NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Rule Changes and Mailbag

Episode Date: April 22, 2021

A room filled with some heroes - Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler and Gregg Rosenthal bring you all of the latest news around the NFL leading up to Draft week. There have been some rule changes in the NFL and new numbers are on the horizon and Tom Brady isn't happy about it (8:38). We go over some more rule changes (12:15) before getting into Head Coach Nick Sirianni not naming Jalen Hurts the starter (15:10). The Giants have tried to trade down during the previous drafts (24:30). We end the show with some great mailbag questions from listeners (29:00).Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. The Around the NFL podcast. Quit the small talk. Indeed, quit it. Don't eat it, don't want it. Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansis. Come to you from a virtual room filled with some heroes, Mark Sessler, Greg Rosenthal.

We are T-minus seven days away. from the 2021 NFL draft. Greg, you a little bit of a sneaky humble brag right before we started. Mentioned that every year you like to do a hardcore cram session just chewing up tape, like a true tape dog. I, on the other hand,

like to go the route of just see whoever's mock drafts I respect and then base my analysis on where those guys put certain players. And then once the NFL starts, can plug in in a real way. There's no way to fake it. I mean, but I respect that you do it, Greg, but it's kind of like in school cramming for a chemistry final that if you didn't pay attention all year, you're not really going to be able to soak in the information in a way that makes you successful. Yay or nay? Yay, because the difference between someone faking it and not

is, yeah, almost indistinguishable. Most, most of the people talking about the draft are faking it. But it does, it gives you like a little bit of fire beneath your Joe Mixon tape. For instance, I remember I watched Joe Mick, I was like, wow, this Joe Mixing guy, okay, he's got some problems. But my God, can he run the ball? And so you got a little extra fire, but you could fake that too if you really wanted to. Of all the examples, Joe Mixon, considering his pre-draft buzz. You know what, though?

I got to say, I was right. Be careful. He's, he's a, I was right that he is a great running player, running back. You mentioned about cramming for a test. Am I the only one that like I've been having horrible dreams for some reason, but like I still have dreams where I am, you know, walking towards like a college math class where I suddenly realize I have a final and I've not been to even been to the class in three or four months and like all fortunes are about to get completely ripped away if I don't ace this thing. And then the dream ends. Hmm That's a common one Doesn't it feel good though

Every once in a while I'll have a dream I'll have a dream like that Or it'll occur to me Oh isn't it nice That we never have to study For a test ever again Or have that sort of stress

So you should just like appreciate it It's nice And I'll say although it You know you pay for it With a lot of internal Mental anguish in the moment When you make a list Of the sneaky best feelings in life

waking up from a nightmare and then realizing none of that was happening and then you go back to sleep that's right near the top of the list it is special i had one last night where i was in an airport on there was all sorts of chaos i couldn't find my wallet and so i couldn't board the plane with the rest of my family and i was lying on the floor with all these people being inspected by the government and then i woke up and it was like my wallet's on the mantle in our house this is amazing so much for quit it with the small talk you know Yeah, that's true. That's true. By the way, the inverse of what I just explained is when you're having like a lovely dream, like if you remember like you were dreaming about, you were dating your high school crush and you're 17 and then you wake up and you're terribly alone and you have acne and, you know, nobody likes you. Like that, there's the flip side as well. But I like to focus on the positives in 2021. This is the around the NFL podcast. I wasn't a sad and a lot. alone person in high school by the way it wasn't one of those people but didn't really figure out anything until college and post you saved yourself at the end I was a little worried that you woke up from this dream where you wish you were with your high school girlfriend and then you woke up and you realized oh I'm next to my wife and my kids are I mean those dreams exist too past flames pop up for the first time in 11 years but it doesn't mean that I'm questioning anything mark has these dreams all the time and this moment you're listening yeah happy birthday

They're about freedom. And no, you're right. It is my wife's birthday tomorrow. So we don't need to dig deeper into that topic necessarily. All right. Today's show, we're going to catch up on some pre-draft news. And then we're going to do something we haven't done in a while, which has hit the mailbag. And give the listeners a chance to interface with us, the quote-unquote heroes.

What a joke. Call ourselves heroes. The real heroes are out there up on the lattice, putting out fires. and in the military you ain't heroes that's a great tweet together once in a while how about you relax you know how about you just have a little bit of a sense of humor about life okay let's do something uncomfortable though when when like Siciliano or or any really hosts like welcomes us as a group as heroes like I like it when we call ourselves did that I mean the other side of that is Greg you're almost always uncomfortable so no that's just

The brand is strong. Let's do some news. Talk is cheap, motherfucker. Is it random that DMX is our intro into the news? Yes, it's random. But I wanted to touch on him real quickly because in the pre-show prep today, I was thinking about the Steelers' quarterback depth chart. A little teaser for the mailbag later.

And for some reason, it made me the thing that flashed to my mind was, it's dark and hell is hot. And rest in peace, DMX. And I just want to say, like, DMX was, he falls under the category of whether it's like a celebrity, a musician, usually for me, but sometimes an actor, where they die. And then I'm like, oh, I really did like that person. I wish I appreciated them more before they died because if you were a person of a certain age and Greg, you and I are very close in age, Mark, you're in the ballpark. It's a big ballpark. It's like old Yankee Stadium when they put Monument Park in center field.

But like, DMX filled a certain level of like when you're a teen or late teen high school, college and you have that aggression inside you. And if you're our age, it was either DMX or like limp biscuit and corn. They toured together. That was a tour. That was the day, they were like co-headliners on a tour, I remember. And that's synergy that makes sense.

But I was never about any of that agro rap rock stuff. I hated that stuff so much. But DMX, when he was going nuts and stuff that he was talking about, I'd always connected with me. You know, he crossed lines, black, white, whatever. You understood the rage within DMX because some of us and all of us have it to a certain extent. He changed the game.

You know, Taylor Swift taking a page out of his notebook. I don't remember anyone else dropping two number one albums in the same year. That was like it kind of blew people's mind that he came out out of nowhere. It was like the number one album in the country. And then like seven months later did it again. It's like I feel like people do that all the time now. I mean, you're acting like my equivalent. was like Desi Arnaz, so I don't know how to get into this conversation, but I appreciate what

you're saying. I would say maybe like Toad the Wet Sprocket, perhaps? I could not stand that band, but at that time period had other bands that would fit the bill to some degree. I was going to ask as a follow-up, Greg, because as everyone knows, Greg likes rap. Sometimes you act about, you talk about your Tulane education as being in this bubble where it's like, oh, like dirty South and you don't even know uh what fountains of wayne was and you were so just like steeped in that culture dmx made it down there you're saying because he was he's from yonkers which is on the other side of the tizzy bridge where i grew up he was huge in the northeast and i think the whole country but did it make it down there did it crack the bubble he maybe not as dominant but he did yes

there was a bit of a south versus the new york type of thing so they didn't give him all the love that he should have gotten interesting all right let's get into it do some news Let's start with rule changes made in the NFL. They go into effect starting in the 2020 season. We kind of went over this when a lot of them were proposed, but just so everyone knows there's been changes to a, well, relaxation of rules for the numbers that certain players can wear at certain positions. That's a big one.

Everybody's pumped up about that. running backs wide receivers tight ends defensive backs and linebackers can all wear numbers in the single digits now if they choose um the only person who's really getting banged here offensive liners are still locked into the old days uh on this one um tom brady on social media and we never know if tom brady is actually running his own social media or whatever but uh he was all fired up about it couldn't tell if he was being a jokester or what mark do you have any takes on uh more of fluidity in the numbers choosing game in the other NFL? Well, I would just comment on Brady real quick. Did he put out a second diatribe where

he said, why not let the linemen wear whatever they want to? Why have numbers, just have colored jerseys? Why not wear the same numbers? Dot, dot, dot, dot, dumb at NFL, at NFLPA. And then above it all, in massive type font, dumb again. So I don't view that to be like some social media goon necessarily. Is Tom drunk again? Is he throwing jerks? I don't know. I'm not sure what's going on there. He seems fired up, but I don't, you know, I'd love to hear a player's perspective on why that would matter. I mean, if you're, if you're an offensive guy trying to figure out who to block and Paul protections, I don't see a huge change here other than the fact that, like, for me, visually, like if a linebacker were number two, I find that to be disorienting. But on the

offensive side also, like, I just wish they would change the quarterbacks and allow it to be more than one to 19. I guess that's anti-traditional, but I'd like to have a quarterback that's like 96. See, so that to me, that grosses me out. That actually turns my stomach. A thick, like, T-H-I-C-C, big-bodied quarterback that needed, like, kind of needed two eights to kind of show how big he was. I don't know.

Like, if my, if Zach Wilson came into the league and he, if he was number 26, I'd be like, no, this guy's out of the league in three years. He's like one. He is very slight. He's not, they're not double numbering him. I mean, Brady, I'm amazed how fired up Brady is. That was an absurd explanation why Zach Wilson would only have a number in the single digits.

But go on. Greg. It's, I mean, Brady's worried about, like, recognizing where pressure is coming from and whether they're linebacker and defensive linemen and all this stuff. It's like, okay, fine, buddy. Like, fans like it. Every rule that's been made since Tom Brady's come in the league and for the, you know, 10 years before that was to help the offense and quarterback.

So maybe this hurts just a tiny bit for people like Brady who are next level. in terms of identifying people. But one thing I want to point out with this rule is it doesn't totally go into effect this year for players that want to wear these numbers this year that had a different number last year, they have to buy out the NFL's inventory of that number. And that's like a lot of money,

especially I think if it's like a big player where like a lot of jerseys have been printed, if it's kind of a no name, it might not make that big of a deal. But this is what happened when Ocho, Sinko wanted to change his number and he made pretty good money in his career and he didn't want to do it because it was too much money. So he had to wait the year. So it might be one year from now when you see the deluge of changes. That's sneaky. Hmm. Yeah. Another rule change.

Approved a one year experiment in an attempt to make it easier to recover onside kicks. In 2021, the receiving team on kickoffs will be limited to nine players within 25 yards of the ball. Only three of 67 onside kicks recover last season, which, you know, that means it's broken. And the Eagles had been, had proposed that teams be given an option to gain 15 yards on one offensive play from their own 25, as you remember, to retain possession after a score. That's not happening, but they're trying to maybe even things out while not making the

game more dangerous. That's stupid. I want to add this fourth and 15 thing. Let's try moving up. I hear that a lot. it's like, oh, they've made the onside kick so boring. And it's like, I don't know, is the onside kick that big of a deal that we need to save it? How about we just mix it up for a year and see?

I bet people would love the fourth and 15 thing. I bet people would go nuts for it and they never, they would never be able to take it away. I'd at least say, like, if you're going to, you know, put us through preseason games, employ all these rules in the preseason and almost like urge teams to try it just to see what the response is, how it looks, how it feels. And finally, they did make some real. replay modifications. Owners rejected more hardcore proposals for a full-time sky judge. The Ravens had called for a full-time booth umpire.

But the owners instead decided to give existing replay officials who sit in the press box of each stadium the authority to consult with referees on certain quote specific objective aspects of a play when clear and obvious video evidence is present according to the language of the rule. I read somewhere that this was already happening informally, which is a little weird and strange when you talk about competitive balance and all that. But now it's something you can do

within the letter of the law. Right. Don't you remember last year there would be those really bad calls that Romo would talk about for 20 seconds, and then everything would just kind of slow down, and then he'd be like, oh, actually they are throwing the flag. And then that was it. You could tell it was sort of happening.

I like that because anything that actually avoids the official review process but quickly changes obvious calls, like, this is something that would make our friend Chris Wesleyan happy. That makes sense to me. Like, I don't know why they don't just put them in their ear the whole time and let them talk to it. What's the big deal? But I think they're getting there.

I mean, like, Sky Judge just sounds very old testament to me. You know, I wouldn't mind someone with the authority just to say, you got, look at, look at you're humans you've got this wrong um i see something you don't see let's correct this but hey mark save it for the theology podcast in other news a lot of material put into that pot at this point by the way eagles head coach nick syriani refuses to name jalen hurts as the team's starter in week one he says there will be a quarterback competition people are going nuts let's hear it from Syriani himself. To name any starters at this particular time, I just, we've been working with these guys for two days, right? We've been working with these guys for two days. My biggest thing is

competition. It's again, we've talked a little bit about my core values. It's my second core value. It's this team's second core value. Competition is a huge thing. And we're going to have competition at every position. When are people going to stop getting so fired up about these type of quotes? Like I saw some talking head. He'll go unnamed because he's a little close to the family, if you will, just like teeing off on Siriani as being an absolute fool for even going down this road. And it's like, I get it. You're looking to fill a camera time and go viral and all that stuff. But like ultimately it's you that looks like a fool because this is what head coaches say all the time. And there's a very good chance Jalen Hertz is starting over

Joe Flacco. It's almost, it's definitely happening, you would think, but he's not going to say that because head coaches don't like saying that stuff. Calm down. It's a reminder, too. There are some teams in facilities this week. So I guess football is back. That's another time we can start saying football is back. The Patriots, I think, are in their facilities somewhat.

I also do think, though, there's a chance that Eagles add someone to this competition. Not that that's why he said this, but whether it's a rookie or like a Teddy Bridgewater, if he becomes cheap enough or something, like, it just wouldn't surprise. Well, you just give it a break. Just give it a rest with Teddy. I'm just saying they might add someone. You never know. Well, I agree with you on that.

In the draft. And on, go ahead, Mark. I would just say this, though. Like, I find it a bit tiresome that he's getting killed because it is coach speak. But if you get to the end of this journey into August and we're treating the preseason as a true competition between Joe Flacco and Jailen Hertz, I mean, people in Philadelphia are going to, like, crescendo their cars off the interstate into total darkness. It's just unmarked. So just at some point get real with it. This is your quarterback.

You traded Carson Wentz. Just a bit of sense along with the understanding of it. I think he is being real about it though. Because he's a head coach and coaches think a certain way and he views it's his first training camp. He wants it to be a competition and he's got this. He doesn't really know these guys. I mean, and here's the other quote that everyone's killing Siriani for. Hit it, Ricky.

I think some of you guys are wondering like what game. We didn't go air shattering on these games, right? I played a couple of them at rock paper scissors, right? That was as easy as that. Rock paper, scissors. Let's see how competitive you are. I'm competitive. I'm going to be talking trashed to him. Did you talk trash back to me? Right? That is in reference to speaking with some draft prospects about just trying to figure out their competitive fire or whatever. He also got killed for that. I will say this for Siriani. He's in a very tough spot. I think you have to go back

to maybe Jim Tom Sula. The last time I felt like a coach took a job and already had his back against the wall where the fan base was not feeling it and the organization felt like it was in flux and nothing felt like it was set up well for him. That's how I feel about Nick Siriani because it just seems like there's a target on his back already. Well, I would, I think I appreciate that you are cutting against the grain to kind of lift him up and, you know, take some of the heat that he's taking, you know, consistently away. But there's just me. There's something about his sort of overall presentation that leaves me a little something to be desired

there. But I'm willing, but you know what? Let's just, that's not his job entirely. Let's see how it goes come game time. Plus he's right. Like, there's nothing quite like talking to shit during rock paper scissors. You're just like, yeah, bitch, you know, what's up? I just got your, I just got your, your rock.

Like, who? I don't know. It's like, yeah, motherfucker. I just fucking smashed your scissors. That's like the players on like a tape, what, a two second tape delay? You know, rock, paper, scissors is not the right. If you actually watch this, and I think this podcast will also be up on YouTube, you could see the exact moment where Greg deliberates whether to bail on his bit.

It was a nice little moment there. I enjoyed, I was always an odds and evens guy because, I don't know, rock paper, scissors, something with my brain had always confused me a little bit as simple as it is. So I was just, no, let's do odds and evens. Odds and even shoot, let's fly. They're not drafting you. No. Like, Dan just sits there dumbfounded.

I was like, uh, I can't handle this. Hit me up on Twitter if you found rock paper scissors a little bit confusing. In other news, the Steelers signed head coach, Mike Tomlin. Actually, don't hit me up on Twitter. I don't care. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin signs a three-year extension with Pittsburgh, 49 years old, signed now through 2024. I love this stat.

It's my favorite kind of NFL fun fact that the Steelers, if he stays through the end of this deal, will have had three head coaches in over 55 years. How many head coaches have there been for the Jets and Browns mark since we started this podcast? 7? 52? 8? I don't know. Like triple this amount? So anyway, Tomlin's still there. And I guess you could say, oh, but what about the meltdown at the end of last season? And sure, Greg, you can kind of get, I know where Mark is on the Steelers. So I want to hear from Greg on this first. But do you think it's smart for the Steelers to just stay in business with Tomlin, no matter what? Do you think this brings a level of calm to an organization that maybe is still a little

rock by what happened at the end of the year? I do just because it's a different way to approach things. And he's won more games in his first 14 seasons than any NFL coach in history. Pretty good. He's never had a losing season. So I think stability has a lot to be said for it. And he's delivered. I know they haven't always won in the playoffs, but he has a 650 winning percentage it's just like i don't i do like the idea that coaching shouldn't be you have to win a like a playoff game or two every other year or you lose your job when i and you know i have been tough on the steel i've had my fun with the steelers but when it comes to mike tomlin um to me he is like the total alpha male um he has weathered all storms in pittsburgh i know that you know there

are certain steelers fans that get agitated with him but the grass is always greener i mean he he he has basically been as good as Bill Cower, and he's not far away from surpassing Bill Cower and wins. In years. In years, too. It really puts it into perspective that this year he'll match Bill Cower in terms of just the tenure that Cower had. Yeah, I'm trying to think where I would put Tomlin in my coach power rankings.

If he's not top five, I would say he's probably top seven. I think top five. Those are guys you want to keep in the building. Yep. In retirement news, Jordan Reed, see you later, buddy. The third round pick back in 2013, always skillful as a pass-catching tight end, but always dealing with injuries, more specifically head injuries. And that history of concussions is really the reason why he's stepping away from the game.

He missed 53 games over his eight seasons, so he heads into retirement at the 8. of 30 sometimes these guys take a year off and they come back and he's certainly young enough to do that mark but at the same time um you totally understand where he's coming from here trying to protect himself for the next 50 60 years of his life yeah i mean one of these total what if careers because you look back on like what he did in 2015 when he was like a total fantasy stud 11 touchdowns 87 catches one of the best playmaking tight ends around and it's the concussions and there was other injuries too, but part of me was just like with these guys that have multiple head injuries, like, why are they, why did he come back even last season? I'm sure there's a

competitive fire, but you just worry, you know, there's just, there's too much murky and known evidence about what these can lead to in life. And so, you know, I'm kind of happy for him to see him part ways with the game. He was part of the sea change at the, in terms of, just concussions like he came along at the time when people when the league started taking it more seriously i think of him and brandon stokely as two of the guys sort of most affected by the changes uh and finally in the news here's a report from rap sheet earlier this week the giants are slated to pick number 11 in the NFL draft and trading back is already something they are

internally considering on oh hit it hit the trope alert rickie that's by will have real value, Ian writes. How rare would a trade-down be? Dave Gettleman has never traded down in the first round in eight drafts as a GM. Let's hear from Gettelman himself. Nobody believes him. It's become a bit of a trope itself having discussions about Dave Gettlement not trading. The discussions of the trope has become a trope.

It's pretty hardcore. Let's hear from Gettlement. They had a great line. and NASCAR will have right turns before DG trades back. I mean, there's a hell of a line. I had a good laugh. I'm honest, honest, I've tried to trade back. But it's going to be value.

I'm not getting fleeced. I refuse to do it. And if, you know, somebody wants to make a bad trade back, God bless them. But, you know, we've had opportunities. I've tried. You have to understand, like, first of all, that was Daniel Jeremiah. a DJ at the beginning of that clip, who made the NASCAR joke. It's a solid one.

And Gettlement, if you didn't see this press conference, is wearing a button-down shirt and like a grandpa cardigan buttoned up over the shirt. It was a vest, though. It's a sweater vest. It's a sweater vest. You don't see that too often. And it's just like, and this is, you know, I don't want to like overstate it. But sometimes it just feels like the Giants have a.

GM that's playing checkers while other GMs are playing chess. And when he answers these certain questions this way, you just wonder if he's looking at the sport and the game that he plays within the sport in a competitive way when compared to other guys in the game. Well, what do we have to look at other than his track record, which is, you know, there have been 55 selections over eight years and he's never traded down once. So it's like, I know, I think this thing about not getting fleeced, this year does feel a little bit different because if you look at the dolphins, Niners trade, if you want to climb up, even just, you know, a third of the draft, like the cost right now is high and you're going to be measured against that Niners trade to some

degree. I mean, each of these deals are a little bit different, but, you know, he's going to have to get something that can't just going to get hen pecked by the New York media if he doesn't get great value. So maybe there aren't those deals out there. Maybe he's playing chess, though, and sweater vests are coming back and he's ahead of it. I mean, I just saw this whole thing, You know, the baggy jeans are coming back now. That's mid-90s. Gettleman, there was a decent amount of sweater vest. It was like some New York Times like style.

I was like, give me a break. But maybe the sweater vests also coming back because they had a moment there. They had a moment about 30 years ago. That's usually the cycle 30 years. By the way, he is of grandfather age. It's not like, you know, a millennial wearing a sweater vest. Although I actually read an article myself recently.

that that is a thing. Look at you guys like diving deep and all the fashion reads on the net. I like that. I mean, I could tell. This article proposed, or there was evidence that, you know, even younger than millennials, are now dressing as grandfathers as a chosen style. So maybe Gettelman, to Greg's point, is on the cutting edge of various things.

I love how grandfather's dress. I can't wait. It's a great look. My grandfather, God rest his soul, Baba. used to wear a hat. And actually, it's one thing that I kept after he passed away that just said, this is my retirement outfit. It was just like a hat that had that text and then like a golf pin in a hole or something.

It was just like, all right, that's, that's some, that's grandfather fashion. That's what he's about. My grandfather would wear a suit on Saturdays to sit down and read the newspaper and not not leave. I mean, these type of men simply do not exist in our society. society right now. I think that's clear. Those are opposite sides of the spectrum. All right. That's what's happening in the news.

All right. It's been a while. We love our fans. Oh, the fans. The listeners. We never gave the listener. Like some shows give their listeners a name. We don't really have that. Maybe that's something to think about down the line. But if we're this deep into the show, maybe that's just not going to ever be a thing. Well, it's because our name around the NFL is kind of generic. Maybe we need to change that to get the listeners, you know. Well, we don't get to decide to change the name of our own show. We get told by shadowy league figures, as around the league we used to be.

Now we're around the NFL, just waiting for our next marching order at some point. Remarkable power that we're harnessing here. We can't even decide what the title of our show is. We don't know what our listeners are called. Directionless. three kind of sad guys talking football let's get into it I hope you guys bring your A game

because the listeners always sharp let's start right here with Paul Holland who asks do you see the Steelers trying to move up in the draft for a QB Big Ben is nearing the end and the other QBs on the roster probably aren't the long-term

answer and good question I thought about this one, did a little bit of research. So there's that Jerry Jones, the famous draft pick trading chart, the draft pick value chart, it's known as. And the Steelers are picking 24th right now. Tough spot for if you're looking for a quarterback. That's worth 740 points according to the Jimmy Johnson scale.

If they wanted to get up in the draft, then go. after somebody. If they gave up their second pick, that's worth 50, that's worth 350 points, 55th overall. That gets them to 1090, which would put them around 14, 15 in the draft. The problem is, boys, I don't know even if they made an aggressive play to move up the draft board, if there's going to be somewhere in there sitting for them. Is it crazy that Mack Jones or Trey Lance or Justin Fields could be there in the middle of the first round? Not crazy, but probably not likely. Sitting where they are now, it would probably be someone that surprised people, I think. I would just say this. I don't know if the Jimmy Johnson trade value chart applies as

directly this time around. You just look at that Niners trade, again, up to Miami with Miami. I mean, what they gave up. That's going to be expensive. I mean, you're not going to suddenly live in a different world cost-wise. And I think Kevin Colbert has traded up or down in 20 drafts, maybe four times. So I don't know if that's their culture either. I just don't know if this the year that will happen with considering where they're sitting no kevin culvert values those picks is always about value that it's it's hard to imagine i think it's one of the reasons they brought rothusberger back is what where they're drafting even think back to the rothusberger draft where by the way it was kevin culvert making the pick and they didn't move up to go get ben rathusberger

they sat there and patiently waited and hoped uh that one of those big three quarterbacks really was going to be or Rathosberger fell to them and it did and it worked out perfectly so i i can't imagine it i mean yes behind ben ralthusberger right now mason rudolph josh dobbs dwayne haskins that and with what we saw last year with big ben it is certainly possible he falls off the cliff entirely that is within the range of outcomes here with the steelers i would be really surprised if they don't have somebody in the building um early draft pick style i i think they like they like mason rudolph he was pretty early draft pick. He was the second round draft pick. They've got a lot of quarterbacks, too.

They've got Dwayne Haskins who was a first round drive. I'm just saying that you might not like Mason Rudolph, Dan, but they like Mason. We'll see. I guess, I guess we'll stay tuned until about 10 days in now. I'll see where they stand on that. Up next, Brendan Kennelly asks, with the draft coming up in a few teams in high spots that could potentially be open to giving away their spot, what team is most likely to, A, trade away their spot, and B, who is most likely to trade up into a new higher spot.

We just talked about the Steelers. I could definitely see them making a play if a quarterback starts falling. Greg, do you see another team in that realm? I think the Falcons, instead of making like a big statement in terms of drafting their quarterback of the future fourth, like Thomas Dimitroff did with Matt Ryan,

I actually could see them going the other way. We're using that number four pick to pick up a ton of picks, kind of like the Dolphins did, still have a draft pick in the top 10 or 11. and start their rebuilding process that way. I don't know who trades up there, but in a fun world, it would be my New England Patriots. Well, yeah, I would see New England as a team that, you know,

is going to want to move up if they have to, you know, heat, seek a quarterback to go somewhere else than Cam Newton. You know, I think the Panthers, after swinging and missing, not really getting their first choice as a quarterback, and you've got Sam Darnold, who I think you want to take a look at, maybe they go from number eight and say, if we can get value and someone really wants to get into number eight, will go down. I mean, just I think at some point it would have gone the other way. They would

have traded up. That's what they tried to do. And I don't think the Falcons are going to want to trade with the Panthers to give Carolina their franchise quarterback inside the same division. I mean, they're also a little bit hamstrung financially at quarterback the Panthers because they're going to have to pay Teddy Bridgewater wherever he ends up. You're going to have to, you're hearing that they're picking up the Sam Darnold option. So you have a lot. Are you going to bring in a high priced or a high drafted rookie quarterback on top of all that? That just seems like a lot. left tackle though and they are in the perfect catbird seat to take the top left tackler at least number two uh this from paul sylva you think 2020 rookie qbs will take a step back in 2021 now that there

will be fans in the stands okay um here's my thought on that and when you talk about rookie qbys of 2020 joe burrow toa herbert jalen hurts those are the kind of four guys i don't know i don't know. Who knows if they'll like freak out. I'm sure all these guys played in front of big crowds, their whole careers. So I don't think so. But at the same time, it is kind of an interesting experiment, a sociological experiment, if you will. The whole 2020 season, I guess it'll be different for these guys and all of a sudden they're playing at this level in front of 70,000 screaming fans hypothetically. I think it is a beguiling question. I mean, I like the question because it makes me have to think about that.

But if anything, I think last year would have been the step away from the norm. I mean, these guys aren't from the wilderness. They've been playing in front of, like, big cheering crowds for a decade plus as football players. So it's not that atypical. And if anything, I think it maybe energizes certain players and certain athletes. Well, Herbert's in a unique spot, though. Chargers fans, you've got to start filling up that stadium. We haven't seen what this stadium's going to be with the Chargers.

But he might feel like he's playing 16 road games. That's what the last Chargers. quarterback Philip Rivers felt like so that could be an additional trouble i'm worried about herbert i i got a lot on herbert right now i just want him to be a little too much i want i want him to be the next guy i'm not not loving the coordinator now this this question has me a little freaked out it is it is interesting we we kind of hit pause because of covid on all the chargers melodrama about are they going to really truly find a home in the l a market and now they have this giant stadium and how are they going to fill it up and is it going to become

road games where Justin Herbert's calling timeout on offense because he can't get he can't get his signals in and all that like all that stuff was on the back burner when the stadiums are empty it's all going to be back on the front burner hopefully um in 2021 all right this from the broadcast podcast i you know rickie always signed in a way to plug your own brand uh these all suck uh i guess the questions you're referring to what eight teams would you choose to break away from the NFL to create their own Super League dash broads for life. Now, I only have a vague level of knowledge on this, Greg, and maybe you could fill in the dots, but there was major drama over on the other side of the pond around their

version of football. So why don't you set the table and then we'll figure it out? Well, I think most sports fans probably know the story of the Super League already collapsing where basically the richest, biggest soccer teams from all over the globe, different leagues tried to break away and form their own league and the fans revolted and it didn't happen. For this question, it would be, like, can't you imagine some owners doing this at some point? It's like, we got to get more money. We got to get more money. And so I'm thinking more about who has the most dough and who has the biggest brands. And so I'm starting with the

Patriots, the Cowboys. You know Jerry Jones and Kraft are leading the way. That's one too. I think you got to get the Packers in there. It just feels like what's a football league without the Packers? I'm putting the Steelers in there. Well, the NFL would be asking the same thing, by the way. It's like, wait, the Packers are leaving? And the Cowboys? They're breaking apart.

The NFL's not happy. The Steelers, you got to put in there with the tradition. And Mark's not going to be happy about this. But I'm putting the Ravens in there, too. The Browns forget about the Browns. But I like having a little bit of a rivalry. The Ravens Steelers thing. bring that to the new league.

They're well run. The Chiefs, you've got to bring Mahomes to the new league. So they're coming. And then finally, you need another West Coast team. The Seahawks make sense to me. I like bringing their fan base into this league and the Raiders. So really, we're just ripping the guts out of the NFL. Your move, Goodell.

Can I just say that on Roger Goodell's network, by the way. Go ahead. I know that you're thinking I probably listed the Browns in a bunch of teams. The Browns could beat in the Super League. But, you know, the question's coming forward. from the, from Erica and the broads, like, you know, this is about money. Okay, so I basically have the exact same list as Greg. Really?

For the Seahawks I replaced with the Niners, just because I'm a little bit older than you guys. And like, I grew up with those Niners dynasties. And I think that that's my West Coast team. And I have the Saints. I don't know who that replaces from your list, but I have the Saints in there as well. So very similar, Greg, because I think this is about making the cash. Hmm, let's get this. I'll work off Greg's list.

as the master, and then I'm with you. So you're putting the Saints in, Mark. Do you take the Raiders out? Is that who you took out? The Raiders and the Seahawks were replaced with the Saints and the Niners. Okay. I agree. The Raiders have to be in the league.

I think they have to be there. But this anti-New York bias, I get it, the Giants are boring and the Jets are a mess. But we've got to have a New York team in there. It's a Tiffany franchise. You've got to have the Giants involved in the mixed for me. So I got, I'm going to get rid of, I'll get rid of the Ravens, personally. Sorry. Baltimore, they just like to be told they're pretty and nice.

And it's like, oh, you're the greatest organization. I just thought, and with Lamar, too. I'm just trying to give them a little pat on the back. Well, there's a, I like that Steelers Ravens rivalry to kick off. This Super League is going to need a lot of help. You know, you don't, these are, I mean, please, they're not going to need any help. This is going to be like TV ratings through the roof, and the NFL is going to be left by the side of the highway in this scenario. So, probably.

All right. There you go. Moving on, this from M. Boucher, who's the top contender for the team of ATL this year? And why is it the Lions? Okay. We haven't had one in two years, by the way. A couple of things to unpack here. First of all, our great man, great friend, Chris Wessling, we took, and it kind of annoyed him, which was always fun.

I used to call it the team of West T.L. Because we could never get anything rubber stamped unless West was behind the team. So with Wes not here with us, I don't know, maybe team of ATL, team of Westial, that's something in the history of this podcast. But there's a second part of this as well, which is the only time the team of ATN really worked was when it was organic and we all gravitated toward a team that we liked. And maybe, just maybe, and I think Wes would like this too,

if we felt that way naturally about a team this season, then there will be a team of ATN. The one thing I know it will not be is the Detroit Lions. It's tough, though, because we're like both, we're in the AFC East. There's too many, like, competing rivalries between the three of us. But I know the one that, unfortunately, has the hooks back in, which is, you know, my pick almost every other year, which is the Chargers. I was so mad about Philip Rivers. I forsake them for about 10, you know, seven games last year.

But now with Herbert, like, that's the one I'm going to get overly excited about again. I could be drawn towards the Niners. The Chargers were one for me, too. look at i like if you've listened to this show i spent last august trying to tell you guys how the lions were going to be spicy and relevant and you know fun to watch and i you know i actually spent more time watching them trying to make that be the case and i was punished for it visually so if you think i'm going back down that road two years in a row i'm you got to learn some lessons when we cover this sport i hope okay up next brock wright asks super bowl sunday is now the day before

valentine's day remember it's a 17 game schedule now everything gets push back a week. Do the heroes foresee that that causing marital strife on any level? Now, I could tell you this. I don't know Brock from a hole in the wall, but I bet he's a younger guy because he is under the impression that Valentine's Day has any meaning to married people. It doesn't exist. If it happens to fall on a Friday or Saturday, and that happens to fall on a night where you have a babysitter and you go out for the night, hey, you're out on Valentine's Day, but there is no such thing as Valentine's Day for grownups. It's over. Very, very important and impactful when you're a teenager through college. Oh, your college

girlfriend was nuts about Valentine's Day. In your 20s, absolutely. They use it as benchmarks about how seriously they should take you depending on your performance. But that all fades away eventually. I don't see it as a big issue overall. I don't either. I find the holiday to be like an ultra sham on multiple levels. And if I were to suggest that the ups and downs, one goes through in a marriage relationship hinges entirely on Valentine's Day. I mean, you don't want to do nothing. You don't want to be hyper-apathetic about it. But you've got to address it. You're stuck doing it. But, I mean, to me, it is, I don't do nothing. I'm not, I don't do nothing. I don't think that's, that's from my, I did try that once and I did not find

that to be a very successful approach. But I don't do much either. And I think as time goes on, you do less and less. And it's a concoction. I don't, Every relationship's different, though. Every relationship's different, not one-size-fits-all. That said, I totally agree with everything, Dan said. In my relationship, I somehow found someone less sentimental than me, so she doesn't care. That's remarkable. And, yes, Super Bowl Sunday falling on Valentine's Day itself.

That's a problem for you 20-somethings out there, and good luck to you. I'm glad I don't have to worry about it. All right, Mark, up next. This one from War Warner. War Werner. Let's work on that handle. This one is mainly for Mark Sessler. What actor would be chosen to play each podcast hero, including Erica Tamposi? All right. So I, you know, I knew this question was coming. So I did a lot of research, by the way. And I'm going to start with Dan because Dan, you know, when you're going to cast this film, let's just be real. Dan has to be a home run

choice who is essentially the main character. Right. Because then the real Dan is just going to be upset that's the only that's the main thing why it's got that's also a factor he's going to be offended by almost anyone you that is a factor but you can't get some you can't get some super unknown risk got to be ham it's got to be ham it's got to be ham it is not him it's not him i'm not going with him i am going with an actor who i think has leading man vibes it's true john ham is a little older now so maybe he doesn't quite sync up with the old zeuser is he older than you you know i also never like i i appreciate your hamness, but I don't see that as the casting choice. There's the other part of this.

You did that get older than you. Now that the new old blue eyes is really taken off, more and more people are plugged in on the baby blues and ham, unless you put in the context. Anyway, I'm going to stay out of the way here. John Hamm could have been a great choice, but I'd like to see what you have more. I'm not sure that it's taken off the way that others would use that descriptor,

but I'm going Josh Brolin. And I want you to take a look at this photo here. All right, number one, hair. Has alpha male leadership qualities. I recently just watched No Country for Old Men for like the eighth time. And he is sensational in it. And you know what? He is a true actor. I mean, the son of an actor, he was in Goonies way back when. This guy has a long career. You can trust him to deliver a powerful performance. And I think he has also secret, more comedic chops that would lend to some of what Dan offers to the podcast. Great hair. I have no problem with

Josh Brolin portraying me in a film. Thank you. 53 years old. So, yeah, fits in with like, oh, wow. Well, so Greg, he's younger than you think. Part of this is like, he's the fact. He's 53. Well, I'm going to see GI him a little bit.

Exactly. He played Thanos. They can CGI him all they want. All right. I'm going to go Greg next. And Greg is going to get someone that I've known, people have noted online multiple times that Greg looks like this person. Adam Brody.

Yeah. First of all, the look is very close. But, you know, he's got the acting chops from Gilmore Girls from the O.C. And I read this, that he was described, Adam Brody, by the Los Angeles Times as TV's sexiest geek. And by time as having, in quotes, redefined the screen persona of unapologetic nerdiness. So you've got the personality. You've got the traits. What do you think, Greg?

I mean, I like that he married Summer from the show in real life, right? Didn't he? I think Billson, maybe, yeah. I don't know. I love Rachel. I'm all for it. I'll take all the Adam Brody comments as a compliment. The problem is I only get those like on Twitter.

That's never happening in real life. So I'm not sure I'm buying this as. The other good thing for you, Mark, is you try to get this project off the ground. I don't know if you're EPing it or what. But Adam Brody definitely available. Very available. Ready to go right now. Erica, Ricky Hollywood.

There are a lot of ways you could go here. but I went with an actress who I loved in the show Party Down, Lizzie Kaplan. Let's take a look. She's versatile. I think she can bring the requisite sassiness to the role. And, you know, I've also went through, you know, photo at galleries for each of these actresses and actors. And she can look versatility different in different roles and stuff.

So I don't know how Ricky feels about that, but it is a compliment coming from me. She's a good actress. Erica feels nothing about it. So we will move on. Um, I, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, Erica, are you on our show or what? Get in here. Yeah, no, I'm, I'm here. I just wasn't sure if you were going to, you know, keep rifling them through.

No, I think it's a good pick. I think it, it works. Okay. By the way, this one is the first one I take issue with a little bit. I love Lizzie Kaplan, great actor. Um, I think it's a right, right church, wrong pew situation here. I think Linda Cardinelli, uh, Freaks and Geeks and many other projects, um, would be very good. This may have been a case where I was, you know, the podcast was starting soon, having to kind

to get the act together with some of these choices. I love Cardinelli, too. One saw her, you know, at a sandwich shop in the middle of doing jury duty. She is at least a decade and a half older than Oh yeah. She was born in 1975 and I was born in 92. Right. I was looking for someone in the age. She needs to be younger than the Irishman. You can age people down. No problem now. Mark, we had discussed before the show, you wanted me to handle your casting, which I understand. Well, I have an option first, though, that I think that, you know, I think it would just, sometimes it's easy just to pull these things off. And I think I've gone with a selection that the audience would see an organic connection with, Erica, if you want to bring up the person to play Mark. It would just be, it would be Brad Pitt because I think there's just a lot of connective tissue there, visually, sort of energy-wise, right?

Right. Well, now that the comedic portion of the segment is clear, let's move to more natural terrain, okay? And I leaned on my wife, my wife, Emily, who works professionally in the casting industry, and asked her, who would you cast a play, Mark? So here's three choices. I ask for three options. One, Ed Norton, okay? And this is what Emily wrote to me, because we only communicate via text. smart guy who is internal and cerebral in his performances threads and intensity into every character he plays number two where's the photos for this Ricky number two

Aaron Paul a sensitive nuanced actor who tells everything through his eyes very soulful and sensitive and someone in audience roots for but he can turn on a dime if you push him enough goddamn that's right that's pretty good I think that's the winner And the final choice, Ben Mendelssohn is probably the weirdest idea, but when Mark is in his 50s, and we're knocking on the door, he's the guy.

He's an actor who possesses quiet ferocity, which he delivers in every performance, could be referred to as a, quote, quiet storm. I think Emily has done an absolutely excellent job. And, you know, Emily and I, we connected on casting once because I essentially discovered Felicity Jones long before, society did and Emily recognized that talent within so I certainly recognized hers and I think Mendelssohn is one of my favorite actors so thank you I think it's a knockout job there I'll take any one of those three or maybe maybe all three would play me during different stages of the film oh I like that wow it's a lot it's a big it's a big expense to play mark's a lot of a lot of payment now we're starting to actually see what this movie is about really yeah Emily you know did a great job but I think

she missed kind of like the obvious choice Greg German of Aleithia everyone's looking for German or whatever I said that before so all the time who do you guess I get well when everyone saw the movie Juno when she was

like pregnant and 16 everyone's like you look so much like Elliot Elliot Age oh right there's been a shift in that realm yeah I don't know if I totally agree with that actually clean up there Ricky yeah knockouts. When are Greg and DJ going to have a boxing match for charity? You know,

I like this one. I mean, I would definitely not box DJ. In what way? I would be, uh, I would be in trouble there. I'm giving up a lot of reach. I would, I would take my chances in some other athletic endeavors, but boxing would be troubling. I remember, um, is this where you circle back and tell us that you played tennis competitively? No, I'm just saying like, give me a sport that, uh, that we can compete at. I think boxing. How about basketball? Upper, upper body strength. I mean, the height is definitely a problem there with basketball, but I could try, maybe get a two-on-two going here. I don't like your chances in the ring. I'm, again, being older than you, I, as a kid with a bunch of dads and kids, we piled into this one friend's house, like 25 of us,

to watch Tyson Spinks. And I remember the host father had put like microwave popcorn into the microwave and the fight was 91 seconds and the popcorn wasn't even popped by the time it was over and everyone was back in their houses two hours later i see this fight going in similar fashion i mean no i would be like i would be like floyd mayweather and just dancing around the ring and then the crowd would start booing and i would like turn around to them because they're not getting their money was just like break it on and i i just wouldn't let them touch me you get a chair over the head some of that checks out um and finally this from chance zapata are we getting a mark sessler mock this year. Sure. I started about 20 minutes before that designated episode next week and

roll it out once the episode starts. He likes to pretend he doesn't put much into it, but he's like already started. He knew that, you know, he's been working on it. Well, I could also just take MJDs and just say it's mine, like no one would know. So the thing about the Sessler mock drafts is absolutely true is that it's definitely set up. It's set up for Mark in a way that if he gets everything wrong oh i don't care anyway if he gets a few right it's like hey look at me you know i'm the seer i'm mark sessler like i nailed six i think last year or something like that it was quite remarkable what is a good grade in these mock drafts and they all say it that i don't care about my mock draft but they all care like what what constitutes success with a mock draft i would

love to know a number if the jimmy if the jimmy johnson draft chart is something that people take seriously, why isn't there something that represents a grading curve on these mock drafts, which are everywhere, unavoidable? There seems to be no accountability, because I would say if you're someone that's spending like six months putting these together and you don't get 10 out of 32, like, well, I don't know. Well, some years are impossible. Like, it all depends on the year.

10 out of 32? No one does. But like, you had a great job if you get five. But there's some years where actually it goes pretty chalky. I think there's less information right now because of COVID and the opt-ins and opt-outs that we'll see. That's what we said going into last year's draft. And for the most part, people missed where guys were going, but the first round was somewhat predictable. There's some years where it's like impossible to get anyone.

No one has any idea, which is nice. Yeah. And that's typically how these things, you know, when a trade happens, everything gets shaken up. Yeah, I don't know. But we will have a Sessler mock draft coming. That's good. Daily shows next week. Yeah, speaking of draft week, Mark's mock draft will be part of our five days of podcast starting Monday.

So we'll have shows Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and then Thursday night after round one, we'll jump on immediately. And I will have, I believe, if the draft goes chalk in the first two picks, I will have my Zach Wilson, Chipotle burrito, which doesn't have to be trend setting. It doesn't have to be some type of transcendent, game-changing item. It just has to be tasty. And I'm looking forward to it. So we'll break down all of the round one picks as we do every year. And then we'll be back Saturday night. It's the only Saturday night show we do all year.

Thank God. Well, we'll recap the rest of the draft. That's right after the seventh round concludes with Mr. Irrelevant. I can't believe Mr. Irrelevant hasn't gotten whacked yet. the PC police. That's got to go, right? That's going to be gone very soon. I mean, you wrote that article probably six, seven years in a row was sort of an anchoring franchise for you on the side. I don't think that offends anyone, though. You know, they do like a parade. They do a parade. They, you know, they give it, this guy gets a little extra pop than, then, then, uh, I get a feeling

that, well, it will be renamed. All right, I'll make a prediction with you. I'll make a sandwich prop long range. In the next five years, it won't be called that anymore. It'll be something that's very much softer and celebratory of the player. It's like last but not least. Right. Because this is going to be deemed as it doesn't truly celebrate the man for what he achieved to get to. Okay.

That's going to happen. By the way, I would just say someone who's like way more irrelevant is the person picked just before last who doesn't have a nickname or a title, doesn't get a parade, doesn't have an article written about him. That's the person no one ever heard of. That's simply not irrelevant. They're making you relevant. They're forcing it upon us.

I want go get my lunch.org. You know, you got to put that this long term one. I don't know if we've ever had a five year timeline. Let's put another one putting a sandwich on like, will there be a show in five years? Oh, what are you putting? Well, I don't know. I guess.

I'll say, you know, let's be optimistic. Craig just put himself in a corner there. I'm just saying, yeah. We're currently negotiating with draft kings. We will have a. show in five years let's put that up to i'm just saying it's a lot of a lot of faith what kind of sandwich wager is will our show exist in five years what is wrong with you i'm i'm putting it on it it's up to you to take me up if you disagree so you're saying that i'm saying we'll not be a show i know

i'm saying there will be a show oh oh so it's like one of those things we're like nothing else so i can collect this sandwich that they haven't changed mr irrelevant because that's not happening if the show ends and you think i'm going to be giving you sandwiches um you know for free two years later or something like that you're you don't know you don't even now you don't even now you don't even now i know i know i'm not going to be giving you anything so i'm sure of it everybody settled down all right good stuff good show uh we have our network program uh we are going dark draft week um next week so this is our last network show for a couple weeks uh so make make sure uh you tune in tomorrow friday uh on NFL network the around the NFL broadcast please DVD

are it, give it a shot. Back at noon Pacific this week. And you can figure out what that is in the other time zones. Pacific is the best. Let's make that the what everyone says. That's my new movement. Right. Listed PT slash ET from here on out.

It's always been reversed. So you need, it needs to be something catchy to stick. And I think you nailed it, Greg, with Pacific is the best. All right, that's it. This is Dan Hansa signing off for Bight Storm, the old boss. Ricky Hollywood behind the virtual glass. They're going to age Cardinelli down, Ricky, way down. Okay?

Get ready. Until Monday, heat the call. This is an Ihaired This is an I-heart podcast. Thank you.