NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Ravens Load Up, Richardson Benched and the return of Quarterback Island!

Episode Date: October 30, 2024

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic for the return of Quarterback Island and to preview the Texans and Jets facing off on Thursday Night Football. To start the show, the crew gets caught up on news from around the NFL, including the Ravens trading for Diontae Johnson (02:11), Stefon Diggs being out for the season with a torn ACL (08:13), and Anthony Richardson being benched (12:59). After the break, Quarterback Island returns with a discussion about the QBs who are safe from being voted off the island (22:09), followed by candidates to get voted onto and off of the island (33:30), and the deciding votes (01:05:44). Finally, a preview of the Texans visiting the Jets on Thursday Night Football (01:22:24). Note: time codes approximate.NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Welcome to NFL Daily, where we support the Dwayne Wade statue. Who's weak? It's a week before trade deadline. Week for yourself. But we couldn't wait to get some trades off. So yes, we are talking news. We are talking quarterback.

We're talking TNF here in the Chris Wesleying podcast studio with Steve Weish. Yeah. Back from Europe. Jordan Rodrigue. Back from the Playcaller's podcast, new episode. And yes, Colleen Wolf. Hey, I'm just here. And Colleen stop by.

Yo. Back from Monday night football coverage with Steve Mariucci. Going to Germany next week. You're going to leave the studio straight from our trade deadline. We just decided that. Right to the airport. we just made that moments ago all of us together especially you and she's going to alsace yes it's a good white wine i know i'm going to have to write that down

i don't know the spelling of that i'm not really sure i got you okay how are we feeling oh we're fired up we're fired up it's quarterback island time better than ever it is it's been a lot of planning quarterback island we'll see if it's any more um well organized this time surprising okay jordan didn't believe like i are you looking at me well because it's like 20 minutes before the show I said, I'm open, I'm open for all the arguments. He's open for business. Which quarterbacks are going to be on the island and which aren't. We're deciding which 12 deserve to be there.

And you didn't believe me. Do you see the reworking or the phraseology of what he actually said? We're not going to go there. I actually videoed it, though. So I have receipts. And what does it say? It says, I have no plan. You said.

That's true. And I said, I don't believe you. Oh, I thought it was executive power. Oh, yeah. He does have executive power. Okay, now we're talking about something. We can change the rules as much as, uh, we wish. But I don't have a plan.

I don't know how, I mean, we know each other pretty well, Jordan, now. But, you know, not as long as these like, I don't normally necessarily have a plan. You have an idea. And you just roll. Let's do some news. D. Okay, we were going to try to avoid news today,

but the NFL wouldn't let us. So we've got juicy news. Let's start with a Deonté Johnson trade from the Panthers. to the Ravens, because of the three big items on Tuesday, this was the one that surprised me the most. The Ravens only have to send a sixth round, a fifth round pick, and they get back the Panthers' sixth round pick. When you think about how the Panthers are going to be at the top of the draft and the Ravens

are going to be at the bottom, that's like half a round when you, you know, account for the compensatory picks that will be in there. They're basically trading them for nothing. And oh, by the way, the Panthers are paying a good chunk or most of his salary. Kind of crazy that the number one offense in the NFL, Colleen, is adding another weapon. Great job, Eric DeCosta. I mean, this was a steal. This was such a great move by them.

And Deonté Johnson, he was getting moved either way. Yeah. But once Christian Kirk got her broke his collarbone, I feel like then it was like Deontay was the clear option for them. And there were so many teams that still out there that need one. wide receiver help. But I just cannot wait for November 17th when he goes back to Pittsburgh as a Raven.

Or like, that's because he was traded from the Steelers. So I just like the pettiness of it. And I'm excited for that. You just want to be match up against Patrick Queen. So, you know, the two, there we go. Yeah, I like this. It was interesting. Jeff Zeribik over at the Athletic. He

was talking about improving wide receiver depth, but he's also talking about how he could potentially factor in the return game. You know, that's a team that really puts a lot of emphasis on special teams. It helped them in the margins late last season as well during the regular season. And he actually was talking about potentially thinking that this team would try him out in the return game as well. Because, yes, they needed a boost in the receiving core, but also projecting him as a potential guy who could try to take some reps there. I think, honestly, in the shell game, they made a move before Houston came and got him.

With the news was Stefan Diggs being out, I think this is. Okay, we're going to be, this is a team, these are teams you have to battle to get to the Super Bowl, Diggs is out, Houston could be going to get him, let's get him to add to the return game, but you throw him out there now, you got Zay Flowers, you got a speed

burner who can also do the intermediate stuff, and Deontay Johnson. Gets open. You've got the two tight ends, and you've got Lamar and Derek Henry. There's a lot of things to occupy a defensive coordinator. Yeah, everybody in the IFC is doing it these days. I mean, the Bills, the Chiefs, the Jeff. It is an arm's

race. And yet it costs nothing. So you would think they went around to try to get better offers and couldn't get it. I'm stunned by it because you can talk about wide receiver depth all you want. This guy has almost 5,000 yards in his career. He's been extremely productive. Now, there is an issue of that the Steelers did not want him around. They traded him for Dante Jackson. They're very happy about that trade. By the way, they got a starting cornerback who plays every snap. They do need a wide receiver, though. They're doing pretty well. on offense. I think they're happy with that trade. And the Panthers apparently wanted to get rid of them so badly that they gave him away for nothing and are paying him. So he's got to, he's got an expiring

contract. I get it, but literally they're getting basically no value and they're paying it. So they just wanted him on some level out of the building. I've said this before with a couple of these. I don't think for teams that are contenders that are basically paying a rental price to have someone who can help them or improve their plus qualities as an offense by just a little bit more down the stretch. I don't think situations like that, they care as much about those contextual elements to potentially agree. And it's the Ravens.

The Ravens feel like he's just going to be a piece of the Ravens. If he tries to rock the boat there, it's going to hurt his career and they won't. Correct. Imagine going from Carolina to Baltimore for him. Oh, my gosh. Or Marry Cooper going from Cleveland to Buffalo. Yeah, well, I love it because it seems like, Colleen, you mentioned it, Steve, you mentioned it. It seems like all of these AFC teams, you know that scene from the office where they're playing the board game,

where they're like, who committed the murder or whatever, and they're all standing in a circle, that meme, and they all have the finger guns out, and they're looking at each other and who's going to move first, who's going to move first, and all of a sudden everything happens at once. Like, that is what's going on here with the AFC. They're all like, oh, you might be looking for a pass archer, oh, you got the guy that we wanted. Okay, we're going to pivot and get this other receiver that maybe you guys were looking at. and okay, now we're going to get this receiver that you guys couldn't get. It just is fascinating.

I love it. They're loading up. And this conference, this division is loading up in a big way. I mean, he might be their leading receiver. My guess would be Zay Flowers will be. Zay Flowers has improved quite a bit. There are some similarities, but Deonté Johnson is a more accomplished route runner. Yes.

He's been productive since the day he hit the league, like 680 yards as a rookie. I remember thinking, that's impressive. And ever since then he had that one big thousand yard season, but he's always 700, 800 yards. There's a lot of catch-it. But there is this idea of Deante Johnson, too, that I have that, like, there's so much more he can get that hasn't happened yet. He has been in the NFL for six years. Maybe it's not happy. It's like there's this idea of him, like an American psycho.

There's this idea of Patrick Bateman. You know what I mean? Like some kind of abstraction, abstraction. But it's illusory, this idea of Deonti Johnson that I've had. But he doesn't need to be a number one there. He's replacing Nelson Agil. are. It's definitely an upgrade for Nelson. And he's a rental player. I mean, he's Kauai Leonard. So, I mean, he could be the guy just to get him over the top. It's a really smart move by the Ravens. Oh, they make those? Like I said, they are number one in passing DVOA on the season. The number one offensive league, number one in passing efficiency because the running game helps set up these open receivers. Deonti Johnson's going to see more single covered than he's ever seen in his life. Let's stay at receiver. You mentioned Stefan Diggs out for the season. for Houston, really disappointing to see them lose another piece.

Nico Collins will be back in the mix for them, Jordan, but I think this is a sneaky, big loss. Like, I know people haven't seen him be the old Stefan Diggs, but he leads the team in first downs. He actually was becoming that trusty third down guy out of the slot, almost a majority of snaps in the slot that he looked to. When he needed 10 yards, they went to Stefan Diggs, and now he's not there. Yeah, and that kind of relationship building takes a little bit of time, that kind of trust to chemistry developing between a receiver who was new to this team, this offseason, and a quarterback who, as well as he's played over the first year and a half of his career, you still are trying to find those guys that you can build that trust with, particularly with some

of your other guys missing. I think where this really hurts them is, like you said, he's a first down machine. Okay, well, this is an offense that's really struggling in terms of protection, in terms of creating a safe space around the quarterback in order to run a functional offense to stay ahead of the downs. Their run game is working, but in terms of the past game, it's been up and down and a lot of reasons why you see him leaning on Stefan Diggs

is because you're starting to get that security blanket developed, and that's not a bad thing. That's a very good thing, and it helps you sustain as you figure out how you need to recalibrate and re-scheme your offensive line. In the meantime, now you've got to do that while also missing a significant player on your offense.

Yeah, I think the attacks are going to be the trade market. I mean, there's still, like, who's left? Like, what type of?

Right. Like, what player do they want to go after? Because you see in D. D. Hop, all those guys are gone. But. Kendrick Bourne,

I guess. Ooh, I don't see the Patriots part with the Kedrich Bourne. They really like him. In regards to their season, if they can get a Kendrick born, who can go down field,

I mean, he's different than Stefan in terms of his ability to get downfield. If they get someone like him with Nico Collins coming back. Darius Slayton, certainly not a one-to-one fit, but, when I look at their current roster,

I kind of think Robert Woods is going to play this role that Stefan Diggs was because Tank Dell isn't really built for that. He hasn't been as good this year. They're only 25th as an offense in success rate. Statistically, their passing game is about average in most metrics. So you lose Stefan Diggs. That's a big loss. Yeah.

And Nico Collins, he's on injured reserve until at least week 10. So, I mean, it's, I guess, the timing of this, at least it gives them a little flexibility. an option to potentially get someone. It's late in the game for a receiver, but at least this didn't happen right after the trade deadline. That's a good point. I'll throw out a name,

but not the one you guys expect me to. What about Tutu Atwell? Because now that Cooper Cup and Pooka Nix were back and they really like, you don't underrate him. I know that he hasn't had a lot of opportunities, but he's played every position in this offense that has similar language.

He's familiar with it, but. You just offered him the most foul-tasting meal. He plays bigger than he is. have tanked out. It's just like wine that's been sitting out for our days. He plays bigger than he looks. Listen, I understand.

I get it. But he knows, he knows this offense and the Rams are probably not going to resign him after this year. Puka Nakuwa Cooper Cup being back. Jordan Whittington emerged. That's the direction they're going to go with their offense. They'll probably at least, you know,

have the conversation. I think there's a maximum as much as I like. Steve's face. Wait, Jordan, you hate not two out well for. As much as I like, like body diversity in the NFL.

He's so accomplished. Okay, you blame, you could blame Sean McVeigh a little bit on that one. Okay. He's made some plays. All I know is Eric Yarber is really gilbert's gotten him ready. Eric Yarbrer's got a lot out of his receivers and two to out. Flash and training camp started the season, bang, bang. And then, I mean, NFL offenses are creative.

I think there's only one slot for a guy who's under 160 pounds on each, in each wide region. What's the opposite of what the Cardinals are doing on offense? He's taking that slot shrinking on down. I really feel for Stefan Diggs, too, because he is going to be a free agent. He had a void in his contract. This was always a prove-it type of deal. And look, they might bring him back because, okay, we got to know you.

You were a good fit with C.J. Stroud. His offers aren't going to be as good as they would have been. He had quickly transitioned. I didn't expect this to be that quick, but to a guy who was averaging like 10.6 yards per catch. It was not a guy who was going down the field. catching a very high percentage of balls, was kind of transitioning to that veteran role where he wasn't as big of a playmaker.

And so you hate to see that for him. He will be hitting free and see he'll be 32 years old next year. I hope they end up keeping him. Let's stay in the AFC South and talk about the move that Nick Shook and I saw coming on the Monday night show when Shane Steichen did the thing where he said, we're evaluating, and that means they're making a change.

Anthony Richardson, is being benched. How about that? 22 years old, just a handful of starts this year. Joe Flacco, Steve, will be the starter. Sunday night football. When was the last time the Colts were in Sunday night football? And now it's with Joe Flacko against his Vikings defense.

Fine. Joe Flacco run the offense. Look at this. Two of the top four picks from last year's draft have been benched for Andy Dalton and Joe Flacco. When you think about Bryce Young also hitting the pot. Yeah. So...

That's crazy. But they had to do this. Anthony Richardson, in every game that he finished this year, completed no more than 50% of his passes. That is torture to the other guys on that team. That's why you have to make a move like this because when Joe Flacco played, the offense was

functional. They're going with the deep ball. He's on schedule. He's not tapping out because he's tired. That move right there is completely inexcusable. When you've got six guys up front fighting their hearts out to protect you to save your life and you tap out because you're tired, nobody wants to hear that.

But just go back to the fact that he's not ready. Everything we heard about him coming out on the draft is he's just not ready. It's going to take him some time. So good on Shane Seichen. Pull him back right now because he is in a tailspin. Yeah. And it's not good. And I'm sure the other dudes on that

team after him tapping out are like, uh-uh. Joe Flacco ain't tapping. That's what Stephen Holder. Probably can't even feel his body. No, that's true. Stephen Holder was tweeting all sorts of stuff about this decision. What the team had explained to him, people from the team, that they want

Richardson to take a step back, that break. They're giving him, they're not quitting on him right now. But yeah, he doesn't have the experience. He's so raw. And you can see that just from the fact that he did tap out. They can't get the locker room behind him. How are you going to rally a bunch of guys after you do that? And I want to make the point to when you're playing in season, if you're a young quarterback and you still need a ton of developmental work, you don't get that during practices. What your reps are during practices are game planning, our offensive installation.

They are not conditioning reps. In fact, you're probably deloading much more than you are actually getting into shape. You're doing things because of the injury that he previously is saying. You're protecting the injury. You're prehabing. You're post rehabbing.

You're doing all of these things. You're not developing as an efficient thrower. Now, I do want to point out, I think this is the right move. And I think that it gives him time to actually work with this programming that the cults are all bought into, the same programming,

and biomechanics experts and private coaches that you can usually only work with during the off-season that Josh Allen worked with when he was learning how to become a more efficient thrower and to fine-tune some of his mechanics. That is the work that Anthony Richardson needs to do in spades right now. He doesn't need to be sitting there taking any of that time to do things that are not actually getting him better

as a thrower of the football. And it's not anyone's fault that they're not. It's just you have to go play football and plan games and try to win games and beat opponents. And Joe Flago can do that. Anthony Richardson does need this time. And I do know the Colts are invested in those practices and in those methods.

So I think that this is a good thing for Anthony Richardson if we're looking at the five-year plan. And they would be in the playoffs right now. I mean, that's the thing. You look at their record in the AFC, AFC, they're 500, right? So that's the thing. If they were terrible, that's one thing.

They're like, we're trying to win ball games. We are right there just like we were last year. when you look at the rest of the AFC, the AFC East, there's probably only to be one team now making the playoffs in that division. That's not what anybody thought. So they're trying to win, they've got a veteran-laden roster,

guys like DeForest Buckner, guys like that. Let's get to the playoffs and take a shot. Because I think the AFC is far more wide open than we thought. And Joe Flacco seems like the perfect quarterback to learn from if that is even a thing in the NFL. But Joe Flacco is one of the nicest guys in the world. And he's not thinking that he's going to be like leading the future of,

of this franchise or anything. So I would imagine that that environment is a healthy one in the quarterback room. They should have just kept going with Flacco at the time instead of going back to Richardson. That's where it got a little messy. I think Richardson's, in one of his biggest strengths, there is intangibles in terms of his leadership. And I know he tapped out for that play. But I think he'll be able to handle this. I think they love him there in the building as a person.

But I've never seen a young quarterback more in his own head. So as much as it could be about mechanics too. and he didn't have the off-season because he was recovering from the shoulder injury, you could almost see him overthinking out there. Like, he... This is what happens when you draft potential. He was playing tight.

Caleb Williams, I thought, and that game Sunday, like you could see him coming off the by, playing a little tight, but Richardson especially just felt like he was not playing loose. Now, their numbers as a running team when he's on the field versus when Flacco's on the field are quite different.

They're much better. Now, they didn't have Jonathan Taylor for those Flacco starts. That's a huge part of it. But you have to have, to change the offense a little bit and you're going to lose a little bit in the running. I do look at the schedule. I expect Anthony Richardson starts again this year, probably by December. They're not going to keep starting Joe Flacco. And Joe Flacko's older. You know, is he going to last to the end of this season? 39. You don't know.

Here's the schedule. My point is he has to win. Here are their games before the buy. At Minnesota, home for bills, at the Jets, home for lions, at the Patriots. Now, if Joe Flacco cannot beat one of the three best teams in the league are the Vikings, the Bills, and the Lions. Let's say they lose all three of those. And let's say they beat the Jets. They're five and seven. We're hit in December.

They probably go back to Richard. You know what I mean? I'm not counting the cold top. I am not counting them out with Flacco. I am not counting them out. You know what? I was listening to Chris Long's podcast, Greenlight. And Joe Flacco was telling this story about how when he gets out of bed in the mornings,

he can't stand up straight all the, way until he finally makes it, you know, several feet down the hall to the bathroom. And finally. Oh, I'm saying, man. And finally. Well, me. Me either. Yeah, right. So, okay, let's play for five straight weeks as a starter. Oh, no. Who knows? That's all I'm saying. I guarantee you. I just worry about him. That's all. I guarantee you Matthew Stafford probably feels the same way. That is probably crawling at this point. This is not, that is not a unique situation.

No. It is a, it is a great. it is a great story a great like i want joe flacco to do it let's get that win against the vikings i'll be rooting for the colts that would be fun and you mentioned it's it's not a developmental league and richardson needs it he's only started 22 games since high school i like what colin said is this is what happens when you draft potential there's nothing wrong with drafting potential like she alluded to but you have to also have the infrastructure and the patience to manage that potential and to develop and blossom that potential in a league that is not built for that at all.

You have to know your locker room. I mean, that's more than you have to know your locker room. Yeah. Is if they're going to be patient enough. Like when Trey Lance went to the 49ers, that actually was a very good situation for him. They had everything built in for him a great culture. He just couldn't play, right? That's what it came down to.

But if you put Bryce Young with the Carolina Panthers and he's playing with, you know, a bunch of traffic cones. I mean, no, not disparaging, but yes, at the same time, that's not helping this guy. That's not having a plan for it. people are like what about his confidence and there's reports he was devastated but they're not worried about like of course he's going to be devastated i've heard starting quarterback say like this is the worst thing that can happen you sometimes you come back you feel a little freed up from it because the worst thing has already happened and yes this is a guy who's two and a half years younger than

bo nix a year and a half younger than jaden daniel certainly hasn't played nearly as much football as him so there's a lot of time here oh man i just wonder how that messes with his head as someone who is so young and inexperienced he'll be fine he'll be strong he'll be fine i can feel If he's going to have a good career, he'll still have it. I don't think this is going to make or break Anthony Richardson. Look, we saw Drew Brees get benched for Doug Flutie back in the day. He had a pretty good career. Let's go.

You know, the kids have no idea you were talking about. Doug Flutie or Drew Brees. I'm just saying people forget this whole chargers up and down where people, his coach hated him in San Diego. I was trying to think of it. How many different. Red Rosenthal. Not many like highly touted top quarterbacks have been.

though and went on to have a good career. It actually isn't that many. Alex Smith is another one that has. Drew Breeze is at the top of the list, at least for the last 20 years. All right, we're going to talk about some players who are at no risk of being benched in just a second. Yes, we're going to quarterback out.

Let's go. Hey, Hey, Hey, this is Matt Jones. And this is NFL cover zero. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that.

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What's up, everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from scouting reports and player development to team-building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning. rosters. Every week we study the tape, talk to decision makers, and share the insights you won't find anywhere else. It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots, from college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow. We break down the draft, analyze matchups, and evaluate

how teams put it all together on game day. Plus, we dig in the coaching strategies, roster construction, and the trends that shape the league year after year. Whether you're a die-hard fan or just love understanding the game on a deeper level, we give you the full. picture. If you want insight that goes beyond the box score, this podcast is for you. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Twelve of the NFL's finest quarterbacks have left the comfort of their stadiums and luxury suites for the adventure of a lifetime. These gridiron heroes are used to leading their teams on the field, but can they out

play, outlast, and outthrow each other in the ultimate survival challenge. You leave everything you have with the guy beside you. We find a way to win the game no matter what. Let's go, baby. The stakes are high, and the competition is fierce. Only one can claim the title of the ultimate survivor.

Who will rise to the top and who will be sacked? They wrote me off. I ain't right back, though. That's the problem. I ain't right back. Let's go. This is Quarterback Island. Let's go. Feel it. That's my favorite part. of it, this total joy on Jordan Rodriguez face.

Thank you, Randy Chavez, for voicing that. That was great. Thank you to Gino Smith, one of the current 12 members of quarterback Island. If you haven't been with us on the first two additions, we're doing this once a month, every four weeks during the season, deciding who are the quarterbacks that define the position right now. Who is playing the best in 2024? You can interpret it however you wish. There are 12 members, as decided by us, the panelists, that are currently on quarterback island. So just to go over it, let's talk about them.

And I'm going to go alphabetical order. So, you know, we're not playing any favorites. Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Jaden Daniels, Sam Darnold got put onto the island. I got a problem with it already. No. You heard the pause. Good catch, Colleen. Jared Goff also got put onto the island last time around.

Lamar Jackson. Patrick Mahomes, Dak Prescott. Brock Purdy, they've been there all along. Gino Smith got onto the island the last time around. Matthew Stafford and CJ Stroud. So that's after week four. Here we are. After week eight.

Wow, that flew by. Yeah. Did it though? I do measure time in quarterback island. But that feels so long ago, honestly. Yes and no. You hadn't even lived in the Kempton Fitzroy in London for a couple weeks by then. I hadn't been on the back of a, of a.

motorcycle over in London either. Greg. That's true. What? Penel. You know, just think, I do feel like these seasons, like people say they move fast. I get it at the end you blink and it feels like it's over, but it's like that feels like a million years ago. Oh, when you're in it, it is a different method of time somehow.

Like we're in some other simulation while we're in it. But then after, it's like, oh my gosh, that was quick. Maybe we are in Clark Island. Oh, my God. It's like lost time has different. Don't give away potential surprise. season finale. Oh, man.

And yes, we do have some twists. One I will introduce to you right now. There is going to be a function of the show. Greg, by the way, is the producer of this, and he's also a contestant, a judge. He's kind of an every... The power structure is...

I also have points on the back end. He's also trying to play Spengali. I'm selling this to syndication. It's all happening. Okay. Tell us about this. twist. Okay, the rip. There is a new part of the show called the riptide. And for the entire rest of the season. Excuse me. Yes. Oh, my God. Yeah, baby. Steve,

Steve crawling to the bathroom. Thanks, dad. That's a granddad joke. That's good. You're absolutely right. Matthew Stafford. We might need to work on the riptide one now because every time I hear it, that's what I'm going to think about. The riptide. Oh, all right. No. Oh, no. The hot tub in Austin Powers. Each one of you, for the rest of this entire season, through the playoffs, and we will have a version of it in the playoffs, you can use one riptide. Just once the whole rest of the season. That means there is someone on the island that you are taking off,

and there can be no argument to it. So the whole show could have just put them onto the island, and you could take them back off. Just one single player, and you can use it this show, if you want. You can use it next time around. you can use it at the end of the season. You can hold that card in your pocket. You have a riptide card.

Wow. Okay. We're dunking somebody in the shallow water. Just so that, like, if you feel that strong and it could be strategic, too. You could hold that over someone, you know, if you want to get what you want. There's no vote.

Wow. So we just talked about the full screen. I mean, we just talked about the quarterback island, the members that are there now. Uh-huh. I think let's just start by introducing, who I would suggest, just be locks to stay on the island.

Otherwise, we're not going to vote until the very end this time. All right, what you got? Sounds good. Why are you directing it at me? Because I forgot to talk about this with you before the show. That's all.

Okay. Fine. That we're not voting until the very end. I would suggest there are six, probably seven locks to remain on the island that don't need a lot of discussion.

We can talk about them just as players, but that they remain on the island. Of the 12 current members that are on the island right now, here is who I suggest remain without a vote. Patrick Mahomes,

Josh Allen, MVP candidate. Lamar Jackson. MVP candidate. Joe Burrow. Playing well. Jaden Daniels has done absolutely nothing to take him off the island. MVP candidate.

CJ Stroud. And I would say since we put Jared Goff on the island last time around, it's hard to say the way that he's played since week five. There'd be any reason. Yeah, no disagreement. possibly take them off. Are there any disagreements, even a C.J. Stroud? No. No. Okay. Any thoughts on just any of those guys, you want to just get out there while we're here?

Found something interesting. You know, the difficult thing with what's going on with C.J. Stroud right now is obviously his offensive line, particularly in past protection. Next-gen stats found his pressure rate to be on 41% of his dropbacks, which is the most of any, like, if we're going to just like loosely frame, like a quality starter. in the NFL right now. But it's interesting when you compare that to the pressure that Jared Goff is actually getting. He's at now a 34.4% pressure rate. Some of that's based on opponent recently and what they were trying to do to him. He's right behind like a Gino Smith, for example, which we know his offensive line has also been atrocious.

And so I'm basically arguing, you know, that these are very two very different teams and what the Houston Texans are, what's happening to them, right now and what we know, the lions, how we know them to be built. C.J. Stroud is making the most out of what is happening with him. But actually pressure is increasing on Jared Goff? Because people are actually trying to see, oh, is this the same Jared Goff, who could get frazzled, who would start playing worse once the pressure increased. But he currently leads all qualified quarterbacks in yards per attempt,

completion percentage, CPOE, so completion percentage over expected, and pass a rating when under pressure this season. They have the best offensive line, the Lions, right? Yeah, but they're designing pressure. Opponents are designing pressure against them differently now. So he is getting pressure. That left side hasn't been great to be on. But he's managing pressure differently and just go back and watch Lions, Vikings.

I'm kind of going to throw out whatever last week was. It was just fun. It was like an absurd box score. It was hilarious. But when you go back. No yards. He threw three touchdowns and 15 past him. But when we're actually going back, like I don't really want to hear the Jared

Gough pressure argument at this moment right now. from not at this table, of course not, but externally, because he's actually managing things better when you go back and watch that game and watch him orchestrate the line the way that he did. That was really savvy, smart quarterback play, and it was a veteran quarterback play where he's manipulating the pressure,

not the other way around. That's the difference in really sealing him on this island right now for me, why I don't think there's an argument, even if there was, I just don't think there should be. And similar to C.J. Stroud, the way he's playing, of all the pressure. It's interesting. These are two very different situations and

marginally, like a little bit of a different pressure rate here, but they're both managing it to the best of their abilities, which I think has actually increased in terms of what they're able to do year over year. He stays on the island. His family can come as well. Like, he gets perks. But basically what Jordan's saying is the nerve of Ben Johnson, taking the ball out of golf hands and letting David Montgomery throw up. Like, what the hell? God does have some funky numbers. He is just having like a bizarre season that he's like 23rd in QBR and not in the top 20 in PFF. It is an eyeball test of like you watch C.J. Stroud.

And to me, it's just so clear that he is one of the, I would say, eight best quarterbacks in the league. So I don't need to see the numbers. Goff is having an incredible season. But the numbers are a little bit all over the place. Part of that is situational that he's in such advantageous situations. There's a stack called EPA Plus where it's like based on the situation of the play, did you have a positive of what's expected or not?

And he's averaging that. Part of that is because the lions are always in great situations and Goff is taking advantage of it. No argument. He's on it. Just an interesting finding. Here's one. I mean, this is just to be a jerk. Like, because Patrick Mahomes is like the dude, right?

But he's got the lopsided touchdown interceptionary. Uh-huh. Oh, yeah. He's having, eight touchdowns is nine picks. It is crazy. Right? If we're talking about, but now, here's the thing, though, with two minutes, with a minute 30 left in the game,

do you want anybody else in asylum but him? No. No. So, and this is probably going to flip, the more they get de-high. and stuff in it. But that, to me, when you're looking at the guys who are locks, if you just go statistically, like, he's a little upside down.

He's vacillated, too, between, like, the 15 to 17 EPA per dropback range to, like, as high as eight. And the Chiefs are 7 and 0, but their offense is the second lowest EPA per game since 2018. And their first lowest was in 2023 by a significant margin. So caveat, caveat, caveat, what did they do in 2023 anyway, despite having that? But yeah, to your point, it is really, speaking of lopsided stats and lopsided numbers, he is certainly a descriptor of that.

Yeah, you're not seeing the wow plays. They're getting ready to take off. You're not seeing the wild plays, but you're seeing the, this is why he does well in PFF, for instance, versus other stuff, is because he's just getting little gains, little pluses, every play. He's making smart decision. You're not seeing the big time throws. It is crazy, though, to be in week eight, and he has nine interceptions, eight times.

I'm not trying to be locked into that stat more than others. All right, let's just throw the rest of the. the guys in one big bucket. Okay. And by that, I mean, the players that we've decided are not locks that were on the island. Okay. And that's Dak Prescott.

It's Sam Darnold. It's Brock Purdy, the Juno Smith and Matthew Stafford. But what I'm going to say is that we're going to discuss all these guys and the players who could potentially be added all as one. And we're not going to vote until the very end. So we'll- You're looking at me again. We'll mix it up.

I'm just trying not to like. Just look over here. Jordan, Jordan's cord that's closer to him is actually a shield. Who do we want to talk about first? I want to talk about someone not on the list first. Let's talk Kirk Cousins. Kirk O'Chane. Let's just talk a little.

One of my two, Jordan. Oh, that's, I figured, I thought. Okay, also, you guys are what, making alliances ahead of time? Oh, look who's paranoid. Look who's paranoid. Yeah, I mean. One of my two. Okay, so what does that mean?

Two guys that you think should be gone. Greg, you were present for this. You were present for this conversation. I'm not voting until the end. What I'm saying, and I'm lobbying for Kirko Chains. Okay, because, you know, we come to your trap, we take your trap. And that's exactly what he's going to do to somebody on this island. Kirkgo Chains is lit up the bucks twice in the past three weeks.

Lit them up. But now he's got Kyle pitch rolling. He's got this offense functioning like they thought of. He stands in the pocket. He doesn't move. But you look at Kirkos numbers. He's a third ranked quarterback. He's got 2,100 yards, 7.8 yards.

attempt. That's one of the best in the NFL. He's got the two to one touchdown to interception ratio, but the last few weeks, the swag surfer, he's a surfer. He can surf onto the island. Oh my God. Kirk-O-Change has been doing it. I'm sorry. I mean, his mobility is about the size of a surfboard, though. We are looking at Kirk's scramble. If you're watching on YouTube, you could measure it. You know how next-gen stats usually does like the 22 miles an hour. They actually did that with like a sundial with Kurtz's screen. They just put it upside down and that's how it was a special next thing. It's been really good against the bucks and then

with who on defense? Exactly. Eight touchdowns against the bucks. He's killing them. Six touchdowns against everybody else. Ooh, good stat. I love that. If he was only playing the bucks, he'd definitely be on it. Now, some of the overall stats like he is sixth in completion percentage over expected. He's like he's That's his bag. He's on the island and all the, he's advanced stats where he's about 8 to 10th or 11th. And there is something that I consider

when it comes to quarterback island, which is who is defining the position right now? There he is. Who matters? It's an intangible. There he is. And everyone can be different. It's a combination of who's playing the best,

but who's it this season? And I got to say, stationary Kirk Cousins, he's it. I mean, you can't tell the story of this season without Kirk Cousins. He is a huge figure. Maybe it's all these prime time games. or whatever. But he's given us a lot of entertainment. He's in the mix. To have Luda rooting for Kirk Cousins? He's making it happen. So I'm not sure how I feel.

That's what I say. I don't have a plan. I'm not sure how I feel, but he deserves strong consideration. Yeah, I go back and forth because, again, he is such a statue and they clearly have had to manipulate a bunch of what they do on offense in order to help him. That sort of makes it more impressive in a weird way that he's still that productive. He's like Aaron Rogers, except actually good. I don't know because they're actually, they're just asking him to get, you know, some of these quick passes and particularly the efficient passes in, and he's

made some tough throws. Don't get me wrong, but he's just like get the ball into the hands of the playmakers. This is the same argument that you potentially were knocking Brock Purdy for at the very beginning of this entire. What in the name of Matthew Stafford and Jack Prescott? No, no, I'm not arguing. I'm not arguing against them. No, no. Trust me on that.

I'm just, I'm bringing up a point. Like, it's just here's where I would pushbackers. with you on that is if you made a reel of all these quarterbacks 10 best throws of the year, Kirk Cousins would be near the top of the best. He has spun it this year. Like, at a really impressive level that reminded me, like, this guy is a natural throw of the football because it's all he has left.

So it's not all checkdowns. Like, let's suck Baker then, because actually I kind of put these two guys next to each other a little bit. Okay. Because they've just played each other a couple times. The numbers are crazy. He's leading the league in terms. Touchdown passes.

I mean, it's not even close. My God, 21. Yeah. And they're actually also first in passing success rate. Now, I thought last week was instructive. Everything is 10 yards or less. And when it's over that, it gets nasty. And some of the advanced numbers, 16th in QBR, 19th in completion percentage over expected,

says maybe it's more about the offense and the receivers than it is about Baker. What do you think about Baker? I mean, I think Baker just based on his numbers, he has a shot to be on there. But I don't know who would you. take off? Stafford? We're going to get there. We're going through all of them. But what you just said, it made me more about the offense negative. If you watch Bucks games, Baker has driven a lot of this offense. He pushes the ball. He has been fantastic. He's got that moxie. He's got that moxie, but I mean, I'm just saying with what they've tried to do, whether it be quick game, whether he's pushing

the ball down the field, he is the reason why their offense is working. Now, four weeks from now. I disagree. I think it's the offensive line and the receivers and the they don't have any. No. I, I, I, I totally begged a deal for watching to play. Not now, but they've had. But that's what I'm saying. Four weeks or now, Baker's not going to be on. I kind of feel like,

we're talking about in the moment. Like he's going to be a past tense guy in a couple weeks just because of the lack of weapons. Yeah. And I agree with you on that, Steve. And that's why I would put, if you have Kirk and Baker clustered together, that's why I would ascend put Kirk.

Kirk ahead. It's like, it's like a star sign or a horoscope. It's Kirk Cousins ascending, you know, and Baker Mayfield descending or someone. moon is in Sagittarius or whatever. And so, I don't know.

And so, but I do think that's, that's what I, one of the things that I factored in, not necessarily projecting for the sake of projecting, but also who is catching fire at the right time, who is continuing to, you know, make these plays. Kirk Cousins, you cannot argue with that. Baker, I'm more skeptical now than I would have been two and a half weeks ago. To be fair, I don't want to be a victim of just last week. Kirk had a rough game again, Seattle. That's just two weeks ago.

But the fact that Baker and Kirk went against each other twice. Yeah. Against the bucks and then everyone else. The fact that they went against each other though twice and Kirk looked better in both of those matchups weren't throwing like head scratching interceptions in both of those matches. Rather, Baker didn't the first time around. He did last time and he's had two straight ways of that.

That to me gives an edge. Let's talk about one of the guys that's on the list. I'm going to throw one out real quick because this would really change the dynamic of the island in general. if we put Aaron Rogers on the island, the psychedelics that would happen on this island would be insane. Imagine the possibilities.

You have all of these quarterbacks that should be on quarterback island and then you bring in Aaron Rogers. It would be good for ratings. Exactly. Well, you're the producer. This is about the time you throw in a giant house twist, right?

You drop some villain into the house. I love a house twist. Everyone, that's the rip tide. You guys could use it today if you wanted. That would be amazing if Rogers, was on there and everyone was mad. The Jets as a riptide. He's so...

He's a shaman for everyone. I don't think he's been as bad as people want to make him out to be. That said, he's either amazing or looking like he's 46 years old. And there's no in between. And there's too much of the 46 year. I'll tell you how I'm voting right now. I'm not putting him on the island just because... Well, this is not a serious.

No, no, right, for sure. But just when you... For the sake of the conversation. You know, I think, I just do think that, like, when you go out and get a quarterback like that, you expect them to consistently play at a level that elevates the entire roster, right? And that is the message that you're sending. And if you are a little on the streakier side, if you also can't move, but you're not necessarily also elevating everybody else around you,

whether it's from a personal, like, I mean, there's just been chaos over the last couple of weeks. We have the TNF preview coming up, too. So, like, I mean, there's a ton to talk about with the Jets. Good, good point. Rogers, we'll bring him up for a vote later, but I think he's facing it up. I'm going to put the Colleen balloon out here. If we're going that way, James would be the most fun person. Oh, my God.

Yes. James is quoting Eminem. I can't I, I just. With a straight face. Yes. Yeah, who knows? Maybe he'll be here in four weeks. We'll be talking about Russell Wilson and James Winston.

And Joe Flackham. That would be an odd pair. What year is it? Let's talk. Let's talk Stafford. one of the guys that was on it right now coming off his best game of the season. If he didn't have that performance on Thursday night, he would have a tough case. But you get your receivers back and you play better.

And we thought he was worthy in the first four weeks. My only issue with him, because remember, I fought against him, had nothing to do with him necessarily. It's just the other guys I thought were playing better with him. That's the only argument I would make right now. You talk about the ascending players. I mean, we saw Matt Stafford do that Thursday night. He looked like. Oh, yeah. He got a care package on the island with Puka and Cooper.

Right. Is it, is it, is it, is it, is it, is it, what you've done this season? And it can't just be TNF. That's, that's the argument. That's just like the 100 best players of 2025. We're not talking about past. We're talking about what's going to happen. It's a projection or past. So, you know, this is tough because there are, there are three dudes who I think could really push to get on. That's why I think Matthew Stafford is still on the teeter totter, the season. Okay. It's going to be close. And yet, he does not fare well. PFF's overall grades, which in theory should remove

like the surroundings, but it doesn't really. It's impossible to do it. He's 11th in QBR, 25th in completion percentage, over-expected. So we'll see. How about Darnold? He got on last time around. He's only played three games since. One was a win where he played terribly against the Jets in London.

London. Where he really dragged them down, I thought. He had a couple of plays. And then there was a couple of losses where I don't think he was. the problem. No. But he wasn't exactly necessarily the solution. Maybe not quarterback island worthy.

What? What do you think? I feel like he should still be on quarterback island. And that he's being judged on his name and not his play, as Chris Wessling would say. When you look at his first four games, Darnold obviously completed 68% of his passes, league high, 11 touchdowns, three interceptions. He was throwing the ball downfield, an average depth of target of 8.8. but obviously then came the horror show in London against the Jets.

No question. That was the worst game for him of the season. But the last two weeks, he's completing 76% of his passes, 499 yards, three touchdowns, one interception. He's getting hit a ton and he's still, they're winning, they're winning. What are your eyes tell you though? Like to me, it's like if you're going to be on the island, you've got to be a difference maker. Is he a difference maker? Is he going up and down with what his surroundings are?

Numbers wise, 16th in PFF. 20th over the last four weeks, 13th in QBR. He also doesn't throw the ball that much, which kind of matters to me, like guys who maybe have to do more, 12th in success rate, 15th in EPA. So what that would say is like he's sort of on the borderline, despite a good situation, even statistically. You're reaching the part of the Sam Darnold year. You've seen this sometimes with quarterbacks in the past,

and there's no reason to think that he can't progress forward after sort of hitting a neutral zone a little bit with what he's doing right now. But you're reaching the part of the, bad but it's also not elevating it's being elevated by and that's fine especially in the middle portion of the year when it's the weather starts to change when you start to figure things out after a couple of bad losses losing his left tackle when we talk about ascending or descending losing the left tackle is going to be really not great yeah and so but i think you're starting to see this the version of sam darnall and you expected this to be coming this is

not a bad thing where kevin oak the kevin o'connell factor and leaning on the offensive coordinator and leaning on, excuse me, on the play caller and the game designer to, and the playmakers around to now lift the quarterback just a little bit higher where he's not, like I said, not bad, but just sort of in that neutrality point, that sort of middle, median zone where you're not necessarily the one elevating the team around you. I like that argument because some of the other people I think should be on, put him at risk. Yeah, that's the thing. I mean, I really, I really like that point.

And sometimes the stats, I think Sam Darnold's passing, like basic passing sets, always look little better. It's kind of like Russell Wilson, because the things he struggles with are he fumbles the ball. He takes too many sacks, like that safety that should have been called a penalty. He should have not been holding the ball so long on that play. That was bad quarterback. And he's just sitting back there. That 20-yard sack that he took earlier in that Thursday wasn't good. Those don't show up in the box scores necessarily. How about Jalen Hertz? Your guy in Philly coming off one of his best games. That was the best game. Of his career? Certainly. It was great. Season. Throwing over the middle of the

field and on design runs, like the two things that you get on him for, and he played great. They're playing better overall. I mean, I think he deserves some tough conversations. He had his highest pass rating, three rushing touchdowns. He has five rushing touchdowns in the last two games. The Eagles have won three straight games, and he's dealing with Nick Siriani on top of all of this. So I think that he deserves a ticket to the island. Just question for the group.

Question for the group, how many games per sample size are in our quarterback island? selections. Oh, the whole season. But, but, and when we're talking about how we section out splits, things like that, it's, we go four games at a time, right? So that's, it's a hypothetical question. Well, since last time, I'm personally taking the whole season into account, but kind of recapping what's happened since last time and added to the mix. Right. Well, that was a hypothetical, but I'm using it to say over the last three games, not just the last game, but the last three games have been some of the best Jalen Hertz football that we've seen in a while. He's third, an EPA per dropback over the last three games.

And he has nine touchdowns. He's 42 for 59 with no interceptions, 71.2% completion percentage, and they have their run game going. And he's managing some of the things that are necessary for them to have this balanced offense, again, despite some of the circumstances that they went through earlier. So I would say, like, it's not just the one game that's spiking his case. I think it's three games out of the last several, because I think the two previous were not good Jalen Hertz. They were good statistically, but he's not seeing the field. And they are transitioning

to a run first type of team. He was seeing it a little bit slower. Right. Not like open receivers and not taking it. And like I have a feeling he didn't grade that well within the team in those couple games. So I have a tough one with him because I like him a lot. He's coming off a good game. But I also see that he's maybe not the most important person in their offense. I'm with you on that. And that's that's why I'm like, he was right. You know, and having A.J. Brown back makes hell of a difference, right? We're seeing these quarterbacks getting their number one receivers back, Matthew Stafford, and playing well.

But I just, coming off a great game, but the other two, people in Philadelphia were still ready to run him out the door. No, not him. They were not loving it. I mean, it was a lot of Siriani. It was a lot of the coaching staff. It was a lot of the Kellyn Moore and the play calling. I am happy for Nick Siriani to have, this is it.

This is the first week of the entire season where he can be like, yeah that's not the main story there hasn't been one no probably not he's like like no one's gonna make fun of my haircut anymore all right let's talk um he's he's on the fence if we pull enough people off he he gets on okay i've got some other people okay dack is a guy we're not voting on right now but i don't think i'm out of pocket to say of all the guys who have been on he's vulnerable he's i think he's very vulnerable okay yeah explain anyone want to explain why you think he's vulnerable. I mean...

What are they got going on? I mean, he hasn't been horrible, but we talk about difference makers. Yeah. Again, not all that's on him. He's got C.D. Lamb and... And, and... Exactly.

And the numbers... So, I don't think he's playing well. I think you can... No. He has one game with a 100-passer rating and the rest are sub-92. The numbers are brutal for him. 26th PFF, 23rd QBR,

28th EPA per play. 29th success rate like not even in the zip code now I think he's better than all that but I do believe in Dak Prescott enough that he should be better than this I think it's the worst he's played as a pro

really I guess a couple years ago he had some interceptions but I think he was playing well and having some bad luck and making some mistakes this time it's just it's not I would sort of add to that point to being like well you can ask your quarterback if you are an above average to elite level quarterback somewhere in that window or that that

general tier, you can ask your quarterback to do a lot of things for you. And they did. And you saw he made the most of the situation earlier in the season. It's part of the reason why he's on the island in the first place. But if you take away this guy's defense and you continue to stall out and just like have a disgusting run game, it just doesn't move the ball. If you're not moving the ball, if you have no other weapons. Yeah. If you have no other weapons and then the guy you do have it's every week or so. It just depends. Is he a match for the scheme? What's going on with the scheme? If you have the owner on the radio calling out bad scheme and bad plays, if you have different things, you're taking so much away from this guy. You're asking him to be a superhero.

And at some point, you just hit a wall. You're probably, you know what? I wouldn't be surprised. They're different quarterbacks, but I, very different quarterbacks, but I wouldn't be surprised if at some point across the end of the stretch, you also see Joe Burrow hit some kind of a wall. You're asking too much. Just because these guys can do these things doesn't mean they have to do or should have to do all of it. And you have to get him some help, wherever, on which side of the ball, pick one. Well, I think he's going to need a realtor soon. He's got a, you know, a burgeoning family. And I don't, I think he's renting on quarterback island right now. It's an Airbnb maybe. Let's talk about, someone we're not going to go deep into, I just want

to give Trevor Lawrence some pop of having a nice couple weeks. If he plays like he played the last three weeks for four more weeks in a row, we'll be talking about more in-depth next time on quarterback. Yeah, Brian Thomas is legit now. He's not a risk. He's not getting on the island, though, now. How about Kyler? Oh, okay.

I was banging for him last time, right? What's he done? They're playing better football. We're talking about ascending players. We're talking about quarterbacks uplifting everybody else. Trey McBride, everyone's jock riding him. Yes, I'm using that expression right now. Everybody's fantasy guy.

Oh, gee, who's throwing him the ball? Who's making things happen with him? Marvin Harrison, getting some things done. Kyler Murray, we can sit here and argue about all that. When you look how Kyler Murray has been playing, running the ball, throwing the ball, getting this offense going,

guess who's in the hunt now for the NFC West? They're a top 10 offense now. Yes. Tyler. Greg and I were texting about this because we believed in the Cardinals offense as much as they've disappointed us and let us down

and made some questionable decisions and play calls at certain points when Kyler, to your point, is involved in the run surface, not necessarily designed runs, but when he gets involved in the run surface, this is a totally different team.

Trey McBride being back, James Connor, some people believed in him the entire time. It just, he, when you have all of these elements mixed in and the play caller is making efficient sound decisions and personnel decisions in terms of the formations and the groupings.

This is, again, a futuristic offense in 2024. Yeah. And there would be a burgeoning gaming community on. Yay. Just add some psychedelics in there. Yeah. Video games and mushrooms. Colleen's in.

This island sounds amazing. I love that. He's seventh in PFF. His, like, advanced passing metrics are all about borderline of what would be on the island. somewhere, you know, depending on what you like, 9th to 14th, something like that. But then when you add in the rushing value, you add not a lot of negative plays,

not like fumbles or interception. I think the biggest negative to him is, I think sometimes their coordinator is like, can you just run the play that we call? And that has some fluctuations. Like if we had this conversation a couple weeks ago, it'd be there's fluctuations, but we're coming off a game where he was spinning it against Miami.

And those look like the plays that were called, really nice throws. There is something about the whole, like, defining the season to me. The fact that he's called his shot on about three or four long touchdowns, 40 yards out. That gives him a little extra juice. Purdy hasn't had a lot of juice this year.

And maybe we didn't even, maybe he could have been in the safe category, but it's been a little rickety over the last four weeks. So I just thought we'd throw him out here. But a very solid season out of Brock. I've got Brock. I've got Brock's back here. he's the way he's stuff he's done with with Jennings and and the in and out cast receivers and he's still he's still getting after we saw him run the ball you added what'd you call it the run surface value Jordan I look this dude this dude we could put him on any of these teams that there are other guys in the quarterback island are doing and he's playing ball I don't think and you saw this you know when he fell on the on the potential I mean he got hit so hard he should have fumbled that ball on Sunday night and was it Monday night Sunday night Sunday night Sunday

it against the Cowboys. Space and time has no meaning anymore, especially on the island. No, but he, like the, they already have made enough, you know, whether it is,

and my colleague Marcus Thompson wrote about this over the athletic, great, legendary columnist. And he, he's commenting on the fact that, you know, Brock Purdy hasn't played at an elite level the entire time.

He's made the most of a complete, opposite ethos that this team had to play with, whether it was the beginning of the year. Then he had some rough spots, but wasn't necessarily like a detriment or pulling back the team. The chief's game was the one negative. Really, that's the only big blemage.

The mistakes and the self-inflicted wounds are coming from elsewhere in the house for the most part, right? And so even when there was an opportunity for him to really look lost when letting go that football on the sack, he didn't, he held on. And so what Marcus was saying is he's sort of embodying

how they have to just like gut through some of this stuff and mitigate the huge issues until they can get this thing clicking back. And he's been the right quarterback for them to do it. Here's an interesting question. You know, because, you know, Brock Purdy's going to be the next step to make the $60 million a year. Do you think that's a wise investment? Because I do.

Because to your point, Jordan, he's not the guy who's going to pull you back. Now, is you necessarily going to be the guy to lead you to the promised land? Yes. Things have to work well around him. I think John Lynch would do that because after what he went through before with Tray Lance. I'm just kind of like, to me, that's a safe. is an investment as you can make and give him Brock Purdy that money.

I think so, too, and... And he's young. It's tricky, but he already took him to the promised land as far as I'm concerned. He was in spots where he needed touchdown after touchdown after touchdown after touchdown in the NFC championship. Got it. Needed scores on drive after drive after drive in the Super Bowl. Got it. His defense

let him down? Like, it is what it is. Otherwise, he'd be the Super Bowl champion. He did pull things off the table against the Chiefs. One of the worst games I've ever seen Brock Perry played. But there's been eight games here in the season. And I agree with everything else that we're being said. So fifth in PFF, actually higher this year in PFF than he was a year ago, ninth in QBR.

Overall, the numbers are pretty good for Brock. And you didn't have him as a lock. Maybe he should have been a lock. The disrespect. I just figured we should talk about him. Jordan Love is an almost impossible guy to talk about right now because... Love is impossible. You're right.

People... Who wants to go on vacation with a groin injury? Right? Nobody. Defeats the whole purpose. Somehow our two sentences connected with each other completely on accident. Oh, God. I was so ready.

Greg's ready to be done with us. No, I love it. You know, I love groin injuries. I clearly have never had one because I've had one. No. Not good, Greg. So I was ready to make a case for love, you know, to make a case for him to be on the island. Then he got hurt halfway through the game.

And it's this other just. between because he might end up playing this week and it ends up being fine, but already he had a weird case for quarterback Island because I think you're having to look past some of the numbers to me and trust what your eyes are, which is that he is the most confident quarterback in the league. He is making some of the toughest throws week after week after week. And style points count a little bit for me. Yeah, he's wearing a head necklace. It's not like the numbers are bad. He's got 15 touchdowns and he missed a couple games and he's completing past down the field, like, he's very aesthetically pleasing to watch.

But how good of a coach is Matt LaFlewer in that offensive staff? Because Malik Willis, Malik Willis has come in, won a game, came in that game, and bald. Yeah, nine touchdowns, five interceptions over the last four games. Obviously, some of it, injury, whatever. But, like, I do worry about the injury. I kind of neutralized him on this particular in this conversation. She's killed people for injuries.

Yeah, I'm not neutered him, neutralized, right? Here we go. He's been interesting. against the Blitz, though. Like, under pressure, he's, I mean, obviously, every quarterback is different under pressure, but he's 31st in EPA when being blitz this season. So, I mean, he's slightly better than Deshawn Watson,

but worse than Gardner-Minchu. It's what I was saying. Andy Dolphin's going to start heating him up. Worse than Bonix. Some of the advanced numbers aren't great for him. I think he does better on the eye test. Speaking of advanced numbers, though. What about your boy, Gino?

Okay. Okay, the yardage totals are beautiful, but getting in the end zone. I hope he's doing okay. he's just been hit a lot. A lot of sunburns. He has been hit a lot. He's number one in positive EPA, like plus one

positive. He's first in positive EPA, which was the one I mentioned earlier, which is like it accounts for the situation. How many positive plays have you had considering the situation that you're in? And he's first in the league in that. Other stuff, not so great. Like EPA per play 11th, 16th in PFF

over the last four, like 11th over off, 14th in QBR. He's on that border. line. My argument would be the ultimate just kind of watching him on a play to play basis. He feels like one of the best 12 quarterbacks in the league. Yes, he is. I just do that out there because the stats don't

I mean, besides, I think he's borderline. Even as a fan, I don't think he's like definitely on there. I think he's kind of where we were talking about Stafford last time and some of it was situational context. That stat that you mentioned, like let's dig into that a little bit better because what that stat actually says is you are lifting this much, despite the fact that in so many other major categories of this offense, you are at the floor. So because it factors in situational context. So it's basically saying, here's the level of hero ball you are playing. And I think

that that's important to factor in because, first of all, that's not sustainable. And you could see that. They're starting to really struggle. But second of all, even though he's still playing, I think, like a top 12 quarterback to our point in the NFL. Four weeks from now, let's check on it again. Can I throw one out there? That's a total wild card that. I would love that. I thought we're almost out of it.

I have one more. What about Bo Nix? Okay. Oh, you watched a lot of Bo Nix, haven't you? I mean, he's not dazzling, but we're talking about uplifting your team. I think he's in the... He's in the next time category discussion? No, he's in the...

Get a nice little shout out from Steve Weiss at minute 55 of the show. I love it, Rosie. You know, but not. Way to push it. Not really like. I like it. That's a hot one. I mean, he played well against Carolina.

He's passing the test of like, are you an NFL quarterback or not? He is. Okay. Which is to me, like, if you're protected, can you deliver? And he is, but we're talking about. Great against the worst defense. What about Sean Pate? That take.

Yeah, we knew that offense were playing. It wasn't very good. Play better. There's, there's something there. I don't know what it is. There's something there. Oh, there's some hot sauce. He doesn't say stuff like that without a reason.

Justin Herbert is the last, I think, name we've got to talk about in depth. For Justin Herbert, he's lost at sea. Is he? No, he's built, he's floating on his own little Herbie Island and hoping for a strong current to float them all the way up to quarterback island. And I think he can do it. It goes back to the point that you made weeks ago that Jim Harbaal is hiding his best aspect, which is his arm.

He has a cannon. and he's 22nd in the league in attempts. Here's the thing, it's getting better, though. It's, we're trending. We're trending better. The last, since the buy. I want to see him on the island. Yeah.

I would love for him to be there. I look at the numbers and it's like, oh, wow, he only has one interception. That's very Justin Herbert. He is combining being careful with, I think the last three weeks, starting to be aggressive. When he had that run and he was galloping out there,

like he was in the Kentucky Derby or something, And I was like, ooh, I haven't seen that out of Justin Herbert for a while. And he's ripping some great one-on-one throws. You compete. I think now he is passing the eye test and the production test. And they're in the playoff. They're in the thick of it. It's a snapshot of right now, too, when we're talking quarterback island.

And for what it's worth, I broke it down to just weeks five through eight. He only played three of those games because there was a bye week in there. He is PFF's number one quarterback over that time because you just don't see negative plays out of him right now. You know, he's got more pass attempts than Jared golf? Really? Yeah. That's the thing.

Well, let's talk about last week as skewing. I mean, I mean, that absolutely skewed the numbers last week. That's like how crazy is. I just love that box score so much. But I mean, look, he hasn't, but here's the thing. He hasn't played in every game, and he plays in a run-centric offense. Yeah. Yeah.

And he's been really let down by his receivers. We mentioned this two weeks ago. His receivers dropped seven passes. Seven passes. I mean, and that was a game that, like, nobody in the world watched, but it was, he was spinning it. And so this, he's, he's, playing like we know him to play. He's sort of

doing it kind of like on Herbie Island, like in a vacuum. And I do think that at the beginning of the year, we do have to factor in the fact that they were, and they have since alluded to this a few times publicly, they were playing a very different style of offense, in part to help mitigate the injury and the pain

that he was dealing with. So I do think again, if we're going to talk about, first of all, sample size, which I thought we weren't doing that, but we are, we are, and so... No, I'm just kidding. I want to do it for Herbert. He's the one. He's the one. He's the one. climbing a coconut tree. It's Herbert.

I'm saying where they're at. Where they're playing right now? I just, I'm trying to rile you up, Greg. But just in terms of the sample size of actually healthy Herbert playing in an iteration of this offense that is sort of developing toward what it's going to be and factoring at the beginning, you were dealing with the injury. Like, I'm ready to see Herbert on the island. Okay.

So this is right. So this goes back when I covered the dolphins and Jimmy Johnson first took over. He has Dan Marino, all these great receivers, and he runs the ball. Like you've got a dude who can do it Who can fling it You can do all those great things But you're giving it to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar The Running Back version

Instead of throwing it up To all the other guys That's kind of what's going on with Herbert A competitor like hell Man if he had let Marino throw it Maybe Stafford wouldn't have passed him this last week Oh there we go Look at that

I might have to take him off the island So I had to give him that Let's talk Stafford Let's talk Herbert There's about 10 guys We're not going to talk Rogers We kind of did it. We're not going to vote on Lawrence.

We're not going to vote on Caleb Williams or Russell Wilson or your guy, Bo Nix. We got about 10 guys to vote on. Let's do that after the vote. Hey, this is Matt Jones. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts Pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game. What was that?

Oh, my. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining. And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen to NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. What's up, everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from

scouting reports and player development to team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. Every week, we study the tape, talk to decision makers, and share the insights you won't find anywhere else. It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots, from college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow. We break down the draft, analyze matchups, and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day. Plus, we dig in the coaching strategies, roster construction, and the trends that shape the league year after year. Whether you're a diehard fan or just love understanding the game on a deeper level, we give you the full picture. If you want insight that goes beyond the box score, this podcast is for you.

Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We are back on quarterback island. Let's get it. We've reached the voting portion of the program. Your hand is getting close. Steve Weish is giving away his moves between the breaks, saying he only is kicking two people off.

He's letting two people on. I like what we did before. Jordan's wondering if it's possible that the size of quarterback island could be reduced at some point. You still haven't answered the question. We are voting for 12 members of quarterback island. Okay.

And we've already put seven on. It sounded like Brock Purdy didn't really need a vote. So I guess I'll vote on Brock just to make this quick. Yep. And we all make sure you vote out loud because this is an audio medium. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Yes. Okay. So we now have four spots left on the island. You know, we've got the guys that were on there before. Okay. And I think we're going to vote on Herbert, Love, Hertz, Cousins, Baker, Kyler are all there. So that's a total of 10 guys for four spots.

And I'll start with Dak Prescott because that one seemed like of all the guys that were on the island, he was in the most amount of trouble. It's nothing personal, that. We want a clean sweep. Colleen, what is your answer? No. He's out. He's got to go.

No. It's not the play scheming. either. And we want better for you. Yeah, we want more for you. It was a great eight-week run or whatever it was. You were there in the preseason. I hope you don't get replaced by another NFCE's quarterback. Oh, no.

Something tells me that you're not there. I feel like it's... C-4 is hitting. Interesting. Interesting. All right. So, Dach is gone. We know where he's... Dack is gone. We now have...

The dingy's coming for DEC. Yep. We now have nine guys. for those four spots. I was pleasantly surprised by how encouraging you guys were about Gino. I thought you didn't really like me or necessarily like Gino that much.

But I'm going to bring up Gino for vote. I'm saying yes, it wasn't the best four-week stretch. I don't think he did enough to get kicked off the island. I think he's one of the 12 best quarterbacks in the NFL. I vote, yes, Steve Rice. He's a keeper. I told you, I only got two guys coming off

and Gino ain't one of them. Okay, Jordan Rodriguez. Oops, wrong one. She votes. Yes. Yes, but we'll see by the end. Okay, it's a soft yes, Wolfie. Yeah, I'm going yes as well.

Okay, so Gino is on. But we're watching Gino. We have nine. Yeah, eyes on him. Nine men on the island. Because I wasn't feeling a lot of appreciation here for the groin injury. Let's talk Jordan Love. Does anyone want to vote yes on Jordan Love?

Jordan Love. We have a no from Steve Weiss. No, remember to speak your vote out loud. No, I have a no. I have a no. You narrated my no, so I left. No. Thanks, God. Okay. I got a no as well. You know what? He was closer. Wow. Closer for me. You guys, you guys are on the line there and did the switcheroo. Okay. Now we're getting into some really interesting territory. So now we're saying there's nine guys. So far there are nine guys on. Although, if they think, Things could change. You could always try to kick someone off in theory.

These votes aren't forever. Let's talk. Let's do Baker because that's another one. Him versus Cousins debate was interesting. I thought Cousins kind of kicked him off alone and I vote no for Baker Mayfield. I vote no because I think that this is going to be really significant, losing his favorite past catchers. Unfortunately, hate to see that. His statistics are incredible.

I don't want to take that away from him at all. But I'm seeing a quarterback who potentially is some trouble. I'm giving a super soft no. I mean, I'm close, but it's a super soft no. Like if there's, like I said, I've only got 10 or two spots open. He's not one of the two, but if a third comes open, I'm changing my vote. Wow. I'm saying yes because I thought that we were doing this based on what they did up until this point,

not what is projected for them. It's absolutely up to you. It's like the top 100. Yeah, exactly. All right. So I lose out, but I wish he was on. I think that's fair. I think a note of what he's done.

You could use your riptide to pull someone else off. Absolutely not. Absolutely. Too early. It might be too early to do that. She's saving it for flaco, baby. Get him on. Okay, so Baker has been voted a no. While we're on the Baker Cousins talk, this is a borderline guy here.

Kirk Cousins, we have three spots here after Purdy and Gino available. on the island, man, who wants to make a case out there? I'm going, yes, I'm swag surfing this one all the way to the island. Kurt Cousins, yeah, I would say he's killing Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Guess what? He's playing who's in front of him. Kurt Cousins is going to be ascending. I'm using Jordan's argument.

He's going to continue to keep rocking and rolling their offense is hitting in stride. They don't play Tampa anymore. I do have one question for you. Because, Steve, I love that argument. I really do. But I have one question for you. Who do you think could ascend to greater heights over this next stretch, Kirk Cousins, or Healthy Matthew Stafford with Kukunakua and Cooper Cup? That's where I'm weighing in my head right now.

I'm going Kirk Cousins because of the division that he plays in. I do think it's going to be just a murderer's row in the NFC West. Nothing is taking me off of Kirk O'Chains. That's a good point. Kirk O'Chains all day. I'm a no right now for Kirk. I'm sorry. I just don't love the way that these games have played out.

that aren't against Tampa Bay. Steve, I loved your argument. It's all good. My point is, too, I think that, because I have him weighed between putting Stafford on or off, and I think a healthy Stafford and a healthy Cooper and a healthy Puka and a returning offensive line getting all their guys back, who protected Stafford the best that they have all year,

allowed one sack against the Raiders and the Vikings. I think that that reaches greater heights with Stafford than Kirk Cousins potentially reaches. That's just, that's my only argument. I'm struggling with those two against each other, but I also think a quarterback's got to be more than just their surroundings. There's a undefinable thing about Kirkgo this year that he's just part of our lives in a way that's meaningful to me.

I'm voting yes. I'm voting yes. We're split right now on Kirk Cousins. That is going to be tabled for just a second. We're not kicking anybody off except Dak then, the way it's going. Exactly. We can keep talking. All right.

So who will go on. Let's talk about who could get kicked off. How about Sam Darnold? Are we voting to kick him off? You're either voting yes or no. Is he on the island? That's all about it. Is he on the island?

That's the question. Is he on the island? Is he on the island? I put no. Yes, because I'm thinking of Steve Weiss and no. I'm confusing myself. I'm still a Sam Darnold girl. So I'm going to say yes.

So you're saying the deciding vote comes down to me for Sam Darnold. Oh, no. Oh, how poetic. I'm sorry to do this, buddy. You're great. You're in the top 15 right now. Greg's revenge. You're right on the border line.

You were waiting for this. You were going to use your ripped-eyed if you didn't get this. He gone. Remember how hard he fought to keep him off? He gone. So to review, Jordan Love's not making it. Baker's not making it. Sam Darnold is kicked off the island.

So we have two open spots. Dak Prescott is kicked off the island. We haven't confirmed everyone that was on the island. before. I guess let's talk about who could jump onto the island. Okay. Let's talk about Justin Herbert. Does anyone want to make a case for Justin Herbert

going on to the island? If so, speak now and explain why. I only have one spot right now. This other dude. Jordan has a yes. I'm going ham for other guys. I have a yes. Okay. Well, like I said before, I think he is playing the best football

among the best football of any quarterback in the NFL, the way he's throwing the ball, the way that he can move. He has his feet and his legs back under him. They are, it has been hit or miss in terms of actual production, but they are establishing some steadiness around him. I like Justin Herbert throwing the ball better than almost anybody. I like Justin Herbert throwing the ball better than almost anybody in the NFL. I'm voting yes on Justin Herbert. I think he's clearly one of the best 10 quarterbacks in the league right now. He was injured early in the season. He was a guy if he wasn't injured in training camp, I think it would have been on there to begin with.

just eye test and numbers. It's all happening for my guy, Herbo. We're split right now on Justin Herbert and Kirk Cousins. Purdy's on as the eight. Wow, what range. Gino's on as the 10th. Who is the guy you want on so badly? Kyler.

Kyler. Kyler is your yes. This is like my third time going to bat for Kyle and Murray. How about this? It really is. And I am not like coming down. Don't think about them. Just make eye contact with me.

If you give me Stafford over cousins, I'll give you, Kyler. Done. Wow. We're shaking hands. We're here. What do we not even matter? An alliance was made. Alliance was made. Oh my God. We're playing dirty. Okay. Let's start. So there's one spot. There's one spot available. No, because we just sealed it.

They don't get to decide anything. Who says the two of you can just put Kyler or Stafford on? What if we had both have no votes? Because we split the vote last time, didn't we? We haven't even voted on. There's only, there's only, there's only, there's really only one other guy that you can put out of your head. And she's holding it. She's holding it. I know exactly who it is. I know who you're going to do. This is good, though.

Okay, who do you want? Let's just put our cards out. Let's put our cards out. Jalen Hertz goes in. Dak Prescott goes out. We've got Dak and Darnold out. Already. They're already got.

Right, Donald. Okay. So, yeah, yes. You're voting for yes. Are we kicking a third out? Are we saying the 10 are definitely on? Let's talk Matthew Stafford. Because if you're saying I give you.

Let her take the talking Jane Hertz. No, no, no. I mean, I already did. But we have to see if a, if a spot is open, right? Let's recalculate. Because I could, I could, I could hear a good

Jalen argument if he kicks somebody off. Let's hear him. Let's hear about Jalen Hertz. Well, I already gave you my Jailen Hertz. Okay, so who would kick off then? It's very, it's very close to me. I'm a no on Jalen Hertz. It's just a numbers game. When I do the numbers, for me,

Purdy and Gino are eight and nine right now. That leaves two players were split on, Herbert and Cousins. It also leaves Stafford and Kyler. Jalen Hertz is in that mix as well. So there's three spots and there's five guys. For me, those five guys, Herbert, Cousins,

Stafford, Kyler, and Hertz. Only three can go on. Hertz is last out of those five guys. So I vote no on Jalen Hertz just to eliminate him. Oh my God. I'm sorry. Just real quick though. I'm not going to cast my vote yet. Okay? Because Jalen Hertz then

over Kyler or Herbert. Mm-hmm. You have a over all of them. We've made the alliance on Herb. Well, on Stafford, we made the alliance. And Kyler. So I have, I'm really trying to keep track of this. Yeah. So it's like Herbert and Jalen. So I have Herbert, Stafford, and Murray, which would unfortunately, I don't want to do this, leave Jalen Hertz the odd man out here. And I did argue for his benefits over the last three games.

Do you actually believe that Kyler should go on ahead of Jalen Hertz? Or are you just doing it for the alliance for Stafford to stay? I would take Kyler over the other two. Okay. I think Kyler, the ceiling that he has showed as a quarterback that he... Higher than Jalen's. Currently, yes. Okay.

I would take Jalen over Herbert. Okay. I like that. Yeah. But it might not matter. Are you dual all balancing? Are you making two alliances? I mean, I'm just saying I would...

Yeah. If we're weighing them out. Let's vote on Jalen Hertz. Yes or no. Yes on Jalen. We got to get a third off. Ah. So we're splitting.

it again. Steve Weiss has a yes. Yes. Yes. So the tie stays to the incumbent then. We have five different players. We have not officially voted here on Matthew Stafford either. You guys made the lines that the two of you said yes, but

we hadn't heard from Colleen and I. Oh no, he's still on. So if he is still on, according to Colleen, then he is on the island. Yep. So is Gino, so is Purdy. We're going to have two new members of quarterback island. It is very exciting. Kirk-O-Chains, even though I believed in you, Kirk, Steve Weish believed in you. You're gone.

The alliances, they went against you, frankly. You couldn't play the game well enough. We have two spots for three guys. This is hard. Justin Herbert, Kyler Murray, and Jalen Hertz. That's really tough. Wait, two spots for three? Two spots for three guys. Oh, that's not that hard. So I think we should all just write down who we don't want on. And if there's a majority, I don't have a pen. I will give it to you I'm going to write down one name So you're writing who Who you don't want to make it

Okay Who you don't think deserves to make it You can write it down That deserves, it's a numbers game It's a numbers game We're in the savagery Who shouldn't go on Who shouldn't go on

Out of the three people I hate this because all three of them are really good Same thing with Kirkgo He got left off I thought he has a strong case see this on can no you won't we're going to just say it out loud but it's for our purposes we're split i am saying that jalen hertz does not make it onto the island okay i still care

about you as a person colin i know colin says kiler does not make it i'm saying herbert and so the deciding vote it's up to jordan rodore's got the sweet vote who is not making it onto what's she gonna do quarterback island i i already made my case for i think jesson herbert's playing the best football of many quarterbacks, top five quarterbacks for sure. Right now, I agree with you on Kyla Murray and I will not back out of High Alliance with you

because integrity. I'm sorry, it's a numbers game. I love how he's playing right now, but Colleen, it's Jalen Hurts. Jailet Hurts is off. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It pains me. I'm sorry. Wow. Wow. Okay, I'll

see you guys in four weeks. The Alliance was strong. Congratulations to Kyle. Tyler Murray and Justin Herbert. And I said it. I was going into this not knowing how it was going to happen. I did not think Kyler Murray was making it onto this island today. I didn't see how Kirkgo couldn't make it.

And it's always, same here. I thought Kirk was going to make it on. It's always the little guys you didn't see coming. He just scampered his way and popped out of that water. I've been fighting for Kyler since day won. The short things. Happy for you. And also for me.

And look, I hope. I'm happy for everyone here. I hope, Colleen, that you're... So glad you guys are happy. Your friendship with Jordan can survive this. She's not staying late to get with a Germany flight. She's out. Let's just recap again.

Who is on quarterback island? Many of the same guys from before. Josh Allen, Joe Burrow. Let's play that music. Jaden Daniels. Way to go. Jayden Daniels. A rookie.

Jared Gough. Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes. Brock Purdy and Gino Smith. Matthew Stafford. You survived. And then let's welcome to the island. In addition to C.J. Stroud, who has been there all along, Justin Herbert and Kyler Murray.

The quarterback island got younger. What about the NFC West, though? NFC West is like cornered the big block on the island. For now. For now. Talk about an alliance. They could get together the entire head. Jamis and Flacco are coming.

James and Flacco are coming. Oh, my God. Yeah. Crazy Island. Who will it be in four weeks' time? Will Jalen Hurts make that case? Will Kirko Chains prove that Jordan and Colleen were short-sighted and not believing in him? Who knows? Maybe Caleb starts playing better.

Could be anyone. Could be Baker. Could be anyone. It could be Dak getting his revenge. But that's it for quarterback Island. I'm looking forward to week 12. That was great. That was great.

No one used it. It was great until the part of the show where I completely lost track of what was happening. That was a tough moment. Let's take a quick break. and we'll come back with Thursday Night Football. Hey, this is Matt Jones. I'm Drew Franklin. And this is NFL cover zero.

We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts Pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game. What was that? Oh, my. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining. And twice a week, that is exactly. what you're going to get.

Listen NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. What's up, everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from Scouting Reports and player development to team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices constructs.

winning rosters. Every week we study the tape, talk to decision makers, and share the insights you won't find anywhere else. It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots from college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow. We break down the draft, analyze matchups, and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day. Plus, we dig in the coaching strategies, roster construction, and the trends that shape the league year after year. Whether you're a die-hard fan or just love understanding the game on a deeper level, we give you the full picture. If you want insight that goes beyond the box score, this podcast is for you.

Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Who, might have to do quarterback island last from now on doing something after that. It's all right. It's the jets. The emotions are raw. The, you know, friendships have been tested.

It's just a come down. It's time of the show for our TNF preview presented by Amazon Prime Video. It's Texans' Jets. It's the ultimate come down of the 2004 season. The Jets. But look, their schedule, everyone keeps saying, it opens up, it gets easy.

After this game, at least you're catching the Texans at the right time. No Nico Collins, no Stefan Diggs in this matchup. The Jets are at home. Like, what gets you going? Halloween night, Texans Jets. Let's see. How much time do we have to talk about what's wrong with the Jets. Whatever you want. All right. I'll try to condense it.

The offense has rhythm like Eli Manning dancing on the Manning cast. The plays are coming in late. They can't line up in time. Three timeouts in the first quarter. How about that? Are you kidding me? I've never seen that before. The connection with Devante Adams and Aaron Rogers, we're still waiting on that. The defense gave up the game winning drive to the Patriots backup quarterback missed kicks so much so that there's a kicking competition before Thursday night football. None of the changes that they have made have made a difference. And they right now, all three phases of the game seem to be contributing. So it's like a total team effort for these losses. I just feel like they're all break no gas. Ooh. Wrapped it up with a bow. I love that. It's a short week. Thursday night football team on the road. It's a tough spot.

the Texans have certainly not been playing the type of football they want to play, but they've been finding ways to win. In a lot of ways, these two teams, I think, aren't that far apart in terms of what they're getting done, certainly on offense, and yet one team, and I think the Texans deserve a lot of credit for this. It's almost like they're not getting the style points they want, and the offensive line's not playing well. How come C.J. Stroud's numbers aren't crazy.

And I'm thinking, this team won, what, five games? combined over two seasons just two years ago. And yet we're complaining about style points. They're learning how to win when they're not playing their best. And their defense is very consistent week after week. And they're going to get after Aaron Rogers in this game. That's the thing I can believe in the most. I'm worrying you're starting to see some of the movement issues we identified

immediately in the season with the usage of Pistol with the Falcons offense. They were only aligning out of Pistol to try to add some illusion into their run game, some dimension. You're seeing the Jets almost quadruple. I mean, it was a very, it was like three. percent rate before but now you're seeing them in the pistol a little bit more makes me worry about how Aaron Rogers is actually feeling in terms of we already knew that he was hurting on the leg and and you know he just wasn't when he gets crunched sometimes he looks really painful to get up

but to me that doesn't necessarily shift my thoughts about the play caller or the scheme it more so to me is a little bit of a tell of like where Aaron Rogers is at physically and how he's feeling and you're kind of feeling that energy I mean he seems like he's in a lot of pain Well, I mean, you talk about the play callers. I mean, you switched something up in the middle of the season. Todd Downing's had opportunities before. Didn't work like with the Raiders and another stop. I mean, so they're still getting used to a lot of this stuff.

It's the chaos like you talked about. I mean, no surprise. This is how it typically goes with the Jets who had, I think at this time last year, two more wins without Aaron Rodgers. I think so. I may be wrong. But I'm going to go to the Texas point thing. And you talked about their defense.

Look, they play last week without, you know, Aziz al-Shire, they've got, you know, up the spine of the defense on some of their players. Tooto might be back to this week. Yeah, so he comes back. So thank you for pronouncing that right too because so many people butcher it's to-o-to-to-well done. You see the apostrophe.

To-o-to-o. You know the Polynesian vowels. I'm still trying to get that invite to the Polynesian bowl. So I just try to get right. You're invited, brother. But it's, look, it's a situation where they're going to get after Aaron Rogers. They know exactly what to do. They see some of the chaos, like you talked about, plays coming in late.

Whatever, you know what? Just run up tempo, hurry up offense. There's solutions to a lot of this stuff. Right. But again, having Jalen Petrie and having some of the players that they have all three levels of that defense is a great thing. Speaking of defense, Jeff Albrecht, the new interim head coach came out and basically said, yeah, Soss Gardner's tackling. It needs to be a little bit better. So let's just add a little bit more of the positivity around there by, you know, having to maybe be a truth teller, right?

but arguably your best defensive player. It just keeps getting better. Yeah, and calling out your best defensive player like that. I mean, it is a message to him, certainly, and you watch the tape on that, but like it's also a message to the entire defense. Next-gen stats, mind-blowing stat here. The Jets

of Miss 88 tackles the season tied for the fourth most in the NFL. That's not good. Yeah, and they allow four and a half extra yards per miss tackle this season. Oh, gee, that's nothing when you've got Joe McEan, and Damien Pierce banging at you. Yeah, so it is a good matchup in terms of the

Texans' interior offensive line against the Houston Texans front, just collectively they're playing disastrously bad football, but you actually are going to be able to move the ball against the Jets, conversely, and mitigate some of that stuff because they're having issues in space and also

against the run in general. And the Jets edge rushers aren't very good at out. Quinn and Williams hasn't been great this season, but he's coming off his best game of the season. He was dominant in that Patriots game. You know, talk about having, what did you say about Eli that he, uh, no rhythm. Oh my God. I mean, I love that he leans into it. He owns it, though.

He doesn't dance. He boogies. He's so funny. I mean, this. He really is. I love him. This Texans like line, like, talk about no rhythm. They're one of the worst coach teams in terms of their line play. I don't get it. I've seen. Because they got talent. All you got to do is blitz. And it's getting through. It's getting home. Like, tonsils even having some, like, there's just miscommunications. And it's like quick pressure. And so if there's a team that could wake up the jet pass. especially it would be this. On the other side, the Texans will say, maybe this is a rare team we can actually block and the vibes are certainly better. They're winning. I trust the Texans.

It's Thursday night, man. You never know, though. Weird things happen. Yeah, Thursday night of the Jess. At Halloween, I mean, come on. Jalen Petrie's been playing well at Nicol. I got to take the Texans in this game. Is anyone taking the... Paper, you would think so, but Thursday night's the Wildcar for me home to you. Yeah, I'm picking the Texans.

Yeah, I'm picking the Texans. This is hard to go with the Jets. They would be 2 and 7. Something tells me they would, like, they're going to stay part of this season. But I don't know. Two and seven, you're, you're kind of no longer part of the season. Well, in that division, but what I'm saying, how about Devonti Adams? All the other wide receivers are super happy. Like Mari Cooper, we're talking about D. Hop.

Oh, my God. You're right. Devonti Adams is like, come on, man. It is absolutely a ridiculous thing. Sometimes joining your friends again. Like, it doesn't always work. The Jets are favored in this game. That's how we found out today.

The Jets. On that note, that's it for the TNF preview presented by Prime Video. Be sure to watch the Houston Texans take on the New York Jets this Thursday on Prime Video. Thank you for joining us on sometimes contentious, always entertaining. Ceylon Hertz needs to be on that island.

Sometimes confusing trip to quarterback island. We'll be back the Thursday preview show, Steve Weish, Patrick Claibon, and myself. And yeah, when the left side of the table ganging up on Colleen Wolf. You know football is back.