NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Tom Brady news & 2015 rookie predictions

Episode Date: May 12, 2015

A room filled with heroes -- Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, Chris Wesseling and Marc Sessler -- react to the latest in the Tom Brady suspension saga (7:35) and more news from around the NFL. The guys also make their 2015 rookie predictions (29:30) and project the starting lineups in the AFC East (42:45).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 has told you everything they know. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansis, and I am joined by a room filled with heroes. Mark Sessler, Chris Wessling, and Greg Rosenthal. What's up, boys? Hey, Dan. Welcome back to the podcast.

It hasn't been very long. Less than 24 hours, but, you know, we should start with the elephant in the room, the formal complaint that you've... Oh, we're going to do this? Lobbed in the... I did lodge a formal complaint in the commissary today. I guess you don't lob formal complaint. No, and it...

Listen, I don't like doing this, Mark. You're a very good friend of mine. All right? But, you know, Mark took off Monday and Wes back me up. Actually, anything's off here. Mark took off Monday, coincidentally, and I'm going to say coincidentally, the punishment on the New England Patriots drops. So, you know, while Wes, myself and Greg pounding out content, you were wherever you were, we taped an emergency podcast, you couldn't make it. Okay, listen, it was your off day and you're entitled to that.

Right. You know, move ahead to today. Tuesday, big hammer drop comes from Ted Wells, who hosts a fiery conference call, which we're going to get to a little bit later. going back at the Patriots and Tom Brady's agent You know, where's Mark? Mark again, now on the clock, but Out of the office, and where were you? Well, I had a dentist appointment.

Your teeth do look nice. I was just noticing they look nice and white. If the NFL is not going to give us an off-season, you've got to create one on your own. What's your dentist's name? That is Dr. Piva. I believe everyone in the room goes to Dr. Piva. I don't.

Your dentist's name is Crentist. Sounds a lot like dentist. Wow. Well, your complaint has no basis in reality. Well, what I'm saying is I'm not, I forged the complaint, but it doesn't mean that it can't be explained away. And maybe just a note. I don't know.

I mean, I'm not the boss. Let me point out two details. One, I did not just take a day off yesterday. It is the scheduled time off after getting banged during draft week and the week after. And the second part of this is that I delayed my Dr. Pivo appointment four separate times

dating back to last summer. The first of them was when I had to stay in the office because someone in here was out with a new baby. Wasn't me? Wow. It actually was Wes.

Breaking news. You know, we all, you know, we all, in a way, we support each other when we have real life events happening. I'll take you at your word here. Yeah. I just, I thought, Greg, and I don't want to sound like, you know, Pollyanna or anything.

I just wanted to throw it out there that it was something I had noticed, that's all. I'm not turning my... He became a dentist. I'm not turning my phone over to you over it, but... I'm not a big conspiracy theorist, but does anyone think that there are forces behind the movement to ensure that we no longer have off-seasons? That's a bigger question. It's compelling.

That is interesting. You're saying right now the NFL and Tom Brady's four-game suspension, blowing other sports off the front of the sports center and, you know, do the people, newspapers they still have, I believe, and websites, web portals. I guess it's the old adage. There's no such thing as bad PR. I'm not going to unpack what I'm saying, but yeah, I think that what you just said about being on the front page of newspapers and taking over sports center in May is good for the

NFL. I don't buy that. I mean, what could happen there? And it is good for the NFL. I do buy that, the timing that it comes out after the draft is suspicious. Well, and they control that. That they don't want it to be the big lead up to the draft. Did you find anything else suspicious?

Oh, in terms, well, I'm going to wait for the report. I've hired an independent investigator. Oh. A gum shoe? Ted Wells is available. Yeah, Ted Wells is available right now. Yeah, you know, listen, when HR millions of dollars. Yeah.

It's occasionally that HR comes around just says, how are things in general? Like, are you, if let's say you have. to do something important like go to the doctor or a dentist. Are you, is there pressure? Do you feel prevented from doing such a natural human thing? I do. I'll say, listen. I don't know how to respond to that, but there may be some things in that area. Here, listen to this podcast. This is my evidence. I appreciate your honesty. You were fully cooperative in this investigation.

All right. She didn't ask him to turn over his phone. I know. I wouldn't do that. It is a company phone, though, actually. So you might not have a choice. I'd rather we not do that. Big show today, big show. I hope that doesn't make things weird between you and I, Mark. We have a lot to get to.

Big show, we have our rookie predictions, which we rolled out last week. We broke down quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, and defensive players, who we thought would make the biggest impact in year one. So we're going to share some of our high-octane opinions on that matter. Also, we rolled out our annual projected starters series. today, Tuesday, which you could find at nfl.com slash news

AFC East first one up. So we're going to the four teams there. So we'll hit that on some level, right, Greg? Oh, we'll try to. If you get to it. See how long the podcast goes. We might not get to it.

I did get a shadowy league figure. I got to say, I got to come clean here. Did sit me down and say, hey, that show a couple days ago that went well over an hour, don't let it happen again. Well, when there were probably 100 people tweeted at us and said

we like the longer podcasts maybe but the exact quote sometimes you got to cut people off and shut them up so if you get if you got cut off at any point or anybody here it's not coming from me you know up the food chain how high up pretty high pretty high

TD how you doing behind the glass Can you cut that person off next time they try to give you advice I will not because I like working here TD behind the glass how are you buddy What is going on, Dan, what you're experiencing there is kind of like when you're directing a big budget movie and the higher ups coming. You've got to take a couple of scenes out, you know? And that's kind of like what the deal is. And I'm partly responsible for that too, but I'm for one.

I don't mind the longer podcast. Yeah, I don't either. The biggest is a listener. Lastly, though, real quick. Or secondly, if you really want to get to the bottom of this Mark Sessler thing, you've got a body language specialist for hire, man. It's giving me five minutes with the guy and I'll figure it out. All right. Well, just track him during this upcoming news segment, and then we're going to check back in with you.

Love it. All right, cool. Let's do some news. Before we get started, does anyone want to get out? Probably you, Mark, right? I feel, I mean, you know, on top of what you brought at me, which is total rubbish, you're going to tell me you're a body language specialist? I've been saying this for a couple of years now. I know you've been saying it.

You've been saying a lot of things. Mark's making a good point. Like, I could say I'm a magician, you know, over and over again. it doesn't make me a magician. That's fair, but again, the proof was there with Tom Brady. I said it from day one, and, you know, it happened. That's going to be in my case, the number one case. It's the first thing involving Tom Brady that had proof.

Oh. All right, so let's get into it. Let's start with, of course, we had our special, you know, Patriots Paloza podcast on Monday night. And so after that happens, Brady gets suspended. The team gets fined a million dollars and gets stocked two draft picks. all because of what Ted Wells came out with his independent investigation, which then the NFL looked that over and made their decisions after it. Predictably, the Patriots were fired up and upset.

Fired up as well was Don Yee, who is Tom Brady's agent, who was not happy at all. He thought it was excessive the penalty on Brady. So Ted Wells, which he didn't, something he did not do after the Miami Dolphins investigation, their bullying scandal with Jonathan Martin and Richie. incognito, Ted Wells organized a conference call to speak with the media. And the reason, the main reason, and what came out of it, it was a very, he was very animated and fiery, and he basically wanted to make sure everybody knew that he answered to no one

in this investigation and took, he took an exception to what Brady's agent said that he was somehow compromised in the investigation or taking, taking pointers, or was pressured in any way by the NFL. So he came out and said that. Also talked about that Tom Brady, while fully cooperative in a sit-down interview, when it came down to it, when he didn't hand over the phone, and actually, Wells didn't even ask for the phone. Wells said to the agent, you just give me the information I need from that phone.

I don't even need the physical phone. Brady's camp still said no, and that led to Brady really getting popped here. So Wells called this conference call to clear the air. Wes, what did you take out of it? Well, what I took out of is that NFL gum chute Ted Wills is no shrinking violet. He's no hot house flout. I mean, this guy came out spitting hot fire. He was fired up.

I mean, he, you know, I think one of the winners in this whole thing was definitely the appearance of Ted Wells' mustache, which we hadn't seen before in some of those pictures. and he was animated and I mean he was he was annoyed he said he wouldn't even held a conference call if not for yee's statements he basically wanted to take some shots at lee at yee and he really defended his position he defended it well here's a quote I think it is wrong to criticize my independence just because you disagree with my findings that was kind of like at the crux of getting at this and another thing that he said I thought that was strong and you know struck a note with me which makes sense that the NFL was certainly wasn't hoping I would come back with a report that would find something wrong

with the Patriots or Tom Brady. Okay, maybe. They wanted to get the facts. The idea that somewhere people at the league office wanted to put some kind of hit on the most iconic popular player in the league, the real face of the league, it doesn't make any sense. It's a ridiculous allegation. You know, he has a point there. It doesn't make sense for the league to want to do this. I think all of the stuff coming from Don Yee this week has not helped out Tom Brady. It makes their side look a little more like crackpot. And it's got Mike Silver all hot under the collar. John Yee does personally.

Mike Silver is in the midst of a 15-hour straight shift on camera NFL network. I hope they're feeding them with like a tube or something. By the way, he's taking on all-comers and thoroughly defeating the stronger side of the argument. Well, what about this, Wes? What if Mike Silver, who we all respect in this room, maybe he's on the right side of the argument and you're starting to come around. What I'm saying is he needs to. He needs better competition for these debates.

That's fair. You sell yourself there to get on the network. No, I don't want to be debating Mike Silver. I like Mike Silver, but come on. His main point, which is that, well, if Brady didn't do anything and, you know, why isn't Brady talking? Why aren't they showing any evidence? Why aren't they presenting any legitimate case at all?

That's his main point, and that's a fair point. I mean, Brady hasn't really presented a lot. What does Brady have to hide? Why not turn over your phone? I think that that sticks. out to the people on the other side of this that say, you don't say there's enough proof? Well, part of it, the proof that Brady could have provided, he chose not to. He could have probably turned his phone over and said, let's just shut this thing down.

If I have nothing to do with this. And he didn't have to do that because what I was struck by is what Wells was getting across is, you know, we understand why Tom Brady wouldn't want to hand over his personal phone. This is a hugely famous person. It's kind of a weird move to say, here, take my phone. They said, just give us the information we're looking for it. Give us all the texts, let's say, and he didn't specify it, let's say, all the texts you've had with McNally on your phone, all the text with the other joker that have been on your phone, anything else that might be pertinent to us,

and we'll take you at your word on it, that you're giving us everything that's there. And they just said, no. To me, again, it was the arrogance that was permeating from Brady's camp and the Patriots, and it came back to haunt them. And if I'm not mistaken, in the Ray Rice case, wasn't Goodell forced to give his phone over or phone information over? Well, he volunteered. I don't know. You're never, I don't know if you're necessarily forced to. I guess, like, from the angle of, if you want to shine a light on the Patriots and just say,

this is all wind, and I tend to think that the punishment was exceedingly stiff, and it's a little outrageous, and I'm with Wes, and you guys to say that the proof in that first report was not overwhelming, not even close, but turn the information over. When you deny doing that, you don't look like you're a forthcoming part of the investigation, and how do you get around that? Just admit that you wanted the balls deflated. Because I do agree. Well, that would be nice, too.

The idea that, because of course he did on some level, whether he knew what's the wrong level of deflation or whether, you know, whether he knew anything about what PSI even was, who cares? It was more, if Brady had stepped up that first time and just said, I did want, you know, the ball's deflated, this and that, kind of like the Browns and the Falcons basically said, we did our thing. I think the punishment would be a lot less. Before we move on, I know we do want to quickly, I think the one thing that Wells pointed out that he really wanted to stress was, the text from McNally, especially the text, he refers to himself as a deflator and that he threatened them that he had not gone to ESPN yet. That one text, I guess it was, where he said, look, I haven't gone to ESPN yet, but he was basically, he took it as a threat. I think that was his number one piece of evidence when decided. That's not evidence. It's just not. I mean, he has no idea what the

context is. He doesn't know if they're joking with each other. He doesn't know how Brady's involved in that triangle how about this part of the uh part of the conference call also is that's part of the reason why wells wanted to speak to mcnelly one more time and the patriot said no i just think if you can't find it out four times i mean it's not on mcnelly he only spoke to him one right he had a chance to once but and three other people spoke to mcnelly but i mean it's not why not why not talk one more time if you have nothing yet mcgnelly had another appointment that day oh please he's a low level team employee he has an appointment what what do you need you five times to interview a guy for

that's not on McNally that's on Wells and his underlings deflater's a busy guy I mean you have the like the revolution playing there you have the Celtics that guy's got nothing he gets it if you can't figure it out in the first four interviews that's on you

not on McNally he says an adult dodgeball league I know he's big into all right so this won't be the last time we talk about this of course because we don't know the appeal is coming from Tom Brady from what we understand but there could even be some lawyers about it could be some lawyering up and Greg you wanted to mention the craft

statement as well well I think the statement from Robert craft is the most interesting thing that's happened since the suspension came out in that craft who said he was going to accept any punishment released a very ominous statement that indicated otherwise that this you know it was our intention to accept any discipline levied by the league today's punishment however far exceeded any reasonable expectations it was based completely on circumstantial rather than hard or conclusive evidence so that statement to me indicates that we are considering taking action against the NFL I mean there's no other way to read that and they put the number 12 you know they put Brady's jersey as their Twitter and their Instagram profile and there's

talks of different things that they can do and so this becomes an interesting thing to watch do the patriots go after the league legally I mean in courts who knows no one really knows but it was an ominous An ominous little statement there. And we thought this was quiet season. Moving forward, the Jacksonville Jaguars, this was after our last podcast last week. They were dealt a cruel blow on Friday. Dante Fowler Jr., the number three overall pick in the draft,

and his first practice as a pro suffered a torn ACL in 11-on-11 drills out for the year. Just outrageous what's been going on with the Jaguars in their first-round picks for years. They've had five straight top-10 picks, and they're not getting anything out of any of them, including Fowler in year one. Lease, and this is to the credit to the Jaguars.

They showed some good faith on Tuesday, announced that they've signed Fowler to a rookie contract, a max deal under the league's slotting system. So it's four years, $23.5 million, fully guaranteed, no offset language. So Dante Fowler, just 20 years old, rehab this year, and he's going to get paid a lot of money while he does it. This unfortunate incident might end up turning me into a Jaguars.

fan. I feel like everybody involved has handled this with such a plum. I watched one of my rare Saturday shifts. I watched his press conference on the Jaguars website. He could not have been more upbeat, more composed, more positive, and you could tell it was genuine.

He's like, all right, I'm going to beat this, I'm going to be back strong next year. It wasn't anyone else's fault. This is just what happens in football. And he was so composed and so upbeat. And, you know, the way the Jaguars handled it, paying him fully, they don't have to do that. I'm glad they did too, and Gus Bradley, I think what happened right after Fowler was hurt,

Gus went to the hospital and talked about what you just mentioned. That he didn't have any family there, you know, he's obviously scared and alone, yeah. That his response to what happened was unusual. I mean, there were people that tagged Fowler as immature before the draft, and Bradley even mentioned that and said this completely had us thinking differently. So, I mean, I guess, you know, listen, bottom line, And there's still plenty of years left on this contract and in his career in general. And he's going to think of the Jaguars with some loyalty after the way they treat him.

Sure. But he also, you know, they need to win games this year or else Gus Bradley and David Caldwell won't be around to enjoy his career. If they win three games again, they're going to get washed out. So they're going to have to figure out a way to create a pass rest. They did a good job of it last year. They were sixth in the league in sacks despite having no one that can win one-on-one matchups on the outside. Ryan Davis. Yeah, I guess.

Ryan Davis, that's a breakout player this year. That's their top outside pass rusher, Dan Scuda. I mean, this is... Hey, oh, Scooter! Step up, big spot. This is a team that needs to win some games this year. Just six or seven. I think they will, personally.

I think I'm going to take them as a second-place team in this division, but they're going to have to need to figure it out. I'm not so sure. That's a huge wow. There's a bunch of bums in this division. I'm just saying second. Wow. The only regrettable thing, by the way,

about the Jaguars and this signing was Tony Con the owner of senior vice president tweeting out after they tweeted the photo

of Fowler signing the deal there was a record hanging behind over Fowler's shoulder and Tony Kahn tweets out

yes that is an autographed copy of the Lumineers self-titled debut album in the back of my office

the Lumineers I know I know they sing that one annoying song I belong with you and you belong with me my heart that song

you are taking on the Damashek hipster music role here well not quite but that's a weird album to put up on your wall making fun of someone else's music taste oh that's true it's just you're putting that one on the wall though yeah maybe there's a story behind it well but in Dan's defense

they're a wildly annoying even the wording even the wording self titled debut album it kind of sounds like a manager or something anyway they should have just said eponymous all right let's move on The Houston Texans trying to figure out their quarterback situation. They have Brian Hoyer and Ryan Mallet.

The two quarterbacks will split. First team practice reps when OTAs begin later this month. The team's official website stated on Monday. I'm interested in this one, and Mark, I'll start with you because you obviously have that connection to Brian Hoyer as a Browns fan. If you were a Texans fan, who do you want to win what seems like a true camp battle shaping up? in Houston. Oh, man, this is tough. I mean, there's no way this isn't just going to go back and forth this season anyways. But I would go Ryan Mallet because I think what we saw in Brian Hoyer last year

was probably the ceiling. The best you could get out of him with Kyle Shanahan doing what he did early on. And then he melted down the stretch. Mallet still is a complete and total mystery. I mean, Mallet has never looked good in the preseason. But beyond that, it's like, all right, let's see what he can do in year two in this offense. But I don't say, if I'm a Texans fan, want to get a different quarterback at some point. Not only does Mark Sessler want Ryan Mallet to win this competition, the Houston Texans want Ryan Mallet to win the competition, because they spent the entire February and March showering praise on Ryan Mallet and basically saying, we want this guy to emerge.

You've got to bring in Hoyer because you can't just hand the job to Mallet. You can't expect him to play all 16 games and play well, so of course you go get Hoyer. I mean, they paid Hoyer more money, though. Yeah, and their ideal scenario, they want Mallet to win this job. I tend to agree, but I think it's a pretty even battle and that Bill O'Brien likes Brian Hoyer and that Brian Hoyer has a lot of experience in Bill O'Brien's system and he's the type of guy that coaches love.

That's why he's brought him to Houston, essentially. I mean, this is a guy that he worked with for, what, three years in New England, and it wouldn't surprise me at all to see Brian Hoyer as the week-win starter. Looking at Hoyer's stats, by the way, stats can lie, I guess. I mean, there's a big black mark next to yards per completion. That means he led the league in yards per completion, Brian Hoyer. Although he did have, what, about 10 completions a game effect of the last five weeks he had the job. 242 completions.

It's not the smallest sample size ever. And he finished with the 7.6 yards per attempt. Normally, if I see that, that looks like that. I think you've got to look at by game. That should be a bolded number next to Kyle Shanahan's name since he managed to manufactured all those play action passes down the field. I agree. In other Texan news, they drafted DJ Sweringer the safety with their second round pick in 2013, and they quit on him.

They tried to trade him for weeks, and when they couldn't find a suitor, they decided to release the safety. He was right as we came up today, we learned that he was then claimed on waivers by the bucks. So Sweringer, two-year run, he was a starter for the Texans, but really struggled. It sounds like both on the field and maybe off the field He wasn't a guy that was popular with the front office So he's gone out of Houston It looks like he's heading to Tampa There's a report out today that he was cut

Because he didn't want to play special teams Or refuse to play special teams I don't think that's the only reason But he seems like our friend at Rumford Johnny on Twitter I asked yesterday There's got to be more to the story And he made a good comparison between DJ Sweringer And Brandon Meriwether

Yeah It was kind of surprised when the Patriots pulled the plug on Maryweather, first-round pick. Same thing with Sweringer, but they both want to just hit people instead of tackle, and they take bad routes to the ball. They're not ideal in coverage, so I think there's some of that where it's just a knucklehead. One of my favorite NFL media acquisitions of the year, Lance Zerling, who did a good job for 24-7 and all our draft coverage.

He just tweeted really the same thing, that he was a box safety. It really wasn't even that good a tackler, just like to make big splashy hits and wasn't that good in coverage. So Mike Tomlin loves him. Congratulations, Tampa Bay. You got them. Moving on in Dallas, this is from Friday, something I just wanted to touch on. You know, it's very hot in muggy in Irving, Texas this time of year, I guess, for rookie mini-camps.

Randy Gregory, on the same day Dante Fowler, unfortunately, was lost for the season. NFL Network had eyes on Randy Gregory laboring off the field, being assisted by multiple trainers, dehydrated too much heat. and, you know, I don't know, Greg. To me, this is when Randy Gregory's bombs out of Dallas in three years, I'll remember that as the exact moment I knew it wasn't going to work out. Totally unfair. This really got under your skin when it was unfolding on live TV. I've had his exhaustion.

It's no joke. I'm sure it's no joke, but just sometimes, forget about the fact that it could happen to anyone. Sometimes you just know. And mark my words, and T.D. mark this date when Randy Gregory is sent packing from Dallas. You heard it here first. You're right. At the time, Dan was, it just brought out the inner Skip Bayliss in him. He was just like, he's done.

And this is it. He's going to be a bust. There's no chance for Gregory in Dallas. His face, too. And then, you know, he's afterwards, you know. It wasn't a good look. It wasn't a good look. I mean, you know, Joe McKnight, he famously lost his cookies a number of times when he showed up for...

Had that work out. Yeah, a lot of times these hard knocks things tell you something. Swearringer was a very good. very annoying character when they had the joint practices with the Falcons last year. Listen, Wes. Hard knocks knows all. Wes, you could be dismissive of my analysis, but guess what? Two years from now.

Well, I was not exactly in professional athlete shape when I got my heat exhaustion, so I can see where your analysis is coming from. Were you in that garage? I think there may have also been beers involved, and then a long walk on the beach searching for something in 100-degree weather with a lot of humidity that caused my searching for something physical like a wallet or more

I don't recall like something bigger metaphysical like no parallel to an athlete on any level basically no I was in horrible shape which is why I suffered from heat exhaustion I get your analysis no you're total hotty now so

so you're saying Randy Gregory's preparation for his first NFL practice was similar to you drinking 20 beers and 100 degree heat on the beach I am not saying that, but people can draw their own. And finally, and this is just a straight question for Greg,

Terrell Pryor signed with the Bengals on May 10th this past weekend, and we did a post on it. When can we stop writing posts about Terrell Pryor signing with teams for short amounts of time? Never. Guy moves the needle. The Bengals website thinks he's going to make the team. If he's in the NFL, we're writing it. He's an interesting quarterback.

We write those things. First of all, you're right, he doesn't move the needle. One of the sneaky metrics bombers of 2000. Greg's corporate side coming out. No, but no, in reality, I think he could be the backup quarterback on the Bengals. The Bengals are the rare type of team that just give guys like these real shot. Ted Welts or Hugh Jackson. Wait a second.

I get them confused all the time myself. Wes is hit list starting to get confused. You're like, Ted Wells has started her investigation into A.J. McCorm. Karen and Josh Johnson. It's not going to come up good. He's going to open the door for 12. He could win that backup job. Why not?

He's Hugh Jackson's boy. Who was it that we thought was out of the league and then was a backup in Cincinnati? Jason Campbell. Jason Campbell. I don't know if I... And Josh Johnson. Yeah, and I think it was really Josh Johnson. And that's what's happening.

Moving forward. All right, you really snuck that prior one in there. Hey, listen, sometimes keep you on your toes. You know, it's very important to have format and structure, but you also got to, you know, keep it real. You know what I'm saying, Mark? I agree with that, 100%. Speaking of which, TD, how was Mark's body language?

We'll get to it. We'll get to it. A little, you know, solid. All right. Why don't you bring an expert alongside you to discuss the issue? There were some adversarial body language when you guys walked into the room. No, I said, hello, how are you, TD? Didn't get a chance to see you yesterday.

Get the shrug off, looking away. You just kind of looked at me. You just kind of stared at me. You just kind of stared at it. That's not. See, you're, I, how can you be trust. If you're going to take a narrative from like 12 minutes ago and recreate it to fit your version. We got enough people doing that.

Hey, I'm just telling like I see it, man. Cut to Zach Goldman listening to this podcast in a fetal position in the corner in Japan. Oh, Kaiado. Guys, don't fight. I can't handle this. My two favorite people are not fighting. All right. So last week we rolled out a series all about the rookie class, who we thought would fare best in 2015.

and let's start with the quarterbacks. We're going to go through four positions. We'll roll through this. And we'll start with James Winston versus Marcus Marriota. Greg, you think Winston will have a better first season in the league. I agree with you, as did Mark. Can you explain to us why you believe that Winston is more pro-ready right now than Marcus Mariota? Well, just everything we heard about him coming into the draft and everything that I've seen,

He just sounds like the type of guy who could make a good transition. I could see him having 25 interceptions, but also 25 touchdowns. He's got a pretty good receiver crew. I don't know if the weapons around him is really why I'm making the argument. It's really just I think he's a better player than Mario. You know, speaking of... He has a less of a hill to climb. Speaking of James Winston, Bobby Bowden, the former Florida State coach,

came out and had this to say about James Winston today. I think it's a consensus among FSU fans and boosters that he was an embarrassment to the university. Bunsen-Ber Blow-Torch right there, if I ever heard one. That's the greatest Bouten blow-torch ever. Easy there. Unnecessary at the same time. Easy there, Boutt.

Could have laid off that. There we go. I think Winston has the better year when you're ready, TD. Wow, Sessler's fired off. No, I like, you know, you can look what happened in, Tampa last year on offense, and there were a lot of issues, but they also had no offensive coordinator. I mean, the thing couldn't have been any worse for a first-time head coach in Tampa with Lovie to be dealing with that. And I think the whole thing melted. Dirk Cotter is like a good,

did a good job in Atlanta. I think he's a good fit for Winston, and they've got some receivers in there, so that's another advantage versus whoever. Who was calling plays last year? What was his name? Arroyo. I like, I would take Dirk Cudder over Ken Wisenhunt and what's going on. in Tennessee. Wes, where do you come down on this? Did I write this? You did not. You did not participate.

I don't remember this. I think, like Greg said, Winston is definitely more NFL ready. That helps a lot. I might not have voted for Winston in this category if they hadn't picked up promising offensive line prospects in the second round, a pair of them. You're a Big Marpet fan. Well, I don't know. I have no idea if he's good, but they needed to.

They needed bodies that could block. I mean, they were terrible last year. So I think you're counting on two rookies to come in, so there could still be growing pains. I don't think it would surprise anybody if Winston leads the NFL in interceptions as a rookie. Like Peyton Manning, this surprises me this answer because of the ever-growing Westerection for the Titans emergence this year. Well, I think, like you said, it's a longer climb, steeper climb for Marriota.

He's a spread quarterback, and he's coming into the NFL. So I like his potential, but as a rookie, I would think that Winston, and has the edge there. Real quick, Greg, was Kevin Petra drug tested recently? Why is that? He has Brett Hunley as his choice for the... Yeah, he tried to be cute. Most successful rookie season?

I guess what he was trying to say? Sorry, Patrick. You know, I know you use fists in a big spot, but, you know, Hunley, come up, buddy. These guys will, the other guys will fall flat on their face, whereas Hunley will be learning at the feet of Rogers and McCarthy. That's nice. Maybe he gets in a game or two and looks good.

Petcher thinking outside the box. Okay. Moving on to the running backs. All right. We'll start with Chris Wesley on this. You were involved with this. You chose Melvin Gordon of the San Diego Chargers. Oh, I forgot that I took part in this, but yeah.

Oh, yeah, you were a big time and part of it. Well, I think this goes back to a friend of mine whom I trust. His scattering point was Melvin Gordon would lead the entire league in rushing if he gets drafted by the Cowboys. And he has a 2,000-yard season in him at some point in his career. So like I said I totally trust this guy He's the first guy to turn me on to Chris Johnson When he was at East Carolina

So his word is Who is your source? Damn it We've talked about this My boy Brad Spicer Oh the spice rack Spicerama Hey give me another spice off that rack

Melvin Gordon's going to be a stud Also remember when I went to Vegas Yes He's the guy that hooked me up with the all day I like this guy Day club free drinks Good time I like this guy a lot

I can't This guy must be a genius. I can't imagine anyone else that West just takes information from spoon-feeds and just accepts it. He's a spice rack, Craig. Well, he... Spice. He's proven to be right enough times and the fact that I don't watch college football myself, so I have to trust someone else.

Okay. All right, I like that. I went with Todd Gurley, who everyone says is maybe the biggest stud of this group and is drawing Adrian Peterson comparisons, or at least is the best running back to come out of the draft since Peterson. Now, coming back from an ACL, I get that. That could be lead to them taking the foot off the pedal a little bit in St. Louis. But I also know that Jeff Fisher likes his job,

and I know that Jeff Fisher can't go six and ten again or seven and nine. I think Todd Gurley is not going to start the season on the pub list. I think if he proves that he's healthy, he's playing. And I think he'll make an instant impact, and they're going to definitely power that offense through the running game, I think, and try to win games with their defense and running game. Todd Gurley is going to be a monster this year. Gordon and Gurley are both good picks.

I mean, Gordon definitely has less competition, though. Trey Mason, you know, we were going to do a re-ranking of the running back, so I might still do that if I have some time this off season. I think Trey Mason would have been my top running back from last year. Other than Jeremy Hill, the number two, he would have been my number two rookie. I mean, he looked terrific. You like him more than Carlos Hodge? Yes, from what we saw, I would say, on last season.

But clearly the Rams don't see him as a guy that's going to carry the offense. Speaking of outside the box thinkers, I'm looking over at Mark Sessler, and he said you can take your first round running backs. You can take your second round running backs. You stick them right up your butt because I like Kevin Coleman in Atlanta making an instant impact. Well, I mean, when you do these things, you got to, oh, two people took Gordon and Gurley. I got to go somewhere else because you know. Not true, but you chose to.

That's fine. Because it's boring to everyone pick the same person. I went Colin because I like the idea of a rookie running back on a Falcons team that would devise Fonta Freeman does not have a featured back. He's a guy that can come in as a change-of-paced guy. Kyle Shanahan, he is in the past shown a lot of confidence with rookie runners. Steve Slayton and Houston? Well, why shouldn't it?

Oh, C's. Why shouldn't it? This is excellent analysis by Mark Sessler. Mark, you're doing great. Keep going. You haven't even started it yet. But anyway, you're doing great so far. He had Steve Slaten in 2008.

Alfred Morris, 2012. Slaten was a third rounder. Alfred Morris was a six-rounder last year in Cleveland. You know what? I'm leaving. I'm going to just take the headphones off. Why am I still here? I got 100 better things to do than this.

Right. I mean, West and Crowell, 1,200 yards last year or so. How about you take your girly and your Gordon, go to town with that. I'm going to win this thing. Go to town with it. It's a strong argument.

Oh, thanks, Greg. That's Shanahan somehow propped up Steve Slayton. I remember Steve Slayton one year the year after that. He was a fantasy darling. He was a top five fantasy running back pick, or top 10 at least. didn't happen in year two that was 55% analysis 45% aggression there mark and i liked it he was getting heckled he got some right i would have you know unfurled it completely in peace but i'm getting

i got it coming out from three different people you know during it i was defending three you're the third right there all right let's move on to the wide receivers great work mark way to defend your time on society uh and we'll start this one with greg rosenthal who says listen to marr cooper that guy's a stud, and I'm going to roll with him. Well, I'm glad I get to jump into this one. You didn't even call on me for T.J. Yeldon in the running back section. You're so distracted. Hey, it doesn't matter.

T.J. Yeldon's going to lead running backs, and Amari Cooper's going to be a little in a second. The Spicerack told me two or three years ago, this T.J. Yelden guy is the best back Alabama's ever had. So I asked him again about Yelden right before the draft, and he said, I was off of him about a year and a half ago. He lost his all of his first. Bradley loves him, though. Don't you wish you had the spice rack at your disposal when you're in the kitchen putting together the soup of rookies? You can have your spice rack. I've got Gus Bradley pounding the table to draft this guy.

Did he stand on top of the table? He did if you read that Mike Silver article. He was standing on tables. He's dancing around. I need a big back to give the ball 25 times a game to. That's DJ Yelman. Well, that's what we heard last year about someone, isn't it? What?

Your boy, Toby Carehart. All I'd say, I love Gus Bradley, but he loves every play. that ever played football. That's fair. So Spice rack seems to have a little bit of, you know, he gets hot and cold. Well, they proved it with where they drafted him, 36 overall, where a lot of people didn't think he was going to go.

Not a flashy guy. Kind of a four or five yard at a pop type of guy. I like those guys. Greg, the wide receiver class, you had Amari Cooper. And Jarvis Greenell is Greg's favorite running back. I picked Cooper just because I thought he'd get the most targets. And everyone else had picked Kevin White. So, you know, I'm guilty of that a little bit.

He just seems like the guy everyone said he had the most sophisticated understanding of defenses, kind of the NFL mind, the NFL routes, and he's going to get 125-30 targets. So he seems like a safe bet for a thousand yards. Just so you know, there were four of us in this room, we all pick different wide receivers. Really? Yes. Well, other people chose. I went with Nelson Aguilar from Philly, who's going to step in and produce immediately in Jeremy Maclin's old role.

You know Chip Kelly has a. an eye for talent when it comes to wide receivers and really any skill player. So I would assume he has a good chance to be a guy that goes over 1,000 yards and comes close to 10 touchdowns. Wes, you went with... How about that? Wes, Dan, giving Chip Kelly some love.

Listen, I'm not like a hater. Right. There's a new parody around the NFL account on Twitter. Yeah. The latest one is ATN Hot Takes. And the guy accused you of having a playground love for Chip Kelly. like you always push or throw rocks at the girl you like.

Maybe accurate. Wes, you chose Kevin White as your guy, and that seems like a pretty safe pick. Well, I fell under his spell at the draft. I mean, that charisma just reeled me in. I'll believe anything involving Kevin White now. I felt better about it after Dan Pompeii, a longtime Bears writer, a series of tweets saying just how dominant Kevin White was in a rookie minning kit, which, I mean, I don't know.

We're at that point of the off-seasoning. If you're the seventh overall pick, shouldn't you be dominating undrafted rookies? Yes. Yeah. I did like, though, they said at West Virginia, he was just on one side of the field, and already in the minicamp, they're moving him inside, they're moving him outside. He's a smart fellow. He's going all over the place.

Smart fella. He seems like he'd be a more versatile guy maybe than Alson-Frey. Jeffrey's going to be number two long term. Mark, you went with- Totally agree. You went with Rashad Perryman in Baltimore as your pick for the big breakout rookie. Yeah, I don't have any Dan Pompey tweets to attach to the third. this, but listen, I also could be dead wrong. I don't even remember writing this, but it seems solid to me in the sense that you got

Steve Smith, and then what else do you got? You got Marlon Brown, Michael Campanero, and Alder Cobbens. He's going to play. He's going to play out of the gate. It's Mark Tressman's offense. We've seen before that Mark Tressman can unleash two receivers in one season for big yardage. Now, the one thing about this guy, they said he has some drops issues, so he's got to get over that.

That's a problem. That's an issue. So did Terrell Owens. There you go. Are you at all? concerned about Perriman big time receding

hairline and yet he wears his hair in braids he's going Stevie he's doing the Stevie well it's a terrible luck hold on and that kind of judgment coming into the league

he looks like he's 45 years old you you raise an excellent point but a lot of times rookies after that first rookie season you see them get better haircuts they start to get that act together so let's give them a little bit of time that's true think you've overlooked the obvious here that he has

going with the boxer rebellion style of hair from turn of the century China? Ah, yes, the obvious. Everyone was thinking that. He's definitely, yeah, he's... TD would have jumped in with that same point. C.D. is falling asleep. He can't believe what's happened here. He's definitely doing the move where you haven't

quite accepted it that it's going up top. So you go with the braids. He's probably taking some heat from friends. And two years from now, he'll have the MJ and everything will be cool. I think so, too. I mean, he's going to listen to this podcast and be shocked into life about his styling choices. Yeah, and then he'll look at our pictures and be like, who are you saying about anyone?

Do we cover all the wide receivers? I don't want to leave anyone out. We could call Kevin Patrick, but no, I think that's it. He did Kevin White too. All right. He's got him coming. I'm going to bypass the defensive players because we've got to keep moving.

They don't matter. All your guesses are great. My pick for a defensive rookie of the year was Dante Fowler. I have a feeling that's not going to look. luck to you with that. The projected starters series, you know, one of one of my favorite every year, every springtime, we guess the starters. And this time we're going to start with the AFC East.

And, you know, Greg, you handled this task. You wrote the AFC East. We're all taking different divisions. And I guess the one thing that jumps out, we look at the Patriots right off the bat. And you look at the starting lineup for week one, and you got Jimmy G. A quarterback, which is just bizarre. It's like a look into your future. And then remember this guy.

My name is Jonas Gray. Has the starting running back in week one. Well, I had to pick someone. And Lagerit Blunt's not a very good starting running back either, I don't think. He's a guy that was best to use how the Patriots have, which is as a mid-season replacement or a third guy that will start for four or five games at a time. This is the worst running back group. I wanted to say since Antoine Smith was their starter when they won the Super Bowl,

but actually I went back and looked before I made the statement. was a season, 2009, where they had Sammy Morris as their leading rusher. Lamont Jordan was in the mix. Danny Woodhead early in his career was also there. So that was a pretty ugly group. But this is the ugly, I mean, this is a terrible running back group. So Jimmy G. is not going to be able to count on this running game, I don't think, to help him out early

in the season. And you can't really count on the secondary right now either. They got some problems. Greg's sounding just a tad nervous. Yeah, where are you out at the P scale? A lot of people are asking me to check in with you on that. One. One being no pee whatsoever in your pants.

I got to watch. No pee in your pants. No pee. I got to watch them win the Super Bowl in person, their fourth Super Bowl, on the last play of the game, a miraculous interception. Nothing's taking that way. Speaking of deflating, Greg, deflating the front of the podcast, no longer wants a part in the pee your pants scale.

How much peas in your pants is the question? It's one right now. It's the middle of a, April, or May. I don't even know a month it is. Well, I got a quick one for you. The throne of ease. And Wes wrote about this, but I mean, if you're a Patriots fan and you're not a guy that's plugged in on

every minute, you're at work, you maybe check the transit. Suddenly, like, every time you look, check in, they're dumping a veteran cornerback left and right. What's going on? Yeah, with Kyle Arrington release was surprising. You know, I wrote the post on it yesterday, and I look back, T.Y. Hilton, who we all agree is one of the best

young wide receivers in the league, completely shut down in two games. that's what a lot of people think is the Patriots number one, you know, threat and rival. So you get rid of that guy. I'm not saying they can't find somebody to coach him up to take the same role. But Arrington has been a good slot defender for them. That perplexed me. And he was benched.

He played 40% of the snaps last year, and he was due to count way over $4 million against a salary cap. Right. So that makes sense. But just the fact that he'd been so effective against Hilton really matched him up one-on-one the whole first game. They'd have 15 other games they have to play. Well, Woody had played 40. though, when you lose Dorel Revis and a bunch of others. He's had some success against...

He's purely a slot guy. He's had some success against other high-end slot receivers. He can play the slot. Got benched in a Super Bowl. The thing that so did Logan Ryan, who's now their number one corner, I guess. I think they really do love Malcolm Butler. I think he's going to be a lot. They like Bradley Fletcher, too.

I think they like Bradley Fletcher. They sign Robert McLean. But they have had to win games despite a poor secondary for most of the last 10 years. And now they're going to have to do it again. But I think the thing with Revis, that was so nice, they got to be creative with all this talent they have up front. I don't know if they're going to be able to do that anymore with these guys. Who did you bench to put Ninkovich in there?

I just put one defensive tackle, which was Malcolm Brown. So basically I had Branch and. Oh, so you switched them from a 4-3 to a 3? Well, it doesn't matter. They play both. I made them a 3-4 or 4. Yeah, whatever. Just get their best players into the line.

Yeah, I just, that's what I'm excited. I like when you gerrymander the process. We moved to the Buffalo. bills where and now you look at this now let's let's try to ignore the quarterback Matt Castle not doesn't not too sexy but LaShawn McCoy Sammy Watkins Percy Harvin Robert Woods Charles Clay those are some nice starters they get in we've talked about this any even decent play from Maddie Boy Castle they can win some games with that offense or put up some points at least very good left tackle too and cordie

Glenn and you know they brought in Richie incognito that's not a great thing but I I I think that Castle is a pretty safe bet for the starting job. I was going to say, the one thing that jumps out to me is that you have Matt Castle over Tyrod Taylor. Oh, my gosh. Wow. Well, they seem to want, they're going to use Taylor in some way. I think, I really do think Tyrod Taylor is going to start. I think Manuel has a better chance than Taylor.

Just because he's a first-round pick and I'm not, you know, there's a chance they're going to be able to bring that time. Rex Ryan absolutely loves Tyrod Taylor. Well, I want to see where he's at him down there, too, and Kyle Wilson, but it doesn't mean they're going to be good. And John Harbaugh, like, he doesn't go out and talk ill of his players, but he actually, on separate occasions, more than once, said that Tyrod Taylor was never lived up to the promise and never worked hard enough. So we'll see where Rex is with him.

Well, yeah, I mean, I think he should compare John Harbaugh's comments about Tyrod Taylor to Rex Ryan's comments about Tyrod Taylor. That's with Rex Ryan spending no time with Tyrod Taylor. I want to see where they are come August. Top to bottom, they had the fewest holes in the division. I think probably have one of the best starting. lineups on both sides of the ball of any team in the league. What they

don't have is basically a third linebacker, but if that's the biggest problem that you can come up with, then that's pretty good. Moving on to the Dolphins, I'm going to start Greg, with the defensive side of the ball where you have a great defensive line. Cameron Wake, of course,

Domican Sue, Earl Mitchell, Olivier Vernon. But then it starts to thin out a little bit in terms of a starting group. Are you worried about the defense maybe not being as good as people think it can be? just because they don't have enough big-time players outside that line? They had some gaping holes, which I had really didn't thought about before I looked at. Coa Misi, he's okay at inside linebacker, and you have Jalani Jenkins outside.

After that, your battle for your next linebacker spot is Spencer Pasinger, who's been a special teamer, and now I'm forgetting the name, that Hammer and Hank was really pumping him up as a possible... Hank Aaron? Possible pick. Doesn't matter who it was. I'll think of it. Chris McCain.

These guys who, he had 46 snaps last year. Chris McCain? Exactly. So you have a guy, no one's, you don't have a third linebacker spot. And then more importantly, at cornerback, after Brent Geim's, you got nothing. You have two guys he drafted in 2013, Will Davis and Jamar Taylor, who have been poor or injured since they've been in the league. That's an ugly looking cornerback group. Why is Jarvis Landry the number one receive?

I just decide. I think he's the number one receiver on that team probably right now. He never leaves the slot. No, I think they will have him moving around. Sandwich. Call sandwich on that one. I think he'll end up leading the team in snaps. And that's basically how I took it.

Guy doesn't leave the slot unless he's lining up in the backfield and they're doing trick plays. Moving on to the Jets. Greg, you have Gino Smith winning the starting job. You have Leonard Williams are the number six overall pick. When you have at least the starters. he's not starting with Mohamed Wilkerson, Damon Harrison, and Sheldon Richardson there.

That goes back to Todd Bowles, likes to run a 3-4. But my question is, is Bowles going to change his style or some things he's comfortable with to be able to get all these guys on the field at the same time more? Yeah, you would hope so.

I'm sure he will. Williams wants to play on the outside, but he might be playing more inside. The Jets have a similar problem to what they've had before. They have this same old boring outside linebacker group of pace. and Copels and Jason Babin, so you're going to have to get your passers from the big guys.

I think that what Todd Bulls did last year with the Cardinals is instructive. He was running a 3-4 defense, but whenever they play a great running back, like a DeMarco Murray, they would play mostly 4-3 that game, and I think that goes into Leonard Williams selection, too. Yeah, at this point, 3-4-4-3, most teams, it doesn't really matter. But they were the only team. Not a single rookie I had as a starter, because I had Devin Smith. as more of a number four, just go deep type of guy and Jeremy Curley hold it on to that third receiver roll.

Some decent names, you know, I didn't make this list. Greg Jennings, for instance, didn't make it for the Dolphins. I didn't have him as one of the top three. You benched Leotis McElvin for the bill. I decided to bench Leotis McElvin coming off an ankle surgery. Why not? Get rid of him. Some tough decisions by Greg Rosenthal.

Greg playing God with the AFCs. All right, so that's it. We're going to continue to run through all the divisions and might even talk about some of them on this very popular. podcast. That's it. TD, behind the glass, you sent me, and I am during the show that you had some type of scorecard that you were working out. Is this going to lead to more contentious behavior between you and the rest of us? Be carefully.

Really, I'm just keeping you guys on your toes, you know, like a game, whether you win or you lose. It's like performance. How did you guys do individually? I know it's a good show. How do you guys do individually? I figured, you know, and at each show I could sort of give a little hot take. Each show. Yeah.

How are you guys doing? Okay. Well, if it's a... We'll see. We'll see. We'll see. We'll see. I'm going to run through all four, but I was like, no, I'm just going to give the winner shout-out, as opposed to going from four through one. No, you should say who came in last place in your arbitrary ranking. I don't want Mark to get mad at me. That's all I'm saying. Oh. So predictable.

Now, this real quick note is body language, though. You always seem like you were tilted to the side like you're ready to leave. Kind of shady. I don't know. It should take his headset off at one point. That might be accurate. Real quick, but the winner of today's show, Best Performance, I should say, is my main man, West.

It was very revealing today. Today's show spoke about his heat exhaustion, which is, you know, really deep. I don't think you're going to be proud of him for. Yeah, sources. You know, he's the only one of you guys that had sources, a spice rack. I mean, what a name.

And then, uh... My source is a bartender in Las Vegas. Oh, I mean, you still got a source. Dida, you're a ridiculous person. And he bought up content that could be... He brought up something that could be potentially new content. He brought up that he made. becoming a jaguar's fan i mean that's interesting that that's new content you know for what

well maybe if he comes to jags fan you know that's something we can all right well that's good thank you td and i might i add whoever your haberdasher is has done an excellent job for you yeah man thank you wow this a love fest right here do you i like this segment though are you gravitation in second though oh thank you yeah you self bleep just are you are you are you gravitating towards west because your boy dj just took off for a month after the draft It's just, Stan, you have another shot in the next show. By the way, in the next show. All this, you know, I think DJ does a great job,

but you don't see us taking a month off after the draft. It's fair point. And where's the coaches show? Billick is on some island somewhere far away from the ball and chain. He's throwing a great beard. I saw him yesterday. Well, this might be why TD loves these shows because if it weren't for us, he would be home himself right now.

TD. Move the sticks. More like move that podcast off your phone. It's not even going to be around for a while. Oh, man, hey, hate, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, Hey, hey, hey, hey. T.D, I didn't think you could do worse after your Jimmy Carapelow spelling thing from yesterday. I told me how you managed it. It's true, TD. sent me this rankings. I'll remember it. It's like a group of old people. Yeah, exactly. We will be back on Thursday with the return of the great Lindsay Rhodes. We're going to do NFL news.

We're going to talk a little bit about the NFL Network Top 100, which Lindsay hosts quite spearheads. Spearheads even quite well. And so Lindsay will sit in with a whole group, the five of us, because TD, you know, when he's not making an Aenlist, is getting headsets, fifth headset. It was a long process, but it's here. It's here.

Five mics like the source, baby. Very good. So we'll have that. So thank you, as always, for listening. This is Dan Hansis, signing off for Quiet Storm, the Mailman, the boss, and TD behind the glass. Until Thursday. Podcasts.