Are you, like, honestly, mad at you, maybe even shoot me a text after the show, like, hey, man, that was an ambush. Like, what was up of that? Or are you getting, are you getting those vibes right now? Not right now, but I can't, I can't tell because of,
Starting point is 00:26:48 there's like a haze of Patron right now, so I can't really get through. Honestly, I feel. Honestly, I feel like I am drenched in tequila right now. I don't feel anything at all, quite frankly. So don't wonder. I can relate, by the way, like spending time with you this off season, your natural state is hung over, at least when we've been hanging. You're used to it. She's such a pro, though. It's amazing. She's like one of those legends that you would never know it. Hey, is it too personal to ask about the finger? Oh, no. So, yeah, I know this is an audio show, so I'll describe my, my finger right now. So Kurt Warner threw me a pass, and I've never actually, like, caught a ball while running.
Starting point is 00:27:36 Like, I've never caught an actual pass from a Hall of Fame quarterback, for sure. So he threw me the ball, and then I don't know, I think I might have broke my finger. It's, I can't, I'm going to go to, I think I'm going to go to, thank you. Your catch was incredible. We have, do we have that, Ricky? I high point in the ball. His blonde hair, just, you know, hanging out there in the wind, carefree. Oh, look at that.
Starting point is 00:28:02 Just getting some reps before the show. That's right. Nice hands. Thank you. Thank you. We'll get into that a little bit later as well. Break down that play. Great quarterbacking there, Kerb.
Starting point is 00:28:13 Wait, so that's the actual throw and catch where you injured the finger? Yeah. Yeah. So when I went to catch the ball, it hit the top of my pinky. I think it just went sideways. And then I was with Baldy the other day. So I was like, well, this is perfect. Maybe he can, like, give me some pointers here on what not to do.
Starting point is 00:28:31 So I think I'm going to go get x-rays after this show just to make sure that it's like, you know, not going to be a problem because I mess up my thumb on the other hand, too. So I was wearing a splint last night. Oh, that's terrible. So, yeah, it's just turning like a lot of different colors and I'm probably going to lose my nail. And it sounds like you super jammed it. Was that the first take, or did you go to the end zone four or five times before they recorded a catch? Well, I will tell you that I caught it on the first try, but they weren't rolling.
Starting point is 00:29:05 So then I went out again and I caught it, but I dropped it. Then I went out again and I missed it. And so I got it on the fourth try there. So I got it on the first and the fourth. You get credit for that. And is Kurt Warner aware that he's? seriously maimed you i don't think so i don't think he's because i was like curt i can't i couldn't feel my pinky for the entire show that we did and also typing right now is difficult whenever there's
Starting point is 00:29:33 like an a or a w involved that's a lot of words and i have you typing out um esoteric power ranking i mean i i'm yeah next time i'm saying no kurt warner if you're listening and i know you are buddy how about you shoot connie a text just check in. Yeah. Little lady bird bones. I know. I am like a little fragile bird.
Starting point is 00:30:00 All right. That's what's happening in the news. I'm sorry to hear that, Connie. I hope it's just a, I hope it's just a sprain or something in that. I'm sure it'll have Brian Baldy fingers the rest of your life. But it does have like a lot of weird colors going on. It looks messed up actually.
Starting point is 00:30:17 Yeah, I know. It's crooked and it's like blue and red and there's a lot of press. Wallin still? Anyway, I think I'll be just fine. All right. That's what's happening in the news. Man, the culture are a mess. And that was one of the takeaways when I looked at the overly esoteric division power
Starting point is 00:30:36 rankings presented by no one at all. Not yet anyway. But once it takes off, once the oddpers really take off, it's going to be a different situation. Here's how it worked. This is how I figured it out. Okay. The math probably right.
Starting point is 00:30:52 But I can't guarantee it. Let me start there. Okay. I did use an Excel spreadsheet to help me here. I broke, I asked you three to break each of the 32 teams to get a score out of 25 based on five categories. Okay. And I asked, and I want the listeners to understand this, it was not something to do a deep dive and studying and research and tape watching. Kind of a gut instinct.
Starting point is 00:31:19 When I tell you, one to five, Bill's quarterback. offensive potential defensive potential coach and coaching staff junisei qua which is that certain hard to define something juice I took it as juice
Starting point is 00:31:36 I translated it as juice same thing I can't speak French kind of same thing okay juice junizet qua the it factor it factor all that so those five categories I then took your final scores for each team
Starting point is 00:31:52 okay added them up divided by four got a division score for every team i totally i told you it's overly esoteric but guess what when the math was all through and i figured out the division average some interesting stuff so let's go through it and i sent it to you guys if you want to check it out in your emails uh if you want to see some of the scores and where we differed some general overall takeaways on the assignment that I had. The most optimistic grader was Mark. Mark's grades were higher for most people. I was on the other end of that. I was lower than you guys. The only person to privately request their ballot remain anonymous, Colleen. The only person to offer a score that does not exist, Colleen, a five and a half for the Packers, Mojo. And Greg,
Starting point is 00:32:46 you and I were very sympathico with our grades. We were very close on a lot of teams. And then Colleen and Mark were very close with each other. I love it. Which is an interesting breakdown. So let's
Starting point is 00:33:03 get to it. Eight divisions. And when you figure it out, yes, it adds up to 100. 100 score maximum. Who do you think is the highest scored team? By the way. Well, you just told us, You sent the results during the show, but you told us to look at it.
Starting point is 00:33:20 So now I feel like I can't answer. Oh, you look. Well, I didn't look at it yet. I would have guessed right anyways. It's pretty obvious. I would think Tampa Bay. I don't know why, why not? The chiefs?
Starting point is 00:33:28 I would have guessed the chiefs because that's who I had, I had, I think, as the highest. In my mind. In your mind, yes, the highest graded team in this exercise was the defending Super Bowl champion buccaneers who had 93 and a half. out of 100 between the four of us when he added all up. And there was another 90 team, I think a couple more 90 teams in there, but nobody was at that level. So we love the bucks around these parts. The chiefs also were high at 92.
Starting point is 00:34:06 And the lowest team, that's a pretty easy one to figure out too. There were some ghastly scores for the Houston Texans who finished at 33 and a half when you add up the four scores that we gave them i mean the juice factor i that was my one i think the only zero i handed out i wanted to go negative one but i thought that might be it was zero allowed i didn't even think about zero yeah there's not too many zeros i think connie and mark had a couple but um i i stayed away from them as did greg all right let's get to it so the according to our overly esoteric division power rankings the worst division of football and it's not necessarily, it's not particularly close as the AFC South. With a average score of 57 and a half
Starting point is 00:34:47 out of 100, it is the Colts, Jaguars, Texans, Titans division that is worse than any other one entering the season. I think, you know, we have the Titans is a heavy favorite. We had them at 76 and a half. Texans, of course, I said 33 and a half at the bottom. The Colts at 63.5 and the Jaguars at 56 and a half. So I think the whole Carson Wentz and now the Quentin Nelson and drama probably dropped, I would say, the Colts, you know, something in a neighborhood of 10 points, and that dragged this division down even further. Well, you got to think about that division as the worst in football because it's got a team that went 1 and 15, and it's got the team that everyone thinks is no, like no other
Starting point is 00:35:28 division has a two pack that bad. And because of that, you have to think that the Titans are one of the most likely teams in the NFL to make the playoffs. Like I would throw the bucks in there, certainly, and the chiefs. the bills. But maybe the Titans just in terms of likelihood to make the playoffs is up with those teams because I don't know, Indianapolis, prove me wrong. But even the Titans as the best team, you wouldn't grade them the way you would like the Tom Brady New England Patriots year after year. I mean, they're good. Are they great? We don't know. Yeah, the defense for the
Starting point is 00:36:02 Titans is the one thing that worries me a little bit. But with the Colts, just everything that's happened with Carson Wentz, you just have such a question mark now at that position. I mean, even if he does come back at the beginning of that timetable, the rest of the roster for the Colts is really, really good, top to bottom. But with that huge, huge void there, I mean, you really just don't know what you're going to get from Carson Wentz. When he comes back, if he's going to be like the Carson Wentz of 2017, or if he's going to be more of the Carson Wentz that we saw before, or if he's going to even be healthy the whole year. Right. Jacks fans, we know, we hear you. We know you're out there. If I'm a Jacks fan,
Starting point is 00:36:39 I'm thinking this division is winnable. It's not. that crazy. Their offense, I gave them pretty high juice factor, at least. If nothing else, the Jaguars are going to be more interesting with that offense in Lawrence. And I think a lot of people are curious what the Titans offense will look like without Arthur Smith. The fact that they're in this division, it's going to give them a lot of cushion to kind of figure things out. And you would think to me, and yeah, maybe the Jaguar surprise us here. I don't think the Texans are, and we'll see what happens with the cults here, as messy as they are. I don't want to get too caught up in a moment.
Starting point is 00:37:13 But this feels like nine wins could win the division. A nine and 18 could come out of this division. And even if the Titans stumble this year, I feel like that's where they can get. All right. Next, the number seven division. A little bit of a surprise I thought. The NFC North we had coming in,
Starting point is 00:37:28 63.25 out of 100 was the average weighted score. I don't know if average weighted is the right terminology, but I'm going to just say it with confidence. Sounds intelligent. And then if somebody can bury me on that subreddit and then Mark, let me know. I mean, it's not weighted in any way, so I don't think... But Greg, you got to just, you got to go with...
Starting point is 00:37:46 You can edit out the word weighted and just save... No, but that doesn't sound good. It sounds smart. Just like, oh, the average, uh, average weighted is something to pop to that. You know what I mean? It's not weighted, so it's incorrect. Shut up. We have the favorite, the heavy favorite is the Packers.
Starting point is 00:38:04 We have them at our average score was 85 out of 100, which is very good, but it's interesting. the true Super Bowl level teams that are seen as favorites. We all kind of had them, those teams in the early 90s, late 80s. So it seems like as a group, we see the Packers as maybe just a click below those great teams, but they're still a heavy favorite in this division. The Packers are the Vikings a distant second, 70 out of 100, which actually is a little high, I thought. And then the reason why this is so low this division is that the bears and lions are
Starting point is 00:38:35 weighing them down. The lions are buried at 41.5. The Bears at 56 and a half surprised me a little bit. I thought they would have a little more juice and you guys would be a little more into them, but apparently not. So the fact that the division has one very good to great team, one team that's a little on the bubble, and then two teams we see as afterthoughts held back the division as a whole.
Starting point is 00:38:57 Where did everybody fall on the Vikings? I'm high on the Vikings. I thought they were team three and a half. I think that was like the one note I took. It was like they are the ultimate three and a half. team. And I think they could be better. I'm trying to be conservative. I think they have a chance to win this division. I think their defense will be good. I think their offense will be good enough. And like they, I don't, I don't see them as too differently than I did going into last year,
Starting point is 00:39:21 or maybe even a little better on paper, I think, than they were going into last year when they're coming off a division title. I'd consider it a shocker if the Packers lost the division to any one of those teams. But I'm with you that the Vikings to me, and I have a couple teams like at the cardinals just sort of like three and a half type you're you're a b plus i trust you to annoy me long enough and then get completely mashed in the playoffs at some point it's same old story i think you guys all had them at 18 out of 25 score and i had them at 16 first of all kirk cousins is the most three and a half out of five quarterback that's right exactly he's not a three mr three and a four he is mr three and a half out of five um and i think i ding them a little bit more on
Starting point is 00:40:02 defense, and I think I talked about it earlier in this week, that they have so much turnover. I think they have 16 new members of their defense that it's just such a titanic task for Zimmer to now put those guys and get that team playing. But if Zimmer, who's a defensive guy, gets it done, my two and a half score, that should be a little higher. Also don't have a ton of juice for them. The Jeunezacroix was only two out of five for me. That's fair. That's fair. But they have a chance, I think, to beat up on the bears and lions. And I think there's a chance saw that defensive talent is a huge upgrade. I guess that's defense is where I'm coming from.
Starting point is 00:40:35 They're also getting, like, yeah, they have a ton of new faces as starters, but they get Danielle Hunter back who had the neck injury. He missed all of last year. Anthony Barr missed like 14 games. Michael Pierce opted out. So they have a couple guys that are returning who are actually like big factors, I think, in that defense. I trust in Zimmer.
Starting point is 00:40:55 And I don't need the Packers fans to remind me. I know they didn't. I said they won the division two years ago. They did not. They famously gagged on Monday night football in front of Keith Hansis while me, West, and Mark and Dan all watched them. And they did make the playoffs, but they, and when one again, but they that's, that's from Keith Hansis labeled Matt LaFlor, little boy with a beard. And I've never forgotten that since. Come on, Danny.
Starting point is 00:41:17 These guys didn't even show up. That's exactly what I mean that sounds like. Number six, a little bit of a surprise that they're this high, the NFC East. and the slight favorite, according to this group, and my computations, my weighted computations. Wait, really? Is the Dallas Cowboys. We have them at 71.5.
Starting point is 00:41:42 So we are, as a group, sucked in once again by the Cowboys. The summer of hype around everything with this team has us seeing them as a division favorite, just slightly over the Washington football team at 70 and a half. the Giants far behind the pack at 59 and a half. And then the Eagles, Connie, buried at 55. So they have this division according to our overly esoteric division power rankings has two kind of eight to 10 win teams and then two teams that are kind of afterthoughts here. Well, I think with the Cowboys, the big question is the defense,
Starting point is 00:42:20 how that rebounds with Dan Quinn with, I mean, they have a lot of different pieces. But last year, it was just so horrendous to watch. So that's the one question for me in Dallas. But, I mean, also, it doesn't surprise me at all that the Eagles are so low. Where did the scores come out for the coaching staff with the Eagles? You know what? That's funny you should say that because that's one of those ones where I tweaked it later because I thought I was being a little bit mean.
Starting point is 00:42:48 I had it two and a half because I just haven't been overly impressed by some of the sound but then I was like, that's totally unfair. I'm going to give them the benefit of that, and I just slapped a three there for the Eagles coaching. I gave them a two. I gave new coaches a two unless they felt like they had a little extra juice. Because you just, it's hard to tell if new coaches are going to be good. I gave a two and a half.
Starting point is 00:43:12 I gave them another half because they're not doing any Siriani and they give up good vibes. But like you got to, you got to show me at first. It's such a young staff, though, too. Like even beyond Nick Siriani, that all of like the assistants are really young, too. But my favorite quote from Siriani, I think that was from last week when he was talking about how their players are all in attack mode and they're going to attack everything. They're going to attack like these practices and then they're going to attack rest. And that was my favorite. Attacking rest is truly spectacular.
Starting point is 00:43:46 You know who attacks rest? Your husband, John Gonzalez. Oh, I mean, loves a nap. That's he does the old read a nap every day. he's a man of leisure i remember on on tybee island he during the day just like hard right turn out of social activities to like a four-hour nap yes this is uh that's what not having kids is like you can you can nap yeah i like how that that we get kind of grades here because you say we're kind of high on we're falling for the cowboys but they got a 71 and Washington got a 70 that's right
Starting point is 00:44:19 where like minnesota was which we were just saying wasn't too high it kind of makes sense like Like they're a C minor. Does that mean they're kind of a C minus team? It's like, you know, the bucks are A's. It works out pretty well. That's interesting. I don't know if it quite translate to the educational system A to F scale. But I think that's where the waiting would come in. We would have to raise it. I don't think we were overly high on any of these teams. I guess this is part like when I was saying that the numbers, although they don't like me, I like them. I like that when you actually have to assign. of score even if it's something as simple as a zero to five you kind of learn something a little bit something about how you see these teams when you see where you have other teams in the same realm but i think if you hit 70 you're kind of right on the borderline of being a playoff team like you're right there that's what i think that this uh data some people say data
Starting point is 00:45:14 sometimes i say data but right now i'm saying data because i think there's a little more pop to data sure hey did any team get a 36 exactly 36? Isn't that what you got on the state mandated math test? Oh, no, 39. Oh, 39. Anyone get a 39? Uh, let's see. The Texans got, uh, you got a 33. No one else is a 33 and a half. Dan would be the equivalents of the lions, perhaps. They got a 41. That's really what I was getting at. Perfect. Um, look where I am now, Ma. Hey, this is Matt Jones. I'm Drew Franklin. And this is NFL cover zero. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts
Starting point is 00:45:56 Pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game. What was that? Oh, my. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining. And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen to NFL cover zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
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Starting point is 00:47:45 Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. All right. Number five, the NFC South. How about the NFC South? Right in the middle of the pack, the heavy favorite, the bucks. We all love the bucks, 93 and a half out of 100.
Starting point is 00:48:10 And I think Connie and Mark both had a 24 out of 25. Wow. With no hesitation. And then buried in a distant second place. The Saints at 70. The Falcons, I thought, a little generous, 65. And then the Panthers, the bloom is off the Mep rule rows, I guess, with some people on the show, 55 and a half. Greg particularly buried the quarterback position.
Starting point is 00:48:38 That's Sam Darnold, a vendetta, which I thankfully am not connected to anymore. I think a one and a half out of five as low as anybody got. Wow. The panthers buried by Rosenthal. You don't believe the situation is better? One of the worst quarterbacks in football for three years straight. Well, you don't, well, I guess the point you're making when you give him that great is you do not divorce his situation with the player. You think he was as responsible as someone in a good system.
Starting point is 00:49:07 I've seen many. No, I'm not, he's equally responsible, I would say. I would say it's on him and it's on Gase because I've seen many quarterbacks play under Adam Gase and they all played better, like every single one of them. including Ryan Tannahill by like a pretty good amount at the exact same part of his career. And then I like Matt Ruhl as a coach. I think I gave him a relatively high thing. But yeah, I guess it's Darnold. And it's a lot of questions, I think, in Carolina.
Starting point is 00:49:35 What was Sessler's grade for Matt Ruhl for the coaches there? Five and a half. No, I think I think. No, you have to, this cuts through it because he has to give a pure grade and stay out of his feelings. But you like him. You give four. that's the highest grade anybody gave him, but you didn't do five because you're a man of integrity. Well, you know, there's a weighted data scale, Dan, according to this exercise. So I had
Starting point is 00:49:58 to remove, you know, my emotions and my empathies toward him. I like him as a coach. I believe in him where I disagree with Greg a little bit or where at least I have more patience with Sam Darnold is like he's never been in a better situation like this. And I think he has got a great play caller too and a lot of talent around him. And I don't know why, you know, you get Christian McCaffrey back two. They lost like 13 games or 13 games last year were decided by one score. They were the worst red zone team in the league. So if any of that starts to improve, you're looking at a team that can get more wins in a pretty shaky division. So I think it's like arrow up. I'm not saying like into the heavens, but you gave him a one out of five. Not even a one and a half. Did I? That's
Starting point is 00:50:38 rough. What is going on? Whoa. Greg also. I know you're not hurting me. I don't like the proven mediocrities thing like you'll give a like i didn't give that to rookies or whatever but i'm i'm not optimistic i'm not i wasn't optimistic about carson wince either just because he's in a new a new spot like maybe he'll be fine but if he's teddy bridgewater i think they'll consider that a pretty big loss and i have my i i have my doubt that he'll have that their offensive line i also think it on paper could be one of the very worst and that's that's a bad combination uh when sam Donald is your quarterback. No, they're closer to the Saints and the Falcons than like the Buck.
Starting point is 00:51:16 The Bucks are so far away. Like Saints fans have to like ultimately the Saints, Falcons and Panthers weren't that far apart compared to how far away the Bucks were as the one team. I like the Panthers have Christian McCaffrey coming back and that Sam Darnold has Robbie Anderson who Matt Ruhl knows from Temple. It just that that feels like it could maybe break in a positive way potentially. But yeah, they don't they don't know who they're. left tackle is going to be. All right. Half time. Half time of the overly esoteric
Starting point is 00:51:47 division power rankings, Audper. And a little special guest, a little surprise guest. I don't even think we mentioned at the top of show, but this is a big deal because this is one of the best beat writers in the game. He covers the San Francisco 49ers for the athletic. He is the great Matt Barrows. And he joins the ATN podcast. Matt, welcome. to the show, first of all. This is Carmen and Greg again. Thank you very much. Yeah, I'd like to say that I'm also a data guy. Data to me sounds like an art movement. So I think we should all go data on this one. Do you want to, there's a second half to that segment, the interminable segment. I will switch over to data in the second half of it after this conversation.
Starting point is 00:52:33 Sounds good. Sounds good. All right. Matt, interminable. Thank you for joining us. We appreciate it. And listen, we're going to make it easy on you. We're not going to necessarily ask for a above the treetops 49ers breakdown right now on the podcast. I think the audience and especially us, we're very excited to know what is going on with Tray Lance because you have a piece. And again, the athletic, I plug the athletic a lot. I don't get paid by the athletic. But if you. We'll send you a t-shirt or something.
Starting point is 00:53:02 Yeah, send me a t-shirt or whatever because that is- Four or five in them, please, not just for Dan. No, that's fine. you know. The coverage is so great. And at training camp, you are singing the praises of Trey Lance. You're wowed like everyone else. What he's been able to do in these practices, he's barely throwing incompletions, Matt. And it's, I think the question, of course, becomes how much longer can Kyle Shanahan look the other way, even if this is against second team defenses? Is it becoming a situation where this is a freight train in San Francisco?
Starting point is 00:53:35 Yeah, it seems that way. I mean, And what struck me is that I guess the best word to describe him is he's got a boldness about him. He's not acting like a rookie. He's not, you know, checking down. He's not hesitant. He's attacking this defense. And it's a good defense, you know, pretty deep defense.
Starting point is 00:53:56 But he's attacking it deep. He's attacking it with those, you know, his bread and butter. Kyle Shanahan throws the deep crosses. He's attacking it deep down the sidelines. He's attacking the seam. he's attacking it with his legs and and the big takeaway is the is the juxtaposition. I mean, it really highlights what Jimmy Garoppolo isn't great at. He doesn't throw the ball deep.
Starting point is 00:54:22 He doesn't attack the sidelines. He's not a runner. So it's this contrast that's been created over the first seven days of camp that, you know, Jimmy Garoppel is having a fine camp, but he's doing Jimmy Garoppolo things. He throws the short pass, the intermediate pass. Well, he's really good at hitting guys on the run, but he doesn't, you know, threaten the whole field. And so I've got to think that Kyle Shanahan, who loves aggressive, always attacking offense, sees Tray Lance doing this out of the shoot. And that was different than what we were thinking was going to happen, just given Lance's scant college career,
Starting point is 00:55:05 The fact that he's being so aggressive, so bold, so early, I think is what has really surprised a lot of observers, including me. Yeah, I wanted someone that's seen him every day, and I'm especially happy to have you, because you've been there forever. I think you were there. Were you there for Alex Smith's rookie year? Oh, yeah, yeah, for sure. You've seen Alex Smith come in. You've seen Colin Kaepernick come in. You know, you've seen young quarterback.
Starting point is 00:55:32 I am as fast. I think Lance is the most fascinating story right now to enter the season. thought he would be the week one starter if he looks great like it's not about jimmy g like it's not about you man like if if lance just shows up and he's electric off the bat that's that's why they drafted him and i'm not buying anything that they're saying about this being the best jimmy g we've ever seen it's like they hadn't even put on pads when john lynch said that which felt like a giveaway that he's b sing so after like seeing you know cappernick and alec and other young quarterbacks come up like i guess i'd ask you to just compare compare how lance is is looking and what
Starting point is 00:56:05 whether you think he would be ready to possibly get out there week one. Yeah, to me, there's really no comparison. He's, he's way better than both of those guys were at that stage of their careers. You know, Alex Smith had the issue, the famous Urban Meyer quote was that he would be non-functional until he learned the whole system. That's sort of how he was. He was very much, you know, baby horse learning to walk for the first time as a rookie. I love Alex Smith.
Starting point is 00:56:37 I came to really admire him. I'm not trying to make fun of him or anything, but he was not great his rookie season, certainly early in training camp. And then Colin Kaepernick, he had an injury going into his first year. Rookie season, my memories of him was, you know, he would do a five-yard dump off to the running back,
Starting point is 00:57:00 but it would be a hundred mile an hour fastball. He didn't have a lot of touch early on in his career. So Lance, like I said, I mean, he's just head and shoulders above where those guys were early on. And like I said, it's a little bit of everything. He's throwing the ball, you know, to all aspects of the field. And only recently did they start doing the read-option stuff. And, you know, he's great in that regard, too. I mean, it strikes you.
Starting point is 00:57:31 He's six foot four, 225 pounds. He's not an easy guy to tackle. So even, you know, once he gets into the secondary, he's going to be the guy delivering blows to the defensive backs. He's different than Kyler Murray. He's different than Russell Wilson in that regard. He's a big guy who's going to put pressure on defenses. I guess a question I'd have for you is, you know, you hear Shanahan and Lynch still singing the praises of Jimmy G. There's been a lot of verbal commitment to him starting the season. I mean, if you're Jimmy G and you're watching these Trey Lans practices,
Starting point is 00:58:05 is happening. I don't know what his mental makeup is, but I'm wondering, does Jimmy G think inside, wait a minute, this guy is the better start of than me. But secondly, if they do roll out, Jimmy G, and just keep that promise per se, and he's outplayed in the preseason by Trey Lance, does this locker room start to question the decision making? I mean, would there be a potential insurrection if you're not starting the clear cut electricity guy, the young guy that you read some of the quotes the other players are having about Trey Lance, they see it. They seem to 11. So it's like, why would anything other than Trayland starting occur? Well, I mean, if that were the case and the 49ers were losing, I think that that absolutely
Starting point is 00:58:42 would happen. They would conclude why is Jimmy Garoppolo in there? And I think, you know, it just makes Jimmy Garoppolo's rope all the shorter. They may indeed go into week one with him as the starter, but, you know, he doesn't have very much wiggle room. As soon as he falters, There's a guy that's proven that, you know, like I said, I mean, he really puts pressure on defenses, it has so far. You know, it's only been seven days, so I don't think the 49ers are in any rush at all to make any big declarations about a rookie. None of the rookies that they drafted are in starting positions right now. So I think that's just a theme. I think Greg is right.
Starting point is 00:59:23 It's a lot of coach speak, GM speak at this point. No one is eager to anoint any of these guys. But to answer the first part of your question, there was a scenario, the first couple of days of camp, where Tray lands. So it was a little bit late on throwing to Debo Samuel, who had broken deep down the field. And it wasn't a great throw, but it still was enough to get there. And Samuel caught it and went in for an easy touchdown. The next day, Garoppolo was in a very similar situation. He sees Debo Samuel breaking down the field.
Starting point is 00:59:58 he hesitates a bit and I wonder if in his mind he's thinking okay this other quarterback is going for these throws now I have to do this too so he rears back and gives it everything he's got and his throw is 10 yard short easy interception for jason barrette on the play didn't everybody knew that it wouldn't get there I think jimmy garoppolo probably knew that his his throw wasn't going to get there but he sort of forced himself to throwing it and it was a herald horrific path, the worst pass of training camp so far. I'm just wondering whether, when you're talking about pressure, those sorts of things start to show up. He's, he realizes he has to push himself out of his comfort zone. He just may not have the tools to be able to do so.
Starting point is 01:00:45 Hey, Matt, what's, um... DBG in a big spot. What's that thing? Matt, what's, um, Trey Lance's personality like, like, like, how, how do the other guys respond to him, um, on the field, between, practices. I feel like when you're there and you're able to watch practice and see how the guys sort of react to each other, you can tell a lot more about a player beyond what, you know, his incompletions or lack thereof. What's, what do you kind of, what kind of feel do you have
Starting point is 01:01:14 for him? He hasn't been terrific in front of the media to this point. I mean, kind of saying all the, all the rookie things. I think the biggest thing in that regard is that, you know, he did look like a rookie in OTAs. You know, you saw him drop back and you saw him sort of methodically go through his progressions and he usually checked down or through to the sideline. But when he came back for training camp, it wasn't that anymore. I mean, like I said, he was bold in his decisions. He's attacking. And I think that everybody concluded his teammates that he put in a lot of work during that 40 days off between OTAs and training camp. So, I mean, there's a respect there. obviously, that he put in the work, and he's not just looking at the playbook. He was
Starting point is 01:02:03 executing the playbook during his time off. He was in Atlanta. He was in L.A. He was in Fargo. He was in Minneapolis. And he was working out the whole time. It wasn't just, you know, working on his legs or gaining strength or gaining weight. He was doing the playbook, and that was evident when he came back. So I think there's a lot of respect for that. feel free to shoot this down as national media know nothing malarkey but i'm curious if it put a percentage on jimmy g not on the 49ers by Halloween by Halloween i think that the trade deadlines uh number two yeah yeah uh but um yeah i mean i i would put it at uh i i would put it below 50%. I'd put it at 35%. And the reason I say that is because the 49ers have just been
Starting point is 01:02:57 torpedoed by QB injuries. So even if, you know, Lance is the starter, and frankly, I think he will be by that point. I'm not sure the 49ers want to go, you know, ostensibly into a playoff race with Nate Sudfeld as the number two quarterback there. So I think they'd love to have Jiming Garopolo is the backup in case something does happen, they would have to be blown away by an offer, I think. And if Tray Lance is indeed taking over for Jimmy Garoppolo, I don't know if any team is offering a first round pick or even a second round pick at that point for Jimmy Garoppos. So that's why I don't think it probably doesn't happen. But, I mean, there's also the money factor. Any team that takes on Garoppolo is going to have to take on half of that, what is it, $26 million salary.
Starting point is 01:03:50 at that point. So there are a lot of reasons why it might not happen. So we'll keep it around. I think he'll be a $25 million backup, maybe, even in week one. It's not that crazy. Jake Brisket was a $17 million backup. I mean, it happens. And I think it kind of makes sense for where they're at, even if it was week one, that they just keep them, keep them and pay him his money, and he stays as the backup. Matt Barrow, Matt Barrow, I should say, covers the 49ers for the athletic, read his stuff, follow him on Twitter, Matt Barrows, B-A-R-R-O-W-S, Matt, thank you for joining us. And I really sensed in that your most recent write-up,
Starting point is 01:04:28 it's almost Mahomesian. It reminds me of how, like, Chiefs writers were writing about Mahomes early now, not saying that that's what this guy's going to be. But it sounds like an exciting time to be on the beat, and we look forward to reading more about it as things go along. Thank you for having me. Thank you.
Starting point is 01:04:45 Bye, Matt. There he goes. It's good. Matt's good. It was perfect for him to come on just as Connie's computer was crashing. Like, the listeners will never know. My computer. It's just like me today.
Starting point is 01:05:01 All right. So, crashing. Back to the division power rankings. The data, not data any longer, because Matt was right. Data is a little more hardcore. So we had AFC South, 57.5. NFC North, 63.25. NFC, East, 64.125.
Starting point is 01:05:18 NFC South, right in the middle at 71. Now, the top half. We'll start number four, the AFC West. All right. And the Chiefs, as I said, 92 out of 100. We all love the Chiefs. They are right behind the Bucks as our number two team in this exercise. A distant second, I thought maybe they'd be a little bit higher.
Starting point is 01:05:42 But we have the Chargers at 73. Then the Broncos at 63 and a half. again, they're hamstrung by that QB situation, but we all seem to like them a lot otherwise, but also the QB situation, and this is the magic of the overly esoteric division power rankings, that QB situation affects the Junozyqua of a team. It's the opportunity, potential too.
Starting point is 01:06:07 And the office, it's all connected. It's the most important position. And even though QB is only one category out of five, it bleeds into the others because, see, it's a perfect thing. I've hit on something, everybody, the data. It doesn't lie. Anyway, Chargers 73, Bronco 63 and a half, Raiders, 61 and a half.
Starting point is 01:06:26 Average score, 72 and a half, just above the NFC South and just below the team we'll talk about. Next, big picture thoughts. This is, to me, the bills are the heaviest favorite when I think about who's the division favorites. The chiefs are right there too, and this data backs that up. Wow.
Starting point is 01:06:46 I think the bucks are the biggest favorite, but I see where you're right, where it'd be shocking if the chiefs didn't win the division. Yet this division is interesting. I'm glad it got in the top half because it feels like the other three, any one of them could make the playoffs. And any one of them should be pretty entertaining to watch or at least has things to watch.
Starting point is 01:07:02 I think the Broncos have like a legit chance to make the playoffs this year. And I'm sure, I think fans of all three of these teams are going into the season thinking that way. Obviously, someone's going to be overly optimistic. Someone has got to be lower on the Chargers than I am because the way that I did this, I believe I have them as a locked in playoff team. I like them a lot. I gave their new coaching situation.
Starting point is 01:07:24 I think I don't do this 2.5 thing that you do, Greg. I kind of go three unless I really like the idea of someone, but I think Brandon Staley is going to be a big help because I think coaching issues were a big problem for the Chargers for like the entire time we've worked at NFL.com. So I think it's arrow up and I look at Justin Herbert and say, the offensive line has improved. Why would this not be a playoff team to me? Yeah. Someone was down on them.
Starting point is 01:07:47 I was pretty high on them too, Mark. So I don't know. Was it me? I don't think so. Greg, you had them at 17. I had them at 16 and a half. Connie had them at 19 and a half. And Mark, you had them at 20.
Starting point is 01:08:02 So there you go. I don't know. You might, was there an addition problem here? I don't rule it out. I won't rule it out. I don't know. Now you're probably right. But let's, no, because, yeah,
Starting point is 01:08:16 That's, I'll double check that. You guys keep talking. I, no, I think I might have just made a mistake glancing through it. I think they have legitimate roster issues on defense. Other than Joey Bosa, there's not a lot there in the front seven. Tabulating. You're really counting on Brandon Staley to sprinkle, you know, his magic dust on a roster. I don't think necessarily looks much better.
Starting point is 01:08:40 You get Derwin James back healthy. Obviously, that's huge. But you, I think the defensive line and the, The rest of the pass rush, other than Bosa and the linebacker spots are pretty big question marks. And everyone assumes the offensive line is way better. The names are so much better. It looks better on paper. But, man, they're cursed on the offensive line.
Starting point is 01:08:58 And it's the hardest group to predict in football. Like, good groups can turn bad without really a lot of reason. So I'm not just assuming that these names, like Matt Fieler comes in and he just solves everything. Brian Boolaga is suddenly healthy. A first round rookie tackle, you know, Slater is suddenly great. No, like, that's all hopeful stuff, but it could be a bad offensive line. I gave Herbert a five, though, I thought, or a four and a half. And so to me, it's Herbert that is the reason for optimism.
Starting point is 01:09:28 You gave him a four, Greg. Yikes. Wow. I don't know. I like the fact that they brought in Corey Lindley. That's definitely going to help the offensive line. You have a healthy Austin Echler, too, this year. I don't like that they don't have Hunter Henry there anymore, but I think that Justin
Starting point is 01:09:43 Herbert showed so much last year. And that was his rookies in. I mean, with Brandon Staley, I don't know what that scheme is going to look like. I don't know how much different it'll look from last season. But Justin Herbert, he's been so much fun to watch. I feel like he's only going to get better. I know people are down on Joe Lombardi, but it sounds like they're using a lot of saints. There's definitely some Shanahan tree stuff in there. And I think that they've spent the offseason saying, look, we're going to try to make this work for Justin Herbert, not shove him into something else. But Greg, the one thing I don't agree with with, yes, the line has been cursed, but that doesn't predict what's going to happen down the road.
Starting point is 01:10:21 I mean, at least they tried to patch that up. No, no. They did a great job. But I'm not assuming they're better than average just because they signed a bunch of guys. If they were average, if they were average, that would be better than last year. I think they can get to that point. There's a lot of projecting with the Broncos, too. I know they have a nice defensive roster, but they're one of just a few teams in the league with a raging question mark at quarterback. And those are the teams that I am less willing to give any rope to, no matter who's around that position.
Starting point is 01:10:49 The data, by the way, does check out the Chargers. We have them at 73 average. And that is, again, once you figure it out, it's kind of a playoff bubble team, which makes sense. Let's calm down about the Chargers. This is not a Super Bowl team. Maybe they are, but they feel like that's where they should be. I am a little surprised.
Starting point is 01:11:04 I know everyone and their brother is down on the Raiders, but you put them at 61.5. You're talking about a double-digit loss team. I wonder if there's a little bit of piling on with the Raiders that's filtering through in this exercise. Well, what category, because I think you could look, a lot of these teams that have show promise, one of their categories gets a five or a 4.5 from almost everyone. Tell me what category that is on the Las Vegas Raiders. Right, right, exactly.
Starting point is 01:11:33 They don't, where did they get better other than defensive coaching? Like, I think they're hoping their coaching is better. But it's not like Gus Bradley has been dialing up a lot of, like, you know, great defenses lately, by the way. And they're deeper on defense. But I think you look at the losses they had on offense. They're one of those teams that it's really hard to make a case that they got better when you at least are putting on your rosy, you know, optimist hat.
Starting point is 01:12:00 Almost every other team can do that. And the Raiders can't. A lot of fours on offense. A lot of fours on offense, which I think makes, especially if Josh Jacobs bounces back. Right. And Derek Carr really did take a step up, I thought, last year, and the tight end, and maybe Henry Ruggs makes leave. There's, there's a, you could, you don't have to squint to see the Raiders as a very good offense.
Starting point is 01:12:20 The rest of it is pretty much a crapshoot to me. All right. Let's now move into the top three. Just edging the AFC West with a average score of 73.3.3 is the AFC East. How about that? How about the AFC East? I love it. It is more interesting.
Starting point is 01:12:38 that it's been in a long time. That and the breakdown is as follows the favorite and a significant favorite, of course, the Buffalo Bills who just miss that 90 tier. They are 89 and a half points out of 100. So they're right there knocking on the door as a Super Bowl contender. That checks out. Second place, the Patriots, 73 and a half. So there you go.
Starting point is 01:13:02 They're right on that like borderline. If you're in that 70 to 74 range, we kind of see you as a, a playoff bubble team just behind them is the dolphins at 70 and a half so they're a little bit more of a uphill climb to get a plas spot but they're right there knocking on the door and then the Jets at 60 which is kind of right at the breaking point between bad teams and mediocre teams which I can kind of see that where they're going so I think we kind of nailed this division what do you guys think I think the dolphins are really intriguing like that's the that's the team that I feel like could go either way.
Starting point is 01:13:41 Like they could either maybe not make the jump that some people think they will or they will improve because of the guys that they brought in Jalen Waddle with Tua. I mean, they really worked hard to surround Tua this off season. And I know we've talked about it before on this podcast about how does the two offensive coordinator thing work in Miami? It doesn't always work out that well. It's sort of maybe having two worked out because now you have a backup when if one gets COVID.
Starting point is 01:14:09 That's a perfect point, actually. I love that. I wonder about the Xavier and Howard situation, too, how that's going to play out. I mean, I don't think it would be smart for them to trade him, but he's obviously not happy. It sounds like it's probably getting settled. I've been surprised that the team is so optimistic and that he actually did go on the practice field. And then he got hurt. I think it was a minor injury.
Starting point is 01:14:33 But he's been there kind of like doing the Jamal Adams thing where he's on the field and helping. And so I don't think there's a lot of bad blood. I think they're going to give him a cosmetic adjustment to his contract similar to Rogers where they maybe knock off one of his years just like or two even to get him closer to free agency, but not really do much else. And that solves it. I'm with you. They're fascinating because I think they've been greater than the sum of their parts.
Starting point is 01:14:55 I think they're fun to watch. I think the Patriots defense is fascinating this year. They added so much. And Belichick coming off that year, like they're upside on defense is like a top three defense. But they stunk last year on. defense. And the Jets are more watchable and more interesting to me than they've been in a long time. And you've got a superpower team in the bills. The AFC East has been so boring as a division, I would say, for the most part, for like 15 years. I think like these games are going to be a
Starting point is 01:15:22 lot more watchable. I'm glad. I'm glad it's in the top. I think you have stability where it used to be obviously the Patriots and a turn style scenario for the other three teams in terms of coaches, GMs, just nonstop transition. I think you look at Sean McDermen, and say this is potentially a top five coach, if not better. I mean, he is, he's brought incredible growth to the bills. They've gotten so much better so quickly. The Jets have stability. I really look at what they're doing, and I believe in the plan.
Starting point is 01:15:50 And if Zach Wilson works out, that whole story and that narrative changes drastically. And the Patriots angrily reloaded. And Bill Belichick, I don't care what anyone says, is furious behind the scenes. He is utterly furious of what happened last season. So the division is going to be a dog fight. Marks back on the Belich train. ever was off he never left i wasn't off um it's interesting on the note two inside the data numbers the weighted data one only one of us only one of us did not get billed bell check a five
Starting point is 01:16:22 out of five who do you think it was gregg so great it's such a gregg move wow i think bell check half a point well i got about gregg what they're just coach of all time i don't give it almost any to any teams in anything. He's Bill Belichick. Yeah, I guess so. But that's fair. But he's coming off, you know, one of the worst coaching jobs he's ever done, I think. I know you can say you make the argument that they had the talent that they had.
Starting point is 01:16:51 And so it's hard to, you know, divorce personnel from his coaching. But his defense collapsed. And I think like, and what they were going to plan to do on offense, it wasn't a great plan. That's one season out of a 40-year coaching career. And they had the most opt-outs last year, too. So many of them were on defense. Like Mahomes got a five. Mahomes got a five and that was about it.
Starting point is 01:17:14 So, Greg, you gave the greatest. The Mahomes of coaches? I mean, I feel like he kind of, all right. Okay. You gave the greatest coach in NFL history of 4.5. They also were right at the beginning. I didn't know how hard the grading was going to be, you know. I also have to pick up my kids from camp right now.
Starting point is 01:17:30 I know I'm part of the reason from honking too much, but I got to miss the top two divisions. I'm sorry. You're leaving right now? I have to pick up. The kids are going to be waiting at camp. They're like, where is that? They'll be fine. The other data here, two and a half, two and a half, two and a half for the quarterback
Starting point is 01:17:46 situation in Miami, except for Mark, you had them at three. All right. They're a classic two and a half quarterback situation. Number two, the A. I really am leaving. I love you all. What is that? You can't leave.
Starting point is 01:17:58 What? He has to pick up his children. I have to get them there. Usually this is a safe. This is an option. Just leave the show. I mean, there. I'm also.
Starting point is 01:18:06 Just like out in the city, you know, they're just going to be like, Greg, great, go do it. Like, if you could do it, we, the explanation is part of the problem here. We get it. It's, you know, there needs to be a penalty for this. That's, that's a terrible job. He left, he left the screen up. It's like an empty chair.
Starting point is 01:18:28 It's such a bad job. You got to get some background noises. You got to get somebody else to pick. up the kids you can't just leave the show yeah i mean he should have just told us he should have been way up front with us about this what look at this they're doing the odd purse today today's the odd per show it did it dan it is a bit treasonous i i hear what you're saying well i can't say treasonous because it's he's going to get his kids but like where where are we can we get an au pair to pick up the kids can we we have another parent in the house can we figure out something i mean Greg
Starting point is 01:19:11 Greg's like rich now can he have a house manager or something don't the don't those exist some type of like boy that works there Greg just actually wants to go take a nap that's what's happening i cannot believe he left like his audio recordings probably still going right now like it's just it's just empty i'm actually supposed to be interviewing um hall of fame inductee, Drew Pearson in about 15 minutes. Anybody where they got to be. We're doing the podcast right now. Everyone's like, hey, we got to go.
Starting point is 01:19:39 Everybody's giving me hard outs. I don't give a shit. Anybody's hard outs. Hey, Dan, guess what? I'm still here. How is Colleen not the one that at some point said I'm out of this scenario? She's still being around.
Starting point is 01:19:51 It's me. Total loyalty. Oh, you know, the top of the show, I'm trying to move things along. And then we have like a 15 minute like conversation about life. And it's like, that was great. I love talking about it. But did Greg not realize that he was on a clock himself at that point? No, he did not.
Starting point is 01:20:10 I can tell you affirmatively, he did not. Well, we will pick up this conversation with Greg when he returns to the show at some point. I assume Monday? I don't know. Well, it depends what the parental, you know, responsibilities are that day, apparently. Greg did mention multiple times that he does not wear the pants in his house. I mean, I'm not saying that he said that to us. on a show. So, you know, deduct as you will. Wait, wait that.
Starting point is 01:20:37 I can't wait to pull a Greg on inside training camp, like on Friday. I'm just going to be like, yeah, I got a, I have something to be at now, so I'm going to be leaving and then just get up and walk away. Do you think if he's like, if he's sitting in for Nate Burleson on good morning football, do you think he just walks away in the middle of the show? You just don't know at this point. It's a respect thing at this point. I think you need to have a conversation with him. This is, let me just remove this.
Starting point is 01:21:04 Here we go. Mark, this is a, hey, let's go get dinner and have a conversation. I think it is. And those are always, there's sort of a sobriety aspect of that. I'm not saying that we're not drinking beer, but it's a somber conversation.
Starting point is 01:21:17 We've had them before. Sometimes we have to have those break bread conversations. This is a breakbread conversation. Because he just broke my heart. All of us. I broke my heart just now. I feel like he broke up with us.
Starting point is 01:21:28 he chose his kids over us and that's something that needs to be addressed he's got to have like a boy that fans him at the house somewhere that has a driver's license or at least can drive and make a couple right turns right they weren't expensive boy little boys no it's like i think you could hire a boy probably doesn't charge that much I'm picturing the little man in Boogie Nights who's throwing those little sound things in the drug den, the snappers. I assume the Jezzelnick podcast
Starting point is 01:22:05 allows him to have a snapper boy. I think there was some, there was other elements to the relationship with Snapper Boy in that film, but I hear you. What if you found out that Greg was going to do the podcast with Jezelnick right now and he left this podcast to go do that one?
Starting point is 01:22:21 Listen, no, I'm still here. I'm still here. Nothing would surprise me. Would he do that to Jeslnick? I don't know. That's part of the conversation when you break bread with the little boy. The dark prince of comedy? Would he do that to Jeslick?
Starting point is 01:22:40 All right. Let's try to, let's pull things together. Let's be professionals. Number two on the overly esoteric division power rankings is the AFC North. How about that? that. Mark Sessler. Number two. Some people would have said number one, but it's not how it worked out according to our data. And it breaks down as follows. The favorite in the division, just slightly, the Baltimore Ravens, 84.5 out of 100. That makes sense. Number two, the Cleveland
Starting point is 01:23:11 Browns, 82. Number three, the Pittsburgh Steel are 77.5. So as we've talked about, that 70 to 75 is a bubble team. We see the Steelers out of that bubble. As a group, we kind of see them more as a team that is in the dance, most likely, anything plus 75. And then the Bengals rounding it out and pulling down the average of 57.5. If the Bengals had a little more juice to them, this is the number one team in our power rankings, a number one division in our power rankings. That's not how it worked out. Mark, the Browns would have been number one, but I think you were a little harsh on them grading-wise, to be totally honest with you. And I saw some of your scores were a little lower than I expected for your favorite football team.
Starting point is 01:23:54 I was trying to look at this division from a couple different angles. And yes, I think the Browns, you could argue, have the most balanced and powerful looking roster on paper. I think they do. There are questions about Baker Mayfield that most people have. I have probably fewer of those questions than others. I think if he can just do what he did last year, they're a playoff team. But for me, and maybe this was where a little bit of emotion came. in, but just because of evidence in what I've seen, I want to see the Cleveland Browns as an
Starting point is 01:24:24 organization say to everyone, we can do this two years in a row, where I have no questions about the Ravens repeating their success. And frankly, like, I do think over the course of the offseason, the Steelers, they have some holes, but they have addressed certain concerns, and just as we get closer and closer to the year, I kind of just trust them to win 11 games. And so I had the Browns just a nudge below Pittsburgh based on sort of organizational history, maybe as much as anything else. Maybe that was a little off base, but I have all three of them as playoff type teams. We both had Baker at three and a half. I think like Kirk Cousins, that's a perfect spot for Baker Mayfield in 2021. And I think he has a ceiling personally of a four
Starting point is 01:25:04 quarterback and a floor of a three quarterback. I think, and that's why if you're the Browns, you can understand why they're like, is that a guy to do a long-term deal with? He's maybe not going to be a superstar. But he's shown us, he's demonstrated that he is a sturdy guy. that you can run an offense and can get hot? Like, is that enough of a skill set to do long-term business with? I think they will eventually. I think that I was a four with Baker. I think I gave him a little bit more of an edge
Starting point is 01:25:34 because I almost feel like people are too down on him and they don't give him enough credit for last season. But the biggest thing for me is the Steelers. I have a lot of questions about that offensive line there. It's basically completely new. and then they're trying to revamp and revitalize a run game there. So Najee Harris, he's great, but it's really going to fall back on the offensive line. Like how much will they be able to protect Ben?
Starting point is 01:26:02 And what kind of run blocking will they be able to do for Najee? Connie, you had the Joe Burrow at four and a half out of five. You are very high. I love Joe Burrow. I thought it was really good before he got hurt. He was. He was. I hate how training. camp beat reporting and not it's not on the beat reporters because they're doing their job but the way
Starting point is 01:26:24 the football cognizante takes the reporting and then it spins it into this is the way things are now and that's what's going to happen with this joe burrow report that's out there today that he's been really had a tough training camp so far he's missing a lot of passes he doesn't look nearly the same as he did last summer mark is that concern you a lot or for for me me, you've got to reconstructed knee surgery. No joke. He's trying to get his feet wet. I'm giving him a little bit more of a pass, but I could see why some people are going to run with this. I think you can say, though, that there is, there are quarterbacks in time, back in time where coming off of knee surgery, they just weren't the same type of person. Now, Burrow, I mean, he does
Starting point is 01:27:09 it all, but he's not like a scrambling quarterback first. It's a little bit different than when RG3 came back from a major knee operation. You know, Burrow's deep ball is something. people have concerns with. My thing with them is like, is this organization, if he were on a different team, different organization, would they manage this the same way? Would he be in an environment that puts them in a better place for success? I always have issues with the Bengals on that front. But Burrow the player, I'm with Colleen that like a month ago, I absolutely thought the world of him. And we'll wait and see if there's some sort of tentative nature to his play. I mean, one week of bad camp practices does not shake my opinion to the core, though.
Starting point is 01:27:49 All right. But also, yeah, all right. Let's keep a good. No, no, no. I want to hear it. What are we going to say? Well, I was going to say you have your quarterback who had such a great season before he was hurt and he has been coming off the knee injury.
Starting point is 01:28:03 And the fact that the organization didn't take Pinesuil or didn't take someone for that offensive line, I think is troubling because if he gets hit again, you don't know where he is. I'm sure I'm sure he's going to be okay. But I just, if it was me, I would have taken. a player to protect my franchise quarterback, not someone that another guy that he could throw to. Obviously, it's nice that they have the reunion, but I just think it's really important to protect your guy.
Starting point is 01:28:31 And you're preaching to the choir. Is it singing to the choir? No, you're preaching to the choir. I've been banging that. The choir would be singing to the preacher. Yeah. I don't know why they didn't do it, but it is what it is.
Starting point is 01:28:44 You hope the offensive line, Riley Reef, and there are some other pieces there that are trending upward, that offensive line will be better. But I do hate because I think we're all really excited about Burrow entering last year and he really flashed in moments during an imperfect rookie season. I just hate that now the conversation around him is, is he going to be okay? Physically, he's the same guy. It's just kind of a bummer for year two of his crew.
Starting point is 01:29:10 He can answer those questions real fast. He can. And you just hope it's not an RG3 situation where he ends up getting hurt in a way where he was kind of hung out to dry by his team. on a certain level and then he's never the same guy physically again by the way rg3 retired from the NFL and now works for ESPN how about that um all right finally according to our tabulations and this includes gregg's data even though he's no longer part of the conversation let's check in uh ricky this is for the youtube audience yep
Starting point is 01:29:39 chair still empty we're gonna have to have a sit down we're got to break bread mark yeah it's going to be you know we we thought we got through some of this um apparently not the nfc west is the best football division uh according to the rann of the nfl podcast overly esoteric division power rankings and uh it makes sense to me and it very interesting so we have the rams as the ever so slight favorite 81 and a half out of 100 average grade uh the seahawks at 81 right behind him. And then not far behind the Rams and the Seahawks, the Niners at 77 and a half. And damn, after talking to Matt Barrows, I'm like, man, well, if this Trey Lance dude is what he looks like he is in camp so far, you might have to bump this team up seven or eight
Starting point is 01:30:32 points. But for now, we can only go off a completely inexperienced rookie quarterback and Jimmy G in the driver's seat to be the starter, 77 and a half. So we have, based on our data here. We have three teams that should be comfortably playoff teams if things play out how they want them to. And then the Cardinals added the mix, a victim of a lot of things, including a very tough division, 67.5. Nothing to be ashamed of 67.5. But that is not a playoff team. And I don't know if that will be enough to keep Cliff Kingsbury employed if they end up going, let's say, 7 and 10. Well, they had such a disappointing end to last season. The start, though, was really promising. And once Kyler hurt his shoulder, everything sort of went downhill and he wasn't able to do the same things that he could do before.
Starting point is 01:31:21 But I thought that when you watch them at the beginning of the year, they had so much momentum. And I'm a little bit higher on them. I think that this is the toughest division, like no doubt about it in football. But I think the Cardinals could also be very much in the mix. Yeah, I don't think that they're, it's not so much like I'm down on the Cardinals. I just think that to be in that environment and that division is going to be rough. I think the 49ers a year ago were a team that could get picked off here and there because of their injury situation. I think their quarterback, tight end, running back and two starting wide outs played together for two games at tops.
Starting point is 01:32:00 And now the environment's totally changed. I mean, if Trey Lance, to your point, is what we're hearing, they're the odds on favorites to me in this division. I just want to see it first. The Rams just feel really solid. I mean, I give their quarterback a high score. their coach, their defense, their offense, their juice, they're coming to the new stadium. We know that Colleen's a big fan of that place. So there's a lot to like here.
Starting point is 01:32:21 And I mean, I think it's, there's, they are the better division than the AFC North. I think we got that right as a group. Nailed it. You know, I was the Genozy Kwah, juice factor, the Seahawks. I had it down at three because there is some like bubbling tensions in Seattle right now. But, you know, I had Russell Wilson at four and a half as a quarterback. I think it was mostly fives for Russell Wilson's. You have that quarterback.
Starting point is 01:32:46 You have the coaching staff in place. You have a defense that can get the job done in offense with a high ceiling. Yeah, the Seahawks, we've talked about it to make a break year for them. And then the other team in the mix here, the Rams, listen, Mark, you've been up and down on the Rams at times. But when you just kind of go through it all, oh, look who's back. Oh, my God, great. Like what?
Starting point is 01:33:12 You guys are still honking? You know? Did you already pick up your kids? Still chat? Yeah, they're pretty close. You know, the camp's very close. We're very determined across the 90 minute. We're still doing the podcast.
Starting point is 01:33:25 You should know, Greg, that we spent 10 minutes discussing your exit before we got back into the chat. So that might explain why we're still doing this. But we are at the NFC West 76.875, the number one team on the overly esoteric division power rankings. overly elongated division power rankings we also have a dinner date ahead Greg just to let you know I was just going to ask Dan
Starting point is 01:33:50 how does this change things now since Greg came back onto the show after he got his kids what you said it was a bad job by me or whatever well listen we we don't need to that we're going to be breaking bread to really have the conversation I don't think it's for the show but no we wondered if you were sitting in for Nate on GMFB or if Tony Jeslnick was next to you with a microphone
Starting point is 01:34:15 is Greg walking off? These are questions that were just kind of thrown out there with no real answers. Unfortunately, you guys are, you know, this camp schedule has been going on for a while. It's why we've been taping a little earlier. Today just went a little long, you know, partly because of me, so I'll take that responsibility,
Starting point is 01:34:32 but I can't just let them sit there in the parking lot at Memorial Park over there. And can you confirm or deny that you have a, what did we call it, a snapper boy? Well, sort of like a house boy, like a young, young man, not even a man, not even a young man, a boy helping you out with various tasks. Someone who could drive, maybe 16. We don't have any help, please. If you are a good babysitter or something, we haven't had a babysitter since, you know, this pandemic began here. Let's do something.
Starting point is 01:35:08 Hmm. All right. So let's wrap it up. Greg, do you have, AFC North came in at second, 75.375, just ahead of the NFC West. And the way that our numbers broke down, we like, we like a playoff team, three playoff teams coming out of here and comfortably. And with, you know, the Trey Lance, who knows what happens if he takes off because we have the Niners ranked third in the division, but they can easily vault the Rams and Seahawks. Cardinals a little behind the pack. Do you have anything to add?
Starting point is 01:35:38 The numbers got it right. What other division has three Super Bowl contenders? None. Sorry, unless you want to throw the Steelers in there as a Super Bowl contender. I think you could if you squinted hard enough. But I think the Seahawks playing in the Super Bowl is something that could happen. The 49ers playing the Super Bowl, I believe, is something that could happen. And the Rams as well.
Starting point is 01:36:00 And the Cardinals aren't, we don't think the Cardinals are a dog team. No, there are some really bad teams that are picked. it would be fourth place. The Cardinals are not. The Cardinals have a ceiling where I could see them winning 10 games. So this is a really, really good division. They deserved it. It would have been troubling if they didn't finish first, but they have. And that is, let's close the book or close the Excel spreadsheet. I thought it went well, maybe a little long, but I think we really learned some things. And it was a good con. I liked it. It kind of worked as an overarching season preview, you know, a little bit, which we haven't done. So that's, that's good.
Starting point is 01:36:36 And now maybe we don't have to do. Ooh. Just throwing that out there. Mark's like, can we have next week off? All right. Connie, you said it all. I sure did. I really did today.
Starting point is 01:36:51 This is my best work. I gave you some poop early. And the reason is because I know that you're a great sport. And thank you. Are you trying to just like avoid an angry text from me? Colleen's like, We got to break bread. We have to sit down and break bread. Yeah, we're going to have to go out to dinner.
Starting point is 01:37:11 And I am looking up for the longest show in history with the most amount of homework. I know. I'm supposed to go get like hand x-rays, but I think I might just take a nap instead and hope for the best. And I look forward, I look forward to Hollywood Park, Colleen. I just want to let you know. I haven't been there yet, but I'm really excited to see that stadium. Well, you should be. It's the future. You built it up. I wish that was your delivery. All right. We'll be back on Friday.
Starting point is 01:37:36 tomorrow on NFL network so check that out check your local listings dvr it find a way to watch it saturday morning i think too saturday yes you can do that with us too if you'd like calling if you'd like to do oh my god that's so nice of you guys but i'll be in atlanta for inside training camp live yeah what's up next so you got Atlanta then where are you going after that so i have atlanta on on saturday and then I'm in Tennessee on Monday and Indianapolis on Wednesday. That's good. You were squeezing your eyes so hard thinking there. I'm sorry, I'm challenging you so much today.
Starting point is 01:38:12 It's so hard to use the brain today. It's broken. Well, safe travels, Connie. You're doing awesome work. You are a star in the network, and we're happy to have you on the show. Yes, NFL network show this weekend. And then we're back Monday with another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. Thank you to everybody for listening.
Starting point is 01:38:31 And until Monday, I'll always eat that call. Hey everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move to 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 Sundays.
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