NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Pro Bowl candidates & "Who Says No?"

Episode Date: October 23, 2014

A room with some heroes -- Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal and Chris Wesseling -- discuss their Top 10 under the radar Pro Bowl candidates for this year. They also preview the Chargers vs. Broncos Thursday night matchup and play a new trade game "Who Says No?".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 is now available on video. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansis, and I'm joined by a room filled with heroes. Well, some heroes, Chris Wessling and Greg Rosenthal. What up, boys? Hey, Dan. Sessler Ferris Bueller out of this one.

Oh, don't get on a float somewhere downtown. Singing the Beatles. I don't think that was the Beatles, was it? Don't make references that our young listenership doesn't understand it's before their time. That's why we- What the hell's going on out here? Ferris feelers stay off, come on. So I guess we shouldn't talk about the greatest editor of the 20th century dying yesterday either.

Ben Bradley. Yeah. No, that's why we're so popular with advertisers and within the building is that we are really nailing that 12 to 18. demographic. The kiddies love us. Go buy some candy. They have no idea what we're talking about. These kids today, I'll tell you what. We have a great show. This is our Wednesday show back for another week of preview this time previewing week eight. And we got a lot to get to today. We're going to go over the, we're going to hit the Thursday night preview, which probably the best Thursday night game of the year. The Chargers heading up to mile high to face the

Broncos and an AFC West showdown. So we'll get into that game, give it some love. We are going to go over Chris Wessling's latest top 10 list. This time it is top 10 deserving pro ball players or deserving players that deserve to go to the pro ball. And then we will play a little game, kind of a new game, based on a post we have up on the Around the NFL site, which you can access at NFL.com

slash around the NFL. It is the trades that we'd like to. to see ahead of Thursday's trade deadline. The pause before the slash keeps getting longer and longer. It's kind of like your addition of the old Pat Somerall thing that he would say at the end of every game. You know that one by heart. Murder. She wrote.

There we go. Were you already that was? Wes is always talking about that. I am. He loves Summerall. I do love Summerall. I don't remember him saying, stay tuned for murder. That was his famous thing.

He would do the promo. this is more stuff that our 12 to 18 demographic won't get. What the hell's going on out here? You know, shut up, Lombardi, and listen up. No, he would do the promo for murder she wrote before, which came on after 60 minutes every Sunday night. And he started to have fun with it where he would take a long pause after murder.

So he'd be like, murder. She wrote, and he would change the inflection. Well, that's because there's the ellipsis. And he can add it in, Jamie, after the fact. Save this. Wow. Work for TD. I like that. No idea what you guys are talking about. Really?

So we're going to get to all that big show, big show. Before we do anything, though, we're going to check in formally with TD. T.D. I want to issue an apology. It seemed like I maybe rode you hard a little bit on Sunday. It seemed to be some hurt feelings. You know, we demand greatness. And at certain points of the podcast, I didn't think you delivered it. But on balance, you're an excellent producer, so I want to apologize, kind of.

Guys, it's fine. You know, you expect greatness from the show. I expect greatness from the show as well. So every now and then we slip up, but we're here to get the show back on the road. All right, that's great. I feel like we're in a good place now. That was very earnest. Surprisingly earnest.

Let's do some news. Yes, we can. And I screw it up right there and then already. I don't know, guys. All right, let's do that again. Doing it live. Let's do it live. It happened in London.

In London. In London. All right, let's play the game. What is that from? Because I'm stumped. I have no idea. I don't know. Greg, you don't know? Dan, you don't know?

Wow, I'm surprised Dad. It happened in London? It happened in London. And you don't remember that. Joey Triviani, when he first finds out, it's just friends for those who don't know, first finds out about Moniker and Chandler's relation. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, okay. And a lot of you don't know, Bobby was a great show in its day.

I'm not a big friend. That was one of the worst shows of all time. Oh, goodness. Stop it. I'm sorry. It's not mash, Wes. The first season or two were all right, but then every episode of Friends got to be the formulaic MadLibs.

Here's where Joey would do something goofy. Here's where Ross would be an idiot. That's TV. No, it's not. Like, that's bad TV. The good TV is when the writer's actually right. Bad TV is when the characters dictate what would happen in the show. A lot of bad TV out there.

Friends was a very, that was among the worst shows ever put together. The last few years it was on. It needed to be put out of its misery. It was just awful. All shows that stand there are too long eventually. When the primary reason to do something is money, it's not going to be good. Why do you think we're here? Fauda Chatter.

That's not why we're here. Well, speak for yourself. Friends is a very good show. All right. Awful. By the way, TD, I know exactly what you're talking about now. But it wasn't like that was an iconic line from the show. I think it was.

It was the first time because it was the first time anyone ever found out about the relationship. What TDs really try to get to? is that this week... I am embarrassed for our listeners. Two teams in London with the big catchphrase wake up for London or something like that.

What is it? Wake up at Wimbley? Wake up at Wembley. And T.D., way down the line, we're talking months down the line. I want you to surprise me with the true iconic friend's line. He's her lobster.

Drop me a he's her lobster way down the line. Are you going to get up at 6.30 a.m. TD to watch Lions, Falcons. Our listeners are better than this. I wake up at 630. 30, usually every weekend to watch a Manchester United game. But for the Lions, I don't know about that.

I'm going to get up. I'm challenging both of you guys to do the same just for the fun of the. I've got big playing Saturday night. When else was this going to happen? Let's get to some news. Gentlemen, let's start with Percy Harvin. We haven't formerly had a chance to really talk about Harvin, who was traded to the Jets, of course, on Friday, last Friday, for a conditional pick, mid-round pick. It can move up to, I guess, a fourth, at the highest, fourth to a six.

So a lot of interesting news with Harvard right now. The latest, Rex Ryan, on Wednesday said that Percy Harvin will have a minor role in the offense on Sunday. He will handle kickoff returns and maybe punt returns. Also, we learned that the Jets did not permit Percy Harbin to speak with the media on Wednesday. They're trying to control the message with him. I just want to throw it to you guys. I love the trade as a Jets fan. I think it's exactly kind of what they need.

It's a roll-the-dice move on a lot of levels, but at the same time for a team with a really boring offense, it adds an exciting dynamic, and their special teams needed a shot in the arm as well, and he is the best in the business for turning kicks. In my opinion, your thoughts? This is really over the last few days, left a bad taste in my mouth the way the Seahawks handled it.

You never heard anything bad about Harvin out of Seattle until they trade them, and they orchestrate this message to the media. They disseminate all the information to all the NFL insights, around the country talking about the fights he caused talking about

asking out of games it's just like a propaganda campaign and teams always have to try this after they trade a player why don't you just trade a player

and move on without the propaganda well people knew some of these stories nobody and for I don't think they did maybe not the

the fight during Super Bowl week that's been reported but some of the other things going on behind the scenes, I think they do know. There's a lot that reporters know that don't come out.

I don't think they did in this case. I don't think they would have kept that. I wouldn't. I think. I don't really have a problem with it. It makes sense, though, because the Seahawks knew they had to sell it to their fan base. You see, you don't have to.

Well, they felt that they had to. You don't have to hold out. That's why they did it. You're playing dirty. It's a dirty pool to do that. But look, a guy Michael Robinson who works for us who was there in the locker room. I mean, he was one of the people that came out and said it. Yeah, he's like, I,

I broke up that fight. Reporters are going to report. They're going to find out things. It's not always necessarily from the team. It's from players. When five or six different reporters here within hours of the trade, that's coming from the team. That's being disseminated from the team.

All right. But let's talk about what is, do you like the move for the Jets? Sure. Why not? I mean, do you give up a future special teamer for 10 games of a guy who, if everything's going swimmingly,

can be one of the top 10 receivers in the NFL? Greg. Yeah, I agree. It's not, I don't think he can be a top 10 receiver at this point because I don't think he's that guy that at this point, you're just going to roll out there and he's going to be a normal outside receiver that plays every snap and does the entire route tree and is going to be a complete wide receiver.

But he's such an X factor. And I think you're going to get a little bit of that Randy Moss in his first couple years in New England and Terrell Owens in his first couple years. Not that Harvins, I'm not saying he's been a problem or not, it sounds like he has been. But just that he knows to make his money next year and the year after that, he better be on his best behavior

and try to show the Jets he's worth $11 million next year. And anyone else, too. If I'm the Jets, I don't even look at the tape of how the Seahawks try to deploy Harvin in the year and a half. I go back to the Vikings when they got that monster year out of him that led him landing with the Seahawks and see how they used them and knew how to use him.

Well, they're what, they're going to take Brett Favreve out of retirement? That's the second part of my point. Have Brett Fav run around? I think Percy Harvin does well in the same way that Randall Cobb sometimes does well in Green Bay. He's the guy that Rogers looks to when the play breaks down. Also, the same way that Jeremy Curley does well, which is a little bit odd that they extended Curley within a few days of trading for Harvard since they both are best in the slot.

I also don't blame the Seahawks if all of this is true on Harvin at all for doing it. You've got to do it. You got to do. I mean, if it's becoming a problem with your team, you make the trade. and that's why maybe it seems like Dirty Pool that it all comes out, but people are going to wonder, if you didn't know, you might be killing them for this trade, not understanding it.

Moving forward, some Patriots news. We'll start with a trade they pulled up on Tuesday. They acquired Tennessee Titans linebacker Akeem Ayers for a seventh round pick. They flipped picks in the sixth to the seventh round. And Ayers is a former second round pick of the Titans who's been active in just two games this year. But, Greg, tell us what do you think about this move and how he might have an impact in New England? Well, to me, it's a guy that you hope can be a 30-snap, a game guy.

And, you know, part of the reason they made it, as I know you're going to bring up here, is that Chandler Jones is out. And that's the big news here that they feel like they need to fill some snaps and airs. Who knows? I mean, Bill Belichick said he could help in past defense. He's a guy that's barely played this year because he's coming off a serious injury, and he's never been that big a difference maker. The Boston Globe reported on Tuesday the Chandler Jones,

the defensive end, and their sack leader will miss about a month with a hip injury. Jones played 84 of 87 snaps in their most recent game against the Jets, and the only issue that we thought he was dealing with was a shoulder issue, so this kind of came out of nowhere on Tuesday. He's their best pass rusher. Ayers has been, I think he had the double knee surgery in the offseason. He was a decent enough pass rusher in Tennessee,

but wasn't playing because he didn't fit Ray, Horton's three-four defense. He has experience in the four-three and the Patriots kind of vacillate between the two. It's worth a shot for a swap of late-round drafts. Yeah, it's worth a shot, but Chandler Jones is the best pure pass rusher the Patriots have had since Bill Belichick's been there. Who's getting to the quarterback without Chandler Jones there? Ninkovich. I mean, no one. It's not like they had a great pass rush as it was. They're not a team that schemes up a particularly good pass rush with sacks you know it's a huge problem because jones is not only wildly talented but he's at an iron man there aren't many defensive ends that play

over 90% of his team snaps that's what jones and ninkovich both did last year it's a big drop off with him out of the lineup and i mean and now it's starting to add up you know you're missing Gerard Mayo, you're missing Chandler Jones, you have pretty lame defensive tackles, and the next month, after this game against Cutler, that's a decent passing offense, you have Manning, Rivers, Luck, Rogers is in the mix there somewhere, that's coming up for them. Murder is Roe. And finally, this is the Patriots Nugget that I like a lot.

Durel Revis was, as Kevin Patcher, a great Chicago correspondent to put it, reportedly sent back to his island on Tuesday. So he came to the Patriots complex. Nice job, Kevin. Late. He showed up late on Tuesday for a 7.30 a.m. meeting. And what did Bill do? The old grumpy Gus sent him home.

He said, go home to your island, Mr. Revis. I must add that I saw right before we were beginning to spin here that Revis's business manager says this report is untrue. Really? Revis said it's between me and Belichick, talk to him. So that was an odd answer. if it wasn't true. A source close to Revis told the Boston Globe, the message was definitely sent.

The roles apply to everybody. This kind of reminds me of a situation that happened in this studio on Sunday. In this example, Dan Hansis was Bill Belichick, and TD was Derelle Revis. And Dan had to, you know, discipline. Everyone is the same here. We cannot play favorites in the podcast.

There's a certain level of experts. expectations when you're a member of the Patriots. And I kind of consider this podcast, the Patriots of the NFL media news group. Well, I'm glad the TD handled it like Derell Revis and not Adelius Thomas. Oh, that's right. The Patriots did this five years ago when they sent Adelaus Thomas and three others home when they were late during a snowstorm. Adelaus Thomas.

Didn't he say something? Like, what do you expect me to do? Get a helicopter and come in? Yeah. He actually said a teleporter. Teleporter. Unless we were. Unless we forget, poor Brandon Spikes.

Poor Brandon Spikes even tweeted a photo of his car buried in snow in that halacious New England winter. Belichick said, screw it, and just went way under the rulebook and just threw him on IR. Don't show up late to the Patriots Complex. By the way, it's already getting cold in New England, and Dan and other clowns like him miss bad weather. Enjoy your six months of terrible weather. That I miss, quote, bad weather. As someone that hails from New York and the Northeast, I like seasons. Yeah.

And there just aren't seasons. Look. Not in his head. I was asked, uh, I was asked how I'm enjoying October and I didn't even realize it was October because it's 80 degrees every day here in L.A. Come on Southern California. Get a weather personality. I love, seasons are overrated.

You know, give me, you're like complaining because you get great food every day. let's have some mediocre this coming from a guy who has bread for breakfast this morning, just plain wheat bread. That was kind of a weird move caused some controversy in the newsroom. Greg ate a plain piece of wheat bread. It was like he was coming from prison.

Yeah, not a sandwich, not like a breakfast sandwich, just a piece of bread. Bread's great. Bread is where all food comes from. If people... Stupid. All right. Moving on. Hey, Brett Farve, who gets asked about a lot of things

doesn't seem to care about any of the things he's asked about but he did have something interesting to say about Austin Davis the Rams quarterback here is the quote not to sound off my rocker but he in my mind can be the next Tom Brady or Kurt Warner

Farve told the ESPN Brian Hoyer as well that's very the lead there Austin like those mentioned just needed a legit opportunity Wait were you using Brian Hoyer in the same sentence of Kurt Warner and Tom That was the first time I even seen this quote as I was reading it, and Brian Hoyer got thrown in the mix, too, as the next Kurt Warner.

Let's be honest here. It's serious. Austin Davis went on to break all of Farr's records at Southern Miss. There's a lot of this going on right here. Right, just helping out, you know, pumping up a little Southern Miss. Well, yeah. Yeah, he's. It's kind of like me and two-lane kicker Cairo Santos.

I always rooting for him. It's a lot like that. I, you know, I watched the game closely on Sunday, the Rams. Austin Davis is a, it seems like, a pretty nice player, but let's be honest. I mean, he threw for 45 yards through three and a half quarters last week, had a nice drive that put them, giving them a chance to win at the end of the game, but Austin Davis is not the next Kurt Warner. I think he's a lot closer to the Hoyer end of the spectrum here than the Warner Brady.

But according to Brett Five, Hoyer is also the next Kurt Warner. He's got Austin. Hoyer's the next benched. Who! Austin Davis has a chance. Sessler Bristles if he was listening. I don't know what kind of career he's going to have, but for the first six starts of his career,

he has a chance to be a long-time NFL starter, which is a shock. To be Kay's kingdomed. I don't think that's going to happen. I do want to credit Dan for a pretty good Brett Farv. I have an imprompt to go get my lunch proposition for Greg. Okay. Austin Davis will not start the 2015 season as the Rams quarterback.

I'm not taking that. Oh, he just said he's going to be great. I think he's got a chance, but they could, you know, who knows what the Rams are going to do. It's not the best decision makers at quarterback. By the way, didn't you make something off of Case Keenham starting this year? Some sort of sandwich thing. Keenham versus Mallet, I believe.

That was me. I said who would start more games. We're off the reservation. Yeah. AJ Green was on NFL Network's NFL AM. That is one of Chris Wessling's favorite programs. He said that the Bengals, after, you know, they started 3 and 0. Now they're 3, 2, and 1 haven't won in almost a month,

are, quote, like the scum of the crop right now. Now, so let's start where we have to, and the only logical place to start. What does that mean? What is the scum of the crop? Well, you think it doesn't make sense, right? Because crops don't have scum. Scum is a liquid product. It's usually the cream of the crop.

Yeah, but there's no cream in crop either. Or the runt of the litter, maybe he was thinking of? Or the scum of the earth. In AJ Green's defense, scum of the crop makes as much sense as cream of the crop. It comes from the French phrase, creme de la creme. Look at a mailman. Go, mailman. Which is alliterative, and that's why it used to be pick of the crop,

and then people started saying cream of the crop because of the crem deluxe. Cremfrey phrase. So that's how it worked. Alliteration. That is an outrageous amount of information on this topic, question. Also, to A.J. Green's defense, that show tapes at, like, five in the morning.

So nothing that's said on it. It can really be taken too seriously. But you should watch it. It's on every morning at 6 a.m. Eastern. Greg on NFL network On again at 7 gets there

If you miss it or you want to watch it a second time It's coming right back at you Real fast finally The Bengals do stink He's right by the way Yeah we'll get to that During the previews on Thursday show Finally Michael Sam

The first openly gay NFL player He's going to have to get to the NFL first In terms of playing on a field and a game And it's not looking good right now He was waved by the Cowboys From their practice squad on Tuesday. A little quick refresher

because I know the story is something that you haven't heard much about. Michael Sam, seventh round pick in May, cut by the Rams at the end of the camp, picked up by the Cowboys, now dumped by the Cowboys. So we may have seen the last

of Michael Sam. I don't know. No way. It's a good sign that we didn't hear a peep about him while the Cowboys were doing so well that it didn't become,

it wasn't an issue in Dallas ever. He just was like a regular practice squad guy. Right. I can't believe they overcame such adverse. of having, you know, the distraction of Michael Sam. I think he'll be back because he's been on a practice squad. He had some production in the preseason.

I think this shines a light on what so many hundreds of guys go through that are trying to make the NFL every year that bounce around, that get cut from practice squad. And those guys kind of like Michael Sam, a seventh round pick. They usually end up right back on a roster in January when roster is expanded. And I have a feeling that's what will happen with Sam if he doesn't get a job in the next couple months or he'll be in Canada playing football and that's what's happening all right now gentlemen let's get into what this might be it this might be the best thursday night football game of the season

the CBS folk this was the one they circled I would think uh in terms of high profile matchup of aFC contenders I'd say I don't know about media markets but the san diego chargers heading to denver to face the broncos the broncos who suddenly looked like the broncos of last year on offense, which is a terrifying thought. Peyton Manning had one of his best performances ever when he set the touchdown record on Sunday night. Four days later, Philip Rivers comes to town. Last time they played in prime time last year, big win for the Chargers.

Will they be able to pull off the upset? This time around, Chris Wesleyan, I start with you. Greg and I spent a portion of the morning discussing where Philip Rivers and Peyton Manning belong in this top four. Clearly it's Manning, Rogers, Rivers, and Luck as the top four. I think luck is a solid four, by the way, not quite with those three, but yes. But I guess where I'm going with this is Peyton Manning has a lot easier matchup this week than Philip Rivers does. Rivers is going against Ware and Von Miller who are on pace to meet their 32-sac goal.

The Broncos secondary is playing really well. I think their second and total defense. And Peyton Manning is going up against a secondary where Brandon Flowers has been one of the best cornerbacks in the league this year, will not play because he's concussed. Jason Verrett. Who was it? Brandon Flores. Oh, nice to see where you're going with this.

Yeah. You want to make flowers? There we go. There we go. All right. Jason Verrett in the defensive player of the year conversation. He's been incredible. He's been great.

Questionable to play with a shoulder injury. And they're without a couple of pass rushers too. Peyton Manning's going to have an easy time of it. They've also been without Dwight Freeney for a couple weeks. He started out the season so well. has totally vanished, and to flip it over to the Chargers side, I mean, Rivers, that offensive line is not playing well. The running game should be fine, but he's going up against what's now one of the best defenses in the league and has a cornerback trio that I think is the best

cornerback trio in the league because Chris Harris is playing incredible. Bradley Robey was a great pick by John Elway. It was kind of out of left field pick. He's playing terrific. And then a keep to leave is doing his thing. It doesn't set up well for this Philip Rivers MVP narrative that's been going on. It sets up, like, after this game, people are talking about, oh, I guess it's just Peyton and the Broncos year anyways. Got it. Peyton Manning wins another MVP.

That would be insane. Well, there's other people in the mix, too, this year, DeMarco Murray, I mean, Roger, who know. Luck. J.J. Watt. Throw luck in there. I don't know. So I think that, I think we're all picking the Broncos here, but it wouldn't be insane if

the charter, I mean, we're the team of ATO. the team of around the NFL. We love the Chargers this season. There's no reason to think they can't what's so funny. Our hearts aren't into it. We named the team of the ATL and I'm into it. We're already sneaking out the back door and going down the alley. Oh, give me a break.

Who else gets away from pressure better than Philip Rivers? I don't know. Our hearts clearly aren't in this. You love the little pocket rocket brand than Oliver. He's jumping around like Frank Gore. That's my comparison, by the way, for Oliver. He's basically played three games, and he leads all rookies in Russia. yard. Right. What do you think of this

Frank Gore? I think he reminds me more of Maurice Jones Drew. Ten pounds, yeah I can see that. Ten pounds lighter but a lot of power and a lot of that hopping. He always finds the hole. He kind of weights and somehow sees it. It'll be interesting to see what happens when Ryan Matthews comes back. What

they'll be doing with that backfield because obviously Oliver's proven himself. But we're not going to pick them? We're not going to pick the Chargers? Come on. One of us. Come on. Let's do it. But the Chargers played... You guys first. Broncos better last year than any team. All three games, they essentially controlled the pace of play. Even in the playoffs, they did a good job playing keepaway, and there are more weapons for Rivers to

throw to this year. Eddie Royale's playing very well, kind of shockingly. Malcolm Floyd has been a big factor. Gates is playing better. They can maybe still do that keepaway strategy if they're good on third downs. To your point, Peyton Manning's career passer rating, 14 points less against John Pagano defenses. Yeah, since Pagano has gotten to San Diego, he is six and six against the Chargers, which is kind of shocking to me. That's a shocking stat. Here's to me the key to the game, and we saw it on Sunday night against the Niners.

When the Broncos jump on a team early and all of a sudden you look up after half a quarter and it's 21 to 3 or 14 nothing or something like that, the Chargers have done it. They can keep this thing close through a half and they keep the balls, as we're saying, control the ball. They know how to win this game. They know how to beat this team. We need them not to get the doors blown off in the first quarter. Is it possible with Peyton Manning playing at this level?

Easier said than done. I just think the Broncos' defense is so much better this year, too. All right, guys, here we go. So, Chris Wessling, man, you do such a great job with these lists. I'll tell you what. I just get to these lists. You have never read one of these lists, including this one. That's what's called Dan buying time as he finds the right spot.

What a list. And I'll tell you what, position power rankings is what they're called. I don't know. It doesn't seem to be quite positional anymore, but I will tell you this. It is presented by Lenovo, which sponsored the Banner Reeds presented, Greg. So I had it right initially. Great friend. And we know that right off the top.

And you're doing them proud because you're delivering great content. This week, it is 10 players that Chris Wessling believes deserves to go to the Pro Bowl. Well, balloting started on Sunday, so it's timely. Oh, company man. you're filling out your ballot. NFL.com. To me, I enjoy doing this series, but for me, it's never about the actual ranking, which maybe that makes me the worst person to do it. Fans like to talk about the numbers where they're actually ranked.

For me, it's always been about the analysis and shedding light on how certain players are playing. So this is a perfect opportunity for me to do that. 10 players who you should at least consider for the Pro Bowl, because these guys are more under the radar. they've never been to the Pro Bowl or they're not like household names. Well, except for, you know, Jason Pierre Paul.

But he's coming back from... Jason Pierre Paul coming back from two seasons where he was no good. I didn't know this was... Greg, just so excited. You're like someone when they open up a Lenovo product. They can't wait to get into it and use it. You can't wait to get into this list.

This isn't breaking bad or something. It's been on the site. Hundreds of thousands of fans of Chris Wesley that have already read it anyway. All right, so we'll start at number one because, yes, Jordy Nelson is your number one player who deserves a Pro Bowl not.

I'm pretty stunned that he has not been to the Pro Bowl yet. It's an outrage. That's an outrage. Got to go. He's got to go. This is the year. Where is he, by the, because the wide receiver rankings,

if you're making, I know you did one earlier this year, Wes, ranking the wide receivers, correct? Did you do it in the summertime? The summertime, Greg and Mark shared one while I was out of town. Okay, great. So anyway, we all thought Calvin Johnson was far and away. our producer TD said that Calvin Johnson

was going to have 712 touchdowns this year it's not working out He's hurt for the second straight year So it kind of opens up the debate a little bit Who's the best wide receiver And Jordy Nelson You can make a case for Jordan Nelson This season

Well I don't Calvin Johnson's the best receiver Right but he's hurt But if you're talking about Who's played the best this season If you want to say Antonio Brown That's fine But I'm taking Jordy Nelson

As the best receiver in the NFL Through seven weeks DeAndre Levy, the Detroit Lions linebacker, is number two, why Levy was. Well, he was robbed last year. He was up there with Thomas Davis and Levante David as the best linebacker in the NFL against the past. And this year, he's been awesome against the run. I think he and Sue are the two stars on the number one rated defense in the NFL. Number three, Vante Davis of the Colts.

Cornerback, famously, a famous hard-knock scene was where he got traded to the Colts by the Dolphins and he interrupted Jeff Ireland to see if he'd call his mother or grandmother to talk to her. This man has grown up. He's a grown boy now, and he's making plays in the second day. I feel so far removed from the rest of American society because I was in the 9.30 meeting today, and that same exact story was brought up about his mother or grandmother or whatever. And I had no idea. I like to send you guys to the different meetings around corporate things around the NFL offices.

They're a lot of fun, I have to say. Well, I think Vante Davis, he's on here because the Colts are surprisingly good defense. They've turned up some pass pressure, and they're not, they're getting off the field on third downs. They're not allowing third downs. And the reason why they've been able to send so much pressure is because Vante Davis and Greg Tuller are very good press man corners. You allow them to take two guys away and send the rest at the quarterback. Right, they're going to give up some passes, but you have to give Ryan Grigsden a lot of credit now for that Vante Davis trade. I think it's worked out, and for Toller, who is a free agent that no one thought was going

to be that big of a deal from Arizona, and that those two guys are kind of the linchpins of their secondary. And I will name up, those are the top three on West's list. Here's four through ten, and we can just throw out any thoughts we want, because that's what we do around here. Greg Olson, Panthers tight end at four, JPP, the Giants. Has he not been to Pro Bowl? He's had to be there.

He has, but this is, it's not just guys who haven't been to the Pro Bowl. He's coming back from two years where he's stunk. No one's really noticed how well. he's been playing. Golden Tate, Lions Wide Receiver, also known as one of Greg's, uh, and his stable of boys. Golden Tate. Wait, that's my boy. I like that. He's in

I'll claim him now. We had a scientific debate. Yeah. On this very podcast. I admitted that. I lose track of your boy stables. Uh, that sounds wrong. Wesleyan had a padlocked boy stables. Best free agent. No windows. Bargans. We need to

move on from this line of discussion right now. Best free agent bargains list. Back in March, number one on the list, Golden Tate. I mean, he has made, I think, a bigger difference in terms of his team winning and losing games than maybe any receiver in the league. You can throw a couple drops in there, but no one's made more game-changing players. How about any free agent in the league? Sure.

He's been one of the best signings. Who knows? I mean... You could say he should be higher on this list. How great he's been. I didn't want to play two receivers back to back. Okay, okay. you got to get him he is a pro bowl player right now kyle williams nice to see him there

very nice number seven someone should represent that buffalo bills he's the best williams on their defensive line he certainly gets paid less than the other one but mary williams is a player too but kyle is just the guy that he he's had the most dominant game by a defensive tackle i've seen all year against the chargers in the game the chargers won but williams just toyed with their interior lineman. All right. Eight, Harrison Smith of Minnesota. Rolando McLean, a comeback player of the year candidate, Cowboys linebacker at 9. And number 10, the charismatic punter for the Indianapolis cults, the electric, Pat McAfee. I put him on there just for your sake.

Guy's hilarious. And a great punter. His, well, you said the best, by the way, the best defensive line play you've seen. By far, and it's not even close, been watching football like 20 years or so now, the best onside kick and the history of onside kicks was the one he did on Thursday night football against the Texans. He had a kick at 10 yards. He kicked it 10 yards and 3 inches and then recovered his own kick. It was brilliant. He has three onside kicks this year. I believe at one point he had the only three onside kicks in the NFL. And he's the only punter I've ever seen with a celebration every time he makes a good punt. Now I know you've heard my theory, Chris, on the beef between

Hansis and Pat Macley. Maybe I'll throw it by TD. and see if he agrees with my theory. That Dan, you know, Dan works here. Pat's on NFL AM quite a bit. And what Dan sees in Pat is a guy kind of encroaching on his funny man for the NFL media news group territory. And he doesn't like that. Dan is from New York. And you know how they are.

Very competitive gentlemen. So I think you're right. You're on to something there. Just going to put it out there. Because let's just, let's face it. McAfee's going to have a podcast someday here. TD will be producing it. Probably.

He'll be ignoring our podcast for it. Probably. I think Pat McAfee is a great talent in this industry. Untaps it. And when he's out of the game as a punter, I would welcome him to the NFL media umbrella. For the record, I'm not buying that theory. Thank you, Wes.

I think there's another reason. What? Oh, I'll tell you off the air. By the way, I do have to have one problem with your list. Harrison Smith gives up too many plays. Whenever I watch the Vikings' plays, They're hitting a bomb on Harrison Smith's side of the field because he runs up, gives up too many. I've seen that happen once.

I've seen it happen a few times. All right, guys. Okay. Let's wrap it up, moving forward. We will close out today's show with really a conversation that started in written form. As I said, on our website we did a post trades we'd like to see. The trade deadline is on Thursday. Is that tomorrow?

It's on next Tuesday. Cool. Good info by me. next Tuesday is October 28th is a trade deadline so we each of us for around the NFL throughout a trade we'd like to see not necessarily and I very rarely dip into the comment section to see what's going on over there because it's usually a human sewer scenario but I will say this that people who are upset about some of these trades just really upset they didn't I haven't checked the comments but then you didn't get it you know

And that's a thing. It's something that's just stuff we'd like to see. Maybe not realistic, but fun stuff. So let's maybe play a new game. And I will give Chris Wessling props. We were brainstorming downstairs. Oh, it's a fun way to get into this game type thing. People like games.

And Wes, you came up with what? People like games. Well, it's a trade scenario, so it's which team says no. Who says no? Who says no? Wes, I was thinking if we can get, T.D. I was thinking if we can get some women, singers, 1950s type singers. Like the Shantels. If we could actually get the Shantels, that'd be good if they're alive.

And we could go, who says no? Something like that. No, I was thinking more, it was one of my news drops months ago. And it's from the Planet of the Apes movie. When Caesar first talks in the first movie, he says, no. Freaking sci-fi. It's pretty epic. Cool.

We definitely won't do that one. Yeah, yeah. Who says no? I like that. Sorry, it's not Caesar from the Planet of the Ape Six. You're going to need a bigger planet. All right. I'll start.

I'll start. So to make the who says no, it's not just throwing out a trade. An actual trade, the parameters of the trade have to be out there. So I will start with Johnny Mansell, Cleveland Brown's quarterback. You know, we got an extension. coming to Brian Hoyer potentially if he doesn't lose to the Raiders this week and they're going to want to do that and make it nice and clean they've got to get rid of the first round pick now the Browns known to make decisions

on a whim they're going to send they're going to offer or the Jets call up the Browns and they say we got we got Percy Harvin now we're excited about it got Eric Decker we got Chris Ivory in the backfield we got some pieces now now we just need a quarterback to tie it all together Gino Smith can be a backup let's try to get Johnny Man Manzell from the Browns, and we'll give the Cleveland Browns a number, second round pick in the 2015 draft. And if that's not sweet enough, I'll throw it out, I'll say 2016 draft, a conditional second rounder that becomes a first rounder if Mansell plays 85% of the Jets snaps next season. Who says no?

Well, yeah, this conversation never happened. The Jets aren't giving up a second round pick for a guy who couldn't beat out Brian Hoyer in August. Well, that's not exactly what the situation was, though. It's exactly what the situation. It wasn't purely on play with that. It was always a situation where the Browns were trying to establish that they were in control of the situation. No, no, no, no.

Oh, for sure. Brian Hoyer left that door wide open, and they were waffling for a little while on who it was going to be. Mansell had a clear opportunity to take it, and Hoyer played terribly in August. He's played better during the season. But Manzell, I mean, it's easy to forget that in August, Everybody was trashing how poorly he played.

But then you're essentially saying that Johnny Mansell is shot as a prospect in the NFL based on... I'm saying his trade value is shot until he shows something. I think the Browns say no, because this is a pick, I think, that probably came from on high in their organization, or at least it was an organizational pick. The city is excited about him. He's a first-round pick. No one thought he was going to be a pro bowler right out the gates. I think they're far from wanting to give up.

So even if John Idzik, you know, woke up out of his slumber and returned a call within a few days, I think they wouldn't want to do that. What makes us think that Manzell is going to have a better career than Gino Smith? Well, it's a hunch. You're asking us. I'm saying the Browns think that. I don't think they've given up on Johnny Manzo.

No, I'm just asking Dan. Well, that's a thing. It would be a huge gamble by the Jets, and it would be potentially asking for outright disaster to bring Mansell to New York City or close to New York City, and that could blow up in their face. And as I fear with all Jets' moves that they'll eventually go wrong, this would just be another in the long line.

But it's just fun. Jets need a quarterback, though. Do not get sucked into Gino Smith playing well in New England on Thursday. He's way too inconsistent. We've seen what we've seen. He's going to be good sometimes and awful sometimes. You've got to find someone better and more consistent than Gino Smith. And save your tweets.

We don't really think Johnny Manzell could get to the Jets. I'm actually going to give Chris Wesseling the password to my Twitter account and the ATLs just to block everyone that does that. I'm staying in on Friday and Saturday night because that's more fun than I could possibly have elsewhere. All right. Who says no? Wes, you're up. When we play this game, we have to remember that general managers value draft picks like Scrooge McDuck values his vault.

Scrooge McDuck analogy. In the offseason they do it. And then on like draft day, they'll just trade things around. And they don't really care anymore. They're all right, here's two thirds and a fourth for whoever. Darren Sprouls goes for a special teamer. Right. Yeah, it's crazy.

All right, so Larry Fitzgerald has basically been banished from the Cardinals' offense. Bruce Ariens hates him. Carson Palmer ignores him. He's the best receiver his generation. It doesn't even matter. So since they have Michael Floyd, Andre Ellington, John Brown, and Fitzgerald's due $24 million salary cap number next to. offseason. Cardinals might be losing him anyway.

He solves the Patriots outside receiver problem, move him back to the ex-receiver, which he used to play in Arizona. They kind of moved him to the slot. Patriots give up a sixth round pick and a conditional third rounder that goes to a second rounder if the Patriots win the AFC. Wow. Who says no? I'd say the Cardinals say no

just because they don't want to face the fallout. The Patriots sign them up. Sounds great. Wait, second round pick? What did the Patriots have to take on? Whatever. They'll just take Rodi Dowling or something with that pick. And that option next year?

No, they can just cut him. Well, they... They'll just restructure. You don't think you do it for a rental. The Patriots have more room. They can be flexible, move some cap money around. I think if you do it, it, you do it with the idea that Fitzgerald's going to be there for three years.

Why don't they just wait out this season, the Patriots, wait until the Cardinals cut him and then just sign him? Because Tom Brady's another year older, another year closer to the end. You've got to value each season now. But you're going to, if you trade for Fitzgerald, this is why I think the Patriots say, no, they'd be giving up draft picks, and I think that trying to get him up to speed in the middle of the season, it might not be something where they could jive immediately. I'd rather just wait and get him and make one last push for,

both guys next year. Well, you're not sure that the Cardinals are going to cut him. The Cardinals could restructure. It seems like it's heading in that direction, though, doesn't it? I don't know. They love him there. I like this move. I like just sending more superstars, especially in offense, to the Patriots.

And what are the Patriots going to do, you know, with their second round picks? Anyways, draft Aaron Dobson or Razai Dowling or Bethel Johnson or something. Just go get a veteran. Chad Jackson. All right. Your turn, Greg. This is, the whole trade is laid out in our article. As you mentioned, six trades we'd love to see.

I think it has a vanity URL. Did you mention that one? No, I didn't. I didn't. I didn't. I wish I knew it off the top of my head. We'll get back to that. That's a bad job.

People don't even know what a vanity URL is. And then on top of you don't even know what it is. Come on, boss. Jay Cutler, coming off disappointing performance. Chicago fans are annoyed. Mark Tressman, not feeling. good about that contract that his front office gave Cutler in the offseason. They say, whoops, we're sorry.

They send them to Tampa for Josh McCown, who's already done great in Mark Trestman System, and they'll throw in Mike Lennon so that they can have a nice young arm to develop in Chicago. Chicago gets out of Jay Cutler's big contract. Tampa's got all sorts of cap room. Cutler would be the best quarterback they've had since maybe Doug Williams, even if he's only average. who says no.

This is a... People have accused you of being crazy for this? I think you might be a mastermind. Yeah, I like it. I think Tresman, if I remember correctly, met with Mike Glynn before the draft two years ago. I think Tresden is a big Mike Lennon fan. We know he likes Josh McCown.

He had him last year. Josh McCown's numbers were better than Cutler last year. Much better. 17 million pretty much a year, guaranteed. So Tampa needs to spend that money somewhere. It's got all that cap room. You know what this reminds me of the old famous, and if you haven't seen it before, find it on YouTube

when the girl from Melrose Place was on Conan O'Brien, and Norm MacDonald was sitting there, and she was doing a Carrot Top movie, Chairman of the Board, and Norm kept on interrupting her while Conan was trying to be nice and was just embarrassing her about, you quit Melrose Place to do a movie with Caratop? And then at one point he steps in and interjects, He goes, you know what they should call the movie?

Box office poison. And the girl, I wish I remember her name. She was just like mortified. Well, Jay Cutler is Lombardi Trophy Poison. Everybody knows by now that everybody knows the football world has to know. The Bears got sucked in. Why would the bucks? It is a great cut.

Box office poison. Why would the bucks want to take on Jay Cutler and they become the team that has to deal with? waiting forever for that promise to happen. It's just not going to happen. I love this answer because 98% of people who read this article probably thought the Bears would say no. Right. Everyone said of this was crazy that the Bears would never trade Cutler away.

Here's why. Because I went back through the archives, looked for the leading passer of the Buccaneers franchise in their history each year. Who are the Buccaneers quarterbacks ever that have been better than Jay Cutler? Brad Johnson for a year Josh Freeman give me a break That's it, that's the list It's probably back to Doug Williams

He had a pretty good run And they weren't winning games But he was playing well He was terrible He was okay He was okay The football world has to be catching up With what the fans have already

Had by now Though that Cutler is not going to win you a Super Bowl He's not the guy To throw it deep to Vincent Jackson and Evans Maybe it works Do you want me to let you Inside the mind of a Bears fan? Yeah

So my buddy AJ lives on Tybee. If you go to Tybee, we have a lot of listeners have told me they've been to Huckapoo since we've talked about it. Go to Sunday Cafe for lunch. AJ is the owner and head chef. Huge Bears fan. Here's what he texted me this afternoon. Tresman is losing the locker room. Don't think he's an NFL head coach. I know it doesn't help that you have a QB, but he chose him. It's about to get ugly. We're through for six years. And that's similar to what Kevin Patro, Chicago correspondent, has said that Cutler just really draws just the madness out of people. He's frustrated by them.

Have faith in trust. By the way, Courtney Thornt Smith is the Melrose Place actress. Oh, yeah. That got normed on Conan O'Brien. I like her in summer school. Oh, yeah. Very underrated movie that no one's heard of that listens to the podcast too. Here's the vanity, the URL.

No, NFL.com slash dream trade scenarios. Dial that one up. Wow. I didn't come up with that. That is catchy. I'll tell you what. It's got to be mentioned on NFL Total Access. Oh, good.

Will we be named after? Well, they'll say around the league, around the NFL. Because one time a tweet that I had that got read loud on the air was not used because they couldn't pronounce my last name. I've been working here almost five years. Well, you've got to step up your profile. Do better work. It'd be like Vernon Davis and get concentrated on your brand.

I know. Okay. All right, that's it for today's edition of the Around the NFL podcast. We'll be back tomorrow night where we will recap the Thursday night football matchup we talked about. And then we will go into Sunday's games and preview every game on Sunday as we do every week. So get ready for that. Thanks for listening. This is Dan Hansa signing off for The Mailman, The Boss, and the great TD behind the glass.

Until Thursday. This is an I-heart podcast.