NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Preseason Power Rankings

Episode Date: August 13, 2026

Gregg Rosenthal and Nick Shook reveal Shook's first power rankings of the 2026 NFL season. Find out who Shook has ranked ahead of the defending Super Bowl Champions, how high the Bengals are in the rankings, where the NFC South log jam happens, which team comes in the 32nd spot and more!NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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I'm JJ Zachary Eisen, host of the award-winning late-round podcast. Before your draft, our players to target and players to avoid episodes tell you exactly who to circle and who to cross off. Listen to the late-round fantasy football podcast on the I-Heart radio app. Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It's NFL Daily where the 12s can send their complaints to Nick Shook, the author of the Power Rankings. Not me. I'm the host.

I'm Greg Rosenthal, host of this show, NFL Daily. But Nick Shook is going to be one of the hosts of the Power Ranking Show. It's going to be on the NFL channel. That doesn't start until the regular season, but the first Power Rankings are out with the author. Nick Shook, he's taking over the NFL. the franchise for the NFL in 2026. A lot of responsibility there.

And yes, Shook, you came out swinging by putting the defending champs at number three on your first power rankings. How dare you, Frank? Well, you know what? It's the inverse of what Uncle Ben once told Peter Parker. Instead of with great power comes great responsibilities. With great responsibility comes great power rankings, right?

In this first one right here, I'm taking swings. I'm not trying to upset people, but I'm following my heart. I'm laying the table setting it for how I think this might play out before we even get done with preseason. And look, if you don't want to be on the other side of a Nick Shook swing, this is a powerful man. So I'm happy, at least for now, to be across the country from you and poke you on these power rankings.

So these are already out on NFL.com. Everyone check them out. But everyone who likes to digest these things audibly or on video, thank you for checking in on YouTube. And you can also join us, if you're listening on Thursday, Thursday evening, Nick and I will be joining you live at 7 p.m. Pacific, 10 p.m. Eastern to go over all the preseason week one games and update you on the news. This show is all about the rankings. And let's just start with the top three because I wanted to get into the Seahawks discussion right away. The Rams are number one. The Broncos are number two. The Seahawks are number three. I'm starting at three because to me that is extremely, spicy to put a team that is essentially bringing back almost everyone that matters. I know Kobe Bryant was a good safety and you know, you lose Kenneth Walker.

But this is a young balanced team as deep a defense as we've ever seen. One of the best Super Bowl champions, at least according to the numbers, like DVOA and whatnot of the last, you know, 10, 20 years. I get putting the Rams over them, but putting them at three is bold enough that you have to explain. blame yourself, Shuck. Well, it's either that or I go chalk, and I'm not going chalk here because I actually have

some semi-legitment. Yeah, sometimes chalk is right. Yeah, sometimes chalk is right. Yeah, but it wasn't, it wasn't just to be a contrarian either. I have some semi-legitimate concerns about how this backfield's going to shake out. That's a lot of responsibility to put on Jerry and Price as a rookie right out of the gate. You don't know when you're going to get a Charbonnet back. You lost Walker and Free Agency. It just feels like a thinner group than I would like to see for this team.

And otherwise, yeah, everything else is pretty much pretty good for this group. Yeah, but Sam Donald, can he continue to find the success he did last year? Let's not forget that they did lose their offensive coordinator to a head coaching job with the Rares and Clint Kubiak. Let's not overlook that. And yes, Kobe Bryant left, Boy, Amafay left, Rick Wullen left. So there were a few guys that you have to replace. Maybe you're not quite as deep as you were before. I understand they're the reigning champs and they wear the crown that they earned.

And they definitely earned it. That is unquestioned. But I do believe going into this season that the Rams have something to say about it and the team in front of them, the Denver Broncos, also have something to say about it. So this brings up a philosophical question I'll hit you with. First week you're doing the power rankings. The season obviously hasn't started. What's the difference between like predictions for the season and like just ranking where

they're at now? Because you know, clearly you're high on the Broncos in general. But I guess the issue I had with it was, man, on paper, it's hard for me to, to question much about the Seahawks. And you're right about the backfield. Judarian Price, by the way, has been out of practice three or four days. He's never carried a full workload. Suddenly you're down to like George Halani, you know, potentially starting. There are potentially holes in this team. And yet, have you been watching hard knocks, Shook? I have not spent a lot. You know why? Because I've been spending some time on this and

some other things that'll be described later, explain later. Life things, yes. And frankly, it's Shook Week on the podcast. It's Shook Year on the podcast. podcast and throughout NFL media, but you've been very busy. Look, that show is making me even more of a believer. Something about Mike McDown. The way this team is practicing as one, as hard as they play, all those veterans, just seeing Demarcus Lawrence and Byron Murphy and Derek Hall and, you know, Leonard Williams all together just gets me fired up.

And I just think, like, I think it's frankly a little disrespectful because I really do believe that them and the Rams are far and away the best two teams going into this season. I know that's how last season ended, but I do believe that it's a huge gap and then it's opinion after that. Okay. Okay. So what I'm hearing right now is that you are taking the bit of propaganda bait that comes before every season with a hard knocks team. This is the defending champion. We don't get to see that on hard knocks traditionally. And you know what? I'm okay with that. And I agree with you with the Mike McDonald because I saw a clip on social media today this morning of him getting after Derek Hall for getting too close to Sam Darnold and tossing him out.

Not completely out of practice, but getting him off the field. And I was like, I like that. That's an intensity that I like. How about the spin? Watch that clip. The spin on Sam Darnold's passes. I do appreciate this show for making me enjoy the Darnold experience. And if you are looking rose-colored glasses, you think, man, he takes some of that confidence and freewheeling play. And he establishes a better baseline, but it's totally fair. The controversial thing, and I don't think we need to go too long about the Rams at one. This is a loaded roster. Also, are you just anticipating Donald is on the roster when putting in one? Did he even need to be on the roster to put him one?

It was just all part of the expectation. I included it in the little blurb underneath. And did he need to be on the roster? No, because I don't think that they need like Aaron Donald of what we knew before. He can be rotational slash guy who is 35 years old and comes in and makes a few big splash plays and it still makes them better, but I fully anticipate that he's going to be on the roster. Make the case for the Broncos at two. And this is where I start to struggle and it'll get to a larger point I have about the power rankings. That's very difficult before the season. Like, this is a tough division. They're going to have to go win in general. But if you had them three, I wouldn't have blinked an eye. But what is your reasoning and your belief that they are at

this level, kind of the inner circle Super Bowl contenders? You know, the thing with power rankings is it always involves a little bit of projection. And so I'm projecting a few things that we did not see happen last year, which is that one, Bo Nix is healthy through the absolute final game of the year because they didn't have him in the AFC championship game. They very well could have been in the Super Bowl last year. He's back healthy. I think he picks up right where he left off.

They hit their stride offensively in the second half of the season, which is a big reason why he didn't climb higher in the QB index for most of the year because they were just so lackluster until they really needed it for a lot of the season. And I think that the offense and the way that he performed in the back half and the playoffs is what I expect them to be throughout this season. Also, the return of J.K. Dobbins, who promised to everybody in Denver that he's going to play a full season, I'll have to see it before I believe it. But if he can actually play a substantial portion of the season, that makes their running back room a lot better than it looks on paper right now. So it's two big reasons because

the rest of this offense continuity is there. Oh, and by the way, they went got Jalen Wattle and added him to the receiving core, which makes this offense better as well. It's already one of the most complete defenses in the NFL. I don't really have any questions about them as long as they can stay healthy. So on paper, they look like one of the most complete teams in football and they just have to answer or fill in those little gaps that were created last year. So that's why they ended at number two. I think offensive line, defensive line continuity and talent is tops. And so they deserve to be this high. Four through six, I'm going to group together because to me, you kind of gave the Eagles at four, the bills at five, and the Ravens at six. A totally understandable

of if I'm saying like the best teams of this decade, if I'm making a list, I would say these are three of the four. Eagles, Bill, Ravens, Chiefs are obviously number one on that list. We'll get to the 49ers in a little while, who maybe would be there close in the top five. So you're kind of trusting the consistency and the expectations are absolutely high. And when it comes to the Bills and the Raven specifically, you're betting on quarterbacks. But what kind of separated these three teams for you from the rest of the pack? Because I tell you, man, it's crazy. After these top three, you could have shaken up four through 15.

I really believe you could have shaken up four through 15 in a different order and you can make the case for it. So what is it about these teams just to group it in a certain way that got them this high? It's so funny because I did not do this entire thing in sequential order. I got done with the first three. I got to four, five, and six. And I went, you know what?

I'm going to start from the bottom. And I went and took care of 32 through 28 because I had such a hard time figuring out exactly who I wanted at four, five, six. And I kind of knew I wanted Jacksonville at seven, right? Which that's a preview of what's to come later in the show, of course. But I was conflicted about the Eagles at four. And I think the consistency that they've demonstrated in this last decade is exactly why they ended up this high. It's kind of a battle between, okay, do I believe in the bills?

Yes, they wouldn't got DJ more, but I had enough reason to think, okay, you know, every year it's high expectations. Are you actually going to deliver? Do I believe in them enough to put them at four? I don't think so. Even though they have Josh Allen, they got James Cook, you add more into that mix. I love their two tight ends, everything else, right? And then I was like, do I believe in the Eagles? And I thought, well, the vibes. And I wrote this right around the start of training camp, or at least started working on this around the start of training camp throughout this last week. I thought, man, the vibes in Philly are unusually high. Like the energy there is very, very positive, which usually isn't the case with this team.

And it seems like moving on from AJ Brown kind of put them in a new position where they can, you know, the skies have opened. The cloud is gone and everything's great here in Philly. I am concerned about Jonathan Grenard and the extended absence that he, you know, continues to be enduring, I guess, because I think it does hurt some of their defensive potential, but they still have Vic Fangio, coordinating that defense. And roster-wise, otherwise, you get Lane Johnson back

and if he can be healthy throughout most of the season, you got one of the best tackle tammons in the NFL. Lana Dickerson said he feels a lot better than he did last year. I was a little disappointed to not hear McCoy Lemon making more of a difference in camp at this point, but he is a rookie, so I'll give him a little bit of grace. And I'm thinking, okay, new offense,

Sean Mannion, and the talk out of there is that it looks a lot better than it did last year. If you can take this team, which for half the season looked like one of the best teams in the NFL before they kind of fell apart as they do in odd number of years and figure out the offense to get about the dysfunctional offensive plays they were in last year, then they're going to be a top five team. And I still believe in that and the demonstrated success and ability to get over the hump over the last five, six years. Then I do the bills. So that's why they end up at four and the bills go to five where there's questions with them with Joe Brady coming in as the new head coach. but you're keeping the offensive continuity, the familiarity, it's all there.

You add DJ more to give yourself another option. It's not like you went and got AJ Brown, but you still gave yourself another option you didn't have last year. I still need, I have questions about their defense. I still need to see them deliver because they didn't really do it at a level that I wanted them to under Sean McDermott over the last couple of years. And then you end up with Baltimore at six.

Can Lamar stay healthy? As simple as that, honestly, because if he's healthy, they're a much different team than they were prior. They also have a new coach. They got a new offense. Those are some things that they have to work out, which is also why they land behind the Eagles.

But overall, this is still a very strong three that I have a lot of confidence in. Okay, so I like what you did because ultimately it's saying last year was a little bit of an anomaly for the Raven certainly. The way it ended for the bills was familiar. The Eagles have been this up and down team. But the crazy thing about the NFL this decade

is it's actually been rather consistent at the top. the best six or eight teams have kind of been there. And there's a reason why Howie Roseman finishes number one on all those GM lists. To me, these power rankings are very much just about who's got the players. And on defense, the only teams that can even challenge the Eagles would be the Houston Texans and maybe the Broncos. Although frankly, just in terms of pure talent, Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Jalux, Zachban, Zach Bonn, Quinyan and Cooper DeGine in the back end, and then all the depth they have. I actually would even take them pure talent over the Broncos. So it's hard to beat them.

And then you have a future Hall of Famer at Lane Johnson, you know, still on the offensive line. You still have Sequin, like a potential future Hall of Famer. You have a good one in Devante. Like the players are all there. I like trusting in them. And I like trusting, frankly, in Lamar and Josh Allen with enough around them as tiebreakers, kind of in a pretty wide open grouping. So that all makes sense to me four through six.

your next group and we'll go seven through nine. I think, or maybe among the most controversial things you put on this list, the Jags there at seven, the Bengals at eight, and then the Texans at nine. The Bears round out the top ten. We'll get them in a second because I kind of put them in a different group. But those three are very interesting to me. The Jags going at seven, did you just get intimidated by Liam Cohen saying NFL.com,

specifically doesn't give enough love to the Jags. I did feel like I was catching astray from Liam there, but that did not motivate my decision, although I did right that I hear him and I wanted to know that I respect and believe in his team very much. Look, I am a cynic by nature, but optimism season has an effect on me as well. And I cannot overlook the team that they became in the back half of last year.

Yes, they lost in heartbreaking fashion in the postseason, but they did things with that offense. I mean, they turned Parker Washington into a name people actually recognize now. First off, they got Trevor Lawrence to a place that he's never been before, which is somebody who actually looks like he is the franchise quarterback. They've always wanted him to be. A lot of that was because he started using his legs more. They just became a unit that was so explosive and so fun to watch that I'm like,

oh, they've hit their groove. If they can keep most of this together, stay healthy, and then into the next season, they're going to be hitting the ground running and continue to be as explosive as they were last year, especially if Brian Thomas can actually figure it out, which, you know, he had struggles doing that last year, especially in the first half of the year. I'm thinking, all right, that's cool.

My only concern with them is that this is a team that did probably the least of any franchise in the NFL in the off season in terms of roster changes. Sometimes that's a good thing. Sometimes I worry if that's you resting on your laurels, or if you just like the continuity and the familiarity and you're going to ride it going forward. There's also the whole question of the backfield, you know, Bachel Tutin, we've talked about this before,

how it's going to be a committee group that with guys, you know, filling different roles. I firmly, though, I'm a believer in what Jacksonville is put together in a division that's going to be more competitive than people realize, but they came out on top last year for a reason because they figured it out and they didn't change much. So that's why they end up at seven. I'm also, I'm drinking the Bengals Kool-Aid. Okay, I'm going to stop you there. Because the Jaguars, I actually get, and you're almost correcting a weird wrong in terms of perception. They are the type of team that normally would have a lot of people predicting them to make the Super Bowl. A team that's very offense heavy that really emerged last year, that finished strong.

It was a bad luck playoff loss, but that doesn't bother me. Like, they're a 13-win team ascending a lot of young players. that makes sense. You want to pick them over the Texans? Fine. To me, the Texans have been in the final eight teams for three straight years, have one of the most reliable units in the league on either side of the ball in the, in the defense. And so I would have them much higher. I would have them in my top five, certainly. But it's not too crazy. The Bengals is the one that sticks out like a sore thumb here because it's all just projection. This team has been mediocre for three straight seasons, they get Dexter Lawrence and get a good couple like offseason articles. And suddenly

you're putting the Bengals in the same group as these two teams that actually did it last year. But you're also putting them, you know, well ahead of the Patriots who are in the Super Bowl, ahead of the Packers who are at least in the playoffs every year and and have a better organization, I think. The Lions, the Chiefs of 40s, all these teams you're putting the Bengals way ahead of. And to me, yeah, this is, this is projection. This is prediction. This is in power rankings because they're not that powerful until I see it. That's fair.

But I think power rankings before the start of the preseason is nothing but projection. Fair, fair. Sometimes it's evidence-based. Sometimes it's, you know, projecting, right? Let's identify a few things real quickly with this team that have been pretty consistent themes over the last few years. One, Joe Burrow has struggled to stay healthy. And throughout a full season over the last few.

and their defense hasn't been able to stop a nosebleed for the last three. Their offensive line has been me, and it's gotten more credit than I think it deserves. And we've known what they've had at receiver, and that's basically been their story to the point where we thought maybe Zach Terrell, Zach Taylor might get fired. Well, no, he didn't.

He's the only coach that survived this past off season in the AMC North, and there's a reason for that because if he has his quarterback, then he has a much better chance of success if he can also get some, you know, solid performance from his defense. And I, you know, when you heard Joe Burrow, earlier this offseason say, this is the most talented roster I've been on since I was at LSU, you know, in terms of just comparing versus every other team. You started pressing plus one, plus one, move them up a spot.

Joey B is happy. What is this around? This is around the horn. This is around the horn, yeah. Yes. But then I, the passage of time can produce some interesting results. And the more I thought about it, the more I consider the fact that I love their secondary. I think DJ Turner had an incredible second half last year and he's one of the most

underrated guys in the NFL right now that everybody's going to start to know about this year if they pay attention. I don't think they're going to have to pay that much attention to get to know him. Dexter Lawrence is a huge upgrade on the interior. They also add a Jonathan Allen, a veteran with plenty of experience, maybe not top, he's not a top tier player anymore, but I mean, that's a good pairing right there. Mafay comes in as an edge rusher, Cassius Howe making some noise in camp as a specialized pass rusher. I look at this and I think, okay, I can start to see it. They got an athlete It's the second level of the defense. Do I like the fact that Orrin Berks is slotted as a potential starter at this point?

No. Because he's been a veteran depth guy in his last three stops. But overall, I can see the vision with this group. And again, I think, Mr. who's the team knows how to put up points. If they can get solid play from their defense, they're going to be right there. They're going to be right there in the AFC, North Race and beyond. And that's why they're behind the Ravens, but they're still up here in the top eight.

Ahead of the Texans is outrageous. Because I don't have any, let me explain that real quick. I need to see it from that offense. This is not a C.J. Stroud thing. This is the offense. Losing Nico Collins late. But they've had that bad offense and still been winning a lot of games. And they get to the divisional round with the defense. So if I'm going to put them ahead of a team that might be more balanced in Jacksonville or Cincinnati,

I'm going to need to see it proven by this offense. I think the addition of David Montgomery is going to be a big pickup and Nico Collins coming back healthy is going to be good. But as of now, this is where they stand. You know who was a lot more balanced than the Bengals the last three years, the Texans? You know, as bad as that offense was, it was better than the Bengals defense. That's for sure. But I get it. See, it's all interpretation.

Power rankings to me before the season is tricky because you're right. We're just projecting things differently. I would have the Bengals lower until they proved it for this exercise. To me, they've been the AFC Cowboys who are in our next grouping. I just like the Bears, Cowboys there at 10 and 11. The NFL is good that, you know, it's got the Bears. the Cowboys kind of on the comeback trail here. They're similar to me.

We need the Raiders back in the mix, too, because they're similar to me too. But just the expectations are high for both of these teams. I love the Dan Pompeii column about Ben Johnson that came out on Wednesday. And it has a quote from Ben Johnson. He's a total maniac. But he said,

you've got 31 other teams coming to training camp saying, our goal is to win the Super Bowl. want more than that. I want to have the highest scoring offense ever, which happens to be the 2013 Denver Broncos. I know how many points per game they scored 37.9. And I want to surpass them. I want shutouts. I want blowouts. Then he went and asked the author, what's the longest winning streak in the history of the NFL? It was the Patriots who did it over two seasons. What was it, 21 game? He's like, I want to do that. The whole thing is insane, but it got me fired up and it got me to make a point here that I haven't much on the show yet, which is that

Caleb Williams, by all accounts, despite all the injuries around him, has looked incredible at camp. And there is a world where he goes up another level. And Ben Johnson's insanity is something that gets me going, even if it's like borderline unhealthy, if you read the article. Very John Gruden, by the way. Yeah. Young John Gruden. Look, you got to be a little crazy to find success as a coach in the NFL. You just do. You have to be a little bit delusional to really get to that mountain top. And I firmly believe that Caleb will take that next step because of the progress that he made last year just over the course of the season.

Their biggest flaw was that oftentimes they needed him to be his absolute best just to win football games. And I'm concerned, and a lot of this power ranking is related to what's happened in training camp so far, they have suffered multiple losses in the secondary. And this was filed before we found out that Kobe Bryant's going to miss most of the season. they've been in crisis mode in that secondary for the last week or so, and it's a weakness that I'm worried about. Now, offensively, I think that they'll be strong. I do think that they're going to miss DJ more a little bit

because they're putting a lot on the shoulders of Luther Burden, which I believe that he has the talent to live up to that, but it's about delivering on your talent, which we know oftentimes those two things don't align. I fully believe in Caleb and Ben Johnson and what they can produce, but when it comes to this team overall, I'm not putting them as a regression candidate necessarily because this is still the top NFC North team I have on this list.

It's just that they don't land inside the top nine because of what's happened so far this season during training camp. I mean, where would they have been even to finish last regular season right around that? So you're not, you're not painting them with a big regression brush. You have the Cowboys improving, but not like, you know, an insane amount. I think a healthy amount there at 11. So some optimism that they're a playoff. type of team. Do you like the fact that after the Rams joint practice, and yes, we do have our

joint practice winners coming up at the very end of the show very quickly. Do you like that as the Rams were filing off the field in blistering hot Thousand Oaks? They're back at their team facility, which is far away from the Oceanic training camp spot they had before, which has a nice breeze. and it's like, you know, in the 70s. Now they're in 95-degree weather. The Rams are all leaving, and the Cowboys players on their own decided, we're going to do the conditioning that we've been doing

at the end of every practice, even without our coaches asking. We're going to be doing like 20-yard suicides with Dak Prescott DeBarvian overshone leading the way, and you almost see some Rams players walking by and muttering under their breath, like, is this try-hard training camp nonsense? Or does it show that they got the fire in them

and Brian Schottenheimer is that dude. Usually I'll call it try hard stuff, but not with this team, because this is exactly what this team needs. This team needs some motivation and some clear intent. And the idea of having DAC leading that makes me excited. It makes me excited because I think they believe the changes that they made this off season and put them in a position to contend. It's what I think is going to happen with them this year.

I think they're going to be one of the teams that despite being the Dallas Cowboys are going to improve pretty significantly on their finish last year. And I don't know if I want to say surprise because they wear the star on their helmet. They're always in the conversation. but I think they're going to surprise some people. Yeah, they're getting a lot of buzz. Yeah, as long as everything on the defensive side comes together, which so far, so good,

I think this can be one of the very good team in the NFL and a fun team to watch this year. Yeah, I think they're going to get a lot of pop coming into the season's terms of predictions, but you have them right around where I would expect them to be slotted. I think George Pickens is a huge X factor, but I have to admit, I am encouraged by the fact that multiple Cowboys beat riders and in podcasts,

have been listening to say that he's been the best player in camp. And so that gives me confidence that, like, he's been an up and down player throughout his career, but he found something here. And maybe what he found was Dak Prescott as his quarterback instead of, like, Mason Rudolph. But he knows how important this year is for his future. And so far, so good. Because to me, he's the biggest X factor.

My next group, two more teams that are outside your top 10. but inside, I guess what would be a roughly playoff team, Patriots at 12. I think that's fair, even coming off the Super Bowl in 13. I think there's holes in this team. And if they made the playoffs again, I think that that's a good season for them. I just wanted to ask you something we were kicking around at Chargers practice on Tuesday. Jordan Love or Justin Herbert? I knew this is going to be the talk.

You did? How did you know that? Because I've been hearing this a lot lately. They're getting paired a lot in preseason talks. Yeah. So it was really hard for me, and I have to admit, I know who you picked. I stuck with Herbert because it's like sunk cost fallacy, maybe,

that I'm so in, and nothing has taken me out. You know, the playoff games haven't been great, but it's not enough that I'm going to back out of it, But man, it was so hard for me to make that choice that, yeah, I don't know. I also lean Herbert, but it's by a hair. There's something in me that just, I have this faith in him that like when the chips are down and he's got to go make a play, he's going to do it. It's not that Jordan Love can't do it.

It's just that I don't have that same high level of confidence in him yet. Otherwise, the talents there, the arms there, the athleticism, you know, the improvisation, the arm strength and just the, the, the, beauty of the way the ball comes out of both of their hands. It's all there. It's just a matter of like in crunch time. If I had to choose between the two, I'm taking Herbert as of right now.

Of course, you think about situation around the two. And I think Love has benefited from a better offensive line situation, not significantly better, but better, than the disaster Herbert's been playing behind for the last couple of years. But otherwise, I mean, they're both very close, but I'm still leaning Herbert.

Okay. How about them or Drake may, for both this year and long term. I would assume most people would take May long term, but not everyone, I would, certainly. But for this year, I think it's an interesting question. Can May year three already kind of stabilize and be at or above that level?

Ultimately, I'm going to believe in my guy, and my guy is Drake May, but I think it's a fair question. So I think what's going to happen is right now, it goes Herbert Love May. and by November it's May Herbert Love. And that's how much AJ Brown's going to mean to him. I think that they're going to put up some serious fireworks together, and it's going to improve his already sparkling reputation very quickly.

And that'll carry on through the long term as well. Yeah, the reports from that joint practice, they're just spamming AJ Brown. Both the connection with him and Dobbs have gotten better. But I think the Packers and the Patriots were a cany, like a perfect pairing together. because to me, the quarterbacks you love, the offensive system you really like,

and I'm really optimistic about this year, but there's a lot of just peeking under the hood questions about lots of different parts of the team, the secondary for each, the offensive lines for each, and injuries and depth at defensive edge position. So I think they're very similar. Let's go to your next group, which fascinates me.

14 through 16, Lions, Chiefs, Niners. And my big question, And you've got to make some choices. But why are the Niners so far back? Because I mentioned teams of the decades earlier. They've earned some sort of respect. If I just go through the rosters and talk about how good the 49ers are at the very top level, they're close to that Eagles team in terms of top end talent.

And I also struggled to see the Lions this low, too, because they've got such great continuity of great, great players in terms of Amman Ra. and Gibbs and Jameson and Penaise Sewell and Hutchins. Like those are real deal guys. I know there's questions of depth. And in this category is where my point from earlier really stands out. Because if you gave me the Lions, the Chiefs, and the 49ers shook, okay? And you get your 456 team, Eagles, Bill, Ravens.

I think I got a fighting chance here to beat you an overall wins this year with 14,000. through 16. I don't think that's crazy at all. Lions Chiefs and 49ers going better than Ravens Bill's Eagles. I probably would take your four, five, six, but I think it's close. Okay, so that's you showing respect to the coaching staffs that exist with the latter three, as opposed to the new ones with the former three, the ones that are ranked higher at this point. And I respect that. And I understand that. Have you ever done a spring cleaning in like your, you know, with like a closet and you, let's say instead of just like picking and purging, you kind of like just take full stock of everything and you lay everything out, right? And then you start to reorganize

and you put some things in a pile to donate to goodwill or whatever and you feel good. And then you look over and you're like, oh no, I still have this pile of stuff. And suddenly I don't have room. I don't know where to put it. That's how I felt with this group. Because I'm like, wait a minute, you're telling me right now that I got the lions at 14. I got the Niners at 16 chiefs. I can understand being at 15. How did they end up this low? I am going to catch some flag for this. But in the order of all of it, also can't justify moving them ahead of many of these teams. I was just kind of stuck with this group of three. And it really comes down to some questions with all three. Also what's happened in training camp. We know that the Niners are already dealing with a number of injuries, both at

receiver and beyond. And I hate that that's just a consistent theme with this team. It also shouldn't be the biggest red flag for them because they've overcome it in the past. But do you really want to make that journey that difficult in yourselves? That's why I kind of put them down a little bit lower. I don't think I'm, you know, just in self-examination and self-critique here. I don't think that I'm putting enough respect on the name of Brock Purdy and this group, but I also am getting George Kittle off of an injury. I'm getting, I've already lost Ricky Piersall, Christian Kirk coming off of some sort of injury, you know, situation. Even the young guy, a stribling, a guy who's turned a lot of heads dealing with injuries,

that sort of thing throughout this camp. And it just makes me think like, God, is this going to be another year in which they're going to have to overcome so much of this injury-related stuff that it's going to kind of hurt their overall value. So that's where they stand right now, but that could be very different very quickly. Whereas with the Lions, I still think about this whole group and what happened last year with them

and how they've had to reshuffle their offensive line and losing Cade Mays to a wrist injury because I had written in there that, you know, adding him was going to be a big boost for this offensive line and getting back to the strong unit that they were a few years ago, which is very key to their offensive success, which then ends up being very key to their overall success. That takes a hit.

That drops them down a little bit. makes me a little more concerned about their trajectory. We've kind of broken down their roster in the past already, but I still have some questions about what they look like defensively, especially opposite Aden Hutchinson. I know I like DJ Wanam. I like Derek Moore and what they've got there, but I just feel a little bit concerned about their front.

And then the Chiefs, it's like, when I first did this, they were a little bit higher. And then I took a step back and I thought, well, Mahomes is coming off the ACL. We don't really know exactly if he's going to be the same Mahomes right away. And it's not like it's easy when they face the Bronwyn. Broncos to start the season. And they still have some questions.

There's a lot of uncertainty with the fact that they basically revamped their secondary both because they wanted to and they needed to. They had departures. You know, Jalen Watson leads. They trade away Trent McDuffie. They're putting a lot on Mansour Delane to come in and play, you know, a key spot at corner opposite Legerius Sneed. I like the idea of adding Cater Cogh, but I just feel a little weird about this

defense. Steve Magnolo deserves a lot of credit for what he can do with the defense. But that's a group that I need to see prove that they can be effective before I just blindly believe they're going to and receiver for them. I'll blindly believe it. They're the chiefs. Like everyone wanted to kill them. That's a problem that we have with this group because let's look at what they did last year.

They never became a child. They're just going to figure it out. Like last year going into it, everyone's like one score regression. They're going to take a step back because they were so lucky winning by one score. They were the most unlucky team in the NFL last year. They had the worst one score record of all time. I just think with Mahomes, you're right. I thought when you were making the analogy earlier about putting everything to the side and you're like,

dang, what do I have left here? What am I doing with this stuff? I thought you were just going to be talking about the chief's roster. Because when you look at it, it's just like, oh, what is really here? But ultimately, I just kind of, Mahomes read washes most of it away. But I also don't want to do the thing that we do around Hall of Fame time or All-Pro time where we're like, he should be first team. Like, okay, but who are you going to move down?

Or he should be in the Hall of Fame. Okay, who are you taking out? And so, like, who are you moving down if you're moving these teams up? I might move down like the Cowboys, the Bengals, maybe the Bears a little bit under some of these teams, but reasonable minds can disagree. And it really points out it's a season where there's going to be some really disappointed fan bases out there. Because we've already hit at least two, three teams that aren't going to make the playoffs. And there's high expectations for all these teams.

You mentioned all the 49ers injuries. I did want to note Nick Bosa. has been out for a week. He didn't even get to a normal practice. He didn't even get to seven-on-sevins. He was just doing individuals on the side, and then he had a setback that they're not calling a setback,

that they're calling soreness coming off a torn ACL that they said is actually the ACL that he toured in high school, not the one he toured last year. It's like, that doesn't make me feel better. If they don't have Nick Bosa, and at this point, I guess I'll believe it when I see it for a little while, like that, that's a big time loss. yet, you know, Shanahan plus insert quarterback here.

Yeah. Has been about the second best quarterback in the league's behind Mahomes. And last year, they found a way to get it done without Nick Bosa and Fred Warner. So, like, you know, you got to get some respect in that area. But it's just, there's a little bit too much dysfunction or just a collection of bad luck at this stage before we even start preseason games this week for me to be like, yeah, I'm just going to trust the process since they've been there so many times before. I agree with that.

And they have overcome injuries, even the year that they made the NFC championship and the Rams beat them. Like they were banged up that year. They also had some pretty down years under Kyle Shannon. And now that had to do with quarterback injuries. And one thing I've loved to hear is that Purdy has been very good in camp. He's been healthy.

And so I think Mike Evans is returning soon. Stribling is already back. There are positives to talk about what the 49ers. But man, it just shows what a deep NFL it is that we put the 49ers at sea. The Lions and Chiefs like those teams were the best teams in the league just a couple years ago. And we haven't even gotten to the team that we visited. We'll find out where they're at.

And I'm talking about the charges, of course. After the break, let's get the second half of the NFL. Anne Shook's debut power rankings in a week. Eating well shouldn't be complicated. But somehow it turns into recipes, prep, cleanup, and half your Sunday gone. Factor solves all that. These are fresh, ready-to-eat meals designed by, Dieticians, delivered to your door and ready in just minutes. No prep, no cleanup, no excuses.

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or wherever you get your podcasts. Back on NFL Daily. We've got four teams coming up in the power rankings where their fan bases are not going to be happy. On paper, the Chargers, Vikings, Colts, and Steelers, 17, 18, 19, 20. all feel like playoff contenders, above average teams, teams with real defined high level strengths, and yet I think because the bottom of the NFL feels so bad this

season that actually average is pretty tough to get to and you have them all as below average. Man, year three of Jim Harbaugh, He's won a lot of games, Shook. He's pretty good up front on both lines. Why was it hard for you to not put them higher? This was the last team that I was like, when I got to the Chargers at 17, I thought, man, I really hate that they're at 17 because I have high hopes for them this year.

But when I think about the teams I put in front of them, I couldn't really justify moving the Chargers ahead of any of them. Now, that can change quickly because if Mike McDaniel can come in and really establish an effective ground game, which I think he's going to with a very diverse backfield, they're going to be a much better offense than they were in previous years. They're also going to, if they have a stronger offensive line, which means, you know, guys don't get hurt, then they're going to be a much better offense than they were in previous years.

And we already kind of know what they have defensively. They've established their identity and they've established most of their contributors on that side. So I'm thinking, okay, like overall, all right, I can see it. I can definitely see them climbing. But as of now, it's more about you got to prove it to me than I can just, you know, ride with, okay, well, they managed to win X amount of games and make the playoffs and then wash out of the wild card round. I really, really like,

offensively, their tight end room. It's very diverse. Their running back room, Amarian Hampton, Kamani Vidal, Keith and Mitchell, all different types of backs that I think can do a lot of different things for you. You just got to stay healthy up front

and they'll be a very productive group. And look, I mean, defensively, it's kind of the same usual suspects. It's Khalil Mack. It's Diane Henley, it's Tilly Tulu-Pulotu. It's, you know,

those types of guys. It's Derwin James in the back half. Like, it's just all your usual guys that are going to contribute. I just kind of need it all to come together at a level. that we've seen glimpses of it coming together in past years. It just hasn't sustained.

They were similar to the 49ers last year. I think that they had so many injuries, and they still won 11 games. So that's a good sign if they can stay healthy. And I really believe in the coaching staff. And we were there at camp. And they've got a couple undrafted rookies in the secondary that I kind of expect to make the team. They have a rookie safety day three in Genesis Smith,

who they're pretty excited about. And they've been able to, like, coach up guys to produce. So I'd have them a little higher because of the coaching stuff, but you're right, it's just a deep NFL. The Vikings are an interesting team because if we're just ranking rosters, I think the Vikings and Steelers are similar here where, you know, I like a lot about both their lines. Christian Derasaw healthy again for the Vikings.

And then the upside of the Steelers offensive line, certainly their defensive line. There's quarterback questions. But these are, I think they're pretty well set up rosters. I put the Colts to the side a little bit in this group. And I like the Colts, but they're a veteran team as well, just with more like variance and upside. But like, I look at what the front offices have done overall in Minnesota and in Pittsburgh.

I don't hate it. I don't hate it. Yeah, I would agree. It seems to me like, I mean, when we talk about the Vikings last year, the one thing that we always come back to, at least if you're a Vikings fan, especially is, well, they won nine games last year with no quarterback. No quarterback stability whatsoever. They had nine games that they were able to win because their defense is good. And Brian Flores gets all this money as a defensive coordinator because he's very good at producing,

you know, an exotic scheme that really maximizes the talent that he has on that side of the ball. And this receiving core with the Vikings, I think is one of the stronger ones under the radar that we see in the NFL with Jefferson, Addison, and Jowan Jennings. It's just a matter of, what are you going to get from your quarterback to play? Kyleor Murray been named the starter. We all expected it. Now he's got to go out and produce and prove that he was just stuck in a bad situation in Arizona

that he's actually a better quarterback than that. I kind of think that he'll make some progress in that area and that they'll be a better team. But as of now, they sit here because they have yet to do it. I have a lot of faith in this staff and I have a lot of faith in their potential, but you shouldn't ever fall in love with potential, right? Right.

And my biggest concern from a broad perspective is just that the defense, which has been so scheme dependent, and people forget, was a little erratic last year, the first three months of the season when they were playing their meaningful games, they had some stinker performances,

and they got super hot down the stretch after they were out of it, basically, and carried them to a great defensive ranking and ultimately, yeah, winning record, which was crazy. But they are, you know, if they suddenly go from like the second or third best defense in the league to the league,

the 11th, then I don't know if the offense can make up for it. But I like the roster. I like the Colts roster overall and the Steelers. Like there are going to be so many disappointed teams in the NFL because we are 20 teams deep and we have not gotten to a city yet where the fan base does not expect playoffs. And I think the Colts maybe our fans are a little more realistic, but they'll be wanting Chris Ballard's head on a pike if they don't make the playoffs. And I think they absolutely could.

Let's go to our next group. You're kind of cheating. I'll group the entire NFC South together. You did the Jordan thing. She had said on our preview of the division that the floor for each team was 8 and 9, and the ceiling was 9 and 8, which is fun.

It's a good bit. Good podcast bit. I respect it. Here's what I would have recommended you do on the power rankings. You put Saints 21, Bucks 22, Panthers 23. Here's the Stink.

you put the Titans, pretty high for the Titans, 24, and then the Falcons 25. Let's put the Titans to the side. If you're gonna do this and almost just throw your hands up, Shook, about the NFC South, just put them all in order. Why even throw the Titans in the middle? You had a good bit going and you kind of ruined the bit.

No, that's the problem. It was an accidental bit. It wasn't intentional. The one thing I wanted to do was put the Saints in front of the rest of the division because I believe in their potential, right? And I believe in year two, Tyler Shuck, Kellyn Moore, and what can happen with this offense. Jordan Tyson had to do a group with Chris Alave. I love that potential.

And I also have some concerns about some of their defense. But overall, I think that this is a team. I think you said it on one of our recent shows. They could look a lot better and still only win like one or two more games than they did last year. That's still a success to me, but that's about this range that you land in. Every other team of this division I have legitimate concerns about. The Buccaneers, vibes were bad to start camp.

Baker Mayfield's in a contract year, which should be good. Except I feel like this is a team that they've been an offensive team for the last couple of years. I don't know if they're going to be as effective offensively. This is the first year in which their offensive coordinator wasn't hired away to a job instead. They just had to replace him. And they replaced him with Zach Robinson. I don't know if you remember what happened with the Falcons. Then offense,

Zach Robinson and the controls. It was not good. So I have a hard time believing in this team. Panthers, injuries. I mean, they've just been crushed by injuries to start training camp. It's been the most unfortunate camp, I think, of any team in the NFL. And they won the division last year

with an 8-9 record. So it's not like they're really that great to begin with. Not to say that I don't believe in Bryce Young, but they lost Chris Brasley, lost Nick Scorton. Their tackle situation is not encouraging, even though they tried to hedge against it with their off-season moves

of Monroe Freeling and, and Rashid Walker to kind of make sure, well, at least we have depth there, but I just don't feel super confident about that by this time. And the reason that the Falcons don't make it here is because I'm a believer in the Titans. I know you said put the Titans to the side. Hold on, hold on the Titans.

Yeah. Let's do that separate. I mean, you're not that much of a, you're not putting the Falcons too far down. In fact, them and the Titans are the first two teams on this list that I just think it would be shocking if they made the playoffs, for instance. I don't think they should have realistic chances. And if you had put them in the bottom four or five, I wouldn't have been surprised, bottom three. Like, I could see a case for either of them there.

One thing I'll just mention with the Panthers is they had a lot of injuries right away. And it's like they were the only team in camp. And so there's a lot of focus on that. That's all true. It is all true. And you can only base these rankings off the information we have. There will be more injuries, unfortunately, and a lot more once the regular season starts. So sometimes we tend to not overreact what happened in training camp, but just this is what we know so far.

And if they can just stabilize, they haven't had anything devastating across your fingers in like 10 days or so, then maybe they end up being just in a normal range of, of injuries. My last thing on this division, we previewed this division this week, check it out with Trevor Sycambe, so we don't need to repeat all these teams, is just I strongly disagree about the bucks.

I would have put them ahead of almost the entire last group. I think you can make the case they could be top, you know, 15 very easily, top 12. If we're just talking players, Nick, and linemen, Tristan Wirthes, maybe the best in the league. Luke Gettoe, like a guy who's earned a long, term contract. A good young

interior group in Graham Barton and Cody Mock. That's your offensive line. Plenty of depth at wide receiver. A quarterback you've won with. Plenty of depth at running backs. A really tough defensive line we talked about this week. I think a deep defensive backfield with varied

talents and a nice safety tandem in terms of Antoine Winfield and Tyke Smith. I just think they got players. I'm not like in love, love with quarterback slash vibes slash coaching overall. And that's why to me they are probably knocked down from like 10 or 12 to 15 or 16. But to me, I think people are sleeping on how clearly ahead of the rest of the division they

are in talent. That's my opinion. Right. And they largely were last year too and what happened. Yeah. And this just completely illustrates my lack of faith in this coaching staff. We've seen talented teams underdelivered with bad coaching staffs. I think that this is one of those examples.

I can be wrong. Because you're right. this is a very strong roster in a number of different areas, but I could be wrong. Make your case on the Titans now. Let's make your case. 24. Let's do it.

So let's think about projection, trajectory, where a team goes from year one to year two with the number one overall pick a quarterback. A guy that a lot of us, I think, really kind of almost fell in love with as a rookie. He was definitely good for throw of the week or throw of the year candidates almost every week. And let's think about the situation he was in last year.

playing with a largely rookie receiving group. This is a team that was devoid of talent in a number of different areas. And what did they do in the off season? They wouldn't got a new coaching staff. They went and got the ideal offensive coordinator for Cammore's development in Brian Dable. They went and drafted Carnal Tate number four overall in the draft. They went and got Wondale Robinson coming off a career year with the Giants. They paid Peter Skoronski.

Everything offensively, I'm just very excited about because it's going to be better than it was last year. Then defensively, who's your head coach? Robert Sala, known effective defensive. coordinator, defensive mind, he goes and gets a bunch of his types of guys to fill out that defense. I just believe that where they came from last year and where they could go, especially with an offensive blossoming potentially on the table, they could climb up into this range where it's not too crazy to put them where I have them, which is at 24. You're still not in the playoffs, but you're one of the fun teams to watch that misses the playoffs. I like that take, kind of them

as the best of the worst. It's a good take. And they could be like, like a 20-25 Saints type of team where you finish strong. What did the Saints win last year in the end? Seven games, but you feel good about how it ends and that you're headed in the right direction. It's a good take. You've made me rethink it. And I like where you put them.

And I like them ahead of the Falcons as well. Next group is 26 through 29. Cardinals are at 26. Giants are at 27. Browns at 28. commanders at 29. We'll get to the commanders in a second. You sent me your potential power rankings ahead of time asking for my opinion. I respect and I'm glad. I think it made a better show today that you pretty much ignored, I think, most of my take, my responses. Not entirely. I made some

changes. I don't see them. Except for I think I pushed for the cardals. You might have had them 30 or 31. And I was like, that's the one thing you listened to be about potentially. Did I have an impact? Did I change history by getting the Cardinals up to 26? Because I just think they're stuck in the wrong division. But man, they got some playmakers. Yeah, yeah, you did. Look, I value your opinion greatly.

And I also value somebody cross-checking me on things because you never want to operate in an echo chamber. So I was like, yeah, I got to see what Greg thinks about these because I'm feeling good about some of this and not so much than some other ones. And Arizona was one of those ones where when I put them down, down there. I thought, God, that's probably me undervaluing them just because their quarterback situation

isn't super promising, but they have so many playmakers around their quarterback situation. They have to produce at some sort of, right? I mean, Jeremiah Love, you went and re-did your almost your entire running back room. You have two powerbacks in Tyler Alger and James Connor, guys that can really grind it out. Marvin Harrison, Jr., he's got to take a step

and I think that this is the offense that can finally help him take a step forward. Trane McBride, 99 overall tight end in Madden, arguably the best tight end in the NFL right now. Huge target vacuum. going to be a big part of this offense again. I don't know, some people regard their offensive line a little more highly than I do. And you know what?

Maybe that'll bear out over the course of the season. That's probably my one concern on that side. Defensively, they have some guys that I really like. But I also think that they're a year or two away from putting together a complete defense. I'm really hoping that Walter Nolan makes it through the season healthy because I think he'll be a big difference maker for them. But overall, like, I need Will Johnson to become the prospect that he was in Michigan before he got hurt. entering his pro career. Mac Wilson has found a role there overall,

but this is a group that's still a few pieces away for me. So I look at it as a team that could probably be very fun to watch and not end up with a lot of wins and be right in the thick of going after a quarterback that they might want next year's draft if Carson Beck doesn't end up on the field and changes that course. Look, a lot of these teams could make an argument

for what you did with the Titans, kind of the best of the worst. The Giants could if things go right. offense has had an up and down camp of like the pass rushers adding our bell Reese like there is a ceiling there the Browns have a good young nucleus we don't need to repeat our quarterback conversation with the Browns but their good young nucleus could lift the floor in a way that kind of the Cardinals lift the floor for whatever their quarterback situation is although if I was a Browns fan I would take

Jacoby Brissette in a heartbeat over oh they they would too they would too the commander are the team that really stands out here at 29. I mean, they were in the NFC championship game two years ago. They've made some big time changes. That is the fan base I would expect to hear a lot from. Maybe you already have because, yeah, they're the only team here that's got a potential top 10 quarterback because he was won two years ago. And I've been relatively down on them, but I would not have been nearly this down on them.

I, you know, I am trying to be a man in my way. word. Who would I put them ahead of the Panthers, the Titans, the Falcons, the Cardinals, the Browns, the Giants, certainly, maybe the Saints. So I would have them around 21 or so would be where I would have them. Okay, so a couple things here. I am actually banking on John Harbaugh getting something out of these high graphics that the Giants have spent on defense over the last few years, which they just haven't gotten the production that they need to out of them. And that maybe raises their floor a little bit and that's why they're ahead of Washington. And I also want to say this. You know, I grew up a Browns fan and I spent so many off seasons wearing my brown and orange colored glasses playing the

what if game. Well, you know, if this hadn't happened or if they hadn't lost this game by three or seven, then they got three, four more wins and suddenly they made these additions and they're a better team. That's what Washington's doing right now. That's what I can hear the Washington fan base doing. And I just caution against that because it can it can be a little bit too intoxicating and then distort your your vision of how you view your football team. That's not to say that Jane Daniels isn't an awesome quarterback. I think he is. He just got to stay on the field. We already discussed their receiver situation in previous shows. Yes, they went and got Stefan Diggs. That's great. I don't think that's going to fix all your problems. You lost Laramette

Tonsil to a torn triceps, which could be the entire season. That hurts a lot, especially when one of your main concerns is keeping your quarterback healthy, and that lowers the overall ceiling for your team. I like the running back room. It's better than it was last year, especially after they lost Austin Echler to injury. It's not like it's the worst offense in the world. It's not. The defense is a complete unknown. They were the worst team in the NFL defensively in terms of yards allowed per game last year. And Dan Quinn is your head coach. That's supposed to be his thing. They went and tried to rebuild the almost the entire starting lineup. They went out to different guys. That's going to fuel optimism. But it takes a while for those guys to gel. I don't

know if they can't over the course of a preseason and training camp and be able to hit the ground running early this season. And if I believe they also have a pretty tough schedule in terms of if you're going to play the schedule game overall. So that's why I have them down this low. It's probably too low. And I admit that. But the combination of losing tonsil and having all these questions, it makes me uncertain about them. You got to be bold. I give them an edge over these teams near them because it's not a first year here head coach. It is a head coach that's had success in multiple spots. It's been erratic success, but he's had success. It's year three of this regime. There is veteran talent here. And so to me, their floor is much higher than the rest of the teams here.

Last two teams are the Raiders and the Dolphins. Not a lot of disagreement in terms of the dolphins being last. The Raiders fans that aren't happy, there's a path to them being that Titans team the best of the worst. Like, there is a path. There is some talent, certainly on the defensive side with the investments that they made. And it comes down to like, can Clint Kubiak really deliver? We'll find out.

But as a team that's 31st ranked here in the general. Jets are 30th, I should have mentioned, as well. There's a decent amount of talent here, but I appreciate you not putting Gino in the Jets number 32. Oh, they weren't going to be 32. 32 was decided months ago. It was always going to be 30 or 31, I think. Yeah, look, the Raiders, they're on the right path, I think. After years and years of dysfunction, you know, they've set themselves on a long-term path at quarterback, and they also have a short-term answer. They have their bridge veteran that Clint Kubiak wanted. They don't have much at receiver.

And I know Brock Bowers is going to be their number one target again. And I know he was hurt last year. And I'm not undervaluing him at all. But I'm just looking at an overall offensive ceiling potential. It's still pretty low. They did invest in their offensive line, which was undoubtedly the worst in the NFL last year. I don't care what anybody else says.

Watch the games. The Raiders were by far the worst offensive line. They went and got Tyler Lindelbaum. You get Colton Miller back. That's great. You didn't rebuild the entire group. I still have a lot of concerns about that. Defensively, it's like a hodgepodge of guys.

you're like, oh, I can see that working, I can see that working. Oh, you went and got the Georgia Bulldogs at linebacker, Nikovi Dean and Quay Walker. That's cool. Hey, it's Quitty Pay. Hey, it's Eric Stokes. It's a bunch of names that I recognized. Is it going to come together?

I don't know. Yeah, we'll see. They have, I totally agree about as many questions as any team. I think their floor is probably a little higher than the Jets where things could go wrong, but we're just picking nits here. As we wrap up a couple of just minor injury items I did want to note, one of the dolphins best defensive lineman, Zach Seeler, is week to week now.

That's the last thing they need is to hurt their depth. Ameca-Buka left practice on Wednesday, so that's an injury that we will be tracking. I mentioned the Bosa injury. We'll also be watching 49ers practice, and this leads to just something I wanted to do. I don't know if anyone else cares, but we're going to declare a winner, Chuck.

First for your power rankings, you won. You know, first ever time doing it. Great job on that. It was fun going through it. We'll do it throughout the season at various points. But you're going to have your own show that we'll talk about in about a month, you know, as the regular season gets going. But for joint practices over the last couple of days, Bucks Jets, clear win for the Bucks. The Bucks are 1 and 0 in joint practice season despite the Ibuka injury.

All reports on the ground were Baker Mayfield finished very strong, the Jets offense. Erratic at best. Buck's defense carries the day. Buck's offense does enough to win. Big first week joint practice victory for Tampa. Colts Pats, it felt like a draw. Everyone said offenses won for both teams. There's a lot of injuries for the Patriots defense right now.

But in the end, I'm going to have to give the win to the Colts because the very last play of practice in the hurry up drill. After the Colts scored in their hurry up drill was a Drake May interception. Cam Bynum back and healthy again for the Colts. Colts with a big upset road victory in Foxborough. 49ers Titans sounded like the most one-sided joint practice of the week, despite all the injuries. Brock Purdy was slinging it out there.

49ers get the win. They're 1-0 in joint practice season. The Titans with a disappointing loss, although reportedly their offense was okay. Like they weren't making big mistakes. They just weren't doing a lot, but their defense got hammered apparently. And then the Rams and Cowboys,

depending on who you asked here. It sounded like it was very close. Surprisingly, it was the opposite shook of Rams Patriots. I mean, Rams Colts. It was the defenses on both sides that just consistently won and that the offenses were struggling. Now, Pukinakua left practice, that's not great. But overall, it sounds like the level of dominance

from the Rams defense was actually higher. The Rams defense has beaten the Rams offense pretty regularly too. And so I asked multiple people, including NFL daily correspondent Cynthia Freeland, who was there, she gave the edge to the Rams. I'm going to give it to the Rams as well. They get the victory. Tight one, though.

Good sign for the Cowboys that was back and forth. So those are your joint practice wins and losses for the week. I love the idea of the Cowboys defense keeping up with the Rams offense. That loads really well for Dallas. Now, Puka left, you know, they hit a couple deep throws, apparently, to Devante early.

Yeah, there were some people who thought maybe then they kind of laid off the gas, you know, and then Puka leave. with an injury, that doesn't help. But that's why I also kind of gave it to the Rams defense. Because if you're holding down a healthy Cowboys offense, that is a good sign. And their defense has been playing well at camp. We'll have to check out their preseason game too, because look, we got a lot of starters

playing throughout the NFL. It's a new thing, Shook. Not only are more starters playing a little bit lately, a lot of them are playing in week one of the preseason. So like Joe Burrow, Tuotua, we're going to see some good starters in week one of the preseason. And we'll also see a lot of Ty Simpson for the Rams, which I'm, I'm curious to watch their first round pick because you got to keep Stetson Bennett healthy. I don't think they're going to play him at all. It's just going to be all Ty Simpson all the time. Stetson's too important.

Pressure makes diamonds or something. Yeah. Sure. So I mentioned the preseason games. Nick Shook and I will be with you. Hit that music on Thursday evening. If you want to come hang out with us live, it's been fun. We take your questions. That'll be at 7 p.m. 10 p.m. Eastern, and that will be in your ears overnight. Our final show of the week. We'll also do some news as well as recapping those preseason games. We'll cook up something fun. We'll see you then. The entire draft room groans because you just took the guy they wanted. There's no better feeling than crushing your fantasy football league. I'm JJ Zacharyson, host of the award-winning late-round podcast. Before your draft, our players to target and players

avoid episodes, tell you exactly who to circle and who to cross off. Listen to the late round fantasy football podcast on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.