NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Who's Making the Leap?

Episode Date: June 29, 2017

A room filled with some heroes – Colleen Wolfe, Marc Sessler, & Gregg Rosenthal – recap all the latest news from around the NFL including linebacker Zach Orr's potential return to the league and Russell Wilson's new diet. The heroes then make their picks for the individual players and team units that will take the next step this upcoming season.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. Change producers like most people change socks. Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. I'm your host, Colleen Wolfe, and I'm joined by a room that has a couple heroes in it. Mark Sessler and 60 Cent Rosenthal. What's up?

It's actually 60% G. I like 60 cents 60 cent Yeah Another one? Yeah All right I thought

He's got like 14 nicknames At this stage in his career I've always been a big nickname guy Is that right Rosie That's true That's been a long You do have a lot

Well Dan is Pepper spray Off on vacation Fighting the good fight Against Little C I don't know if we've heard anything from him And it's cold or not

If he's really He sent a message over text a few minutes To go to Greg and West And he seems to be doing well That's all I'll say That's right Well, that's good. I'm glad.

Wes is not with us today, but we're going to power through. And, you know, I keep texting him and offering to bring over milkshakes because, like, mostly because I really want a milkshake, too. He hasn't taken me up on that. But I feel like probably after the show, I'm just going to bring him a milkshake anyway. So we'll see how that works out. I like that plan. Or just, like, buy a milkshake for yourself and leave one for him outside his place if you want to open the door.

On the doorstep. So it's, like, all nasty when he comes outside. Not creepy at all. All right. So it's the last weekend of June, everybody. This is so awesome. Finally, we're going to get to July 4th, and then we'll start maybe having a little bit of news to get to, actually.

Not much. No. More than June, though. It is a good time, though, to mention, you know, because of July 4th, we're off official Roger Goodell holidays the next Monday and Tuesday. We might drop a little bit of a surprise episode. You know, in the meantime, I guess it's no longer a surprise,

but just one show next week. for those who are planning one new fresh show on Thursday. Okay, something to look forward to there. We do have some news items, though. We're going to get through. Do you have any big time Fourth of July? No, I got a car. I got a new car.

I traced in my own car. Yeah, and we got a Jeep, and it's a stick shift. So I've been re-teaching myself how to drive stick. In Los Angeles. I am incredibly impressed. It's a terrible idea. I know, but we don't really drive that much. So it's not like I'm sitting in that much traffic.

I've had a stick shift car in Los Angeles. It's terrible. Yeah. There was like a couple of miscommunications yesterday getting on the freeway in terms of gears. But, you know, we're good now, I think. We're on the same page. Could you be a little more encouraging about the multi-thousand-dollar purchase she just made? It's a lease.

Oh, okay. I'm sure more than $1,000. So it's a multi-thousand-dollar purchase. Sully, what's up, my man? Not much. That is a bold strategy, Colleen. I know. I stalled in the parking lot.

earlier, it's fine. Traffic, I'm sure, is super fun. Yeah, I mean, so far, so good. I don't even really drive that much. I put, like, 12,000 miles on the car that I had for three years. So it's, I mean. That's pretty low. Yeah, I'm usually just in an Uber somewhere.

I put about the same on mine because I could walk to my house from NFL Network. But if I, if someone asked me to drive a stick shift, even from my driveway to the road, it would be a result in an accident. No idea. how to drive a... Oh, really? How can you call yourself a grown man? You know, I don't know the answer to that.

I mean, that's ridiculous, Craig. Greg found something that he does that I didn't do, and now he goes in that direction. But I just didn't learn on one. Really? I didn't learn on one. And so, and then it got to the age where at one point, I remember I had some girlfriend,

and I was trying to drive around, like, an abandoned school parking lot to learn stick shift and, like, got about eight minutes into, I thought, I hate, I don't even like this. Really? So abandoned. It's kind of fun. It's more fun outside.

the parking lot but yeah yeah i also just didn't own cars for like seven or eight years in a row so it's like i'm not getting back in with a stick shipped at that point that's yeah that's actually a good thing the the first day we got it i i said to john before we went and did any like test drives i was like i don't want to do it i don't want to like hop in and try and drive stick after like not having done it for like 10 15 years or whatever it is in sanamanica with like the salesman in the backseat judging and so we we got the car and he drove home And then we got to Santa Monica. And I'm like, all right, here we go.

I'm going to try it. And, like, I wasn't probably in the best frame of mind to get in the car. Were you sober? Yes, of course. Of course. I mean, that's cut. Read into that as you will. Right.

Well, that's partly why she no longer, she barely drives at all. It's because she's cut down on all that driving. Exactly. It did not go well. And, hey, listen, I'm a safe driver now. But, yeah, after 24 hours, we're in a good spot, I think, me in the car now. So hopefully, yeah, hopefully it'll, it'll survive July 4th weekend. All right, let's do some news.

America, America. Linebacker Zach Orr's retirement was a brief one five months after announcing he would be playing no more football. He's back. So he was diagnosed with a spine and neck condition where his C1 vertebrae was not. fully formed. It was something that he was born with. And I guess the doctor he had talked to had said that this would lead to a better chance of paralysis or possibly death when he was playing just because of the condition. So he retired in January and apparently being away from the game only made him want to be back more. He got some more opinions. And now he's a free agent

since the Ravens didn't tender him in March, Greg. It's very strange. I mean, I've never heard of such a thing happening. My immediate reaction was, did the Ravens screw this up? Like, if it was anyone, if the Browns had done this, for instance, wouldn't everyone be making fun of them? Sure, because, but with Ozzy Newsom, it's like, Ozzy Newsom, it's so measured. Okay, but I looked into it. I asked around a little bit.

It's a confusing situation. It sounds like there's some hesitation from the Ravens whether they would medically clear him now, reading between the lines, that they were aware of, you know, this conversation with Zach Orr over the last few weeks. And on some level, I think it was partly their decision not to jump into it. So it's confusing. They probably wish they put that tender on him or put him on the retired list because it wouldn't have hurt. But he still has to get cleared by teams.

Just because he wants to play it again doesn't mean he's going to play again. There are multiple teams interested. But there was this immediate concern, well, wait, is this a way for, let's say you're stuck on a crappy team, you retire and then you unretire and you're a free agent. It's only because the Ravens didn't drop that tender. If any time this happened again, the team will put him on the retired list. It wouldn't have hurt them at all to do so and they would retain his rights. And in theory, they could trade him right now because Zachor was pretty good.

Yeah. I mean, he played really well. And it's interesting because I was like, well, like, how serious is this? Because when he retired, I remember it was like a very somber thing where he talked about how this was it for him and the doctors couldn't believe that he was still playing with it. So I actually talked to a spine specialist. Wow. Yes.

Uh-huh. Colleen is coming with the heat. Is this some breaking news now? Oh, maybe. Let's do it. So what he said was there's no real medical data on the matter, but an unfused C1 does not really carry any more risk of paralysis than a fused C1. So he said really that just because there's not.

a lot of cases of it. It's super, super rare. But Zach Orrid said that there was a college football player who had the same condition and he played and was totally fine. Yeah, it was this former Baylor quarterback, I guess. Wait, did you just Yelp doctors to try to find it? No, no, I know an orthopedic surgeon. And then he put me in touch with a spine specialist who wanted to talk more about it

at 4 o'clock this morning, Pacific time. And I was like, I think this is good enough. He wanted to talk more. Well, he was like, I can, because he's on the East Coast and he was like, I can explain it why, like, I can explain it a little bit better to you, the reason why there's not any more or less risk with a fused or unfused disc. And it would be good if I shake you from sleep at 4 a.m. over the phone to continue that conversation. The alarm, I like, set my alarm, too. I was like, well, maybe, maybe I'll, like, do it because it's 7 o'clock there. Yeah, I can do math. Seven o'clock on the East Coast. So I guess, like, before you went into surgery. Yeah, it's like, that's not happening. Yeah. You have to be a pretty big time.

athlete to be the most athletic oar in the family. And when he passed Connor, that's when we knew Zach was legit. When he picked off Ben Rathesberger, people forget that moment in week 16. I thought that was the moment that the Ravens were going to win the division last year. I mean, he could totally, he met with the lions first. He would totally change that team. A weakness at linebacker would suddenly be a strength with him and Jared Davis both together. Yeah, I think I read about eight different teams,

had contacted him, but it feels like the Lions would be a good fit considering their linebackers were, I mean, that group was really weak last year. I think that they added about three linebackers in the offseason that could be starters. So we'll see what happens with that. Let's move on to the Cowboys Front Seven. We have some news on both ends here. So first up, David Irving, the Cowboys will be without him for the first four games. It's official for violating the PED policy. We first talked about it in May, but it was pending appeal. The appeal was denied, so now it's official. This is quite a trend for the Cowboys, too. This is the fourth straight year now that they're going to be starting the season without a defensive starter,

Mark. I was just about to say the same thing, that this feels like a disturbing year after year scenario. And Irving, this podcast loved him last year, and he really was one of their most effective pass rushers. It puts a lot of pressure on Taco Charlton to step up and produce right away. And, you know, our concern with the Dallas defense, I mean, it kind of is at every level. It's especially in the secondary. We've talked about that on multiple network hits. I feel like 22 times by the time we got to this point. Off season, yeah. I mean, come on. But it's almost at every level at this point. And it's just more pressure on the offense to do what they successfully did last year, which is hold on to the ball for the second most amount of time of any team in the

league and score points on almost every drive. He could move inside it out. I mean, he was not only they missing him. I mean, people forget about Randy Gregory. That was supposed to be, you know, their next great pass rusher. I don't know if we'll ever see him again at all. I mean, you don't have a great pass rush. You don't really have any almost natural pass rushers unless tackle Charlton comes out, you know, swinging. DeMarcus Lawrence is fine, he's solid. And you don't have a great secondary.

That's a bad combination. Yeah. I mean, one will definitely expose the other for sure. But I think the thing with David Irving is he was banged because it was an over-the-counter substance that Irving used in an attempt. to endorse the product. I feel like there's a major fall in the system. I read that too and that threw me that like at some point like there were not enough boxes checked here and he is essentially endorsing a product that got kicked him kicked out of the league.

That's awful. I feel like in some way the league needs to better protect the players from something like this. And I don't know what that is, but there's so many like supplements and things that you can, that people are using now. and I don't know if the list that they give the players is that definitive. Well, they're going to have a tough time finding another player to endorse them at this point, I'd say. It's a tough run for that company. Yeah, that's also coming from, like, source.

There's always, there's always these reasons. Who knows? I don't necessarily believe, you know, the over-the-counter supplement decisions or explanations whenever they come out. It comes out every time. I'm trying to pay attention to what you were saying, but Sully came in the room and he was. about six inches from your ear and neck area.

He was dropping the Miondi's read for a little later in the show. Yeah, wow, I've never done this. There seems to be a lot of instructions on here. Pressure's on. Great. Okay. On a positive note, though, for the Cowboys, Jalen Smith is apparently 100% healthy and bawling out.

That's according to cornerback Byron Jones, who spoke glowingly of him on total access here, him and Taco Charlton that he was talking about. So Jalen Smith, as everybody knows, he missed his rookie season because of that ACL and MCL tear and the nerves that weren't firing, drop foot, all of that. And this is after people were saying that he might not even ever be the player that he once was.

He looks like he's going to be a good asset to the team. The players are saying it, and Jerry Jones seems like he's pretty sold on him too. I mean, I think it's a player that's great because he himself, Jalen Smith, talked with extreme confidence a couple weeks previous, to this story coming out. And they did go through OTAs. They went through minicamp. And there were also reports that you could occasionally see something of a limp when he

wasn't on the play itself, kind of coming back to the defensive huddle. But I guess the arrow is pointing up. It's certainly someone that you need to see it happening in games if you're the Cowboys before you fully feel confident about this. But it's a great story. Or playing football again. I mean, they're kind of playing football. Right, sort of.

They're not tackling. They're in shorts. It's different. Now, by all accounts, like, and this was his reputation at Notre Dame, like he's really intelligent player, kind of a natural leader. Sean Lee talked about sort of he was like asking questions in meeting rooms last year, like really intelligent questions, which made Sean Lee study things more. So it seems like a guy everyone would root for,

and if he's physically all right, that he'll be a big time help. But it's this time of year. I'm not getting carried away. It's June, everybody. It's cool for him, though. I mean, not to rain down on his parade. It has been a long process to get to that point where you thought you might be a top five NFL pick and to have that sort of injury in a bowl game. I mean, that was now, what, 16, 17, 18 months ago.

Yeah. That's a long process to get back out there doing what you love again. And if you're Jerry Jones, this is a second round pick. You've had some risky picks and you've taken some players, not with Jalen Smith, but with other guys with character concerns. Randy Gregory. Yeah, and it's like on offense, all these things have worked out on defense. a lot of this stuff's up in the air. That's got to be so frustrating for him, too,

just having to talk about it all the time and just, like, read about it all of these stories. So hopefully he can get back out there and help them. But that defense is kind of in shambles a little bit. Don't read your own press. You know that, Colleen. What?

You don't want to read your own press. No, never. You know that very well. That's true. All right. How about this? This is such a crazy story. Clinton Portis,

Sports Illustrated has an insane deep dive right now on like the darkest corners of Clinton Porter's life. In 2013, he thought seriously about murdering the investors who drove him into bankruptcy. He lost about $11 million with these guys. And in the story, he talks about sitting outside an office building in Washington waiting to confront someone and saying it wasn't. about beating them up it was to kill i mean this is this is a crazy crazy story this was money for you know he said his retirement taking care of his mom and his kids but it came right after the whole bernie made off thing right after bernie made off was arrested uh this they started their own ponzi scheme and it involved a ton of players NFL and i think NBA too there was also you know he

admitted a terrible tendency to spend his own money before that. I mean, Santana Moss's teammate talked about that. So there was like a lot of layers to this Clinton Portis thing that was sad. But him talking about that he was serious, that he was sitting outside waiting, you know, to potentially murder this person. And he had a friend, I think, that had some family therapy background that ended up like talking him out of this but if circumstances had different he's it's crazy because you think of clinton porters is kind of like the happy clown funny guy like that was his his thing as a player and to see this after his career is you know sad it happens you read these stories occasionally where these players if they've been wise or not with their

money they they do have these money managers and a couple of them occasionally get totally fleeced of crazy amounts of cash. And imagine that, though, like the desperation you would feel. I don't think murder would be the answer, but like simply watching someone go serve like six years in jail, that doesn't feel like the answer either. When you've saved this money up for your family and your children, it's, I don't know. I think these players, some of the post-career stuff is tricky. Yeah, I mean, just thinking about being driven to that point where you're actually sitting,

You have driven, you've gotten in your car and you've gone to the place where this person works and you're sitting outside waiting for them with thoughts of murdering them. Like the place that you have to be for that is just insane. Well, and his former managers didn't even, you know, the reason he was partly so frustrated is they didn't know jail time. Like they can't be financial advisors anymore, but no jail time, no prosecution. Zero punishment. They took the money. I was on the East Coast last week and found out around.

like 10 at night that I had lost my credit card. Oh, no. And so immediately, I'm thinking someone, you know, A, probably an irresponsible move by me, left it somewhere, which that's true. And then someone is now draining my family's bank account. And I started to get upset, and I realized I only have about $600 in there. So there's not a, how much damage can they possibly do? Where was the card? Never found it. Had to cancel it. Oh, no. Yeah. Did anybody put any charges on it? Well, I mean, there were charges that I assumed were mine. It was a hazy. I was on vacation. Things were very hazy, but not by someone else as far as I could tell.

I once got a call, I had a corporate card at my old job at NBC. Ooh, fancy. I know. They don't need to do that at the NFL. And I once got a call... Not for you at least. Or me. That's true. Or me. I once got a call that said, did you just spend $17,000

at JFK, like the Terminal 3? I was like, nope. That wasn't me. They're like, okay. Yeah, someone. Somebody cleaned house at duty-free? Basically, I think they did some- bought an airplane?

They basically did something where they went crazy at duty-free stuff and then they returned the money to get cash or I don't know. What are you buying? How much stuff are you buying at duty-free? You would think that, yeah, you would think. Like the right side of the shop, you would think around the, you know, 500th bottle of Johnny Walker Blacker. A lot of-a-Barones.

A lot of Toborones. Wow, wow. Yeah, I remember, I was. going through one of my credit card statements one time, and there were all of these charges at Abercrombie and Fitch. And this was like two years ago. And I was like, Abercrombie and Fitch, like, I don't think I've ever bought anything from Abercrombie and Fitch. Yes. I was like, wait a minute. This is still an active chain? Yeah. So it was fine. Pending since 1995 from the mall. It's weird, though, like how they can get your information. Like there was somebody in the store

using my card so I have no idea they somehow contacted the credit card company and got a copy of it the very dumbest thing I did recently with this group was we were at a like a podcast meetup in San Francisco before Super Bowl 50 and someone asked to sign like her hat or no it was a football I signed it with my social security number what no you did not then I thought later like what why on earth I really yeah yeah why would you do that I don't know Oh, yeah, it's very strange. Apparently a trusting fan. Nothing's come of it as far as I know.

Right. It's not like she was asking for anyone's social security. He was just like, and he signs his name. I believe it's just like everyone else, you know, gives the full name. He just goes like, Mark, you know, M-A-R-C, but then he puts his social security. It's very strange. This took place. This happened at a bar, so that could explain part of the thinking.

Well, I'm glad that nothing's come of it. Hopefully that fan will never sell it on eBay or something. like that. The guy is drunk. All right. Oh, one last story. I saw this. I didn't really get to dive into it, but Mark, I know that you're sort of an expert on this subject. Russell Wilson is on a new diet and it's showing. It is. It's kind of, you know, it's the very end of June. And I was searching everywhere for some story to write just to prove that I had actually been at work today. Sure, yeah. And I thought it would just be another one of these things where he's, you know, cut down on his

the food intake and he's changing his exercise but it's this guy that's right here in Santa Monica and I believe it's Philip either gogglia or golia but he is the same trainer that worked with Chris Pratt the actor who remember in like Parks and Rec he was kind of like lovably a big dude like a little pudgy little pudgy but in a great way but then he by the time he was in Guardians of the Galaxy he was like ripped like some sort of bodybuilding and I don't mean like pudgy in a bad way I feel like people are going to come after me for that like he just like He wasn't like shredded up. No, he was in fine shape.

He was like a dude, basically. Side note, though, Zach Dressler, one of the old podcast producers. One of our men. Yeah, exactly. One of the many. He's at BuzzFeed now, and they did a whole video and like that was over five months.

And he got with the same dude. That guy is like, it's pretty close. Yeah, it's right up the street. And he lost like, Dressler lost like 50 pounds. He looks great. He's on Instagram. He looks absolutely great.

Well, what's the premise of it? So basically, like, Russell Wilson was, he felt he wanted to trim down and basically, like, you know, he had the ankle and knee issues last year, and he wanted to change his kind of body makeup for this season. And so this guy put him on a daily calorie count that went from previously, like, 2,700, which is kind of what, like, a lot of athletes would eat and even just regular people, to 4,800 per day on a nine meal plan that includes, like, it's almost like what you think hobbits would eat And Lord of the Rings, it's like multiple breakfasts and lunches, but tons of snacks. Oh, my God, I want to go on this diet.

It's, it's, you should take a look at it. Yeah, you just need to have the time to work out like three hours a day. Can you do that, colleague? Yeah, that's the thing. It's definitely for, like, the athlete who is constantly, like, body crafting all day long and, like, has someone making snacks. Right, that's true. Yeah. Or an actor.

Same deal. But it works. It works. That's kind of what it's like at the Wolfganzo house. Well, like so. A lot of bodycrafting. We're going on vacation, and we have, like, tried to start eating healthier. And John gets, like, crazy, and he's like, I'm going to, you know, you know, John.

John Gonzalez? Yeah, right? John Ronald Gonzalez, born March 12th, 1977 is an American sports writer who's married to NFL media broadcaster, Colleen Wolfe. John, who's a Pisces resides in Los Angeles with his wife in $2. Glad we cleared that up. He's like, oh, he's paleo right now. So he, like, only eats meat and vegetables and fruit. And so I'm kind of like, all right, well, I won't eat bread.

And I have gained weight on this diet. I cut bread and, like, grains out of my diet. You're only eating bread or you're not? No, no, no, not. I'm not eating any carbs, really, at all. Like no carbs and no sweets or desserts. And I've gained weight. So I'm going to go back to just, like, drinking and eating recklessly because that seems to

really work with me. That was working well. Yeah. Yeah. Or you could do this 4,800 calorie thing. Wilson has lost 11 pounds and went from 16 to 10%. and body fat. What?

It's only about a mile from our, from where we live. I live right in the same neighborhood. Should we go together and just check it out? Clover Park. I've been there you go. Wait, so you have. I'm sure it's affordable too. You have to eat 4,800 calories a day.

Are you just like eating all day? Well, there's a pre-breakfast, a breakfast, a breakfast, a snack, then a lunch, then a second lunch, then a snack, then a dinner, and one more snack. What? This is amazing. Does the food, like, does it give you what the food is? I think it would be shaped for you. It would not, you would probably not be eating Russell Wilson's exact type.

Oh my God. It would be shaped for, for your needs. So not, you know, maybe more bread, more beer. Yeah, more of everything. Just, like, I just want to go on a carb diet. We'll see how that goes. He's like, look into it. Like, give me some food that'll make my Instagram account even cheesier.

Greg, not buying into this, but it's the results, you know, he, he, they showed a picture of them from, like, OTA or from mini camp. Looks felt. Wow, good for him. All right. We'll see if it actually changes anything. on the field. That'd be awesome. So I got a text from Sessler a couple hours ago, and he said, for the show today, I had wicked bad insomnia last night and wrote down something that was keeping me up in the middle of the night, a theory. I was bothering Greg with the Ion. I am earlier

that I honestly came to work with like 23 hours, 23 minutes of sleep in me. How are you like up and running and talking? I'm not doing good. But I was writing down something. What was keeping you up, though. I feel like usually there's something on your mind. It happens all the time. Yeah, but something's on your mind. You can open up to us. We won't tell anybody. Generally, like, guy stress, dad's stress, like work life stuff.

Guy stress. But, you know, guy stress sounds like something that no one could fully criticize. Half the population does not claim to know what I'm talking about. So I can talk about it. All right. This was on myself, and I wrote this down on, you know, just typing. And I want you just to be open-minded to this because I, this is

where I was. Is there multiple pages? No, it's one page. It says, do we really know that someone like George Washington ever existed? Think about this during July 4th. We were told that he was born in 1732 and died in 1799. This is the story passed down to us, but it feels equally possible that the entire idea of George Washington is a complete creation. It's logical and accepted for someone to argue, well, of course he exists, because that's what was shoved into our heads from the earliest days and the people who taught us this narrative were taught at the same thing and same song and dance when they were children and it's comfortable to accept this and people get very angry if you suggest otherwise meaning it's all going according to plan wow people get angry

have you been questioning it a lot i'm just thinking well okay this is the text is not i don't think i fully flesh this out but honestly when you think about george washington yeah it's just these paintings of him crossing the river and surprising the british there's like a lot of history books and stuff like that. But what's that? What is all that? Like who wrote those? It's just been passed down. It's just been passed down. What about the ones that were written back then? What about Mountain Vernon? I guess my... We're assuming that it was right.

What about where you have to believe that? My reporter question would be then at what point how did this come about? How did the myth of George Washington start? Because at some point it has to come, you know, has to begin. I, that I'd agree with you. I don't have the facts on when I think that would have happened. I do sometimes think that all of this deep American myth is just complete fabricate there's a, if you just

think about it, not say yes or no, that it could be all just a story that we were told and we came here at some other time and it more in a different type of way. Well, the wooden teeth is a fake story. I mean, to me you're going beyond George Washington. You're essentially questioning all of recorded

human history. Right. All of them. At least all of America. How could you trust anything? At least all of American. I'm not saying that I'm questioning. I'm just saying that I was thinking, like, why do we automatically buy that George Washington isn't a very neat creation? It's a good point. I think even if I won't go as far to say that, you know,

he didn't exist or these things didn't happen, I think your point still raises good questions of how much of it is true and what's changed. I mean, what's the zero history theory? What's the most popular book in, you know, the history of the world? the Bible the Bible I mean that that was something that was just kind of talked about passed down through ages that was oral history so someone wrote it down this feels like a theology podcast I just don't buy the George Washington like little wig why George

what you mean it's just what popped into my head that it just seems something about it seems a little patent on the nose I love save it for the heat and light podcast oh great episode this week everyone should check out Oh, thank you. Episode 4. Well, they're all good. Ooh, what's on episode 4? We discussed mail fraud.

One of the two of us had been charged with mail fraud. It's a classic successor story. If you know Mark, you do know their stories. So check it out. That's great. Sorry to totally stop the show with that. No, that was also. I think it was not provoking.

I'm thinking about, like, history books. I'm thinking about wigs. Like, I'm thinking how. False teeth. False teeth. I wasn't thinking about that. That's already been debunked. Yeah.

There's a lot. There's a lot. I mean, all it takes is to read three history books on the same person, and they're vastly different. Right. That alone will get you thinking. Very concerning. You know what else I'm thinking about?

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pair. So go ahead, revamp your underwear drawer. You deserve it. Once again, it's meundies.com slash around the NFL. Shout out to a shadowy league figure who finally, he had a box of Miundis for both men and women. Yes, I picked out of that box as well. I got two for myself, but I said, because he was saying, no, no, there's so many women attached to the podcast that we need to give the female version out to. And I said, there's not 15. Right. And so I definitely want to take one home to my wife. And so he said, let me see if I can find, like, enough people attached.

But this, this week handed me a pair that has printed all over it in multiple colors, like, have a nice day, like 100 times. Oh, no. That's cool. I didn't see those. So this shadowy league figure sent me an email and was like, can you come to my office? And I was like, oh, no, am I in trouble? Like, what did I say?

And so I went over and he was in the middle of another meeting. And he just, like, reaches behind. him and grabs this box and says that he didn't want to email me and ask what size I was so I could just pick out of whatever was in the box. Yeah. So he didn't want to avoid the awkwardness of an elder male superior handing you a box of female underwear. Oh my God.

It wouldn't be awkward at all. So I grabbed a pair of underwear out and then I was like, all right, now I'm going to walk across like this camp. to wherever I'm going with a pair of underwear in my hands. Problematic. Yeah, and I was like, well, I hope I don't drop these. I hope I don't run into anybody with these. Like, I need to hide these, basically. I got them safely to my car.

And, yeah, so that happened. Thumbs up. They were very soft. A lot of underwear talk, but we got something more important. Weather Underground's website indicates the temperature in Iran today hit 129.2 degrees tied for the highest recorded temperature in human history. Are you just trying to get on the board of breaking news? I mean, that's relevant to some people in Iran.

You need to come up with breaking news. I just broke news that the president, that George Washington does not exist potentially. I think that has a little bit more attached to it. I was just trying to figure out a way to move on from the undies. Right, that was good. They're getting their monies worth. Talk a little baking the leap. Ah.

Oh, wait. Do you want to do tag talk? Oh, I forgot about tag. You want to do a little tag talk? Okay. Yeah, Thursday tag talk. Sip through it, yeah. Okay, so the deadline was moved up, so it's now, or moved back.

Yeah, back because back two days, it's now July 17th for teams to sign franchise tag players. We have a couple still out there. Redskins, they are in talks with Kirk Cousins. Ian Rappaport said that things are, you know, more positive now between both sides. And I think that Derek Carr signing his deal will obviously just help things. with him. Charlie Cassely was on our air. He's saying he didn't think this cousin's deal could happen.

He didn't see any way. That's my, that's, and I, there's no reason to doubt old Charlie. I don't know. I feel like if they, I still think the way that the last Redskins season ended is been underplayed, that two of their last three games, really three of their last five which they lost, cousins played poorly. They didn't score. they scored one touchdown and two, you know, combined in week 15 and week 17.

And they've always been hesitant. So I don't know. I just feel like they're fine going with this year-to-year thing. I'm with you. I mean, Shepter also called it a long shot. And I just, it, there would have been a way to somehow get this done at this point, I think, if they really mutually wanted to do it. And I just, I don't see it happening.

Yeah, it's. It'll probably happen tonight now that we said that. Of course. We're going to, that's definitely going to happen. and we put that out in the universe. And then Levy on Bell and the Steelers, that's sort of, the talks are going slow, but both sides expect a push before the deadline to get the deal done,

which makes sense. It looks like his groin injury is okay after that little basketball video, the hoops vid that he posted. So that would make sense if, I mean, I don't know what they're waiting for. They need to just sign him. I think he's just a uniquely difficult player to sign because the running back market,

is so low, but he's so valuable, but he also has an injury history and a suspension history. And the tag number, here's where cousins get some problems, too. Tag number is so high. It's over $12 million for Levi-on-Bel that it's like, well, he's not going to sign it unless he's making, on average, $13 million over the next two years, because that's what he would get with two more tags.

And so I don't think it's going to happen. I don't think they're ready to do it. I don't think there's much more to say on that one. I just, yeah. No, uh-uh. And what about Tremaine Johnson? and he agreed to play under the tag for the second straight year and everything that we're hearing is nothing is going to get done.

Can you believe that this guy is going to potentially make $31 million over two cents? The Rams just don't seem bought in. Well, I think they find, is he a scheme fit for Wade Phillips? Like they have the thing, though, like Aaron Donald's potential new deal is kind of tied into it loosely where you could help the cap if you maybe sign Johnson to a deal that helped the cap this year. year or next, but you don't get the feeling that they really want him around long term. It was, I mean, Rams fans can tell me differently, but did they feel like they got $15 million

worth out of Tremaine Johnson last year? I think, I think Janoris Jenkins leaving created some sort of schism within that Rams team of who wanted to keep him, who didn't. And I, you know, you got to look at that as a possible regret, letting him go. Yeah, he slipped a little last year. He had a good season, 2015. That whole defense fell apart last. year too i mean but it's they've got other they've got other priorities well that was tag talk brought to you by me undies oh they get a sponsored segment too apparently that's what sallie said um okay now let's get to making the leap um i feel like dan this is on purpose dan is in here to do making leap like is this was this a strategic thing no we just didn't know what to talk about

well you know it's searching for a topic but it's a good time to do this topic i like this one I thought this is great. I have a couple. We all have a couple. Let's go around and talk about who we think is going to make the leap once again this year. Mark, I'll go first, but this ties into a series that Greg is working on 4NFL. Dot com, by the way. I just thought I'd throw that out there.

And thankful because I'm not working on it this year, which was long. It once was 40 players deep. It's brutal. Now it's just five. And actually, I'm mostly doing like groups, teams or. And groups. Mix it up. I like that trend.

Yeah, that's good. If I had to do one, one player that I love watching last year was James and Crowder. And with making the leap, one of the reasons that always got tricky for me because it's like, what is making the leap? James and Crowder, you could argue, could have been a pro bowler last year for his special team skills

and what he can do a wide receiver. Didn't he lead the team in touchdowns? He did. I mean, that's the thing is, I think, though, you talk about making the leap doing even more. There's different types of leaps. There are different types of leaps. He made one.

He can make a leap to a whole other level. He's never made the Pro Bowl. So it's like, I mean, not that that's a whole different conversation. But you got to run. He had 850 yards. It's not going to care of the way. Exactly, exactly. I do think, though, he showed at times to be so incredibly game-changing and dangerous for that offense.

And now the question is, they're putting him outside. He was a slot guy. And he's going to have to face different types of coverage. You got Terrell Pryor to obviously take people away from you. But you have no Deshaun Jackson. Pierre Garsohn's gone. to still throw the ball a ton, and I think he is a chance. If he shows that he can match up with number two, sometimes number one coverage and succeed, it could be a really special player for

the Redskins. So it's a leap candidate in my mind. And if he made a leap, I mean, that, I think we're talking 1,200, 1,300. And I don't think that's crazy because you think what is Kirk Cousins good at? It's not going deep on the edges of the field. I know he had better success last year throwing vertically but it's it's throwing to guys in the slot and you got crowder and i know play outside some too but it'll also be in the slide you got crowder and jordan reed both in the slot maybe they're next to each other maybe they're on opposite sides that's a lot to handle and cousins his best strength is picking out the open receiver and just getting to him and letting them make plays after the catching crowder is awesome yeah especially with deshawn gone and pierre garsohn yeah that opens

it up for crowder maybe it'll be a career year for him all right gregg i mean i like Mark used to get very stressed. I feel about like... Everything? He was up all night last night, contemplating George Washington's existence. I think it was... Not to bring up a sore subject,

but I think it was Toby Gerhardt back in 2013. Oh, no. That really hurt you. Because you put a lot into him, a lot of research. You watched him quite a bit. You wrote a very compelling piece. You really put your name out there.

And then you heard a lot about it throughout the season. And I think that scarred you. And seasons afterwards. Emotionally it scarred you. Yeah. It was this effort was ultimately not worth it on any level. Greg, Greg's out for Mark today.

I think he was. I'm trying to add some fun. I think that was very fair. No, I'm just kidding. Have you hit on any of your making the leaps, Greg? No, I get like one out of four right or whatever. I mean, I don't know. It's like B.S.I. Jinks is ridiculous compared to what we have done with

some crazy stuff's happening. We fit plenty. But it's a little. secret i learned um when i was writing fantasy football full time it's a lot easier this was at rhodo world this was at rhodo world okay it's a lot easier you write if you're the guy who writes the busts list you're going to look like a genius you're going to get most of those right because in the end most people end up being disappointing if you're the guy who writes the sleepers list it's hard to get those right you know not that many people really uh overachieve and that's that's harder to predict so

that's why well we this is like sleepers yeah and our next And next week we have, you know, dirt nap, players ready to take a total dirt nap. All right. Well, so for my making the leap, my first one, which I really believe in, it's a team and a uniform that Toby Gerhardt wants. Oh. And it's a team that's snookered us before. And then almost every year, it's like now I'm taking the, you know, turn doing the Jaguars off-season hype piece. But here's what I'm hyping.

Just their defense. I don't know. Who knows if Blake Portals or the offense will be any good. They might be a mess. It doesn't matter. The Jaguars defense is different, I think, this year. Because never before in the past have they had Jalen Ramsey entering his second year. Now, Ramsey's a guy who Mark loved early last season.

And he was ahead of the curve because Ramsey was great and feisty early, but he was just good late. I mean, he was arguably the best cornerback in the league late in the season. Wasn't he trash talking with Steve Smith? That was early, and he was great. Like, he has the, I've watched it, you know, get ready to write this piece this week, and he just has this competitive arrogance that's, like, amazing to watch. There was one play where I swear he baited Marcus Marriota

into throwing across his body so he could try to pick it off. He didn't pick it off, but he knocked the ball down, almost made a pick. And you could almost see him backing off for a little bit. And then when he sees the receiver break or the quarterback, you know, Matt Castle on another play in the, in that same game where he got a pixick, the guy just breaks, and he is big. I mean, he can cover Demarius Thomas.

He shut Demarius Thomas down one game. He's a very physical receiver, but he's fluid enough where I watched him really shut down T.Y. Hilton for a large portion of that game. And then Hilton got his, and it was competitive back and forth, but he can cover all sorts of different types of receivers. He can lay people out, which not a lot of cornerbacks love to do. And so he is, to me, the difference of this Jaguar's defense than before. Then suddenly, okay, A.J. Bouye comes in.

It's not as big of a risk, I don't think, to give him all that money because he's paired with such a good player in Jalen Ramsey. Now, Callais Campbell comes in. He's up there in age on the defensive line. But that's not as big a risk because they're so deep on the defensive line. Malik Jackson played incredible down the stretch last season. They have Dante Fowler. They have In Gokwe.

The guy who really stuck out for me watching this was this guy, Abri Jones. If you didn't know Abri Jones. I feel like I need to fan you all. I'm just saying, and I'll stop my right now. But if you didn't know him, if you didn't know anything about them and just watched that last month of their play, you would say he might be the best player on their defense.

He might be a pro bowler, him and Ramsey are kind of the two key guys. You have Telvin Smith who's a lot of fun to watch. I just think their defense is loaded and they can't screw it up and that the defense will be really good. How much time have you spent watching Jagsville lately? I mean, I've watched a bunch this week. I watched a lot this week. I can feel it.

I can sense that. Yeah. It definitely shows. You know, a little, yeah, little, we got time in the office scene, a little coaches film, a little game pass. I like it. Game pass, by the way, you know, nice remodeling. I like what they've done. I'm starting to come around on this because.

I'm locked out of my account right now. Since what, 2012? I'm with you, Greg. I really struggle because of how burned I feel by the Jags. Yeah, I know. But part of it is I've maybe never been in on them totally. I used to love boys. mortals, but not, like, as a team.

It's, like, a fun thing to do every offseason is just, like, talk about how great the Jags could be. But you can't let, like, that's just an emotional response, what I'm feeling. Like, logically, like, they have out of pieces. I think if you kind of believe in the switch, the coaching switch, too, which there's something around that. I'm with you. I mean, I think the defense has all the pieces.

If they, if they somehow, if it doesn't materialize and they go three and 13 again, I'm shipping this team to Mars, like, they are leaving the Earth. Yeah, the difference is now, I think, like, Telvin Smith really. stood out. He's in his third season, so I think he's matured. And Fowler and Gokwe, they're getting better. Malik Jackson took him a little while to get, you know, up to speed, but he was great. So it just feels like a nice team where there's some veterans, there's some youth. Yeah, and Dante Fowler, too. I mean, that first season, it was completely derailed with the injury. I mean, he's a first round pick last year. He had a shoulder issue that was bothering him. And I think he was benched midway

through the season a couple times because of his play. I think that this will be the year for him if he, as long as he can stay healthy. I mean, that, that'll, that'll be great for it. It can still be a six or seven-win team if, if the offense is lousy, but I don't think the defense will be the reason that they're bad. I think they'll be a top 10, top five type of defense. I like that. How about this one?

I'm kind of playing the odds here because at some point, the starter just has to, he's so old and he's so good, but I'm just going to keep making this by making the leave candidate every year because at some point it's going to hit Hunter Henry. How many more years is Antonio Gates going to be in there? He's been like the number one guy for a decade. Him and Philip Rivers have this amazing connection. But I think Hunter Henry last year, he led the team and receiving touchdowns. He was tied with Michael Thomas for the most touchdowns out of rookies.

He really doesn't make any drops. He runs good routes. He was awesome in the red zone last year. Look, it's a second round pick. And I think at some point, Antonio Gates is going to, his age is going to catch up with him and we're going to see that on the field. So I think that Hunter Henry might get some more snaps this year, and they're going to try and get him those reps to groom him

because I wouldn't be surprised if this is Antonio Gates last season. How old is Antonio Gates? I think if Antonio Gates had caught this touchdown that I witnessed during the Chargers' last game in San Diego, where they tried to get him the all-time record for tight ends. Might be gone. It was broken up. Who knows? Maybe he wouldn't have retired because he clearly.

really loves the game. Yeah. But he's 37, I think that was a reason to definitely come back. And he's talked about kind of seeding ground to Henry. That's a great sign that he said, look, I don't need to be out there every single snap. But it is amazing the chemistry that him and Philip Rivers have. They've played together for so long.

It's almost, I would see those two guys like finishing each other's sentences. I think with Henry, I mean, the tight end position is one that year one is really tough. And even like Gronks, year one stats were not. crazy. Yeah. And Henry shows, you know, statistically as much promise as really any of these guys. And he really grew last season. So that's a very logical candidate to have a much bigger role this year.

I thought he was awesome. I mean, is he really pretty great in some games? Their whole, you know, their whole skill position group is that is, I didn't, you know, Colleen, you didn't know this, but that is, that is one of my, my making the lead thing. So I'm not just limiting it to Henry, but it's kind of that whole young group together. You can throw Keenan Allen in there. You can throw Melvin Gordon in there. You can throw Tyrell Williams, just like this young little, this Chargers core. Mike Williams.

Mike Williams, certainly. He's been injured in the off season. So we'll see if he like gets up to speed, but that's like a fun young group. You like the Chargers, you like the Jags. I feel like the Jags team. I'm not saying the Jags as a whole team. Just the defense. Okay, half of it. All right. Should we do a speed round? Should we do one more? Sure. Let's go around. Do you have another mark? The second one I picked was Noah Spence for the for the Buccaneers. I had to do an article of trying to find like first time pro bowlers for each team. And the Bucks have so many pro bowlers actually. So I went and pick Spence. But there's more to it than that. Like his own teammates are, I mean, that was my only argument. It would be rather weak. But Gerald McCoy's, he's the guy he picked as a breakout year with Spence. And Robert Ayers said the same thing. He called him like a 15 plus sack guy in this defense this season. And, you know, he had some, I watched a little bit of them for this piece and just showed some flashes. I think that, like, along with, you know, Juan Alexander, there's a lot of talent on that defense that down the stretch, the bucks, they were overall not a great unit, but they had some games where they were really stingy down the stretch. And I think Spence will, I'll put, I'll put that one on the line there.

Yeah, and he pops. He pops off the screen, just his speed and his quickness. Cut 10 pounds. Like, they said how hard he's work. in the office. I like players that like he's he's like in the film room all the time. They say they cannot get him out of the facility. So these things sometimes are the DNA of a good year. Tight end and defensive end I think are two of the hardest positions to make an impact as a rookie. So if you can make an impact like Henry did like Spence did, it's a great sign. Yeah. And he

was playing with a torn labrum, which he was able to do all of that and not be 100%. So when he's 100, I mean, he's going to be so much better. This might be the first time we're talking bucks without a kicker kicker uh battle going to well you just did mention the kicker i don't know so not anymore thanks for ruining i just slip it in there yeah well let's hear let's hear it then we haven't heard an iguio why not update it aquayo folk this is the best one the biggest cliffhanger since that one episode of friends when rachel went to meet ross at the airport after his work trip to China and was stunned to see Ross cuddling up to his new squeeze, Julie. It doesn't get old.

It's ridiculous. It's okay. They are a great pick for Hard Knocks. After being saddled, you know, I'm sorry Amazon and NFL films, but after being saddled with the Rams for Hard Knocks and all or nothing back to back, I am excited for a little Hard Knocks, Tampa Bay Bucks. They picked a nice team. Yeah, especially with Deshaun. there.

Yeah. I don't like, having covered him in Philly, that's, he'll be a good character. There's a lot to like. I mean, Mike Smith back in the mix. Wow. Ooh. Yeah, hot to the touch.

All right, Craig. You got another? I do. I'm going to go again with an entire defensive unit. Bend in the rules a little bit here, huh? No, there is no rules. There are no rules. I'm going with the Falcons defense.

I know they were in the Super Bowl last year, but that they're the reason they didn't win the Super Bowl last year. They weren't a good defense. We spent a lot of the Super Bowl week trying to bend over backwards saying, okay, you know, Dan Quinn's really getting his, you know, mojo going, and they've improved. And it's like, no, they gave up a ton of yards, a ton of points. Yes, they did better in the NFC playoffs,

certainly against the Seahawks and Packers. But the reason they won those games was offense, offense, offense. And for the most part, it was a problematic defense throughout the year. yet I think they were so young and they had a lot of injuries. They didn't have Desmond Troufant. They didn't have Desmond Troufant. And I just like the mix of them. And I do like Dan Quinn.

I think it takes a while. People don't think about it to really get your own system going. This is Dan Quinn's third year in Atlanta. These guys have now been with him in between Dion Jones and Keanu Neal. And I really like Grady Jarrett up front. You bring in Don Terry Poe. It's just Vic Beasley. You draft McKinley.

It's just a lot of young pieces who I think have a lot of speed and they'll be helped out by that offense. And I think that defense, this team has so much room for improvement because the defense was not in the top 20 to 25 defenses in the league last year and yet they were still that good as a team. The players that they have drafted under Bradley have, they've developed quickly. Right. That's a great sign.

Right. And it's the same system, 90-something percent as Gus Bradley's, and that wasn't happening in Jacksonville under Gus Bradley's. So I think that I think this is a great pick for that because they, if they can keep growing from where we saw in the playoffs into this season, half season, three quarters through, very high ceiling. Yeah, Dan Quinn, I think he's done a really good job just like grooming these guys. They're so young and they have so much talent.

And there was a lot of rookies. Right. I mean, that they expected a lot out of to be on such a big stage with not a lot of experience. They're pretty deep in the secondary. Like Robert Alford has a big contract. He was, you know, injured as well. Jalen Collins like it's just a group I think they're kind of buffeted or I don't know what the word is that they're not at that big of a risk of falling off because I think they have a

buffer even though the offense is going to fall backwards I think the defense is natural like they can't help but improve this year yeah all right so you went you went double defense there okay I'm going double O I'm going when was last time we talked about the Colts on the show 2015 a lot of Chris Ballard talk but the team itself that's true that's true doesn't get a lot of love. How about a little Dante Moncrief? I think he was probably on the list last year, and that makes total sense

because everybody was really high on him last year, and I think that we're... He was a West pick. Yeah, we're, oh, that makes me feel even better. So we were, I think we were all in agreement that the expectations for him were really high and that he was talented, but I think he would have made the leap

if he didn't get hurt last year. He only had a 370, yards, but he scored seven touchdowns in nine games. He'll be 100 yards last year. Yeah, and two of those nine games, he didn't even finish because he got hurt. So he scored in every single game that he finished when he was healthy. He's a super physical guy. He should be Andrew Luck's probably favorite red zone target.

So I would expect a lot of scores from him. And if Andrew Luck's shoulder is good, I think Dante Moncrief will be too. Yeah, I mean, you want to see the whole offense. Right. Get back to what they were doing if that's what's going to happen here. And I think they've finally addressed the line to some degree. And if they can keep luck healthy, then it's a huge arrow up for a guy like Moncrief. And he's only turning 24 in August.

I mean, he was a young player entering the league. So the fact that he's entering his fourth season and just turning 24, I'm with you. I think there's nothing that really should stop him from making that leap. It doesn't hurt to have the NFL's leading receiver. on your team either. No, no, that can only help. Taking away a little bit of attention. That's right.

All right. So that's it for making the leap guys. When is your article coming out? I have a Steelers one up already. Making the leap. So they're coming out a couple of weeks for the next few weeks. There's five of them. There's another Jaguars one coming out.

So it's a full article for each leap candidates as a group. That's how we do it. That's how we used to do it most of us. That's how Greg does it. Thankfully, got me off that chore. Does anybody have July 4th plans? No, not really. It snuck up this time.

I know. We'll figure it out. Yeah. All right. Not get arrested. Let's do something. Let's figure this out. I get arrested.

That's a start. Let's not get arrested. Let's buy some firearms that are across the street from the NFL media. Uh-huh. Some fireworks. Some fireworks. Some fireworks. Go to the beach, some beer.

Mm-hmm. Get crazy. That sounds dangerous. but I like it. Sounds like a Tennessee 4th of July, so let's do this. All right, let's wrap it up. This has been great. When are we back again?

Back again Monday, Tuesday. We're back again with a fresh show Thursday. Oh, Thursday. That's right, and it's a surprise. Get excited. All right, everybody. I'm out. I'm spent.

That's it. Till next week. This is an IHeart podcast.