NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Top franchise players & "What's More Likely"

Episode Date: October 15, 2014

A room full of heroes -- Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, Chris Wesseling and Marc Sessler -- react to the latest NFL news, debate who the top franchise players are and the season premiere of "What's More Likely".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. All it does is win, win, win. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hanses and I am joined by a room filled with heroes. Mark Sessler, Chris Wessling, and Greg Rosenthal. What up, boys? Hey, Dan.

How are you? What's going on? Good, midweek show. Midweek show. the grind is on week seven it's not a grind it's a treat it's a listen you know working at shot by it's like I can't believe

it's already week seven to be honest working for the NFL is an honor and it's fun but this this week has felt a little grindy to me that's all grindy a little grindy it's only Wednesday so you got a long way to go still

Wednesday's like at that point you've been here since Sunday all day it just feels like all right we need to get over this Greg He's like, I will make note of this in your performance review. I'm very disappointed with the entire staff at this point, and for good reason. Mark, by the way, was very focused before the show started, trying to finish up a post he wrote right before we came upstairs just to let you in to the machine.

How much work is being done, Mark Sessler, just, he's so focused. The guy is like a machine. Well, I've sent it to the edit desk, yet I've no confidence that it got through because we're in this high-fashioned studio up here. Did it get through? It happened. That's synergy. That's Greg. Right over there.

I'm not really disappointed in any of you guys. I'm just not fully paying attention. Oh, well, that's... We're used to that. And by the way, if anyone... I did get a couple tweets about the Hansis robot 5,000. I could come in and do my job so I can go off to an island somewhere

with my wife and young child. It's in the works from what I understand. Wait, I thought I was the one going away for a month. How did this get... I got the robot in the mix. You've got to get a robot situation going first before you can get out of it. Does it have your hair?

Well, we'll see. It depends how gifted these people are. All right, we have a great show today. We are, we're going to get into another one of Wes's juicy top ten lists, sponsored by Lenovo. Lenovo. Oh, I thought for a second you were joking, and I realized it actually is a sponsor. One of the great computer products of this generation. What a great company.

That is a special think pad. So we're going to get into, what is this week's top ten? top 10 franchise cornerstones I don't even really know what that means but I'm excited about it and you know who else is excited the people at Lenovo who sponsor the time

I'm getting paid by the reference now also we're going to talk about a little TNF preview Thursday night football Jets Patriots usually this is the type of game that I can't wait until football comes around

as a Jets fan in the situation that my franchise finds itself in not as excited this time around but look Greg is hopping in his chair like a little bunny i get you know you're not even working during the game so you can kick back and relax that with with your son you can hang out with me yeah you should i could do that too actually my wife doesn't want me in the house maybe watch it with with jack give him the choice which team do you want to root for the oh the one

with all the fun fans and the titles fun fans yeah when i think of the patriot nation i think a bunch of, like, fun-loving guys that just, you know, they were loyal for years. Balanced individuals. Ninety-four percent of the Patriots fan base, let's be honest, about 2001 and later. Let's be honest, Greg. That's not true. They're like the Miami Heat of the NFL? I don't know.

It's just the theory. You can show him Pat Patriot, the mascot might be in the mix. He might like him. Just saying. Okay, I'll throw it up for grabs, Greg. And finally, we will also hit a game we haven't played in a while. Everybody's favorite game. What's more likely?

It's probably not everybody's favorite game, actually I prefer go get my lunch, but it's definitely a better game than win Greg's toaster, which is non-existent. Oh, Greg, your thoughts. I'm fine with that. I never like the toaster game. If you want to end the game,

if that's what you're saying, I can just keep the toast. No, I mean, it's not existing because you refuse to take on any competitors. Greg, that's said. All right, so that's it. We're going to place some of that. What's more likely Jets win or Lenovo just continues to craft high-octane beautiful laptop?

Obviously, Lenova. Because when you want, if you're looking for electronics gear, you go to the people at Lenovo. All right. So let's start, TD, behind the glass. How are you, buddy? What's going on, guys? And yes, Wednesday is kind of like the dead space in the NFL week, usually. But it is the only show that I get to play a news drop during the season.

So I'm excited. Well, let's hear it. All right. Let's do it. I like this kind of party. I like this kind of party, baby. One of my all-time favorites. That is, Greg, who is that?

I don't know. That is Mike Singletary. Correct. And I know it from the old S-I, when you would sign up for S-I, the magazine, this is before the dot-com, they would have an ad and be like, oh, get a free football phone. And then it would be a couple different, like, clips. And one would be a crazy-eyed Mike Singletary staring down over an offensive line. I like this kind of party. Just to Phil Gregg in, Mike Singletary was a linebacker for the Bears at one point, very productive.

And then he coached the 49ers and continues on. on as an assistant today took his pants down in a locker room once while wearing a giant cross it reminds me a little bit of the the beastie boys i don't know you remember before one of their songs when when he goes if i knew it was that kind of party i'd stick my shit my mashed potatoes i do remember that i love that that would be a good sound yeah yes it would actually let's get to some news on that note we should get into some news uh i'm sorry a disturbing visual all around Let's just continue on. All right, let's start in Washington

where Robert Griffin III made his return to Redskins practice. He worked on an individual basis. Afterward, there's some interesting news from Jake Rudin, the Redskins coach, who told reporters that Griffin looked fine and, quote, had a little bounce to his step, and then said that Griffin would become the starter again once he's healthy. And then here is kind of an interesting quote he had to say, I don't know when that will be yet

regarding to when he'll be ready to play. It's hard for me to project. It could be one week, two weeks, it could be five weeks. I don't know yet. So the takeaway here is Kirk Cousins. It looks like he did not. He'd take advantage of his opportunity to keep RG3 on the bench. And two, RG3 can't, he might not be that far off in his return.

Now, I doubt it's going to be one week. But he could be back sooner than we expected with that dislocated ankle. I like that Gruden has been refreshingly honest throughout this whole thing. Just three weeks ago, he was asked. about the Kirk Cousins possibility that he would take over for RG3 for the rest of the season, and he wouldn't roll it out. He said, you know, anything's possible.

But now that he's seen Cousins play for a few games, common sense, you go back to RG3. Cousins 0 and 4 as a starter has turned the ball over nine times this season, eight interceptions. He's throwing 10 touchdowns, so he's had some big plays. He's had some moments, but he just does not

take care of the ball and he's killing him. I think the takeaway for me is that when he's had success, it's because Deshaun Jackson has worked out as a big free agent acquisition, which is rare for Washington to begin with. But seven of those picks came in two games. And in both cases, for me, it was watching Cousins completely lose it from the neck up. Late in games when he started to melt. And then bad passes started happening.

Like, he'd start the game in control, and he completely spin out of it by the end. He's thrown fewer than 400 pass attempts in his career, and he has 18 interceptions. So that is leading the league in an interception type of pace. That's Geno Smith. He has a higher interception percentage in his career than Gino Smith and higher than any starter in the NFL. You know, when they first put cousins in, I said he could make it tough on them if he's somewhere in the middle,

where he either has to be really good or if he's really bad. You know, they go back to Griffin. He is sort of in the middle, if you want to think about it, but he hasn't played well enough. He's second in the league in yards per attempt. That's a stat we use, you know. That's those big plays with Sean Jackson, though. But it's on the lower end of the middle.

People give Deshaun Jackson credit for those. Those have been some great passes. Well, he's been a terrific. I would give the credit to the offense. It's similar to Hoyer. There's only one quarterback in the NFL who has more yards per attempt on play action passes than Hoyer, and it's Kirk Cousins. That's manufactured by the offense. Sure.

Rivers, by the way, leads the league. The top four right now in yards per attempt is Rivers, Cousins, Dalton. and Hoyer the wacky Dalton's manufactured by the offense that'd be a party I'd like to go to and you know just you said that really glowing ginger man is a real party animal

but no the Gruden said also I mean he basically threw some support behind cousins still but he then also added if things continue in this downward spiral there's always a chance we go to Colt as in Colt McCoy as in Colton Cessler

which would be just as good an option if you're looking to win games. So that really tells you, Cousins hasn't been that good if Colt McCoy is even coming up in conversation. Yeah, I think Colton Cessler, not the attention span at age two that you'd want from a starting NFL quarterback. Who's got a stronger arm? Colton Cessler or Colt McCoy? We'd have to put that in a yard and see. I mean, that's up for grabs. All right, let's move on. Vantes-Berfick, we talked about him on Sunday. Chris Wessling pounded the table and said, Vante's Burrific, twisting ankles on the field, dirtbag behavior. I can't respect that man, he should be suspended. Forget a fine. Other players and other people around

the league felt the same way. Olson, one of the men who got his ankle twisted, Greg Olson, said that there should be a suspension. But there won't be. Berwick fined $25,000. This we found out today via NFL media insider rap sheet. So no suspension. Rap report did add that the suspension could be, there could be a suspension if this type of behavior continues. So Berfic dodges the suspension bolt for his shady behavior. I think in an era when you stress player safety, when one linebacker takes it upon himself to turn in a play where the main point of it is to try to injure somebody, you had a chance to send a message here.

Another thing, and Chris and I were talking about this in the newsroom that when football was at its height of violence back before face masks and everything else, one of the reasons you could get away with that was because, you know, maybe at my mind. most 30,000 people in the stands would have some eye on that. Burfect has to know that anything he tries is under the surveillance of like 15 cameras right now from 22 different angles. I mean, you're going to get caught. Especially when you try it both times at the end of a touchdown.

Well, and now other teams are going to be watching it too, if they weren't already. If they didn't already know him as a cheap shot artist, they're going to be watching it now and looking for any chance, A, to get a good hit on Berwick. and B, if he tries to try any funny stuff, go after. Can you imagine, Dan, let's say that you did something that didn't please Greg or one of the bosses here at NFL.com slash NFL never. Well, all right, but let's say you got fined $25,000. That would put your family line in total chaos for like the next 12 years.

I'd ride in a forest until they found me. I mean, for him, it's like taking $40 out of an ATM. Yeah. And, well, yeah, it's true. I mean, that's the money amount does nothing for these guys. The other thing is a little weird to me. is that we sometimes during the off season you'll run this our own network will run commentary about dick buck is and night train lane celebrating them for being like guys that are dirty on the field your boy uh dick trickle what was his name again ed sprinkle ed sprinkle so like now all of a sudden it's viewed as something that should be a suspension i guess the game has changed but it's kind of interesting well it's different hitting people in ways that are now illegal and forcibly trying to twist guys his ankles I don't know if anyone's getting celebrated for that.

That seems like a weak move regardless. I think the NFL needs to go back and they look at every Dick Buttkiss hit and, you know, move from the years. All these guys and retroactively fine them. And let's see, you know what? Everyone should pay for what they've done over the years. I think people will join me in the forest if that ever happened. Moving forward, the Dolphins have placed No Sean Moreno on the season ending injured reserve with an ACL injury. This is something that the team announced on Tuesday.

Moreno tour is ACL in the third quarter of Sunday's loss to the Packers. We wondered on Sunday's show, you know, what happened to him the second half. It seemed at the time maybe they were just going with a hot hand Lamar Miller, but apparently Moreno wasn't up to it. So now the guy that came to the Dolphins, they expected him to be. Their starting running back is now out of the picture. How big a loss? We weren't the only ones who didn't know what happened to him.

The Dolphins had no idea that Marino had torn his ACL, and he stayed in for another play. Well, they also, I don't know if I totally believe them because they said they weren't even aware he was injured because they didn't even report the injury during the game like you're supposed to. And the initial press conference on Monday about it, he said, oh, we didn't know he was hurt at all. Reporters were saying he was walking fine in the locker room

after he tore his ACL. It's crazy. Not too unusual. How many times you see guys walking off the field at their knee injury and you're like, oh, it looks like they're okay? And then you find out that they blew out their knee. It's kind of a strange injury like that.

I think it's disappointing for Miami because, in week one they ran the ball so well and you kind of got a vision of what the dolphins wanted to do when they had, I don't think Lamar Miller is not seen as in every down back we know that when they had Moreno and Miller together it was that's what the whole offseason was spent establishing they really haven't been able to do what they planned to do since. But you can't be worried, Mark,

because you have the man behind the machine Bill Laser to fix everything. I am very worried because I'm not sure Bill Laser or anyone in that organ. There we go. I mean... When you got this guy running the show. The dolphins are primed to sweep and clean desks up and down on every floor of that building.

I mean, that's going to be a start-over reboot job. We gave, you know, Chris, a lot of grief for really pumping up Lamar Miller last year. It was on her making the leapless. I mean, he's averaging 5.2 yards per carry. The dolphins are third in the NFL in rushing in yards for carry right now. He's not a guy that you want to give 25 times a game. This injury hurts and all that. but Lamar Miller in their running game has been pretty good.

Well, can we call that if you're going to look at those quarterbacks and say it's system-driven and that's accurate? Something here has to do with the running backs and a Bill laser-type system. Absolutely. And Miller doesn't have No Sean Marino's physicality. If you go back to that week one game you were talking about, he set the tone and they jumped on his back in that game. I think they'll miss that a little bit.

Lamar Miller is not a physical back. What a roller coaster season for Moreno or tenure even in Miami, if it only lasts one year because he was an off-season punchline, then shoved it in everyone's face and looked incredible in camp and week one, and then this. Moving forward, Mike Williams, the Buffalo Bills wide receiver, a surprise, healthy scratch on Sunday. Again, we talked about it on Sunday, found that interesting.

Turns out there was a reason, well, not a reason, but maybe reason Williams now wants out. And NFL Media Insider Ian Rappaport reported that Williams' agent was given permission to quote, gauge interest. from other teams to seek a trade. And then we heard from Bill's general manager, Doug Whaley, who said Monday the team is not actively shopping Williams. And then today, Wednesday, Greg, Doug Marone came out

and said he wasn't thrilled that this was even something that was going on around his team. No, he admitted he was annoyed. He said basically, Williams getting benched is your problem, but now it became my problem because you're asking for a trade. So he was not amused at all. Williams tried to backpedal, said it was all his agent's idea.

He didn't even clear his agent, which I don't believe at all, to ask. I wish you weren't a liar. And, you know, Williams, you know, said this week I'll just try to be the scout team MVP. So he's trying to walk it back because he knows no one wants him. His agency has been very busy this week, bombarding my inbox with emails. Yeah. Really? You're getting heat? Yeah, I had written that Williams' $5.2 million salary next year was fully guaranteed

because when you – there's this little game that agents play with NFL media insiders. all of them they lie about what the contract is when it comes out and everybody kind of winks at it they talk about guarantees but that 5.2 million is guaranteed for injury only so when you search any source on the internet it will say fully guaranteed

5.2 million it's really only guaranteed for injury so the agent was acting like I was holding up a potential trade for this quote unquote number one receiver well shame on you Wes it is yeah guys just trying to live I mean the bill's GM said it

Well, if he was a number one receiver, you know, like he says, he can't wait to see all the great trade offers that come rolling in for this guy that can't even play above Chris Ogan. I like the Doug Whaley basically said, well, I'm not going to listen to anything unless we get number one receiver type compensation, in quote, sort of that's what Mike Williams told me he was. It was like, hello. A lot of unrest in Buffalo, and that's good for Patriots fans.

I don't think Patriots fans are worried. about anything that's going to be in Buffalo. And that's what's happening. Live from Culver City, California, it's America's favorite game show. What's More Likely! Wow, it is great to hear the Gold Standard's voice. Of course, the voice talent behind What's More Likely's intro.

Our former producer, Zach Goldman. Yeah, well, no, the whole world knows the Gold Standard. He needs no introduction. You don't need to be a regular listener of the show to know that the man from Oxford that loves the great, what do they call it, the beautiful game, but also produce the hell out of a football podcast. As can our current producer, TD, just, I don't want to leave TD just hanging out there. You don't need to make things weird like that.

I wasn't trying to say that Gold Center was better than TD. No, I was just saying that he was great. Had we just moved right on to the segment, That would have been a little awkward. Well, I don't think. Would that have been weird, T.D., if I didn't throw you praise? The Goldstandard is my boy. He came in here, young and eager, and he learned well, and he'll be back soon, actually.

I feel like, T.D. Are you breaking news here? No, I'll still be on the show, but he's going to be around. Oh, good. Yeah, we're pretending like we didn't know this, but we knew that. I kind of feel like T.D. This would be a situation where T. You would be like, hey, young cub.

Do you say stuff like that to Gulf standard? Young Buck. Young Buck. Anyway, so what's more likely is, it's a pretty simple game. Basically, I go through, I basically put on my Skip Wink Martindale hat, whatever his name is. Wink Martindale, a tie, skinny tie. Skip Bayless Ty. Stupid microphone, the long skinny ones.

And I lay out a series of scenarios and I say, what's more likely? And I throw it to you fellas, you boys, and then you tell me what's more likely. And sometimes you're all on the same page, but sometimes you're not. Either way, it's going to be fun debate. My favorite game show that we got. All right. So let's start right off the top. What's More Likely?

Brian Hoyer wins Comeback Player of the Year or Derrick Carr wins offensive rookie of the year. I'm going with Hoyer wins Comeback Player of the Year. I might have him second behind Rolanda McLean right now. Interesting. Whereas I have quite a few people in front of Derek Carr for offensive rookie. I would think that, did you watch Car yet this week? I did. Okay.

Were you super impressed? I've been considerably more impressed with Blake Bortles than Derek Carr this year. Carr's last game was better than any game Bortles has had. But if you look at the whole package, I feel like Bortles has more to offer. This whole award is sort of, it borders on a sham, but it is very narrative-driven, and it's going to be hard for... The comeback player. comeback player of the year. I like Bukkar did a lot this past weekend and he's definitely there's some hope there for the Raiders because of him. But I would go with Hoyer because

let's just say what happens plays itself out for the rest of the season. They go 10 and 6 or something like that. And he's successful. He's a coming off a major knee injury. So you got that checked. And you're a quarterback that won with the Cleveland Browns. And there's a lot to play with there. Greg. I thought deeply about this. I know. You were I'm trying to think odds, because Hoyer is going up against the entire NFL. So right there, Carr has an advantage that essentially there's only going to be eight rookies that matter, especially starting quarterback. That's untrue. Hoyer's only going against comeback candidates, not the entire NFL.

You know what I mean, though. I think there are more offensive rookies than comeback candidates. Not good ones. Not starting quarterbacks immediately have a halfway decent starting quarterback wins the rookie of the year every other time, basically. Isn't that true of the comeback award, though, too, when there's. really, at this point, you could look at Rolanda. I did a study on this that's exactly right. Quarterbacks win it 50% of the time.

Yeah, and it's just there isn't a big pool of obvious comeback candidates either. My answer is Brian Hoyer. Just because I think he's going to continue to have a nice season, like Mark said. And I don't think Derek Carr or the Raiders are going to win many games. It's really hard to win those awards. That's the problem. Two and 14 teams. To be honest, I thought, I thought this was definitely, I was just setting this up for West to pick the other person involved, not Hoyer.

I was going to say like Shaq Evans, Jets Wide Receiver, for a rookie of the year, and see if Wetz was going to go with him. But Wes is, if you're noticing, it's subtle, but he's starting to turn towards Brownie Lane. Next stop, Berea. There are five games of film out there. We have to change our opinions on things. Wow. We have to adjust to reality.

Maybe we could make it the teams of ATL and the Browns are one too. How about he scampers off with Kyle Shanahan, offensive assistant of the year into the wilderness? He, Terrell Austin and Rob Menornelly are top three in the Mark Sessler Assistant of the Year Award. Is that the same wilderness where me and many other past NFL players are hiding out for money reasons? Well, it's like any forest land of old. There's good and bad parts. What's more likely?

Chris Johnson finishes with less than 500 yards rushing, or Cordor L. Patterson finishes with less than 500 yards receiving. I'm going to say Chris Johnson, because I could see him banished altogether. I mean, he's already down to, what, 10 or 12 snaps a game now? Seems like the Vikings would be foolish to take their most talented offensive player and completely. Well, they already have.

Well, I think that's probably a few games where they're trying to adjust to what he can do. I'll go with that, too, because I think Cordero, whether or not he continues to struggle, you'll see a game or two where he blows up and cross it. He'll get past that barrier. I thought it was interesting what Norv Turner said this week, Mike Zimmer that said this week they asked why isn't he getting the ball and he's like he's got to get open and you could tell there was a level of frustration we knew heading into the season that route running wasn't a strength of his that he needed to become more polished and clearly what

you took from what Zimmer was saying is that he has not progressed on that level and the team's frustrated we didn't know much in the preseason because we couldn't have been more excited about this player right when they're throwing to him they have a quarterback rating of 40 with no touchdowns and four interceptions now that's not all patterson's fault by any means but sometimes everyone wants to pick on the team. Oh, how come you can't get him open? Well, if he was a great, great player, he'd be getting some yardage. I like how savvy you were, by the way.

They each were almost the exact same yardage going into today. 200 versus 204. I'm going to say, by the way, I think Johnson is more likely to finish under. That was the question, right? Yeah. Yeah, because I could see him just getting benched. Yeah, and I think, Mark, like, he had the three rushes for 102 yards in week one. They've given him the Patterson, I'm referring to.

too. They've given them the ball twice on a handoff ever since, which is absurd. But you said receiving, I thought. Yeah, so don't even listen to anything I'm saying right now. Let's just move on. I've got a theory on this. You know, somebody wants to do something beyond their current

capabilities, and you tell that person, look, until you can do your job, I'm not going to let you do this fun job. I think there's a lot of that going on with Cordero Patterson. You've got two old school coaches in Norv Turner and Mike Zimmer. They want him to get the basics down before he gets to do fun things,

like reverses, screens, Percy Harvin type of routes, jet sweeps. And I think that's going on here. That's a very, that's an interesting point. The only thing I'd say if I were a Vikings fan is, hey, fellas, how about we win a few games along the way? Herm Edwards. He played to develop players, too. That was Herman Edwards with Joe Namath. Yeah, that was interesting.

Hey, relax. Yeah, yes, he brings up a great point there. What's the quick question, what's the thing that you had to do in order to do something fun as a kid? Like, eat your veggies to play golf out and play. Oh, I had at least two or three nights a week a standoff with my mom over veggies and dessert or veggies and straight to bed. I had to cut down trees in the backyard and lay out lumber, saw direction, you know, directionally horizontally built cabins. Is that the fun part or it? That was the chore, just a family chore.

I was saying if I ate my vegetables, I got to go into the coal mine and work. 20 hours instead of 22. Mine was, if you eat your vegetables, you can go play with your new toy, which was a cinder block. There wasn't a lot of discipline going on in the Rosenthal House. Or really a lot of conversations with the parents at all. And that's why Greg grew up to be such a bad boy.

What's more likely? Mike Tomlin is coaching the Steelers in 2015, or Jim Harbaugh is coaching the 49ers in 2015. Great question. That one's pretty easy for me. More likely that Tomlin's coaching the Steelers, they don't make coaching changes. I think they will make a coaching change if they finish.

Something feels weird about Pittsburgh right now. I don't know. I don't think he survives a losing season this year. I would just have to go with what we know right now that there seems to be more issues with Harbaugh, obviously. And Tomlin, they've had a couple off seasons before, and they haven't blinked. I also don't think Pittsburgh is going to finish six and ten.

I think they're going to be fine. I mean, if they were setting odds on this, you know, Harbaugh is the favorite. But I'm taking the underdog. I'm taking Tomlin. Maybe Harbaugh will just stick it in the 49ers eye by, you know, winning and taking a contract, even if we don't want to come them around. That's not where I was going. I think, I think Tomlin's gone if they don't have a playoff season.

I like it. What's more likely? Jay Gruden is one-and-done head coach or Levy Smith is a one-and-done head coach. You're so negative. You want all these guys and their assistant coach's wives? That's what I love. I'm going to say Lovie.

I think one of the only reasons he got the job is because he had Jeff Tebvert along with him. He's never been able to coach offense. Jeff Tebvord's coaching career might be up in the air now. And Lovie's team, I mean, I don't know why he's playing, the defense he's playing. and nobody should be running Tampa, too, in today's NFL. I think that the RG3 injury, well, it's so early to say,

but that may help Gruden in terms of a narrative to build an excuse around why you should stick around. I'm not in love with the way Gruden's handled the job in-game or out-of-game. I don't think he's particularly charismatic or commanding presence. So what's your answer? I'm going to go Lovie because I'm not sure Lovie is going to want to keep doing this for a long time. I don't know that. I'd say Gruden, definitely, because of their owners.

Because Lovie has a history there in Tampa hired by, he's beloved in the community. He was beloved in the community. He's the GM's first hire who just, you know, got there. They're kind of a package deal. I don't think either one is at all likely, but Snyder has a history of moving on. What's more likely? The Cowboys go 13 and 3, or the Jaguars go 1 in, 0, and 16? I'll start with Cessler

Oh, I'd go Cowboys, 13 and 3 The moment of panic on your part there No, I just, I don't, going winless is harder than it looks I agree, 13 and 3 is more likely There's no reason to think The Jaguars outplayed the Titans last week They'll find a way to win a couple games probably I agree, I think I have to go the Rosenthal route here

And just logically, it's a lot easier to go through 13 and 3 than 0 and 16 So the Rosenthal route is just, just taking it logical? You always have to go, yeah, you always have to narrow it down to numbers. There's no room for intuition in the Greg Rosenthal mind. That feels like a bigger insult than you think.

This is, by the way, if you're listening to Home, this is what we deal with all day long down at the office. What's more likely? The Jets make the playoffs, or Mark Sessler steals Fahrenheit Cologne and man panties from Macy's? Pulls of Joseph Randall. Wait, it was. Dad, can you ask that question again, please?

You want me to ask the question? Yeah, go ahead. Okay, Jets make the playoffs. I wish you weren't a liar. Obviously. It's called setting up a bit, T.D. Wise-ass. Jets make the playoffs or Mark Steels Fahrenheit Cologne and Man Panties from Macy's.

It was Fahrenheit? No, but that was my teenage. I used to wear Fahrenheit old time. Dracro. Ours is Chiar. Everyone wore Dracar. I never wore Dracar. I've never worn a cologne.

Is that a thing? Greg continually siding on the. aspect of human life completely different from the average child. Did someone tell you to do that? I think when you were 17, 18, you unwisely wore it. I mean, I know that I were. I still wear cologne every once in a while. Cologne is not a weird thing.

No, I know, but as a kid. At 17 years old. You guys wear underwear? I don't think it's weird now. I've never heard man panties either. No, I just threw that in for Sessler. Trachar would cost like $8. So you're rolling around an $8.00 cologne in like in the middle of math class.

I won't, I won't name names, but there is a. a member of the NFL media talent that comes over near the printer area every morning at about 5 a.m. or 6 a.m. And his cologne barrels through the entire side of the room. So some people wear it all the time, no matter what. TD, looks like you have something to say. I do.

Who doesn't wear cologne? Like, what was your, Dan, what was your first in favor of cologne growing up as a kid? This is funny because it was given to me as a gift from Santa, I think, Old Spice. Old Spice. Yeah. Yeah, my dad was an Old Spice guy. But I didn't, I don't think I wore cologne until. I was into my 20s.

In high school, I used to steal my dad's cologne, and then I got my own Fahrenheit bottle. I wasn't trying to say you guys were out of the ordinary. I was just giving you my honest experience. Old natural. Which is fair. The odor is a lot different than cologne. Well, yes, it is.

There are two different products. I don't presume that I would know enough to know the right thing to do. You're so salt to the earth. If you were a baseball player, would you be the guy that didn't wear batting gloves and just peed on his hands so they'd be calloused? My dad's bathroom cabinet Looked like the guy from

Anchorman He had like Old Spice Brute by Faberje Stetson And some kind of Asian Cologne where it was Only like

Chinese lettering Where you couldn't even Understand what it was You gotta get that shipped in You need a mailman Nobody answered the question by the way He just took that from other people Yeah

That's exactly what it was We didn't answer the question though Jets make the playoffs Cessler steals a bunch of embarrassing stuff. Oh, the Cowboys running back. Sessler? Yeah. He's a minimalist.

He doesn't need money. So he would steal before the Jets made the playoffs, you're saying? Yeah. No, I would not. I would disagree with that. I would go Jets. I wasn't even going to ask you, but it's fair that you see. I was purely joking.

Yeah, I'm going to go Jets. Cessler, you know, when he opens his mouth, lies off and come out, but he's a man of high character. Very high character. And he wouldn't steal things. No. I take up issue with the idea that I lie. You do take a lot of crackers from the commissary, from the huddle.

I have actually walked up and asked, I asked the woman who runs the register. Am I allowed to take these for free? And she said, yes, he said every day, yes. But he takes stacks of them, and doesn't that seem like it's kind of bending the rules a little bit? He never has to buy zestas. Man takes four salting crackers from $9 billion company. Anyway, Jets make the playoffs. I agree as well, Mark.

Are things weird between us now? No, it was a good one. He's not a liar. He just tells us. Fibbs once in a while. What do we want to do? One or two more? Or should we get out of this?

I like this game. Let's keep it going. Great game. What? Wrong drop. So. You have to, now you're going to be ironic. Your penalty is you have to keep it in the show.

It's very ironic. What's more likely? Nick Falls gets bench for performance reasons or Carson Palmer gets benched for performance reasons. I thought you were going to go performance enhancing drugs. Hot take. This one's tough because I don't know whether to think like myself or like Greg. I'm going to go Nick Foles just because I don't think he's been playing very well,

and I think Chip Kelly is not afraid to make what could be an unpopular decision. Mark Sanchez versus Drew Stanton, by the way. I'm very surprised by your answer because you would think Greg would go with Carson Palmer's already battling a nerve injury. It will probably affect his performance. It will probably affect his performance. He looked all right this week. He did look okay.

I'm going to go with Carson Palmer Because for that very reason I think the nerve injury could Resurface again and affect the way he throws the ball Mr. Sessel Yeah, I'll go Palmer too I think there's a lot of faith in Stanton From Bruce Ariens too

That the switch wouldn't be that hard for him to comprehend All right, last one What's More Likely The Titans do something worth talking about Or Wes is a violent part wolf part man hybrid beast who stalks the streets of Marina del Rey after nightfall. That West currently is that. Yeah, he is that.

Okay, okay, okay. Because I picked, like, who would I say is a hybrid beast after nightfall? And Wes definitely came to mind. He's definitely the night owl on the girl. If you're speaking metaphorically, I would definitely go that I turn into something that I don't want to be after dark in Marina del Rey. Wow, actually, I didn't even take that way, but maybe under the surface I did. But I was saying literally, you turn into a wolf man.

Yeah, that's probably more likely. I've been spending the last minute trying to think of something cool about the Titans because I'm sick of all this Titans bashing, but I couldn't really think of it. Justin Hunter. There, he's worth watching. He could do something fun.

Here's something worth watching. Will Jake Locker be ready for Sunday? Kill me. Enough. I am so sick of that. You make a solid point. I'm going to go with Wes, half-man, half-wolf. The Hybrid Beast.

Hybrid Beast is my answer. All right, gentlemen. So let's get into Wes's latest list. And Wes does such a great job. The around the NFL leader in writing rankings list, this time we have the top 10, nay, 11 cornerstones of the NFL. And why do we start with? I'm ranking podcast hosts in my mind right now.

Ooh, I like that too. But maybe that's next week. This week. Matt Money Smith's got to be number one. First thing. And Jeremiah is somewhere else. The first thing's first. what is a cornerstone in your mind?

Someone around whom to build your franchise. You want to be young, talented, uniquely talented, and preferably a quarterback since the game of football has a glaring imbalance wherein the quarterback is so much more valuable than in every other position. Wait, is this starting from scratch or they're the best cornerstones on the team they're on? Starting from scratch, this is hypothetically

if you threw every player into a pot and you were allowed to draft them to start a team. So there's some ageism attached to this. Yes, I am discriminating against older players. And it looks like I'm just a little spoiler alert, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, not on this list. So that's what we're talking about.

You're not only picking a great player, but someone you could build a dynasty with. So let's go through the list. I'll just go through one through 10, I guess. And then Greg, I'll throw it to you to pick something out to get going. Number one, Andrew Luck. number two, Aaron Rogers, number three, Cam Newton, number four, Russell Wilson, five, Philip Rivers, Matt Ryan, Drew Brees, J.J. Watt, Colin Kaepernick, and at number 10,

Ben Rafflesberger. And then there's this bonus pick, which I'm not really on, maybe we'll get into this little later. Not huge on board with this. Let's, you know, 10, top 10, should be 10, but you've got Calvin Johnson here is the bonus. Your thoughts, Greg. Well, I'm excited to see my boy Cam Newton. high on the list. Number three, imagine how far he's coming the last couple of years that you would say, if you're just starting a franchise, Newton's number three, but I got to go negative a little bit. Russell Wilson number four, I'm surprised about. I feel like if you take him out of

Seattle, you're just starting a franchise, I would take a handful of guys ahead of him. Oh, I disagree with that. Why? Well, because I think one thing that Russell Wilson's proven to Seattle, but the whole league is part of is who do you want to be the heart and soul of your team? And he's the hardest working guy, probably one of the hardest working quarterbacks in the game. Yeah, you're right. He's on a team that sets him up to succeed, but I... I'm sure a lot of these guys are very hard working on the list, but I feel like I agree with Greg that maybe he's a guy. We don't know yet how good he is because they're going to break up that defense eventually a little bit, and we're going to see if Russell Wilson can carry the team.

He doesn't have to carry that team. I think he'll spend his whole career with people saying, we don't know how good this guy is yet. And it's like, you know what? I think we do know that he is an exceptional quarterback that, for me, worthy of being on this list. Wes. I would just ask, I feel like I generally agree on everything Greg does with the quarterback index, and he's had Russell Wilson too low all along. I would just ask, what more do you want from him than what he's already done in his first few years?

I want to see an offense sort of built more around him throwing the ball, that him going through his progressions. Like, you watch the last game. Granted, that's one of the worst games of his career. they take away the first read and things get frantic. I mean, he has a two-for-11 spot at the end of the game. That doesn't normally happen. But they scheme so differently than every other team in the league.

I feel like I don't know what he would be like if he wasn't with Darrell Bevel. I think it's a perfect match. Everything that's going on there, he's great. But I'd take Matt Ryan over him. You know, I'd take J.J. Watt over him. Well, you take to start a team. See, that's the issue. Then you get down the list.

You got Ben Rathesberger. You got Drew Brees. you got Colin Kaepernick. I would take Wilson, part of this is age. I'd take him about over all. And plus, and Wes, you set it up top. Quarterbacks mean more. J.J. Watt was healthy.

He played all season last year, and his team lost 14 straight. I mean, I'm going to take a quarterback to build a team around. Let's talk about your one and two, so you have luck at number one, Aaron Rogers at number two. Is this only because luck is seven or eight years younger

than Rogers? Because I know you love yourself some A-Rod. It's not only because of that. I feel like Luck's body type, it will be a surprise if he gets injured. I mean, even as a quarterback, whereas with Rogers, he ended one season on IR with a broken foot, lost

seven games to a fractured collarbone last year, has had multiple concussions. I just feel like Luck is a much safer pick, and he's already first in almost every category this year. His offense is first in almost every category. The distance between Rogers and Luck right now

isn't that big. I got to admit, there's a lot of home run picks when I look at the list that you definitely take ahead of Wilson. Ryan would be one. There's not many more. Capernick right now. I don't know how I feel about. Breeze, you knocked because he's 35 years old, which is totally fair. You would want a younger player. And he may be showing perhaps some signs so far this year that he might be coming down a little bit. How much of his start this year playing to you putting him at seven? You know, I probably would have had him fifth or sixth, had Rivers not been out playing him. I truly believe he's probably still got a little leftover oblique injury things going on,

and that's why he's not going down the field. But I also believe he'll bounce back. I like that you've come on board the Philip Rivers bandwagon. There was a time last year, especially. I remember, you know, you were resisting the charm of Rivers. A very dark time. Which people have a hard time doing. We speak of that and hushed tons in the Wesleyan household.

I think, you know, if you go and do another round of this, because you got an honorable mention section, that to me is almost more interesting because I agree how do you not put nine quarterbacks but you got this down here in honorable mentions you got von Miller Nidomic and Sue Robert Quinn a couple other guys Earl Thomas Stafford that's where he gets dropped into Tyron Smith McCoy yeah that is fun non-quarterback corners I would have had Holio Jones and AJ Green hire but there's some injury concerns there

Julio Jones is at multiple injuries so is AJ Green really too I like that we just gave Wesleyan another side A long one's going to take a long time. Anything else? Any concerns about Ben Ralthusberger and how they've played so far this year that maybe led you to think maybe it should drop him into the honorable mention? He almost got replaced in the top 10 by Calvin Johnson, not because of how they played this year, because he's taken 152 more sacks than any other quarterback in the league since he came into the NFL. And he's 32 years old.

How long can even a huge body like his, how long can that hold up to all the hits he's taken? We have heard that, though, for a few years. Maybe he's not going to hold up well. And I think he's playing right where he's always played. Even this year with the team struggling, I don't think it's on him. I'd put him up a little higher. No, I agree. The struggles aren't on him.

But even if we take the Greg Rosenthal angle here, mathematically, the more hits he takes, the more likely he is to have a career-ending injury. I think you make me out to be Nate Silver. And the other position, I just, I'll bring this up because the other position that you typically, when announcers and commentators talk about, oh, he's a franchise cornerstone, it's quarterbacks, but also left tackles. No left tackles in your top ten.

I don't think the NFL works that way anymore. This isn't the blind side of era anymore. And we haven't had a Walter Jones or an Anthony Munoz or a Jonathan Ogden in the last decade, really. What about Wayne Hunter? I know he's on the right side. Wayne Hunter. Rex Ryan did get a tattoo of him. How many other tackles does that ever happen for?

Rex Ryan would get a tattoo of you if it meant enough to him. It's true. Number six forever on his arm. All right. Anybody else have thoughts on Wes's latest great top 10 list presented? I want to hit your opinion on Kaepernick. I think he's the one I struggled with the most. That he is the toughest one.

Yeah, I don't know. I would put him below Rathosberger. Yeah, I wouldn't put him on the list right now. As much as I like him, he would be on the honorable mention list. I don't know how much... You don't know what he is. Right. I don't know if this is it.

Is this it? Because it's pretty good. It's four or five unbelievable plays a game. It's four or five amazing games. Postseason success. Right. It's four or five amazing games a year when you kind of dial up the right plays, but it's not week to week like a great player.

Before the season, would he have been on your top ten list? Maybe. I just struggle with the fact that he hasn't progressed. He hasn't grown in the areas that we've seen as his weaknesses. I don't like how he dresses on the public. He's a punk, a punk, I tells you. You have issues, and we are all recognizing that now. Very good.

I'm glad it's finally happening. All right, that's it. Great job, Wes. All right, so we move on. Let's hit Thursday night football. I almost want to skip it because the Jets are involved, and the Jets are breaking my heart in half every Sunday. This time they get to play on Thursday,

and I know they played Peyton Manning in the Denver Broncos on Sunday. Now they go up to Foxborough to play the great Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. Calvin Pace came out on Tuesday and said the schedule makers had it out for us this year. I agree because this is a tough spot for the Jets, Greg. Greg hates that argument. Every fan base says the same thing. Calvin Pace speaks truth. But the bottom line here is these are two teams going in different directions.

The Jets losers of five straight. The Patriots have won their last two and looked great winning the last two. I know we all picked the Patriots, I believe, to win this game. how do we make a case that this game would be competitive because I hear some whispers I think that's easy

yeah go ahead they won the last time by the way just when you think you have the NFL figured out it throws you for a loop first of all so the Patriots are riding high

coming off two great games they return home but then you got to look nobody coaches against Tom Brady better than Rex Ryan and you've got Eric Decker finally getting healthy

practiced fully that offense is different when Decker's in there Jason Morrow looked good so good that Gino Smith compared him to Rob Grunkowski, which is laughable. Gino just should not be talking right now.

All right, and let's stop comparing every single tight end that is halfway decent to Rob Grunkowski. Why is he the only guy that- It's a disservice to them? I think the Jets fans and Calvin Pace and everyone else should love to see this game on the schedule. First of all, it's a few less days of misery wallowing in New York this week,

and this is their Super Bowl. This is like the type of game Rex Ryan has won over the last few years. Well, that is a couched insult to Jeff. Jets fans, by the way. No, but it is. A week seven game is their Super Bowl. Okay, it's their season. If ever there's a game that they're going to have an

be emotionally up for, this is it. And Connor Oar, who covered the Jets, he's now a writer for us. He was, we were chatting on the messenger service in our office. He was saying he thinks the Jets are going to win this game. Was that too much information to give about this structure? Well, it was. He's in New York. I'm in California.

There's got to be a way to chat. That was it. He thinks that this is the perfect spot for Rex who loves to. to kind of turn his team inward and fight against the media and get them all fired up. And if you can't get fired up for this game when you're basically fighting for your season, yes, it could be close.

But the reason why I don't think it will be close and I think this is a double-digit game is Gino Smith. I know there's talk that he played better on Sunday this past Sunday. I still don't think he's playing with any confidence and I think he's going to have another couple back-breaking turnovers and in that environment on the road. In prime time, I could see this game slipping away very quickly.

These Thursday night games have been, or they've been awful. Until last week, which was incredible. It's one of the better, more entertaining games of the year. Mark was in a coma last Thursday. They've been totally awful until. On the whole, the primetime games haven't been great. This is the kind of game that in the past Rex Ryan, with a little more firepower on his roster,

would go out and take care of business. And we'd be talking about the fact that the Jets, we've counted them out too soon. But what I need to see for the Jets to have a chance is, I think what New England accomplished last, week on offense was a departure from where they were earlier in the year. Brady actually was hitting people deep. You know, Brandon LaFell is involved.

Obviously, Gronk looked better than he has. Brian Tims comes out of the forest to make plays. Get the ball of Tims! I mean, you know, there's your comeback player of the year. This is the thing. Greg actually is very excited because he knows that the flip side of this, Rex Ryan, nice spot is when, remember when New England went out

and dropped like a 49 to 3 bombshell on New York? there is all that set up too you don't have good quarterback playing in New York you have a defense that's burning to the stake I don't know what's to love about the Jets right now I don't say that to harass you but it's just their defense played well enough to win last week they made

Peyton Manny and the Broncos punt what was it five times in a row they had a total of eight yards in the first half they play that kind of defense against the Patriots they're going to be in the game because New England's offense even though they're throwing the ball right now I don't think they're a top tier offense yet they're not going to be able to

to run it all. There's no Stephen Ridley. I think they'll just give up on the running game. Some teams have had success against the jets in recent weeks. You know, blasts off for 98 yards in the first half. Two straight running backs have had their first career 100-yard games against the Broncos on the ground. Brandon Bolton could do that. And next up.

Two names to watch for the Patriots, Chandler Jones. Sure. Dorel Revis. The offensive line was the biggest concern I thought for the Jets last week. Yeah, I thought so. The fact that they just got steamrolled in every way in the run game and the passing game was a bad time.

And Revis will make Eric Decker go away. And what we've seen time and time again is that Gino Smith, it's not his fault, but he doesn't have enough weapons if you take Eric Decker out of the mix, whether it's by a great corner or by a hamstring injury. So I think that's going to set their off. Gino Smith will make the rest of the passing game go away. Fair enough. How did you describe Rob Grunkowski's performance against the bills?

I thought he looked like a humanoid war droid. I mean he just looked he looked a little bit level beyond human compared to the rest of the people around and we haven't he's looked everything less than that before before last week he looked completely back and I don't know flip side that's right who do the jets have to take care of that not cover tightens that's been an issue for a couple years now and it's care if gronk is back to grong and we're starting to see signs that's happening watch out for him when you root for a bad team a hundred to nothing is what I'm saying sometimes you don't want these I would you know if you're a Jets fan And there's another side where let's just couch this away on 1 p.m. Eastern on a low-level CBS or NBC station.

We don't want this on prime time in front of a nation. It's going to be a butt-fumble type of situation. You know what? We don't need to go there. You're already sitting on the top of the mountain of joy. I honestly don't need it. I'm not that confident. Don't want it.

Don't need it. I think it'll be close. I really do. All right. We'll see. All right. That's it for another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. We will be back Thursday night with another show.

We're going to do our week. preview. We're going to get, we're going to recap the Thursday night game we just talked about. Some mirth will be involved. It gets some mirth in the mix. Everybody will love that. And that's it. Until then, this is Dan Hansa, signing off for the Sizzler, the mailman, the boss,

and Tate Day, behind the glass. Until tomorrow. This is an IHeart podcast.