NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Preseason awards & season predictions

Episode Date: August 29, 2014

A room with some heroes -- Gregg Rosenthal, Chris Wesseling and Marc Sessler -- discuss Derek Carr's chances at being named the Raiders starter and then host the first ever "Around the NFL Preseason Awards". Later, Aldon Smith breaking news interrupts the show before the guys make their 2014 NFL season predictions, alongside Dan Hanzus and Kevin Patra.Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. The Around the NFL podcast dominates the international box office. Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. I'm Greg Rosenthal, joined by a couple of my favorite heroes, Mark Sessler, and Chris Wessling. The preseason is over, gentlemen. How about that? Hey, Greg. You excited?

Chris Musk get his, Hey, Greg, in there, and I like that. Doesn't matter. I think we are excited. Has this August not stretched on forever? Well, we haven't, have you heard yet that this has been five weekends in August? Maybe that's why. It's not every month that has five weekends. Oh, and yeah, we're starting the season early.

You know, we were talking about this season, if you think about how many weeks are in the season, you know, there's 17 regular season. It's a long process. But we've already been through seven weeks. We've got five weeks of preseason games, two weeks before that. We're in regular season mode. And who wants to watch that trash they put up there on the fourth preseason week? That Thursday night's the worst night of professional football year.

I didn't watch a single game Thursday night. I watched drunk history instead. I don't like that show that much. It seems like it should be so funny and it's not that funny. I like Greg totally shifting out of his company man suit. to take the fourth preseason week down. All right. Find the NFL owner that says it's a good product.

It's a waste of time for the both. Well, they're still making their money. I think it's a bad move by any father or mother that drops like $600 to take a family of four to a fourth week preseason game. You could have strategized that better if you're a family. Right. I mean, this is a week where not only the starters sit out, but a lot of times the backup sit out.

You just start with a third stringer. You just go right to Sean Renfrey after T.J. is on the field a little while. I mean, it's just, it's mostly a waste of time. But we were here last night, Greg, and I thought we actually saw, on the young quarterback front, we saw them all play. Actually, that's true.

We enjoyed some of it. It was a pretty low-key night, and we might as well get right into it because we have a big show today, and we want to get to it all. First, we're going to talk a little bit of news, and then we'll quickly move on to our awards, wrapping up the preseason.

A lot of buzz about this preseason MVP award. It will be announced. It's for the first time on the around the NFL podcast. Before it lands anywhere else, world exclusive. And then we'll hit to maybe some okay decent awards that matter to. The regular season MVP, defensive player of the year, rookies of the year, we'll make our predictions for those. We'll make our Super Bowl predictions.

We'll get Dan Hansis and Kevin Patrick coming at you on the line to make their Super Bowl predictions. But before we do that, got to turn it to my man, TD. What's going on? What's going on, guys? Yes, the preseason week four, the issue I have with it, you know when the preseason starts and everyone says, from this point on, guys, to the end of February,

there's going to be an NFL game every Sunday, every weekend. It's not true. No, there's nothing that's being four. Yeah, that's not true. Well, it is true if, like, around the NFL staff, you're watching film nonstop. Because there are plenty of games on Sunday. All right.

So what are you doing with your off time instead of growing your knowledge on the game? Other than asking for headshots. Wait, you need a headshot? What's the headshot? Well, I mean... I don't know. Well, so earlier this week, I put up an article in NFL.com, my first NFL.com article, and I wanted to know if I was going to get a headshot in the baron.

He marched in and asked for a headshot. It was a diva move, and Patrick Crowley called him out on it. This is a fabricated story. You need a little more than one article. Maybe 10. That's fine. Yeah. Hey, but congrats on that, by the way.

We're not just here to take you to town all day long. You got an article up on a professional website. It was good stuff. This is a big step for you. I read it. It was good. Thank you, guys. All right, let's do a little news.

That's my favorite news drop yet. Yeah. So we're doing an award show today, obviously. And today is also Michael Jackson's birthday. So I thought, why not take it back to when he first dropped the moonwalk at the motelette? award show, you know, just tied it all together. But you know that Michael Jackson's died, right? It's, do you know?

I'm just saying. Let's move on, guys. Okay. I'm just saying, I don't know, is it really someone's birthday still? They're not with us. They still celebrate it. You still get celebrated. Okay.

Let's do a little news. And we'll start with what Mark mentioned. There was one big takeaway, I thought, from last night that could have, leave a lasting impression on this 2014 season. and Chris Wesley's got his hands in the air. He's pumping his fists right now. I've never seen this. Why are you so excited?

The Kirk Gibson fist pump. Well, what are you so excited about? Because I know where you're going with this. Well, let's see it. The only takeaway from last night is that we might not see Matt Schaub in the season opener. Yeah, Derek Carr looked very good in, I think it was four drives against the Seattle Seahawks, one against their first team offense, which he led a nice long touchdown drive. Next throw, just 30 seconds later, he connects on.

the long touchdown, really about as perfect a preseason game as you could have against good competition, even if, you know, half the time was against backups. Is there any way the Raiders don't start Derek Carr now in week one? I watched the highlights of Derek Carr. I didn't see the game. And if you watch Derek Carr highlights after watching Matt Schaub lowlights, Derek Carr looks like an unholy juggernaut of John Elway and Brett Farve. That's how Butch of a difference is you see a quarterback actually throwing down the field? By the way, I just know how our TD and our social team thinks. That will now be the poll quote that we use to sell the podcast.

Even if it's totally out of context, Derek Carr is the next John Elway. Well, it's worth noting that two of his three scoring drives came against mostly Seattle starters. Right. And Seattle has not used the preseason to play it softly. They have gone after teams. and the Raiders legitimately move the ball with Carr against that defense. That, to me, he passed the test. And one of those drives wasn't really a drive.

It was a throw. It was one play, 36 yards, and Denarius Moore was open. But it's also a throw. You just can't imagine Matt Schaub making because it took some arm strength, had to get it out there deep down the field. It was perfect. And it's just like if you don't have a guy that can make that throw,

then you're limiting your team. What would be the case for starting Matt Schaub? at this point. Well, you have your head coach whose name is, I wish you weren't a liar. Why is that? He's lied all off-season. He says now he has three starting quarterbacks. He has lied all off-season. He has no acquaintance with the truth. I would not ablyve a word he says, not even hello. I wish you weren't a liar. What I would like to see Dennis Allen have done last night is to cross over and have a chat with Pete Carroll. Because it was two seasons ago when everyone thought Matt Flynn was signed in Seattle to become their starter, that they open-mindedly make the

correct choice to pick the best quarterback in Russell Wilson. The Raiders, the only problem here is them not getting out of their own way. Everyone kills Reggie McKenzie for having not found a quarterback. You found one. Right. Now play them. It's funny that he said three starting quarterbacks. Well, you still had Matt McLaughlin on the roster before you signed Matt Schaub. Why did you need another starting quarterback? Exactly. I think Carr starts because there's a mutiny if it doesn't happen. Fair point. I think you made it easy on them.

It would have been a tougher call for them, and it shouldn't have been. But let's say he goes six for ten with one touchdown, but that was in the third drive against the back. He was good, but not great. To me, he played so perfectly, and Shab isn't even on the practice field right now because of his elbow that, to me, there's no choice to make. I would be absolutely stunned if Shob wasn't on the bench. And you mentioned Matt Flynn.

Well, that was Dennis Allen's quarterback. a year ago, very similar to Shab in terms of they gave Shab $8 million guaranteed, and now that's probably going to be for a backup quarterback. This isn't a cash strap team. I don't think you even worry

about the money on any level. The Oakland Raiders need to turn around here and give their fan base something to cling to and the locker room too. You start Shab and you're telling everyone we're not about putting the best player on the field. And you have to save your jobs.

And as stupid as Reggie McKenzie looks for giving Matt Schaubb $8 million, you'll look even dumber when you get fired. So they are going to pick the guy they think gives them the best chance to keep their job. It's got to be car. Could make them a little more fun. I would like to be a fly on the wall in the meeting when Mark Davis asked Reggie McKenzie to account for that missing $8 million. Oh, you forgot to watch game film of the last year and a half.

Gotcha. Well, Mark Davis has forgotten to watch game film for a lifetime. Well, that's not his job. No, it isn't. But I agree that McKenzie, they went out and they overvalued shop. But no one is going to care about any of that if they start Carr and he succeeds or he shows promise. Nobody will care. Starts week one in New Jersey against the Jets.

That's a fun little week one game if Derek Carr is starting. Nice secondary to go against. Let's talk a little bit before we move on to our awards about the other rookie quarterbacks that wrapped up their pre-seasoned last night. We'll start with Johnny Mansell. Mark, I know you were dialed into that game at one point. You were so excited. Just with glee, you said, what was your quote again? I don't know where you're going with this.

I felt was I excited last night? You seemed for a minute excited that it looks like we might have a hint of a quarterback. What was the quote exactly? I forget. It was along those lines. And it was because that's what Mansell is doing right now. There's a play where you're thinking, oh, wait, that's why we went and got this guy if you're the Cleveland Browns. but he was six to 17, and actually the takeaway for me was he's billed as having a strong arm,

and he can dart that thing on shorter passes over the middle, and he is a nice arm in general, but then suddenly last night, deep passes, anything over 15 yards, sailed. I don't know what was going on with him. He admitted he to not throw well, but it almost was like his mechanics were all hinky last night. He really, really was an ugly, ugly passer on deep throws. I'm worried about him a little bit just that you're not going to get much out of him this year

whether he plays or not it just seems far away from being ready he sure does he's six for 17 I know from reading Mark's article that Johnny Mansell hit the scene as a comprehensive mixed bag

I like that I like the phrasing there he really was it was a play-to-play drama where you thought oh yes and then you thought my gosh this guy absolutely should not be on the field Here was your quote, by the way. And you did say this with some happiness at the time.

It was one of after he put two good plays together in row. You said, we've got the suggestion of a quarterback in Cleveland. I did not say it that way, by the way. That is not how I voiced that. You know, but that he... But that's funny that that's like that the most optimistic a Brown fan can get. That's why it was funny. It was one of the better six for 17 performances, which is a statistical disaster that I've seen

because he led them to two field goals and a touchdown drive. It's like, despite the numbers, he does... bring energy, and he does seem to get the ball to guys. That should matter. It does matter, and I think that the numbers and the accuracy and the completion percentage will build if he plays. I also look at him as a 2015 quarterback right now. I do, too.

Blake Bordell's to me looks like a 2014 quarterback. He wrapped up the preseason with a nice long touchdown throw, had one other deep pass down the field. He just was unbelievable all preseason. What was your crazy stout? I'd go as far as to say, Blake Borders probably was a 2013 quarterback. because on the supercast that we taped yesterday, by the way, Greg Welsenthal representing the around the NFL crew on the NFL season preview

Supercast. Oh, yeah, check it out. We had a discussion about ranking the quarterbacks in the last two drafts, and I believe essentially Blake Borders came out on top. Interesting. Yeah, he should. I mean, Gino Smith and E.J. Manuel? Come on.

He's got the hairline of a 1997 class of 2000 quarterback. Why is he losing hair already? Come on, Blake. He does have also has a pretty terrible name, Bordles. What is that? Blake Bortos. Well, it'll grow on people. That sounds like a quarterback, though.

Bortals. I asked him as a litigation. Resident Steelers fan if he would today trade Ben Rothesberger for Bortles? What did he say, T.D? He thought about it. I think he would take Bortles. Oh, wow. That's not good.

Blake Bortles is a quarterback name, though. I remember my wife once asked me, how come all the quarterbacks have such quarterbacky names? Like, there's something about it. It's a very penetrating question. You know what I mean, though? It's almost like self-selection. You get the name Blake Bortles.

It's going to help your chances to become. Blank Gabbardt, too. Why are most of them good-looking, too? Right. It's not just about your physical traits. You have to be a leader of men. Body language. We're going to break this down in a five-part series next off-season

when we have nothing to talk about again. The crazy stat you were referring to, Mark unearthed this stat. 34% of Blake Bortles pre-season completions have gone for 20 or more yards, which would be a record. I don't even have to look that up. I know that would be a record. That's insane. Well, on the flip side is that Hennies, only 8% of Hennies has.

And that's why last week you see Hennie played for 28 minutes. Bortles comes in in 80 seconds and does everything Hennie did statistically in under two minutes. He's moving the football every time he's on the field. He's like a condensed Hennie. There you go. Teddy Bridgewater played in a driving rainstorm in the end is preseason. That happened in two of the Titans game, so I didn't really take anything from me.

that. I think we'll see Bridgewater later in the season. Let's move on from the preseason finally. But before we do that, let's hand out some awards. I mean, we've been talking this up now for weeks. And there was a lot of people on Twitter last night that they wanted to go to bed across the country. And then they realized, oh, McLean is actually in the late game. So I'm going to have to stay up and see if Matt McLean can go earn that preseason MVP award because people were just excited about can he pull it off? Can McLean do it?

The award fever and so people were up late, he struggled a little bit. You're sure this is people versus the singular person. I was up watching and I enjoyed Matt McLeoyne. That's because it was a McGloin on McLevin on McLeodin. It was a fun night. Who would be some candidates that you'd throw out there here for preseason MVP?

We're going to do this quickly. Mark Ingram? Yeah, he's a good one. I like that. McGloin, to me, was immediately the heavy favorite when he did the MJ shoulder shrug after the game-winning touchdown a couple weeks ago. I just thought that one moment alone

really said everything you need to know about the pre-season. I'm sold on that pick. I thought that's where we were going with this without much controversy. Travis Kelsey was an option, a lot of 50-yard touchdowns. Shouldn't the pre-season awards be that we pick a quarterback that loses the quarterback battle

to another young player? What would happen if during the regular season, a wide receiver caught the game-winning touchdown in 13 of 16 games? I think he would be the greatest season of all time, clutch season of all time. I think we have our answer here. Corey Washington of the New York Giants. He's the preseason MVP, the first annual preseason MVP.

TD, get excited. Well, and Giants fans will not laugh at that because that's how they unearth Victor Cruz off of preseason magic. I mean, sometimes this does translate. For those who don't know, Corey Washington deeply buried on the roster caught a game-winning touchdown in four straight weeks. That's pretty tough to do. Once it was the go-ahead touchdown, it wasn't exactly game-winning.

They scored another one later, but... It's all right. I don't care. Well, grandfather, that one. Cory Washington's the MVP. And that leads to, I'm just going to go right into coach of the year. Tom Coughlin, 5-0. I mean, it's not quite 72 Dolphin stuff, but it's got to be Tom Coughlin, right?

It's like going 21-0 in the regular season. Doesn't it say it all about the preseason It feels like the Giants That the sky is falling And yet they went 5 and 0 in the preseason Yeah and they pull out a win on a night That Eli Manning was 1 for 4 for 0 yards That's about his average

That's his best night of the preseason It's got to be tough if you're a coach And you grind your way to a 5 and 0 record Over you're the team that has to play an extra preseason game And it doesn't count We're back at 0 and 0 and 3 Well and Ryan Nassab is the one That led them to all these comebacks anyway

He was about to be cut three or four weeks ago. Yeah, see, preseason helped him out. Preseason defensive player of the year, Wesleyan, who's your pick? The Eastern Bloc. Oh, Margus Hunt. Cincinnati. He got it on the first week of the year when he took Jeff Lincoln Bach and literally picked him up and threw him three or four yards down the field.

Looks like JJ Watt on some plays. And last night, the final night of the preseason, three sacks, four tackles for loss. If you watched Hard Knocks last year, a charming fellow, Margus Hunt. very, very likable. Good to see nice things from. Marcus Hunt, you're the first ever defensive player of the year in the season. My pick was Dimitri Patterson because he basically said, you know what, not into it? Not into it, wait until September.

This is how much I care about the preseason. I'm not even going to show up. I'm not even going to tell you I'm not showing up. All right, rookies of the year of the preseason. Do we even want to do that? Portles. Got to be portals. Where else could you possibly know?

How about defense? Clowny? Well, he just really made it like four plays. No, I don't think we have a defensive guy. You could go Shazir, Pryor, Clowny. Yeah, let's move on to LVP. I got to give it to E.J. Manuel. Because kind of like the Coughlin gets some bonuses for playing five games, five wins.

E.J. Manuel was painful to watch for five straight weeks. Not just four. I think that there could be a triumvirate here. RG3 and Eli Manning are kind of upset that you gave it to E.J. Manuel. E.J. Manuel and the rest of the bill starters played three drives on 13. Thursday night, all against the Detroit Lions' backups, and the idea was, let's get some momentum going for the regular season. On those three drives, they had 50 yards, zero points, and Sammy Watkins got hurt.

I think Manuel has to get the tiebreaker here because of that. He played a lot more in the preseason than these other guys. He even played an extra game. And they probably didn't score a touchdown all preseason. I saw a lot of tweets coming out of the Cleveland faction saying, we are thrilled with E.J. Manuel's progress, because they're the... they hold Buffalo's first round pick, and it's possible the Browns have two top five picks going into next year's draft. How do you top what you did last spring? You do it this way with two top five

picks, trading up with yourself to get who you want. Maybe they'll get a quarterback. I love this theory Sessler high. He really thinks the Browns are going to get the top two picks and then trade up for themselves to finally get. I think that would be awesome. It'd be the best trade they've made in years. Kevin Costner's like, I've been taken twice two years in a row. And by the way, when you say you've seen a lot of Browns fans tweeting about that? You just mean that you've been talking about that, right? No, I saw that coming out of, you know, the AFC North column on our, on our Twitter feed. The Sessler Award.

What's that again? That was, you guys seem to think that I have a fascination with assistant coaches. You do. The AP announced this week that they will, for the first time in the history of our planet. You love assistant coaches. No one likes play callers and schemers more than you. I do, I do think, you know, it's a worthy award that you. should have come out years ago. This time around, an assistant coach will be named the assistant

coach of the year. So who is it from this summer? I actually am kind of struggling. My pick, though, was Norv Turner because I thought comes in Minnesota's offense. I think we'll forget how dull this offense was for a long time. He turned Matt Castle into what looks like a very serviceable guy in that scheme. Teddy Bridgewater is shown a lot of progress. I kind of think that Corderole Patterson is going to have a big year. Kyle Rudolph. Norv fits what they have very well, and he showed it in August. I'm going with Raiders offensive coordinator Greg Olson. I like that. Because he's going to duct tape Dennis Allen's mouth, hijack him, zip tie his hands, and not let him out on the press conference and make the decision to start David Carr over match up.

The final award, the comeback player of the preseason. I'm giving it to San Antonio Holmes. He wasn't even in our lives two weeks ago. And I think he made the Bears on Thursday night when he had one punt return for 30 yards and one catch for 32 yards and a touchdown. That's enough. That's very preseasony. I like that. All right. That's it.

Preseason awards. We should have some songs or something, T.D. Come on. It's a preseason, man. Fine, fine, fine. All right. Let's move on to our real awards preview for the year. And we've done this on the around the NFL site all week.

And what is that? We have some breaking news into the Around the NFL podcast studio. Usually this is something like Jimmy Cawson signed with a team. I'm not expecting anything real big here. Well, we actually know what it is. We just spent a while writing it up downstairs. We had to vacate the podcast studio. T.D. shaking his head.

Way to pull about the carton. Well, why not? Yeah. Way to throw me under the bus with my Jimmy Clawson thing. Oh, well, why pretend? We are all 41 minutes older. Yeah, we all had to leave because Alden Smith, the star pass rusher of the San Francisco 49ers, has been suspended for the odd number nine games. I've never seen a nine game suspension, a little bigger than we thought.

A lot bigger than we thought. I was guessing five maybe. Right. Nine's more than half the season. Well, an NFL media insider Ian Rappaport noted that the 49ers also were very surprised with the, the length of the suspension. I'd call him Star Cross, not Star. And he broke it up, and that's why it was so long,

was five of the games was for, I believe, the substance abuse policy, four of the games for the substance abuse policy, five for the personal conduct policy. Alden Smith has had a number of incidents drinking DUI-related and, you know, separate with a felony charge. There was a lot going on,

so it makes some sense to me nine games, but that's a worst-case scenario for them. A colorful character. And Breer mentioned that, because people are asking, you know, why is it that Eldon Smith, they're allowing him to be around the facility? Why is someone like Josh Gordon or other people not? Well, if you have a second substance abuse offense, that is not a privilege you have. And so I guess Smith, with Smith, he's allowed to.

It still is unclear to me, but. Well, he, that's a good, I guess a silver lining for them, but he misses a big chunk of the season, misses a game against the Saints. He won't miss either of the Seahawks games, but are we concerned about this defense now? You know, you're without Navarra Bowman half the season. You're without Glendorsi. You're without Alden Smith.

Looks like my prediction that the 49ers' demise could happen. Looking a little better today. They were seen as the best linebacker. Craig pulls up immediate positive out of this train. Oh, yeah. It's all about me. I'm tapping my fingers. They were seen as the best linebacker core

since the Saints of the Jim Mora era with Patrick Swilling and Ricky Jackson and Sam Mills. Vaughn Johnson, was that his name? Ricky Jackson? Vaughn, I don't know. As the podcast creeps to an epic halt. The point is, the $14.9 without two of them,

and maybe the best two. D.D. is laughing as... Well, we don't have a lot of sleep here right now. I'm just still amazed at how you just absolutely just pull back the curtain. You know, you saw the full. World, and this is what you did to it. Do you guys not like that?

That I was just being honest with our listeners. We don't play games with our listeners. To find time to start. All right. That's it for the Alden Smith News. That was a surprise, but we're going to move on. Can I finish my point? Oh, you had a point?

I didn't know. He was breaking down the defensive fallout. That's right. Well, it's hard to tell with a 30 second pause between the names, but sure. continue on sir i quit that's it i'm out of here a lot of attention well listen wesley let's don't leave if you hear this and it's still the month of august log on to the website and find westling's post which should be prominently placed

you will learn a lot about why this defense will be challenged fair enough no please finish the point now it's just awkward no now it's useless they just lost two all-pros two of their four linebackers possibly the best two of their four linebackers possibly the best two of their four linebackers. Definitely, right? Well, Alden Smith has the most sacks per game in NFL history. That's right. Zero point nine eight. And Navarro Bowman was your choice for defensive player of the year last year. He was. I love him. So they're without those guys for the first

half of the season, essentially. Pushing it way forward and not wanting to go down a wormhole. It's such a, it's going to be interesting to watch if this team tries to keep him around and resign him. I just think it's a really rough scenario for that front office to deal with. But you know, it always comes down. to talent. You know where he'll land if he goes into the waiver world? Seattle. They'll just pick him right up and say,

we'll deal with this kind of guy. Why doesn't he just follow Jim Harbaugh to his next team? Wow. I think if they've been this base in which Alden Smith throughout this process, I think as long as nothing else happens, that they'll still give him some money. And why not?

Hey, he's talented. Everyone gets paid. And by the way, you know, sometimes we get tweets that it's uncomfortable, the tension between Chris and I occasionally, you know, it's all love. There's no tension. There's never any tension. It's definitely uncomfortable for the rest of us.

All right, let's move on to our awards. Let's start with the most valuable player. Mark, who is your choice for the 2014 MVP when you look in the crystal ball? Well, all right, I'm going to call. all this a boring pick because it's the safest pick that I can come up with, and it is Aaron Rogers, the Green Bay Packers quarterback, who you know what gets left at number 11 on the top 100 list. Are we still mentioning that?

Well, it's an off-season memory. It's floated off. We don't care. But it still gets under my skin because this guy is at the peak of his game. He's the best quarterback in the NFL right now. He's set up very well in Green Bay to do what he does, but have a lot more support around them than he's had in the past. This is a potential Super Bowl team.

They're going to go to the final four. Green Bay is going to get it done. And Aaron Rogers, MVP, bank on it right now. Oh, you can't even, let's, why are we still continuing this conversation? You're getting me fired up, Sessler. It's all right. I picked it Rogers, too. I think he's a generational talent.

I think when he retires, we'll talk about him in the same way we talk about Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. And those guys, they end up getting multiple MVP's. 31. Things are really good around them. It just feels like it'll be one of those transcendent years like he had in 2011 when they didn't finish it off in the playoffs, but he was great in the regular season. Wes, who you got? Aaron Rogers is the best player in the NFL, but I don't believe he will win this award. You're going to go with the second or third best player. Yes. I'm going to go with someone who's in the top five players in the NFL.

Levanti David. He's up there pretty high. The Saints, I've said it before, they're going to break some records. Some of the records the Broncos set last year. Along the way, Drew Brees will join 2004 and 2013 Peyton Manning, 2007 Tom Brady, 2011, Aaron Rogers as the only players with a passer rating over 115 in a season. Well, over 115 plus 4,500 yards and 45 touchdowns. So he's going to have that magical season that you cannot avoid in the MVP race.

I like it when predictions line up and you've predicted the Saints to win the Super Bowl and that means they're going to have a great regular season so that makes sense. Spoiler alert. Oh, that's right. We're going to give our Super Bowl picks. Well, we've talked about it a lot on this podcast.

Rewind and forget that happened. Listeners. Again, pulling back the curtain. These are not the dwarves you're looking for. One thing about, and I kind of think some of these awards are a little shammy because it's kind of like when you get Best Picture and whoever doesn't win that

typically gets Best Director. Like I'm going Saints, I'm going Breeze for offensive play. player of the year. Oh, my getting... You can't say that on the podcast. It's not even one that we did. We're not talking about offensive player of the year. That's a ridiculous award.

That's my point is that that whole dynamic with the film world is idiotic because they just reward the guy that didn't get the other one. Breeze and Rogers are at the top of this list. One's going to get an offensive player, the other MVP. Have a nice day. Are we ignoring Peyton Manning? No, we're bored with him. Testify.

If you go to NFL.com, you can see all the writers on the site that had the time to do it, predicting divisions and different award winners. And I actually abstained from voting for the offensive player of the year because I have a moral obligation to. It's a campaign for you. It is. Along the line of. Now that we've raised the gold post, TD, and we're going to try to get the slide, the quarterback slide as an event into the combine. I do love that one. Yeah, it's a great one.

We got a lot of feedback on Twitter on that, which I appreciate. The other thing I want to do is to abolish the offensive player of the year award. It's totally ridiculous. The MVP is the offensive player of the year because it's always offense. How can they be different? You know who it's not ridiculous to is the agents and players that weave these awards into their contracts where it triggers future big deals and cashola. So it's not going anywhere.

Be careful what you ask for. Why? They get rid of this award. You're going to be like Alexander the Great sitting on the side of a hill crying that you have no lands left to conquer. Oh, I'll come up with something else. I just came up with this one after the goalposts were raised. I'm on fire. Let's go to defense.

Mark, who you got for defensive player of the year? I don't even know. I don't even remember writing this post. We wrote a whole article about it. Earl Thomas. That's right. Listen, it's late in the afternoon. Mark was here until 11 last night and came in very early, 7.

I actually, in another world, one of the reasons I think the MVP ward is a big sham on some level is that it typically always goes to a quarterback or an offensive player. Earl Thomas is an MVP worthy player, but because on most television screens, unless you watch all 22, you don't see the safety. You don't see the safety. Maybe that needs to be one of the other rules, Greg, things you're trying to change. We need to see more in the broadcast. Why don't we have that behind the quarterback view? That's what I want to see. I want to see what the quarterback's seeing when, you know, the receiver gets open.

I want to say, why isn't he pass into that guy? Why was I all alone last year and arguing for Earl Thomas to be defensive player of the year award? And now everybody on this around the league, around the NFL crew wants him to be this year. Because, Chris, you are a genius. No, it just means like, why didn't, if he was that great, why didn't you say he should have got it last year? Well, because in August last year, I picked Patrick Peterson. No, I mean, at the end of the year. I don't recall saying yay or.

or nay on that. My pick was Bowman. You're right. I'm not picking Thomas. He's a good pick, though. Maybe he'll be even better this year. You know, better than he was last year. Then he'd get the word. Who do you got, Wes? I've got Daryl Revis. Ooh, I like that. I think Jay J.J. Watts, the best player in the NFL, just like I think Aaron Rogers is the best, or the best defensive player, just like I think Aaron Rogers is the best, and didn't give him the MVP. I think Revis, if he returns to 2009 to 2011 form, Super Bowl contender, I think he gets the award. Oh, that would be sweet. They like narratives, too, and that's a nice narrative.

And how much would he cash in like crazy? And that means the Patriots defense will be as good as I'm hoping. Nobody likes to cash in like Dorel Revis. Right. My choice is a little off the radar, relatively. Gerald McCoy, who I think was in the mix for it last year if people had been paying attention. There's a lot of hype around this guy, for sure.

Yeah, and I do think that the Bucks will be a top three to five defense, be the type of defense that gets a lot of attention that he's going to be the best player on it. He's 26 years old. He's just what you want in a top five pick. He's gotten better each and every year. There has not been a season where McCoy didn't get better. And now he's at the point where he should be in the middle of his prime, a top five defensive player. It's a little tough to get it from defensive tackle. Not many people win the award from that position, but just like his buddy Warren Sapted, I think McCoy can. I liked it. All right. Let's move on to rookies of the year.

Offensive and defensive, but let's start on the offensive side of the ball. Mark, who you got? I don't know, Greg, you and I, we've been on the party line with this, but I went Blake Bordell's on offense. I think he's going to win the award with just 13 or 14 starts. I like it. And listen, this is an easy one for me. Again, these awards are about premier positions, the quarterback. If one rookie quarterback shines, that's it. It's done.

Running backs win it a lot just because they get the ball. and it's easy to sort of pay attention there. And I'm actually, I think we're all kind of looking at the rookie running back group and saying, hmm. This is a very unimpressive rookie running back group. There's a better chance it'll be a rookie receiver if it's not a quarterback. But this is all narrative-based. I think that this is just people like to vote for things that get them going.

And if you can be a quarterback that comes in and turns a totally wayward franchise like Jacksonville around, you know, this is set up for him to win it if he does what I think we'll do. He'll do. I love Bordell. That was my pick, too. When I looked at everyone from around NFL Media's picks and there was a good handful of Bordles and there was no one voting for Kelvin Benjamin,

I wish I voted for Benjamin. Because that's my strong number two. I think he's going to have a great year, go over 1,000 yards and be a key part of that offense and deliver. So he would be my number two pick, but I got Bordles. What do you got, Chris? I couldn't go with Bordles because I don't think he'll get enough starts. It's fair.

We've got a sandwich on that. Vince Young did it. How many starts did Bortles? Vince Young, I have 12 or 13 his rookie year. He definitely didn't start the year. There was a lot of late game magic involved with Vince Young's award. One nine straight games? A lot of help from Pac-Man Jones there, too.

He was Tim Tebow with more talent. How many games do you think he will start? Bortles? If I had to guess, I would say the over-under. Well, we can't. Sorry. You could do over-under. Ten.

Okay. Yeah, 10 would be tough, but possible if he was incredible. Before Halloween is my prediction on when Henney goes. Six games with Chad Henney will feel like seven lifetimes to anyone in Florida. It won't happen. People were talking about Mike Vic as an MVP when he missed three or four games, which was ridiculous. So, you know, it can happen. Who do you got for your record?

Mine, you mentioned Kelvin Benjamin. Mine came down to Kelvin Benjamin and Brandon Cooks. I am sticking with the pattern of the Saints going to the Super Bowl. Drew Breeze winning MVP. Brandon Cook comes in and injects life into that offense. He was exactly what this team needed. with their wide receivers getting so slow and old last year. So I think he kind of comes in like a Deshaun Jackson did

in Philadelphia his rookie year. It makes sense to me. It's good pick. On defense, it comes down to Jedvian Clowny and Ryan Shazier as the favorites. And I'm going to start saying Jadevian, because that's what his mom said is his real name, not Jadavian. Well, I would go with the mom.

Right. So let's make this change on this podcast. Those have to be the two favorites. And I think you can put Shazier right there with him just because it's a little easier to win from inside linebacker. You're racking up tackles. He's going to be active in the passing game. It's easier to get a lot of tackles than it is to get a lot of sacks.

That's why guys like Jared Mayo, et cetera, win this award. I'm going Shazier. I'm with you. I could not go with Jad Clowny. I like the idea of it. But I'm going Shazier too. And listen, you just said it all. I think Pittsburgh is a good place.

Wes comes up so much for us. I didn't pick him, and I don't agree that it just, comes down to those two guys. I think we're sleeping a little bit on C.J. Mosley of the Ravens. Okay. We're sleeping a little bit on Calvin Pryor of the Jets. I like that. Khalil Mack.

Hmm. You almost had me out of my chair, but then that slowed down. I'm pumping up a Raider. Yeah. This is unusual for me. He did look good the last couple preseason game. And Kevin Patrice's boy, Anthony Barr, who looks like a dynamic athlete for the Vikings, and you know Zimmer's going to know how to use him.

But my pick came down to Clowny for the highlight factor. He only played two preseason games In both of those games His hits went viral He's incredible That's going Those viral hits are going to be A big asset in his campaign

For this award I think Shizier has some of that same Highlight DNA That's true And he'll be on national TV a lot With the Steelers Whereas Clowny will not Oh I don't think we have to worry

About coverage of Jedevi and Clowney That's fair Let's just skip Pat's coach of the year Because it's boring And it's just the teams That we think are going to do well Let's go to a comeback player of the year. Also, a weird award, but a lot of good candidates.

Chris, you actually wrote a good piece months ago about different candidates. Since you wrote that piece, which had a lot of good names on it, Julio Jones, Grancowski, RG3, Percy Harvin, Clay Matthews. A couple of Broncos defensive players, Von Miller, and DeMarcus Ware. Who's kind of striking your fancy right now? I think Gronk would have to be the favorite for me right now. But I'm going to stick with my RG3 pick, even though he looks like a wreck at quarterback over the past three weeks. Well, are you sticking with it just out of principle, or do you really think at this point that this will happen?

I'm sticking with it to teach myself a lesson, not to overrate the preseason. That's fair. The rare teaching yourself a lesson. Right. I think I'm sitting myself on the proverbial step. That's what this show is about. It's about self-growth. and that's what Chris Wesleyan's doing right there.

And sometimes self-hatred. Self-loathing, masochism. Yeah. Self-loathing, yes. Plenty of that. Mark, who you got? By the way, this list written in June and a lot's changed since June, outside of one quarterback and Michael Vick,

where this could have gone a different way, they obviously were cemented on Gino Smith. Everyone on this list is still in play. Julio Jones makes a lot of sense. That's where I'd go just because, well, because of what little we've seen in the preseason, and this is you want to talk about one thing as we say we can judge

is a guy coming back from injury how does he look he's looked like a monster that offense is completely built around him blowing up I could see him having a Josh Gordon type season and you know I don't trust the RG3 thing as much as Wesley does at this point Gruncowski for me this is why this whole award is stupid

it's a weird award it's a stupid award he was dynamic last season he got injured but it's I looking at guys Phil Rivers won it last year that was weird no tight end who's ever won award and I wouldn't call him a tight end though but he is well but not in the sense that that position when they weren't voting for tight ends for decades it's because tight end position isn't what it is today I think that's just random that tight ends haven't won it just and wide receivers when I researched this I remember that you pretty much have to be the best wide receiver in the

NFL to win it Steve Smith won it coming off a broken leg I think Randy Moss won it coming off the Raiders disaster year I think Jones could pull that off or be top two or three no problem that That makes my pick seem a little silly because I'm going to go with the first person to ever do the pre-season, postseason double. San Antonio Holmes for comeback player of the year. Forget about it. How excited would that be?

You don't believe that? No, I don't. I don't really like this award. But I could see Holmes. It'd be fun. Coming back from all those wake-and-bakes he had a couple years ago. What's up, T. Guys, as you guys, I've listened to your analysis here,

and so you guys clearly have problems sometimes when the award is based on a storyline. But this is one award category that doesn't even try to hide the fact that it's a storyline, you know? It's like, yeah, it's a weird award. But Rivers makes no sense because he was coming back from what? From bad play. Exactly. And it's all about the storyline.

It was terrible. He led the NFL turnovers for two years. But players' performance all over the place rises and falls every season. I mean, I just, I think it's a strange one that the NFL officially hands out. They should just give it to Thomas Davis every year until he's not. good again. I have no problem with that. Or Chad Pennington again.

I have no problem. When he got it a second time, that's when I knew this award was ridiculous. Garrison Hurst. Greg's pick was actually Muhammad Massacqua, who will emerge from nowhere to join a team in week three and explode. That's a Sessler. I'm sticking with Holmes. Are you really?

San Antonio. Interesting. That's your pick. San Antonio Holmes. They're not going to throw it to Brandon Marshall and Alshan Jeffrey and Mortellis Bennett. They're going to throw it to San Antonio Holmes. Greg is only trying to get the Facebook call out when they publicize this podcast.

The courage, the courage that it's taken homes to recover from being the first person in NFL history to get kicked out of his own huddle to come back and show the inner strength. That's a good story. I don't believe this because I know you don't believe it. All right. Let's get to our Super Bowl picks. Wait, who's your real pick? I don't have a real pick. Do I need one?

Well, that is a real person. So I'm going to qualify that as a real thing. I'm sticking with Stoney Oms. I don't know. I don't need one. Let's move along to our Super Bowl picks, and to do that, we're going to get our fellow comrades on the horn, including our Chicago correspondent, Kevin Patrick coming at you.

T.D., can we give him a ring? Yes, we can. He's on right now. Kevin Patrick coming at you. What is? How's it going, fellas? What's up? You're actually back in Detroit right now, right?

Back at your home? That's correct. My nephew's turning one this weekend, so I'm here to see him and hang out with the family. Well, I'm sure he'll remember you coming for all his life. You're a good uncle. What a gesture. Oh, wait, he's one. He won't have a memory that sticks for five years.

There it is. Greg, just taking the wind down with the sales of a family reunion. No, it's terrific that he's back. I often think about that when all these nice moments with my daughter that she'll never remember any of them. Well, that's why his picture is, Greg. Yes. Not to get too far off on a tangent.

Why does humanity exist? We're all going to die Can you answer that for us? Why does humanity exist, Kevin? Oh, good Lord. I don't know. For me to have fun, I hope. That's a good answer.

Yes. I like it. Also, what's your Super Bowl pick this year? I went with the Seahawks because, like we talked about, I believe that their team building is by far the best. And since the early-aught Patriots,

I don't think anybody's had a better chance to repeat than they do. They're in a position where they have young players improving. I think Russell Wilson is going to have to fantastic here. And teams are going to have to go through Seattle, which has been nearly impossible. On the flip side, I actually have them beating the Steelers, who I think will come out of the AFC. We are riding the Steelers.

And a couple of you guys, not to give it away here, really like the Steelers to make it through the AFC. That's bold going over. Sometimes you've got to pick a curveball. Yeah. Everyone's taking the Patriots, Bron. goes, you know, it's not always the same. And you're actually the only person to take the Seahawks.

So you have a pretty good chance to be the one that's right this year. Dan Hansis actually nailed it last year. We'll talk to him in a second. Yeah, that's all we got for you. Are you going to get into it with some friends in Detroit, or what's going on here? I'm not at liberty to discuss those matters. Well, I know we have you working a lot. I don't want the NFL, you know, becoming aware of my shadowy league figures.

Do you lack friends? Do I lack friends? Well, I mean, that... You know, I have two or three friends. That's got T's my brother, so things always get interesting when I... T.D. is giggling like a schoolgirl with that one. I love how Sessler just asked with the seriousness. Hints of seriousness and concern.

Do you have friends? Well, I wanted to reach out. Again, we just talked about the show being a show of healing. We love Kevin Patra, and this is just about the one-year anniversary of Kevin Patra, having started up with around the league, and it's been quite a... year. So thanks for all that you do, Kevin, and we'll talk to you soon. Appreciate it, fellas. Have a good one. All right. Next in line is the man, the man with the new boy. Dan Hansis and his son, Jack.

He's going to call in. Let's get him on the line, TD. Get you Dan Hanses. Uh, get your Dan Hanses. He's got the entrance music. It's Dan Hansis back on the show. What's up? Budweiser. Awesome reference, buddy. Are you ready to come back into our loving embrace in a couple days? I am very ready.

I had been waiting for Alden Smith's decision to come through. Got it. Got Josh Gordon, got week three of the preseason, got the cuts. I am now ready to return. How's little Jack doing? Jack's doing great. I mean, he's a healthy baby boy. He didn't sleep last night.

So things are starting to take a turn toward the evil. But at the same time, you know, I'm happy to have them at home, obviously, but also ready to get back to work and join my around-the-NFL teammates. Oh, yeah. By the way, we changed the complete name of our podcast and site since you've been by. And I also can tell you that a lot of people on Twitter were under the assumption, the wrong assumption that this was somehow done behind my back and I needed to return to help restore normalcy

and get the name back to what it was. But I really have no power here either. This is a corporate maneuver that people below rog or perhaps rog himself greenlit and we just got to move forward. Yeah, I'm excited for it. And I know you're busy with you got to get back to Jack.

So we had to have you on to predict the Super Bowl because you predicted the Super Bowl exactly right. Not only in the middle of last season, but before last season, you had the Seahawks beating the Broncos in the Super Bowl, and that's exactly what happened.

Oh, and by the way, was chided for it and undressed and treated as an amateur. Well, not in the preseason. They were the favorites, to be fair. He was not the only... Kansas, out of nowhere, like a fire bomb on a Monday night, calls it directly. Well, that was in the middle of the season.

But even before the season, him and, you know, a handful of other, NFL media. They were the favorites for, you know, I've got to take you down a little. No, I should. You were awesome. Don't forget that the, not only did I call the exact team and the winner, I also, in that mid-season prediction, predicted a blowout. They even threw out the score, which I got within about five points on each end. So it was a mighty victory, so it's important that I'm on the phone right now talking about this. Well, tell us then. Tell us who's going to win this

Super Bowl since we know it's going to happen. Well, I know you'll be excited about this because this is your pick every year. But I think the Green Bay Packers will get back to the Super Bowl with a healthy Aaron Rodgers, and they will defeat the New England Patriots. Oh. The last Brady-Belichick shot at the Super Bowl, they're going to get through the AFC,

get through Peyton Manning in the AFC title game, but they will be stopped by the Packers who will use home field advantage to get past the Seahawks in the NFC title game. I like it. I like Dan. couching the concept that this is New England's end run, so that it suggests something positive for the Jets.

They will make three more Super Bowls, Dan. I'm sorry, your ill times have not ended. You remember when there was that bogus debate about his Tom Brady done as elite? And I remember we talked about this a few months ago or a couple months ago, and I still believe I just have a bit of a Cessler that this is Brady's last real shot. And I talked to Greg before how I've always seen some career parallels between Tom Brady and my boy, Derek Geter,

and how their careers have progressed, both starting with a major flurry, historic flurry, and then going through a long down period, well, not down period, but period, dry period in terms of titles. And then in 2009 with Derek Geter, he got to one last World Series, won it, and then in 2011, and I can say this, I can remember this, because we were at a bar in Culver City, around the league team. Derek Jeter broke his ankle and I remember thinking myself that is it. It was in the playoffs that year. That was his last chance. I get a feeling Tommy Boy is not getting back to a big playoff game after this year. This is his last shot. I think he's going to come up short, but I think he's getting back to, what is this? This would be a sixth Super Bowl. I just,

I feel very confident about this. He would be the only quarterback in history to be in six Super Bowls. It would be heartbreaking to see them lose again. But yes, as Dan mentions, this has been my pick for, I think, five years running. I did get the Packers winning it right once. I did get the Patriots losing right once. So they're two great quarterbacks. You know, I just don't think about it too hard. You pick two great quarterbacks. They're looking good. Their defense looks good. It's got Chris Wesleyan's pick for defensive player of the year, Daryl Revis. So, yeah, Dan and I are in lockstep. It's good to be on a winning team this year with Danny Boy. I like that. I like that. I didn't even, it's funny when I wrote out,

my prediction yesterday, it didn't really occur to me initially that this was the Greg Rosenthal lock and stock pick. And then when I saw the article on the around the NFL page, I was like, oh, of course. Bang. Yeah. And I, and I, and refer, did you guys go around the horn yet with the other pick? Uh, we've, we talked to Kevin on the phone, but we, we haven't gotten to Mark and Chris yet. I'm just curious. What did Patrick pick? Patrick went with the Seahawks over the Steelers. Oh, come on. Well, I guess we might as well do it. I was going to say bye to Dan, but why Why don't we do your picks? Well, Dan's on the horn.

This is fun. Yeah, that sounds good. You want mine? Yeah, I'll tear it, Mark. I have the Bears over the Titans. No, not true. I wish you weren't a liar. Well, we hinted at our picks in a recent podcast,

but to make it quick, I have the Saints over the Pittsburgh Steelers. I'm going to let Chris expound on the NFC portion of that. What's your, you have the Saints winning, Chris? I'll go after Mark. And for me, I think the Steelers largely comes from this. I am bored with the Patriots, and I'm bored with the Broncos making the endless playoff runs. Let's get a new team in there. It's not a very new team.

They're not a stranger in my way to the playoffs. Yeah. These real upstarts. Steelers. Big Ben's turn, once again, I like the Breeze and Sean Payton making a second Super Bowl run. They will win it. I do. I want to point out the.

incredible, almost impossible amount of integrity on both my and Mark's behalf that I pick the Patriots as a Jets fan and Mark's Steelers as a Brownsend shows that we are completely impartial and the definition of a pro. Good point. Very professional. I'm the other way. I just pick my team every year. You all realize there's a question begging to be asked here.

Why would the Steelers be so good? Well, we've got two people predicting the Steelers in the Super Bowl. how can they not be the team of around the NFL? Ooh. That is interesting. They have moved forward and past the elimination chamber. They're one of 13 teams still alive for the honor. It will never happen.

You picked them to go to the Super Bowl. There is no way that Mark can block the Steelers and the team of ATLs. He's picking them to go to the Super Bowl. Well, someone else can block them. By the way, guys, it needs to be around the NFL team, you know? Yeah, we need to work on the name. We don't get cut up with the around team of ATL, team of 8. How about just team of the NFL?

No, that's not good either. Why don't we just keep team of ATL and that will be our little piece of the pie that they can't take away from us? I like that. I like that. All right, Chris, let's get your pick before we go. I have the Patriots. I also have Tom Brady returning for his sixth Super Bowl. And I think we're in Bert Bell, former NFL commissioner, who coined the phrase any given Sunday,

rolling over in his grave right now because parody is. is dead. Oh, hot take. There are five teams, you can say six if you like the 49ers. Five teams head and shoulders above the rest of the NFL right now. The Patriots and Broncos in the AFC are way better than the other teams. And I think the Packers, Saints, and Seahawks in the NFC are way better than the rest of the teams. So basically, I think you're picking from those five.

I've got the Patriots winning in a shootout over the Broncos because I don't want to see Peyton Manning again. Like it. I think Tom Brady's the best one-minute quarterback in the history of NFL. It comes down to the final minute. He takes the Patriots to the Super Bowl, only to be defeated in a blow-for-blow shootout by Drew Brees, who just happens to have more weapons at his disposal. One juicy footnote, you won't have to see Peyton Manny much longer.

In my prediction, and this is a lock, he will be picked off twice by Ryan Shazir in the Super Bowl in the AFC Championship, one for a game-winning touchdown. And then two days later, Get that Woodsy music off. Two days later... Did Mark turn into a professional wrestler while I was going? Two days later, Peyton Manning retires.

It's the opposite of John Elway walking out with two Super Bowl wins and calling it quits. Manning is done after this season. What? Why does... Why does all of your big preseason settlers have to do with all-time great players having terrible things happen to them? Well, why don't I make a devastating prediction about a mediocre, like, third-string player? Last year, you correctly predicted that there would be a serious injury that would, you know, harm the Green Bay Packer season. And then this year, you're now saying Peyton Manning will retire after a terrible end to the year.

And can I just make one point? West made a very logical point that we were very top-heavy in terms of the way the league is set up right now. But knowing how sports works, that's almost to me. a dead giveaway that someone's going to shock the world this year. We will look like fools three months from now. Maybe that Bears Titans one. Was that the way you said? I did say Bears Titans.

If that happens, we're just going to cut out the rest of the portion of this segment. All right. I think our 55 different preview episodes are over. The next time we're back in the studio, Dan will be here, and I won't have to host anymore, which is great. You know what will happen then? A preview of the season opener. Yes.

Well, that's exciting. Real games to talk about. I would be, I am going to be excited. We're actually going to be back on Tuesday. Our schedule's a little different for everyone next week, and then we'll preview all the games each week that will drop on Friday mornings and we'll review the games late Sunday night. But Dan will be back for all the fun.

He's also going to Seattle next week, which is going to be great. And this can be the first sign-off with someone on the phone. You're excited to be part of history, Dan. And to build up that wrestling motif on Tuesday, I will begin the podcast by hitting Greg over the head with a steel folding. I like it. All right. For Dan Hansis, Mark Sessler, Chris Wesleyan, TD, I'm Greg Rosenthal.

Have a great weekend, everyone. Preseason's over. Enjoy your Labor Day. This is an I-Heart podcast.