NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Season Predictions!! (With Patrick Claybon)

Episode Date: August 31, 2021

A room filled with some heroes – Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal and Patrick Claybon bring you the latest news in the NFL including the impacts of Hurricane Ida, the quarterback situation in San Francisco with Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo potentially rotating, and J.K. Dobbins’ season-ending injury. In Indianapolis, the Colts have added quarterback Carson Wentz and center Ryan Kelly to the Reserve/COVID-19 list, and T.Y. Hilton is out multiple weeks with a neck injury. Bill Belichick refused to announce a starting quarterback after Mac Jones played with the second team, and Gardner Minshew was traded from the Jacksonville Jaguars to the Philadelphia Eagles for a conditional sixth-round pick. Colleen Wolfe makes a surprise appearance to comment on the Eagles quarterbacks and revisit Palindrome-gate from last week’s episode. In other news, the Vikings have signed safety Harrison Smith to a new contract but will be without Irv Smith Jr. for a few weeks. The Houston Texans have traded Shaq Lawson to the New York Jets, and the Detroit Lions cut Breshad Perriman. After the news, the heroes make their season predictions, picking winners for all the NFL awards like MVP, Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Offensive Rookie of the Year, Defensive Rookie of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year, and Coach of the Year. Then we predict the playoffs by choosing division winners and wild card teams and finally wrap up with a Super Bowl prediction. Around the NFL is part of the NFL Podcast Network.  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. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL fantasy football podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL fantasy football podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet,

we've got the insight to help you crush your opponents. Listen to the NFL fantasy football. football podcast on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Hey, everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 6th, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and

NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else. It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Around the NFL podcast.

Carried NFL Network through the offseason. Yeah. It's true. We did. Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansis. I come to you from a virtual room filled with some heroes. Greg Rosenthal.

Patrick Claibon. Now, did we carry NFL Network anywhere? No. Are we on NFL Network? Yes. In fact, all three of us are on NFL Network a whole bunch. And so before I throw it to you, boys, let me just really quickly go through this. Because the season is less than two weeks away now.

10 days away, really? 11, something like that. before the Thursday night game. Here's what's to come on this program. How's this, Greg? A little setup just to get people caught up what's going on. I like it. All business, 2021.

Today, I don't think so. Today, we're going to do some season predictions. Okay, we're going to go through an email that a colleague of ours, Gennaro Felice, is it Felice, sends out every year and make a bunch of predictions for 2021. That's fun. We will have another special guest on the show on Thursday. Weish. And next week, we will do our annual sandwich props, our week one preview, our week one recap, the Thursday night opener, and the debut, we believe, of our new two hour around the NFL broadcast. And that's in addition. And that's in addition to the return of power rankings with me and money. NFL game day view with Rosie, as some call him, never me. Hawk and Cynthia. And yes, Patrick Claibon.

with the NFL fantasy program. How about that? Getting the plugs out early. That's a lot. We're doing a lot of stuff. Yeah. And I will say it's one organism, right, that we're all in. And so we're all carrying it together.

But you guys are fundamental, your pillars, right? There's some like corpus speak. We're getting more to carry. We're getting more to carry these days. So that's a little bit of us. You know, we complain sometimes. That's a little bit of a sign of encouragement. We're certainly asked to do more than we,

we were years ago. That's all three of us. Because you're on Fantasy Live almost every day now, right? Yeah, four days this week. Four days all season. I'm a host. How about that?

And, you know, it'd be easier to carry what we need to carry up the hill of the NFL season with Mark Sessler. Unfortunately, Mark not back with us yet, as you've probably told. But sometimes Mark gets quiet on the show and maybe he would pipe in right here. But he's not, unfortunately.

As you know, if you follow the show, Mark has been dealing with issues with blood clots. He's been in and out of the hospital as they're trying to make things, figure things out and the path going forward. He's in good spirits. You have to believe me on this. He's going in the right direction. But it's a complex issue here.

And he's kind of on the mend at home this week. So we're hoping to have him back for week one, but no promises. You know, that's the goal. It's like what Jerry Jones says about Dak Prescott. If week one was today, he'd be on the field. I don't know if Mark would be on the podcast. podcast of week one was today. But not to make light of it. We miss Mark. We want him back. We know you're the listener or worried about him. But just know that he is on the mend and he'll

be back with us when the time is right, but the time is not right now. We have a lot of time to get sick of each other and spend way too much time virtually. But then in person, soon enough, in studio. And so Mark will be back for that. It's all, it's all happen. Get well soon, man. Yes, get well soon. He's on some powerful drugs right now that I told him to save some for the middle of the season for the rest of us because that's against the rules damn oh is it okay you're not supposed to do that Justin Graver filling in for Erica Tamposi who's on a tropical vacation right now which is impossible Justin can you pop on a second it's impossible that our producer is in Hawaii right now this is essentially the season's already started how does this happen who green lit it and was there any way you could have stopped it Justin or maybe this is what you wanted because look at you now talking into the mic on the ATN podcast exactly right well erika's my boss now so technically there's no way for me to stop her carefully yeah but you know it's the last little week we have this little fun dead zone now with the way the preseason moved

around so if this is her last chance to get away for a second maybe i mean what dead zone we've got like six shows this week an exceedingly diplomatic answer from just in there i i support and understand I guess the answer here is that Erica might be in her own little gray zone where she doesn't have a boss right now. And that's how this happened. I don't know. But Erica will be back next week. We hope Mark's back next week. Patrick, as you did on the network show last week and again today.

And I think next week as well, you're helping us out. And we are so thankful for that. And Greg, you and I, buddy, we're just the rocks, you know. We're just, we're here, hopefully. You never know if this podcast. The podcast gods have been coming at us, but we're not taking it lying down. Neither's Mark. We're fighting back.

Absolutely. It's going to be a great season. And as Debbie Hanses is known to say, don't spit in the sky. Let's do some news. Hello and welcome to the new West Coast home of the NFL. I'm Colleen Wolfe, and it is my sincere pleasure to introduce you to the future. She's going to kill me. One more thing to note.

I asked for Justin to cut that because. After basically 18 months of us looking into laptops to do this show, we are coming now to the end of the line on some level, maybe not permanently. I think this has been proven to be successful enough that we'll keep it in our back pocket when we need it, these remote shows. But, Greg, come, let's say week two, we're going to be in that brand new studio. It sounds like in Englewood at Hollywood Park doing the show as intended together. And I'm really looking forward to that. in a new podcast studio, you know, Keisha is at work today, like a lot of employees going to their first day at work. She's been there before, but a lot of people are going to their first day of work in Englewood.

Even more people are coming next week. And yeah, that's the plan. If we don't do it by the first Sunday, week one show of the year, I think we'll be in there the next week after that for week, too. So I am looking forward to. This show, it's like, it's a little bit better being able to be in person, I think. I don't know. I don't want to slight the shows we've done over the last year and a half, but it's got to be better to be in person.

I think we've gotten very good at this type of program. But I agree with you. I think it's no substitution for being together and on the production side. And I do a lot of that with Erica. Like that's much more difficult and harder to pull off. So the idea of being all together in a state-of-the-art studio is something to be very excited about because I think it's good for us. It's good for the listeners.

Let's get into this. Good for Claibon. You know, we'll have Claybone. in the studio my my propensity to turn to a little spinning disc where nobody can hear me and I can't hear you guys that doesn't happen in person it's just my my slow mental calculation is the only thing that happens in person oh it has been quite a ride these 18 months of computer life let's get into it let's start with what's going on down in new orleans norland saints practicing at the home of the Dallas cowboys right now and for three days this week after

evacuating because of Hurricane Ida, which made landfall south of New Orleans on Sunday, category four hurricane at winds of 150 miles per hour. Very, very dangerous stuff, obviously, and the Saints had a preseason finale that they moved up and then canceled entirely. And now they are in Texas preparing for their season. And this comes, of course, Claibon's 16 years, exactly, in fact, after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. and force the team to move for their 2005 season. Thankfully, we're not talking about that right now in the situation, but very serious, very dangerous,

and the Saints are juggling their schedule as a result. Yeah, and the memories are too fresh on everybody's minds. You don't want to think about 2005 too much when it comes to a storm in the Gulf, but it's hard not to, right? And you've seen a lot of people reaching out. There's more connectivity in the world now. people are able to ask for help and maybe find places to help a little bit better. I know power was out in all of Orleans Parish last night, and it still is in a significant number of places.

But it's been good to see, you know, we had some players tweeting out some mutual aid sources for people to get help. And, you know, as much as football is what we do and it's what keeps the lights on for us. it's it's hard not to prioritize the people that are down there that are dealing with this especially on the coast of Louisiana and Mississippi as well it's just it's tough to see yeah it's it you are you do get flashbacks just thinking of even the NFL relation to it that right now they're in Texas you know back then they spent the season to San Antonio they're in Dallas that saints are practicing Sean Peyton said on Monday you know there's a strong chance that we'll be preparing for you know our week one game somewhere other than new

Orleans but it's it's so early as we tape this on monday to know what the damage is there because people are just starting to get out and starting to do rescues and the power and it it seems like a total mess and our yeah our thoughts are with every everyone down there so many people are affected in in and out of football but just from the the saints's perspective it yeah would not be a surprised if, you know, they have to start doing some adjustments to where they're practicing, where they're playing and everything else, because that's not the priority down in Louisiana right now. In other news, the San Francisco 49ers doesn't sound like we're any closer to knowing what their quarterback situation is because Kyle Shanahan said that rotating Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance

will, quote, always be an option this season. Here's what Kyle Shanahan had to say on opposing defenses potentially dealing with two quarterbacks. Whether it's in their mind or not, I mean, that's up to them, but we've got two guys who can play. And while we've been doing in practice a little bit, wanted to do it out there in the game. And I think it's always going to be an option. He is referring, of course, to the preseason finale where Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo traded reps over the first 24 snaps of the game. This is as murky as it gets, Greg. How do you diagnose what's happening in San Francisco right now? Kyle was having some fun in that third preseason game, you know, thinking about week one in the

Detroit lines, thinking about the teams after that, just like, hey, get ready. Because not only were they rotating, but they were showing some things. They were doing these QB power traps. Like, they were showing what you can do with Trey Lance as your quarterback in terms of the read option. And he was mostly handing it off. You wonder if he was almost told, like, hand it off. Like, let's not get too crazy here in the preseason, but the crazy part was they replaced them twice on the goal line with Jimmy Garapolo, which is like the opposite sort of what you would expect to happen. One of those times Jimmy runs it in. One of those times they didn't score with Jimmy in there, then they bring Lance back in who does run it in. And I really think based on

Jimmy Garapolo's deportment last week leading into that game and what Kyle Shanana said that Jimmy Garoppolo will be starting week one and that we, that Tray Lance, will be playing week one. And I do think that's going to be the, the early plan. And they're just going to see how it goes. Yeah, not just having fun with Dan Campbell and Aaron Galen and the lion staff, but having fun with us as well, right? We ran the sound last night after the game of Kyle Shanahan, seemingly saying, right, Kyle Shanahan who famously was upset, right, at Sean McVe for not laminating the play sheet on a rainy day, right? Kyle Shanahan who has meticulously planned everything, says last night at the podium.

Hey, you know, I was just playing it by ear. You know, Jimmy go in. Trey go in. He's acting as though. He's just making this decision on a whim just to kind of feel it out. And so, yeah, Cal Chanhan's going to do what he wants, but he's also going to have fun with us. The whole, this entire offseason he's maintained, it doesn't behoove him to say who the

starting quarterback is going to be. And I think ultimately what he truly showed us yesterday, it doesn't matter. He's going to call the points. He's going to get guys open. And they're going to score points no matter what. I do want to point out, though, I think Lance's preseason in that game specifically supported this idea that Lance needs a little more cooking, a little more practice time.

He's made a lot of mistakes. He does seem to run after the first read is taken away. He's also made a ridiculous amount of amazing plays and seems like an awesome runner. So if there was any thought of like, hey, let's go into it with Jimmy but use Trey, I think the preseason Lance's had sort of has supported that. That's like, okay, we don't need to play in week one. He's probably going to start eventually this season. but it doesn't have to be right now.

And the football gods laugh at any plans that are made because as we know, Jimmy Garoppos heard all the time. So even if Kyle Shenan has this grand vision for using both guys and just turning the offense into a nightmare for defensive coordinators, we'll see if both guys are healthy and able to do such a plan. But very interesting, and we'll continue to track that. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL.

NFL fantasy football podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL fantasy football podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet, we've got the insight to help you crush your opponents. Listen to the NFL fantasy football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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. 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 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.

Speaking of the football gods, they did not smile upon J.K. Dobbins, the second year Ravens running back, who was tackled awkwardly on a screenplay against Washington in the preseason finale for the Ravens suffered a torn ACL out for the 2021 season. And so Patrick, the Ravens did it. They are undefeated yet again in the preseason, breaking the Vince Lombardi record. And that's cool, but no J.K. Dobbins, that stinks. It will be opportunity for Gus Edwards to have a main role on this offense.

Yeah, no better example of a Pyrick victory, right, than when in your 20th straight preseason game and losing your starting running back, who really has a unique skill set that's not represented anywhere else on the team at the tailback position and you wonder how they're going to go about this I don't think there's a veteran out there that can fill that role so they're probably just not

they're just not going to have that aspect in their offense in a season where they prioritize the passing game right and he was your best option out of the backfield and now he's gone and it's tough especially as somebody who would like the Ravens to win every single game this year and they've had a nightmare preseason I don't know if anyone had had a worse one

the Colts are in the midst. Marquise Brown returned, you know, to practice today for the first time since July. But Sammy Watkins has been hurt for much of the preseason. Rashad Bateman is out into the regular season. I think they do need another running back. Justice Hill was not guaranteed to make this team before the injury. I anticipate they'll either get, they'll make a trade for someone's second string or third string running back or they'll pick up some veterans because they're a volume running game.

I don't think you want to change your game plan because J.K. Dalman's isn't there. You can't replace him. He was by far their best running back. Gus Edwards is a great two, but now you need another two. And I don't think he's on the roster. And they're going to have to run the ball. I just don't see the recipe for them to start throwing the ball that much more than they used to. That's what they do well as run the ball.

ESPN's Josina Anderson mentioned or reported that Todd Gurley, who worked out with the Ravens, is not in the mix right now to potentially join the team. uh maybe cross girlie off the list you wonder where he's at at this point and what his future holds in other news and you know i try to i wish i could avoid these stories but they're a part of the news every single uh week it's time for another episode of a c s i covid stuff incoming carson wents and friends to the covid list here is the here are the names from the cults wince zach pascal wide receiver ryan kelly the center all deemed close contact with a staff member who tested positive,

all eligible to return in five days, as long as they remain negative and asymptomatic. So Wentz, who obviously is working his way back from the foot surgery and needs as many reps as possible. He is taken out of the mix here, Patrick, for the next several days as is Pascal and Kelly. Yeah, there's a lot going on. And you wonder, because a team where the opportunity

in the division, right, seem to be right there, first and foremost, then we skip ahead a few weeks later and you're missing all of these guys. I'm searching for the positive. You eventually get these guys back. Right, it was sold as like, well, this is good news.

We'll be back in five days, so plenty of time before the season. I'm like, I'm sick of framing Carson Wentz, missing days is like good news. Like, no, it's not good news. It's not good news. And they wouldn't miss it if they were vaccinated. That we know.

So even though the vaccination status are not announced officially, we know based on the circumstances here that these guys weren't because that's why they have to miss five days with the close contacts. Yeah, similar to the Cam Newton situation. I'm not, it's like it doesn't change their season, but we keep saying this and the Titans have 13 players, many of whom were vaccinated on their COVID list. We keep saying this that's like, well, this is all going to happen during the season. And just like, with each time it happens, we start to realize like, yeah, this is going to happen during the season. In other news. Oh, in other Colts news. It has been, oh, what a rough, rough summer.

It's been for the Colts. T.Y. Hilton, their veteran wide receiver who he's getting up there in years, but he showed down the stretch last season that he could still deliver as a playmaker at age 31. Well, he's out because he's dealing with a neck injury, sometimes a disc issue. And it's uncertain how much time he'll miss. The athletic Stephen Holder reported that, that Hilton will be on the shelf multiple weeks with a neck injury. And Greg, I mean, you don't have to be a physical therapist or a doctor in the field to know that when a football player has a neck injury, you never know where this is going to go.

And sometimes it goes in a really tough direction, hopefully not here. Yeah, and it's not the first time for him with that injury either. He's played through his injuries for the most part throughout his career. He hasn't missed a lot of games, but this is not a first time thing. Paris Campbell is a really big player on this team. That's kind of my takeaway, is that third-year guy, Guy West really liked, I remember, but just hasn't been able to stay on the field.

And they're going to have to get someone to be an explosive guy on their receiver court. Pittman's a good player, but he's not explosive like that. Zach Paskill will play a lot too, but they need Paris Campbell to be a factor. In other news. Hey, listen, we don't have clarity in San Francisco. Maybe a little bit more in New England, but you've got to read between the lines here.

Mack Jones played with the backups in the preseason finale. Cam Newton, of course, also in the mix to be the starter in 2021, or at least to start the season. Bill Belichick unusually verbose and talking on the topic after Sunday night's game. Yeah, no, we still have a lot of decisions to make. Just kidding. What did you expect? What did you expect, Dan? What do you want?

You want him to announce a starting quarterback? He's loving this. He's always wanted to have a, to be able to conceal his starting quarterback, but he always had Tom Brady, so there wasn't much mystery to it. There's no way that I think he's going to do his best. So you think he's getting about this? Yeah, I guess so. I mean, maybe there's a part of him.

It's a fresh thing for him here. I really do think that he wants Brian Flores, the, the dolphins coach is preparing for week one to have to prepare for both guys. And I think he's going to try to take this as long as it goes. usually like a rap sheet or a Schefter gets the word out. But here's where I would push back on everyone's interpretation of this, that just because Cam Newton played with the starters, that he's the week one starter.

I don't think that matters that much. I think there's a real chance Mac Jones is the starter week one and that everyone assuming they know what Belichick's thinking based on how he like played them. I don't know. You could look at it either way. You could look at it like, man, they didn't try to get Cam much work this preseason you know i i don't i don't think the way they played with the ones and twos has

anything to do with belichick one thing i believe what he said was i don't think he was going to make that decision until they start meeting today and now they're going to start practicing with a real starter whether that's mac jones or cam newton wouldn't surprise me if it's mac jones i would actually be surprised if it was mac jones just based off of bill bellichick's career i think he would like to start uh this season with a veteran quarterback uh not not necessarily making some kind of statement or some conclusion on his evaluation of Mac Jones. I would just believe that Bill's going in with Cam as the starter. He thinks they can win with Cam.

And then if they can't, he's going to adjust off of that. But it's not as overwrought of decision to him as anything else. He's probably people are worried about the Stefan Gilmore situation, to be honest with you. Pat's fans are freaking out about it. Josh is going to do it. Like you would like this, Dan, that Pat's fans are freaking out about like who's going to start week one and they're going to be so mad that if cams starting i'm kind of of the mind like patrick i don't think it makes that huge of a difference who starts week one it is a really

long season and like i think they can win with either quarterback and i don't know there's not much separating the two and gilmore is like patrick said is a is a much bigger deal the one reason that sit mac jones is he did have some like like delay of games and struggles in the two minutes things that you would expect out of rookie quarterbacks uh throughout the preseason which i think maybe registers in Bill Belichick's mind that like, okay, this guy's maybe not 100% ready. I'm curious how much if you asked defensive coordinators and just got their unvarnished opinions when you hear that thing, oh, the coach, Coach X is not going to decide who the quarterback is. So the other team has to prepare for both quarterbacks. Is that actually a huge

pain in the butt or is that like, is the defense able to adjust either way? I'm just curious about But these two quarterbacks are so different and you would kind of think the offenses would be so different with the two of them that I think at least Belichick would like to maintain that advantage. I mean, when in doubt Belichick's going to say nothing. I mean, that's typically what his MO is. So none of this is a surprise, really, you know. It'd be a surprise if he came out and said anything like about this before week one, right?

You're probably not going to get anything. I don't think you're going to get anything. I mean, it's different. Like, I think Tom Curran made this point that he thinks when Belichick saw the new NFL schedule that he was all about it, because you can start preparing for week one now. So you're going to be on the field preparing for your week one opponent more than any other game that you'll ever play except for the Super Bowl. And if you don't think guys like Belichick and Andy Reid are going to cook up some fun stuff for week one and want to, like, hide everything possible, like, their app, that's exactly what Bill Belichick's going to do. And, like, maybe they do a little rotation, little Mac Jones and Cam Newton.

I was going to say, I would see a situation where Bill Belichick knows he has arguably the best goal line weapon in the history of the National Football League. And he's going to use him throughout the season when he's available. And they're a better team than they were last year's. I wouldn't put it past them to start one guy one week and start the other guy another week, depending on the team in the situation. Cam's luck, Cam had a good camp because otherwise he would have lost the job because Mac Jones ultimately did better, I think, than anyone. could have expected in his first camp and his first preseason. Who starts first, Tray Lance or Mac Jones? I would go Mac Jones.

I don't know. Yeah, I'll go, I'll go Tray Lance. 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. 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. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Fulrio, and together we host the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy

league this season? Then you need the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet, we've got the insight to help you crush your opponents. Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more.

In other quarterback news, the Eagles acquire Garner Mingshu, the warrior from the Jaguars for a conditional sixth round pick. The move comes a couple days after the Jaguars named Trevor Lawrence, their week one starter and one of the bigger shocks of the summer. So Minshu joins a quarterback room in Philly that includes Jalen Hertz and also Joe Flacco. What does this mean Greg Rosenthal? because I have some thoughts about it. I want to hear your thoughts. You had a great tweet about it. It's just like it's not a healthy relationship,

but they're right now between the Eagles and Hertz. Well, I guess my point was like, yeah, I feel like quietly they're in an unhealthy relationship. And I got, I think you guys have all been, well, Claibon, I know you have. And I know Greg, of course, as well, like you'll send us a tweet out and you know, you won't think much of it.

And then for some reason, it strikes a chord, sometimes positively, sometimes negatively. And I'll tell you what, Eagles fans. And I don't, you know, I don't really know too many Eagles fans outside of Connie and Gonzo and a few others because I am a jet fan and an AFC guy when I was growing up. But they were on fire. They were so pissed at me that I would even insinuate it. I mean, if you went in my mentions, you would see hundreds.

Maybe I must have gotten like quote retweeted by some popular, whether it was like a blog or a columnist or something because they had their knives out for me insinuating that. Phelan Hertz and the Eagles are on unsteady ground on any level. I was being told that it was a fake narrative and tired, needs to go away. But I'm not basing this off on just like, I don't know, like I just parachuted in totally. This is an Eagles team that has been connected on some level through reports to Deshaun Watson that now is traded for Gardner Minshu. They were connected to taking a quarterback in the draft and reports.

and the Eagles have, as a ship, they leak like the Titanic. So I just feel like there's a lot of stuff coming out of that building. And I'm just saying that's the way it feels. I didn't say the way it is. But I thought it was funny, the response to the vitriol, Eagles fans don't want to hear that. Well, it's telling, right, that they're so angry about it. It's probably got some, it's so truth, right? No, I thought, I defended the Eagles for like not naming him the starter all summer

because what does it really matter? he was getting all the first team reps. I do think they're making his life. You know, Jalen Hurts's a little tougher. That's a weird, it's a weird quarterback room. And I kind of thought, like, is Flacco really going to be on this team? And the cut, the cutdown day is Tuesday. We're taping this on Monday.

So we have to assume right now Flacco will be on this team. But that doesn't make sense. Why would you have Flacco and Minchu? I'm kind of guessing they trade Flacco for like a conditional seventh or something to the Falcons. And he's not on this team. And that Minchew's the backup. And that's an upgrade up. backup.

Greg, Greg, they just traded for Minchu for a conditional sixth round pick. A conditional six-round pick. It is great value. It is great value. Mishu mania has not ended because this is the most discussed conditional sixth round pick trade of all time for a third string quarterback. That's why I think like. He was a high quality.

Yeah, but he's not a normal conditional sixth. We talked about Sony, Michelle. That's no different. It's a conditional sixth. Here's what I'm saying, though. Like, don't you think he's one of the best backup quarterbacks in the last? the league now? If he was, Greg, I'm assuming that the value would have been more than a conditional sixth round pick. Also, let me say this, Claibon, because I know what you're saying. We shouldn't be

making that big a deal because it's Gardner Minshu. But at the same time, he's kind of like the new generations. He's the Gen Z version of Ryan Fitzpatrick. And just watch out here. If Jalen Hurts struggles, he can play, though. That's the difference. We know he can play. So can Ryan Fitzpatrick. What I'm saying is he's a guy that people get behind. He's got the mustache. He's a bit of a folk hero down in Duvall. And I wonder if this is just going to make things a little bit that much harder for Jalen Hertz, if you truly believe in the guy.

And while we're on the subject of things that to me were a little curious, what's going on with Urban Meyer, who was taking away first team reps from Trevor Lawrence all summer, giving it to a guy who he then traded for a conditional sixth round pick? What's that about? What are we doing here? It's the mania. stupid. It's the mania. The mania is real. And I understand that Gardner Minshu has played, but the people that are going to call for him the minute, Jalen makes one mistake, right?

And his, you know, eighth ever start in the NFL. They're wrong, too. Like, we've seen Gardner Minshu. It's the conditional sixth. I get it, but he's a third-year player who has played a lot better than plenty of quarterback, including some starters. I'm not a big Minchew fan, but like he's a better player than Sam Darnold. There he has been. And I know the draft picks wouldn't be the same, but it's just, I don't care that the fans are going to complain. It's the Flacco part of it that bothers me. And I suspect Flacco won't be on that team. Like, I couldn't help but think when I heard Drew Locke lose the job to Teddy Bridgewater and talk about how much he had learned from Teddy Bridgewater in terms of how he approached being a starting quarterback, how to talk to

his teammates, how to talk in the quarterback room, how to, how to, like, be a leader, how to be positive? And he's like, I never had that before. And I was like, hmm, who are the veteran quarterbacks that, uh, that, uh, that, uh, you've been with before Drew Locke? Oh, yeah, it was Joe Flacco, the guy who froze out Lamar Jackson, too. So, uh, that's sort of where I'm at with this. You know what I like, Rosenthal and Claybond, almost always on the same page I feel. I like that there's some type of differing opinion here. Yeah. And this is something to track. I like Jalen Hurts, too, but that's a great. I'm a great. in week six.

That's a great value. I think everybody's kind of bought into this idea that Carson Wentz was bad because he was mad and scared that the quarterback behind him was good. And I just don't, I don't believe that. And so that causes me to fundamentally believe different things about this current quarterback situation. Right. To be clear, I think it was a good trade by the Eagles.

You should add quarterbacks that are good for that cheap of a price that are under contract for two more years. I don't think it matters too much about Hertz. But there will be that segment of the fan base that'll be annoying if they have a losing record at any point and well let's let's check in with a segment of that fan base while we're here let's welcome in collar wolf oh hello eating some raspberries i'm just sitting here listening this is been fun my mic even on yeah what's up we're gonna talk we're gonna talk palindrome gate with Connie in a second but i just wanted to get your thoughts on uh my song turn that up great

Raid digger I call it still goes It's still on It's still happening So Eagle fans absolutely Tor me to Shreds this weekend Oh I saw What was up with that first of all Did you, were you behind that

And where do you stand on this Mean shoe thing now that you got the warrior In that QB room? I well so as you guys were talking about it I grabbed out my raspberries And started just going through your comments And it was hilarious there were a lot of takes on there, many angry.

I would say 99%. I think you only had like one quote tweet that was like, I feel the same way. But people were just like, you're a loser. Like, how was this tweet allowed? And it was just like all sorts of crazy came out. I didn't get it. But I think that that's an anomaly because Eagles fans are usually very, very even keeled.

They don't pop off about anything, especially not the quarterback. All right. How do you feel about it? Do you think Jalen Hertz is the answer? I don't know if we've had this conversation. I mean, we saw him for like four games last year. I have no idea if he's going to be the answer or not. And I don't even know, like I don't think the Eagles know.

Sure, they didn't take a quarterback. But I don't think that that is real. They can't base that off of four games starting. And he really didn't have a ton of work otherwise with like the first ring offense. and there really wasn't even a first string offense because everyone was hurt. So it's kind of like a coin flip at this point. And I think it's smart that the Eagles brought in other bodies. And I mean, look, I don't think Joe Flacco is going to help out.

But Gardner-Rinchie's a really good backup. And Philadelphia loves a backup quarterback. I forgot the one other thing that was just on my radar, that that ridiculous facta strategy they had in week 17 when they put Hertz on the bench and brought in, what's his face? just a bunch of weird stuff with the Eagles. Here's the thing. Like, yeah, the Eagles fans love a backup.

But sometimes those backups are like A.J. Feeley and your quarterback is Donovan McNabb. And you've been totally unfair to Donovan McNabb throughout his whole. Completely. That happens. That happens too. We still love A.J. Feely.

Hey, Connie. Pallendrome Gate. We just got to address it because we're on some level. We're an educational program. We seek to bring knowledge to NFL fans. And when we went down the road of you were kind of hung up on the cam, Mac, and you said, it's a real problem for me, Dan. What did you call it?

And then I said, yeah. And then I said, oh, is it a palindrome? And then I looked it up and I read the definition of a palindrome. And then you guys like, oh, that's it. And then like Paul Rudd, like, said some nice words to me. And then we kind of. To Dan Hansis, shout out. And then we just move forward.

But as it turns out, Cam and Mac, not a palindrome. No. In fact, like Taco Cat is a palindrome. Race car is a palindrome. Madame. Coyack. Madame. Former Detroit Tigers' backup catcher of the 80s.

What was his name? Matt Salas. Salas. Sure. The number 1,221. You know, that would be a palindrome. Cam and Mac is not that. but Connie is we saw some other things out there does it actually have is there a word that connects cam and mac or is it just two words I think that so the palindrome it's the same word spelled front and back but the amored I don't even know how to pronounce it a mord nalap which is palindrome backward that has to be made up that no I don't think so I think there is I've been that was the other thing I was doing while I was listening to

to the parts of the show was looking up definitions of a mordinalap. And that's a different word spelled backward. And there is some debate whether or not that's a word at all. I also saw some mordinalap, which is palindromes, plural backward. So, yeah, still a lot to debate here. And I think we do need some type of English language expert to come on the show. I'm thoroughly confused. yeah

well cam and mac I mean didn't so I'm someone who transposes I'm more in a lap that is a real thing I mean yeah apparently

so what does it mean Mac really had me Cam and Mac are just messing with us by doing that because that feels like something that would be made up to I don't know

to make it's in an article on on NPR.org and from 2015 it must be true I don't think and just to put a bow on it what happened on the last show So Colleen was wrong.

And then Greg was wrong. And all I did, as I mentioned Pallendrome, I didn't say that was the answer. And I read the definition. And then you guys all agreed and congratulated me. And then we moved on. I never said that was the answer. So I was never technically wrong. I just want to get them out there.

And we just need to redact all of the congratulations and everything else. No, that's fine. You can't take that back. Connie, that's a bunch of dummies. Connie, thank you for joining us for Pallandrum Gate. I know I added so much to the show today. He did. And more dilap.

I don't know. Now, pick up that guitar behind you and play us out. No, I would have. All right. Bad connection. I'll see you guys later. There she goes. Hi, Colleen.

Connie Fox. All right, let's finish up the news quickly and then we'll get into predictions. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Lev Florio. And together we host the NFL fantasy football podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL fantasy football podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies.

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Hey, this is Matt Jones. Now, 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 to NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Vikings News, Harrison Smith signs a new deal. Irv Smith out for a while with an injury. Greg, I'll tee you up that way.

Yeah, I was all ready for the Irv Smith breakout season. That's another team that's had some bad vibes in the preseason, the Vikings, just if you watch them play football, the football has been ugly on the field. But Harrison Smith, yeah, one of the all-time great Vikings, give him his money. Pay the man. Pay the man. He's been solid at that position.

And there were people argue because some people want their safety. They want safeties to be Ed Reed. Only Ed Reed can be Ed Reed. You still need box guys. And that's why there were people that were upset about Jamal Adams deal. They were saying it was too much. It was actually great value. And I think the Vikings got a great value here in Harrison Smith.

The safety is league-wide still underpaid. Still one of my favorite memories in the history of my time here at NFL is when me, and Chris Brockman, the producer and sidekick on the Rich Eisen Show, went to the Oscars. And we were supposed to go with Gronk, and then Gronk had a surgery. So they got Ed Reed to fill in last second, right after the Ravens won that Super Bowl. And remember us driving in a limo to pick up Ed Reed at the hotel on the west side of L.A. and waiting in the lobby, me and Brockman in full tuxedos for like 45 minutes waiting for Ed to come downstairs. and then spending the whole day

with Ed and his buddy and that was a great memory. Much better than it would have been with Grank. You know, all due respect. I think so. I think Ed Reed was a lot of fun and a good guy. All right, let's move on Shaq Lawson. Hopefully for the Jets will be a decent fill-in for Carl Lawson,

who of course blew as Achilles a couple weeks back and that position. edge rusher is such an important role for um robert sala on defense so shack lost and acquired uh in a trade for a late round pick and also former jet brett parryman not brett perryman what is it again why am i like brashad parraman brashad of course parryman the former jet he signed a one-year deal with the lions earlier this offseason he didn't even make the team he gets cut uh great that that that wide receiver group in detroit is is rough and the fact that Perryman couldn't even make the team. That's, that's no bueno. All the, all the more reason to pick up

Amman St. Brown. I forgot who's sleeper that was it. Was that Liz Loz's sleeper? Uh, I liked it, though. Uh, yeah, it's very rare to give a guy $2 million and then cut him. That's, that might be the highest paid player that signed this off season, uh, that did not make the team. Although, Shaq Lawson, who got traded from the Texans, is up there. And I do wonder if the Jets are taking advantage of this week and a half buildup to the season to just kind of take a look at him and he's not guaranteed to make the team because anyone that could not make the Texans defense at this point you would figure something's going on and you might struggle to make any any roster there's a lot going on with Houston Texans right now none of it good um and

finally in the news uh just want to hit on it yes I mentioned the Ravens they won they finished off that undefeated preseason I looking at the standings did you guys check this out the here here are the records in the AFC for the preseason. I'll go east to west 101-1, 10 and 3, 8 and 4, 9 and 3. And in the NFC, in the east, 111, the north, 2 and 10,

the south 3 and 8, the west 4 and 7. Should we read into any of this? Because there is absolutely, I think, a disparity in talent and contenders. The AFC, I think, is far better than the AFC right now. is there a connection between preseason action with a much derided preseason

Patrick Claibon and what we're actually going to see coming up in 2021? In terms of outcomes, other than something like the J.K. Dobbins injury, the only news you can get out of this particular preseason is bad news. I don't think you can draw anything. We have a proliferation of coaches who do not want to play anybody in the preseason. That's in both conferences. I think it's impossible to know anything.

Although it I agree It has nothing to do with the season And I also agree This is the deepest AFC I've ever seen Since we've been doing this job I think I think there are more good teams in the AFC I can't remember when that was ever the case

Going into a season I guess we'll see if it holds up But it is a show of which teams Took the preseason seriously It actually does match up Like the Ravens, the Steelers, the Patriots The Chiefs Those are all the teams that didn't lose the game

Or I don't think any of one of them lost the game, Steelers lost one, and those are the teams that won the games, which there probably is like a one-to-one thing there, that they were playing their starters, whether that's the right approach. The Dolphins are another team that played their starters, like throughout the preseason. I don't know if that's a good idea or a bad idea, but it's, it is pretty interesting how different, like, some of the best coaches in the league view it now. Like these are good coaches, Harbaugh, Tomlin, Flores, Belichick, Reed, and that so many,

and I guess it happens to be in the NFC are going the total opposite. way you see james morgan hail mary his time expired and the two-point conversion the jets escape with a tie against the eagles no but and i did i have to admit i didn't know any of that but i think you can actually draw i i'm taking a take from this game the fact that the jet's backups scored 31 points in any scenario is is to me a sign of something oh even in the precinct there's no way adam gase's backups are scoring 31 points. They couldn't, they could never move the ball even. I watched those preseason games.

It just wasn't happening. There was a, well, I don't know, there was an infamous green and white scrimmage last summer where the backups absolutely, it would be the backups against the starters in a scrimmage at MetLife Stadium. And the backups absolutely wiped the floor with the starters. It was absurd. Yeah, because they were just as good as them on the jazz. They were both like two and 14 teams, basically.

No more Adam Gays talk. That's what's happening in the news. All right. So every year, and this always sneaks up on me, and it's one of those things that like, same thing with certain office mandated security videos you might have to watch or IT learning things you have to do. It just like sits in the corner of my brain, like just nagging at me. You got to do this.

You got to watch this thing. You got to take care of your corporate drone activity. when genero sends out the email, hey, time for predictions for the season. That just sits in the corner of my brain. And I should just do it right away, but I don't. And it just sits there and then I'll get an email. Hey, man, remember this? And then eventually I do it.

Greg, I applaud you because you had a great idea, which is, why don't we just do this email on the podcast and make it our predictions conversation for the season. I love it. We're workshopping, you know? I did send one in, but we can change our answers. I think that's the best idea you've literally ever had on the podcast. I think it's brilliant on three different levels.

I think this one will serve as the official. I mean, it was not my idea. It's not my idea. It's there. It's there. It's there. It's there. It's genera's idea. So that was really a backhanded compliment there. That's what I'm taking. Eight years and that was it. That was it. That was the best idea. It's in the top three. I'll come up with the top three at a later date for the show. So anyway, let's bring in Justin, the grave digger, I call him. He's going to be digging Ricky's grave

if he continues to kill it in this production. Whoa. Justin, first of all, because I'd like your help with this. If you could just kind of tee us up with the different categories, I'd like you to get a plug-in for your Titans podcast. Let it rip. Oh, wow. Thank you so much.

Yeah. So the Music City Audible is a podcast. We do every Friday previewing the upcoming Titans game. Thank you. But here we're going to do. You ever think of taping it like earlier in the week just to give a little more, and a little more time for them to listen. We have thought about it.

He's about the content, Greg. He's not about views or listens. He wants to give people what they need. That's true. How about Grave Digger says that and you say, oh, man, I'd like to check that out. That sounds great. Everybody should do the same.

Why can't you just do that? Greg's just heating him up over here. I'm not, it's not heating him up. It's like sometimes the producer needs a producer. So it's just something to think about. Yeah. All right, Greg. It's a good news.

You've ruined everything again. Let's get into it. So, Justin, tee us up. And we'll, Patrick, Greg, and myself will share. So the way it breaks down just above the tree tops, it's going to be different awards, predictions, and then playoff teams, and then we'll all make our Super Bowl pick

where we stand on August 30th. I mean, unless we want to hold that for right before the season starts. No, this is good. Let's do it. All right, get us going, Justin. All right, we'll start with the individual awards. beginning with the most important, most valuable player MVP award.

I'm a basic bitch. I got Mahomes. Yeah, anybody else? Yeah, it's super chalky Mahomes for me. Yeah, I decided not to get cute with it. I get cute with the other ones, but not with Mahomes. Yeah, this one, it just, I just, huh, it ain't a brave feeling, but I just got a feeling. This is going to be one of those seasons for the ages with Patrick Mahomes.

Offensive player, oh, sorry, no, see, I'm so used to doing it myself, Justin, set the table. How about offensive player of the year? Well, I'll get this out of the way. I'm a conscientious objector every year to this award. I don't believe in it. It's not a bit. I just think even contributing to this answer. So I always just put, nah.

I always just put no. I used to say, hey, can you print this sentence about how dumb an award this is? But they wouldn't, they didn't narrow it. They wouldn't print it. So I just sit this one out. Okay. Patrick? Calvin Ridley.

I think he has an opportunity to get a lot, a lot of catches. And perhaps, you know, as Greg's previous objections to the award, it's the award itself and the way that it plays out, yeah. Maybe it's a spot I could just give some pop to a player I like. Yeah, it's a smart way to do it, Claibon. Well, all of us. I have Kyler Murray. I think he's going to be the first guy to ever go $4,000, $1,000, and that type of

statistical production, even though. his team's going to go eight and nine. It's going to do something that lifts him to that award. And Justin, just going to quiz you off the top of your head. Who was the offensive player of the year in 2020? That was Derek Henry, 2000. Whoa. See, that's, but Greg, look at it, look at it that way. Would have you known the answer, Claibon? Because I wouldn't have. No. No. I was a yes, Josh Allen. But to see, doesn't that in a way justify it, Greg, because it's a quarterback award MVP. Everybody knows that Derek Henry runs for 2,000 yards

and puts that team on his back for like just make that the award, non-quarterback award. But it is. Sometimes, sometimes the same guy wins MVP and offensive player of the year pretty often. Like, so I don't understand why wouldn't just be Mahomes, Mahomes. Make it at the non-quarterback award. That's what they should do. About half of the last MVP, last 10 years, MVP is also won off the player

the year but only about half well that seems so silly yeah it's like when there's a good running back to to vote for then that guy wins it but otherwise or michael thomas when he set the reception record that's good but it's like when a player like a receiver a quarterback or non-quarterback sets a record of some kind or becomes the eighth player to run for 2,000 yards then they're like okay a different person than the MVP can have it should the offensive player there just be the guy who came second in the MVP vote right that's sort of where i'm coming i know i mean i i know what you're saying i'm not but i'm not against it it's it's a house of cards that we need you know award realignment like we'd have to change everything to fix the problems with the individual awards yeah

just say non-cuby i think that solves it well why couldn't erin donald win MVP one year and then a qb win offensive player of the year exactly speaking of arin donald how about defensive player of the year erika is in trouble man it's gonna be miles garrett uh for me i think i think we We get the 20-sack season that we've been waiting for for Miles this year, especially maybe if we get a healthy clowny season, the Brown scores and points. Other teams were passed, and I say Miles Garrett. I like that one a lot.

I thought about that. But I'm going to go Chris Jones, which I threw out there as like, what's the long ticket if he's even on the board? Some listener, I think, and we're not encouraging this. This is against the policy. We are not encouraging anyone to do anything. but some listener took my Chris Jones defensive player of the year thought and acted upon it. So I think that's a, it's a real long shot.

I don't think it's like, yeah, it's a real long shot. But I'm going to go with Chris Jones. You know, Miles Garrett was my pick. And then when I was filling out the document, I blanked on it, put Aaron Donald. And I could send a follow-up email to Janaro, but I won't. I'll just keep it. And Aaron Donald, just to show him the love as an all-time great. He'll get my vote.

What about offensive rookie of the year? Well, this is like the starting of a theme for me, but I'm going Trey Lance. I'm not worried about week one. I'm thinking long game. I'm thinking that team's going to be good. And I think the quarterback on the best, the rookie quarterback on the best team probably wins this award. And I think that'll be Trey Lans. Badger.

Jalen Waddle for me, the opportunity is there. waiting for Will Fuller to get back. They're going to throw the ball. I think, too, is going to have a solid year. And just statistically, he's going to edge out the guys like Chase, probably, you know, Devonte Smith. You're going to have to be a monster to beat out these rookie quarterbacks. You're going to have to be a monster.

It could happen. They could kind of cancel each other out, and he could have a monster year, or they could just be like, okay, but you're going to have to be good. I believe, just, Justin Jefferson did not win. No, correct. A.J. Brown had an unbelievable year. and lost to Kyler Murray, who had an average year. And he actually, A.J. Brown came in third behind Josh Jacobs,

who didn't even play the last game of the season that year. And then last year, Justin Jefferson had like 1,400 yards and still lost. I mean, Justin Herbert did set the rookie game. We need a grave digger, a sound effect here when you're making good points like that. You got to give yourself a sound effect. Let's get that. What do they have? The monster truck racing.

Remember, it would always be like, grave digger. Every time you make a salient point, bang, hit us with the grave digger. All right. I'll need an objective person to tell me when to hit it. Right now. All right. Oh, Zach Wilson is my pick. Okay. That's my choice.

And I think he's going to be great. And I believe in him. And he's the best quarterback ever. Next. Defensive rookie of the year. I went chalk here and Michael Parsons. I really think even before training camp, he would have been near, if not at the top of my list. He probably is the favorite.

I haven't actually looked, but he should be the favorite. because he looks incredible. And that's a position that you can get noticed easily. You know, you're not playing an island playing cornerback. You're not even Chase Young where like, yeah, you had a great season, but you only ended up with X amount of sacks. But it's like everyone will see Michael Parsons all the time. I'm with you.

I have that as well. And just waiting for that other shoe to drop with a trade of the Cowboys to really clear the path for him and any other distractions that might be lingering in the locker room. I'm going to go with Gregory Rousseau. The rookie up in Buffalo has had some pop in the preseason as much as I said preseason doesn't matter. He still showed the skills that you can't teach, right?

You can't make somebody have long arms. You can't make somebody six, seven. And I think in draft season, right, he got like he was shirtless, right, with Jalen Phillips, his Miami counterpart at defensive end. And Phillips was impressive physically. And people were like, ah, Rousseau took the year off. I don't know. he's done nothing but play he beat panaceau in the preseason game and he looks great so why not

a lot of good things there how about comeback player of the year oh i just think christian mccaffrey's going to put up the numbers that it's going to for whatever this this award is about um like last year Alex smith all he had to do was get back on the field and it made it was a no brainer that he would get it this is going to be to me more a traditional type of year where who's going to have huge year. Who was hurt last year? Christian McCaffrey's my picks. I think he'll have 16, 17, 1800 total yards and 15 touchdowns. And that's going to be tough to beat. Dak felt like the basic pick. So I wanted to be, you know, a little cute, you know, a little more creative than that. So I went Nick Bosa, just because I feel like everyone kind of forgot about

Nick Bosa as a person, uh, as an amazing player. And he's coming back from that big injury to. Yeah. Last time I talked to you guys, I said Derwin's going to have a huge year. I think Derwin is the comeback player of the year this year. This is a good. This is a great field for comeback player of the year this year because all those make a lot of sense. Who do you have for comeback player of the year, Gravedigger? I would go chalky, DAC, just because the Cowboys are going to get so much media attention.

I mean, listen to that because I'm glad you said that. So we threw out the names, Dak Prescott, Christian McCaffrey, Derwin James, And Nick Bosa. Whoa, that's some beef. Burrow could be in there. Saquan could be in there if you wanted, you know. They would have to play well, Odell. What about, like, Philip Rivers,

he's already won at once just for sucking and then having a good year. But what if he came out of retirement in December? I want the award, first of all, like that year that he, quote, like, sucked. He was like, I always look back to this. He would, like, finish 17th in my QB index, although I'm a homer for Philb River. So maybe you have to adjust that down. It's like he was fine.

And they should make that an award. Like I guess that would be most improved. They don't have a most improved. Like Sam Darnold, to me, would be a better comeback player of the year candidate. But he's never going to win that. He's never going to win that because he's going to eat. First, he would have to play well. But even if he did, he wouldn't win it against all these superstars who are just like better.

It doesn't make sense. You'd be so mad if Sam Darnold won. I would be wrong. I would be mad. And I would not, I don't like being wrong. And so then I would be mad. You're right. What about James Winston?

Yeah. I mean, Sean Payton. come back so all right what about a coach of the year a coach of the year I'm going Kyle Kyle Shanahan again continuing with my 40 and I gave him three awards I gave him Bosa give him Lance I gave him

Kyle I just think they're going to be good I think I know who you're going to take for the Super Bowl by the way you kind of do yeah and he's feeling himself too we talked about it with this quarterback shuffle yeah I think it's Kyle Shanahan I'll have to go somebody off the Kyle Shanahan coaching tree it's the entire league

And you know, soliloia, solelujah, solilolyleuia, and you know, people who want to give me a hard time and be like, oh, Dan, talks about the Jets too much, blah, blah, blah, blah. But doing this podcast since 2013, we've done like 1,200 episodes, and that team has never even they sniffed the playoffs once. It's been a real rough run for the Jets in the history of this podcast. I'm allowed to have some optimism. I sincerely believe Zach Wilson has a chance to have a breakout rookie season. And I really like the direction of that franchise with Robert Sala.

And I don't know, I would have to look back at the history of that award. Do they give it? Like, did Brian Flores get it that year where they really competed? Do you have to win multiple? Got some vote. You did get some votes, but he didn't win. The Jets might win six or seven games. But if they're going in the right direction, I feel like he should be in the conversation.

You might need to win at least. I feel like you've got to have a winning record. Yeah, maybe nine. Go to the year. That's how. So let's do that, Rob. All right. What else?

If you look at the last 10 years, they all had not only winning records, but like extremely good records. And. Ooh. Okay. I don't know if that's always the way to look at it. I think maybe it's time to have a different perspective. And it looks like 40% of winners of the last 10 years were in their first year with the team. So there is a lot of.

of that. It's a lot of like Dick Tehran going 13 and 3. Like if David Cully, right, went 8 and 9 this year with that team, how would he not be in consideration for that award? I think he should be, but right, the year it seemed like the jets were rolling out that Abrams tank for Todd Bowles and they managed to get all those wins. I was saying all season that Todd Bulls should win coach for the year that year, but it just didn't materialize. Flores was my guy throughout last year and I think he would have been a fine

pick and yet by the end no one wanted to hear it because they didn't make the playoffs even though they totally overachieved a year ago we got to get claibon to make up in like 10 minutes here all right grave digger let's cycle through the rest of us all right we got to go playoff picks so a division winner for each division and then three wild card teams from each conference maybe let's let's rip off like the afc division winners does anyone have uh i'll throw out mine and which are Yeah, pretty chocky, but it's Bill's, Ravens, Titans, and Chiefs. Do either of you have any differences there? I have Bill's, Ravens, and I wanted to get cute with the South.

So I just went with the Colts. And Carson Wentz, another comeback player of the year guy, potentially, and the Chiefs. Oh, no, none of us have the Browns. That feels tough. All right. Well, what about the Wild Guard? I have the Steelers, Titans, and Browns. What do you guys got?

Dolphins, Broncos, Steelers. Oh. So you left, you left the Browns out of the playoffs. I did. I did like the Browns on the playoffs. About you, Greg. Majority rules on this one. I don't feel good. I know. It really kept me up. I thought about it a lot because I was just like, well, maybe Mark won't even notice. Mark's going to have you in the hospital if you don't have the Browns on this. It's like I also looked at this because I know how that NFL.com article comes out and it's just like 14 people picked this team and like no one picked this. And it's like you kind of want to like have a little more representative, like spread it out.

So I wanted the dolphins and the Broncos and the Patriots to get some love. I didn't think that the dolphins would maybe get much love whatsoever, although Claibon did it. And he gave the Broncos some love, too. We are too much on the scene. Sessler, I want you to make note. I have the Browns as a wild car team playing relevant January football. Patrick Claibon, Greg Rosenthal, no. We want to motivate the Browns, who will now try hard because we have a slight.

I don't even know if I totally buy that. That's what I mean. Like I really wanted it. I was thinking hard about the Chargers too. They're in and Steelers. You love so many teams, Greg. That's your problem. It's not so much love like, yes.

But don't you think like the Steelers could be good? The Brown should be good. But I could see it going a little sideways, tough schedule. And the Chargers too. Those are like three teams that didn't even make my, my playoff list. Anyways. All right. Grave digger.

Keep us moving. NFC division winners. All right. I got Washington, Green Bay, Tampa, and Los Angeles. Chalky as hell. I went with the 49ers in the West. I think they need to stay healthy. The fact that they had like a healthy camp for the first time in the Shanahan era

gave me the vibes that's like, okay, maybe the health luck is turning around. I just think they can be a juggernaut if things go right. So I went 49ers, bucks, packers. And at the last second, I switched it to the Cowboys. I just was thinking, I always say quarterbacks and offense. And so it just didn't feel right. I switched this to the Cowboys. I got you.

Remember earlier in the offseason? I said, I will not pick the Cowboys. I know. And I said this and I was like, yeah, I almost did it. And I said, no, I must be a man of my own word. So Washington, what about you, Claybon? Yeah, I made no such promise. And me and Greg do think too much alike.

The only difference is I've got Seattle and Russ in the West. And the Niners in that first wildcard spot. Okay. So, all right. So I have Wild Card, one, two, three, Niners, Seahawks, Vikings. What do you have, Patrick? I've got three West teams making the playoffs, the Niners, Los Angeles, and then New Orleans sneaking into the wild car.

Oh, I like that. That's, there's some onions hanging there. How about you, Greg? I had New York. It's this one, like, if you say that like the three things, it doesn't matter. And then somehow it's like, well, James and his Sean Payton. I did not have the Seahawks in, though, you know, because I had to leave a team out. I have, you know, the Rams, the Vikings also making the playoffs.

I think the defense is going to be good. And, yeah, the Saints is my last team. Interesting. Good offensive line. It would be wild if the Hawks didn't make it. What about your Super Bowl matchups and winners? All right. Did you guys write your blurb?

Want to just read our blurbs? Sure. All right. Yeah, read away. I got Chiefs over Rams. The pairing of Sean McVeigh and Matthew Stafford proved to be a smashing success, but even an excellent Rams defense could not figure out Patrick Mahomes, comma,

who followed up his second NFL MVP award with another Super Bowl MVP, period. Well, if you think it doesn't have enough juice, then you can still change it. You should go, I always go for a hyper-specific prediction there, just in case one year you get it right. So I went 49ers over race. Ravens. I had the chiefs initially, but then I was like, well, if I'm going to pick the 49ers to win, you might as well just go balls out here. And my sentence is, Trey Lance becomes the first rookie quarterback to lead his team to a Super Bowl title after Fred Warner tips Lamar Jackson's potential game winning throw at the buzzer.

Hyper specificity. I don't, I don't have that. Oh, wow. Okay. Okay. The Trey Lance is going to win the Super Bowl this year. Tray Lance wins a Super Bowl and Warner. It's like Lamar has. Has him open, makes a great throw. But Fred Warner diving, immortal play that you remember. You have a different outlook on the whole exercise. It's kind of like what you want to happen in your dreams of the best NFL season. This time I went with that, yeah.

I went with more like trying to just get it right. And I've kept trying to do that. And I always get it so wrong. That's why it's like, well, I'll just pick what I want. All right, Patrick, what do you got? Storybook ending in Hollywood, Aaron Rogers walks off the field. the champion as Patrick Mahomes loses his second consecutive Super Bowl. I like that.

I thought hard about going Packers all the way, too. I feel like they're not getting a lot of love for a team that absolutely has a chance to win the Super Bowl and might have the best quarterback. Absolutely. Devil's advocate and maybe their defense is better this year. But if they weren't able to get over the hump with Aaron Rogers having an all-time season at 38 or whatever, if it didn't happen last year it's not going to happen i don't know i guess ball's not round hey that's absolutely right and you know what and maybe that helps who knows that got me really excited um because it is just a reminder even though we've been doing this forever and all you know

we've all been NFL fan since we were we boys at the beginning of the season's so fun it's just like they can go in so many different directions um so we get to now see how it all plays out and that's one of the great things about this podcast. Like, we track that, boys. We track how the season plays out after all the hype throughout the spring and summer. It'd be weird if we just like, we're an offseason pod. We're just like, see an X, see in February. We're like so anti-climactic.

No, you're right. I love that feeling. I'm glad it still hits me and it is hitting me and it will more, you know, with week one, which I always think is like the best week of the year. But there is something about it. I'm still a sucker for the NFL. which is good. Well, that's good.

Otherwise, a podcast would probably suck. We want to enjoy it. Patrick, thanks again. And, yes, watch Patrick all season on Fantasy Live on NFL Network. And I believe if we can grab you a little more of your time next week, you'll be joining us for another special episode. Let's do it. All right, beautiful.

There he goes. Patrick Claibon. And yes, get well soon. Mark Sessler. We told Mark, do not worry about getting back. He's bummed out because he knows he's missing these ramp up shows. But it's very important. to him, and to us and his family, that he handles the recuperation the right way.

So get well soon. Quiet storm. Until Thursday. Heath the call. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Lev Florio, and together we host the NFL fantasy football podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL fantasy football podcast, your ultimate source for

player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet, we've got the insight to help you crush your opponents. Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more.

Hey, everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move to Six, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers,

and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else. It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast.

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