NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Will the Broncos miss the playoffs?

Episode Date: June 8, 2016

A room full of heroes -- Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, Chris Wesseling and Marc Sessler – breakdown the latest NFL news, including the NFL’s investigation into the Aqib Talib shooting incident and the chances of Blaine Gabbert securing the starting gig for the 49ers. The heroes are then joined by former NFL offensive lineman Ross Tucker to discuss the best coaches in the NFL and head to the scientist lab to break down the perfect lineman.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 is running out of money tags. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansis and I am joined by a room filled with heroes. Mark Sessler, Chris Wessling, and Greg Rosenthal. What's up, boys? Hey, Dan. It's happening.

Good to be back with you. The boss back in the best. big chair. You guys did a great job, though, on the show. I listened to it. I was stunned that you listened to it. I listened to it. Yeah, I mean, I'm not proud of this, but I think it was the first episode I listened to since last offseason, which is a while. I know Mark likes, Mark likes to re-listen to him. It kind of creeps me out to re-listen to him. In a certain mood, I will re-listen to them, like, you know, late at night, and they're quite delightful at times. I just get annoyed by myself, and then I also think, like, there's only so much time on the planet,

I can listen to other podcasts or read or something else. I was already in that room and had these great conversations. I'm a little disappointed because that's an opportunity for you to listen for the first time to my jokes that you trample over during. Oh. I will relisten to the show on occasion as a method of taking self-notes about my own performance or whether to judge each of you guys for various things or praise you internally. and the Irishman, of course, as we as...

Certainly not externally. Irish has a good chance of getting up on Mount Rushmore as a producer. As we know, there's one vacant slot. Pick up the chisels. That's his theme music, apparently. He's really looking to get out there. Oh, that's breaking news. I've never heard that before.

That's the first time. You have breaking news? No, that is breaking news. No, that is breaking news. I have a good shot of getting up there. Oh, I see. This is why Dan needs to listen to it twice. We need a higher bar for breaking news.

Yeah, I didn't think that was... I assumed you were aware that you were in the running to be. Well, I was in the running, but you said I have a good answer. You have a shot. That was anecdotal. Well, this is a blind spot for me anyways. I'm not proud of it. I do think you can get probably better at your job by listening to it,

but it was an informative show. It was the debut of Johnny Chuckles, which that was... Hey, over here! I'll make your bellies hurt. I'm going to make you feel your sides are going to hurt so much because I can make you laugh. very concerning dan pro football talk just wrote a post on brandon breaking news and and you and you Greg we were curious your thoughts of course um mark uh apple polisher sessler he uh he

had a segment during the last podcast where he spoke of various things he had observed and wanted to report well was terrific it was terrific to have a surrogate here representing my interest proud of yourself mark i didn't even need to hold a meeting which which i usually do with Mark after these days, I guess, and where he updates me. He did it for me. I was already at home. I didn't even need to wait until the next day.

So I thought it was accurate and informative. And probably the truest, no, actually, go ahead, Mark. You seem like you want to talk. Well, no, no, I don't want to interrupt. I liked where you're going. The idea that these two are calling me an Apple Polisher, it's simply because they were subjects in the report. Continue, Greg.

Well, that's true. You did, although you did say, you did say Dan did a great job. I think the truest thing you said is I knew this segment would go south if I criticized Dan. Yes. You have to be strategic when discussing Dan. No, I mean, listen, was it the best segment? No, was it the worst segment?

No. I wasn't going to stand in the way either way. I'm just aiming to strike right in the middle. All right. So this is the Wednesday edition of the round of the NFL podcast, sponsored by no one, loved by thousands across the world. feared by some shadowy league figures upstairs. Tens of thousands. Beholding to no one.

Absolutely. Actually, one of our shadowy league figures confronted me in the lobby yesterday, and she said to me, what is that beholding to no one's stuff? Like you're trying to scare away sponsors? Maybe that shadowy league figure should find us a sponsor, and then we'd be beholden. No, I just, you know what I did? I put on my helmet, and I hopped on my Harley, and I just tore off.

Can't help it from a bad boy. Peeled away from, I think, the only female shadowy league figure that exists. Yeah, she is a riser. I don't know that I... Behind the scenes, we normally know when you say shadowy league figures, you know exactly who I'm talking about. This is the first time that I can recall that, and I witnessed this conversation right before you peeled off on your metaphorical motorbike.

I thought Mark was taking a surprising shot of the NFL's gender. Well, he kind of was. No, not at all. Very equal hiring practices, Craig. Today's show. So, anyway, the bottom line is beholden to no one. You know, come at us, Dix, sporting goods. Reebok.

Is Reebok? Del guy? We want the Dell dude to sponsor us, not even Dell. Pre-show grade? B. We were going to talk about, you know, we talked about on our last show because he is the boss we had to join. I show back up and the pre-show grade goes down.

We love Connie Fox. No, we did fearless predictions that we may live to regret. So, you know, Wes, Sess and myself gave ours. Connie Fox gave hers. We'd like to hear from Greg on his prediction. So we'll get to that a little bit later. And then we have a guest in the studio. You know, we don't have guests a lot.

But when this man reached out to us, we said, oh, we've got to be. get him in here. He's Ross Tucker, former NFL offensive lineman, host of the Ross Tucker football podcast, and probably about seven other jobs. He's one of those guys that has 14 jobs. He's a hustler. We met with him

for lunch earlier today. He's like, oh, I got a meeting with this guy and that guy and this guy and that girl. And it's like, whoa, what are we doing wrong? I guess we're just cranking out content. That's it. He's, I'm impressed with the ability to fly across the country to do multiple shows, meet with sales entities.

You know, we are very, by comparison, extremely lazy, it's concerning. And we'll do some news. We'll hit some news. And before we do that, we'd check behind the glass with the Irishman formerly now, who really does have, I'd say, a chance at getting on Mount Rushmore. I appreciate that. And to me, at least, that was breaking news. What I'm wondering is I wasn't in Mark.

I wasn't in Mark's report on Monday. I wonder what he would have said about my performance. Not much to say You did fine I mean it wasn't exemplary It's okay It's good for you Because when you

When you're a producer It gets on The Sizzler's bad side He'll shoot you the eyes And point at you You'll know when you did a bad job Yeah Brandon You're almost never on my bad side

He's a workhorse Yeah You're like a long snapper Just trying to You want to stay out of it I want to fly under the radar Yeah Until you're on the mountain side

That's it Let's do some news You all the week of stink Goodbye Did you hear that news, by the way? I did, and I think it said a lot about that concept that you have mentioned that before on the show. I thought I had. No one remembered.

Yeah, you know, I took mental note of that. That says something. I remembered. I listened to it and I said, yeah. No, I took note of that with Sess and Wes, Kiss and Cousins not remembering because it made me look foolish. That's what made you look foolish. back I brought back I didn't step over that one west

yeah we gave west the chuckles hey Wes good one a real belly buster I'm trying I'm thinking about bringing back you are the weakest link goodbye you are the weakest link goodbye exactly so we'll see if that happens I haven't formally

announced but of course coming off the Dean's scream it's like when PTA Paul Thomas Anderson after he made boogie nights he was given all the power in the world to make whatever he wanted next and he made Magnolia which was like a sprawling three-hour epic the movie I love rewatched it over the weekend ending is absurd you on the other hand created Johnny Chuckles right can I make a suggestion yeah this Johnny Chuckles has legs

concentrate on him and ignore the weakest link yeah thank you Wes Greg you know what I don't need those shots those pot shots I'm already regretting bringing up Johnny Chuckles on welcome back Greg I love that guy. He's a ventralchus dummy, by the way. Yeah, he is.

He's a crazy ventriloquist. Let's start with the news. Investigators are looking into whether Akeeb Taleb, the star Broncos cornerback, shot himself. Oh, no. He pulled a plexico potentially. Talib was released from the hospital after suffering a gunshot wound to his right leg Sunday morning in Dallas.

And investigators are looking into the shooting. they're trying to determine whether Taleb had accidentally shot himself. A rap sheet reported Tuesday, citing some sources close to the probe, like that term. Taleb arrived at the Broncos facility Wednesday to be evaluated by team medical staff. Gary Kubiak, the Broncos coach, told reporters Tuesday that there is no timeline for Taleb's return from the injury per James Palmer of NFL media. The three-time Pro Bowler was released from the hospital.

Monday, Kubeyak said. It's a problem. It's a problem for Akeep Taleb. I think a bigger problem than we probably thought initially because of the legal implications. It is a felony to carry a weapon in public without a license in a place that sells alcohol in Texas. He said he was drunk. That even if you do have a license, it's illegal to carry a firearm while you're drunk. So, you know, this could be something.

especially looking back on his history. I guess I don't know if he would count as a repeat offender because the offenses were so long ago, but the NFL has taken this gun laws very seriously. And let's not forget that Poxo Burris went to jail for like a year and a half or so. That was New York, though. The states do differ something.

Yes, after accidentally shooting himself in the leg when he had his gun tucked into his sweatpants, and we will get a real look at how the law works in different parts of the United States because this happening in Texas. I would almost think it would be applauded in Texas. Just guns. I love guns in Texas.

But don't expect anything like that to happen to Lee, but he could certainly get in some trouble for this. So he implicated himself by admitting he was drunk? That seems like an implication, although they still would need an official. I don't know if they did a toxicology report. You would think that they did. I mean, there's a lot going on here.

I think he's going to be suspended regardless just because of his history. history we will track this story obviously bad news for the defending champions either way moving on mike silver was on total access which is the flagship flagship program of NFL network hosted by or co-hosted by lindsay roads good friend of the show uh silver was speaking with dan hellie the other co-host of total access on tuesday uh you get hellie on here we should we absolutely should great let's make a point of that but mike silver was at nineers camp uh on the same day that Colin Kaepermick made his on-field debut, taking part in individual drills as he's working his way back

from three different off-season surgeries. But Silver came away with a feeling that Blaine Gabbard is the, quote, heavy favorite to be the team starting quarterback in week one. He went as far as to say that there's, quote, allegedly a quarterback competition. Here's what Silver added. He's loved in this locker room. He did a lot of good things last year, and I'd be shocked if he's not the starter in the opener.

Your thoughts, Wes. I know you've thought this as a possibility for some time. Yeah, I think we've had Cabard as the heavy favorite in this podcast. And I think the sentence that stood out to me was the locker room sentence. We pointed out so many times about the hatred between Kaepernick and the front office. But we also have said in the past that locker room was divided on Khan Kaepernick. And maybe the teammates don't want him. Maybe a portion of the teammates don't want him quarterbacking.

Yeah, it's like players, teammates understand the, necessary desire to make your money while you can as a player. But if you're the quarterback, it's just different than any other position. And what is Gabbard competing against? He's competing as an injured quarterback who's not practicing, who has done a bad job this offseason of connecting or reconnecting with teammates and publicly tried to get out of the organization. If you're Chip Kelly trying to establish a foundation, especially with your offense, why would Gabbart not absolutely be in the lead right now? Everything would need to change for him not to be. Totally agree

with both of you, and yet when I heard Colleen's very bold prediction, what's the official title on this? It is fearless predictions we may live to regret. I thought she could end up getting that right because, okay, Bling Labbert's

the favorite to start week one. That's week one. Chip Kelly has proven he can create offense, and before we get too worried about who's the heavy favorite for week one, they haven't faced any pass rush. Colin Kaepernick started practicing this week. They're going to start facing a pass rush in August, and we'll see how Blaine Gabbardt, that's been a problem for him in the past. We'll see how he adapts the Chip

Kelly's system. He hasn't been in it yet. I had a similar feeling to that that the best thing that Kaepernick has going for him right now is that it is Blaine Gabbard he's going up against, and maybe Gabbard gets it together and becomes a good starter. Mike Silver referenced Alex Smith as potentially a similar path. Blaine Gabbard could be a guy that gets his career going a little bit later than people expected. And part of me also feels a little bit for Colin Kaepernick because He's obviously not the most charismatic guy, a guy that easily connects with people, whether it's the media or his teammates. So once your confidence gets shaken as a player, it's easy.

I could see how he gets in kind of a rough spot in a clubhouse or a locker room. So I feel for the dude a little bit. He's not like a bad guy. We haven't heard like terrible stories about him. But he, A, we don't need to feel too bad. He's making a hill of cash. And this report is about where he, where they are now. Yeah.

He has all the opportunity to flip this up. Bad teams start like two quarterbacks. each start 10 and six games. I mean, he's going to... Mark, you're like Tio's agent when he had that pills situation. She's like, Terrell Owens has 25 million reasons to be alive. That is exactly. Money is everything.

That is exactly what I'm like. By the way, the best thing Blaine Gabbard has going for him is the last year and a half of Colin Kaepernick's game tape. Yeah. But the reason, and that's totally fair, yet the reason why I still hold out hope for Colin Kaepernick is that first year and a half of his game tape, which was something else,

which we thought he was one of the most talented guys in the entire league. Colleen hung onions, though. Who's a nice onion hanger? I think it was a good one. I liked it. I thought it was good. Speaking of hanging onions, Trent Richardson, the Ravens running back, was asked, you know,

we're not even sure he's going to make the team. He probably has an uphill challenge, but he was asked by CSN Mid-Atlantic recently, how he saw his career ending. This is what T. Rich had to say, putting on a yellow jacket. people wrote him off he came back and did some amazing things he always had the pedigree he just had to get back to the guy that we know now this made him the butt of many a joke

in social media and there was a guy downstairs uh that's a big alabama he went to albama where t rich went and he was saying oh why is everyone making fun of t rich you know what else is supposed to say well you can say other things if someone asked you that question you could say well my goal here is to be a part of this team be productive and we're going to win and I'll get, you know, and get my confidence back. You know, lay low on the can't and stuff. That's a bad job by T-Ridge. You've got to know what to say.

I hear you. I thought Connor struck the right chord in this article. Stop piling on. You don't make fun of fat guys because they're fat. That's just not funny. Well, the question was asked, in a perfect world, where would your career end up? So imagine if they asked us in our perfect world, it would have, I mean, I can only imagine. It didn't say perfect world.

That was the question. How do you see your career ending? In a perfect world, if you listen to the clip. that you know that that's how you answer the question you know Mark I would love to hear Mark's answer of how his career ends in a perfect world they would include you know some of America three floating one thing about wilderness I don't know what I would say with with T. Rich it's become this cottage industry just to shred this guy

and he's he's a reason for a lot of the reason that's happening but extremely young does not have a lot of wear on the tires at this point if he actually is focused on getting in shape, I do think I'm going to win this sandwich bet with Dan. You're back in. I'm not back in because I already paid it off. You want to make it another sandwich?

It was a year ago. A year ago, his head was in a completely bizarre place. If he does care about his career, that is probably 80% of it with Fred Richards. Although everything we've heard, his head is exactly in the right place now. I'm saying if, I don't say it is. Well, you know what? Keep ripping him to shreds. Let's see what happens. Yeah, because you got to know what to say. Part of being a professional athlete, but the question is important.

The question tweak that Greg introduced is different than, hey, what kind of player are you? It's like in an ideal world, what's he going to say? I want to be a mid-tier running back. You don't have to answer. You don't have to answer. You don't have to do it. Anything he said would have been ripped. If he said, I want to be a guy that just collects a paycheck, we would have ripped it.

No, he could. Well, then you would get ripped for that. But if he would have said, I want to make this roster and I want to be a contributor, I don't know what's going to happen down the line. There's a smart way to answer it in the way that gets you lampoon. It makes you, continues to be the butt of a joke rather a guy, rather than a guy trying to save his career. That's all I'm saying. I'm not his PR agent.

I just think that it's kind of like he's. I think you are his PR agent. No, he's trapped in a tough spot. It's like whatever he says, Twitter's going to erupt and just take the guy to town. So you're right. Maybe he should just go absolutely radio silence. We know from the last three years he's not good at getting himself out of a trapped spot. Moving on.

Just be quiet. make the team do what you can buddy two sandwiches coming my way if he does answering questions it will never happen mark you want to do another sales keep that sound yeah please keep it i got it yeah thank you both guys are extremely confident right now uh all right geo bernard of the cincinnati bangles uh the running back has reached agreement with the team on a three year 15.5 million dollar contract extension uh rap sheet reports per a source involved with the situation. The team later confirmed the extension.

It runs now through 2019. This is a former second round pick who, you know, it'll be interesting to see what happens with the Cincinnati backfield here now, Cessler, because we have what looked like maybe the best tandem in the league. Now it's a little up in the air. Gio Bernard's a nice player, but who knows what you have with Jeremy Hill at this point. But do you like the move to lock down Gio Bernard? I do because I know that.

In our bold predictions last week, the Bengals sounded like they were slighted. They were not. I think the Bengals have a great talent. And when you're an organization that knows how to draft well and nurture young players, you see them signing second contracts. And, you know... Well, they were still slighted. You said the Browns were going to finish ahead of either them or the Ravens, basic.

Right. It was a bold prediction. It was not based on mathematical logic. I do think that there's a shot of it happening. But it doesn't mean that I think the Bengals aren't incredibly talented. They have probably done a better job of amassing talent than 90% of the league over the last three seasons, and Bernard's one of those players. I think he's a rare player with a lot of fame that's underrated at 1,200 yards in two of his three years.

I think this was an amazing deal. It was an extension, so they're still paying them only a million bucks for this year. I'm sure he got some money up front, but it was tacking years onto the deal. At $5 million a year, if I was in fantasy leagues, I'm taking Bernard over Jeremy Hill. It's not that close. I think he's going to have a much better season, and I think he's a little more powerful than people give him credit for. Here's the list of running backs who had a better season than Gio Bernard last year.

Okay. Doug Martin, Adrian Peterson, Todd Gurley, Devante Freeman, that's the list. Wow. And a bad year for running backs, but your point is one. No, you're right. It was a bad year, and you could say David Johnson for a month looked better, but for an entire season, Joe Bernard was a top five running back. He's a game changer.

Are we, wait, are we counting out Jeremy Hill? as a workhorse? I'm not either. I think Hugh Jackson's offense last year. Hugh Jackson's offense last year changed from the year before. They went to a lot more three wide sets, and they went to a running system that fit Geo Bernard's style a lot better than Jeremy Hill. And Jeremy Hill had a big year.

He tiptoed to the line of scrimmage. Well, I am as a workhorse because he's on the same team as Geo Bernard. And I think you'd be doing yourself a disservice to really reduce his snaps below 500, 600, 700 snaps. Geo Bernard is too good. You have to keep him on the field. Moving on. Greg Brazing his hands in victory. Troplanet.

Trojanat. Trooperat. Trooperat. Troopanat. You guys ready? My notes are missing. You want me to set you up? Yeah, go ahead.

Devin Funches. I forgot what it was. Is light years ahead of where he was at this time. Oh, yes. Thank you. Chris Wessling, light years ahead is one of my favorite off-season tropes. I love when guys are quote, because it's always, quote, light years ahead. And you never hear light years used ever, like in society otherwise.

But only in OTAs or mini-camps does that term get thrown around. And it's always some guy that kind of stank. Usually a wide receiver. Wide outs. I'm sure you'll see it with Doriel Green Beckham in a week or two. Right. And it's, I'm light years ahead. Right.

He's not just better at route running. He has expanded the space-time continuum, and he's further ahead of the human race than the rest of us. Isn't it maybe kind of a shot at where he was last year, which is probably significantly behind other rookies? I don't remember Riverboat Ron saying he's light years behind everyone else. Well, the one thing about wide receivers, it is definitely the term light years is up there with.

Let's open the kimono above the tree. What is it above the treetops? all this other nonsense. Let's open the kimono. Well, we have our own list. Sounds like how you get on like a sex offender. Well, no, in these NFL media, in this job, you have got to these meetings. And some of these corporate types, you know, they're working off a different dictionary.

And they'll drop a term here or there where you're left wondering what is happening to the human language. And let's open the kimono is one of these. Let's be real honest about whatever topic we're about to discuss. Hey, guys, let's open the kimono. So it's like referencing like, I'm going to show you my D? Right. Well, are you wearing a kimono, Dan? Hey, let's pull our pants.

I don't know. Who is wearing a kimono? It's a terrible term. I don't, I didn't cook it up on. Is it a classier way than saying let's pull our pants down? I think it's a less classy way of saying, hey, guys, can we cut the BS and be honest? I think Sessner was bringing a kimono into it. Had a few drinks or something and was stumbling around, you know, Japan Town or something. No, that is.

My new favorite is fire hose of data. Or this snackable content. Snackable content. Let's keep it above the tree top. There you go. Keep it above the treetops. I will say one thing, though, and you mention wide receivers. I mean, a lot of big-name wide receivers from year one to year two make the jump.

I look this up. Des Bryant, year one, 561 yards. Big jump year two. Fitzgerald, 780 as a rookie. That was better than most. Brandon Marshall went from 309 yards to 1,300. I mean, along with tight end, that is one position where you see growth in the second season. True.

All right, guys. Let's move on to some. odds and ends odds and ends odds and ends everybody loves some odds and ends everybody Ruben Randall started 16 games last season

had about 800 receiving yards, eight touchdowns now he's got a fresh start with the Eagles after an up and down run with the Giants some talk that he's going to be the number one role on the outside of the formation under Doug Peterson with Jordan Matthews seemingly destined to remain in the slot. Greg, does that surprise you? It does.

Well, they moved Matthews outside for the start of OTAs. And this is where, you know, we made fun of that nothing can come out of OTs. Some little nuggets. This is a good example. That it sounded like they put Matthews on the outside. And Doug Peterson, the coach basically said, look, he's better inside. We've tried him out there. And then he went out of his way to really talk up Randall as someone that surprised him.

and who knows we'll see what happens but he does have more production than anyone else in that wide receiver mix including Huff and Nelson Aguilar or whatever I think he's starting for your eagles whether you like it or not. Elsewhere. See how long that lasts.

Elsewhere, Timmy Jernigan, the Ravens defensive tackle, says that he'll be a bigger person than Warren's Sapp after and, you know, Warren. Come back to us, buddy. The Ravens tweeted out,

Timmy Jernigan has changed his number to 99 as a tribute to Warren Sapp. To which Warren Sapp replied at Ravens, how do I stop this? And then Jernigan, who had a relationship with Sapp, dating back to when he was drafted in 2014, he slid out of the first round because of a report of a diluted drug test. Sap, who of course famously slid down the first round in 1995 because of reports of a failed drug test or drug tests, reached out to Jernigan. They talked a little bit and maybe texted. But Warren Sapp was upset that Timmy Jernigan did not reach out to him

and contact him with this decision to change from 97 to 99, to which I say, that's some exhausting Warren Sapp behavior right there. That was the perfect word for it in your post. Exhausting. I mean, if we're going to talk about current players not wanting, they shouldn't open their mouths about their personal goals, this is one tweet that Warren Sapp would have done himself a favor by not sending. It was, you're a Hall of Famer.

It's just ridiculous. Like, I mean, the way, this was someone who was your friend who he's trying to honor you, and this is how you respond. I don't know if he was a friend, but he at least was someone that they were on good terms with each other. There was contact. I don't know. I don't know. It just seems like a kind of wild shot in the dark.

And I don't know what's going on with Warren Sapp. He got let go from NFL Network, and I don't know if he has a job right now. But he has to have something better to do than to pick on some guy that only viewed him. is a role model. Gargamel level behavior out of Warren's staff. Maybe he doesn't have something better to do. Maybe that's the biggest problem here. He's bored.

Just for the record, Warren, this is Greg Rosenthal. I didn't say anything during this segment. Coward. And that's odds and ends. Sing it, Wes. Odds and ends. Odts and ends. That is my favorite two seconds of this entire podcast.

You got to keep going, Wes. You can't just say it twice. I have the worst singer. Greg immediately buried his head at his hand. Greg, you shook his confidence. I'm the worst singer. Can we do one more shot, Greg? I do that a lot.

I do things like that a lot. Ever told you about when I went out for choir practice in fifth grade? Oh, no. What happened? The choir guy, the guy running the show, made me stay after class and put my ear on the piano. What? He said, you're tone deaf, son. It is one of my favorite things is to ask Wes to sing.

What did you go to? It goes all over the place. high school they hit you with a ruler after what's going on just put my ear on the piano he was a good catholic boy in cincinnati we weren't wimps greg come on all right that was odds and ends and uh before we get ross tucker in here Greg we did want to hear i'm always interested in uh the boss's takes on the football world so i was i was curious what uh fearless prediction you may live to regret on the 2016 season no i thought you guys did a great job with the uh fearless fan fiction that you hope happens in 2016.

Fearless fan fiction. 2016. Mark for the fifth great year, you know, believing too much in the Browns and Dan for the fifth great year, hoping that Tom Brady falls apart. That's fair. Not wrong. Fearless fan fiction. Oh, that was fair.

I'm going to go with that the Super Bowl defending champion, Denver Broncos, will not make the playoffs in 2016, that their fall will be steep. It will remind you a little bit of that Ravens team, who also replaced. their top two quarterbacks after going to the Super Bowl, they don't make it. Seriously, the road team. I don't think they'll be as bad as that really. The untested rookie and late period Mark Sanchez won't make the playoff.

That's really fearless. They do have the best defense that we've seen in a long time, and they did have just about the worst quarterback play you could imagine last year, and they won a Super Bowl with it. So now you're arguing against yourself. No, no, I'm saying that's my argument that it's fearless. I have to admit, I stepped into the studio today, and my plan was to go,

Broncos and Panthers don't make it back to the playoffs. I was going to say, what about Carolina? But I don't believe that. You can't force things you truly don't believe. So I truly believe that the Broncos will not make the playoffs. I think that's somewhat bold. I also want it to be something that when we do our predictions in September, I'm not going to back away from.

I'm going to, you know, I'll stick with that. They're out. They're going to be an eight, eight, nine, one team. I don't believe. that Tom Brady will be so just really hang those onions. Well, you should only say things if you believe it. No, no, no, no.

This is where we disagree on podcast. No, no, no, no. If you're saying something, you should believe it. No, the misconception with what I said was that I thought he would take a step back and kind of be like a top 15 guy. Okay. Not to Peyton Manning fall up the cliff. Well, no, I get that.

Is that bold? I would say so, considering he's played better than ever his last two seasons. I'm sticking with my Browns, but I'll tell you, last year around this time, I authored one of these, like, clickbait articles that was somewhat ordered on Connor and I to do five teams that new teams will make the playoffs, fives that won't. I picked the Broncos to not make it. Heard probably from over the course of the season, six or seven thousand people, so you're going to get on some radars here. Maybe you can block some more people after hearing that.

That's right. We did some research. Well, some clown up in the Bay Area got like a think piece written about him. over how many people he blocks or he was a reporter up there and it was he blocks like over 6,000 people and I was like forget about that week he doesn't deserve a thing I don't even know the backstory I don't know who was it was Tim Kawakami oh so Tim Kawakami got a feature written on him about how he was the king of the blocks because he blocks everyone on Twitter and I was like we got dekembe matumbo over here at NFL media and Chris Wesleying where's his feature piece I

went to check how many blocks I had and the app that you used told me it was dysfunctional because I had blocked too many people that couldn't count. That's awesome. And then we all checked. So Wes was literally incalculable. But you did check a few years ago and you were... I was over 2000

a few years ago. So I imagine it has to be in the 6 to 7,000 range. Mine was at like 37. Mark, yours was even lower than that. It was four, but I don't use that. I'll mute people. I don't block You only had like 10 mutes, though.

You're a forgiving guy. Mark's a nice guy. Mark's always been a nice guy. And Greg. Conrad, 130 or so. I had 650. That's pretty nice number. Craig's really been coming on lately.

I've been proud of him. Greg's blocking is a little more spiteful, too. Mine's silent. No, mine's, I just, you know, something I don't like. Like you hiss adding up. Yes. Yeah, mine is like, I don't need you in my life. Yeah, Wes, Wes, if you are a fan of the Seahawks,

even if you're one of his best friends, he'll block you. If you're... There's a difference between a 12 and a Seahawks fan. 12s all get blocked. What if you had to in a battle royale face all the people that you had blocked? Bringing on. One version of 6,000.

All right, folks. You know, we don't usually have people in the studio. We don't like outsiders. We like to, you know, stay the hive mentality. What a welcoming way to introduce the house. But sometimes you make exceptions. And this man right now my left, former NFL player.

He's now at NBC Sports Network. Listen to this guy's resume. Sirius XM NFL radio, sports on earth. And of course, the Ross Tucker football podcast at Ross Tucker NFL. It is Ross Tucker. Yay, me. This man sells a man. I flew six hours out here just to get that intro from Hansus.

Wow. Six hours. And I love that he said I'm to his left for those people watching at home. Yeah, we like to give people an idea of like the nation setup. They say that in the radio. They say left to right on your radio dial, which I never understood that one either. The one thing I've always wanted to ask you guys, I'm just going to take over real quick. No, go ahead.

I'll see you later. So I've listened several times. What is the heroes thing? Why are you guys all heroes? What's the room full of heroes? Where does that come from? Basically, just because we claim to? Isn't it obvious?

Yeah, you're here now. You're seeing. Look at the men in front of you. it's innate not all see that it's it's called i would call it absurdist humor got it okay i mean none of us i mean there's no war veterans in here there's not there's maybe a high level of cowardice i mean i knew it was a joke on some level i didn't know what was like on every level gregg saved a cat from a tree once did and a strawberry truck so ross is here ross like i said he's got a lot of stuff going on but he's also the reason why and one of the reasons why you should listen to and watch ross is

because it comes from a place of experience, and former offensive lineman played seven years in the NFL. And Mark, I know you did a little research on the old tuck bomb before we got on today. Yeah, well, I love coaches. I think that it's a fascinating profession. And I just was circling through some names that you've been tied to during your career. And I'm kind of fascinated.

We got Marty Schottenheimer, Hugh Jackson, Steve Spurrier, Dave Campo, should have put him at the top of the list, Bruce Coslet, Mike Zill, Jimmer, Greg Williams, Mike Malarkey, Bill Belichick, Josh McDaniels, and Matt Patricia, I believe, was a position coach for you? Yeah, he was actually the assistant offensive line coach when I was an offensive line with the Patriots. Of these guys, I mean... Who do you like the league?

Right. Well, yes. Personally or as a coach? Personally. Personally. So, you know what's amazing? Yeah. I had nine different NFL head coaches.

Wow. That's kind of hard to do when you only play seven years. Crazy. Wow. Have to play with a winning team? Yeah, I want to playoff a couple times. Yeah. Belich on this list.

Patriots 05, Redskins 07, which was an amazing year because I was on IR, so I don't know if I really said I played for that team. Actually, you know what? You're on the payroll. The year I played the most and had the best year, 2004, Buffalo Bills, 9 and 7. Look it up, winning team. Wait, that was the team that lost to the Steelers playing their backups to miss the playoffs. Am I right?

Yes, yes. I got to bring that up. And you know what's crazy about that? So you guys will appreciate this Or maybe you won't But I'm going to tell the story anyway So we're 9 and 6 We started to have 0 and 4

It's Mike Malarkey's first year So that relates to football now Titans fans We're talking about you Blah blah blah blah blah Malarkey first year Oh and 4 We go 9 and 2 in the next 11

So we're 9 and 6 In the last game The Steelers have locked up The number one seed So Rathusberg I don't think plays at all It was his rookie year Tommy Maddox plays And two guys made a bunch of plays

that we had never heard of. We were beating. The Steelers starters played like the first quarter, maybe the first quarter and a half. I remember this game. Then they started to replace them. I remember after our first drive, I hit Joey Porter after a play.

Or during a play and I said, Joey, how long are you guys playing today? And he looked at me, he said, long enough to kick your ass. Sounds like Joey Porter. I was like, that's a pretty good answer. He hasn't changed. Twelve years later, he's still on the field like that.

Get off the field. Enough of you But we were beating their starters Then they put the backups in And some guy we had never really heard of Had two sacks Turned out to be James Harrison All I remember thinking is

That's the strongest guy I've ever seen He's like 510 You guys ever met him in person He is like 510 And I had seen on tape Him kill Jason Whittle On a counter And I said to the coach

The coach was like Tuck you got to kick him out on this trap But I said, I don't know, Coach, are you watching this? And T. Teague's like, just let him, who's our starting center? He said, just let him cut his outside leg. Just let him cut his outside leg. And coach's like, no, you've got to kick him out. You got to kick him out.

After the meeting, we walk out and Trace said, hey, if you try to kick him out, they're going to put you in one of them halo things in the hospital. And I'm not going to come visit you. So I'll never forget that. But anyway, in that game, we ended up Willie Parker and James Harrison went off. We lost. We did not make the playoffs. But I had a really sizable playing time bonus.

So I locked it in after that game. I had to get 80% of the offensive snaps that year. If we had won, we would have played at Indy on the RCA dome turf. And this is like the player stuff that people don't think about. I figured out the math. I probably would have had to play at least like 29 plays, depending on how many offensive snaps we had in that playoff game. Because playoff games count for the bonus.

I had a herniated disc in my back I was taking a lot you know Percocet Laura Tav flexorol a shot toward all my butt to play That's like one of Wes's weekends

by the way But anyway It's crazy because After the game I was so upset I was so sad that we lost Because I never made the playoffs before

And like You know we'd worked so hard to make the playoffs But I was also so happy that we lost because I had locked in a lot of money and didn't have to play for another week, go to the RCA dome, which had the hardest turf in the world, and like if I get hurt on the 20th play, I'll just tell you guys, you can probably look it up. If I get hurt in the 20th play, yes, I get the $18,000 for the playoff game, and I miss out on $350,000 playing time. Oh, man. That's the things that like, I remember after the game, I was engaged to my

wife at the time and um girl fiance at the time and my father-in-law he knew I had locked in the playing time boats and he knew the last five games I played with a hernia disc in my back and like he hugged me it was like a moment it was like wow it was like he was like great coaching

malarkey way to sit on way to sit on the ball oh man people bills fans still bring up that game I oh poor people they still have no the only team that hasn't had a playoff team in the 2000s which is outrageous but to answer your question my favorite coach

was Schottenheimer. The best coach is probably Belichick, but not my favorite. See that? Bad guy. That's what he's saying. He can't say it because he respects him, but he's saying he's a bad guy. Greg, deal with it. You know, well, I would just say what's really interesting about the Patriots,

I don't know if you guys know this or not. I want to listen to that. It's 100% negative reinforcement, which has obviously been successful for them. That and having the best football player of all time has really helped them. That's my approach as a man. I noticed that when you make, you don't even let your guys eat lunch like decent human being, like a slave away in front of their desk. It was so good to see Ross see that.

I had an internship summer before junior college. I do not make you. You guys go back there. You just do it. And you let Ross happen to win. So anyway, just so you know for the Patriots, every day of practice, and after every game, the first thing they show are the five worst plays from the day before. So, like, your major motivating factor is to not be on Belichick's low-light tape the next day

where he's like, look at this, what are you? And it's not good. That's a pretty good Belichick, by the way. I was amazed because when I was there, it was, they signed me midway through the 05 year. And they were going for their third straight Super Bowl, and it was my fourth team already. I played for Redskins, Cowboys, Bills, and then Patriots. and it was the least happy team I'd ever been on. There was the most, like, unhappy guys.

I'm like, this is unbelievable. He's John Voight and Friday Night Lights or Varsity Blues. Yes. He gets results, but God damn, but they hate them. No, but you know what? I don't believe that. That was a particular pressure-filled season, coming off two titles with a team that wasn't great.

Right. Well, but I also say this, we're playing the Jaguars in that first round of the playoffs, and he says, you know, every coach before every game says, you know, it's start of the week. We got to take care of the ball. You know, they just say the generic stuff. He's the most important thing to this game by far is Jimmy Smith crossing patterns on third down. That's the key to the game.

And like what he'll do is he'll literally call it like a practice squad offensive lineman on Thursday and be like, Ross Tucker, what's the most important thing of this game? I'll be like, Jimmy Smith crossing patterns on third down. Like something like that, right? Yeah. We go in the game and he really. forces it so much and it's so specific that I wasn't

even suited up for the game. I was up in like a skybox or something. But on third down, I was looking at Jimmy Smith. I didn't know what the heck was going to happen in that game other than Jimmy Smith was not going to catch a darn third down crossing pattern for a first down. He didn't and we won

by like 30 points. And then I actually did play the next week. We lost to the Broncos and the division around the game that made Ben Watson famous for chasing down champion. behind you like a hundred yards take plumber's uh finest NFL moment really let me uh original round game let me pick your offensive lineman brain here let's do it so we wait before we do that if we're gonna if we're gonna talk offensive linemen we got to go down to the lab let's go

all right oh it's time to do some scientist heat here i mean ross tucker a veteran what's that noise we're walking down right now oh okay it's the steps of you walking down got it now we're down the step up now we're in the lab now this is the scientist's lab this is the scientist's This is where the real football nerds talk, the real football men. Go ahead, Wes. I'll be upstairs. He said, the real football nerds. Go ahead, Wes.

I'll be making grilled cheese upstairs. Later. So none of us in this room claim to be able to evaluate offensive line play where we're watching condensed games, but there are people who do. And when you see a site like Pro Football Focus, even as a former professional offensive lineman, can you feel great? about your analysis of an offensive lineman without knowing his assignment in a game? Well, I can feel very good about it, yes.

But I can also tell you with 100% certainty that I can't have 100% certainty on who messed up on certain things. If you ask the pro football focus guys, what I respect about them is they know that they don't know what guys are supposed to do. So they just evaluate what the guy tries to do. And they feel like over time, given a large enough sample size, it'll kind of even out. But I'll give an example. You know, several years ago, I think they had Brandon Albert as maybe their second best offensive tackle or something like that. And I was told by the chiefs, you know, people that would know that he was good for like two mental errors a game. That is like mental errors as a professional are totally unacceptable.

And a mental error is like, okay, you blocked the wrong guy. Well, the right guy goes and smokes your quarterback. It's a strip sack, return for a touchdown. And you lost. Thanks for playing. By the way, your quarterback's got a concussion. Yes. So the biggest issue I have with them would be, you know, I can think of at least probably

one play a game when I played where I would get a negative for it from them. But I was really just trying to save somebody else's butt that messed up. You know what I mean? Like I stepped down. I saw the tackle step down too. So I bailed to try to cut the linebacker's knee so he didn't. But all in all, I think those sites do a really, really good job. Yeah.

So you think by the time that. they have 16 games worth of sample size, they get it pretty right. But not in cases of like Brandon Albert. That's a tricky way. Well, I think, you know, I think they rate Evan Mathis a little higher than I would, you know? I think the Eagles agree with you.

Yeah, I think. No, does the other 32 teams. Yeah, like they put more of a premium, I think, on run blocking than I think NFL teams do. Would probably be another way to describe it. You know, NFL, they want you to be a good run blocker, But not many guys are really getting vertical movement anyway, you know, and they want to be efficient with your blocks.

I love that. What are we doing now? We're just pouring more stuff. We're just a beaker stuff. This is a concoction that you're going to get. Mark's here, too. We're just pouring more stuff. Mark's here, too.

I'm upstairs cooking grilled cheese with Dan. I have a glass of vodka. But, you know, at the end of the day, the way the NFL is, you really get paid for pass blocking, which, I mean, I wish it wasn't that way because I was not a great. pass blocker that was like a flaw but like you look at the guys Luke jockel and Fisher and Fisher's actually gotten a little better I it was a a really fun project for me to make fun of him the first couple years but he's actually yeah he's actually like last year he was decent

but those guys are paid to pass block and anybody that says anything different is kidding themselves Evan Mathis is an average pass blocker so pro football and I like him as a guy he's a good player, but Pro Football Focus ranks him really high because of what they believe is his efficiency in the run game. But I think that's mitigated a decent amount by him not being a great pass blocker in my mind. Moving away from the line, I think we reached out to you before you came on today. Who do you want to talk about? Kirk Cousins was the name that came up. What are your feelings about Kirk Cousins?

You know, playing out a one year, $20 million deal. So I don't understand why. people don't value last year as much as I do. Like, in general, Kurt Cousins, Tyrod Taylor, Ryan Fitzpatrick, like, even to some extent Brian Hoyer, obviously had that horrible game. But, like, last year matters. Like, that's the most recent sample size we have, and it's a pretty big sample size. But with all these guys, it's like, for Tyrod Taylor, it's like,

ah, he's only ever done it once. I mean, it was his first year starting, and the guy was, what, 20 touch. touchdowns, five interceptions, ran for 600 yards. Listen, I make the same argument about Ryan Fitzpatrick in this room, and everybody says this guy's a total journeyman. He stinks. It's a joke that the Jets are excited trying to get him back. Which is what I'm looking at.

Last season is first with the Jets, his first or returning to a partnership with Chan Galey. I'm only judging it on his year with the Jets. He was one of the best quarterbacks the Jets have had in decades. Now, I know that that last game counts for something, and he threw three picks, and that's really spoiled. the narrative of what was otherwise a really great season for a franchise

that hasn't had many good seasons of quarterback. So that's why the Jets want it back. It shouldn't be such a laughable thing that they do. That's what I'm talking about. No, he is a journeyman, and I'm not saying he's going to do this, but Kurt Warner was a guy that played NFL Europe and Arena League before he showed the ability

to play at that high of a level. Rich Gannon was a guy that played for the Vikings and the chiefs. Once they had their good season, then their teams rewarded. them with paychecks, it's not just the Jets who aren't paying Ryan Fitzpatrick, it's every team in the league who says, we don't believe you can do this again. Right. And we believe that's separate.

Well, let me ask you this, though. What team do you think should have? I don't think any team should have. I think a team should have signed them as a backup. No, but what team do you think should have considered it? Like, if you actually go through and look at the different quarterback situations around the league, you know, for with this, like Cleveland Browns, for example, right? Ryan Fitzpatrick's much better than Robert Griffin, the third.

and they would win another game or two. But with the Browns, their long-term approach, how do they value that? He doesn't fit their friends. And if you look at every situation, I think you could make the same argument pretty much across the board. I think he's going to play really well again.

I think Kirk Cousins is going to play really well again. I'm a believer in Kurt Cousins. I think Tyrod Taylor is going to play pretty well again. So it's good. You should really move over to closer to Chris. That is the Cousins Corner over there. They're the kissing cousins. They're the big fans of cousins.

So, Greg, you're the guy that because the guy's name isn't Drew Brees or Tom Brady. Wow. Or because they haven't done it for five years. Because I get the sense you don't believe in Fitzpatrick. You don't believe in cousins. I mean, what do you guys do? Every day you blog about this stuff and you write about this stuff and we watch the games. There's like 16 games last year.

It doesn't matter. Of course that's matter. That question might be better directed to Doug. for why he won't pay Tyrod Taylor. Because he doesn't have to. Of course. Because he doesn't have to. And because they, they, it's pretty telling that in mid-October of last year,

they came out, well, they didn't say it, but they leaked the word to Ian Rapidport. E.J. E.J. Manuel can take this job. So obviously Tyrod Taylor isn't doing something and that something is throwing over the middle of the field. So you're, so I'm getting a great feel for all you. You are the guy that, based on what the team does, based on what the team does, they're showing us what the guy is. That is one of many factors, the data

that we can read. Agreed. Agreed, but then what you're saying by that is that all teams have all knowledge and they know what they're doing. I'm saying that's one part of the factor, another part of the factor. One part of the data is that Tyrod Taylor is built small, likes to run, already

got injured last year, and it's probably not the best candidate to stay healthy for 16 games. Well, I just think they're not paying them because they don't have to. They signed them to a very smart contract last year. I'm sure that's... And they're I mean, you're also talking about, you said, well, what does Doug Whaley think? I mean, I could give you five things that Doug Whaley said recently. Digway is overrated E.J. manual a long time.

Yeah, Doug Willey's a guy to draft the E.J. Manual is not good. I don't think Doug Whaley was the source telling Ian Rappaport this. It was one of their coaches. Ross, you're big on social media. Is it cool if we just make the headline here, though, Ross, Jets are missing out on next Kirk Warner. Yes. That's basically. Yes.

We, um, let's, let's, good scientist talk, guys. Let's go. Let's go upstairs. Is there a sound effect? Is there it? Well, if the Irishman steps up. There we go. Oh, there we go.

You quit talking. You could hear you. Quiet down. All right. Listen, we got, we got to wrap up this segment. You know why? Because Ross Tucker's got some Princeton bros. He's got to have some daddy pops with.

Daddy sodas. You know I called him Daddy soda? Yeah, I do. Plugged in on everything. Whoa, whoa, whoa. I'm plugged in on the podcast. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. You're from New York, right?

Yeah. Daddy pops? That's what I, maybe I miss remember. That's my fault. Yeah, because you're Cincinnati. You're a Midwest pop. Yeah, I'm a soda guy where I'm from. Dude, I'm in the state where it splits.

People in Pittsburgh say pop. Really? Which weirds me out. Cincinnati does too. Texas does too. I'm from Reading, Pennsylvania, and you're Philly, and we always said Coke. I have a Coke. Oh, yeah.

I say beer and I drink it. Are you the guy at the bar is like, I'll take a beer and then they go, which kind are like, any kind. send the guy away. I've probably had conversations like that. I've seen it. I love that, I love, by the way, that Team Ohio over here has a uniform, has a, has a platinum. We are, Wes and I are in our patented.

Team Ohio are masculine men. It's all we wear. Chop down a tree after this. All right. So, he is Ross Tucker. And again, you can check him on NBC Sports Network, Sirius XM, NFL Radio, sports on earth, where he writes. And of course, the Ross Tucker football podcast and at Twitter, hit him up at at Ross Tucker. NFL. It was a real pleasure to have you in the studio.

Dude, good to see you guys in person. I'll fly out every week, six hours each way for these glorious 17 minutes. It was awesome. It was a lot of fun. So Ross Tucker, check him out. And there he goes. Ross Tucker, out the door. And we got to get out the door as well, gentlemen. We'll be back on Thursday with yet another around the NFL podcast. We'll have a guest from inside the NFL media sphere tomorrow. So a lot of people. in the studio this week, a lot of friends of the Around the NFL podcast. Is that news to you, Greg? I'm looking forward to it, yeah.

Oh, okay. Well, you'll find out. We'll talk after the show. So get excited, everybody, until Thursday. This is Dan Hansa signing off for Quiet Storm, the mailman, the boss, and the Irishman. He's got a chance to get up on Rushmore, baby. Tell Thursday. One day we will die.

One day we will die. So enjoy this time we have together because one day we will die. This is an I-Heart podcast. Thank you.